New UA group fights for torture victims
To the editor,
I would like to inform the UA community of a new program by Amnesty International known as FAST (Fast Action Stops Torture). FAST is part of a two-year campaign to help put an end to the all too common and devastating practice of torture. FAST operates in the following manner. When Amnesty researchers become aware of someone at risk of torture, they collect and verify information on the case. They then prepare a summary of that information and make this available on the FAST Web site (address below) along with a letter addressed to the would-be torturers indicating Amnesty's concern for the well-being of those at risk. At the same time, an e-mail is sent to all FAST members informing them of the situation and asking them to electronically sign on to the letter. Each signature results in a copy being sent by electronic mail to the torturer. Thousands of such letters and the accompanying knowledge that the world is watching and increasingly holding human rights violators accountable for their crimes makes torturers think twice before engaging in violence. Since the inception of the program in late October, there have been five cases dealt with over the FAST network, with nearly 20,000 letters sent in response.
In at least two of the cases, those in jeopardy of being tortured were released unharmed.
You can find out more information and sign up for FAST by going to the UA Amnesty International Web site at clubs.asua.arizona.edu/~uaamnest and following the Torture link under the Current Campaigns. You are also very welcome to join us every Thursday at 5 p.m. in Social Sciences, Rm.118.
Sadly, torture is prevalent around the world and even routine in some places. The struggle to end torture will be neither easy nor quick and we and, especially those who bear the brunt of this cruelty, need all the help we can muster.
Jay Taylor
Ecology and evolutionary biology graduate student
Violence portrayed in more than just Jensen's Santa
To the editor,
No doubt that the gun toting Santa Claus picture on Jensen's Arizona Sportsman Gun Shop window is, to say the least, inappropriate for young eyes. Because if it gives children the appearance that a gun is toy, then Jensen should find alternative ways to advertise. And even for all ages, it puts a different spin on jolly St. Nick!
Yet if it's presumed that seeing Santa with a gun will somehow incite children to kill, then it must also be concluded that children are already violent, considering the past year of being surrounded by even greater explicit images.
The entertainment industry has been sensationalizing and exploiting guns for years toward all ages in the quest of the almighty dollar. The gun industry has never asked for all this flattering attention and probably would prefer to be left alone.
It's interesting that we as a society watch violence for entertainment on a daily basis: movies, cable, TV, music, cartoons, books, etc. and have become desensitized to it. And even little Johnny may be shooting, chopping or blowing up human images while playing on his video games. Where's the outcry there?
The majority of violent crimes committed with weapons were purchased illegally on the black-market. The black-market purchases will never be abolished even if Second Amendment rights are eliminated, and criminals will continue to kill with guns and by other means.
Despite Hollywood and media portrayal of gun owners as offbeat kooks, the vast majority of firearm owners are law-abiding and nonviolent, and use firearms for lawful purposes such as target shooting, home defense or as a mode of deterrence.
Guns aren't toys and aren't for everyone, and with owning one there is an awesome responsibility that should never be forgotten. But with gun safety education and actual hands-on experience, guns lose some of its mystic qualities and following safety precautions become an automatic response.
And no, the gun industry isn't lily white, but every industry, and including parents, have the responsibility to protect and end senseless youth gun-violence. Personal and family safety is on everyone's mind. Basic gun safety education, morals, and the value of human life must be taught in the home. And that firearm didn't go off by itself. Banning the legal sales of guns or all the gun-control legislation will not cure the root of the problem-a troubled heart.
Sharon Platt
Journalism
Spiller column misses meaning of Thanksgiving
To the editor,
There is much to be thankful for. Being an international student, I have never had a Thanksgiving dinner, but I have learned how to be thankful for the food that is on the table. I can reasonably assume that you are not one who has to battle hunger, disease or a great degree of discrimination (except the job related ones). You are probably returning home this weekend to enjoy a meal with family.
I will be honest with you. I am finding it hard to exclude expletives from this e-mail as I read about how bad your life is, how the higher powers have mistreated you and your petty little grudges with the entire world. I agree with you that there are many things that ought to be changed, and there are many ways we could improve the lives we live, but I do not see your article doing any of those. Rather, you have chosen to walk the way of the weak, changing nothing and complaining about everything. You hold power in your hand as you pen down your thoughts that are read by the student body and beyond. If there is anything you learn from Spider-Man, learn that with great power comes great responsibility. This e-mail would most probably go right into the trash with the rest of the junk mail, never to be read by anyone outside of the address list, but what you write influences people, whether you like it or not.
So stop, pause a while and take a look at the stars in the night sky. Be amazed by the little things - it is the start of education.
Lucian Teo
Business administration and management information systems junior
Dragging out election costs Americans faith in institutions
To the editor,
The biggest thing that Americans are losing from this election is faith in their own system of elections. The fact that Americans are becoming more and more fed up with listening to bickering on either side of the political spectrum will probably have negative repercussions on the American electorate when they have to stand at the voting booth once again. Al Gore feels he has to contest what has been given to George W. Bush, but Bush feels he must contest what Gore does. In every action there's appears to be a reaction that shows Americans more and more that "the will of the people" is only a safety blanket for both candidates to continue their bickering and their arguing. What should be most important here to the candidates is not only the true will of the people but also, the fact of how this will affect America as a whole when this comes to an end and what we will have to face as Americans.
Not Gore, not Bush, not the US Supreme Court or in Florida, but that Americans need to be reassured that when they cast their ballots they are putting their full faith into a system they need to believe in and they are slowly starting to lose that faith. "Faith in the American system", as it has been known, is one of the few things Americans hold dear about their government, but after this...who knows!
Ricardo Hernandez
Political science sophomore
