Waite speech more important than Wildcat portrayed

On Tuesday, Terry Waite gave one of the most important political speeches ever delivered at the University of Arizona. He eloquently spoke about his personal experiences as a hostage negotiator all over the Middle East and as a hostage himself, and he also addressed some of the fundamental questions concerning the crisis concerning the Palestinians and Israelis. From a profoundly humanitarian perspective, Mr. Waite developed important and far-sighted ideas of how the situation, which really pits the entire West against the Islamic world, could be addressed in a constructive manner. The Arizona.Daily Wildcat chose not to announce his speech before that day; instead it opted to publish a story buried in the middle of the Wednesday issue.

Shockingly, the reporter entirely distorted one of Mr. Waiteâs key ideas. He did not say that, ãthe war on terrorism will be won by a force of arms,ä instead he pointed out that current military means will only make matters worse. Mr. Waite pleaded for international efforts to establish contacts, to try to understand the other side, and to learn about the causes for their fury transforming them into terrorists. And he also severely criticized the West, particularly the United States and Great Britain, for its arrogance, carelessness and greed with regard to the Middle East. The article by Jenny Rose did not do justice at all to this significant political speech, suppressing most of his key points, and downplaying the significance of Mr. Waiteâs appearance.

If we donât wake up soon and learn Mr. Waiteâs lessons, the next catastrophe will certainly arrive, and again we wonât have learned anything from our own past behavior. The Arizona Daily Wildcat should have made Mr. Waiteâs speech a top story!

Albrecht Classen
department of German studies

Dorm assaults not a surprise

Iâm not surprised at all about the recent incidents that have been happening in the dorms. People getting in the dorms who shouldnât is nothing new. Maybe some of the juniors and seniors will remember this story on the front page of the Wildcat, but my freshman year (1999), a man with a gun walked into Apache-Santa Cruz and wandered around my hall looking for someone who lived two doors down from me. In fact, the man walked right into my room to ask my roommate and I what was going on.

He was pretty drunk and almost fell on my computer when he walked out. And all this time with his gun hanging out the back of his pants. Now, I donât agree with Kendrick Wilson, who said that the ban on guns creates a ãless violentä campus. A strong, visible police presence has created a less violent campus. And I donât think anyone, especially not people willing to assault women in showers, is going to say ãOops, thereâs a campus ban on guns, I guess I canât take my gun with me.ä Itâs probably just pure luck that no crimes involving guns have occurred in the dorms, least not since the drunk guy in my room. I think the dorms would be much safer if the police were allowed to have a presence in dorms as well. Of course, I doubt this will happen because no students want to risk getting caught by the police while drinking underage or doing drugs in the dorms. So I guess everyone will just have to stop letting strangers in the dorms. No, Iâm not surprised that the sexual assaults in the dorms have happened, Iâm just surprised they donât happen more often.

Anthony W. Nelson
criminal justice junior

Students work too many hours

I would like to thank Stephanie Schwartz for writing about an issue that I have dealt with since my first day at the UA (ãStudy finds working studentsâ grades sufferä, Thursday). I hope that this article will spark the financial aid and scholarship offices to do more to help working students. Every semester, I have worked 20-25 hours a week while going to school fulltime. My parents have yet to contribute a penny toward my education or transportation, which leaves me to shoulder education costs on top of car costs. And yet every year the FAFSA does me no good, since, according to the government, my parents should be paying my way with ease. Working so many hours enables me to not go into debt by relying on my credit card. The last thing I want is gigantic loans to pay off once I graduate. But it comes at a significant cost to my GPA. Iâve lost my status as an Honors student, and have just lost my tuition waiver (which means even more bills to pay). Going to the scholarship office is like talking to a wall; all that matters is GPA. I suppose that it would be better to them if I cut my hours, but itâs rather nice being able to eat consistently and buy medicine when Iâm sick. In order to save up for next yearâs tuition (plus increase) I will have to take on a second job during the summer. This will put me at 45-50 hours a week. No rest for the weary.

Jessica Lynn Ubry
physics junior

GenEds teach social structure

In response to Kenneth J. Porterâs editorial ãTake the Îliberalism out of liberal education,âä it is obvious that Mr. Porter has not learned anything from his general education courses. Issues of gender, race, class, sex, sexual object choice, disability, etc. subvert and affect all spheres. While I agree that students should be more broadly educated in all academic subjects, it is irresponsible to dismiss the above-mentioned issues as frivolous.

Mr. Porter should revisit how he approaches his education; by recognizing how social structures influence the assumed prerogatives of subjects like literature, history, etc.

Sam Ireland
art history freshman

UA Îinstills a broad educationâ

In Gavin Murphyâs Monday letter, he expressed his beliefs that UA should not expect the Tucson taxpayers to shell out any more money to support a school that shelters so many ãleftistä believers, due to the difference of beliefs between the students and the Tucson populace. While I canât comment on the T-shirts featuring communist butcher (I wouldnât recognize one if it bit me), I feel as Tucson taxpayer for six years, I have a right to respond to his other points.

Yes, Tucson has a large number of active and veteran military, many of whom are struggling to get by. But I would like to point out that if the military members truly believe in American rights enough to fight for them, they should have no problem shelling out a little more money to support one of our most basic, the right to free speech. While the veterans donât have to agree with the protestersâ message, they must agree that free speech is a basic American right worth supporting, or they wouldnât have fought for it themselves.

As to his other point regarding the insult of murder victimsâ families paying taxes to support UA students defending death row inmates, Iâm uniquely placed to answer. Someone very dear to me was murdered this year, but even in my grief, I believe that if our justice system is to work, we must err on the side of the defendant to prevent innocent men/women from being jailed and/or killed. I applaud the law studentsâ diligence on behalf of these inmates and am proud to support their efforts with my tax dollars. And I would encourage and support their cause even if they were defending the slime that murdered my best friend.

Finally, let me say that the purpose of any university is to instill a broad education in its graduates. Thatâs why we take GenEd courses, and why university campuses encourage free speech among students and teachers. Listening to opposing points of view broadens the mind. You might try holding your own breath, Mr. Murphy. If youâd stop talking and listen, you might learn something.

Elizabeth Tuuri
Tucsonan

Shed the political party and think for yourself

Donât get mad at more balanced political positions just because you fly yourself in circles with that big right wing of yours. If youâre all so disappointed with the state of the university today, then why donât you just drop out.

Then you will see just how well your Republican government takes care of the majority, the working class. Why is it that any idea that is not your own is liberal? Why are you all so bold as to state all other ideas are idiotic and not based in reality? Is it that you are so narrow in your views that you yourself have a skewed and inaccurate reality? Without taking other peopleâs radical ideas into account, where would we be? We would be a colony, thatâs where. Sometimes taking the ãradicalä approach is the only way to see necessary changes. Iâm not against the war, but why disagree with an anti-war rally without seeing what they have to say? Perhaps they truly do have the answer, perhaps they are full of it, but how can you be sure without hearing their arguments? I am not a liberal, although if you were to respond, Iâm sure you would call me one. I am not even a Democrat. Iâm just a person who makes his own decisions for himself rather than being shackled by a political party.

Reuben Goodman
computer science and psychology junior

Arizona has opportunity to lead

Wildcat columnist Shane Daleâs wishful thinking only clouds the already-murky waters of the political world in which we live. Rather than going into a drawn out response to his lilâ piece, I would like to touch on two important issues.

I will give Mr. Dale credit for his acceptance of Arizona Attorney General Janet Napolitano as a credible candidate, but to call ãclean electionsä the main topic of discussion is ludicrous.

In a state with a failing education system, budget mess at the Legislature and a lack of leadership from the governorâs office, the last thing on a voterâs mind will be campaign finance reform. After years of Republican governors in this state, tarnishing the copper dome and reducing Arizona to the political laughing stock that we witness today, a new generation of leadership will take the helm of a battle-scarred ship through the turbulent waters of tomorrow. The GOP had their chance and they failed with flying colors.

In the post-Sept. 11 atmosphere, many political pundits expected high approval ratings to translate to political gain for the Republican party, however, this was not the case in the off-year November elections for the governorâs slots in Virginia and New Jersey.

With strong backing and recent events on everyoneâs mind, the GOP managed to lose these two ãkeyä races where the positions were previously held by Republicans. For Mr. Dale to translate the strong support for the president to political gain in this yearâs elections would be a little presumptious considering the 2001 campaign cycle.

I look forward to the upcoming six-plus months where an opportunity is upon Arizona and the country to lead us into unchartered territory and look beyond the horizon. Where campaigns and candidates are talking about the issues opposed to partisan trash being spread across the landscape. Thatâs why I applaud Matt Salmon for switching gears and realizing that this campaign is about issues opposed to only trashing his opponents. Some people get it, but for others it just takes a little bit more time.

Vince Enriquez
Chairman of the Young Democrats of Arizona Political Action Committee

Catholics Îoughta be ashamedâ

Laura Winsky received harsh criticism for titling her piece on the Catholic Church sex scandals ãOughta Be Ashamed.ä Well, after the churchâs new policy on sex abuse was revealed, Catholics everywhere oughta be more ashamed than ever. Although he condemns the abuse in words, the Popeâs actions have proven how immoral, incompetent, and corrupt the leadership really is.

By not adopting a ãzero toleranceä policy against men who rape and molest little children, the church has thrown its hypocrisy and cruelty in the faces of victims and followers everywhere.

The new policy says only ãnotoriousä and ãserialä molesters can lose their jobs. What makes this so ironic is that the church has a zero tolerance policy with every other sexual issue.

It strongly condemns all types of birth control, even those which protect against deadly diseases. It strongly condemns all abortion, even if a 12-year-old is raped by her own father, or if a womanâs life is in danger.

A priest marrying will get him dismissed, while molesting children does not, so long as a priest doesnât do it often enough to make him ãnotorious.ä

If any issue deserves a zero tolerance policy, it is this one. The issue of rape and abuse by priests is so serious that it has driven many victims to substance abuse and even suicide. Yet the church actively takes a stronger stance against me living with a man I am not married to. This is why all Catholics oughta be ashamed.

Sarah Hartwell
ecology and evolutionary biology sophomore