Not all students can legally register to vote in Arizona

Josh Silverstein of the UA Young Democrats had a lot to say over the local news story about student voter registration. Too bad he decided only half the story was important to tell. By all means, if someone is 18 years old or older, please register to vote and then cast your ballot! Voter turnout has been sputtering down to embarrassing percentages.

Here is a history lesson to demonstrate a little bit about voting fraud: In the early 1980s, Chicago held a mayoral election. Harold Washington, the Democratic candidate, won by a very large percentage of the vote. When the results came in, it was discovered that there were nearly 4 million votes cast. The population of Chicago was right around 3 million at the time. Essentially, about a million dead people voted the new mayor into office. Students are not dead, obviously. But out-of-state students are legal residents of states other than Arizona.

The idea, I am sure, has crossed many minds that it may be possible for such students to register to vote as Arizonans, but also request an absentee ballot for their own state, voting twice.

With so many different groups interested in a change in the presidency, both sides are no doubt looking for the maximum amount of votes possible. Too bad that such an action is voter fraud, and is not only illegal, but lacks integrity as well.

So, if you, as a student, have a new Arizona driver's license, have re-registered your vehicle in-state, and have moved out of your dorm into a local residence, then go ahead and register to vote as an Arizonan.

But if none of the above applies to you, contact your state of residence and register to have an absentee ballot mailed to you and vote out of your own state. Either way, register, because when January comes, non-voters have no reason to be disappointed with the results of November's election.

Brian Thaxton
regional development senior

Students not liberal because of ignorance, as column says

Mr. McGuire, thank you for your unique and fascinating observations in your Sept. 7 column, "The way politics should work." I quite agree that politicians should represent their constituency more thoroughly. Many would rather spend more time proclaiming why they are most qualified for the job. And I too believe that money plays far too great a role in politics than it should (though I doubt that will change any time soon). Thank you for pointing that out.

And thank you very much for proclaiming that college students like me are totally ignorant about what is real life. I'm sure that all those students who go to class all day and work during nights and weekends just to get through college have no idea what's going on.

I also appreciate the suggestion that I'm tainting the United States by supporting homosexuality and taxes. I'd support lower taxes, too, but I want the United States to have money to spend for education, among other things.

Oh, I forgot. I should be voting for what's best for everyone. The problem is, what's right for one person may not be what's right for another. It's called diversity.

Yes, I have become more liberal during college, but that's because I want change, like you. I believe that our nation could be a better place to live in with the right change. But please don't accuse all of us of being ignorant about what the real world is all about.

And as for the 2020 election, I think I'll vote for someone else.

Michael G. Hall
astronomy and physics junior

Crowd abhorrent at NAU football game

I am writing to voice my displeasure with the event staff at the UA opening football game versus NAU.

The conditions the UA created were terrible. I have never seen or been a part of such a poorly run operation. The section that I was in was absolutely crammed to the hilt with people. The aisles were full. Thank god there was not an emergency. Had there been one, we all would have been killed.

I understand the importance of allowing people to be free and enjoy the sporting event, but when you see underage people drinking booze freely, smoking (cigarettes and weed) and another student urinating on the row behind you, one can't help but think this has gone too far.

I fear for the UA that more people like myself will stop going and buying tickets if these games remain like this.

Jeff McCallum
UA alumnus

UA students, parents deserve recognition

After spending more than four years at a college, the students and the parents expect some kind of recognition from the university and not just the college in which the student attended. There is a great difference from a college graduation and a university-wide graduation.

A student is only an undergraduate once in his/her lifetime (one hopes) and wishes to be a part of the celebration that has gone on since 1885. It is as if a high school cancelled graduation due to the previous graduating classes' actions; the punishing of one group that has done nothing wrong while the group that did the crime goes free.

Like most parents, my parents are proud I am graduating this December and wish to see the big celebration like that ones they had when they received their first bachelor's, which will no longer take place this year. I am hesitant to contact them with this terrible news.

Elizabeth Clifton
history senior

Column on student politics hypocritical

In a column full of political advice and a special bit of venom for Democrats, Dan McGuire wrote Tuesday that, "college students don't know anything about real life, as much as they'd like to think they do."

I would very much like to take McGuire's admonition to heart, but given his own status as a student, I don't know what that would mean.

I think as a reasonable compromise I will pay no further attention to student political columnists who tell me that the interests of students are unimportant.

Alan Schussman
graduate associate

Cancellation of grad ceremony no big loss

I'm writing in response to the decision to take away the large commencement ceremony this December. I'm sure I'm in the minority about this but I'm not finding myself as upset as everyone else. Sure, there is something about the atmosphere of the main ceremony, but for me the most important part is hearing my name called, walking across the stage and hearing my family and friends cheer me on.

I am the first one in my family to graduate from a four-year university so you better believe that they've all been waiting for this day to come. I think it will be a lot easier to get my guests to come to one ceremony than two different ones.

We will still have a ceremony, correct? We're still going to hear our name, nervously walk across the stage hoping not to trip and fall and hear our family and friends scream at the top of their lungs, right? It will still be as fun. It will still be as special. It will still be one of the best days of our lives.

A lot of people don't even like to go to the main ceremony because it's so big and impersonal. We aren't being deprived of our time in the spotlight. We just have one less ceremony to attend.

Julie Popovitch
media arts senior

Pedestrians, cyclists need to follow rules

Every year, someone writes a letter on behalf of the bicyclists. This year, I am taking it upon myself. I am writing to beg for our bike paths.

At least once a day, I find myself biking across campus for one reason or another, and screaming to a halt to narrowly avoid hitting someone wandering aimlessly across the bike paths, apparently unaware that it is a bike path, not a sidewalk. Or perhaps these individuals think they deserve to walk anywhere they so please. Well, they're wrong. The bike paths on this campus are meant for just that: bikes.

Now, I know there's construction going on, forcing pedestrian traffic off of the Mall or the sidewalk and onto the pavement. In areas like that, of course it is the responsibility of both the bikers and the pedestrians to be aware of one another in order to avoid disaster.

But last time I checked, the construction areas on campus are in select places, not everywhere. It's much, much easier for a pedestrian to stop walking than it is for a cyclist to slam on her brakes and maintain balance. So, I beg you, get out of the way.

You attend a university in a very bike-friendly city. Our campus is (supposed to be) bike-friendly as well. The bikes are out there. We're not leaving. So can't you get off your cell phone and watch where you're going?

I know that not every one of the 35,000 undergrads here walk in the bike paths. I know not all the bikers are abiding by their rules either.

So, in the interest of fairness, I appeal to my fellow bikers: don't give the rest of us a bad name. It is the law (see AZ Revised Statutes Title 28) that bicyclists obey traffic signs. This includes stop signs and yield signs. Stay on the bike paths (when they are available). Be aware in construction areas that pedestrians may be in the roadways. Be cautious during peak traffic times (such as when the ILC is emptying). But the rest of you - pay attention! This is a campus, not a park - there is traffic (both bicycle, golf cart and miscellaneous service vehicles).

I bike three miles to campus every morning. By the time I get to campus, I am hot, sweaty, and cranky. So, I might get annoyed or frustrated and buzz by you even if you're in the crosswalk. But I follow the rules. So why can't the rest of you?

Lorien Lake
sociology graduate student

Ceremony necessary for student cohesion

I am completely disgusted by the so-called Commencement Policy Committee's decision to cancel the graduation ceremony for undergraduates. As my roommate and I read through the paper looking for some sign of a strange April Fools joke in September, I realize that the hopes of thousands of graduates will be ruined by an insignificant tradition.

How can a university expect cohesion when the different departments can't even graduate together? As a graduate student finishing up in December and having already attended commencement a year ago, I was looking forward to celebrating a very significant point in my life with family and friends (some of whom are graduating undergrads).

Moreover, even though this topic may have been beaten to death, tortilla-throwing should not be seen as an attack on any person or group. The fact that people celebrate with throwing tortillas at a graduation is as non-demeaning as throwing rice at a wedding. Additionally, I'm pretty sure I have never heard of any birds dying from eating a tortilla.

Apparently, one of the major concerns of this tradition is that it prevents keynote speakers from attending UA's ceremonies. I would like to thank Alistair Chapman for keeping in mind that commencement is not for speakers, educators or faculty, but rather the students.

Why be worried about what speaker will attend when only a fraction of the students graduating will be addressed? For all the undergraduates feeling a bit left out by all of this I'm sure Dirtbag's on Saturday's "commencement" won't be turning their back on you.

Marc Freund
mechanical engineering graduate student