Stereotypes in comics pages unwelcome

After reading Tuesday's Wildcat, I am annoyed. In my opinion, more discretion needs to be used when choosing comic strips for the back page. The comics rarely gain even a chuckle at best, and furthermore, they tend to be more offensive than anything else. In Tuesday's issue, David Low, through the "B-Fish" comic, makes fun of, in his words, "several voting Republicans" and pegs them as racist and homophobic. I am not without a sense of humor, however, jokes such as these are getting pretty old. There was another offensive cartoon in the Wildcat in the Feb. 3 issue, when Carlos Pachecho poked fun at Christianity. This comic was not amusing, and it crossed the line. Is religious persecution permitted as long as it's persecuting Christianity? The creator of the "Pagan Fire" comic strip should be able to create whatever comics he wants, but I am requesting that, as a university-affiliated entity, the Wildcat weed out comics that can be potentially hurtful and in fact discriminatory. These comics serve no purpose in this paper.

As students we have diversity and sensitivity training drilled into us at this and other universities in order to ensure that we respect everyone's feelings. It is my strong suggestion that it is about time to apply the principles learned in that sensitivity training to all groups. Is respect for diversity selective at the Wildcat? Consider this: Perhaps even an overweight, Christian Republican actually deserves the same respect as everyone else.

Brett Berg
political science junior

Fired UA employee was only doing her job

Your article regarding the UA employee who was fired after revealing that liquor was being stored in a university office came as a shocker. I could not believe what I was reading. One of the finest universities in the country, producing thousands of potential leaders each and every year, was demonstrating that which we have been trying to squash: intolerance, plain and simple. Intolerance towards an employee whose only concern was to make the ISPS office professional and helpful, the way any campus office should be.

Ms. Hafez was absolutely right in trying to get the liquor removed from the international students' office. Liquor exemplifies a casual party setting found in bars, dance clubs and frat house parties. It has no place even being stored in an office where the employees are students' direct link to the United States Immigration Services. This simply shows that the employees who allowed the storage of the liquor have no idea of the damage they can inflict upon these students who come seeking their assistance.

Ms. Hafez, I appreciate your effort to try to clean up the office. The university would benefit greatly if it had more employees of your caliber. Unfortunately, the "higher powers" in your office did not tolerate your honesty and morality. Most people back down when confronted by an 800-pound gorilla disguised as their supervisor. However, you took your gorilla head on, and we should all respect you for that. I applaud you.

On the other hand, I shake my head in disgust at the people who found convenience in firing Ms. Hafez due to "budget cuts" almost immediately after she blew the whistle on the liquor storage. If the decision to eliminate her position due to such cuts had been in the works for six months, why did you not give Ms. Hafez any warning? Any respectable supervisor would have done so. The bottom line is that you could not handle the fact that she leaked news of the liquor storage. Do not insult our intelligence and try to convince us that a "budget cut" was the reason for letting Ms. Hafez go when the truth is so clear. Obviously, abuse of power is found everywhere. Unfortunately, it seems to be passed through halls and offices of our nation's universities.

Mohammed Sayed
pre-business sophomore

Menopause causes more than 'emotional chaos'

This is in response to the Friday editorial entitled "Bombs Away." A member of the opinions board wrote that the research at the UA on menopause is "the bomb." While I am very sensitive to research on animals (in this case, the research is helpful to women), what threw me for a loop is the obviously uneducated "opinion" on menopause. I am nowhere near the age of menopause, but members of my family have gone through it or are currently going though it. To reduce menopause to "years of emotional chaos" is utterly ill-informed, or due to a lack of research on the part of the journalist. There are at least 35 symptoms of menopause. These include hot flashes (often resulting in sleeplessness), irregular periods, memory lapses, breast tenderness and possible osteoporosis, among other symptoms. Not one of these can be attributed to "emotional chaos." Menopause does affect the emotions of women. But when someone reduces menopause strictly to "emotional chaos" without mentioning the physical ramifications, that person has reduced women to the weaklings that society long thought we were. Men are strong and women are weak and cry at the drop of a hat (especially at that time of the month). To the journalist who voiced his or her opinion, thank you for making me, and probably other women, feel like our problems are always emotional and never physical or real.

Erin Tucker
renewable natural resources studies graduate student

Extending last call won't make community safer

So Daniel Scarpinato thinks life would be better in Arizona if bars were open later, and that the 1 a.m. last call encourages binge drinking and spawns late-night parties? Oh yeah ... changing the last call will make Tucson more enjoyable and cosmopolitan.

Wow ... those are pretty bold points to make with no facts to back them up.

Binge drinking has nothing to do with closing time. If there is a rush to drink heavily at 12:45 a.m., I would imagine there will be a rush to get a couple more drinks at 1:45 a.m. or 2:45 a.m. Last call does not encourage binge drinking.

People will hook up to party at 1 a.m., 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. if they want to party. Last call will not change house partying.

Tucson (and the rest of the state) is very enjoyable right now. The state enjoys a healthy tourist and convention business with a 1 a.m. closing. There are a large number of bars, restaurants and clubs that prosper with a 1 a.m. closing time.

Hey ... that last thing about Tucson being more cosmopolitan ... who has ever come to Tucson or the UA because the city is cosmopolitan? It's the freaking "Old Pueblo." I don't think it's supposed to be cosmopolitan. If you wanted a big-city feel, you should have gone to school in a big city.

Find some facts to back up your claims. A "columnist" should be able to defend his opinion.

Bill Novosel
UA alumnus