Brother Ross rightfully protected by freedom of speechFortunately for “Brother Ross” he is protected by his American freedoms, and Todd Jeffreys’ “issue with his version of Christianity theology and delivery” is meaningless to Ross’ right of free speech. So, with regard to Jeffreys’ attempt to convince school officials to forbid Ross’ message, I claim that free speech is more important that one man’s (or an entire sect of Christianity’s) issue with his preaching. Now to the real issue – why does Jeffreys feel this way? He claims that Ross takes biblical passages out of context, contradicting what the Bible actually says. Well, what does the Bible actually say? There are at least 9,000 different denominations of Christianity (a very conservative number from worldchristiandatabase.org) and each one of them interprets something differently than any other sects do. So who is Jeffreys to say that Ross is wrong? I would venture to say that from a strict ‘interpretation’ of the Bible, Ross has probably got it right. And he preaches what he believes to be the TRUTH of God just as EVERY denomination does, so why do you condemn him if your denomination does the same?Now, we should realize the problem with interpretation – it ignores objectivity and allows the believer to believe what best fits him. This is the shortcoming of religion in general. It relies on the teachings of a holy book or religious authority. If you really want to know the truth, drop the book and look around you – Nature has the answers.Adam Keithsenior, physicsJeffreys’ column is on the markFinally, I’ve been waiting for weeks for this article in the Technician and finally it has arrived, good job and keep up the good work. Do you guys know if any sort of petition has been started to get his permit (if one exists) for his public “preaching” revoked? Might be a good idea to start one if it hasn’t been started already. Regardless, excellent article Mr. Jeffreys, thoroughly enjoyed it and I believe readers will find it eye-opening, keep em’ comin.Sam Graysophomore, international studiesTiered tuition seems unfairThe tiered tuition structure at N.C. State seems unfair to students. Part-time students taking a single three credit hour course pay for four credit hours, and students taking a six credit hours course load are required to pay for eight credit hours. The disparity is greatest for full-time students taking a twelve credit hour course load; they are required to pay for sixteen credit hours.Tuition at NCSU is based on 4 credit hour “tiers” that cap at 16 credit hours. Students taking more than 16 credit hours do not pay for the “overload” credit hours.According to University Planning & Analysis there were 19,324 students enrolled in zero to 16 credit hours on the fall 2009 census date. These students collectively paid for 30,566 extra credit hours at a total cost of $5,279,323 in tuition and fees.This disparity exceeds the extra tuition and fees not paid for by the 3,688 students who took an “overload” semester of 17 credit hours or more. Their unpaid 5,743 credit hours only drew $991,924 from this surplus.I’d like to know why the student body at NCSU paid $4,287,399 in extra tuition and fees in the fall 2009 semester, and how the university justifies collecting this money for products and services not rendered. Additionally, I would like to know why “overload” students do not pay for the extra credit hours they are enrolled in.Michael Helmssophomore, English