2008 Woodie Awards
Letters to the Editor
Issue date: 4/12/05 Section: Opinion & Editorial
- Page 1 of 1
Pro-Life article contains unjust information
In an unneeded and inappropriate insert published by the Human Life Alliance entitled "Think outside the Box" and handed out with the March 22 edition of the Collegian, found among all of the lies and scare tactics was an article on "Reproductive Racism" that spouted the laughable theory that Planned Parenthood is a racist organization.
What was brought up as evidence was century old connections between Margaret Sanger the founder of Planned Parenthood and the American Eugenics Society. I am by no means an expert on the history of Planned Parenthood, sad to say, but I do know that the picture made of Margaret Sanger was extremely misleading. What one gets from reading this segment found on pg. 9 of the insert is that Mrs. Sanger was an elite racist.
One look into her background and you can find nothing of the sort, she in fact was a radical socialist (some even would classify anarchist). She worked hard for the rights of all minorities including woman of all races. She saw birth control and family planning as a necessity for women to be able to be in full control over their own bodies.
You see there was a time when women were the subordinates of their male counterparts and sex was a duty of servitude. Without the sweat and blood that women like Margaret Sanger gave, society might still be as such.
I am not denying that the American Eugenics Society in their role of affecting in a very negative way American public policy. But to say that a majority of feminists saw a correlation between their fights for civil rights and the eugenic society's agenda is a very unfortunate and misleading lie.
The sad fact remains that today minority and poverty-stricken women fare far worse in their access to equal health treatment, especially when it comes to equal reproductive rights.
Planned Parenthood, like other like-minded organizations, do great work in providing education and family planning services to these segments of society. They are not, nor ever have been, working toward the creation of a master race.
Patrick Query
Senior Political Science Education Major.
SA's Third B decision hurts students
Is anyone else tired of hearing how great it is that we get our money stolen and our voting rights discarded, all to "benefit" those being robbed? Allow me to step upon my soapbox, because the Collegian has not done justice in covering the Third B Tax and YOU the student need to be educated.
Point 1: We, the students and citizens of Brookings said NO to the Third B three years ago, by a 2:1 margin. It is bewildering the SA chose not to fight it this time around. This tax should have, at the very least, been on the ballot. The SA has an ethical responsibility to represent the students and they FAILED.
Point 2: The petition circulated by the SA was to force a vote on the Third B and said nothing about getting "our fair share" back from the city. If the SA just wanted to get their greedy hands on our money, they should have passed a different petition instead of blackmailing the city and betraying us.
Point 3: Compared to the money that flows through this university, $35,000 is a drop in the ocean. The SA alone has so far approved a budget of nearly $2 million for 2005-06. As a whole, there is over $165 million going through SDSU this year. I talked to a member of the administration, whose name I swore to keep secret, and they called percentage of $35,000 "less than a rounding error". As you can imagine, I was overjoyed knowing a vote can be put in to such a perspective.
This tax is wrong and was defeated once before. My tax dollars should buy a new ladder truck for Brookings (which, in case of a fire, can't reach the 4th floor of numerous dorms on campus) or repair my streets (like the canyon sized crater on 12th Avenue and 7th Street, which won't be repaired until JUNE), and NOT be spent on some yet unplanned concert or grandiose ice fishing derby with SA President Ryan Brunner dreams about some day hosting.
The SA should be ashamed of themselves for their actions and they deserve public degradation.
Eric Novotny
Philosophy, Ethics and Religion
Students deserve better quality toilet paper
I am writing in regard to an issue that has been brought to my attention as well as to every other student and faculty on this campus.
The fact that this campus does not have quilted two-ply toilet paper in every stall of every bathroom facility leaves me feeling ashamed to call this my university.
Each year students and faculty alike suffer from rough texture and thin toiler paper that leaves one with a disturbing feeling in the "drawers". Every academic year, I spend $10,000 on my education in hopes of obtaining that ever elusive diploma. Is it too much to ask for some Quilted Northern two-ply?
The domino effect of happy people that would resonate around campus after replacing the "sand paper" will far outweigh the extra $.20 a year in tuition costs. I will gladly sacrifice buying a 20 oz. bottle of Mellow Yellow for one day to be able to have a little dignity in knowing that my butt is not raw. Putting this issue aside will only feed the fire until people will take issues into their own hands, literally. Bite the bullet and start buying quilted two-ply toilet paper.
Kyle Isenberg
Web site wrongfully diagnoses ADD
As I browsed the Web, I stumbled onto the Strattera Web site. This is a Web site where people can look to see if they have Adult Attention Deficit Disorder and how their drug can help.
People may even take a quiz to see if they may have this mental disorder. When I took the quiz, my results said that I might need to talk to my doctor because I may have ADD. This Web site even provided me a link to find the closest doctor, and a print out copy of the results from its quiz. There was also a portion of questions on the Web site listed on how a person could recognize ADD.
How often might one answer "never" to questions like, "Are you restless or fidgety? Do you often misplace things?"
The symptoms that Eli Lilly and Company list are not the symptoms of a serious disease; these are symptoms of everyday life. This company is trying to convince members of the public that they have the disorder to increase demand for its medication.
Andrea Haugen
Psychology w/ Pre-Physical
Therapy
Life doesn't grant $100 for inconveniences
I read the article in the April 5 issue of the Collegian about the students at Wecota Hall receiving $100 because they are being inconvenienced by construction and having to get up at 7 a.m. By 7a.m., it's time to get up anyway.
Guess what? I'm being inconvenienced too by having to go between four buildings to clean due to the construction of the University Student Union, and I'm not getting $100.
I really do sympathize with the students and understand the situation. But when you leave college, you will find that life is full of inconveniences and disappointments, and you won't get paid for them either.
Hang in there, it will get better.
George Nelson
SDSU employee
In an unneeded and inappropriate insert published by the Human Life Alliance entitled "Think outside the Box" and handed out with the March 22 edition of the Collegian, found among all of the lies and scare tactics was an article on "Reproductive Racism" that spouted the laughable theory that Planned Parenthood is a racist organization.
What was brought up as evidence was century old connections between Margaret Sanger the founder of Planned Parenthood and the American Eugenics Society. I am by no means an expert on the history of Planned Parenthood, sad to say, but I do know that the picture made of Margaret Sanger was extremely misleading. What one gets from reading this segment found on pg. 9 of the insert is that Mrs. Sanger was an elite racist.
One look into her background and you can find nothing of the sort, she in fact was a radical socialist (some even would classify anarchist). She worked hard for the rights of all minorities including woman of all races. She saw birth control and family planning as a necessity for women to be able to be in full control over their own bodies.
You see there was a time when women were the subordinates of their male counterparts and sex was a duty of servitude. Without the sweat and blood that women like Margaret Sanger gave, society might still be as such.
I am not denying that the American Eugenics Society in their role of affecting in a very negative way American public policy. But to say that a majority of feminists saw a correlation between their fights for civil rights and the eugenic society's agenda is a very unfortunate and misleading lie.
The sad fact remains that today minority and poverty-stricken women fare far worse in their access to equal health treatment, especially when it comes to equal reproductive rights.
Planned Parenthood, like other like-minded organizations, do great work in providing education and family planning services to these segments of society. They are not, nor ever have been, working toward the creation of a master race.
Patrick Query
Senior Political Science Education Major.
SA's Third B decision hurts students
Is anyone else tired of hearing how great it is that we get our money stolen and our voting rights discarded, all to "benefit" those being robbed? Allow me to step upon my soapbox, because the Collegian has not done justice in covering the Third B Tax and YOU the student need to be educated.
Point 1: We, the students and citizens of Brookings said NO to the Third B three years ago, by a 2:1 margin. It is bewildering the SA chose not to fight it this time around. This tax should have, at the very least, been on the ballot. The SA has an ethical responsibility to represent the students and they FAILED.
Point 2: The petition circulated by the SA was to force a vote on the Third B and said nothing about getting "our fair share" back from the city. If the SA just wanted to get their greedy hands on our money, they should have passed a different petition instead of blackmailing the city and betraying us.
Point 3: Compared to the money that flows through this university, $35,000 is a drop in the ocean. The SA alone has so far approved a budget of nearly $2 million for 2005-06. As a whole, there is over $165 million going through SDSU this year. I talked to a member of the administration, whose name I swore to keep secret, and they called percentage of $35,000 "less than a rounding error". As you can imagine, I was overjoyed knowing a vote can be put in to such a perspective.
This tax is wrong and was defeated once before. My tax dollars should buy a new ladder truck for Brookings (which, in case of a fire, can't reach the 4th floor of numerous dorms on campus) or repair my streets (like the canyon sized crater on 12th Avenue and 7th Street, which won't be repaired until JUNE), and NOT be spent on some yet unplanned concert or grandiose ice fishing derby with SA President Ryan Brunner dreams about some day hosting.
The SA should be ashamed of themselves for their actions and they deserve public degradation.
Eric Novotny
Philosophy, Ethics and Religion
Students deserve better quality toilet paper
I am writing in regard to an issue that has been brought to my attention as well as to every other student and faculty on this campus.
The fact that this campus does not have quilted two-ply toilet paper in every stall of every bathroom facility leaves me feeling ashamed to call this my university.
Each year students and faculty alike suffer from rough texture and thin toiler paper that leaves one with a disturbing feeling in the "drawers". Every academic year, I spend $10,000 on my education in hopes of obtaining that ever elusive diploma. Is it too much to ask for some Quilted Northern two-ply?
The domino effect of happy people that would resonate around campus after replacing the "sand paper" will far outweigh the extra $.20 a year in tuition costs. I will gladly sacrifice buying a 20 oz. bottle of Mellow Yellow for one day to be able to have a little dignity in knowing that my butt is not raw. Putting this issue aside will only feed the fire until people will take issues into their own hands, literally. Bite the bullet and start buying quilted two-ply toilet paper.
Kyle Isenberg
Web site wrongfully diagnoses ADD
As I browsed the Web, I stumbled onto the Strattera Web site. This is a Web site where people can look to see if they have Adult Attention Deficit Disorder and how their drug can help.
People may even take a quiz to see if they may have this mental disorder. When I took the quiz, my results said that I might need to talk to my doctor because I may have ADD. This Web site even provided me a link to find the closest doctor, and a print out copy of the results from its quiz. There was also a portion of questions on the Web site listed on how a person could recognize ADD.
How often might one answer "never" to questions like, "Are you restless or fidgety? Do you often misplace things?"
The symptoms that Eli Lilly and Company list are not the symptoms of a serious disease; these are symptoms of everyday life. This company is trying to convince members of the public that they have the disorder to increase demand for its medication.
Andrea Haugen
Psychology w/ Pre-Physical
Therapy
Life doesn't grant $100 for inconveniences
I read the article in the April 5 issue of the Collegian about the students at Wecota Hall receiving $100 because they are being inconvenienced by construction and having to get up at 7 a.m. By 7a.m., it's time to get up anyway.
Guess what? I'm being inconvenienced too by having to go between four buildings to clean due to the construction of the University Student Union, and I'm not getting $100.
I really do sympathize with the students and understand the situation. But when you leave college, you will find that life is full of inconveniences and disappointments, and you won't get paid for them either.
Hang in there, it will get better.
George Nelson
SDSU employee