Unacceptable to lose to Stanford in hoops

Like most of you, I love our basketball team and understand they cannot win all of their games. Losing to Stanford, as they have made a habit of in recent years, is, however, unacceptable. Unlike their student body, most of us will not go on to prestigious law and medical schools, nor start multi-billion dollar ventures like Google Corp. Instead, all we ask is that our basketball team kicks their basketball team's ass most of the time. Really, is this so much to ask? Isn't it bad enough many of us will be working for these chumps when we graduate, if we're not gainfully employed selling cars or digging ditches. Look, I love the UA, and am thankful to be here, but we'll never be Stanford. The least we can do is get over on them athletically.

Matthew Seaton
biochemistry senior

Tortilla throwers deserve admiration

I would like to express my admiration for the tortilla throwers. Not only am I impressed by your imagination and rebel spirit, it just now occurred to me that there are subtle political statements made by the bold and original act of tortilla throwing. All those people in Central America and South America who follow the tortilla diet fad are truly depriving themselves of a well-rounded diet. They follow this diet because of poor body image and low self-esteem. Low self-esteem is pervasive among all low-income people. Throwing tortillas during a ceremony of predominantly Anglo students is an excellent tactic for bringing awareness to the bad science of the tortilla diet. Higher education might be a privilege, but the knowledge of how to make a nutritious meal for the family is a universal right.

Manuel Peters
UA alumnus

Reporters have to 'walk on eggshells'

This is in response to Mike Sousa's letter about leaving the women's names out of the article talking about the Alumni Plaza.

Yet another shining example of how no matter what one does, no matter how good one's intentions are, they can still manage to tick off people in today's society.

Everyone would be a lot happier if they concentrated on how to better their own lives, rather than looking for things that offend them. I feel sorry for newspaper reporters and anyone else with public influence, because they now have to walk on eggshells. For example, if you don't like Jesse Jackson or Raul Grijalva for their policies, you are automatically branded a racist.

If I'm not mistaken, this is a form of fascism. God save America.

Justin Kunzelman
UA alumnus

Printed criticism of Taser unwarranted

I was stunned; please forgive the pun, to see my alma matter's Arizona Daily Wildcat publish a full-page section questioning the ethics of our Taser X26C advertising and marketing campaign on Dec. 1.

Let's walk through the general opinions of the students who weighed in almost collectively on this matter. First, the advertising efforts we launched in Phoenix were our first tests of radio, print, TV and billboard advertising. However, we've sold more than 100,000 Taser devices to citizens for the past decade without this type of marketing campaign. I'm a little stunned to see how our ads that drive the audience to our call center or our web site would be unethical.

Secondly, Taser technology has not been a direct or primary cause of death listed by any medical examiner to date in the tens of thousands of uses. Unfortunately, several students zeroed in Arizona Republic articles and Amnesty International claims that do not paint a balanced picture of the situation concerning the fact that Tasers save lives every day.

The rubber meets the road with our product every day with cops who depend on it to save lives - and it must be safe, effective and work as advertised. The proof is in the pudding with facts from law enforcement agencies. The Phoenix Police Department, for example, had a 54 percent drop in officer involved shootings in 2003 with the deployment of 1,500 Taser X26s and 67 percent drop in injuries to suspects. The ethics questioned inherently lie within these stats - they are truthful and it shows the ethics of reducing injuries to officers and suspects. Taser devices save lives. Anyone disagree with that?

Steve Tuttle
vice president of communications Taser International
UA alumnus