Former candidate: Vote Richey/Wesley
Wednesday we are faced with deciding who will represent our voices for the next school year. Although I hoped Kyle Wilkinson and I would be given that privilege, a decision still needs to be made. First and definitely foremost, I would ask you to support the remaining candidates of the Real Issues/Real Results ticket, as I feel they are the best available candidates. However, with two pairs of candidates to choose from for the top two offices, I realize these offices need to be filled with the two students who will best represent the needs and concerns of ALL students. Whether a student is a member of a religious, Greek, academic or social organization or no organization at all, that student’s needs must be met.
I feel Allen Richey and Jason Wesley are the most qualified remaining candidates for student body president and vice president. I have worked with Allen most of this year and believe that he knows what needs to happen more than anyone else. Jason Wesley is the perfect complement to Mr. Richey and will assist the upcoming administration in its quest toward real success. Please continue to support the Real Issues/Real Results ticket, and please support Allen Richey and Jason Wesley.
Danny Rockwell
Junior — Mass Communication
Affirmative action racist, wrong
In response to Melody Robinson’s letter in Friday’s paper, I now will offer my views on affirmative action.
For many years, blacks were shamelessly and unfairly barred from professional sports until Jackie Robinson broke the color bar. Would it not be absurd to therefore urge that in compensation for the long history of deprivation of blacks there should be discrimination against whites in professional athletics? Would any sensible or fair person try to determine what the proportion of whites and blacks should be on our basketball or football teams in relation to racial availability? What could be fairer than the quest for the best players for the open positions, regardless of the percentage distribution in relation to the general population? Why should it be any different in any situation in which we are looking for the best qualified person to fill a post?
Affirmative action is supposed to be a program designed to end racism, but isn’t it really justifying racism by its own actions? Its policies totally judge people solely on skin color and gender. That is discrimination in itself. Is discrimination the solution to resolving past discrimination? No, it’s not. No program can be considered good when it hurts others. Affirmative action tries to help minorities and women, but in the process, reverse discrimination has taken place. Now, white males are discriminated against. This cannot be an affirmative program if there is a form of discrimination involved.
Instead of choosing a candidate for a job or for school admission based on race or gender, it should be because of their talents and abilities. The most qualified male or female, regardless of skin color, should be selected for the job or get accepted into school. Why should some people get special preferences over others? It just isn’t correct. There should be no special treatments or preferences given to people. Everyone has the opportunity to advance in this country; you just have to take the initiative.
Philip Adra
Sophomore — Finance
Age doesn’t always equal maturity
In response to the column on the appropriateness of the drinking age, in some ways, I disagree. I am not 21, so I cannot doubt the writer’s feeling of being let down on her birthday. I completely can understand how some people will get extremely excited before their 21st birthday only to be bored out of their mind because it feels like just another night out. Many college students have been drinking since high school, so being able to drink legally is not such a huge celebration as it is more of a convenience.
But putting an age on maturity and responsibility is impossible. I know the government has to set limitations and ages for drinking, and I can agree with that. Yet, how can we say a person becomes responsible enough to handle alcohol at exactly midnight of his or her 21st birthday?
Personally, I have seen many college students over the age of 21 who are not mature enough to go to class, much less handle their alcohol. Likewise, I have seen very mature and independent underaged students who can drink responsibly and know their limit.
Being mature about drinking may come with age. But being mature and responsible can come at any time in a person’s life not at exactly age 21. Being a mature drinker comes with experience as well. People become mature at different ages in life, so putting an age on maturity for the sake of drinking hardly can be accomplished.
Katie Ducrest
Sophomore — Mass Communication
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