Gay community should be ashamed

This is in response to the letter written by Jonna Lopez on Monday. I am so sick of the gay community feeling that it must force the rainbow flag down the throats of every heterosexual. I am a gay guy myself, and I must say that groups such as LGBT make me ashamed. These people show their support at un-American rallies and protests like the anti-air strikes in Afghanistan protest back in October. They participate in such shameful events and yet they cannot leave the time-honored boy scouts alone.

I was a Boy Scout. The Boy Scouts of America do not teach children to hate homosexuals. All of that is just more liberal rhetoric and yet another time for people like Lopez to play the gay card. Stop feeling sorry for yourselves! If homosexuals want to be treated like heterosexuals then they need to stop flaunting their lifestyles at freak show parades and obnoxious gay days.

Heterosexuals do not have parades, days, months and flags, so why should we? It is ridiculous and only reinforces our minority status.

Stop demanding that groups like the Boy Scouts publicly agree with the gay lifestyle. Stop demonizing them and realize that they keep kids out of trouble and teach them survival techniques, respect, citizenship, trust, etc. If we want heterosexuals to respect us then we need to show them the same courtesy. As shocking as this is for minority groups, the majority has rights too. What a concept!

Charles A. Peterson

history sophomore

Nelson a tragic loss to team

I am a Wildcat soccer fan. I have been anxiously watching the Wildcats develop as a competitive Pac-10 team under the new leadership of Coach Cathy Klein. Unfortunately the team lost a key component during mid-season which continues to haunt them.

What a tragic loss the team faced when Erin Nelson, the senior midfielder, broke her ankle in Colorado Springs. Erin's intense commitment to the game, her hard work to maintain a high quality of mental and physical fitness and her perseverance in earlier years as a Wildcat to earn a starting position were obvious every time she entered the field for play. Her leadership skills and presence on the field provided the team a cohesiveness that I have not observed since her absence.

Erin has been described as a player who will do "whatever the team needs to seal the victory... Very versatile player who can be used anywhere on the field...and a great leader on and off the field." Erin, we miss you.

Janice Sammons

Non-degree seeking graduate student

Wolfson out to 'piss off' band

I'm writing in response to Maxx Wolfson's article about the UA-Cal game that occurred over last weekend. But, I'm not writing about what he said about the apathy about football that he found while visiting Berkeley. That was accurate. People in Berkeley don't really care about football.

However, as an alumnus of the Pride of Arizona marching band, I became irate when I read that he had the audacity to write, "at least Cal has a good marching band... the formations the band creates make the reversible UA that the Pride uses look like a high school production." Because I now live in the Bay Area, I made the trip up to Berkeley to root on our Cats as they took on the Golden Bears and witnessed this halftime show of which Wolfson speaks.

I have a few comments to make. The reversible UA is part of the pre-game show, which is entirely an homage to the UA and its history. Did you know that the band will be 100 years old next year? For 99 straight years, the band has probably been making some sort of reversible UA. Why stop now? Furthermore, the pre-game show is such a small part of what the Pride actually does. The Pride is a group of more than two hundred amazing students who spend countless hours every week working together to create marching band shows unlike any others found anywhere in the country. Have you ever noticed how, during halftime, the members are often marching so fast that they are almost running, all while projecting a good sound in to the stands?

I guarantee you that you would never see Cal's band doing that. Did you notice their sloppy marching and bad posture and the fact that their sound was really wimpy? I have to admit that I give the Cal band an 'A' for effort, but, playing music that appeals to you, such as Bon Jovi and Michael Jackson, does not necessarily make a good marching band.

Next time you see the Pride perform, give them the respect they deserve and notice that the group has so much more to offer than the reversible UA. What is it about you Daily Wildcat sports reporters? Why do you always insist on pissing off the band?

Kim Pederson

UA alumnus