A loss of a friend, a gained appreciation for life
As spring break 2001 ends, the friends and family of Ross Hunter White grieve the loss of a great young man. It is in times such as these that we must look for the positives out of this terrible tragedy. Hunter's death should be a wakeup call for all UA students.
We need to appreciate our friends while we have them around. We need to call someone we have not talked to for a while just to say "hello." We need to put our small disagreements aside and embrace the people we care about in our lives. Too many times in our lives, we take people for granted.
We need to make the most out of our lives while we are here. Wasted time can never be brought back again once we are gone. We need to start doing more for each other while we still can.
We need to start making our own lives as rich and as full as possible. Humans are capable of so much, and too often we waste our lives by being apathetic and concentrating on things that are not truly important.
We need to take care of our friends and ourselves. We can't afford to let our friends and our loved ones drive home after drinking. We can't afford to drive ourselves home after drinking because there are too many people who care about us in this world. We are not indestructible.
Hunter, we all will miss you. Your spirit will live with us forever. Your tragedy has caused me to rethink the actions in my life, and I hope others will gain a new appreciation for their own lives.
Daniel Forde
political science junior
President, Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity
Poetry Center boasts diversity
The Wildcat's article, "Poetry Center Director Loses Position Mid-term" (March 8, 2001) was generally balanced. I would, however, like to provide some information I hope will serve to counter an impression about the Poetry Center's reading series with which some of your readers may have been left.
You quote Arizona International College Professor Kali Tal as stating "the Center typically brings in poets from the creative writing workshop - a 'snooty' community of writers from elite programs like the UA and the University of Iowa."
It would be fruitless for me to try to dispute Professor Tal's perception that those who have been invited to read in the series come from such a "snooty" community, but let me share with your readers a list of Chicano/Latino, American Indian, African American, etc., and international writers who have been sponsored by the Poetry Center over the past 10 years. Your readers can then make up their own mind. Writers include Miguel MŽndez (a self-educated Mexican/Chicano writer); Terry McMillian (African-American); Alberto R’os (Chicano); Rafael Ram’rez Heredia (Mexican); Ishmael Reed (African-American); Joy Harjo (American Indian); Judith Ortiz Cofer (Puerto Rican); Sherman Alexie (American Indian); Nanao Sakaki (Japanese); Mei-Mei Berssenburgee (Chinese-American); Mart’n Espada (Latino); Claribel Alegr’a (Salvadoran); and 28 others.
It is important that your readers be aware of the aggressive effort that former director Alison Deming and the various Poetry Center reading series advisory committees have put forth to bring a diverse group of writers to UA and the Tucson community. That perhaps a few of the above writers have received degrees from Creative Writing programs is beside the point; what is important is that these writers represent a wide diversity of cultural, national, and artistic points of view.
Chuck Tatum, Dean
College of Humanities
Mackel column off base
The column printed in the Wildcat on Tuesday titled "Lock, stock and big money barrels" undermined the many Americans invested in the stock market. The author, Lora Mackel, took the position that anybody invested in the stock market should ignore the recent falls because they are "incapable of enjoying the massive wealth they already have."
I'm confused. Does that mean that everyone with an investment of any kind should be more concerned about the state of their Mercedes Benz as opposed to the thousands of dollars that are being lost?
The simple fact is that Mackel forgets there are millions of underpaid, hard working Americans whose retirement plans depend on their 401K or a number of other low-risk investment opportunities. Or maybe they are not so lucky to have such a plan. Maybe they are able to come up with some change and invest.
The simple fact is, Mackel forgets to mention in her article that there are many of us investors who are not at the top of the financial food chain reveling in our massive wealth which we are ignoring on a day to day basis. So to counter her argument, I think the state of the economy and financial markets is a concern to many of the middle class Americans dependent on the small investments they may posses. Unless she has another source of high income she forgot to mention, maybe Mackel should be concerned too. The state of the economy affects much more than the return she will not be getting on her investment.
Matt Long
finance senior
