UA should show spirit for all sports

There are some schools that have tons of school spirit and there are other schools, like the UA, with school spirit for only the popular sports, i.e. men's basketball and football.

The women's basketball team should be one of those popular sports. They had a 34-home-game winning streak before losing to Stanford, and at the previous two home games against ASU and Maryland, only 25 to 50 students showed up to support the home team.

What gives??

There was free admission, free food and free T-shirts to students who showed up against rival ASU and against a ranked Maryland team. Fox Sports Net even broadcasted the game against Maryland live and Gov. Janet Napolitano, was here for the Maryland game. What could have been better that that?

More students need to show up to support all athletic teams, not just the popular ones. Women's basketball, softball, baseball and other athletic sports are just as fun as men's basketball and football.

I do want to thank the few students who did support the women's basketball team Wednesday against ASU and Saturday against Maryland.

Mark Thompson
geography junior

Students don't deserve own section

Every other day I read about how a fellow student wants a student section at the basketball games, either to be closer together or to get rid of the alumni. I would love to have a student section, but I don' t think that we deserve one, especially not the students that currently have tickets to the games. You arrive late, especially for early morning games. Half of you came about four minutes into the game against Washington State. Let's not even mention many of you leaving early, especially the girls that left the Washington game with 44.1 seconds. Many of you don't wear red; at the least the alumni can do that. The guy behind me was complaining about the alumni not standing, and yet he was wearing a Cal T-shirt - that is not support either. And this is the biggest reason of all why we don t deserve a student section: Where is the support for other athletics? There was free pizza before both women's games last week, and yet at both games there were only a handful of students. When our women' s team had the nation's longest home winning streak how many of you went to one of those games? Not many, and it lasted for 34 games. Go to baseball games this year; come join us behind third base. Who cares if you don't like

baseball? Support your school and get a tan. Oh, and what about softball?

What dominates more than anything? So stop complaining about a basketball student

section, go to other sporting events and show your support for your school. Maybe then there will be more of a reason for you to have a student section.

Melissa Korc
communication senior

Porn articles have no place in Wildcat

There are many things wrong with this university, and when I say wrong, I am referring to a

complete waste of potential. I think most would agree that the money spent on the alumni plaza is a prime example, especially when there are still not enough classes or professors for current students. But it seems funny that our Wildcat, the newspaper that so frequently exposes these atrocities, commits many such blunders itself.

Case in point, an entire page devoted to pornography. Did it not occur to the editor that an article reporting the complaints of 36 counts of supposed indecency in prime-time television was printed on the very same page as a feature about pornography? Is this what our paper has turned into? Is this really the type of material that deserves so much attention?

Aside from the inappropriate subject matter, the columns were completely absurd themselves. Caitlin Hall argued that pornography doesn't objectify women, but merely sex. Here's a definition for you Caitlin: to objectify something is to turn it into a means, or a tool. What does pornography do, if not allow men to use women for selfish sexual gratification? Even if it did just objectify sex, why is that any better? Sex should be something meaningful between two people in a loving marriage relationship, not merely a means to the same end of getting off.

It s time the Wildcat started setting higher standards and we as readers start demanding them.

Geoffrey Schultz
pre-business sophomore

Porn dehumanizes everyone involved

Caitlin Hall's critique of feminist theory on pornography begs the question: Can a woman make an informed decision to participate in pornography without forfeiting her dignity? Or, as the feminists would have it, by participating in pornography, do women already check their dignity at the door? I will leave such tautologies to the academics paid to rant about these things.

Regardless, the point is moot because pornography dehumanizes everyone involved: from the actors and producers to the casual viewers and addicts. Pornography goes against the intrinsic dignity of the human person. This dignity is rooted in the personalistic norm, namely: We must never use another person as a means to an end, in this case, pleasure; we must love our neighbor as ourselves. Pornography falls deplorably short of the love this norm ensures, the love that is worthy of human persons, the love our nature yearns for. Sex should always be the physical expression of such love rooted in the personalistic norm. Relations that do not take place under these conditions (i.e. intercourse that is merely for pleasure and not an expression of self-giving love) are a sad imitation of real sex in all its beauty.

This may seem like an overly idealized understanding of sex, but much is at stake with how we understand sexual desire. In the words of esteemed Cambridge philosopher John Finnis, if we treat these powerful desires which we share with other animals as having no rational connection with our reason, then we treat our human existence as lacking the dignity which is presupposed in every claim of human rights. Our reason demands that we never use others as objects. Pornography is the business of using human beings as objects for others' pleasure and, therefore, it goes against our reason and our dignity.

Matthew Rubach
second-year medical student

Kidz Korner plays important role

In response to Lisa Barnes editorial, "Kidz Korner not Helping Parents," I whole-heartedly agree with her that it is nearly impossible to get serious studying done while properly taking care of a child. However, in response to your question, Kidz Korner is helping parents by acknowledging our existence as student-parents and our importance as valued community members, providing a meeting place for parent networks (BabyCats meet there every other week), and providing a safe place to eat lunch between running errands. Kidz Korner has created an awareness of our existence and our unique issues as well as fostering open dialogue to raise awareness. In other words, this is an important first step to prove to the administration that the thousands of us who are attempting to juggle school, work and family cannot forsake one for the other. I vote for a parent-resource center or perhaps a drop-in child care center. I would love to be able to use the Rec Center once in awhile, too. We need more, but the university is using this as a test of how much they should give us. Read the entire paper published by the Commission on the Status of Women on our Web site: http://clubs.asua.arizona.edu/~babycats. Join our BabyCats and BabyCats Too network. Write to your Associated Students of the University of Arizona or Graduate and Professional Student Council representative. Thank you, Lisa, for creating dialogue.

Diane Sotelo
public administration graduate student, president of BabyCats Too

Student section won't fund sports

I'm writing in regard to the age-old story of creating a student section at men's basketball games in McKale Center. I think that a student section is long overdue and would be an outstanding addition to one of the best on-campus arenas in America. But there's a problem that none of the students seem to realize. Plain and simple, Arizona Athletics could never withstand the loss of the money from the lower bowl seats that currently go to donors. News flash: the people in those seats pay five times as much per game than the students. And although the students believe that they should be the No. 1 priority of the university, that's not the way reality works. In financial terms, football and men's basketball are the two sports that pay for the other 17 sports at the UA. Take away any of the revenue from those sports and teams like swimming or gymnastics or track will suffer. So, students, take a deep breath and realize that the student section in McKale Center is still a few years away. Want to help the cause?

Well, it's been noted many times that the giving rate for alums at the UA is one of the worst in the Pac-10. After you graduate, buy football season tickets and give to your alma mater. And maybe six or seven years from now, future Wildcats will be able to flourish in a student section in McKale Center.

Bear Down.

Damian Areyan
UA alumnus

New online letters section long overdue

I wanted to thank all of you at the Wildcat for including more letters to the editor on the paper's Web site. This move is long overdue. The ongoing dialogue among students, professors and alumni is consistently the highlight of my workday. And of course, more opinions are always better. Keep up the good work.

Brian Danker
UA alumnus