UA should switch from snail mail to e-mail to promote efficiency, conservation
Although the university is doing a good job at promoting sustainability, I don’t think they are effectively leading by example. As a DA, or desk assistant, who works in a residence hall mail room, I see firsthand the number of fliers and newsletters that are sent out on campus residents. I believe that these same fliers and newsletters can very easily be sent through e-mail and can even perhaps reach a much larger audience.

The difference between the e-mail and snail mail is that if the recipient doesn’t want the newsletter, with an e-mail the person can simply delete, whereas if it were snail mail the person would either recycle it or just throw it away (the latter being the most common). I believe it is the small steps that make the biggest difference. If the university can take steps toward digitizing textbooks and offering them electronically, this will save not only money but a few trees too.

If the university doesn’t try to become a paperless university for the environment, at least do it for all those poor DAs sorting all those newsletters.

Vinhson Nguyen
optical sciences junior

Smoking a persuasive reason to steer clear of potential relationships
Laura Donovan’s “”Smoking undeserving of societal scorn”” dealt primarily with why we shouldn’t rule out smokers as possible relationship material (“”Smokers undeserving of societal scorn,”” Nov. 18, 2008). First off, I don’t even see where the argument even is. You cited one example of someone who wouldn’t be willing to date someone because they smoked. Am I supposed to think that this is a big problem on campus and in society all because one of your peers was vocal about their personal standards in dating a member of the opposite sex?

No, I don’t think people who smoke are all unintelligent cavemen, but in smoking there is plenty of certainty in knowing that every time you take a puff of that cigarette, it can’t be doing good things for your body versus the unknowns of being out in public and possibly being hit by a drunk driver, mugged on the street or dying in a plane crash.

Thanks, Donovan, for helping my argument even more by discussing many of the things that would bother me about dating a smoker, like secondhand smoke and the fact my partner is at a higher risk of getting lung cancer and other serious health threats leading to the more than likely fact she is going to die and be of much poorer health at a younger age.

My point here isn’t that I am bashing all people who smoke, but in this liberal-minded society being built up around us every day, I think it’s great that there are people out there who have standards when it comes to dating someone of the opposite sex, and for all the reasons you most eloquently spoke of yourself in your article, Donovan, I am more than willing to back the view of the girl you mentioned and others, that smoking is a major deterrent in classifying one as “”non-relationship material.””

Chris Boyd
psychology sophomore

Students should rally to protest president’s proposed tuition hike
“”Let ’em eat cake”” says UA President Robert Shelton as he proposes an inconceivable 13 percent tuition and fee hike for next year. He is apparently unwilling to acknowledge the current dour economy with its negative effect on UA students and their families. Instead, the justification for this hike is the usual blather of “”maintain U of A’s academic status”” and “”the only viable alternative is permanent cuts in academics.””

Apparently the Arizona Legislature asked the university to cut nearly $20 million out of the budget over the summer. Is the UA going to comply or come up with a few minor cosmetic cuts and adjustments probably gleaned from current reorganization efforts?

What it comes down to is: Do you feel such an increase is fair and justifiable in an atmosphere of 3-4 percent inflation? If you don’t, what can you do as a student? Frankly, a lot of things, including:

1. Organize and communicate.

2. Attend en masse the four hearings on Nov. 17. Let your opinion be heard clearly and courteously. Do understand that these hearings are usually perfunctory and rarely result in substantive change.

3. Protest. Vigorously, every day, everywhere. Communicate with anyone who can help your cause. You’ll be surprised where help may come from. Get the university administration and alumnae to understand that you are serious and that your position is fair and reasonable.

4. If the ivory tower Brahmins still refuse to cancel the increase, drop the “”Sabbatical Bomb.”” Don’t sign up for classes and take the fall period off. Plan to stay home, help out your family, get a part-time job, go on a road trip for a real education. This will only be effective if thousands participate.

When the university bigwigs begin to envision all those empty classrooms and labs, plus hundreds of empty dorm rooms, parking spaces, etc., they’ll get the message. The long knives and rendering vats will come to reduce the fat and waste necessary to maintain the current tuition and fees. As a bonus, the UA will become a more efficient educational institution benefiting all. Who knows that a successful action such as this could spark other similar activities at “”Big Education”” throughout the USA.

The average tuition has increased 40-50 times in the last 50 years. Compare this with the 10-12 times for a cost of a basic automobile or 12-15 times for the cost of a basic home.

Tom Vana
Tucson resident