Attention all Bandwagoners!
On behalf of all the loyal UA football fans who didn’t leave a game (Cal) early or call for Stoops’ head or talk about how much UA football sucks because you thought it was a the trendy and popular thing to do, I hereby welcome you back onboard the Bandwagon with no strings attached. We won’t talk about how you were wrong or how you should be ashamed for bashing your alma mater’s football team, just as long as you show up for the ASU game! Buy your ASU game tickets, students! Please don’t make me and other students have to sit next to a bunch of old fogies who have taken over the student section because you don’t care enough to fork out 10 measly bucks for a ticket to the game. This team is headed to a bowl for the first time in eight years! Beating ASU would be a great cap to an exciting season, and it beats another boring Thanksgiving weekend talking to Grandma. Go Cats! Bear Down and beat ASU!
Tate Wyly
engineering senior
No need for gender-neutral bathrooms
Sometimes from far away, I read the Arizona Daily Wildcat with astonishment. There are those efforts at inclusion and politically correct policy that defy reason and can hardly be linked to any rational purpose. The notion that refusing to allow gender-neutral bathrooms would limit the UA’s inclusive policies and make people feel unwelcome is laughable and quite nearly absurd. The argument for inclusion and tolerance in this case are self-effacing in that, while embracing whomever supports “”inclusion,”” it seeks to exclude any opposing view. All the while, the argument is made behind the all-too-often self-righteous cry that to disagree is to offend some poor unheralded soul. Hogwash.
Neither I nor anyone else should apologize for refusing to go to the bathroom with someone of the opposite sex. It almost sounds silly to have to say that. Associated Students of the University of Arizona Sen. Shawn Ingram is to be applauded for refusing to sacrifice what he believes at the altar of political correctness. It is the mark of a true leader who, at the risk of losing his own position, stands for what he knows to be right and good. Enjoy going to the bathroom with whomever you wish while you are there. It is poor preparation, however, for the world beyond the university.
Matthew M. McCord
Atlanta resident
Gender identity cannot be assigned by others
Idiotic excuses (such as the increased risk of pedophiles) aside, the widespread misunderstanding about the need for gender-neutral restrooms is astounding. Would the UA denying wheelchair-accessible ramps to handicapped people be acceptable? Obviously not. The university’s nondiscrimination policy prohibits discrimination on the basis of “”race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation or gender identity,”” whether real or perceived. If we are to be the inclusive campus our policies state we are, we must offer whatever venues necessary to make everyone in the UA community feel safe and acknowledged.
Questions of gender identity are as real as physical disabilities and should be treated so. You would never tell a paralyzed person, “”get out of your wheelchair and walk, you don’t need that ramp!”” Just as you cannot tell a transgendered person to simply take a physiology course to “”clear up any confusion about one’s gender,”” and then find the restroom with the appropriate stick figure on the door. It doesn’t work that way. Gender identity is a far more complex concept than the composition of one’s body. It includes varied personal, emotional, social and political contexts, which make it more difficult than most people recognize. We have neither the right nor ability to assign gender to anyone but ourselves, and we cannot tell anyone which restroom they must use based on how we perceive them. If for nothing else than the safety and peace of mind of a considerable portion of the UA community, there must be gender-neutral restrooms on campus.
Julianna Bradley
sophomore majoring in family studies and human development
A break in the case!
Since the UAPD is busy tracking more serious crimes on and around campus, I wanted to help out with the investigation of possible trespassing caused by one or more UA students at the Nov. 10 football game. It was reported that people have not “”come forward with information.”” Well, I have talked to a few people around town and this is what I found: Description: Men and/or women, of varying heights and weights, possibly wearing an abundance of red when crime was committed. Number: Somewhere in the ballpark of 8,000 to 10,000. I recommend a police lineup immediately. Other details: Consider them armed and dangerous. Armed with hopes of a bowl game and dangerously anxious to storm the field once again. If you or anyone you know has any further information about these possible offenders, please contact UAPD and let them know they will need to buy more handcuffs.
Tyler Carrell
business administration senior
