Tuesday September 11, 2001

Partisan dialogue immature

There is a battle being fought between the Young Democrats and College Republicans on the pages of the Wildcat. I find it frustrating and inappropriate that they are using the paper as a way to simply trade insults in a public forum. I am a registered Democrat and try to stay informed and involved in politics. However, the letters printed by both parties neither inform me nor urge me to stay involved. Instead, they make me realize why so many Americans are disenchanted about politics and do not vote.

The two parties spend so much time calling each other names and accusing the other of being liars that the real issues are lost in what can be likened to a schoolyard shouting match. The Democrats think that "conservatism" is a bad word and the Republicans think the same of the word "liberalism." We all know this. And we all know that the two groups consider the opposition to be liars. Bringing this up again and again does not bring any of us closer to the actual truth.

Instead of focusing on mudslinging, maybe members of these parties should focus on why they embrace the ideals of their chosen association. Maybe then these "leaders" will come off as more than children chanting, "Liar, liar pants on fire."

Jennifer Williamson

creative writing senior

Criticism of abortion ad off base

I am a physician who provides abortion services to my patients. Like most people in our community who provide this service, I do it in a way that preserves the health, dignity and privacy of the women who come to my office. These women are informed of ALL of their options.

I dare say that the woman who complained about having to see abortion ads (Maureen Coath, who wrote a letter in last Tuesday's Wildcat) could never imagine herself needing to have an abortion. Similarly, most of the women who choose this option never imagined themselves in that position. Advertising helps to make people aware of their options.

I am also a person of color. What troubled me most about Ms. Coath's letter was the comparison of laws allowing abortions to laws allowing slavery. Abortions happen because of lack of access to contraception and/or lack of knowledge of how to use contraception. Limiting knowledge of or access to abortion services has been shown to increase maternal morbidity and mortality. These effects are even greater among minority populations. Limiting a woman's reproductive self-determination is the worst form of slavery.

William H. Richardson, M.D.

Neglect in motorcylce death lies elsewhere

My issue with the Phi Delt "scandal" is not with the Phi Delts, it is with the Parents of that "poor innocent little boy" that was forced to get on his motorcycle sans helmet after an evening of having his mouth pried open and being force-fed gallons of alcohol. Oh, and another comment, he had absolutely NO choice in this matter whatsoever.

I feel complete pity for the parents of this child; I, however, do not regret anything that happened. The situation is this: the parents, fully aware that their small baby boy was rushing, still made no attempt to stop their child.

The point is, these parents are suing the frat house for neglect, correct? Neglect in that the frat house neglected to be mindful of the intoxication level of their rushees and really, neglected to keep it a "fun and safe party for all." Barf. Neglect is also allowing your child to perform certain things that you disagree with and not stopping or preventing the action from taking place. Neglect is also being completely naive to the situation at hand. The parents of this boy knew, with all honesty, that their child was rushing.

They knew full well that frat houses, especially in a university as Greek as the UA, involves usually an excess of alcohol consumption.

Furthermore, the parents instilled good sound principles in this boy, such as, "don't drive drunk" and "always wear a helmet." Now saying that these parents have to have said this, then now we can conclude that even after the parents gave full warning to all this, their child still went out and performed exactly the opposite? We can assume then that this was choice - he chose to get on his motorcycle and chose to drive it plastered, and chose to drive it without a helmet. Correct? Now is the child evil? Is this in retaliation against the parents? Hardly, but it is a choice. A decision made by the child himself, deciding for himself that he should get on that motorcycle, drive, and get killed. I am sorry that the parents fail to see that they are at fault

Neglect is the social disease of the modern age, but as long as parents deflect the blame, then I suppose we are all safe.

Crystal Ogram

undeclared sophomore