Wall won’t solve the immigration problem

I’m surprised there are so many Arizonans willing to build a wall along the border without even looking at the underlying causes of immigration. Since NAFTA and all the other free trade agreements became law, Mexico’s standard of living has gone down 50 percent. Free trade agreements create a race to the bottom, where all the countries involved slash their minimum wages to compete for multinational corporations to send jobs their way. That is why organized labor on both sides of the border oppose free trade. I can hardly blame Mexicans for crossing the border in a desperate attempt to survive. If we really want to stop illegal immigration, we need to create an international minimum wage among all the countries in the free trade agreement. Either that, or just plain end the free trade agreements. Otherwise Mexico’s economy will continue to be devastated and immigration will continue.

Phillip Lorenz
pre-pharmacy freshman

Bush’s handling of Zarqawi’s death was acceptable

This is in response to Andrew McGhee’s “”Scapegoat”” rant from last week. I suppose Mr. McGhee was not awake early on that Thursday when the world found out about al-Zarqawi’s death. Had he been awake, he would have discovered that President Bush waited to talk about the death of this terrorist because he wanted Iraq’s new Prime Minister, Nouri al Maliki, to deliver the news to his people. When he did, the room full of Iraqis erupted in cheers! Some scapegoat this al-Zarqawi was if people in Iraq wanted him dead. It may not occur to young Andy that this guy was responsible for more Iraqi deaths than American deaths. Now, we have found a letter by al-Zarqawi that says his side is losing, mainly because we are training Iraq’s police and military to take care of their own business.

As for Bush’s somber tone, it appears the president can’t get anything right. Bush has never been able to live down the flap when he declared “”mission accomplished”” after the successful ouster of Saddam Hussein, a flap that is rightly justified. So, he chose a more matter-of-fact approach, and he still gets hammered for it. I am not the Bush supporter I was in 2004, but c’mon, show a little consistency here!

Liberals like Andy need to quit fighting for the enemy or sign up for the military and do a tour in the Hot Zone themselves. Better yet, stick to your physics and stay out of politics.

James J. Maumus
Tucson resident

Mandating classroom flags sends wrong message

Forcing the university and public school systems to bear the financial burden of some nationalist’s overzealous patriotism is the wrong message to send to children who are supposed to be learning to think for themselves. When I see the flag these days I don’t see anything to be proud of. I see the blood of innocent Iraqi and Afghani children. I see the blood of three Chinese embassy workers in Sarajevo we “”accidentally”” bombed. I see the blood of 20 million Native Americans who have been killed in the Westward expansion of illegal immigrants from Europe. And I see the Minuteman punching holes in water barrels meant for illegal immigrants trying to catch a piece of this “”American Dream.”” The flag isn’t the symbol it used to be as the current American government goes out of its way to suppress dissidents and continue corporate wars of global oppression.

Jared Hautamaki
graduate student

Wildcat editor in chief should resign for DUI

It is deplorable that Nicole Santa Cruz displayed immaturity and extremely poor judgment in August 2005 when she was arrested for DUI and later convicted in February 2006.

It is absolutely inexcusable that she did so again last Saturday morning and that Mark Woodhams at Arizona Student Media has indicated that no discipline has been or probably will be forthcoming.

Will Santa Cruz need to seriously injure or kill someone while driving drunk before Arizona Student Media is finally incited to censure Santa Cruz and remove her from the highly visible and influential position as editor in chief of the Arizona Summer Wildcat?

For her part, Santa Cruz could show some strength of character and resign in order to devote herself to overcoming what appears to be an alarming predilection toward alcoholism.

J. Laviolette
Tucson resident

Lawmakers should give surplus to schools

I am proud to be one of the 71 percent of Arizonans across geographic and partisan lines who supports investing our budget surplus in Arizona’s future. I believe that, with a record budget surplus, now is the time to invest in our schools, our roads and our economy. Lawmakers should oppose reckless tax gimmicks that squander our surplus and jeopardize our fiscal future. Let’s hope they do the right thing and join the vast majority of Arizonans in supporting these critical investments.

Bernadine O. Foster
Maricopa City resident

Investing in education key to Arizona’s future

To continue to remain competitive on the national and international scenes, our business and political leaders need to put aside partisan issues and prioritize key investments in Arizona’s future.

The cornerstone to a strong and vibrant economy where we can all enjoy a higher quality of life and provide avenues for our youth to succeed is an outstanding educational system (from K-12 and at the university level). Historically, we have lagged far behind other states – now is the time to rectify that situation and become a leader in providing the resources and funding necessary for a world-class educational system.

Please help spread the message and rally support for K-12 funding, higher education funding and a renewed commitment to supporting our youth.

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Dan Twibell
Scottsdale resident

Students need financial aid, not flags

The juxtaposition of two articles from last week’s issue really says a lot about the priorities of the far right in this state (arguably in the nation as well) when it comes to policy decisions. The article about the lack of student financial aid plays off nicely against the one in which state funds – which could be going toward financial aid – are going to be used to promote patriotism by displaying the flag in classrooms. It seems to me that students need financial aid, not state-sponsored inducements to patriotism. This misguided and egregious waste of taxpayer money is yet another example of the right trying to use symbols to bring about their own partisan ends. Not content with continually trying to shove Christianity and its symbols down the throats of the public, we now have to be force-fed patriotism as well. It is also another example of their uncanny ability to make federal cases out of non-issues. I don’t think the students are clamoring to have flags in the classroom, but more important, pressing and basic needs, such as having enough money to survive, are not being addressed. One would think that our elected officials would have much more important business to attend to rather than indulging the whims of one self-aggrandizing student.

Related to this, there is a clear and direct relationship between continuing to vote conservative Republicans into office and the decline of educational funding, but for some reason that link seems to be missed by many. One can only hope that voters will start making some of these connections in November, and also that the governor will continue to use her veto power over these inane flights of fancy.

Jeff Prock
graduate student