Dear Editor:
In response to the Nov. 5 News article by Giovanni Russonello entitled, "Financial concerns prevent Tufts from adding more restaurants to points" regarding the Merchants on Points System (MOPS), it is absurd that part of the points system involves physically recording individual receipts.
We live in a day and age where one would think such an important system could be completely integrated from start to finish on computers. The solution to the problems preventing Dining Services from putting more establishments on the points system is to scrap the entire system as it is now and create an entirely new computer infrastructure to handle the processing of points, Dining Dollars and meals.
This could solve the receipt problem in addition to the problem of keeping track of where individuals spend their points, another problem mentioned in Russonello's article.
Dining Services just has to make a small investment and perhaps a deal with the Tufts Computer Science Department, if not an outside computer systems company, in order to make meal plans much more convenient for students, merchants and the Dining Services administration.
Jonathan Ehrlich
Class of 2011
Dear Editor:
In response to Winston Berkman and Charlotte Bourdillon's Nov. 5 installment of their "Food Pornographers" column entitled, "Veggie venue," I would like to compliment Mr. Berkman and Ms. Bourdillon for highlighting the delicious and cruelty-free dishes Veggie Planet serves up daily. By offering healthy and humane comfort foods such as vegan peanut curry pizza, the restaurant allows Beantown students and locals to enjoy all of the wonderful flavors they love without having to support companies that abuse and slaughter animals for food.
Of course, the trend towards vegetarian and vegan food extends well beyond the Cambridge city limits. As more and more students are discovering the horrors involved in raising and killing animals for food, they are understandably looking for delicious and humane cuisine in greater numbers than ever. So what is it exactly that they're finding out that makes them remove meat from their plates for good?
Well, for starters, on today's factory farms, chickens have their beaks seared off with a hot blade, pigs are crammed into tiny spaces that don't even allow them to turn around and cows are often skinned and dismembered while fully conscious. Cruelty like this is standard in an industry that refuses to make even the most basic changes in the way they treat their animals. If these kinds of abuses were inflicted upon cats or dogs, it would be grounds for felony cruelty to animals charges.
With so many vegetarian and vegan products widely available these days, including BBQ "riblets" and "steak" strips, there's no excuse for continuing to support such cruelty.
Ryan Huling
College Campaign Coordinator, PETA
