Offensive Wildcat comics of Îlowest common denominator'

It is a sad day in our education system when supposed intellectual advancement and freedom of speech mix to produce the gutter humor in Wildcat comics. I am personally saddened and offended that the caliber of comics the Wildcat has chosen seems to play to the lowest common denominator ÷ which continues to drop at UA. I personally challenge the staff to find humor material that requires thought and not a pelvic grind. Step up an echelon and bring your readers with you.

Patrick Williams M.D., Major, U.S. Army
UA alumnus, 1990

Lack of class availability a fact of life for UA freshmen

I just wanted to write a response to Ms. Joanna Duda's Friday letter, "Fall class availability absolutely ludicrous." Not being able to register for classes as a freshman? That's the nature of the beast. The purpose of having a registration system based on seniority allows the students who have been here for three or four years to have priority over those who have only been here a semester. I understand that classes are hard to get, but I found it difficult to believe that not one Gen Ed class was available. So I went to the schedule of classes online and checked, and I found a variety of Gen Eds that were open. Could it be that unwillingness to take early morning classes is the problem here?

If anything, scheduling classes as a freshman is a lot simpler than scheduling classes as a senior. During your first (and even second) year, you can take whatever you want whenever you want at any time. As you progress through your degree program, you'll find you have two classes left to take in order to graduate and one is at 8 a.m. and the other is at 5 p.m. At least as a freshman you can work it so you go to school from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. or something equally as concise. I don't have sympathy for freshmen who complain about not being able to get classes. We've all had to do it. Plus, complaining about budget cuts and tuition increase is a waste of time. Cutting back the number of classes and making school more expensive will lower the number of people who are willing or able to come here. While that's sad, it is the solution to lack of funding at this time. If you're concerned about finding a university with more classes available to you, then do some research. All kinds of information is at your disposal about the school you're going to attend. Look online or at school Web sites and find a university that isn't undergoing budget cuts. Or just suck it up and stop complaining.

Laura Tarris
art history senior

Yellow ribbons, painted "A" only important to the weak

What is so damn important about yellow ribbons and a red, white and blue "A" Mountain? Why is it such an issue, and why do people feel like something they have no control over can represent them to such a great extent? Attachment to symbolism and iconography is quite simply a sign of inner struggle and weakness. These are the same people who wonder what outfit and book bag define them as a person. It's silly and irrelevant and we can see that this incessant need for "correct" representation is a microcosm for your insecurity.

Please get off it ÷ who cares what a yellow ribbon wrapped around a tree is supposed to mean? If this is an issue to you, it's time to grow up and realize that things you don't agree with have to and will happen every day of your life. Please stop throwing tantrums about things that offend you in any way, liberal or conservative, and take a hint that we don't all get along and we never will.

Brooks Kary
agricultural economics sophomore

Better fuel efficiency coming due to foreign manufacturers

Ever since I have been married, I have driven foreign cars. Of course, people give me flack about not buying domestic, saying that our cars are just as good and it helps our economy. Tell me, what have our domestic car companies done for us? They have piddled around our time concerning themselves and us with luxury, comfort, CD players, DVD players, while foreign car manufacturers have made more concerned themselves with more important issues, the environment, by making more fuel efficient vehicles. While we are concerned for and whining about gasoline prices and oil, they have been finding alternatives that will allow us to be oil-free and our air to be clean at last.

Well, the joke's on U.S. (companies, that is)! They have missed their chance to provide an example of concern for the environment. I don't know if I have missed it in our school's paper or whether it has not even been made mention, but I don't want this campus community to miss what could be the most important announcement for our world's future. At the risk of endorsing a company, Honda has finally produced it: a car that does not use gasoline. That's right! It is a car that uses fuel cells. By using hydrogen for power, this car does not produce any emissions and makes no pollution. The only byproduct that it creates is water. That's right, good, old, pure H2O. These cars are now being delivered to Los Angeles, one of the smog capitals of the nation.

What does that mean for us? It means that we have the chance to do away with gasoline and the pollutants resulting from oil consumption. Well, our economy missed its chance to lead us into a new environmental era, but as consumers, we need not be so foolish. We have the burden of supporting and pushing this innovation; we must show our domestic companies that we care about the environment and that if they don't step up to the plate, then they will go down the toilet. That's why I buy and will continue to buy foreign!

An environmentally concerned citizen,

Jason Belnap
mathematics doctoral student

U.S. a nation of immigrants; more tolerance needed from its citizens

Arizona has water stations near the border because hundreds of immigrants were dying from the heat of the desert ÷ immigrants who came in search of freedom, democracy, equality and justice. We are a nation of immigrants whose ancestors came here for those same reasons. How can we condemn these people? We argue that they are breaking the law, that they're criminals! And the starving man who steals bread is a criminal! The European Union is opening its borders. The American Union, gripped by Bush-paranoia, is threatening to build walls all around us, and attack all who are not with us. Should we rebuild the Berlin wall while we're at it? Osama bin Laden grins when he sees fear ruling our nation.

Ben Kalt
UA alumnus

Violence by Israeli army more condemnable than that of PLO

Reuben Goodman, thanks for pointing out the lack of proof for the points I made in my letter last week. Normally, when I include links to news articles in my letters they don't get printed. Here is the link to the child shot on his front porch: http://www.palestinemonitor.org/updates/israeli_army_shoots_2yr_old.htm. I cannot find again the specific article describing the man shot while smoking on his porch during a summer evening, but it is indirectly referenced here:

http://www.bettymeetsboris.com/coffee/palestine.html, and is most likely listed in this casualty list as well: http://www.lawsociety.org/Intifada2000/list.htm. As for the children detained by the Israeli military, that story was told to me by an American who visited Palestine and witnessed the event himself. The billions of dollars given to Israel by the United States are documented and broken down here: http://www.palestinemonitor.org/factsheet/US_Aid_to_Israel.htm.

As for your accusation that I am over-generalizing, I disagree. You say that, by my logic, the Palestine Liberation Organization must be a terrorist organization. They are. Their tactics are disgusting and quite foolish. By attacking Israeli civilians, they only increase support for the radical right-wing government that continues to persecute them. The difference I see between the utterly stupid use of violence on both sides is that the Palestinian violence is largely conducted by radical individuals and groups supported largely by an impoverished culture with little political infrastructure. The Israeli violence is committed as a formal act on behalf of the nation with the support of the United States. The Israeli voters, and in a way, the American voters, are all responsible for these acts, despite the fact that the majority of both populations may not approve of them.

Kris Brown
electrical engineering senior