In her April 15 letter, Libby Bishop claimed the triumph of a 4,000-signature petition as "strong support received [demonstrating] the power of a unified student voice."

One might venture to do a little mathematics here. There are approximately 8,500 undergraduates at Notre Dame. Four thousand signatures is less than half of that number. Everyone had more than a good opportunity to sign this petition, with it being pushed at dorm masses, on dorm-wide voicemail, with broad email advertisements and with random posters for signatures spread at central locations throughout dormitories.

With such a wide distribution of opportunity to sign the petition, the fact that less than half of the Notre Dame student body chose to do so is quite striking. It portrays anything but a "unified student voice."

It indicates that over half of the student body is actually in favor of the administration's proposed rules changes. You might even say that the famous "silent majority" at Notre Dame has spoken quite loudly by not signing on the dotted line. It would therefore seem clear that student government does not represent a majority of the student body on these issues, or at least does not represent the views of a significant chunk. Notre Dame administration, take note.

Nathaniel Hannan

senior

Dillon Hall

April 15, 2002

• Petition failed to unify student body
  
• Shakespeare in Africa
  
• Where is the outrage?
  
• Support equal pay for both women and minorities
  
• Terrorists give free countries no options