Oppressing gays justified because majority favors it

In Monday’s opinion column, “”Gay marriage a matter of basic civil rights,”” Heather Price-Wright argues that gay marriage is a matter of basic civil rights. She, as most gay marriage supporters, draws the analogy between the past oppression of blacks and modern oppression of homosexuals. Well frankly, such an analogy is bogus.

Contrary to popular belief, gay marriage is not an equal rights issue. Every man in this country has the equal right to marry a willing woman and visa versa. It’s an equal playing field no matter what category you fall into. Price-Wright calls her readers to “”speak out, repeatedly and unabashed.”” Well, the citizens of this country have already spoken out and they are overwhelmingly in favor of traditional, heterosexual marriage. By my last count, 42 states have defined marriage between a man and a woman.

In a democracy, the people ultimately decide what rights we as citizens have and don’t have. And if anyone, including myself, doesn’t like it, they can blame their neighbor not the government.

-Eduardo Castaneda,
mechanical engineering junior

Bush White House ignored Constitution in anti-terror campaign

David Francis’ opinion that the Justice Department memos weren’t acted upon is false. (Mailbag, March 9, 2009) American citizens have been wiretapped without warrants. Prisoners at Guantanamo were tortured. Americans were held for years in Navy Brigs without charge, trial or legal representation (which isn’t to say they were good guys). Extraordinary rendition to a variety of countries occurred.

If Mr. Francis would actually read the nine released memos, he would see the depth of danger posed by the Bush White House. And I have heard there are more memos to be released so we don’t yet know the whole story.

Also, there was another memo written five days prior to the end of the Bush term that states the earlier legal opinions are rejected; a case of covering one’s behind, it seems. All of this is on the web. These memos didn’t just appear out of thin air; they were requested by somebody at the White House because Bush wanted a legal opinion. That’s what the Office of Legal Counsel does for the President. He asks for an opinion, they respond.

These memos actually said it was OK to ignore the first and fourth amendments of the Constitution in order to fight terrorists. Thereby, Bush violated his oath of office which says in part he will “”preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.””

-Sam Marion,
physiology research specialist

PIRG, ASA do not offer identical programs

As the Chair of the Arizona Students’ Association (ASA), I wanted to clarify a couple of things regarding the ASUA endorsements published in yesterday’s Daily Wildcat. The Arizona Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) and ASA surely have a number of things in common: We both believe in the power of the student voice, we both work to address issues that students care about, and most importantly, we both work tirelessly to make real change in the lives of students.

However, as we enter the last day of ASUA elections, it is important for voters to know that PIRG and ASA have clear differences regarding the issues and work they do for students. It is true that students currently pay a $2 per semester fee to have their voices represented by the Arizona Students’ Association on higher education issues pertaining to college access and affordability. As a result, ASA tackles issues such as the rising cost of tuition and textbooks, the expanding need for financial aid, and the decreasing funds provided by the state legislature for our universities. It is also true that PIRG addresses a number of issues directly affecting university students, but this work is by no means a duplicate of ASA’s efforts. In fact, PIRG undertakes a number of matters important to students outside of the work of ASA, such as warning students about deceptive credit card marketing practices or providing on-campus solutions for addressing the problems of global warming.

It is for this reason I assure you that a vote for the $2 PIRG fee is not a redundant vote for advocacy work that already exists.

-Michael Slugocki
chair, ASA Board of Directors