Appreciate new parking garages

I am writing this in response to all the people who are complaining about how the UA is taking away all of the Zone 1 parking spaces to put in a new garage. I personally think that the university has wasted a lot of money in the construction of the new Integrated Learning Center, among other things. For once, though, the UA is just trying to help out the students by making more parking spaces available. They are not building the garage with the sole purpose of taking more money from the students; they are doing it to make more room. Four or five levels are more efficient than one. Would you rather have the UA destroy the Mall even more so you can have more Zone 1 parking?

There are also people who argue that the UA is just taking away money from the "poor college students." These people don't realize that the University of Arizona has the second-cheapest tuition in the country. It could be a lot worse.

Jamie Malkiewicz
math education freshman

UA not selling students' SSN

I'd be upset, too, if I thought the University of Arizona was selling student and employee social security numbers and using the money to balance the budget.

The truth is the university doesn't and won't sell social security numbers (or other personal information, for that matter). Information that appears in the university phone directory is public information, and anyone has access to it just like they have access to every employee's salary. That's part of being in a public institution. But the university won't sell information.

The university used to issue ID numbers that were identical to Social Security numbers. However, students who registered at the University of Arizona since Dec. 17, 2001, have been issued ID numbers that are not the same as your Social Security number. That was more than six months ahead of the schedule the state Legislature had set for the universities - July 1, 2002. Current students have always had the option to use a number other than their Social Security number for their ID by simply requesting it at the registrar's office.

Sharon Kha
university communications

United States 'founded on genocide'

This letter is in response to the two letters in yesterday's Wildcat discussing reparations for slavery. Both letters say that reparations are unnecessary and even wrong because both the slaves and the slaveholders are all dead.

However, both of these letters fail to realize the enduring legacy of slavery in this country. This nation's wealth was gained through the use of slave labor. Period. Any benefits or privileges you are currently enjoying that are a result of this country's wealth are part of slavery's legacy.

It is not an accident that today the average wage for an African-American is a fraction of the average wage for a white person. That, too, is part of slavery's enduring legacy.

I couldn't agree more with the statement made by Mike Derney: "I swear, some people will use any excuse they can to get their piece of the pie." How about: "Indians are savages, so it's OK if we steal their land" or "Blacks are not fully human, so it's OK if we enslave them." Or even: "No one's going to take away my piece of the pie just because my ancestors secured their domination over this land through killing and enslavement."

All residents of the United States need to realize that this country was founded on genocide and gained its wealth through slavery. We cannot continue to parade about this charade of democratic ideals.

Rachel Wilson
psychology graduate student

Expect views to 'fall on deaf ears'

Since Sept. 11, Mariam Durrani has sympathized with the plight of nearly every party involved of the current war on terror with the exception of that of America.

She has continually criticized our preventative efforts overseas with commentaries that vilify our government. She does not, however, seem to hold this same outrage toward the perpetrators of recent acts such as the decapitation of an innocent American journalist or the tossing of grenades into a locked church in Pakistan. My message to Ms. Durrani is this: I respect your efforts to express your views. Just don't be surprised if your views continue to fall on deaf ears, as most Americans sympathize more with the families of the firemen who died on Sept. 11 than the families of the Taliban.

Joel Burstein
finance senior