Parking situation deplorable

Sunday, I drove to school to go to the library. When I got there, I was told I couldn't park in Second Street Garage without paying $5. I already pay $750 each year for a Super Pass, which, for those of you who don't know, allows you the privilege of parking in ALL garages, Zone 1 and flex lots.

Well, this stupid cow at Second Street Garage would not let me park, even though I pay almost $800 a year in parking costs already, without paying $5. This is a big deterrent to studying. Screw the Parking and Transportation Services; they already rip you off with the cost of permits and the lack of parking on campus, but now I can't even go to school on the weekend to do some research for a paper? It's just another reason to be glad to get out of this school. From now on, anyone who asks about the UA, I will be telling them find a better school - one that pays more attention to learning and the quality and availability of classes than spending money on a very shoddily built Student Union Building and taking away parking.

This school really needs to get its act together. I just pray to God that my children are smarter than me and choose to go somewhere else - somewhere that does not charge more money on top of what you already pay so you can be a good student and go to school on the weekends to study and work on projects.

Amanda Johnson
communication senior

Now is the time to question our government

Looking back on my comment that the "war on terrorism" is only about oil, I realize that it was extreme, insensitive and inaccurate. For that, I apologize to all the families and friends of the people who lost their lives as a result of the horrendous terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

That being said, I believe that there has never been a more crucial time for us to be questioning the motives and actions of our government. It is hypocritical for us to condemn the Taliban for human rights violations and to call them "evil" while, at the same time, doing business with the ruling regimes of countries such as Saudi Arabia and China. Until we find a way to resolve that hypocrisy, we, as a nation, will never be able to take a successful stand against the evils of this world in the name of freedom and justice.

Erik Cruz
political science and philosophy senior

Leave the Mall alone

I am writing in response to the Nov. 21 article concerning the Alumni Plaza. According to Mary Margaret Jones, president and principal of Hargreaves Associates, designers of the plaza, "One thing that the UA lacks is a comfortable open space for students to hang out."

Right, Mary. Apparently Ms. Jones hasn't been to the campus in the last five years because the students had exactly that, an "open space" to hang out - the Mall.

The Mall was the perfect place for students to hang out and get together to sit in the sun. Now, through the Union construction and the Integrated Learning Center, that space, the heart of campus, has been ruined. And to remedy the situation Ms. Jones plans to take away the last bit of the Mall that we have left. The article mentions that Hargreaves Associates has been involved in other design projects on campus. I don't know if they were involved in the ILC but what a great place that is for kids to get together, a giant concrete staircase and pit with wire-mesh benches! Real becoming.

To finance the project, the alumni have collected $2.7 million through private donations. Right, $2.7 million to ruin the center of campus in a time when our great state is cutting money to pay professors.

Come on, guys, let's think this one through. So my suggestion to Ms. Jones, the Alumni Association and the university is to leave the Mall alone. Let us have what's left of the grass and open places to sit out and enjoy ourselves. You've ruined the Mall enough already with the construction, so just put the plaza inside the new union. You can do just as much damage that way. And how about creating a scholarship for economics students with the money; apparently our state, and in this case, our alumni need one.

Matthew Muhm
anthropology sophomore