Zona Zoo lottery rewards student-ticket scalpers

I am writing this letter following a recent eBay search that turned up UA students selling their basketball tickets on the online auction site. This is a slap in the face to fans like myself that purchased a Zona Zoo sports pass and failed to receive tickets via the lottery system. These tickets were selling for an astonishing $250 to $300. This practice must be frowned upon and met with strict penalties. There are plenty of students who are not looking to make a quick profit at the university's expense. The university should develop a policy on scalping student tickets at ridiculous prices. The hopeless fans that had no luck in the lottery are again losers, as they must fork over immense sums of money to set foot in McKale Center and witness the mystifying atmosphere of Arizona basketball.

TJ Vincent
political science senior

Pristine wilderness must be protected from developers

The hills are alive - and we are not talking about the rolling green hills of Austria. Instead, we are referring to the beautiful desert hills of the Tucson Mountains alive with many types of Sonoran Desert flora and fauna. Everyone driving past Painted Hills Road toward Gates Pass on West Speedway, passes by beautiful, steep desert hills covered with saguaro, jojoba, palo verde and many types of cacti. This special piece of desert contains a large wash and wildlife corridor that continues south to Anklam Road.

Imagine this gateway to the Tucson Mountains and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum destroyed by a massive housing development and a road that would connect Speedway to Anklam. The nightmare of development may soon become reality unless there is a vocal outcry. Political pressure must be exerted on the Pima County Board of Supervisors to preserve this unique desert, loved by all Tucsonans as part of our heritage.

We believe many Tucsonans would be shocked to know that 186 acres between West Speedway and Anklam, from

approximately the western end of the Star Pass development on the east to the ridge where Anklam joins Speedway on the west, is planned for the development of one house per acre. Under no circumstances should this desert landscape be covered with houses and a road that will cut through the hills!

We urge everyone who opposes the destruction of this pristine desert habitat to write to their supervisors and request that they prevent homebuilding in this area. The supervisors have set aside a sum of money for the purchase of open spaces; help us fight for this small piece of paradise.

Sara Risner-Adler
nutritional sciences junior
Katie Risner-Adler
Mexican American studies senior

Aircraft are 'welcome sight,' reminder of man's power

This is in response to Jessica Lee's yesterday column. Miss Lee's fear of military aircraft is completely irrational. Aside from the fact that these aircraft are a necessary element of a strong and efficient national defense, the actual chance of any aircraft crashing at all, let alone on top of people or sensitive property, is negligible compared to the chance of, oh, say, getting hit by a car. According to Miss Lee's logic, rerouting vehicular traffic would be reasonable. But I seriously doubt she would advocate this. She is obviously using the crash many years ago as an excuse to promote her real agenda, which I suspect was obvious to most readers.

To me the aircraft are a welcome sight. The awe-inspiring view of a giant, super-fast, man-made machine zooming overhead reaffirms my belief in the efficacy of man and the power of his mind: creating machines that push the boundaries of imagination and engineering, like that crazy idea of flying through the air at supersonic speeds! They hardly project a sense of impending doom and violence, but remind me of the peace and freedom I enjoy every day - a freedom that is protected by the men and women who not only serve to pilot these aircraft but work to invent, build and maintain them.

So the next time you hear an A-10 approaching, look up and remember the hard work, imagination and creativity that went into producing it. And thank your lucky stars any one bothered to at all, because it is these very things that frighten Miss Lee that protect us.

Marnee Dearman
geological engineering
graduate student

Environmentalists not to blame for California fires

I generally shy away from news coverage on the major networks, instead preferring independent media to influence my daily thoughts. However, last night while channel surfing during the football game, I came across a wonderful storyline on CNBC regarding the California wildfires: "Environmentalists to Blame." How ingenious - shift the blame to a group of people that opposes the very building of homes in these pristine, semi-arid forest regions. I liken this to the child, who despite numerous warnings from his parents about running with scissors, does so anyway, injures him or herself, and then has the gall to go on "The O'Reilly Factor" and place blame on the parents.

A forestry expert I am not; however, my education has led me to believe that fires such as this, as well as this summer's here in Tucson, are a natural phenomenon. And while containment is possible, it only leads to a buildup of fuel for the next season's inferno. Certainly, humans are the most influential and powerful species to ever walk, or shall I say drive, the planet. But we must realize that Mother Nature still exerts her fury from time to time and we can do little about it.

Forward-thinking planning in an area such as the suburban wilderness of Southern California could have greatly reduced the amount of damage suffered in a natural disaster such as this. However, exclusionary, large-lot zoning practices place a maximum of homes in harm's way, as well as provide the necessary fuel between each residence to force each property to become a battlefront. So firefighters, none of whom can afford to live in these upscale neighborhoods, are dispatched by the thousands, at a cost to taxpayers, to fight a natural occurrence-turned-disaster due to the dreams of the wealthy to "return to nature." One could argue that these residents pay higher property taxes and deserve more services than the average resident. That might be true had Prop. 13 not placed a virtual freeze (1 percent per year increase) on property taxes in California.

Closer to home, at a time when poor urban planning is costing the federal government billions in disaster relief, the University of Arizona is cutting the School of Planning, a program whose budget is peanuts.

Finally, I would never champion the loss of life or personal injury, and my heart goes out to the families of the deceased. But I find myself secretly thinking, "Let these homes burn." If enough damage is caused, will people open their eyes and realize that we must do something about the haphazard manner of growth, both suburban and exurban, that is plaguing our great cities? That would require people to stray far enough from their televisions to inhale a bit of media information free from conservative bias.

Edward L. Zigby
UA alumnus

Planes have nowhere else to fly but over UA campus

In response to the column about military planes over campus: Where are they supposed to fly? Would it be any better to let them fly over the surrounding suburbs and kill on old lady in her living room or crash into an elementary school?

We must live with the fact that our city includes an Air Force Base and deal with the noise that comes with it. The author of that column needs to find a more important subject to complain about.

Scott Creith
regional development senior

Many Hispanics offended by 'Sarape's Grill' comic

What's true of the part isn't necessarily true of the whole. This is termed fallacy of composition, a principle with which Jesus Martinez is entirely unacquainted.

Martinez implies that the fact he isn't offended with Arnie Bermudez's comic strip "Sarape's Grill" combined with the lack of letters attacking the strip from Hispanics means that the comic strip in question is not offensive to the Hispanic community.

Being a second-generation immigrant from Mexico, my culture and ethics are obviously deeply rooted in Hispanic heritage and, to contrast Martinez's blind assertion that Hispanics aren't offended by "Sarape's Grill," I must declare my thorough disgust with the strip.

"Sarape's Grill" preys on typecasts of Hispanics and presents them in a strip completely devoid of humor and riddled with overt racism. It's folly to hesitate in associating the comic with racism; the author's ethnic background should not shield him from attacks to his character. Racism is all the same, regardless of the source.

I was shocked to learn that a public newspaper would continually print such a strip. I doubt the comic would be allowed to run if it targeted black, Arab or Asian stereotypes. Should the relatively small proportion of Hispanic students as compared to the number of other minorities make it appropriate for the comic to be allowed to run?

Johnny Valdez
journalism freshman