Friday August 31, 2001

Athlete should accept responsibility

I write concerning Kamy Shaygan's article about the football player who was arrested for having an "open container" in his car, that included additional details about his lackluster academic record, and concluded with the idea that if he (Mills? I think) works harder, things will be okay. What really got me, and gets me, about the article is that it quotes Mills as saying the Coach "suspended me."

Didn't Mills, in fact, suspend himself? Can't he/we take responsibility for our own behavior in such situations? Can't we say we fucked up and are being punished?

I worked for quite a long time in New York with young, first-felony offenders who had reached the stage of parole or probation. One of the things that struck me from the start was the phrase: "My parole officer violated me." Of course, the parolee didn't mean he or she had been physically violated; it meant that the parolee had violated the conditions of his or her parole and was going back to jail.

But the idea that somehow it was the parole officer who "violated" the person's parole, rather than the parolee him- or herself, is the same kind of mindset shown by Mills when he says the Coach suspended him.

I look forward to the day when athletes and parolees alike can own up to their own stuff and ditch the mindset that says it's "the system" that causes them trouble. They, like we, cause the trouble. The system simply responds.

Peter Winterble

UA Alumnus

Wildcat Editor, 1963-64

Armstrong column only makes situation worse

I am writing in response to Zack Armstrong's article from August 29 titled "One Ring To Rule Them All." Comparing the plight of the Jewish people through centuries to a ring in a fictional book is demeaning, and quite frankly, it saddens me. Jewish people all over the world have been persecuted for centuries, and fifty years ago, they were finally given a place where people like Hitler and Hussein don't exist and being Jewish is not a death sentence. It is a place of worship and home to thousands of years of history. It is a place where people run safety from persecution to and a home for all Jewish people who never really felt at home.

It is not a place where Zack's friend is safe because of the "powerful Israeli government." Zack's friend is safe because she can be who she really is. Her parents can practice as they see fit, and no one will tell them they are wrong. She is unsafe because of people like Zack who think that the whole country is at war. She is unsafe because the world has let the tragedies in Israel win.

I don't know how to fix the problems in Israel. If I could, I would wave my magic wand and make all Israelis and all Palestinians happy. I can't. But the problems you hear are not with the majority of Israel. Just like anywhere else, it is the fanatics who cause the problems, and they are an extremely small part of the population who cause problems in small parts of the country. Israel needs support from the world. Israel does not need silly columns in newspapers that liken the problems there to a book one can close and stop reading when one doesn't like the outcome. There is no prize that one side will claim.

I do not believe there is a way to make both sides happy, but now is not the time to turn your back either. Now is the time to stand up and show support for a country that has given, and will give, so much to so many people.

Jessica Dietz

history junior

Peterson's letter sophomoric

We should expect nothing less from Charles Peterson's response. It's sophomoric and quaint, as always.

The rhetoric he spewed is almost word for word from the Republican National Committee handbook on how to discredit a Democrat using skewed information.

He gives his analysis of the GOP, and he mentions limited government and personal responsibility. Where was he when Jean McGrath proposed banning co-ed dorms, eliminating overnight stays from members of the opposite sex and banning alcohol (even if one is of legal drinking age)?

Republican elected officials are peering into your windows to make sure you are "behaving" in a fashion that is appropriate!

Was he fighting for limited government, then? I think Not - nice try Chuck, please try again!

Achim Bergman
UA alumnus