State senator doesn’t know her bill

It would be wise for state Sen. Paula Aboud to read her own bills before issuing press releases to the Arizona Daily Wildcat (“”Bill may require state to lower energy usage””). She claims that HB 2497 provides “”extra money upfront into construction and you save on utility bills for the life of the building.””

That’s not her bill. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the senator should have noticed that her bill does not include an appropriation. It imposes an unfunded state mandate on a financially strapped higher education budget.

Increased energy efficiency is unquestionably a good idea and the university has been working hard for many years to reduce its costs. HB2497 merits an additional building renewal appropriation aligned to its goals.

Prof. Ted Downing professor of social development

Direct anger toward those who get abortions

After happening across the anti-abortion display on the mall yesterday, I was curious to see what responses it would provoke on the pages of the Wildcat. I have to admit, though, that I was unprepared for the two letters attacking the display. Could anyone, even acting deliberately, miss the point more thoroughly?

Mr. Ho encounters a display he finds “”nauseating,”” presumably because it depicted the mangled corpses of aborted babies, and becomes angry. There is nothing particularly strange about that; I shared his reaction, and it would be hard to argue that anyone who witnesses such carnage and fails to be angry is entirely ok in the head.

What struck me as odd is that, rather than feeling angry toward the individuals who committed these atrocities, Mr. Ho chooses to lash out at the anti-abortion movement for exposing them. I mean, I’m sorry his “”marvelling at the snow on the trees”” was interrupted, but how about a moment of sympathy for the individuals on those signs, who will never get a chance to see a tree, snow-covered or otherwise.

The other letter, by Mr. Matthews, may be even worse. He at least avoided nausea, since he is “”accustomed”” to seeing “”pictures of dead babies,”” but his view of the people holding them as “”random losers”” is hardly one that would seem consistent with the respect for the views of others that this campus promotes.

Next, Matthews pulls out the rape argument, apparently believing that most abortions are the result of rape since he doesn’t bother to provide any other arguments. In reality, of course, rape and incest combined are given as the reason for abortion in less than 1 percent of cases. What’s worse, those who use this argument don’t really believe it.

Want proof? Easy. Go to anyone who supports abortion and say “”We are willing to allow abortion in all cases of rape, incest, or danger to the mother (about 5 percent of abortions total), so long as it is banned in all other cases. This will reduce abortions by 95 percent.””

Would Mr. Matthews accept this deal? I highly doubt it. If you want to support abortion, at least have the courage to say what you mean.

Graham Newnum pre-business sophomore

Beer pong a sport for ‘superior athletes’

I hope Adam Wasserman and Dan Schuman are proud of their business (“”UA alumni craft beer pong tables””). But I must say: “”Get your drinks off my table!”” Sure, these guys are building their own tables; unfortunately, a majority of the games are played on legitimate ping-pong tables.

When wedges of cups are filled with Keystone Light and placed on the hollowed playing surface of the ping-pong table, the game is disrespected. To play beer pong, one must have the ability to throw a ball and presumably a blood alcohol content hovering around 0.20. Some game. Isn’t this the basis of boozo’s Grand Prize Game? A game for children.

To master the ping-pong table, one must be a superior athlete, one who possesses determination, lightning quick reflexes, phenomenal footwork and an unshakable focus. This athlete is disgraced when his playing surface is left sticky from a night of drunks knocking their Solo cups over.

Disrespect of this kind cannot be ignored, and those ignoring the beautiful tradition of ping-pong must be brought to justice. This aggression will not stand. I call on all the true pongers of the world: Next time you are at a party and people are playing beer pong, beat them in their juvenile game. Take out your paddle and defend the table’s honor. Make someone beat you in the game the table is meant for before you yield. Viva la resistance!

Brian Danker UA alumnus

Abortion debate needs to ‘chill out’

Chill out, folks. Yeah, the Justice for All guys are going all-out on the UA Mall this week, but as far as free expression goes, setting up shop on the Mall is a fairly standard practice. Sure, some of the images might be nausea-inducing, but that’s just an irrational reaction – after all, they aren’t human and haven’t yet acquired their souls by taking a trip through the birth canal.

Besides, they’re only bundles of cells, and even though those cells are human ones, they have less cells than we do; the “”social justice”” authorities haven’t made any complaints about cellular discrimination, so it must be okay. Admittedly, maybe the blood and gore just gets to some people, so I’m inclined to think that the abortion doctors should’ve called an undertaker to pamper and embalm the little organic units after they were crushed, poisoned, or dismembered.

I also share the shock and outrage expressed by past Wildcat Mailbag contributors at the mentioning of genocide, slavery, and other legal and convenient practices. To be fair, maybe I could spend some time comparing and contrasting abortion and these practices on a Venn Diagram, but that requires critical thought and possibly the formation of a personal moral philosophy, and I don’t have the time or energy for learning that stuff because I’m too busy going to college.

However, on the off-chance that any Wildcats out there have the time and brainpower, I suggest they think about the issue and discuss it with others. Maybe something good could come out of it.

Dan Greenberg political science freshman

U.S. should overhaul sex-ed programs

I’m writing in response to the abortion display sitting in the UA Mall. If anything, this display, and peoples’ reactions to it, has reminded me of one truth: the propaganda isn’t changing people’s minds.

In all likelihood, Roe v. Wade will probably never be overturned any time soon because there is no compelling, legal (i.e., secular) reason to do so. Not only that, but children become U.S. citizens if they are born, as opposed to conceived, in the United States, so the state technically does not need to give an unborn fetus the rights of a citizen.

The only “”solution”” I see to the debate is to overhaul sex education in U.S. schools. Studies have indicated that abstinence-only programs do not have measurable influence students’ decisions to have premarital sex. Unfortunately, that’s usually the only sex-ed most students receive.

I propose a more comprehensive course that involves exhaustive education of contraceptives and lasts for more than a few weeks, so that when students find themselves inclined to have sex, they will be better prepared to avoid pregnancy altogether.

Jude Nelson pre-computer science sophomore