Tucson ditchers don’t care about issues

It seems to me that all of these protesting kids only care about half-price, all-you-can-eat lunch buffet at Pizza Hut and free refills on cola, not the real issues. They should stay in school and get an education.

Patriotism speaks all languages

Those anti-immigrant folks who claim that English language and assimilating into “”mainstream”” culture must be requisites in order “”to become American”” ignore the multiethnic and multilingual heritage of the U.S. as a whole and Arizona in particular. My family has lived on what is now part of the U.S. since the 16th century. We never immigrated. Instead, our ancestral lands became part of this nation during America’s empire-building efforts from 1819 to 1898 that saw half of Mexico plus other Spanish-speaking territories absorbed into the U.S.

My grandfather, born a U.S. citizen, did not speak a word of English, but this was no obstacle for the Army to draft him when he was a young man, nor for him to serve proudly during World War II. Of course, knowing the English language is an important tool in order to function in this society, but this has no bearing on whether or not an individual loves this country or adheres to its values. After all, the biggest threat to the survival of our nation came not at the hands of dark-skinned invaders speaking a foreign tongue, but instead from white, Anglo, Protestant, English-speaking Southerners who unleashed a bloody civil war in order to destroy the Union and preserve their “”American”” way of life based on the enslaving of fellow human beings.

Millions of native-born Spanish speakers had defended our country and wholeheartedly performed all the duties of citizenship. We value our distinct culture, prefer to think, laugh and love in Spanish instead of English and cherish our ties of kinship with our brothers and sisters across Latin America. This does not make us any less patriotic!

Si se puede!

Union’s business model doesn’t make sense

I have to say the Arizona Daily Wildcat is right on about the union fee. Project proposals, budgets, charts and forums have all been drafted by the student union and Center for Student Involvement and Leadership’s crack management and marketing teams to wow the student body as to the wonders that we will reap from the omnipotent $40-per-semester fee.

Despite all of this (and as much as I grudgingly enjoy overpaying in the food court and U-Mart for goods that I could obtain on University Boulevard or at the supermarket for a cheaper price) I can’t come to any other conclusion but to vote no on the union fee.

The union, it seems, is spending way too much of the green stuff on business and service operations and expansion.

A real business would slow down totally unnecessary growth, trim the fat or take on a little debt to make its entrepreneurial model work. Alas, the union has one card up its sleeve that businesses do not: the ability to charge a fee and tax whatever difference it can’t make up using sensible business solutions.

The union needs to run a smart business and cut the excess like everyone else on this campus has had to do, or maybe we should start looking for someone else to run it.

America needs more radical immigration policy

America should adopt a zero-tolerance policy like Mexico’s on immigration. In Mexico, even legal documented immigrants are treated like fourth-class citizens. Illegal immigrants to Mexico are imprisoned and/or deported because it is a felony in Mexico to be there illegally.

Just imagine how heads would roll in America if Congress passed measures like that.