LSU women fear for their lives
Five. Five is the unlucky number these days if Carrie Yoder is found to be the next victim of the serial killer. I know what you’re thinking, another rant about being scared. This is different, this is REAL. I can’t help but voice the feelings of so many young women on this campus that are scared for their lives. When we come to college, we don’t want to have to look over our shoulder every 20 seconds; we want to be safe in an educational environment, and frankly, I don’t feel safe at all. I know this is all you’ve heard in the news lately, but shouldn’t it be? Shouldn’t we be concerned about what is going on blocks away from us rather than worrying who’s “Hot or Not?” I’m sorry, but there needs to be more of us who care about this sort of thing. Granted, if we are meant to be the next victim of the serial killer, then so be it, it’s pretty much out of our control — or is it? I feel sorry for myself and every other girl on this campus just trying to get an education and make a life for herself. I also feel sorry for the INNOCENT guys out there who are scared for their friends and significant others. I even feel sorry for those guys who occasionally would like to ask a girl out without being questioned twice about who he is. We cannot live like this.
I know the police are doing their best to solve this case, but what if we could help? I have an idea. I say that we help out the police. I think every girl on this campus should take a self-defense class and make herself stronger. Don’t be one of those girls who thinks “it can’t happen to me” because it can. It’s happened five times already. It has taken how long since the first victim? Yeah, that’s way too long. I don’t want there to be another girl whose life has been taken away so violently.
Helaine C. Hebert
Junior — Marketing
Mission of police is ‘to protect and serve’
I am writing to rebut the statements of Mr. Collins in the March 14 Reveille. He was responding to Ms. Cumming’s suggestion that the police took too long after a man had threatened her roommate’s life from outside her own apartment door. Let me answer some of your questions, Chris.
First, her roommate came home in the early afternoon hours. You also asked why she was alone. She is not usually alone. She usually has her boyfriend with her, but what a coincidence, he wasn’t with her that day, nor were any neighbors home. Did you ever stop to think maybe she was being watched? Besides that, it is not rational to think that everyone can have someone by their side at all times every day.
You say “it is everyone’s responsibility to protect themselves” and “modern police forces are here to investigate not to protect,” so what happened to the motto “to protect and serve”? Maybe you should contact them about changing it to “to investigate and question.”
Your ideas are absurd, but you are entitled your opinion and I respect that. However, had that been your sister or mother being threatened, or had you been a relative or friend of any of the serial killer’s victims, I do think that opinion would be much, much different.
How dare you say police are not there to protect? That is their primary duty. They protect motorists by stopping speeders and taking in drunk drivers. They handle hostage situations. And yes, detectives do investigate, but as a fellow sociology major, I am embarrassed that you would ever say such things. I hope one day soon you can escape this dreamworld of yours and look around. The police are here to protect us, and though they are underpaid and understaffed, that is still their number one duty.
Meghan E. Kinney
Junior — Criminology and English
Alumnus compares Emmert to Clinton
The difficulty LSU’s chancellor has in defining the phrase “in the area” should remind us of a former U.S. president who had problems defining the word “is.” Let’s hope this language obstacle is all that Slippery Mark and Slick Willie have in common. Heaven help us if the chancellor’s office also has an intern named Monica.
As a resident of Columbia, South Carolina, I can tell you that the University of South Carolina made an excellent decision in choosing Andrew Sorensen as its president. No one can match his vision, professionalism and ethics, including the current highest paid Chancellor in the land.
Surely, LSU can reduce its red alert status over the possibility of Chancellor Emmert’s departure! Why would he leave Louisiana now that he’s thoroughly mastered “under the table” negotiations (interest free loans) that solidifies Louisiana’s image as “the northernmost Banana Republic?” Only time will tell if his slip sliding ability carries him all the way down to the Governor’s Mansion.
G. Lee Mikell
BA ’79 & MPA ’83
Iraq, United States leaders both ‘crazy’
A recent morning TV show asked the question, “If you could write an e-mail to the Iraqi soldiers, what would you say?”
That’s easy! “Dear Iraqi soldiers, your leader is as crazy as ours. Let’s all refuse to fight and go back home to our families. We can throw the two of them in a pit and let them fight it out together!”
Natha Joy Booth
Graduate Student — Microbiology
Art majors work hard, deserve TOPS
After reading the article on the TOPS award in Thursday’s paper, I was absolutely appalled by the comment made by Arvid Cristina. TOPS is a scholarship that is meant to keep good students in the state of Louisiana regardless of their major. I am a studio art major with a concentration in graphic design, but according to Arvid Cristina, I don’t deserve to have TOPS because my major isn’t hard enough for me. According to Cristina, my major comes “naturally” to all art students. I find that statement MOST amusing. So I have my own message for you, Arvid.
I’d like to see how “naturally” building furniture comes to you, because that’s what I’m doing in my sculpture class. I’d like to see how “naturally” you can paint a landscape using watercolor, or how “naturally” you can design a magazine spread or billboard for a busy intersection. If you think that for one second that art is not a hard major, I’d like to see you take five art labs in one semester and keep two jobs to pay the rent. If you can’t multiply, that’s 30 hours of class a week for only 15 hours of credit.
You also say that other majors require “outside knowledge.” You obviously don’t know anything at all about art if you have the audacity to make comments like the one you made to The Reveille. Fine art or computer generated — either way, hours and hours of extensive research and “outside knowledge” is required to create it. I can not believe you think that art is so easy.
Well, I’ve said my piece. And I hope Arvid Cristina thinks twice before trashing a curriculum he knows nothing about. Bottom line — TOPS should never discriminate because of one’s major.
Tracey Bellina
Senior — Graphic Design