Cat in microwave not appropriate comic

I am a law student and am president of the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund chapter at the James E. Rogers College of Law. It is my group's fervent hope that you will find more appropriate (and funny) subject matter for cartoons to feature in future editions of your newspaper than what appeared before.

I do not often have time to read the Wildcat but today I took the time and, boy, did I wish I hadn't after I saw your cartoon, if you want to call it that. I think almost everything can be turned into something humorous, and we need to be able to laugh at ourselves for sure, but there is absolutely nothing humorous about putting a cat in a microwave. In fact, you are risking crossing the line from entertainment to inciting violence, and that is a crime. Unfortunately, this sort of cruelty to animals happens, and more often than we would like to think. Every single serial killer, from Jeffrey Dahmer to David Berkowitz, got his start in the "business" of murder by torturing and killing animals.

Animal cruelty is no laughing matter.

Joan Bundy
third-year law student

Human rights violations in Sudan need attention

It has recently come to my attention that there is an ongoing human rights crisis taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan. According to a United Nations estimate released in March, about 180,000 people have died in the region since October 2003 due to violence, disease or malnutrition. This is consistent with the deaths of about 10,000 Darfurians per month since the beginning of the crisis.

The International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur has established that citizens of the region have been the victims of atrocities perpetrated on a very large scale for which the government of Sudan and the Janjaweed are responsible, including war crimes and very likely crimes against humanity. These crimes are being conducted on a widespread and systematic basis and are said to include the destruction of villages, the killing of civilians, rape and other forms of sexual violence, pillaging, and the forced displacement of more than 2 million noncombatants. Our own government has classified this crisis as genocide; the United Nations has called the same situation an ethnic cleansing. Considering the widespread scale of this crisis and the resounding effects that the extermination of a people should justifiably have, I have found American media coverage to be startlingly inadequate. I therefore urge the Wildcat to do whatever it can to educate its readers about the situation in Darfur.

Brent Langellier
senior majoring in Spanish

Solutions must be found to help bums

Is there a day that goes by where Rob Monteleone doesn't have his opinion voiced in the paper? Now he (along with others) is up in arms over the homeless using the Main Library.

These people claim that the homeless are drunken, obnoxious panhandlers that seek to use the library for one purpose only: to take money from us poor college students!

Unfortunately, these generalizations are relying on stereotypes and misconceptions. Sure, some individuals might partake in such behavior. However, the Main Library is a public library. There are homeless individuals who use it for access to information via books, the Internet, etc. Who are we to deny people access to literary materials? In fact, we should be encouraging people in such dire conditions to use such resources as the library to help themselves.

Why are some people so quick to label and dismiss than to take a closer look at the situation and find solutions?

Katie Paulson
junior majoring in English and political science

Police Beat distorts what police do

The recent rash of complaints against the UAPD are petty and unfounded. The first complaint is that UAPD hands out too many citations for MIP, etc.

Underage drinking has been around longer than anyone reading this letter and will outlive us all. However, if an officer is called to a dorm by an RA and he shows up and sees someone sitting in a pool of their own piss and vomit, he is obligated by law to evaluate the situation and take the appropriate legal action. That should be without question; in fact, the standard for a first offense is the Dean of Students' Diversion Program, which I do not believe is an option for TPD.

Another complaint was about the apparent lack of UAPD doing anything about "real crimes," and focusing on the little stuff. Obviously, the Wildcat's Police Beat contains the most entertaining material; don't think that everything that the UAPD does is in there. There are detectives working on cases of theft, assault and such all the time; I know, because I have worked with them in the past. It took me about five seconds to pay attention to what was going on around me, report it and in the process stop somebody that I believe was an habitual offender.

We are forgetting that there are 30,000 potential "police officers" on campus.

All you have to do is snap out of your self-centered world for a second and pay attention to what the hell is going on around you. When you walk past a bike rack, check it out. If there is a guy with bolt cutters, obviously something doesn't jive.

But hey, I have almost hit people walking out into the street like there are not two ton hunks of metal flying by. Maybe paying attention to that would be a good start.

Andrew Dean Blackwell
accounting and psychology junior

Bums need to call on daddy

I would just like to comment on Celia Reynolds letter concerning bums. Why can't they just get money? I mean, anytime I need a few bucks, I just ask my father to wire me some. I thought that my father paid enough to the UA to avoid being hassled by dirty people who can't even ask their fathers for enough money to rent an apartment (with an elevated ceiling, pool, hot tub, game room, sauna and maid service). So I have compiled a small to-do list for the homeless at the UA: 1. Pick up your cell. 2. Dial your wealthy father. 3. Ask him politely for a weekly allowance 4. Live the good life.

I hope this helps. If we all work together as a fabulously wealthy team, we can get through our time at the UA and change your label of crazy to one of eccentric.

Good luck and cheers!

Niall O'Connor
alumnus

UAPD's responsibility to uphold law

This is in response to Gabriel Bustamante's letter "Don't rip UAPD for issuing MIPs."

In regards to whether or not UAPD should be put down for issuing MIPs, I agree. The fact is that it is illegal to drink underage and be in possession of marijuana. If you choose to break the law then it is also fair game to be issued an MIP. So either don't do it, or don't get caught.

As for his question concerning who is to blame if someone is raped or killed while under the influence, no one is to blame for a violent crime such as rape or murder except the person who committed the crime. It does not matter how old you are or how intoxicated you are, no one deserves to be a victim of these crimes. Intoxication is not the reason, nor should it be blamed, for these crimes being committed.

It is the police department's responsibility to uphold the law, whether it is someone drinking underage or someone being raped in a dark alley. I feel confident that if the latter is being committed to an inebriated 14- 19- or 23-year-old girl, UAPD or other police departments will be more concerned with that person's life than issuing them an MIP.

Delora Pyritz
communications senior