Work on Alum. Plaza must be recognized

I received a copy of the Nov. 1 issue of the Arizona Daily Wildcat in the mail because while I live in Illinois, I am an alumna of the UA and still have friends in Tucson.

I was glad to read in the article that the dedication of the Alumni Plaza and the Wildcat family sculpture went so well, but I was distressed not to see even one mention of the Desert Crucible Foundry, located in Tucson, that cast the artist's wax sculpture into bronze. Tom and John Barringer, owners of the Crucible, are Tucson natives and graduates of the university. They both worked very hard to bring this idea to fruition. Did you know that the head of the male wildcat alone weighs 97 pounds?

The article recorded Mr. Likins' appreciation that, "such a wonderful sculpture" should be dedicated in his honor and I think that the people at the Desert Crucible – especially Tom, who does the difficult pouring and crafting – deserve recognition for such a powerful and beautiful addition to the UA campus.

Harriet Claiborne
UA alumna

Diversity of opinion critically necessary

In response to Ms. Bonicillo's Monday column regarding a diverse faulty, I fundamentally agree with her point, having gained immensely from interaction with a diverse student body. As for the faculty, I think she's only half right. An absence of ethnic and/or gender diversity pales in comparison to the nearly complete lack of intellectual diversity on campuses here and elsewhere. What good is a more ethnically diverse faculty if they all share the same world view and intellectual conceits?

Let's face it, the liberals own academia - lock, stock and barrel (to use a metaphor sure to offend the left). I would be absolutely shocked (shocked!) if any less than 97 percent of tenured faculty here at the UA voted for the Kerry/Edwards ticket two weeks ago. That would reflect recent surveys concerning party registration among university faculty and all of our own (endless) anecdotal evidence.

I should hasten to add that I have genuine admiration and affection for a number of my professors here and at the other institutions I've attended, and personal politics often occupies a non-overlapping domain with respect to lecture and laboratory topics. Moreover, with a Republican stranglehold on government, I'll admit it would be a little unsettling to listen to conservative talk radio on the way to school, hear a neoconservative political science lecture, and go home to watch Fox News.

Yet the political views of our faculty shape what they read (and select for us to read), discuss, and how they guide our curriculum. Ask yourself, would you tolerate a hegemonic conservative faculty?

Those on the losing end of the election have urged Bush to reach out to the other side, and I join them. I also second Ms. Bonicillo's call for our faculty hiring committee to seek out a more ethnically and gender diverse faculty; and, while they're at it, how about adding a little intellectual diversity as well.

Matthew Seaton
biochemistry senior

Draft dodgers are simply law breakers

Freedom is not free. Giorgio Torrieri's remarks about the draft dodgers in Tuesday's paper were misplaced. Veterans Day is a day to remember our veterans, not for those who shied away from a duty. Protests are acceptable and even welcome in this country, but draft dodgers are not protesting, they are breaking the law.

I found his remark about a dodger's actions protecting freedom as much or more than those who choose served to be downright demeaning to the men and women who have served and fought for this country. By his assessment, World War II was not a war to defend our homes. Since there were deserters during that war, it must have been unjust.

I would like to know if Pvt. Brandon Hughey read his contract. Was his action in protest to the war or just out of fear of going to war at 19? If his cause is so just why is he soliciting money from his Web site? Or doing numerous interviews? Is Pvt. Hughey going to give back his $9,000 signing bonus? His own father calls him a pawn of the anti-war and anti-Bush groups.

If this teenager is serving his country and upholding freedom more than any man or woman currently in the armed services, then why is he hiding in Canada? Let him come back to the United States and take responsibility for his actions. Would that not be a bigger protest to a so-called unjust war?

So leave Veterans Day to the real veterans, to those veterans who have given their time and energy to serve this country in times of peace or war. They serve so others don't have to, they are the price of freedom.

Jayson Auterino
politcal science and creative writing sophomore