Eller college defended
To the editor,
Recently the Wildcat noted that there is unhappiness in the fact that the new entering Eller College junior cohort of students has been registered for a block of core courses. We are presently unsure about student demand for core courses from seniors, as in the past they have been able to take courses in a random order. Last week, we communicated via a student Listserv that all graduating students will be accommodated in the courses necessary for graduation. To keep that commitment, we need students to identify themselves on waiting lists available in the departments.
Most concerns seem to center around a small number of courses, but all departments will track unmet need among seniors. Because this is the first week of pre-registration (not the first day of classes) we will have adequate time to address these concerns.
We will work with our academic departments through the remainder of the semester to ensure that our seniors receive adequate schedules and can graduate on time. We have already added new sections for several high-demand classes. In some instances, the "solution" may come with constraints that will require some understanding on the part of our seniors. For example, because the university as a whole observes a MWF schedule, any added sections that use campus buildings other than McClelland Hall may need to meet MWF. Rest assured, however, that we intend to do our very best to address the course needs of our existing seniors while implementing a cohort system that will, among other things, make it much easier for us to gauge student demand and thereby provide many future generations of Eller College students the ability to graduate in a more timely manner.
Pam Perry
Associate Dean
Undergraduate Programs
Fear can close minds
To the editor,
I was frustrated and angered by Mr. Alderink's letter in the Sept. 23 edition of the Wildcat. He seems to say that homosexuals wrongly use the term "homophobic" to label those that simply do not like homosexuals. According to Mr. Alderink, you can dislike homosexuals without having any fear of them. First, I believe that fear comes in many forms. Being afraid of a homosexual does not necessarily mean you scream and run in the opposite direction. It is true that humans tend to fear what they do not understand. Fear can manifest itself in hasty judgments, unkind thoughts and unfair assumptions. Most significantly, fear can close off one's mind to change. Mr. Alderink then goes on to suggest that we are to fear the "biased press that would give four full pages to the celebration of what some would consider perversion." Imagine the special feature this publication ran last week about homosexuals was instead about any other minority group on campus. I doubt severely that the feature would receive a negative response if the it detailed the activities of an African American, Native American, Asian, feminist or political group on campus (just to name a few; it is impossible to list all the wonderful minority groups here on campus in this short letter.) I commend the Wildcat for publishing a well-written, non-judgmental view of homosexual life at the UA. I hope people such as Mr. Alderink can open their minds just a bit. They might find that their previous ways of thinking were based not in true experience, but in an unjust, preconceived notion.
Christopher Wingert
Music education freshman
Homophobes vilify themselves
To the editor,
In regards to the letter to the editor written by Philip Alderink in the Oct. 23 Wildcat:
Hate crimes towards any gender, sex or race are committed out of a place of extreme fear and ignorance, and if you think that hate crimes aren't being committed towards homosexuals on a daily basis then you are gravely mistaken. There are plenty of people that harbor homophobic views and act upon them, and the words that you chose to express your beliefs in this letter are obviously of this nature. Describing homosexuality as a "sexual perversion" and getting angry that the press didn't devote a page to the "dark side" of the homosexual life style sure sounds like you have some fears to me. The Wildcat is not a "biased press" nor should it be "feared" for devoting "four full pages" to Coming Out Week. I suppose, by your logic, if the Wildcat devotes four full pages to Black History Month they should also give a page to the KKK so that the KKK may "fairly" explain their hatred towards people of color. Or maybe if the Wildcat chooses to celebrate the feminist movement there should be a page included for misogynists to explain why women should continue to be oppressed. On a further note, it is not homosexuals nor is it the Wildcat that "vilifies" people who don't approve of homosexuality. Rather it is these ignorant people that commit hateful homophobic acts who vilify themselves through their words and actions.
Please Mr. Alderink, take a look at yourself and your scripture, own up to the fact that your Christian religion is one of the key instigators of homophobic views instead of trying to deny that homophobia is a valid problem and concern.
Kirin Wachter-Grene
English and creative writing freshman
"Dark side" of homosexual life aired
To the editor,
I am writing to address a rather ignorant yet thankfully brief commentary offered by Philip Alderink in the Oct. 23 Wildcat. First, Mr. Alderink who is the Advisor to Christian Fellowship, whines about having been labeled homophobic yet goes on to refer to homosexuality using the words "distasteful," "immoral" and "sexual perversion." Yeah, bro, that pretty much makes you a homophobe. Sorry.
At one point, Alderink stated, "I am not aware of anyone who has an irrational fear of homosexuals." The fact is you are the one with this irrational fear. If you looked around, maybe adopted some of that Christian tolerance, and were honest with your own tendencies, you would realize that gays just want to be left alone by people like you. They want to have the freedom to feel the way they feel and to love whom they love. Given that this is only now becoming an attainable goal, maybe they do deserve a little extra coverage of their struggles in the newspaper. How many stories about straight relationships appear in the media everyday? Finally Philip, you were saddened that in the four pages of coverage, there was no hearing to the "dark side" of homosexual life. Don't worry Philip, you are the "dark side" and you have been heard.
Brady Devereaux
Political science junior
Fall Ball worthwhile
To the editor,
I am writing to defend Fall Ball and explain a little of what went on.
The idea for a fall campus-wide formal was one of best to come before ASUA in a long time. It gave the student government a chance to sponsor another event that would bring our community together. By tradition all new programs begin with the ASUA Senate, just as this idea one did. Unfortunatly Fall Ball's history has been very rocky. It should be clarified that only .2 percent of ASUA's budget has been spent on this. Even if we went ahead with the event, it would not cost more then .5 percent of the ASUA budget.
Whether or not it does succeed, the campus should understand that a lot of work went into this program. I would like to be the first to apologize for any hardship caused to those who bought tickets and to all of those who worked so hard to see this dream come to fruition. I hope from the depths of my heart that we can find some way to assuage the confusion caused by Fall Ball and its roller coaster ride.
Seth Frantzman
ASUA Senator
Alderink misguided
To the editor,
As the Oct. 23 letter to the editor written by Graduate Christian Fellowship advisor Philip Alderink has it: if Person A is allowed to express his disapproval of homosexuality, his views are merely being given "a hearing;" whereas if Person B expresses her disapproval of Person A's (anti-homosexual) views, she is "vilifying" him. It seems to me, though, that telling someone their sexual orientation is a "perversion" (as Mr. Alderink manages to do twice in his short letter) is considerably more vilifying than telling someone they have a fear they don't know they have.
And that is the first of two complaints he seems to be lodging with his letter-that he doesn't like it when his disapproval of homosexuality is labeled a phobia. After all, he correctly points out, one who simply has a distaste for okra is not labeled an "okraphobe." The second complaint has to do with the lack of opposing viewpoints given in the Wildcat's recent "celebration" of the homosexual lifestyle.
As regards the latter complaint, I would ask: if the Wildcat had a Food section, and decided to spend four pages "celebrating" the okra, would the paper also owe equal space to those who wanted to voice their disapproval of this vegetable they found "distasteful?" No, it would be perfectly reasonable for the paper to decline to print such opposition, as it has, apparently, similarly declined to do for whomever Alderink is speaking on behalf of. And it is reasonable because whether or not one eats okra is not really anyone else's business. Nor is it anyone else's business whether or not consenting adults privately engage only in the specific sexual activities approved of by Mr. Alderink.
As regards the first of his complaints, what, besides fear, could possibly motivate one to adopt such an obsession with wanting to control other people's private lives? A groundless intolerance for anything seen as "different?" A general un-Christlike hatred for innocent people? Self-loathing? I don't know. Seems to me "phobia" is the most charitable-and least vilifying-way to put it. Whatever it is called, it is far more than the aversion one may have for a particular vegetable. To my knowledge, no one has ever been crucified on a barbed-wire fence, or been stabbed on the sidewalks of Fourth Avenue, for preferring okra over, say, potatoes. Nor is the condemnation of homosexuality analogous to that of pedophilia, as Alderink tries to imply-for the latter necessarily entails the exploitation of an innocent victim, whereas the former does not.
As for myself, I am not a homosexual, but I would not find it so objectionable to be called a "homophobiaphobe," for I do indeed fear the kind of baseless intolerance Alderink and his ilk preach, and what it is doing to our world.
Audie L. Alcorn
Philosophy senior
