Can someone please explain why Elliot P. Harper and the Arizona Daily Wildcat felt the need to graphically detail the offensive graffiti written on a bathroom stall as what was described in the April 16 “Police Beat”? While I am sure Mr. Harper will claim that he was only passing on information given to him by the University of Arizona Police Department, that it’s his right to report what he wants … blah, blah, blah, I cannot fathom why he would want to cause further embarrassment to the victim of this nasty prank by publishing the entire report. I have to wonder, if this happened to Mr. Harper, how would he feel? Way to go, Elliot!
— Steve Mikitish,
Planned Maintenance supervisor for Facilities Management
In response to the April 16 column titled “UA class downing on Disney distracts from real problems”:
Disney perpetuates stereotypes — there is no doubt about it. The villains are always foreign-sounding, the princesses Barbie-esque and the evil hyenas in “The Lion King” are Latino, mentally retarded and Whoopi Goldberg.
But that is not the issue at hand. You are perfectly entitled to maintain your childhood love of Disney movies, and defend them to the death. I, after all, love “Peter Pan.”
Your point is that little kids are not likely to “think about how big Ariel’s boobs are, or how perfect and skinny Jasmine looks,” they just like the fantastical stories and magic carpet rides. Then why the segue into Disney’s influence on boys? “If girls are supposedly affected, boys would be too.” Exactly. It affects us all. It’s an epidemic. For better or worse, we all want to look like the Genie. Admit it. He’s got body.
But if this teacher has run out of lesson plans (the poor guy), then you have run out of quality article material (Daym! Went there!) Sounds like an interesting lesson (one that graces tons of college classes), let the guy (or woman) teach the class.
Love always,
— Abe Zverow,
senior studying media arts with an emphasis in Disney studies
In response to the April 9 column titled “Elderly need to stop driving”:
In Ohio we have to renew our licenses in person every four years. The thing is, the BMV personnel help the older driver with the eye test, giving them cues. This is a big problem for families who are depending on the BMV to deny a driver’s license to their visually impaired parents. AARP does offer the driver course for older drivers to be reminded of what they need to pay attention to while driving. Everyone gets lax over the years. Some get downright stupid. On Sunday, a younger driver in front of me made a right turn from the inner lane on a red light.
— Emilie R. Ratterman,
Butler County Elderly Services Program Intake Screening and Information & Referral
Hamilton, Ohio
In response to the April 16 column titled “Abortion law shows society’s ignorance”:
This is greatly inaccurate. It is my business to know this topic well, as a drafter of pro-life proposals for 10 years in Kansas.
In 2011, Kansas was the second state in the nation to pass the Pain-capable Unborn Child Protection Act — a ban on abortion at 22 weeks gestation — without one word about fertilization. In fact, at least as early as 1992, Kansas defines all abortion laws in statute by reference to gestation as defined using the obstetrical method of counting, i.e. from the first day of the mother’s Last Menstrual Period (LMP). Obstetricians define pregnancy this way, with a full term pregnancy calculated on average as 40 weeks LMP.
Kansas is not alone in this manner of statutory construction using LMP, while some states do formulate law in terms of post-conception. In fact, it is always important that abortion legislation be very exact so that abortion clinics are confident as to how to obey it.
Despite your sarcasm, Arizona legislators and pro-life advocates did not re-invent or re-define pregnancy. This absurd pro-abortion spin is promoted in a Daily Beast YouTube video.
In truth, obstetricians have used LMP method of calculating gestation for decades, stemming from the fact that the moment, or day, of fertilization and the moment/day of implantation is not ordinarily discerned. (This may even be the case for those women intentionally charting their fertility!) The optimum time a conception occurs in most women is roughly 2 weeks after first day LMP. Since the woman regularly recalls her LMP date, obstetricians continue to rely on this accepted calculation of pregnancy.
States which ban abortions in the second half of pregnancy are to be commended. DoctorsOnFetalPain.com gives plenty of proof that unborn children at that stage possess 5 times as many pain sensors in their skin without the pain dampening system that only fully works after full-term delivery. That is why NICU hosptial-unit staff treat preemies with such delicacy.
No civilized society can tolerate such barbaric abortions; thus, predictably, abortion defenders are now driven to promoting sensationalized untruths to mask their indefensible position.
Your article is a great disservice to students and should be withdrawn, preferably with an explanation and apology.
— Kathy Ostrowski,
State Legislative director of Kansans for Life, state affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee
In response to the March 30 column titled “Underage students should get fake IDs”:
I really hope that article was a joke. April 1 was a while ago. Publishing an article about that content in a university-sponsored newspaper is not the most intelligent thing to do, and it’s probably one of the things that gives our university a terrible reputation.
— Matt Schwartz,
Los Angeles
