Oh, to be young and foolish...

This letter is in response to Caitlin Hall's impressively ideological, but far from accurate column on Wednesday, "The War on What." First, Ms. Hall incorrectly states that China and Russia are allied with North Korea and Iran. In fact, this is not the case, where China and North Korea share a fortified border nearly as guarded as the North-South Korean border. Also, Russia has been on poor terms with Iran ever since the (first) war in Afghanistan, where it was forbidden for Russians to use Iranian airspace during bombing raids. Strategic partners, perhaps. Allies and friends they are not.

Secondly, Ms. Hall cites three mishaps between the United States and Iraq, Iran and Korea, which she states "ended unfavorably in Republican presidencies." In fact, if Ms. Hall would retake American history, she would find that the Korean War achieved its aims, under President Eisenhower, of reclaiming South Korea. There was no objective of swallowing the whole of the Korean Peninsula. Also, the Persian Gulf War's mission had nothing whatsoever to do with ousting Saddam Hussein, but instead was solely to eject the Iraqis from Kuwait. Sounds like it is Ms. Hall who doesn't want to play by the rules of the Geneva Convention, and the UN-accepted foreign policy in general. Mission objectives are to be formed before, not during, a campaign. And President Bush is playing it safe. He is not breaking the rules.

Another enormous fallacy in Ms. Hall's perspective is her outlandish statement of President Bush's term "axis of evil" applying to the whole of Iran's population, "by classifying all Iranians as propagators of terror." If her statement were to contain any accuracy, then I suppose that all Germans over the age of 55 would be Nazis, and all Russians over the age of 12 would be Communists. The government and citizens of a nation are two different entities when conducting foreign policy. Ms. Hall ought to know this, and there is a tide of emotion in her words, which is very misleading.

After reading Ms. Hall's column, I have now come closer to understand how we could allow Sept. 11 to occur. Terrorism extends far beyond the desert hills of Afghanistan, and a preventative measure is to discourage other nations from following the Taliban's lead. So instead of quoting a great Republican leader, how about Ms. Hall start by quoting her history books?

Christopher P. Kitchen
UA alumnus

Students disgusted by Union

So my roommate and I go to the Union last week. I get salad, soup and a soda, a reasonable meal one would think. She gets some pasta and grapes. OK, so I hit the payment line to find out my meal costs $12.53. Hello?! This is ridiculous! That is a price I would pay at Friday's because the food is actually somewhat decent, but the Union? NO! So I'm proposing an idea. You know when you go to the grocery store, you don't get in line to realize you're paying $18 for apples! There are scales! That way I know before I have to pay exactly how much my meal will cost. I've even paid $11 for a thing of fruit·.that's not right! Oh and by the way, my roommate had a spider in her grapes! C'mon people.

Jennifer Etcoff
psychology sophomore

Tuition hike a positive idea

Recently, I hear a lot of negative talk about tuition hikes. Get real! The University of Arizona is one of the best educational bargains on the planet. Great facilities, outstanding faculty and high academic standards ... all for a super low-cost tuition! I think they could double the cost, and still remain a solid value. Some whiners will complain about anything.

In addition, there are many ways a financial burden can be overcome by the lowest income students ... grants, loans, military service, a job, just to name a few. I have never had a course in economics, but common sense tells me that whenever something is free, demand will always exceed supply. The taxpayers of Arizona are subsidizing a chance for a first-rate education on this campus, so stop complaining; make the best of a great situation.

Denis Levitt
nursing senior

The 4 percent irony

As construction of the $13.5 million jock-a-torium nears completion, the academic university tries to trim the same amount from its sides. We honor our mighty athletes with new facilities and exorbitant corporate contributions. The ingenuity of our brightest young scholars, on the other hand, goes unrewarded and often unrecognized.

Surely, the new 21K square-foot Strength and Conditioning Center will be offered free of charge to UA's prestigious sportspeople, while the academic and intramural use Rec Center will increase its fees next semester. For 24 hours a day, light will radiate from the glass showcase while athletes train and spectators gawk. Simultaneously, UA electricity usage continues to soar; we never look for sunny solutions.

The stories improved athletes generate will occupy five of the Daily Wildcat's pages. Patrons of the Wildcat will continue to discard the newspaper in trash cans, rather than their appropriate recycling bins. Aching muscles will be soothed in hot tubs and steam showers; the Tucson aquifer will continue to lose volume. And potential fine arts, engineering and architecture graduate students struggle to establish a Grad-Project. The University of Arizona continues to pay millions of dollars to outside artists, architects and engineers to adorn, design and build its facilities.

These are not the complaints of an environmentalist or the peeves of a disgruntled bookworm; these are the hypocrisies of the University of Arizona. These are part of the four percent ironies.

Christopher S. Marcum
sociology sophomore

Letter disregards "real issues"

I am responding to Kevin Durkin's Feb. 7 letter about the abundance of police at Star Ranch. The fact that he is proclaiming himself to be the victim shows a complete disregard for the real issues behind underage drinking. He uses the victimization of women as a front for the irresponsible act of the consumption of alcohol by minors. Kevin Durkin, it was a nice attempt to use women being raped as the reasoning behind why cops should not be around Star Ranch at two in the morning, but I bet you did not know that, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, at least 45 percent of rapists were under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Not only is underage drinking illegal (did you forget that Kevin?), but these reports obviously show that drinking is not as innocent as you make it out to be.

Kevin Durkin also states "How many times do we read in the paper about some girl getting raped on campus?" Well, let me ask you this, how many times do we read or hear about underage drinking (or any-age drinking) as a main cause behind deaths from drunk drivers? Not only did the cops have probable cause, but it was their duty to investigate college students suspected of underage drinking.

Kevin Webb
astronomy freshman

Marijuana is unfairly blamed

I am sick and tired of hearing about how pot smokers are portrayed as people who: "come in at all hours, (but usually at four in the morning) and pass out in the hallway or run around laughing at raucous intervals, banging into doors and throwing up in the potty."

It sounds to me like the lack of balance, volume control, and vomit control that is keeping dorm dwellers awake at night is caused primarily by alcohol. Marijuana causes extreme laziness, lack of motivation, hunger, and an extreme desire to watch television. That's like calling crackheads "caffeine addicts."

If all of you complainers really cared about this issue that much, you'd have put pressure on all the local alcohol vendors to attain the little yellow identification machines so your neighbors couldn't even buy the alcohol. You would also rat out anyone who makes fake identification cards.

Here's one reason not to stop marijuana buyers (such as your neighbors) all over Tucson; Tucson's biggest moneymaker could potentially disappear. Marijuana brings more money to our neighborhoods than the optics industry (Arizona Daily Star). Could you imagine the economic ruin that would happen if Tucson had its biggest moneymaker disappear? Your marijuana-smoking neighbors support the local economy more than you do in this time of recession.

Marijuana did play a detrimental role in our university on Thursday night though, when the people in attendance of the Wildcats' basketball game were quiet enough for the television audience to hear Jason Gardner's free throws hit the net. Stanford has the worst stadium in the Pac-10 and look at the noise their fans make. From now on fans, let's try to cut back a little before the game, OK?

John Kamin
journalism senior

Super Bowl filled with "political propaganda"

I just wanted to commend Daniel Cucher on his critique of the events surrounding the Super Bowl. The political propaganda in the Super Bowl ceremonies and in the related advertisements was almost tangible. More than a football game, the entire event was a vehicle to deliver a poorly masked political message to an audience that must have been assumed to be naive. That and an attempt to sell soda and Bud Light. The pathetic appeals were transparent. My compliments to Mr. Cucher on his insights. The piece was the most intelligent Wildcat commentary I've had the opportunity to read.

Beech Burns
philosophy, psychology, pre-health senior