Power of the pen in an e-mail age

I admit I was a little nonplussed when someone suggested having potential students handwrite their letters of application to our school. Turns out that old school is new school:
"I believe the handwritten note has become a status symbol, not unlike a vintage Hermes Birkin bag [they go for thousands, and there's a wait list] in fuchsia,' Weiss says. 'We get 100 e-mails a day, but a handwritten note only if we're special. The handwritten note is elitist and therefore a must for the fashion-conscious set. Of course, it must be written on fabulously heavyweight monogrammed stationery."