‘Tentropolis’ leads students to eye-opening experience

I am a member of the university’s Social Justice League and our focus for this semester is the great problem of homelessness that this country, and to bring it closer to home, Tucson, seems to deny and is comfortable with ignoring. We chose to take part in Tentropolis – a homeless simulation. Call us crazy if you want for agreeing to give up our homes and belongings for a week, but we are enjoying it so much! For this week only, almost 20 students a night are living in a “”shelter”” and eating at a “”soup kitchen.”” Today is day four of this event and many of us have had our eyes opened. We hosted dynamic speakers twice a day that shed light on different areas of homeless life here in Tucson, and the different organizations that address this grave problem.

We have three assigned meals a day and at a point between meals yesterday, I found myself saying, “”I’m hungry.”” When I thought about it later on, I realized that I have never been truly hungry. I could not even explain what the physical sensation of “”hunger”” feels like. I am accustomed to having choice, and this is something the homeless sometimes definitely cannot have.

While listening to one of our speakers, I remembered H. G. Wells, who said that all people are “”equally entitled to the respect of their fellow-men.”” We discussed how society has decreased the homeless to an almost sub-human level. In this Darwinist “”survival of the fittest”” world, it is so easy to cross the street and avoid the bedraggled man walking toward us. It doesn’t even cross our minds to think about how he will survive.

The most welcome surprises for us this week were the actual homeless who happened to pass by our squatter site on the UA Mall. Interesting conversations with them helped us to learn more and also encouraged us to persevere in our endeavors this week. On behalf of the Social Justice League, thank you to everyone who stopped by our camp and left us a comment or donation.

Chiedza Mutsaka

international studies senior

Palin cartoon shows

some ‘hate filled’ comics OK

I want to congratulate each and every person that participated in Stop the Hate and Celebrate: Yes, We Did, and I’d also like to congratulate the Arizona Daily Wildcat for their actions this past week. I witnessed such concern and response over the infamous cartoon run last week. And it’s so refreshing to see the Wildcat publish only positive cartoons now, and stop publishing the hateful comics of yesteryear. Yes, they do.

I mean, seriously, if anyone has a problem with the cartoon run Wednesday (the same day as Stop the Hate) depicting a character buying a gun off eBay and then using a helicopter and new gun to chase Gov. Sarah Palin in her car, they must be a real softy. There is absolutely no need for Tommy Bruce to write in and apologize to the large chunk of the student body that voted for Palin, nor any need for President Shelton to clearly and dutifully explain that the university does not endorse hate or buying guns off eBay in order to shoot other people. I certainly hope that no concerned students actually wasted their time to write in about such material being published. To do so would be extremely childish and petty. Yes, it would.

After all, Palin is part of the majority race in America. She’s a conservative, and we all know “”conservative”” is code for “”closed-minded.”” There is absolutely no need to be concerned over depictions of people like her being hunted like animals. After all, she and the small-minded people like her are the major hindrances to society’s progress. Clearly the best thing for society is to accept and encourage the harassment of her and her kind (and removal from the world when necessary). Yes, it is.

And clearly the best thing for everyone is to stop hating and celebrate that yes, we did. We did stop the hate. We did start a brave new world of only love and tolerance of every view – excluding the intolerant like Palin, of course, and those who espouse similar views. We did start loving our enemies, including political opponents who are fellow Americans and we stopped supporting hate-filled cartoons. We did start treating others as we would be treated. Yes, we did.

Michael A. Schaffner

systems engineering freshman