TPD's drinking enforcement bound

That was an excellent and fair article by Ty Young on the Tucson Police Department's underage drinking tactics. As the featured interviewee in the article, I have three questions: 1) After the students are arrested, then what? Answer: They continue doing whatever they would have done anyway. As long as society condones responsible alcohol consumption by adults, underage students will continue to consume alcohol. 2) After the students turn 21, then what? Answer: They continue doing whatever they would have done anyway, but the police no longer have this artificial leverage against them. 3) So what is the point of the arrests? I have yet to hear an intelligent answer to this question.

Supervisor Carol West said that I am "living in a dream world." Perhaps. But in my dream world, law enforcement officials would focus their energies on things that matter and elected officials would actually have the courage to think for themselves and disagree with the law enforcement officials when they fail to serve the public interest.

The Tucson Police have found a narrow window of opportunity to "beat up" on University of Arizona students and they are taking full advantage of it. This parent objects.

Glen Huntsberger
UA parent
Santa Rosa, CA

Drinking enforcement justified, important

It seems that this campus has forgotten that drinking before one's 21st birthday is illegal. The Tucson Police Department is doing its job and should not be harangued for effective busts of underage drinkers. Mr. Huntsberger, if you put the energy into social change (perhaps changing the drinking age if you're so viciously opposed to it) that you put into your whining letter campaign, you could make a difference. If your son is guilty of a crime that he knowingly committed, complaining to political officials will win you neither support nor sympathy.

Also, let's remember that the age requirement to drink liquor is for our own protection: Drinking at any age is harmful, but it is most damaging to developing bodies under 21 years. Irresponsible consumption of alcohol may cause liver disease, ulcers, even brain damage. The combination of irresponsible drinking and poor driving skills, both of which are highest among people of college age, kills someone in the United States every 30 minutes. By committing ourselves to sobriety before age 21, we are doing ourselves and our communities a favor.

Jenny Barker
EEB and chemistry sophomore

Students must protest new research facility

The University of Arizona is building a new biomedical research building on the corner of Helen and Cherry. This will be one more building on campus where research animals (monkeys, pigs, dogs, mice and others) will be tortured in the name of science. These animals will lead miserable lives: isolated in cages and denied all social interaction, they will be subjected to a series of painful experiments and eventually killed.

Why is the UA involved in this? Because it means large federal grants from the National Institutes of Health as well as private funding. Unfortunately, the scientists (UA employees) conducting these experiments are exempt from the state Cruelty to Animals Act, but if anybody else was caught doing what these guys do to animals, we put them in a straight jacket and haul them off to a mental hospital.

What can students and others do about this? Speak up. Demonstrate. Write letters. The only way university administrators will move away from the status quo is if enough people demand change and hold the administration accountable. Demand to know what's going on behind the locked doors of the research facilities.

The animals don't have a voice but you do.

Curt Fluegel
UA alumnus

'Optimal Stubble' should run every day

I wrote to this paper about three months ago with a comment about one of your comics. I noticed you put one strip in the paper five days a week and then cut it back to two days a week. The reason I ask about it is that it seems to be a strong strip. So why change? The comic I am making reference to is "Optimal Stubble." I wanted to express my opinion on this Micah Zahler kid's strip. He's got a sweet strip and myself and the other designers I work with love it and wish to see it more often. We all thought it was awesome seeing it five days a week - but that's just us. Thank you for your time, and we hope to see more "Optimal Stubble."

William Sampson
Tucson, Arizona