Hold ASUA candidates to higher standards

I would like to commend the Arizona Daily Wildcat for their choices of ASUA candidates. Now, I may not agree with all of their choices, but I commend them for choosing candidates that will challenge the status quo.

The reality is that ASUA is in desperate need of new ideas, or at the very least, they should be getting rid of their bad apples. For a variety of reasons, this student body has elected candidates that should never have held their respective offices.

Over the last few years, we have elected people who have been unable to get anything meaningful done for our school, either because they’re just not qualified, or they’re in love with their own egos. It pleases me to know that the Wildcat acknowledges that there is a massive problem within ASUA and their candidate choices, though there are some I disagree with, reflect that.

I think that our student body, along with the U.S. federal government, and the population of the United States could learn something about problem solving from you.

This being said, I feel that the Wildcat stopped itself short. This newspaper showed a vision of hope and change for ASUA. I feel that it should have also issued all of the candidates a challenge as well. That these candidates will rise above the petty bickering that has continued in ASUA for years, to put the betterment of this university before themselves or their rǸsumǸs, to work with one another in a civil way, to form working proposals that would actually better this institution, and, heaven forbid, get them passed.

I feel that it is the Wildcat’s responsibility to make such a challenge to these soon-to-be elected candidates. I also feel that it is the Wildcat’s responsibility to hold the 2007-2008 ASUA government to that challenge and report when they fail to do so (fighting like 2-year-olds included). And that is my challenge to the staff of the Wildcat.

Brendan Raybuck junior majoring in biochemistry and molecular and cellular biology

Racism still alive and well at the UA

Ultimately, college is supposed to be a wondrous experience, open to a plethora of ethnic groups and ideas. As of late, racism has been a huge topic on campus, and how the UA is going out of its way to welcome minority students.

Well, recently I’ve experienced several unwelcoming messages from random students. It’s noon and I’m strolling west towards the Gould-Simpson building. A large four-door F-350 Ford slowly putters in my direction, packed with your everyday Caucasian males. One guy in the bed of the truck decides to announce, “”Hey, there’s a black guy!!””

Not only did I hear this, but I’m sure the surrounding students and visitors clearly heard this as well. Immediately, I wanted to plunge my head within the nearest cactus to escape from the combination of anger and embarrassment.

Again, while strolling within the Student Union Memorial Center, a crowd of Caucasian males decide the hallway is only big enough for them to walk through. I closely tread along the right wall, but for some reason one of the guys heavily shoulders me, and his action is quickly followed by, “”Too many minorities here!””

At this point, I feel my existence within this school is crushed, churning my mind towards negative thoughts that no human should ponder. I wish I could charge these men for acting hubristically, however the Greek judicial system is somewhat sadly extinct.

On the other hand, these men, along with the mass amount of students, are the ones who truly contribute to the overall feeling of a community. The huge burden should not be placed upon the aging shoulders of our staff, but divided among the students.

It’s silly to highlight that the main reason why minorities are estimated to populate only thirty percent of students is because of the lack of college funding and grants or clubs that represent or welcome us. Sure, funding helps, but students don’t primarily choose schools due to how much funding is provided.

If a hopeful student were to encounter such acts, it may just change his or her mind to apply elsewhere. Therefore, it’s not really an issue of bringing in students, but more or less presenting a lasting impact to further their stay. Needless to say, I’m positive no student wants to experience such atrocious acts of discrimination.

Richard Riley pre-engineering junior

‘Generation Whine’ not grateful for UA opportunities

What is going on with students this year? Janet Lancaster thinks that her tuition buys her the right to do anything she wants in class, as if professors are sales persons who must bow to her every whim (“”Profs: Consider students paying customers””).

This idea of consumerism as somehow being attached to her status as a student is inherently flawed; you are paying for the right to sit in a class and learn, which is governed by a set of rules called the Student Code of Conduct. Rule # 11 states: Interfering with university or university-sponsored activities, including but not limited to classroom-related activities, studying, teaching, research, intellectual or creative endeavor, administration, service or the provision of communication, computing or emergency services.

Paying tuition does not give you the right to do anything you desire in class; it earns you the privilege to participate in university classes and activities. If you want to pay for a degree that does not require you to actually perform by attending classes, listening attentively and turning in assignments and being respectful to the person conducting the class, then I suggest you attend one of the thousands of mail-order colleges which will gladly take your money and print you a diploma.

Ashley Davis (“”UA ideal for binge drinking, not academics) thinks that just because her experience with UA students is marred by people with obvious issues prioritizing their schedules around partying, that the UA is somehow not a “”gem”” of a school. Last time I checked, the UA was ranked in the top 100 of all schools in the nation (public and private).

It’s too bad that her “”awakening”” did not include a realization that broad generalizations are seldom ever true. Davis questions how anyone would have to spend 6 or 7 years to get their undergrad. Davis’ inexperience and immaturity do not allow her to empathize with students who may not have the opportunity to “”waste their parents money”” as she did, because they may not be on their parents’ dime and therefore have to earn a living while attending one of the top 100 universities in the United States.

You say you are leaving; good riddance to you. I wholeheartedly agree with increasing the standards for admission to the UA; by making it harder to get in, perhaps more students would appreciate their experience and stop their incessant whining.

Dan Anglin UA alumnus

ASUA can make a difference

When I read the excellent article on the ASUA youth basketball league in Monday’s paper (“”Shooting for a cause””), I was reminded of why ASUA elections can make a difference.

Eleven or so years ago one of my students came to the office and told me he was going to run for a senate seat in ASUA. That student, Gahl Leddel, won that election, and he went on as a senator to implement an idea he had. They had a youth basketball league at his high school in Acadia California, and he thought we should have one here.

Thanks to his leadership and determination, the basketball league was established the following spring. Today it is thriving, doing just what he hoped it would. Who says one person can’t make a difference?

Jim Todd senior lecturer, Political Science Department

Moderate drinking can have benefits

After reading the “”UA ideal for binge drinking, not academics”” letter on Monday, I wondered if the author was either a troglodyte or was home-schooled and lived in semi-seclusion until she commenced her college career because I was under the impression that in today’s society it is no surprise that the practice of students imbibing alcohol liberally whilst attending a public university is not classified information.

While I do not advocate that everyone should drink, the judgmental and condescending implications included by Ashley Davis negate the fact that functional alcoholics have and will continue to impact society positively (i.e., Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt).

As far as UA failing to prepare students for the “”real world”” by not reprimanding those who “”tap a keg at a party this weekend,”” this is just nonsense because in the “”real world”” there is no mom and dad/nanny figure to ensure that alumni stay in line, regardless of whether alcohol or another factor is inhibiting their success. Perhaps learning this lesson in college is better than learning it after graduation, no matter how long this accomplishment takes.

Perhaps if she took a look at the “”real world”” before applying to the UA, Ashley Davis would have realized that her teetotaling ideas would have had a much larger impact if she donated the $40,000 she wasted on college to a neo-prohibitionist organization such as MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) or VOAI (Victory Over Addiction International), instead of trying to degrade fellow students in the school paper.

Just a side note, before transferring to Harvard, Ashley may want to know that this highly esteemed institution, along with the Food and Drug Administration, the American Medical Association and Swiss, Japanese, French and British governments, all have medical reports that say drinking in moderation is quite good for you.

Mark Nesdill sociology junior