In response to the Feb. 2 column “Electronic bikes deprive students of exercise, cash”:

What is the main purpose of a bicycle? It can be exercise, but it can also be solely as transportation.

How far is the typical student’s commute? You are correct if that is less than three flat miles each way, and have safe roads/paths to ride; I would agree with you that a manual bike is a better overall choice.

But did you ask yourself how many students drive a car because they have a longer commute? An ebike is an excellent way to go 5 to 20 miles without exhausting yourself, getting soaked in sweat (you are in Arizona, right?), and requiring a lot of additional calories (assuming the rider doesn’t want to lose weight. Yes, some students should lose weight, but that is not the issue) In fact, an ebike ridden 5 to 15 miles allows the rider to exercise at will, and neither forces nor denies the rider exercise. How much exercise does a car driver get?

It’s been proven that ebikes are at least as environmentally friendly as manual bikes when you factor in how inefficient food calories are. A typical lithium ebike battery will last 20,000 lifetime miles and use less electricity than it would to just cook the additional food a normal cyclist would need.

What I am saying is that an ebike is the better choice for transportation in the real world where it’s not safe to go 12mph, not healthy to breathe automobile exhaust while exercising, and traveling 10 to 20 miles daily.

I think single occupancy automobile trips are insanely excessive and cause so many problems in urban areas. Can you write an article about that?

— Rich H. in Austin, Texas

In response to the Jan. 31 column titled, “Affirmative action doesn’t help”:

I just wanted to say thanks for speaking for many of us in your column about affirmative action. It is refreshing to know journalists are coming up the ranks who aren’t so biased as we’ve come to expect from most of the media. God bless you! If you don’t already, I beg you to make time for reading the Bible to keep you on a course with moral bearings. Begin with the gospel of John (4th book in New Testament). If that doesn’t grab you, keep reading, but it has an unusual power to connect people to the true source of everything.

— Lee Sommitz

In response to the Feb. 6 article, “Concealed carry club seeks adviser”:

“Concealed Carry” is an unnecessary danger to the community and allowing it on campus is irresponsible to the more than 40,000 people on campus. Do you think it is appropriate to bring a firearm, however concealed it might be, to an office or a church? There are reasons why there are limitations on firearms in various places from government institutions to airports and beyond.

A university is an esteemed place of higher learning, not a gun-toting free-for-all. It comes down to some people being more comfortable carrying a gun than not, but they have to consider those of us that are more comfortable knowing weapons are still forbidden from the places where we spend most of our time. Lastly, do we really want the University of Arizona to be known as the one where everyone carries guns?

— More Song, sophomore studying molecular and cellular biology and music