Students wronged by cancellation

I was totally shocked when I read the Tuesday front-page story of the Wildcat reporting that the December university-wide graduation had been cancelled.

As an undergraduate student graduating this December, I feel that the university is telling me that I don't matter, the four years that I've spent at the UA don't really count and the university doesn't feel like I deserve to be recognized along with the rest of the graduates. I also can't believe that I'm just hearing about this now. Why wasn't I informed that there was even a possibility of the ceremony being cancelled?

When I was in for a graduation check and to apply for my degree less than two weeks ago, I was told that there was a university-wide graduation for me to attend along with my individual college graduation. I, along with I'm sure many other students who are being deprived of their graduation ceremony, would like to know why we were left out of this decision and what we can do to see that we get the same opportunities to be recognized as the students who have graduated from UA in the past.

Erica Yoder
journalism senior

Government affects younger people, too

Dan McGuire's implication in his Monday column that 35-to-60-year-olds vote Republican because they are the only ones affected by government is one interpretation.

I have another: Perhaps the "raising a family, working 40 or more hours" disenfranchises the average voter from society-at-large due to time constraints, and so he or she tends to vote for whomever will promise the most short-term gain, regardless of the long-term consequences. College students, on the other hand are, by definition, thinking creatures (or at least the ones who vote tend to be) that have time to impartially analyze the issues.

Another presumption made is that that Republicans are guardians of "family and moral structure." It's sad to see someone so willing to allow their religion to be used against them to sugarcoat an otherwise unpalatable platform. Republicans use the visceral images of aborted fetuses and Mr. Homo preying on children to divert people's attention and keep them coming to the polls.

However, you'll never see them mentioning such inconvenient Christian values as compassion, feeding the hungry, pacifism and humility, since those run quite contrary to their interpretation of conservatism. At any rate, it's obviously working.

Christopher Haney
environmental microbiology graduate student

Leniency given to athletes unfair

So let me get this straight: A UA football player can smoke marijuana on campus, lie to the police (twice) about his identity, lie about possession of a bag containing a "green, leafy substance," and then be diverted to the dean?

In contrast, a UA student shows an officer a fake ID to get into a bar less than three hours before he's legally allowed to do so, and he spends the night in jail. Does this strike anyone else as odd?

Joseph Jaramillo
computer science senior

Give undergraduates their commencement

I am a senior who is expected to graduate in three and a half years this December. I read the article in the Wildcat on Tuesday and have to say that I am very upset that there will not be a commencement ceremony.

A graduation ceremony with the whole school signifies the end of a 16-year journey through school. By not having a commencement, the university is sending the message to students that the long journey was nothing to be proud of and it is not worth the time to honor the students who pushed themselves to graduate.

I am also upset at the fact that the students were never consulted on how much it would mean to them.

It's not right to take away something that means so much to students just because a few people are going to throw some tortillas. I don't feel this is a justifiable reason and that it is just a lame excuse.

If the university is going to stick to this, then it is only fair that the university allow the students to participate in next May's commencement ceremony, unless there will be no commencement in May.

Not only is this news disheartening to the students, but also to their parents and family members who have waited to see their first child graduate. I feel that this is not the only solution and is not fair to "test" on this year's graduates.

Breanne Sifuentes

senior majoring in Spanish and Portuguese