Let them eat local

In response to Joe Dusbabek’s well thought-out opinion (“Let’s go local: Campus lacks food diversity”) requesting more local, healthy and diverse food options on campus, I would like to suggest that the university go the extra mile and make at least some organic and locally grown foods available. As an alumna of the UA, I cringe when I see students consuming plate after plate of food without so much as an organically grown salad being offered. To my knowledge, there is only one place on campus where organic foods are offered, and that is the U-Mart, which kindly offers Amy’s (Amy’s Kitchen, Natural, and Organic Foods) organic vegetarian entrees and burritos, organic hummus, pita bread and Organic Fair Trade coffees. Fresh, healthful, pesticide and herbicide-free food choices should be available in campus cuisine, as well as some vegan choices for those that prefer them. In fact, the university should require that all food vendors offer a few of such foods. Local farmers markets offer organically grown food at very low, affordable prices. Buying local is always good, too, and reduces the greenhouse gas emissions caused by trucking food across the country.

_— Barbara Vaughn
UA Alumna, 1999_

Security breach or security bullshit?

As a UA employee, I received the infamous “Goatman” email. While I was disgusted by the content of the email, I understand that mistakes can happen and professionals cannot be prepared for every unexpected outcome. However, what I do not understand is how in the apology email, it was explained that, “by using an offshore server the perpetrator of this act was able to mask his or her identity and pretend to be one of the very few individuals with permission to transmit messages to this listserv.” On the other hand, in your article “Security” it is explained differently that, “the listserv was not moderated, meaning anyone on the listserv could forward anything to everybody.” So I am wondering if the statement in your article is factually incorrect, or if the entire campus employee community was directly lied to by the chief information officer of our university.

­_— Jim Isaacs
Senior Nutritional Science Major_