Walkout participants appreciate issue

On Monday, the Arizona Daily Wildcat published a letter by Gabriel Mark Bustamante. I believe Bustamante’s letter deserves a response. Bustamante contends that by participating in the walkouts, high school students gave credence to the stereotype that Hispanics do not value education and that they lack respect for police officers. To support his arguments, Bustamante said that students only wanted “”to get out of class and many probably did not even know both sides of the issue.”” By Bustamante’s reasoning, the students who participated in walkouts during the Civil Rights era also did not value education and did not respect police officers. By that same token, Arizona students who appeared on the front page in the same issue of the Wildcat and who were protesting tuition hikes do not value education either.

I would argue that the opposite is true – that by becoming politically active, the students were actually learning a valuable lesson about their civic duty, and their political and civil rights. Moreover, since many of those students have parents who are undocumented immigrants, and since some of the kids are unwitting undocumented immigrant themselves, it is safe to assert that they know the issue very well. They were protesting a congressional bill that would turn many of them and their parents into felons, thereby grouping them with rapists and murderers. Furthermore, by stating that they only “”wanted to get out of class”” and “”probably”” do not know the issue, it is Bustamante who is actually propagating stereotypes about Hispanics. One has to wonder, exactly how did Bustamante arrive at this probability?

In short, it sure looks like it is Bustamante who does not know the issue very well and who is fond of making unfounded generalizations. If he talked to those students he wishes to see punished, Bustamante would personally see their sense of solidarity and human decency, and in the process, he might actually learn something from them.

Technology advanced by religious

I would like to provide just a few of the many examples that contradict Jake Campbell’s assertion yesterday that religion and science can only stand at odds. He points out that “”secular and heretical thinkers”” have been responsible for scientific advances, while “”the worshippers”” only reap the benefits. However, Isaac Newton is noted for his religious writings and is a great example of how these “”opposing”” worldviews can coexist in one person. Campbell also mentions that the “”pseudo-equality”” Western nations enjoy was not secured or advocated by priests. What about Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon? These were central figures in the Mexican war for independence from Spain, and they were both Catholic priests. Campbell’s statement also ignores the work of countless British and American Protestant abolitionists. He concludes by stating that religious people would live like “”savages”” if left on their own. He ignores the fact that religion has worked as a unifying and law-establishing force for countless civilizations, the earliest ones I can think of being the ancient Mesopotamian ziggurat centers. However, these examples aren’t meant to deny that religion has also often been behind reactionary forces opposed to change. Anyway, perhaps the greatest example of how religion is not at odds with science is our very own student body. I am sure plenty of UA students who adhere to a specific religion will go on to improve and contribute to society, whether through scientific or social means.

Terror drill a realistic exercise

I would like to respond to Sarah Miller’s letter about the terror drill. First of all, Miller says that having the drill involve “”two suspicious individuals of Middle Eastern descent”” is unnecessarily racist. She needs to have a reality check and realize that Middle Easterners do in fact commit terrorist attacks just like everyone else and that a hypothetical scenario in which an attack would be committed by one is quite realistic.

Since 1993 at least 10 major terrorist attacks on Americans either here or abroad have been committed by Middle Easterners, while only two major ones have not (Oklahoma City and possibly the Olympic Park bombing). In order to be effective for training purposes, drills should be based on the most probable situations as possible, not politically correct views.

In her letter, Miller attacks the use of tax dollars for such wasteful drills and also questions why there is no preparation for a major natural disaster in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. What kinds of major natural disasters are we here in Tucson exactly in danger of? Hurricanes? Earthquakes? Alien invasions? It would seem that preparing for such a disaster would for all purposes actually be a waste of tax money, which Miller obviously opposes.

In the future let’s try and be a little more realistic in our complaints, shall we?

Intramurals should be less contentious

I just recently competed in and lost my coed intramural softball game. However, what I am extremely angry about is the fact that throughout the course of the game, the opposing team deemed it necessary to verbally abuse and challenge my team to fight. I understand that tensions run high during competition, but the fact that this team chose to verbally assault us is uncalled for and needs to be brought to the attention of the Student Recreation Center. The fact that the student umpire did nothing to stop the hostile language is equally horrendous. In the future, I would like the student umpires and referees to have stronger control of the games and not tolerate or allow teams to verbally abuse each other. I believe that the Rec Center should institute a rule that gives an entire team one warning due to its negative actions and/or language. If the team in question continues its verbal and/ or physical assaults, then it forfeits the game – no matter the score or time left in the event. This rule would help to cut down on name-calling and requests to fight during the course of student games. Please take heed to my request, or one day a negative situation will arise from a simple intramural game among UA students.

Militia, National Guard separate

Regarding Janne Perona’s column yesterday: The militia and National Guard are two separate entities. The National Guard exists because regular military cannot be deployed in the homeland. The National Guard is just like the regular army but is under control of the governor of the state. Citizens are the militia! See: 1939 Miller v. U.S. A militia is a group of citizens called up in an emergency and expected to furnish their own guns. Historically, militias were not farmers with pitchforks; they were farmers with muskets. The National Guard is not the evolution of the militia. Constitutionally we are not even supposed to have any standing army for more than two years. Many states (including Arizona) have militias, and many people don’t even know they are in it. Governor Napolitano is the one who is stifling the militia by vetoing SB 1425 upholding the government’s right to infringe on Article 2 section 26 of the Arizona Constitution (read it carefully; it should take you five seconds).

Registration should be simplified

With my first college year coming to an end, I thought there would not be anything else for me to do more stressful than studying for and taking finals; then I started to sign up for classes. I went to sign up to meet with my adviser, only to find out she was booked all the way through the end of registration. I went to the “”quick advising”” only to find that I could not get some “”quick”” help for another two hours. After finally getting some help, I asked about the infamous math 115b class that had been known to fill up and leave some students without the chance to take it fall semester. The adviser told me it was up to me to try to get into the class. So I sat at my computer every minute I didn’t have class until I finally got the e-mail saying that there were more classes opening for the course. I don’t have any solutions to making registration less stressful, but I would like to see a change in the format for registration. I guess I could always fake like I have a learning disability and get into the SALT program and get first pick of all the classes.

Napolitano failing the state

Janet Napolitano has once again failed in her mission to protect Arizona. With her veto of law enforcement empowerment legislation, she has set back the progress of fighting illegal immigration yet again. It seems that she still believes she is “”tough”” on illegal immigration despite having vetoed just about every piece of legislation meant to combat it from the Legislature. Remember Proposition 200? Remember how a vast majority of Arizonans voted in support of it? Well how about the fact that Napolitano has diffused every significant piece of legislation that was meant to actually enforce it? It pains me to see how much money we spend every year and how much our resources are taxed for illegal immigrants. Where does this leave the law-abiding legal immigrants? In the minority. Who follows the rules anymore when our state rolls out the welcome mat for illegal immigrants? We need a governor who will help the situation, rather than set it, and the state, back. Come on Arizonans, wake up and realize what is going on in your own state. Where are the protests against Napolitano? Where are the 100,000 people marching on the Capitol who feel illegal immigration needs to be gotten under control? I would hope that come election day, Arizonans realize this and will do something about it.

Wall between U.S., Mexico a ridiculous idea

Extreme right-wing beliefs that a wall separating Mexico and the U.S. is the solution to fixing America’s broken border and immigration policies are ridiculous, as is a comparison of that “”solution”” to the wall built in Israel. This hate-filled and ill-informed show of support for this disastrous policy by the College Republicans only emphasizes how far right and how out of step Republicans are with Arizonans and Americans alike. Citizens of this nation and state deserve real and comprehensive solutions like the bipartisan bills approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and Hagel/Martinez compromise to remedy decades of failed immigration and border reforms. Republicans need to hear the voices of the masses that marched peacefully across America over the past month and pass a logical and comprehensive immigration bill rather than carry on with the idiotic rhetoric of the right.