Moore's fee paid by tickets, not ASUA

I am writing this letter to clarify one of the letters published Monday. Leatrice Nehs gave an argument claiming she does not want her $15 to be used to pay for Michael Moore.

Ms. Nehs and any other concerned students can rest assured knowing that none of their money is being used. If Ms. Nehs is referring to the proposed $15 activity fee, let me clarify that the student activity fee proposal failed. Moore's entire cost, including but not limited to venue, speaker fees, marketing and security, is being paid by the $5 admission ticket, not by ASUA.

For this year, one of the many themes ASUA has decided to highlight is a theme of civic engagement. Civic engagement involves three steps. The first is helping and motivating students to register to vote. ASUA launched two major projects to complete this ambitious goal, a campus wide dorm project and a "Rock the Vote" concert.

The second step in civic engagement is education. ASUA has invited speakers from all sides of the political spectrum to represent their view to students who choose to listen.

The last step is getting students to actually vote. In order to complete this goal, countless hours went into obtaining an on campus early polling site. This will enable students and staff to vote on campus for the first time ever.

Let me reiterate one last time, no student money is being used to pay for any cost associated with the Michael Moore event. The only people paying for this event are the people who choose to attend.

Sara Birnbaum
Executive Vice President, ASUA

Campus groups working hard to inform UA

In "Scare Tactics Permeate Campus Politics," Laura Keslar writes that several campus groups - including Project Democracy - are exaggerating the facts to shock our peers into voting.

I don't know about Cameron Diaz, but we are focusing on real issues students face this election - how we want to handle Iraq, what economic policies will provide us good jobs when we graduate, how to protect our air, water and public lands.

It is our responsibility to vote for the future we believe in. No one should exaggerate the facts, but it is critical that students know that this election will impact our lives personally.

Instead of targeting campus groups working their hardest to get out the vote and strengthen our democracy, this student would like to see more coverage of Fox News' repeated misleading broadcast that tells out-of-state students that registering to vote on campus could lead to a felony charge.

Those are the real scare tactics happening on our campus this election season. They are scary, and they are wrong.

Steven Gerner
political science and pre-pharmacy sophomore

Voting needs to be state-specific

Regarding the two letters written in response to Tim Lake's letter on Monday, both authors clearly missed the point of Lake's statements.

While Lake was mistaken in saying that there is still a question of the legality of out-of-state residents to vote in Arizona, he was not mistaken in saying that they shouldn't.

It is obvious the presidential election is not the issue in question, it is the state and county elections that he refers to that will affect the future of our state. Non-Arizona residents should feel the obligation to support the issues related to their home state.

A voter who does not permanently reside here is not an educated Arizona voter and should not be allowed to participate. Fill out a simple form, mail it in, get an absentee ballot and contribute to the election in the state in which you call home.

Brittany Traylor
pre-pharmacy sophomore

Column ignores the facts against Bush

In her column "Scare tactics permeate campus politics" yesterday, Laura Keslar claims that several campus organizations have exaggerated the facts about Bush's policies regarding a proposed draft.

However, a look at a wire article in Monday's Arizona Daily Star reveals that Bush said simply that he would pursue terrorists wherever they are, "at whatever cost." This is by no means firm opposition to a draft.

Further, regardless of Bush's position on the draft during the campaign, he will eventually be forced to institute a draft in order to pursue his irresponsible policy of more of the same in Iraq, since our troops are already overextended.

The most absurd comment in Keslar's column is that Democrats are using scare tactics in order to win the election. I have yet to speak to a Bush supporter who is not driven entirely by fear.

This president has used the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, to pursue everything the far right ever wanted, at whatever cost. Sadly, this has included many of our young Americans' lives, and his misguided policies have not made us any safer.

Indeed, our mistakes in Iraq have provided whatever propaganda was necessary to recruit the next two or three generations of anti-American terrorists.

His blind commitment to tax cuts that benefit only the rich has prevented us from securing our borders and inspecting incoming cargo. Yet, because the Republicans insist the world will end if Kerry wins, many continue to follow the pied piper we call our president.

It is interesting that Keslar is so angry with those on the other side who she claims use scare tactics. What do you call someone who can dish it out but can't take it?

Kendrick Wilson
political science senior