Sue-happy nation claim lacks facts
Beth Keeley’s piece on frivolous lawsuits [“Frivolous lawsuits make us sue-happy,” Fri. Jan. 28] correctly identifies Bush’s proposals as aimed more at profit than consumer safety but then she does what so many on both sides do, she cites two outrageous examples of frivolous lawsuits and then explains that our courts are bogged down. I am still waiting for either the Left or the Right to actually provide me numbers. How many lawsuits are actually brought nationwide? Which of these are dismissed as frivolous and how much time do they actually tie up? Without this information an argument based on two anecdotes is as frivolous as the lawsuits that supposedly plague our courts.
Joseph Soler
Graduate Student, Dept. of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
Housing costs worth it
I am a bit aghast that your fine student paper with a lively editorial/commentary section would publish such a thoughtless piece as you did with Tim Lovett’s, “High Cost of Philly homes not worth it” (Fri. Jan. 21).
Excited by the prospect of an intelligent commentary on the realities of the Philadelphia economy and the possibility that there may in fact be a housing bubble (and it is certainly possible,) I was sorely disappointed that the article instead focused on Mr. Lovett’s opinion of urban life. His article could have easily been written about New York City, Chicago, or San Francisco-all cities with horrible congestion, wind swept trash, incredibly small apartments, and “too” many pedestrians on the street. Strange thing is, people from around the world seek out that life and pay sums of money that make Mr. Lovett’s $150,000 seem like chump change.
Mr. Lovett has an opinion, an opinion shared by too many Americans. It is like saying dogs are better than cats because they are big and run faster. That sounds like an opinion that is not well thought out or articulated.
Moreover, speaking from an investment point of view, $150,000 in Philly is probably a very good gamble. After all, we have big developers from all over the country looking to add condos, row homes and rental apartments here in Philadelphia. People want to live here.
Finally, generally speaking, homes that purport to give a lot for the dollar are generally located in really horrible or out of the way places. I am quite sure that $150,000 might get me a small ranch in upper North Dakota.
Please demand of your writers informed and thoughtful pieces that add to the dialog about a topic. Tim picked an excellent topic to do exactly that, but instead chose to take a sixth grade approach.
George P. Clark
Student, School of Law
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