Saints column not well researched
I am writing in response to Jason Martin’s “column” on the New Orleans Saints.
I understand that Mr. Martin was trying to compose a comical and creative article referring to some of the Saints’ past draft-day mishaps, but his article was neither humorous nor creative.
Furthermore, it contained several statements that shows that Mr. Martin has very limited knowledge about anything concerning the Saints.
First of all, the mediocre offense the Saints possess ranked 11th in the NFL last year in rushing yards per game and 8th in the NFL in passing yards per game. In total yards per game, the Saints were ranked 11th in the NFL.
Being that there are 32 teams in the NFL, 11th should not be considered mediocre.
Secondly, Mr. Martin predicts the Saints trading their second round and third round choices to the St. Louis Rams for Jason Seahorn. However, Mr. Martin doesn’t even know the player’s correct name.
His name is Jason Sehorn. It was not a typo because he typed the wrong name more than once. This is not just a lack of knowledge dealing with the Saints, but also the NFL in general.
Also, he says when the Saints fail to pick in the fifth round, their pick will fall to the Carolina Panthers. This is rather odd since the Panthers will pick 31st in every round. The Minnesota Vikings will be picking 19th (behind the Saints) in every round this year.
Lastly, Mr. Martin says the Saints will draft Matt Mauck in the seventh round and then offer him a contract worth one hundred dollars, since it is the maximum the Saints can offer.
Had he done his homework, he would know that the salary cap for next year is $79 million dollars. As of right now, the Saints have spent only $56.9 million of it, leaving them with the second largest amount of cap space in the NFL.
Since, according to Mr. Martin, they will trade away all of their picks, they would have no problem signing Matt Mauck to a contract.
I did not write this pick on Mr. Martin, but just to alert some of the writers that maybe they should do a little homework before writing an article that will be read by the thousands of people that pick up a paper each day.
As an avid sports fan, I find it discouraging to pick up a paper and read columns that are not only uninformed and depth-lacking, but rushed through and thrown together as well.
David Schexnaydre
Junior
Education
Mike’s cage should be a priority
Tonight, for the first time, I saw our school mascot, but not as he is portrayed at promotional displays of our great University.
As I came out of a night class near Tiger stadium, I happened to catch sight of our mascot.
This great king of the jungle was pacing a circle in his cage. I went up closer to his cage to watch in awe, but as the seconds wore on, I just felt pity.
As he trodded along his concrete home, I noticed his cage is about twice the size of my apartment. How shameful that is.
Now, I’m really not an animal activist. Hell, I love to go to the zoo, but even the smallest of kept animals at least get grass, plants, some sort of feeling of nature in their cages. Why not Mike?
I know, I know, we’re going to build him this awesome new site for him, complete with more waterfalls and, maybe, just maybe some artificial turf.
So how about we cut out all this new construction of our monumental stadium, and forget about even mentioning putting more money aside for the Student Union and get cracking on Mike’s new home.
For some reason, I think he deserves it.
Aimee Bourgeois
Junior
Education
More relevant issues than Janet’s breast
What America needs more that anything is a dose of perspective.
After being continually assailed with news of Janet Jackson’s breast, I decided to look and see if there was anything out in the world that was perhaps more important.
Guess what? There was. Here are some headlines from the New York Times: Violence Spreads in Haiti; Toll Is Put at 41, One Rider’s Moscow Rush Hour Ended Under a Pile of Bodies, Official Afghan Report Says 10 Civilians Die in U.S. Raid, among many others, all in a period of two days.
These are the things that happen every day around the world. Perhaps they seem a bit too distant to engage our concern, in which case here are some issues that strike closer to home: our current budget deficit which I don’t believe that I am able to overstate, our 500 billion dollar trade deficit with China, an administration that brazenly misled our country with intelligence that it knew to be dubious, and how about the fact that there are nearly half a million unregistered guns on our streets? How can we justify spending even one minute of our time being concerned about a stray nipple? It is true that we cannot solve all of the world’s problems, or even all of our own, but that does not in any way justify our flagrant and willful ignorance of all of the suffering, poverty, and injustice afflicting billions of people, even in our own great nation.
Perhaps we should explain to the 17,419 mothers who lost their children to drunk drivers in 2002 why a bare mammary gland should take precedence in our minds over their lost children?
Certainly this is a problem that could be solved with a minimum of effort.
But I guess I can understand our reluctance to dispel our ignorance of these issues, for in acknowledging the problem, we become aware of our own responsibility to lift a finger.
I guess it is just easier to sit in front of the television, waiting for JT to show us Janet’s other breast.
Jonathan Comish
Junior
Philosophy
Cafe’ staff not as good as reported
In response to the article highlighting Café Vieux Carré, I would like to first say that yes, the cafe’does have a very nice atmosphere, excellent food and beverage, and also provides a good place to study and converse; however, my friends and I have not always been so lucky as some of the readers to find the staff so friendly and accommodating.
On weeknights, the cafe’ is allegedly supposed to close at midnight. On several occasions we have arrived around 10 p.m. to find all the outdoor tables and chairs that we are so fond of to be removed and locked up for the night.
When we inquired about the furniture, the girls working at the counter said they “always put the furniture up early” because it is “unsafe to have it out there past 10 p.m.”
I don’t understand this, mainly in part because they only seem to be put up early when certain people are working.
In addition to the early removal of patio furniture, the closing shift of employees of the cafe’ seem always to conveniently “run out” of supplies necessary to make nearly anything besides coffee. I know that things happen and that could likely be true.
But this has happened to my friends and I repeatedly. We were once told that the cafe’ did not serve beignets past 8:00 p.m.
I’m not sure if this is actually true or not, but again, the service drastically differs with different employees.
So, yes, the cafe’ is an asset to our campus, providing a late-night study venue along with excellent food and great coffee, but as far as friendly and accommodating staff, something that I personally find very important, you just have to take your chances.
Caitlin Hill
Freshman
Architecture