European travel provides culture, new experiences for students

I have enjoyed a variety of articles in your publication throughout my past two years at the U of A, including many well-reasoned columns that contradict my own opinions. I was very disappointed to read Sabrina Noble's column in Monday's paper regarding student travelers abroad. Ms. Noble notes, "the global community is leaving me behind," "I've never been overseas," and "assuming they have the funding for travel" right off the bat and continues her jealous fit throughout the article. Having actually been overseas, I find that Ms. Noble's observations could not be further from the truth. This summer, during my travels, I found myself staying with local families throughout Europe and engaging in as much local culture as possible. And I am certainly not alone ÷ 95 percent or more of the students I traveled with were submerged in similar experiences, contrary to the writer's confused and unsupported conclusion. I am also proud to say that I didn't once enter a McDonald's in order to "avoid the local food," nor bring back a single touristy souvenir. Additionally unresearched is Ms. Noble's claim to Europe's "legal marijuana," which is of course tolerated but certainly not "legal." I also found the vague comparison of Europeans to zoo animals, and the supposition that "people live there, however they can get by" particularly offensive. Many of the very human people I have met in my travels are obviously "getting by" much better than the uneducated author with her "American money" which is much inferior today to the strength of the European Union's euro. I can only hope that I never encounter such a sheltered American in my future travels.

Steve Kmack
economics junior

UA tuition Îunaffordable,' schools compete with prisons for money

This letter is in response to Caitlin Hall's editorial in yesterday's Wildcat in which she derided a recent lawsuit filed to halt UA's tuition hike.

As a plaintiff in that suit, I'd like to elaborate further on the reasons why this tuition hike is wrong.

First, a study conducted by the Arizona Advocacy Network found that although UA's tuition appears low in comparison to that of other states it is actually among the most unaffordable to state residents. In other words, other states, while having higher tuitions, also have residents who are able to pay those higher tuitions. Arizona residents, on the other hand, are saddled with more loans than the residents of practically any other state.

Second, the Arizona Legislature has, for the past 20 years, been allocating more and more of general fund money to the construction of prisons. That means that dollars for higher education compete with dollars for prison construction. Most inmates in Arizona prisons are non-violent offenders and studies show that alternatives to incarceration are both cheaper and decrease recidivism. Considering alternatives to incarceration and examining sentencing reform are ways that would put more dollars back into higher education. So, the issue is not to make the money appear out of nowhere, as Ms. Hall claims. The money is there. It's just being spent in an inefficient way.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. My hope is that by filing this lawsuit, we can point out to people the gross mismanagement of funds at the state level and the purposeful misspending at the regents' level. Win or lose, I hope that this lawsuit helps bring out the truth about university financing.

Rachel Wilson
first-year law student