Pope's passing helps peace

What constitutes an important moment in world history? Vatican City was overflowing with people on Friday to pay their last respects to Pope John Paul II. The farewell for the Holy Father was the largest gathering in modern times. It drew about 4 million people including presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens and various faith groups.

This is a remarkable time in the Holy Father's legacy. As the wise sayings go in my dialect, Dinka, "Nobody believes you when you are alive." Today, it seemed a truthful saying since nobody ever talked about John Paul's achievements of traveling over hundred trips worldwide for youth mission. Today, those achievements reflected by present of world dignitaries, Cardinals, Christians, Muslims and Jews. Pilgrims and 200 world leaders consist of 80 presidents, four kings and five queens.

It was a moment of sadness and joy as well. All people of faith or non-faith gathering across Africa, Asia, and America to watch the service on television or in Rome will never forget the event. This is the home of 16 chapels and 117 cardinals including 11 American cardinals.

Significant time for Roman Catholic leader and the world peace mediator is now at home. His death brought peace and unity to the world. This tells us that life is greater than death. The world leaders including political and religious leaders faced each other and shook theirs hands and sat side by side for the first in world history. The world leaders were in ease and grace. President Bush and Chirac were next to each other in the line regardless of their foreign policy differences. Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe was in Europe for the first time despite his sanctioned. Thank to the world leaders for putting their differences, and powers aside, and showing us that love is greater than hate. Pope II was a great leader of his time. He was the only Pope the young people have ever known. His life, legacy, and memory are going to last from generation to generation. The Holy Father was a politician, preacher and counselor of all folks.

David A. Nyok
molecular and cellular biology junior

Iraqi election proves liberals wrong

For those of you who open up the Daily Wildcat to read the Mailbag and the comics, I hope you at least glanced at the article about Iraq's election. Yes, it's true. Although the "Moorites" (Moore-ons?) and "Kerrians" said it "couldn't be done" and that "it will never happen," democracy can and did prevail in the Middle East. Have you heard any of the liberal talking heads come out to admit they were wrong? Ha! Of course not. The question as to whether or not President Bush was right has been answered, which leaves us with a thrilling new question: What are the liberals going to bitch about next?

Jeff Beran
engineering management junior

Women 'infinitely valuable, beautiful'

This letter is in response to Allisyn Keyser's lamentation over how focused guys are with "T and A," and how eager girls are to accommodate this preoccupation with skimpy clothes and too much makeup. She applauds a male writer with similar views but in a way that makes him seems like a freak of nature, the last of an extinct breed.

I resent this perception. The sex-obsessed predatory tool, like the left-wing activist, is a small minority on campuses - they just like to bring attention to themselves. While all (heterosexual) guys have a deep appreciation for feminine accessories, we are capable of seeing past them and, like women, are seeking healthy and fulfilling relationships with other human beings. And not to sound like Mr. Smock, but the biggest thing leading guys to focus on girls' sexuality is the way they flaunt it with their dress, which prevents them from being seen in non-sexual ways.

As for the unhealthiness girls embrace for the privilege of being objectified, I disagree that the greek system is to blame or even that our culture is, which is horrible. What is needed is the realization that women are infinitely valuable and gloriously beautiful with or without guys fawning on them and the self-esteem which comes with such a realization.

Bret Reedsenior
majoring in English

Physicians of the year award a joke

In Thursday's paper, the article "UMC professors win Physician of the Year Award," your writer left out the real story. The awards "won" were in fact given to doctors by the National Republican Congressional Committee simply because the doctors paid a $1,250 "contribution" to the Republican Party.

The fact that thousands of doctors were given this "Physician of the Year Award" leads one to believe that this is simply an effort by the Republican Party to raise money.

However, the real problem is that these doctors are then free to go home and put on their Web sites this "award" claiming that they are the "Physician of the Year." According to ABC News, they are in fact doing just that.

As editor of this paper, I hope you simply were uninformed of the omission made by the story's writer. I would like to believe that you wouldn't choose to be this blatantly partisan. I find it hard to believe that your writer could be this uninformed since this story has been covered in the national media on ABC news as well as in print.

What an enormous disservice to your readers.

J.D. Norris
regional development junior

Arizona, Pac-10 deserve more media

Lute Olson is absolutely correct, but the lack of deserved recognition and exposure extends to other sports as well. I live in Austin, Texas, now and can see all the sports from Texas and east of here that I want. It is a rare thing to have Pac-10 games broadcast into my area. Worse yet, Arizona sports scores are sometimes not even included in the local newspaper. Our athletes are certainly amongst the elite of the nation. They deserve proper coverage on par with East Coast and Central Plains teams of all sports.

Edward Creekmore
alumnus

Library should be able to be exclusive

Katie Paulson said, "Who are we to deny people access to literary materials?" in Friday's Daily Wildcat. We have every right to deny them access! The UA Library is a library for students. The vagrants are not students and hence should not be given access.

This isn't a public library, it's a university library that our tuition pays for. I drop $14,000 a year to attend school here. The bums pay nothing.

Dan Parmelee
management information systems sophomore

Column arrogant, hypocritical

Thanks for illustrating so eloquently the inconsistency that lies at the heart of Democrat ideology. It is the trait that most confounds logical thinking adults, i.e. moderate Republicans. Personally, Democrats view themselves as superior to the working class, the cattle rancher, the security guard, the stewardess, the young and the old. LeeNatali illustrates how he holds these people in contempt for their seeming lack of intelligence, competence and class. If only there were a few more social programs, Damion, I'm sure everyone would treat you better and all the people you met would challenge you intellectually. Reread your editorial and lament the titanic hypocrisy that is common among your liberal contemporaries. How can you view yourselves as the champions of fairness and equality for the common man while every day in your actions you proclaim yourself superior to them?

Patrick Muñoz
alumnus

Homeless are not yesterday's news

I am writing to express my shock and awe at the letter written by Nik Turner regarding homeless people. I, unlike other people who will undoubtedly write in, am not writing to criticize Mr. Turner for his sophomoric tendencies that wouldn't even earn him a spot on an open-mic night at an amateur comedy hour. No, I am writing to express my disgust for this country and the way it ignores the real and pressing problems of our times. We fight needless wars and argue silly issues of the day like Terri Schiavo or Elian Gonzalez. Remember Elian? No, you probably don't. That's because he's yesterday's news, and we have the attention span of termites in this country. I am originally from Sweden where we address the real problems of poverty, hunger and disease. We also confront corporate scandals with real corporate ethics. We ask people to think of others as well as themselves because it's awfully nice to have someone care when that rainy day hits. We realize that our humanity, not our greed, is what creates in us all a sense of purpose to leave the world to our children a better place than we received it. So Mr. Turner, you aren't worth my time, but neither are the angry people who will respond to you. Let's get our heads in the right place and fix what is really wrong once and for all.

Ove Mard
alumnus

Big sunglasses issue waste of time

This whole "big sunglasses" issue is ridiculous. Why does anyone care how big girls' sunglasses are? Most people that choose to wear them (myself included) do so because they like the way they look and they keep the sun out of their eyes, the exact same reason that others choose to wear smaller sunglasses!

It's a waste of time to write letters criticizing a fashion choice that obviously has no effect on you at all.

Melissa Kunze
marketing junior

Spring Fling shows heartless capitalism

All I wanted was to go on the Ferris wheel. But the white man who operated the great machine directed my eyes to his purple and white sign of segregation that read: "No single riders" and belched out in a nasal tone of a bellow, "Gotta have someone with ya." As I said, all I wanted in the world at that moment was to go on the Ferris wheel.

I would eventually be told by the owner that I am not allowed on his Ferris wheel because it would disrupt production to let one person on a two-person car, and his company can't afford that.

It took me to a day beyond my recall when my people were subjugated under the same sort of "policies." Albeit the sign that would have been on that Ferris wheel exactly 50 years ago, and the sign that's on it now each serve different interests, the conditions whereby each are propagated are of no difference.

Yeats said, "the horse changes riders, the flogging goes on." Anyone who says this country is better off for what their Civil Rights Movement "accomplished," is chasing their ideals like a dog chases its tail.

In many ways, racism is more sheltered and more viable at use and benefit to the few people it has always benefited in this country. "In many ways, they're hoarding-in more capital, defrauding more youth, and assimilating more minorities into their gigantic, terrifying, American white race. So to recount, what civil rights do we have that we never had 100 or 200 years ago? People are still bought-and-sold right here in this country, and people are still hated killed-and oppressed right here in this country (of ours?).

So after all that, what I do know now, is that I hate Ferris, and I hate his wheel.

Gabriel Matthew
undeclared freshman