SAS members not daunted
To the editor,
As one of the people chained to the Administration building Thursday, I'd like to respond to a few of the comments I heard during the day.
Several people suggested that if we didn't want to support sweatshops, we should simply withdraw from the university. I'm sure Peter Likins would be very much in favor of that right now. But if we left, then sweatshop labor would just continue unabated and unquestioned. The only way to change the system that supports sweatshop labor is to actively work against it. Dropping out of institutions does nothing to change the way those institutions operate. That is, unless a significant number of people drop out. Can we get 20,000 people to withdraw from the university? We can't even get one man to withdraw from the FLA.
And to the people that angrily demanded that we unlock ourselves from the Administration building so they could go about their regular business: I was stunned to see people muster up such indignation and outrage about not being able to tangle with the university bureaucracy.
Why is it so easy to get angry about the one-day closing of a building when it is so hard to get angry about the constant suffering of millions of workers in the Third World?
Most people said that while they might agree with our cause, we were certainly going about things in the wrong way. To those people I would like to extend a genuine invitation to come to a SAS meeting. We would honestly love to hear new ideas about how to continue the movement against sweatshops. We have been in this struggle for three years and have tried everything we can think of: endless meetings with president Likins, letters, e-mail and letter-writing campaigns, teach-ins, lecture series, participation in university committees, informational tables at rock concerts, flyers, marches, demonstrations, rallies, a sit-in, a camp-out, and, most recently, a lockdown. However, there is one option that we will never consider: We will never give up.
Rachel Wilson
Psychology graduate student
Let Florida count
To the editor,
I can not explain how annoying it is to hear people calling Vice President Gore a "sore loser." He hasn't lost! Simply because Governor Bush came out ahead by something like six-thousandths of a percent in preliminary countings, this is not the certified count. If Florida announces that the final count has been completed, and Bush is still ahead, then his supporters have every right to consider him the victor - he deserves the presidency. So until that time, to whomever this may concern, let them count! I would rather have our next president win because he got more electoral votes than one who won on machine errors, be it Bush or Gore.
Dan Cushman
Optical engineering senior
Tomey not the problem
To the editor,
I would like to address the students at the University of Arizona. Before you all begin to scream for the crucifixion of Dick Tomey, I urge you to take a look at the past few games. Our football team has been plagued with a string of some of the worst officiating in the history of sports. Never have I seen a team of any school or any sport, college, high school, or professional receive the bad luck our Wildcats have. If I didn't know better I would say that there is a conspiracy in the Pac-10 to never let us have a shot at winning or ever getting to the Rose Bowl. While that is not the case, there needs to be a change. If the Pac-10 wants to continue to consider itself the best conference in the nation, it needs to stop embarrassing itself with these poor officials. If a pitcher gives up five home runs in an inning he's taken out. Likewise if an official blows too many calls in one game or has too many bad games in a row he should be sidelined. I challenge the Pac-10 to go for better quality officials and establish itself as truly the all-around best conference. Let the players on the field decide the game...not the men in stripes.
I urge all the true football fans here at the university to pull together and support this team. Don't criticize the coach, leave the players alone...just be fans! They have one game left, the biggest of the year. They need our support now more than ever. So instead of criticizing like so many "sports columnists" like to do...lets show the team we support them and take out those losers from up-state.
Matthew P. Romanoski
Undecided freshman
Thanks students, sorry Greens, you still suck Wildcat
To the editor,
I would like to publicly thank the students who worked on my campaign. I was overwhelmed by their dedication and commitment. I wish to acknowledge the Young Democrats who showed tremendous commitment to my campaign by volunteering many hours. These individuals are truly committed to making the university and community a better place to live.
I would also like to clear up inaccuracies in the quotes attributed to me by one of the Wildcat reporters. In her attempt to cover an election story she misunderstood two important points in our conversation. First, my campaign was concerned about the student vote and second my profane remarks were not directed at the Greens but towards the editor of the Wildcat.
Students factor into the political equation. What she failed to misunderstood was my explanation of how. Generally, students are not factored into campaigns because students have no voting history. Campaigns only factor into the political equation those voters with high voting propensity. These voters are referred to as your "base" not "basis" as she writes in her first inaccurate quote attributed to me. Any student vote is above and beyond the expected vote.
While other campaigns were ignoring the university, we assisted in the registration of thousands of students. Our campaign gave more credit to the student vote than most campaigns did and assisted in their involvement in the process. To say anything else would be a complete misinterpretation of reality. We spent hundreds of man-hours and thousand of dollars assisting them in registering to vote and getting information about people who wanted to represent them. The student vote is likely what allowed us to remain close in the race.
The second quote she attributed to me was her jumbling of statements. My profane reference was not directed at the Greens but at the editor of the Wildcat. He and I have since discussed why the personal profanities were directed at him and nothing is to be gained by rehashing it here. I extend my apologies to the Greens for any misunderstanding.
Her attempt to cover this election story proved inadequate. Once again, thanks to all who assisted me. I am sure those students who we registered and worked with in this year’s election cycle will disagree with her analysis.
Demitri Downing
Former UA law student, candidate for State House of Representatives
Editor's note: The Wildcat stands behind the facts reported by Mindy Jones.
