Hot Button   Question of the week: Should the Thurs., Sept. 16 assault against an Asian-American Yale student be labeled a "hate crime?" E-mail the opinion editors a short response of approximately 150 words to herald@yale.edu along with your name, college and year (anonymous entries are acceptable) by Mon., Nov. 15, and let us know what you think. Selected responses will be printed in next week's issue.

Last week's question: Should Yale stop giving extra consideration to legacy applicants in its admissions process? Does this practice diminish the quality of the student body? Personal traits deserve greater weight than family history, but family history should not be ignored altogether. Likewise, in the admissions process, personal qualities are substantially more meaningful than legacy status could ever be. But legacy status still provides insights into the applicant; and no, I'm not a legacy. —Jerry Moon, MC '03 Why give extra advantage to those who have all the advantage? Legacy applicants come from financially successful families. Because public schools are funded with property taxes, children from higher income neighborhoods have access to better public schools at all levels. Moreover, these same kids are more likely to enter private schools, giving them a further edge on entrance to the best colleges. It's not like affirmative action for privileged kids will somehow give them an opportunity to excel that they never had before. In case it's not obvious, the Yale Corporation just wants alumni bucks. —Grace Rollins, CC '01