AIMS test fair
Well, now I hear another spout of "AIMS Tests not fair!" Somehow, these standardized tests have been worked so they are not fair to minorities (I guess they can now make multiple choice questions that know your skin color). No, am I not a minority (although I bet there are more blacks or Hispanics than there are Italian/Native American Mixes, which I am). My skin's white, so that makes me Caucasian. But I honestly would be insulted if I were a minority, saying that its discriminatory for minorities to me held to the same academic standards as their Caucasian counterparts. Like they can't stay up to par just because they have a different skin color. If that's not racist, I don't know what is.
Heiu Tran said in the last Wildcat that it's not fair to expect foreign students to have the same English/reading comprehension than American students. Maybe it's just me, but I'm not going to go study in France or Germany and expect them to change their academic standards for me. I would learn what I had to learn to graduate, even if that means learning their language. We're not going to just hand out diplomas to people because they come from another country. Now, I've taken the AIMS Test (they gave it to us as a trial when I was in high school) and it was NOT a hard test at all. And I came out of a cheap, small-town high school. If you don't know how to read or write in English, then you shouldn't graduate high school (least not in America, an English-speaking country), just as I wouldn't expect to graduate from a French high school without knowing French. If you are going to study here, then you should be able to stay up to the standards of the students here. I wouldn't expect any special treatment from another country, and foreign students should expect any from this country.
Anthony W. Nelson
Criminal Justice junior
College baseball a bore anyway
I'm as sorry as the next person to read the details of how Jerry Stitt was released as the UA baseball coach. Still, I take issue with his suggestions on what needs to be done to improve UA baseball.
Improvements to the stadium? Such as more seats to accommodate the
few hundred fans who might show up? More publicity for the team? How? Without trying hard, it's easy to see notices of home games. More parking? Perhaps, but just for the tens of cars that are driven to games from off campus?
I went to a game years ago, but I left in disgust after two hours with the game still in the fourth inning. Batters stepped out between each pitch to adjust clothing and get a new sign, even if no one was on base. Pitchers made sure that counts made it to at least three balls. In short, the pace of the game was pathetic. I've not been back to see college baseball. Instead, I've taken my fan support to the softball field, where - win or lose - they play fast and furious.
I realize that baseball is more complicated than this, but if college baseball wants to return to its former glory, then hitters need to stay in the box and swing and pitchers need to throw strikes. Four hours to play nine innings is asking a lot of normal baseball fans.
Paul Sheppard
Assistant Professor, Tree-Ring Lab
"Fast Facts" illogical
In your July 3 edition, "Fast Facts" informs us that "the average speed don human male ejaculation is 28 miles per hour." Taking this to be the speed at which the ejaculate departs from the male organ, a freshman physics student can then calculate that these high-flying spermatazoa will reach their highest point 1.28 seconds after emission (neglecting air resistance, and assuming an unimpeded shot) will be at about 26 feet, or some 2 1/2 stories, above the emitter. Sound reasonable?
One of the goals of a university education is to instill an attitude of questioning skepticism in your students. I suggest that you bring this attitude to your "Fast Facts" before you publish them.
John Leonard
Lecturer, Mathematics Department
