KSDJ changes are bad
With the recent departures of two top managers for KSDJ, questions have to arise about whether the changes to the station are for the better?
Granted, the listenership is up for the station which is good, but it’s not a commercial station. College radio stations are for expression, which is not allowed under the new format.
The station has gone from playing music that you normally wouldn’t be introduced to, to playing the same music everyone else plays.
Also, with the war now in stride, it is my feeling that station manager Ashley Allen is taking himself way too seriously.
On Friday at Noon, KSDJ went on the air with a panel of five to six “guests” who were supposedly “experts” on one aspect of the war.
I’m sorry, but a majority of people are not going to be turning to KSDJ for serious news coverage.
That’s why people have televisions or friends with televisions.
Heath IsaacsonCommunication StudiesBrookings
Support given to Phelps
This is in response to the letters written by Matthew Gilbert and Lowell Haag in the March 18 issue.
Both were voicing their opinions on a previous column by Dr. Brady Phelps.
Dr. Phelps has written numerous columns for the paper and I have enjoyed them all.
I have felt that they were a breath of fresh air from a paper that usually includes at least one predominately Christian column.
First let’s look at Mr. Gilbert’s letter.
He made the claim that Dr. Phelps should no longer write columns on the basis that he “personally, found them offensive.”
The fact that they could possibly be viewed as offensive is no reason for Phelps to stop. If one is going to make that argument, one might as well support censorship.
Secondly, Mr. Gilbert, how “your Lord” feels about this is of no concern.
My non-existent lord thinks it’s peachy-keen.
It’s true, Dr. Phelps can profess anything he wishes; however, he has no requirement to keep that inside the classroom. Again, you push for censorship of a perfectly valid opinion.
Mr. Gilbert sees no reason to constantly question his beliefs. He doesn’t realize just how important questioning them is. One absolutely must do this. It is vital. Questioning what we believe is how we grow, expand, and change.
In Mr. Haag’s letter, we see numerous religious comments and references.
He says that “only by the Lord’s grace” is he able to move past anger to love.
It seems wrong to me, that the only way someone could get over their anger is through religion.
Many people are able to do that without the help of the “Lord.”
Haag also made the claim that our founding fathers were all Christians.
This is not true. Most considered themselves Deists.
In fact, a close friend of George Washington’s once stated, “Washington was a Deist.” It doesn’t get much more straightforward than that. Ben Franklin and James Madison were also Deists.
As we can see here, they did what Mr. Gilbert spoke so much against earlier: questioned their beliefs.
Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “Question with boldness even the existence of a god.” He didn’t consider himself to be a member of any religion.
Finally, Mr. Haag, I’d like to thank you for condemning all non-Christians to damnation. I’m sure “your Lord” loves it when you pass judgment over others like that.
Jordyn Nolz Communication Studies and TheaterMitchell
Column was error-filled
The American public is misinformed by its media. My assumption of this was confirmed while reading Tony Venhuizen’s article in the March 11 issue about the Palestinian issue.
The article was full of misconceptions.
The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is not that old as Israel did not exist before 1948.
There has been conflict in the Holy Land for centuries but that concerns other historical events, such as the Crusades.
The next mistake made in the article is the common misconception that all Palestinians are Muslim.
In fact, 20 percent of them are Christians and many Christian holy sites are located in Jerusalem.
All Israelis are not Jewish, but Israel is founded on a religious ideology for Jews, making members of other religions second class citizens by law.
Most countries consider Israel a racist state because of this.
Mahmoud Abass is not prime minister to the PLO but to the Palestinian Authorit, which is a different organization.
PLO stands for the Palestinian Liberation Organ-ization, one of many factions of the Palestinian political spectrum. Other factions include Fatah and Hamas to name just a few.
I prefer to stop counting the errors here.
As a native of Morocco, I am proud of my Arab origins, but I have Jewish friends, who have alwas been good citizens of Morocco and other Arab nations.
I therefore have an insider view of the conflict.
I believe the only way to solve it is to treat both parties justly.
Arafat may be considered a terrorist, but he is a freedom fighter.
To put it in an American context, he is akin to the people who were behind the “Boston tea party” and demanded their independence may have been considered terrorists by the British, but they were not.
Palestinians have been thrown from their land, which has been given to settlers from all over the world.
They have been made refugees. The few that are left are imprisoned in little territory with no jobs and without the right to go out most of the year.
The balance of power is in favor of Israel because it has nuclear weapons.
In addition, it benefits from billions of dollars in aid, yearly given to it by America.
As long as Israel is backed by the United States, it will feel no need for peace.
If equal lobbying and foreign help is given to both sides, the conflict can be solved in a matter of years.
That will be a good step towards world peace.
It will end the relationship filled with equal amounts hate, love and admiration between Arabs and Americans.
Mouhcine O. Chergou Engineering Graduate Student Brookings
Brookings open-minded
Homosexuality remains a hot topic of public interest.
We must be careful to differentiate among sexual orientation, sexual activity and lifestyle in our communication.
Recent articles in the Collegian well articulated the problems of homophobia, prejudice and discrimination.
Another side of the phenomenon bears attention. The vast majority of SDSU and Brookings citizens are not part of the problem.
A decade ago, “The Brookings Register” published a series called “Gays in the Midwest.” Predictably, a flurry of anti-gay letters to the editor ensued.
For my own sake and that of many others, I ran out of reasons to remain silent and I “came out” with a vengeance. A gay friend, son of another SDSU professor, remarked, “Rock, you’ll be surprised how little resistance you will get, how much support you will get and where that support comes from.”
How right he was!
We must not fail to give the fair, objective citizens of SDSU and Brookings the credit they deserve.
Only occasionally will a spiteful reaction rear its ugly head. One example of this is the SDSU professor who repeatedly calls me “Scum Bag” to my face and who, at all costs, avoids even meeting me in the hallway.
Such homophobic expressions tell far more about the insecurity of the critic who expresses them than about the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgendered (GLBT) person at whom they are directed.
Thank you, Collegian, for the articles and thank you, mature citizens, for your humanity.
Rocky GilbertRetired SDSU ProfessorBrookings
Collegian goes downhill
Over the past decade I have watched with disappointment and disbelief as the SDSU Collegian has perpetually regressed from a quality campus news publication to a blatant propaganda tool.
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