Regarding the attempted boycott of the Nitty Gritty by the university's two student newspapers, it would seem the staffs at the newspapers would be able to use their college educations to evaluate a situation in its entirety.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Marshall Shapiro, owner of the Nitty Gritty, was the host of a popular local children's TV program and later a top-rated TV sportscaster. Then he purchased a run-down bar at Frances and Johnson streets and built it into one of Madison's most respected eating establishments.

Over the years Shapiro has provided jobs for thousands of UW students, including three of my grandchildren.

Although he's been careful not to violate any intercollegiate regulations, Shapiro has always been generous to the university, particularly the UW Athletic Department. He's one of several hundred members of the Dane County Tavern League, almost all of whom oppose putting a student on the Alcohol License Review Committee.

To single out Shapiro is truly a display of poor judgment on the part of the student newspapers' editorial personnel.

- Dick Murphy, Middleton

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