Comics much improved over previous semesters’
As I read Sabastian Santos’ letter in Friday’s Arizona Daily Wildcat bemoaning the lack of humor on the comics page, I couldn’t help but wonder if we had been reading the same newspaper these past few weeks. I have been extremely pleased with the greatly improved comics this semester, particularly with the addition of “”Hamsters in the Microwave.”” Not only is “”Hamsters”” well drawn; it is actually intelligent and consistently funny.
I was as big a fan as the next guy (or girl) of great past Wildcat comics such as “”Optimal Stubble”” and “”Marmalade,”” but I believe that “”Hamsters”” stands with the best of them … and in any case, it would be hard to argue that the current lineup is anything but a vast improvement over last semester’s excuse for a comics page – “”Out of Water,”” anyone?
Nick Seibel
architecture sophomore
Senators acted childishly in replacement debate
While fairly presenting both sides of the debate, Thursday’s “”(Associated Students of the University of Arizona) debates possible replacement of senator”” did not give justice to the disrespectful and inappropriate behavior exhibited by some senators at Wednesday’s senate meeting.
Sen. Matthew Boepple demonstrated a serious lack of self-control by working himself into a childish furor about the rapid pace of Tyler Reece’s nomination, despite the fact that nearly every other senator stated that Reece was more than qualified.
While the much-lauded Sen. Rhonda Tubbs was more respectful of Reece, she showed her willingness to engage in open political gamesmanship by suggesting that the senate could leave the position empty for the rest of the year. Like acting Student Body President Erin Hertzog stated, “”The senate is short one voting member;”” why deprive students of another representative?
I sincerely hope that future ASUA senators do not engage in the embarrassing and disgusting behaviors displayed by some of the senate at Wednesday’s meeting.
As for this year’s senate, they could all take direction from Sen. Alex Dong, who said it best at Wednesday’s meeting: “”We all need to behave like senators.””
Andy Keyt
history freshman
Hertzog not responsible for ASUA funding
Mitchell Penner (Thursday’s “”Errors in ASUA club funding process unfortunate””) seems to be confused about how money is allocated to clubs around campus. He is sadly mistaken if he thinks that one individual is responsible for deciding how much money a club gets, as should be obvious to most students here. Erin Hertzog can’t control how the votes of the appropriations board go. The board makes the decisions, votes on the amount given to each club, and then allocates the money as decided … not Hertzog. This was a very weak attack against someone who has obviously been working hard to keep ASUA afloat during its recent ups and downs. We should be appreciative that Hertzog stepped up when she did to help move ASUA forward and keep ASUA’s support of clubs and this campus active. In the future, I think most students would appreciate someone getting his facts straight before writing a letter to the editor so we don’t soil the reputation of a fine member of this campus and our student government. I for one am quite comfortable with Hertzog as acting president, and am happy someone was willing to take responsibility and step up. If anything, she has proven her loyalty to this campus with the hours she has been putting in. I hope that the student body will quickly dismiss Mitchell’s attack against a fine member of our university’s student body and dedicated member of ASUA! I for one say, thanks, Erin Hertzog, for all the hard work!
Allan Bushnell
religious studies senior
Pac-10 doesn’t deserve respect
I can’t believe that the men’s basketball team has fallen so far so fast. If it gets to the big dance, it will be one-and-done. I worked on campus from 1993 to 2005 and have enjoyed some great basketball. Now I live back in Big East country and am enjoying the best of basketball. I have no doubt the East will take it all. I always said when I lived in Tucson that the Pac-10 never got any respect from the rest of the country, but it seems that the mildcats are getting the respect they deserve – no respect at all!
Rick Drake
former UA employee
Protest necessary to advance freedom
In Friday’s Mailbag, Andrew Blackwell commented that, in many countries, people are not given the right to free speech or free assembly, the very rights that protesters were exercising at the ROTC building last week. Blackwell is correct about that. In many countries (including some of George Bush’s allies in the “”war on terror””) many people are tortured, or worse, for daring to dissent.
However, what Blackwell mistakenly assumes, as many people do, is that our freedoms were simply granted to us, ignoring the fact that centuries of agitation, protest, dissent, struggle and legal wrangling have propelled our society toward greater, though not perfect, freedom and equality. The 40-hour workweek, women’s suffrage and an end to racial apartheid in America were all earned through this type of struggle.
The Declaration of Independence and Constitution were written by dissenters and agitators; the Continental Army was a ragtag group of terrorist rebels in the eyes of the British. The abolition of slavery had as much to do with early anti-slavery activists as it did with the Union Army. At times, the U.S. military has protected the dissenters, as was the case of the federalized National Guard in Selma, Ala., in 1965 and, at times, it has acted violently in contradiction of our civil rights, as at Kent State in 1970. Abroad, the record of the U.S. military is even spottier.
To contemporize the discussion, we can ask: Has the U.S. military protected the civil and human rights of Iraqi prisoners and civilians, or prisoners in Guantanamo? Not according to Amnesty International or the International Red Cross. It will take legal action, popular protest and more to put a stop to these and other outrages, just as it has in the past.
Sandy Marshall
Near Eastern studies graduate student
