Admin makes no A/C story almost credible

You took me in for a minute with your story about the university cutting off the air conditioning. The sad thing is, given the UA's budget situation and the disdain for higher education in the state legislature, the story seemed almost credible. I have an idea! Let's cut off the air conditioning in the state legislative offices and divert the savings into more support for the state universities! With all the hot air they produce up there, the savings should be substantial.

Mary Bell
English literature graduate student

Who will be put to death after Schiavo?

Now that Terri Schiavo has been "euthanized," who will be next?

Will it be Barbara Howe, or the paraplegic down the street, or the epileptic with uncontrollable seizures, or that individual over there in intensive care, or the paralytic in the wheel chair?

Or will it be you?

Michael J. Beisch
former Schiavo protester

Pope's death marks end of an era

Pope John Paul II's death marks the end of an era. The Polish pope has created a legacy of mending spiritual fences, steering the Catholic ship through turbulent waters laden with pedophile priests and pushing the world to aid the less fortunate. The Vatican's machinery is turning. Just days after the passing of Terri Schiavo, American Catholics are comparing Terri's situation to that of John Paul II. People congratulate the pope for his struggle to live and celebrate his suffering in this late hour. Let us, humans of every race and creed, focus not on the pope's suffering but on, as I imagine he would hope we do, the suffering of the sick and poor. Popes come and go, while the poor remain. They pick through the garbage for food and drink from sewage water. They have tuberculosis, cholera and malaria. The poor depend on the rice harvest and muster all the resources they can to send just one child to school. Take up the cross and carry the burden of improving our world, in whatever way you can. Help the poor because it is what Pope John Paul II would have wanted us humans to do.

John E .McElligott
public health graduate student

Liberals whined too much about Schiavo

My compliments to Katie Mann for dropping some knowledge on people about what Terri Schiavo is likely enduring. The whiny liberals use any excuse possible to bash Republicans. Using the vegetative Schiavo is the latest attempt to bash Republicans. If you all feel so bad for her and other vegetables, why don't you go visit them and see how they live, rather than pissing and moaning about it on campus. All you liberals do is whine and point fingers; never proposing alternate solutions. Bush is our president. He's going to be for the next four years. Stop bitching about it. You're not making any difference by protesting and crying to each other. Do something useful with your time.

Rob Monteleone
media arts junior

Girls not superficial, more than tits and ass

Doug McConville, I applaud you for looking beyond superficial characteristics like how much make up girls wear. It is nice to know that there are still guys out there that (theoretically, assuming that you are telling the truth) care about more than how big a girl's boobs are or how nice her ass looks in a flippy skirt. I wish that some of your other male counterparts felt the same way, but sadly, I feel that this change in ideals is not going to come about anytime soon. My belief is based on a variety of factors, not the least of which is the way women are portrayed in the media as effortlessly gorgeous with perfect skin, flat stomachs and disproportionately sized breasts hanging out of their skimpy shirts (case in point: rap videos). However, the fact that the U A is so greek-oriented and consistently glorifies girls such as those previously mentioned (by having them pose in bikinis with iPod Shuffles, for example) by putting them all on pedestals as "the hottest girls" on campus doesn't really help the situation either. Perhaps when the social influence sororities and fraternities have over this school diminishes somewhat, girls will be able to confidently go without makeup and fashionable clothing without having to worry about being constantly compared to the beauty queens in Uggs (more like Ugg-LY) and large sunglasses.

Allisyn Keyser
physiological sciences and creative writing sophomore

Pose competition good philanthropy

This letter is in response to Tawfik Maudah's comments in March 31's letters to the editor. The iPose competition is a philanthropic event chaired by a fraternity and a sorority as part of the greek community's ongoing effort to benefit the community in which we love as well as the world we are a part of. Neither the Apple Corporation nor any paid employees of Apple have any sponsorship of this event, nor was it presented as a marketing campaign for their products. It was never the intent nor is it the belief of any organization involved that anyone, especially the victims of the horrible tragedy in Sumatra, is, has been or will be exploited by this campaign. We are excited for this philanthropic event because it adds a level of creativity, competition and publicity to gaining awareness and funds to help those other than ourselves.

Until March 31 no one was hurt, insulted or objectified by this effort until the letter titled,"Tsunami Victims Used as Marketing Tools" was published and in turn questioned our morality and sensitivity to DUI offenses. I understand that there is some negative sentiment of the general student population in regard to the greek community, and more specifically the ways we do deeds, for the world around us. The iPose competition Web site received 500,000 views yesterday and your claims that 10 cents is only worth something if exchanged into foreign currency is both xenophobic and ignorant.

I apologize that our service to the community does not meet your standards, however, I do not know of any charity event run by students that has created more publicity or interest on a national level.

I hope you vote on our Web site and allow us to make a donation in your honor as we have for so many students already.

Aaron Rottenstein
Alpha Epsilon Pi treasurer

I'm the proud owner of big sunglasses

What is with the male preoccupation with size? Doug McConville's letter in March 31's Wildcat speaks of the big sunglasses women wear, and I do not understand why he has concerned himself with a woman's fashion statement. There is absolutely no reason for his male input. He has gone into detail about the deeper meaning of sunglasses, however, his letter only proves his lack of respect for women. Doug, who are you to tell women what looks bad and what they should wear? The "ugliness" you speak of is not something society has developed, society is not the one connecting women hiding their natural faces behind sunglasses to ugliness. This is a theory and a connection you have made on your own and cannot be blamed on society. What can be blamed on society is the patriarchal ways in which things are conducted, which your letter proves. You wish women to abide by your male view by "throwing out their oversized sunglasses."

Your letter speaks of the women in the Middle East and their "individuality," however, what you are asking women to do is conform to your idea of what is appropriate for them. Women are not taking away their individuality by wearing their sunglasses, they are expressing themselves in a way you obviously do not understand. A woman might be wearing them because she has no make up on (as you say), or because she knows they are the latest fashion, or because her eyes are light sensitive, these are all individual reasons.

While you have put much thought into the reasons for the big sunglasses, you seem to have overlooked their actual purpose, protection. Not protection from being ugly, but protection from the sun, hence the name sunglasses. As for the "guise of 'fashion,'" personal expression through fashion is something in which both men and women participate. I do not think targeting women's fashion is equal treatment in the eyes of "society"; it is certainly not equal in mine. And who is to say that my big sunglasses are bad for me? They provide greater protection from the sun, how can that be bad?

Brigid Blazek
general biology freshman

Cyclists do service to environment

Your March 31 article, "Cyclists, pedestrians must follow law as well," begs a response.

I would like to point out that bicyclists are rarely a danger to anyone else on the road and should not be treated entirely with the same seriousness as vehicles such as cars, which kill many Tucsonans every month. Cyclists do a service to our community by keeping the air clean and the streets less congested, among other benefits.

I'm not saying we shouldn't encourage cyclists to follow traffic laws, but this program of harassment is not the answer. I watched a motorcycle officer give six $115 "Failure to Stop" tickets in one hour at East University Boulevard and North Fourth Avenue, while simultaneously ignoring dozens of cars rolling through the same stop signs. Shortly thereafter I read TPD's officer Valdez's quote "(Police are) not just out ticketing bicyclists and pedestrians; they're ticketing cars, too."

I've witnessed more than five bike accidents at this intersection, none caused by anything but the trolley tracks. In general, it's impressive how many cyclist, pedestrians and motorists go through this intersection every day with very few problems. Motorists know to look for pedestrians and cyclists here.

I try to follow traffic laws on my bike but realize that cyclists have an easier time assessing dangers at an intersection without coming to a complete stop. Occasionally I must disobey the law and ride on the sidewalk if I want to make it home in one piece.

TPD claims this crackdown is to keep cyclists safe. It needs to focus on the real danger to cyclists - drivers not giving cyclists space to ride safely. Here in Tucson, we have a long history of cyclists being run over by motorists who get nothing but a slap on the wrist, if anything at all. If we want less fatalities and injuries to bicycle commuters, what we really need is enforcement of the "give a bike 3 feet" rule, as well as some real repercussions for motorists who kill and injure cyclists and pedestrians.

Sky Jacobs
seasonal employee

Liberals don t know how to behave

Ann Coulter, Pat Buchanan and William Kristol are all conservative speakers that have been assaulted with food while giving speeches on university campuses. These incidents highlight something conservatives have known for years: liberals can't behave. If they feel they have lost an argument and don't know how to compensate, they assault their opponent. I cannot even count the number of times I have been to a conservative speech and one or more liberals felt it was appropriate to disrupt the event by shouting, rushing the stage or throwing something. There are forums for public debate and there are times when a person just needs to sit in the audience and politely listen. Although I do not speak representing any authority, this is likely the reason the student wearing the UAYD T-shirt was refused admission to the President's speech.

Thankfully the majority of the people in this country, regardless of political view, would not think of participating in any acts such as these. The immature few that are too dumb to understand that these acts are crimes and nothing else need to grow up and realize that politics is about facts, knowledge, and responsibility.

Jereme Bintz
political science senior