UAPD unreasonably busts pot smokers
This isn't going to be your typical, irate-pothead letter to the editor. I don't think I have the right to smoke weed, and I'm not shocked when police try to catch me smoking weed. I do, however, think that for an organization whose primary job is keeping UA students safe, the UAPD overzealously pursues marijuana cases. When students get arrested for marijuana, they learn only two things: They hate the police, and they need to be more careful the next time they decide to smoke pot, which is often immediately after they get arrested.
I'm not asking the UAPD to ignore marijuana cases. I'm simply suggesting that those bike cops and police who respond to reports act like reasonable and intelligent human beings who are capable of higher-level thinking. Do what you have to do, but be rational. Dispatching drug-sniffing dogs or accosting students quietly sitting on a bench are all inappropriate responses to suspected marijuana cases. We've all read in the Police Beat about the numerous thefts, vandalisms and dirty-old-man flashings that have occurred on campus - and always right alongside the stories of people getting busted for .045 grams of marijuana. Where were the cops when these thefts and sexual assaults occurred? Probably scaring the crap out of some poor freshman who has a "marijuana cigarette" in his room.
I have a great deal of respect for most of what the police do -I know I'm going to call them if I need help. I would just like them to focus more on the "serve and protect" aspect of their jobs. So, bike cops, when you smell an odor of burnt marijuana coming from a darkened recess of the campus, ride on, there may be a real crime being committed right around the corner.
Scott Shumaker
Psychology freshman
Letter off base
Concerning the March 23 letter by Janna Harris, she has my deepest sympathies for what must have been an embarrassing weekend for her.
In her letter, she wonders how America can have a quoted birthrate of four million per year and yet the population is only increasing by 1.5 million per year after immigration rates have been accounted for. After a criticism of the Wildcat and its journalists, she wonders whether anything in the paper can be considered trustworthy.
After reading her letter and waiting for my tears of laughter to stop, I suggest that the difference is equal to the number of people that die in America every year. However, I suspect that this has been told to her numerous times over the past 72 hours by a large fraction of the materials science and engineering department.
Since I have never read the original Fast Fact in the Wildcat, there is a chance that I may have misinterpreted her letter, for which I apologize in advance. But I would like to say that it cheered my Friday morning up to no end.
Matthew Kenworthy, Ph.D.
Optics research associate
Online suggestion system good start, but not enough
The recent article about the ASUA senate reforming their ways of suggestion is great. The goal is to have online suggestions, instead of suggestion boxes that no one uses.
As a former senator, I remember that ASUA never used the boxes and that they were only decoration items around campus. An online suggestion box will be great, yet there is one major task yet to be accomplished.
Most students have no idea what the ASUA is, let alone have learned about some suggestion page. Most people involved in ASUA are people who are from Greek Life and/or those who live in residence halls. Yet, even many on-campus students have no idea what ASUA is.
Before ASUA moves on to have an online suggestion system, there should be ads in the Wildcat and information posted on the ASUA Boxes around campus and the rec center.
The Online Suggestion poll is great. ASUA had a listserv once, too. But what exactly do we want out of it? ASUA needs to be known by the student at large. Online voting has had a huge impact and has helped non-greek students receive a lot of recognition. But there still is a lot of work to be done.
Ahmad Saad Nasim
General business senior
