Journalism minors not locked out of classes

The Arizona Daily Wildcat story yesterday concerning minors being locked out of classes contains an incorrect statement that "minors have been handicapped in journalism · " In fact all journalism minors have the same access to classes as journalism majors. The department temporarily suspended entry into the journalism minor last fall because we have nearly 500 majors and only five full-time faculty. However, all university academic advisers were informed of this decision weeks before it was implemented, so students who were considering a journalism minor would have time to sign up. In no way would the department ever lock out a minor from any class or treat these students any differently than our majors.

Jacqueline Sharkey
journalism department head

Visitors should act like adults when on campus

Despite some outward appearances, a slight majority still views the University of Arizona as primarily an academic institution with goals of providing higher education. As such, those that attend this university as students or faculty understand that it is appropriate for them to abide by a slightly raised level of conduct while on campus. When one is walking on campus, there is an implicit norm that they will not randomly break into games of tag on a bike path, tell passing women that they have "a really dope ass," yell obscenities at students having lunch or try to impress others by climbing a tree while screaming 50 Cent lyrics like some ghetto koala bear. All of these instances are seen as subpar conduct among most of the students and faculty at this school and we try our best to refrain from them. Naturally, one would assume that any visitors or guests at the UA campus would conduct themselves in a similar fashion, where they would refrain from sophomoric or ill-mannered behavior. Apparently no one has taken the time to inform the droves of junior high and high school adolescents that visit the university daily about this etiquette. I am tired of seeing teachers or yard duties or whatever they are stand idly by while the youths that are supposed to be coming here to learn about the opportunities of college act like damn fools all over campus while I'm trying to go to class. If these kids can't calm down for one civilized visit to the school, then the university shouldn't permit them to come. People do actually pay to come to this institution to learn and enjoy themselves, and I'm pretty sure I didn't see any flocks of pubescent boys throwing rocks at each other in the brochure. I accept the fact that I have to put up with these kids when I'm shopping at the mall, but I don't want to do it at school. I ask the administration or whoever orchestrates these visits to please remedy this problem because daily exposure to rude little children is causing me to moderate my stance on child beating.

William Gardner
communication senior

ÎPersonal attack' toward Calvert disappointing

I would first like to express my extreme disappointment in the Wildcat staff for publishing Mr. Thomas's personal attack on ASUA Special Events Director Sarah Calvert. Not only were his statements specious, they were motivated by his personal affiliations with Comedy Corner.

It is no secret that a mutual enmity exists between various organizations on campus. However, to allow a letter, whose content is at best cathartic for the author, to purport baselessly that the Charles Darwin Experience has anything to do with the extended invitation to The Second City is below even the Wildcat's standard for journalism. CDE is completely unrelated to this event. Mr. Thomas seems to think that ASUA, CDE and, most threateningly, Sarah Calvert are somehow attempting to accomplish their own personal agendas via The Second City. Yes, ASUA is trying to plan an event for students. No, CDE has nothing to do with it. Yes, Sarah Calvert is in both ASUA and CDE. However, Ms. Calvert will be forced to miss her last performance with the CDE if in fact The Second City agrees to visit our campus. If what Mr. Thomas claims was true, it would seem an ill-conceived scheme for Ms. Calvert to plan an event by a prestigious national comedy troupe at same time CDE performs. If her intent were selfish, as Mr. Thomas naively believes it is, we would be forced to conclude that her apparently selfish priority is creating events for students to enjoy on campus.

If The Second City does perform on May 4, it will be a benefit to this campus and its students. Perhaps what Mr. Thomas is so upset about is that Comedy Corner also performs on Tuesday nights and their already meager crowd would find itself at a crux: professional comedy or pandering amateurs.

Mary Driscoll-MacEachron
molecular and cellular biology senior

Women contribute much to engineering college

Madame Curie was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for her research on radioactive substances. Randi Altschul created the world's first disposable cell phone. Patricia Billings received a patent for the resilient building material Geobond. Grace Hopper created the widely used programming language COBOL. Stephanie Kwolek's research with Dupont Company led to the development of a synthetic material called Kevlar. Who are these women, you ask? These are some of the most famous female engineers, who revolutionized the field of engineering among women, which clearly shows that engineering is no longer a "man-only major." Although Engineering is still highly dominated by males, the number of females entering the profession is growing year by year.

At the University of Arizona, women make up a mere 19 percent of the undergraduates in the College of Engineering, and there are only about 15 female professors within the college of engineering. Why should this gap exist? One of us was at an engineering recruiting event at a local middle school a couple of years ago, and one of the girls said, "It's more of a guy's profession · I don't really know how to build things." This is where the problem lies. Not all engineers "build things." Engineering is about being innovative, creative and being able to solve problems. Chemical engineering has one of the highest female to male ratios, whereas electrical and computer engineering have the lowest ratios.

There are numerous resources for female engineers within the College of Engineering, such as the Virtual Development Center. The VDC draws technical and non-technical women and their supporters into technology by making the connection between technology creation and social impact designed for women engineers. The Society of Women Engineers is also a great networking tool for female engineering students.

Apart from this, there is regular free tutoring from the volunteers of Tau Beta Pi, a communication lab, team/study rooms, a writing center and the Motorola Student Center, which is an academic and social support program for underrepresented students and women. Residence Life also provides theme housing for Women in Science and Engineering and Math at Gila Hall. So ladies, don't be afraid to major in engineering!

Annapoorani Chellappan
chemical engineering senior