Starbucks criticism two decades too late

I’d like to welcome Matt Wavrin to the ’90s, because he has obviously missed the past two decades when whining about Starbucks was even somewhat clever. He must have missed the popular “”South Park”” episode about Starbucks that aired in 1998. The opinion piece on Friday, “”Starbucks steps on the ‘little guys’,”” is full of rehashed anti-capitalist rhetoric and, as is common, empty of any logic.

I’d like to ask what Wavrin thinks the solution to the Starbucks “”problem”” is. So Starbucks is offering coffee at a competitive price with an enjoyable atmosphere and he thinks this is bad just because he doesn’t like anything other than black coffee? Since when are options ever bad? I’m sorry if Wavrin thinks it’s unfair that some of the local coffee shops can’t compete with the Starbucks machine, but that’s the way things go and they must have been doing something wrong. Also in the article Wavrin says, “”There is a disturbing trend of convenience in our society.”” How could things getting more convenient ever be disturbing?

If Wavrin wants to grow his own food and pick and grind his own coffee beans, then more power to him. But saying that the added convenience modern technology and society give us is bad is just plain ignorant. I’ll bet all while hating Starbucks for its convenience Wavrin drives around in his car, watches TV and uses the Internet and eats processed foods. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with making our lives more convenient because that is exactly what gives Wavrin the time to opine about an evil corporation. While Wavrin takes that extra time that society gives us to complain, many people are using this extra leisure time to do something productive to society.

David Knapp
electrical engineering senior

Coverage of GOP convention shows Wildcat bias

Considering that the Wildcat was responsible for parroting a good amount of the anti-Second Amendment nonsense last year, a modicum of bias is expected when reading the paper in the morning. However, I’ve never expected it to be so blatantly biased. Obviously, after reading Thursday’s edition, my expectations were wrong.

Night three of the Republican Convention on Wednesday was a historic event. Only once before in our nation’s history has a woman been the running mate of a major ticket, and this is the first time a woman has been the running mate of a Republican candidate. Did the Wildcat deem that important enough to warrant front-page coverage? No. The Wildcat staff relegated the historic speech by Gov. Palin to a quarter of page seven, while giving the headline speech to a meeting of the Young Democrats. If you weren’t going to give Governor Palin’s history-making moment the front page, I would have expected, at worst, page 2 or 3, but page 7? That’s just wrong and you should all know that. Interestingly enough, the College Republicans held a similar meeting on Tuesday featuring Tim Bee, a Republican candidate for Congress, but I don’t seem to recall their meeting getting front-page coverage similar to that of the Democrats’ meeting.

As I said before, I’m not really shocked by the bias exhibited by the Wildcat’s staff. That’s not my problem, though. That problem rests solely with the Wildcat staff. Not every student on this campus is a liberal or a Democrat. The Wildcat needs to show that it’s not just tailored to one single student group. You are not the Daily Kos and you are not a gossip rag. You have a responsibility to present both sides of the news, and that means prioritizing what’s really important and giving fair coverage to both sides of the political aisle. Your ignorance of a truly historic moment shows that your staff has a lot to learn about what’s important in the news world.

Kevin Rand Wos
political science sophomore

Guest column about violence toward homeless well done

I just wanted to commend Tim Workman for a well-written article highlighting the issue of violence against homeless people. Sadly, this is a larger national issue as well (not just college students). Hopefully with more articles like his people will start to realize that it’s unacceptable and inhumane. Thanks Tim!

Lauren Wright
media associate, National Alliance to End Homelessness