An open thought for those on the left. Congratulations to Jesse McLain for telling the story of Harvard University President Larry Summers. It illustrates magnificently the hypocrisy of the left.

Summers made statements, which he prefaced by saying they were intended to arouse discussion, telling us of the studies done that indicate that there might actually be differences between boys and girls, and the liberals in academia are screaming for his resignation. How dare he?!

Yet in our own lovely state Ward Churchill compares innocent victims who fell 80 stories to their death rather than being burned alive as "little Eichmanns," and when there is backlash, liberals nationwide come to his aid and hail him as the hero of free speech that he is. People of the left have to start understanding that you can't have it both ways; you can't call for the resignation of one man who used his free speech to say what science has been attempting to prove, while simultaneously defending a man whose publicity stunt he hoped would boost book sales.

Is Mr. Summers right? Someday we may know. Is Mr. Churchill right? Try proving that one. Simply because you may or may not agree with what Mr. Summers said, it doesn't mean he should lose his job. Isn't that just the kind of narrow-minded thinking that you accuse us on the right of?

Toby Coffman

Junior finance major

In response to Dominic Graziano's article, "There's no such think as a free iPod," you're full of it. If you had bothered to do your research instead of blathering on about pop-tarts and pyramid schemes, you'd see that with a little bit of work, a free iPod isn't much of a challenge.

Complete an offer and get five friends to do the same. It's not a cakewalk, but it's not that difficult. There are, at any given time, two to four offers on that site that are mind-numbingly easy, and by going to www.ratetheoffers.com you can see which are easy and legit and which will be a hassle. I personally went for one of the Trilegiant $1 offers, and got five of my friends in the dorm to do the same. Signup is painless, credit is given in two to three days, and cancellation just takes a little persistence.

More often than not, that dollar is refunded and you get some crappy digital camera or walkie-talkies as an extra freebie. Now, a few weeks later, my iPod has been shipped and should be here within the month. There are countless sites devoted specifically to the Gratis network of freebie sites, all showing its legitimacy — www.freeipodguide, www.free-ipods.info and www.freeipodsandflatscreens.com being some of the more prominent ones.

Maybe it takes an engineering major to work the system, but I didn't think it was too hard. Truth be told, my iPod will have cost me $11, but that's close enough to free for me. Next time, check your facts before making wild accusations. That's what a good journalist would do.

Geoff Lodal

Freshman mechanical engineering major