Stats on violence even worse than they seem
Laura Winsky made a good point in her commentary, "I'm Just a Girl in the World." Violence against women is an issue that doesn't get the recognition and worry it should. And she' s right - this Friday's "Take Back the Night" is an important event in making our anger and awareness about the issue known. But I feel that the statistics Laura provided were inaccurate in their representation of the actual numbers of women on this campus who are victimized by sexual violence.
To put national percentages in UA terms, Laura did some simple math. She estimated 33,000 students on our campus, and by applying these numbers to the federally funded statistics (two percent of U.S. college women), came up with the "high number" of 60 rape victims on our campus. Aside from the fact that Laura's math is incorrect (two percent of 33,000 is a bit more than 60), she overlooks the fact that not all 33,000 of UA students are women. According to my source (the UA Web site) there are 18,064 women enrolled in this university. Two percent of 18,064 equals roughly 361. This number is startling enough - but I did some quick consulting with the U.S. Justice Department and found out that it is actually three percent of U.S. college women who are victims of attempted or completed rape. Taking this new percentage into account (released January of this year), almost 542 UA women are victimized by rape each year. Puts things in a new perspective, doesn't it?
Another little something to consider: These "national statistics" only account for rapes reported to university and local law enforcement. What they don't consider are the hundreds of thousands of incidents that go unreported every year on campuses across the nation. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least two dozen women I know personally that have been raped or assaulted. No joke - I am one of them. In fact, so is my mother. Of all of these (including myself), only one actually reported her experience to police. The others? They went unreported.
The point of my letter is to reiterate and accentuate to UA students the urgency and magnitude of violence against women. Never been a victim? A hundred bucks says that someone you know has.
Take Back the Night is this Friday, and starts at 6 p.m. on the UA Mall. Come out and show your support.
Lydia Hallay
Women's studies and creative writing sophomore
Big money helps space program function
Had I not been laid out flat on my back and pumped full of pain killers due to a pulled back muscle last Wednesday, I might have responded sooner to Cory Spiller's supposition that space has 'sold out' to commercialism, but here goes: Unfortunately, the very nature of space exploration and logistics demands huge sums of money. Be it Russian rubles or American dollars, space costs!
Now imagine that you are the head of the Russian Space program and someone comes to you with a 20 million dollar proposal to launch him into space aboard one of your rockets. Well, almost a year later, we're still pondering that question; what to do? The Russians have made up their mind, even going so far as to put Mr. Tito trough the rigors of Cosmonaut training. He's also become fairly fluent in the Russian language. NASA says he isn't qualified to fly on a space mission. NASA says they won't allow him to board their station. NASA says it's dangerous and foolhardy.
So what's really going on here? Politics. Not only is Dennis Tito now qualified for the mission because of his intensive Russian training, but he is also in almost perfect health and conditioning. And if a rocket is safe enough for cosmonauts to fly in, how is it any more or less dangerous with Mr. Tito on-board?
NASA wants to keep its grip firmly on the handles of the lucrative business of space commerce. It might cost billions to launch men into space, but the payloads they deliver more than compensate the cost.
The bottom line is that the United States and NASA are actually holding back the human development of space because they want to keep their share of profits. Rather than opening space to whomever has the fiscal wherewithal and technological knowledge to get there, they are playing politics in the name of safety and expertise while stuffing their pockets with cash. Who are we to judge others on their right to be in space? The last time I checked, no sovereign nation could claim any right to any part of the cosmos aside from the piece of dirt they arose from. If I had $20 million to blow, I'd be posing for a picture on the moon if I could. Wouldn't you?
Jacob Lauser
Tucsonan
