No bike racks? No business

I rode my bike over to the UA women’s soccer match against No. 2 Santa Clara, anxious to see a great game on a nice day. I get to the new and improved Murphey Field, only to be told there are no bike racks. I looked around and saw all the wrought iron fencing and asked if I could lock the bike to the fence – only to be told, “”No, you can’t lock your bike to anything inside the stadium.”” The “”security agent”” then offered this great advice, “”Just lean it up against the fence … ain’t nobody gon’ take it.”” Now, as anyone in Tucson knows, you don’t leave your bike unlocked and then walk away from it for even a minute, let alone 90. Just “”leaning it up against the fence”” is not an option. Shame on the UA for not providing bicycle parking at Murphey Field and then disallowing anyone to lock their bikes in secure areas. How hard is it to provide a small area for safe bicycle parking? In addition to the incompetent senior citizen security staff, the UA has found a way to turn even more fans away from attending soccer matches. I turned around and rode back home, stopping at Los Betos to spend my $5 there instead.

-Aaron Passmore
UA alumnus

Thanks for the healthy options!

I would like to thank the UA for bringing Core, a versatile salad bar, to the Student Union Memorial Center. Living on campus for the second year in a row, I have always had trouble locating substantial healthy food options anywhere on campus. Of course, the Cactus Grill is pretty good when all else fails, although the long lines and overwhelming amount of customers are definite turn-offs, resorting me to purchase Burger King, Papa John’s or Panda Express and pretend what I am about to consume is even remotely healthy. I believe Core is a step in the right direction to bettering the UA’s on-campus food options. Also commendable is the brand-new health food market on University Boulevard. To the UA: Great work taking action and better serving on-campus students’ needs.

-Laura Donovan
creative writing sophomore

We’re all guilty of paying for slavery

The reality of this immigration situation is one centered subject I have yet to hear anyone mention. You all know what I am speaking of. It is, after all, one of the oldest human traditions in the world. SLAVERY. Have we as Americans become so greedy that we forgot this one little detail? I am guilty as we all are, of buying Chinese-made goods, and eating foods picked by illegal aliens. But we must remember this one critical thing: Americans are some of the hardest working individuals on the planet. There are Americans who will assemble shoes, build electronics and pick food, but the problem is Americans just won’t do it for three dollars an hour.

It’s easy to point the finger and choose a side about the wrongful deaths through border-crossing. I hate to admit this, but we are all responsible for their deaths as much as the crossers are. We allowed this, and until we make it absolutely impossible for them to be here and to stay here, we will watch more die. It is time for our country to choose between what is right and what is easy. It is time for us to choose as a community to stop allowing them to cross, to stop allowing them to work, to stop allowing them to be inducted into our modern version of slavery. I am ashamed by Armando Lopez’s thoughts on this matter (Mailbag, Friday), not because of the way he thinks, but because it is the way we all think.

We sure do love our slaves here in America; we always have. We also love our money and our privileges. This isn’t a matter of what our government is doing anymore. It is a matter of the decisions we all make together. Let every illegal working person in America who doesn’t enjoy the full rights and the privileges that it is to be American be a physical representation of the shame of our society’s greed. Let every death at our gates be a reminder of how much it really costs to buy tomatoes and mp3 players.

-Breton Homewood
aerospace engineering sophomore

Zona Zoo scholarships hardly worthwhile

Friday’s “”Fail”” by the Editorial Board of the ASUA Zona Zoo Erin Hertzog Scholarships was right on the mark. As Zona Zoo director last year, I worked constantly to develop the revenue-sharing agreement now in place, which brings a portion of the money from sales of the Zona Zoo pass back to the students. I always envisioned this money as being designated for Zona Zoo programming and events that thousands of Zona Zoo members can enjoy, not merely three students who write essays about school spirit. I opposed using the money Zona Zoo now receives for “”scholarships”” when that idea was first proposed, and I continue to do so. It’s disappointing to see the money that my team and I, notably current Zona Zoo leaders David Roost and Nick Sproul, worked so hard to earn for students thrown away so that Tommy Bruce can blow kisses to his former boss, Hertzog.

Incidentally, while ASUA president, Hertzog was only occasionally involved in the process of negotiating the revenue-sharing agreement that was eventually secured. The revenue-sharing agreement developed last year will make it possible for Zona Zoo to achieve levels of success never before possible, and I have full faith in the ability of this year’s Zona Zoo leadership to make the program that much better. Hopefully, this year will see some great new things come out of Zona Zoo, besides silly scholarships designed as ill-formed “”tributes”” to retired ASUA leaders.

-Michael Huston
former director, ASUA Zona Zoo

SUBHED: Subprime crisis could exacerbate racism

The burst of the U.S. housing bubble and effect on the foreign market (i.e Northern Rock in the United Kingdom) in recent news should be an immediate red flag to the general public. The predatory practices of subprime lenders in the United States (high interest loans to those with damaged credit) created a surge in housing prices and purchases until foreclosure rates started to rise as subprime borrowers were unable to afford their mortgages (as expected) at such a high rate that the lenders collapsed under the pressure (i.e. New Century and possibly Countrywide).

Many of the lenders are reported to have forced applicants to pad their incomes, lie about assets and the sort in order to improve the likelihood of obtaining the high interest loan. The larger problem comes from the current effect on the domestic and foreign economy as the dollar weakens overseas and markets (Asia) make threats against our economy. Many economists have predicted an upcoming recession with some going as far to detail the next Great Depression. Where to nip the problem in the bud is complex as law makers point fingers at who is to blame-borrowers for applying for the subprime mortgage, lenders for encouraging and manipulating borrowers, and the financial markets for investing in a such predatory businesses. Some estimate the crisis will continue for the next few years – beyond 2009.

A far more fascinating consequence is the possibilities of severe redlining and racism once the housing market rebounds (or we’re in a recession). In some cities minorities are as much as 4 times more likely to have subprime mortgages in comparison to whites (since minorities are more likely to have damaged credit scores they utilized the subprime market more), with the number of foreclosures on the rise and more minorities displaced- there remains a high possibilities lenders will avoid this segment of the population all together in the future. As a result, minorities may end up unable to live in certain areas of the country, perpetuating a long cycle of neighborhood discrimination.

-Ashley C. Emerole
political science and regional development junior