Protest Sugar Ray 'GAP commercial' music

My name is Psycho Dave. It is my hope that no one on this campus will purchase tickets for the Sugar Ray concert. "But why?" you might be asking yourself.

Well, the reason is simple - they suck. Why doesn't the school bring a good band to this campus · a band that plays actual music? Not a band like Sugar Ray, not one that basically plays the soundtrack to a GAP commercial.

This New Wave of MTV-Sponsored Wimpy Ass Beach Rock that is ruling the airwaves is a plague on our nation and a larger threat than any terrorist group. I have hope that these bands will fade away like a bad fart, hopefully beginning with no one buying tickets for the concert.

Psycho Dave KAMP Radio DJ
journalism senior

Dale needs history lesson when it comes to Isreal

I agree that no nation should fall victim to terrorism, but suggesting that Israel and the United States are in the same boat is ridiculous. The United States' catalyst for terrorism is mainly its foreign policy and oil interests. The current heated troubles in Israel are largely fueled on policies against and lack of rights of the non-Jewish people residing in Israel. Mr. Dale is right: Both sides have reason and are to blame for the current situations in that region of the world. The only way the United States and Israel could be in the same boat would be if Mexican-Americans and Native Americans in the lands the United States gained from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo were stripped of all the rights granted under the U.S. Constitution, and began terrorist campaigns in the area against all Americans.

Mr. Dale is near the correct track, but needs much more education in the history of the region before and after the creation of Israel by the British.

Kathleen E. Caughlin
history junior

Instead of being objective, Dale is being patriotic

Shane Dale's article, "American and Israel: on the same page," clearly ignores an important aspect of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel's occupation of Gaza and the West Bank is the fundamental source of the problem. On Oct. 7, the United Nations Security Council voted 14 to 0 for a resolution condemning Israel's "excessive use of force against Palestinians." The United States was the only Security Council member to abstain from the vote.

To a notable degree, anti-Palestinian media criticism consists of elliptical reasoning and baffling non-sequiturs, not to mention clumsiness with facts. The tone of much of the criticism is illustrated by Mr. Dale's article. The obvious question after reading the article is what qualifies as terrorism? If "terrorism" means violence committed by groups in order to intimidate a population or government into granting their demands, then sadly this term could be affixed directly onto the U.S. and Israeli governments. That puts America and Israel on the same page indeed. The major difference, however, is not that America and Israel are right and the PLO is wrong, but rather that Israel terrorizes Palestinians with American weapons, while all Palestinians have are suicide bombers.

The United States is not seeking any peace in the region because Israel-Arab conflict serves the major U.S. strategic goal of dominating the region's resources and wealth. It has been necessary to ensure that this enormous wealth flows primarily to the West, not to the people of the region. The U.S. government is motivated by its desire to see a dominant Israel that could help keep radical Arab nationalism in check in what President Eisenhower called "the most strategically important area in the world."

Israel is not seeking peace either. U.S.-Israel alliance has been based on the perception that Israel is a strategic asset, fulfilling U.S. goals in the region. According to Israeli military doctrine, its role is to protect Western interests in the region. The United States needs Israel to stay in permanent war with its enemies, surviving only at the whim of Washington. Essentially, Israel is performing the United States' dirty work in the region for which it receives military and economic help.

To put it simply, the "Palestinian problem" is far more useful than its solution will ever be. Peace and justice in the Middle East will never occur until Washington stops giving Israel a blank check. And that will require a decisive action by the American people.

Dmitriy Morozov
mechanical engineering senior

Ignorant American view

Once again, Shane Dale has managed to take a viewpoint of an issue he has no idea about and formed an uneducated opinion. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Mr. Dale is just like the majority of the American population: angry and subjected to one-sided, irresponsible American media.

For example, to say that, "when Israel responds to force, it is in self-defense," is so typical of any American influenced by the media, including newspapers, television and magazines, of this country. One may ask, "Well, what does America gain by misrepresenting the conflict in Palestine?" For one, America sends billions in aid to support Israel and its terrorist actions. The United States has nuclear weapons housed in Israel. America has supported and raised Israel since its birth in 1948.

Another reason American feels it has to accept and even justify Israel's actions is because America was founded in quite the same way. We came to the New World, found it already inhabited and instead of coming to an understanding and compromising to live in harmony with the Native Americans, we rounded them up and mistreated them and forced them to live on reservations. The similarities between how America pushed away the natives and the way Israel is pushing away the Palestinians are endless.

I have to ask Mr. Dale how he would feel if he were threatened on his own home soil? Oh wait, we already know how. Retaliation, kill the terrorists, bombs, bombs, bombs!!! As Americans turn to violence to protect their land, their freedom, the similarities between the Palestinian plight and the American retaliation become more evident. So, Mr. Dale, before you judge Palestine on the way they deal with Israel's terrorism, take a look at your own country and maybe, just maybe, sympathize.

Zeina Saad
senior majoring in French

Alumni spending unjustified

We don't need the useless alumni plaza. Funny thing that there can be $2.6 million dollars for useless bricks with names on them, but not for useful classes, scholarships, tuition breaks, food, etc. People can always find money for bullshit, but not for necessities. This is why the American people can spend more on porn in two months, and pot in two weeks, than does the human race on fusion power in a year.

Keep the desert garden. The plaza is bullshit.

Tatiana Covington
physics senior

MLK march only fashionable

Laura Winsky's column of the Monday regarding the Martin Luther King holiday is off the mark. While it's true that bigotry is alive and well and all around us, simply observing MLK Day is no antidote. We can't be so naive as to think that attending a march that day will combat racism. Just like hiking "A" mountain doesn't cure cancer, and making a quilt doesn't cure AIDS. Yes, it may make you feel better, and it may increase awareness among folks who are open-minded.

But that's why racism hasn't gone away in the 40 years since the good doctor made his case to the masses. Racism thrives in the minds of closed-minded people; people who choose ignorance. The same people who'll grab the TV remote the moment you and your fellow marchers appear on the 5 o'clock news. It's not about a lack of awareness; it's about a lack of interest. I truly believe bigotry will die over time, but it'll take generations, not marches. I hate to burst your bubble, but rubbing elbows with like-minded people won't further your cause. Changing this embedded kind of social dysfunction requires the most grass roots kind of effort - one ignorant person at a time. I'd suspect the people marching at your side aren't bigoted. Good luck to you, but your time would be better spent actually "fixing" somebody.

As to the MLK holiday itself, you need to understand that the state observes that holiday because of extortion. You're correct that the rest of the nation placed enormous pressure on the Arizona legislators to enact a state holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. And it's true that the National Football League did say to Arizona, "no MLK, no Superbowl;" and it did cost the state a lot of lost revenue. But do you think threats are an effective way to promote harmony? Isn't harmony what Dr. King was all about? It's ironic, really, that we had to observe a day of tolerance, out of fear. I'd even go so far as to suggest that the mechanism whereby we acquired the MLK holiday created resentment and anger.

And make no mistake. There are plenty of private companies in Arizona and across the country that do not observe the MLK holiday. The fact is that observance and non-observance have nothing to do with racism. It's also interesting to note, that at the time of the NFL's pressure on Arizona to legislate a state holiday, the NFL offices did not, and would not, observe such a holiday. Their reason for working on that Monday: it falls in the middle of Superbowl month! In other words, "let's promote racial healing, unless it conflicts with our profit margin." Talk about hypocrisy!

And one other thing, don't kid yourself into thinking that by marching next Monday, you're making a statement like the late Dr. King. It took a certain degree of genuine courage in the 1960s, because something bad could happen to people who took a stand in those days. Going on a "march" now is more about fashion, and less about passion. The problem with diseases like bigotry, is that there aren't any outward symptoms. It's a nasty little seed that lives in the hearts and minds of the people all around you.

We can all struggle against it, and we'll win in the end, someday. But grandstanding, petition signing, marching, observing holidays, and political posturing are only topical medicines for a much deeper ailment.

Scott D. Dreisbach
chemistry senior, lab coordinator