Moving D-M runway is not an option

I agree that routes of the flights coming into Davis-Monthan that bring the aircraft over campus pose a dangerous situation. Unfortunately the only solution would be to move the base.

The runway at D-M, like the one at Tucson International Airport, is laid out to take advantage of the prevailing winds. Airplanes (both civil and military) must line up at over 100 mph on final approach to make a safe landing. Perhaps the next round of base closures will hit Davis-Monthan and the problem will become moot.

This of course will make Tucson a much poorer community and probably result in the state having less tax revenue to spend on the University of Arizona. No easy solutions.

Phil Rogers
master sergeant U.S. Air Force (retired)
husband of Prof. Robin Rogers (deceased)

Media 'capitalized' on deaths of professors

This is in response to the article in Tuesday's Wildcat in which Ryan Scalise quoted me as saying, "Not another one of you guys. Can't you just leave it alone?" when he asked for opinions about the anniversary of the nursing school shootings.

I was incorrectly quoted; he came into our classroom asking for opinions on the subject. It is my opinion that this anniversary should be respected and that it should not be capitalized upon by journalists. This incident affected a great number of people at this university, in the community and even many nationwide. Ryan Scalise implied that my attitude is that because it did not affect me directly then I do not care.

I care so much about the tragic events that took place that I felt that the Wildcat should not disturb the mourning of others in their grief. As nursing students, we build relationships with our teachers that go beyond the academic setting and begin to care deeply for each other. Even though I did not personally know Cheryl, Barbara or Robin, I feel the effects of their legacies that they left behind with their colleagues and former students.

To imply that I have a selfish and uncaring attitude toward the tragedy is not only grossly misinterpreted, but also is damaging and hurtful to the families and friends of these women - that they should be given the impression that there are students who do not care is far from the truth. I hope in the future that Wildcat reporters would have more dignity and hold higher standards of respect for those in pain.

Cheryl, Barbara and Robin will be missed by those who knew them personally and students for years to come will honor their memories.

Lindsay Piane
nursing junior

Environmentalists must take blame for fires

In Wednesday's Wildcat, Mr. Zigby asserted that forest fires have nothing to do with environmentalists. He went on to whine about how vicious development and growth are hurting the "pristine" forest.

Well, Mr. Zigby should wake up and realize that people have lived in the forests since we were all apes.

Somehow the Native Americans never had to contend with the kinds of forest fires we are seeing in California. Why? Because they routinely cleared underbrush and dry, dead wood from the forest. Thus, when a forest fire came through it merely scarred the trees (leaving them alive) rather than becoming a flaming inferno.

Some on the environmentalist left have made it impossible for the forest service to allow the clearing of this combustible underbrush.

This is why CNBC and Fox News have both cited environmentalists as one of causes of the out-of-control fires.

The sad part is that people like Mr. Zigby and his environmentalist friends spend most of their time protesting and preventing intelligent solutions to the build up of "fuel" in the forests and then they turn around and say "let those homes burn;" "the rich got what they deserve!" Now that's hypocrisy!

Seth Frantzman
UA Alumnus

Nursing profs should have better memorial

I can understand Walter McGaffic's anger over the way the College of Nursing has chosen to remember his wife Cheryl and her colleagues.

A plaque is nice, but what purpose does it serve? Does it continue teaching her course about how to deal with death and dying? Does it share Barbara Monroe's sense of humor with those who never knew her? Would it tell a stranger that Robin Rogers was an excellent pediatric nurse?

I'm also disturbed that the college administration refuses to talk about what happened that day. I understand that it's difficult, but "sweeping it under the rug," to quote one student, is hardly a productive way to deal with it and I needn't be a nursing student to know that.

These women deserve a better monument to the legacy they left behind in Tucson's nursing community.

Marsha McFadden Quick
UA alumna

Happy Ramadan to Muslim students

Ramadan Mubarak!

On behalf of the Muslim Student Association, I would like to wish the students a blessed and a rewarding Ramadan.

If you are curious about the Muslim fast, visit our tent on the UA Mall this week and the coming two weeks as we acquire student pledges for the Ramadan Fast-a-Thon.

Faisal El Azzouzi
electrical engineering senior
cultural coordinator of the Muslim Student Association

Light rail would be an asset to city

In response to Kara Karlson's opinion in Thursday's paper: Propositions 200 and 201 will greatly improve the transportation problems in Tucson and not make them worse.

Light rail will be run in the median of the road on the proposed line and will not congest traffic. If many people use light rail, there will be less traffic on the road.

Light rail is also cheaper to use than a car. I have used the light rail in Salt Lake City, Utah and only paid $1.25 for the 26-mile trip from Sandy to downtown and back. That was much cheaper than using my grandparents' car and paying for the gas and downtown parking.

The proposed tax increase is only three-tenths of a cent, which is nothing much to me, and I use public transit to get around Tucson. Phoenix's tax increase for its light-rail was four-tenths of a cent plus one-half cent from the 1985 transportation plan.

I also lived in the Phoenix area and still do in the summer, and I love its transportation network of freeways, buses and future light rail. I don't care about the construction because I know that I will be using it when I am up there.

Mark Thompson
geography sophomore

Planes should be reminder of sacrifice

It was disappointing to read Jessica Lee's "UA should not accept daily fly-bys." Jessica Lee cites a tragic incident that resulted in the deaths of two University of Arizona students. These deaths should cause the military to reassess its flight patterns and minimize danger for the citizens of Tucson as much as possible.

I do not argue that these "fly-bys" raise legitimate safety concerns. I take issue with the tone of Lee's article. God forbid Arizona students be reminded that there are hundreds of thousands of servicemen deployed across our globe or that there are servicemen who have died for their freedom.

Maybe Lee would have us tear down the USS Arizona memorial because students should not be reminded of the great sacrifices veterans have made. Perhaps she would have us rename Veterans' Day.

After all, veterans fought in wars, and wars are about violence, and this might scare or alarm students. Lee seems to ignore the fact that her freedom has been paid for with the blood of those she disrespects so shamelessly.

As a Marine, and a member of "the perpetual machine of war," I apologize for the alarming or scary nature of these sounds and for the inconvenience of having to listen to planes. Lee says these sounds make the UA feel "like a war zone." She says that the "military aircraft blanket the campus with the aura of war and violence." The noise in no way resembles the sounds of combat. I wish Ms. Lee could have been with me in Nasiryah or Baghdad this past March and April so she could hear what war sounds like.

Robert Joseph Sexton
first-year law student

Davis-Monthan noise is a burden

I must agree that Jessica Lee's fear of being killed by a falling airplane is entirely irrational. However, as a former resident of Hopi and Yavapai residence halls, I understand her frustration. Military air traffic was a definite annoyance.

Oftentimes when a plane passed by, the windows of my room would literally rattle. Any conversations would have to be stopped until the racket ended. By far the worst impact of local air traffic was not being able to fall asleep because of the planes.

The air force has a right to use its runway. Demanding that they rebuild it facing a different direction is insulting to both the air force and the value of our tax money. A better solution would be to ask that the planes fly higher until they are closer to the base, fly slower and approach the runway from the opposite side at night.

Kris Brown
electrical engineering senior

Students should recycle coupon books

Hello, my name is Noah Horton and I am your local Student Union Memorial Post Office Mail Truck Driver. As you can probably imagine, being a mailman has its perks. However, I am not here today to talk about being loved and admired by thousands of on-campus residents; I speak of something much more serious. I am here today to tell you of the dark underbelly of the United States Postal Service - specifically, the weekly "Smart Source" mailers I deliver to the dorms.

For those of you who do not know what these are, they are catalogues full of coupons - a noble cause to be sure, but also an incredible waste of paper. You see, former mailman Ryan Taylor (R.I.P.) and I have spent every Tuesday and Wednesday of this school year delivering thousands of pounds worth of coupons to dorms.

These coupons, according to our trusty inside operatives (the desk assistants), rarely get used by students. I would venture to say, and I'm sure Ryan would concur, that almost 96 percent of those coupons are never used. For those of you who are not mathematically inclined, that is a lot of trash.

Accordingly, it is not difficult to draw a correlation between these mailers and back problems of mailmen everywhere, discontent amongst desk assistants everywhere, increased workload without increased pay of garbage men everywhere and depletion of rain forests everywhere. In fact, according to my calculations, if these mailers continue, in three years paper will cost $15 a sheet and there will only be one-third of a tree left in the world.

Now, Ryan and I have looked into getting rid of these mailers, and it's not an option. So here is my plea to residents of dorms, as well as desk assistants: please recycle your mailers (trial AOL disks may be used as coasters, by the way); the fate of the world depends on it.

Noah Horton
undeclared sophomore

Too late to change flight patterns

Ms. Lee is probably the only student disgusted with the military aircraft that periodically grace the skies over the UA. I have yet to see a student that becomes "immediately alarmed and, for an instant, scared" at the A-10s and other assorted airplanes that "disrupt" our daily life.

I cannot speak for Ms. Lee, or any other student, but I am proud to be able to glance up and see our military at work, and I know I am not the only one who watches them.

Please don't get me wrong; the fatalities that occurred 25 years ago were extremely tragic.

However, they happened 25 years ago. Has there been any mention of incidents since then? Other crashes? Other fatalities? Why should Davis-Monthan be forced to reposition the runways over one mistake, 25 years ago?

The columnist herself says it is "impossible to reduce the probability of risk to zero."

Even if the planes don't fly over the UA campus, they will still fly over the population of Tucson.

The "overbearing" noise to which Ms. Lee refers is the sound of freedom.

She is correct in one aspect; the "scream of the engines" does remind us of our military action all over the world. It reminds us of the men and women who have given and are still giving their lives overseas, protecting the American way of life. I am proud. Are you?

Katelun May
aerospace and materials engineering freshman