A puzzle solved
There are few reasons to read The Daily Texan, not the least of which being the horrendous errors which continually make it past copy, but asinine phrases such as "uber-intense" ("Intense 'Cloverfield' breaks January records," Jan. 22) lend an overall feeling of childishness to your publication. However, the one respite in this storm of mediocrity is The New York Times crossword, which I happily indulge in on my way to campus in the mornings, albeit with mixed success. Imagine my dismay to look upon a Daily Texan bereft of my one joy. Please, please return to me my sole purpose for glancing at your "paper."
Michael Findlater Chemistry and biochemistry graduate student
Editor's note: The New York Times crossword was not been pulled from the pages of the Texan, and we don't plan on taking it away from readers. It has, however, moved to the bottom of the Classifieds page.
Take a stand for a van
On Jan. 22 the UT Student Government voted unanimously to approve AR 21, which would make a wheelchair-accessible van available to those who may need additional assistance getting around campus. This legislation will ultimately affect those people both on and campus who have mobility impairments. However, the legislation is only a bill in support of the measure. It will take a collective effort from you, the students, to help make the University administration more aware of the need for such a van for our students with disabilities.
The need for this van can be seen even now with all the current construction going on around campus, heavily impairing access for students around areas such as the pharmacy school and honors residence halls. While this particular resolution might not directly affect you, it could apply to people you know, and it will apply to lives of future UT students. I encourage you to attend future Student Government meetings in the Glenn Maloney Room on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. to find out how your additional support and recognition of the need for this wheelchair-accessible van on our campus can help us bring this endeavor to fruition. SG is only one group of people, but standing together as a University, we can prove that, while what starts here might change the world, we should definitely start and finish what might change the lives of our fellow Longhorns.
Bradford J. Howard English junior SG Two Year At-Large Representative
Enough with imperialist logic
In his Jan. 23 column, "A conflict greater than Israel-Palestine," Jordan Frisby highlights several of the current issues in the Middle East, including migrant worker rights, and other ethnic conflicts. These all deserve to be aired and acted upon.
But Frisby also argues that Middle Eastern governments should "set their own houses in order" before criticizing the atrocities occurring in the Palestinian territories. Frisby's logic, in effect, is deflecting all criticism against the policies of the occupying power. Not only that, but by positioning other conflicts as being greater, he is belittling the unprecedented scope, duration and severity of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
There is also an assumption that criticism originates only from the Middle Eastern governments. This is simply not the case: It comes from almost all world governments, the UN, human rights organizations and from the Mideast population itself. These masses are who, through their protest and outrage, actually push their reluctant states into actions of condemnation.
Or do all countries of the world and all international organizations need to "get their house in order" first before speaking out against injustice?
Should citizens now be robbed of their voices?
More critically, does Frisby believe the U.S. government has its "house in order" (say, in Guantanamo, Iraq, etc.) so that he can happily call on it to "pressure Middle Eastern governments to improve their treatment of ethnic, religious and political minorities?"
The double standard is doubly outrageous given the lack of recognition of the self's role in the very atrocities being criticised.
Hany Ramadan Computer Science graduate student
A moral and financial imperative
The arguments against divestment from Bruce Zimmerman seem appropriate for an introductory course on finance, not a policy argument from the financial maven who manages UT's billions ("UT's investments remain in Sudan," Jan. 23). It's not hard to find an index fund, even for global equity, with little or no corporations on the Sudan Divestment Task Force's list of companies. All U.S. companies are sanctioned from operating there. Fidelity and Warren Buffet sold their enormous holdings in PetroChina. Several firms offer Sudan-free funds. Company after company, including Weatherford International, has pulled out of Sudan. Now, 58 universities and 22 states (including Texas) have adopted targeted Sudan divestment policies. Is UTIMCO ignoring the risk of investing in companies that are targeted by a powerful international divestment campaign? Will philanthropists continue to create endowments for the University if they realize their donations are being invested irresponsibly? Do the professors and faculty whose pension funds are being handled by UTIMCO have a vote?
In response to the letter in which Zimmerman listed alcohol, tobacco, pornography, nuclear proliferation and environmental concerns as part of a slippery slope argument, read an old Firing Line by Leran Minc, a student leader in the campaign: "Equating the murder of innocent people to social ideas such as tobacco and environmental agenda is ridiculous," Minc states. "Divestment is a unique tool for use in the foreign policy arena and therefore would be difficult to use in these and other social ideas. When did mass murder of a people become simply just a social idea anyway?" Targeted divestment involves engagement with mutual funds and companies, leading to more companies pulling out and more mutual funds becoming genocide-free. You cannot engage a tobacco company to ask them to stop selling nicotine and tar packaged together. However, you can ask a company to stop manufacturing their products in Sudan. His argument could have been convincing if South African divestment led public funds to slide the slippery slope on other issues, but it does not.
Zimmerman must explain why UTIMCO investment managers should not use investments they control to implement public policy, as responsible investment managers all over the world have already done. What starts here changes the world, and UT is responsible for some of the best advocacy in the nation. If UTIMCO won't act, the responsibility falls to the Board of Regents.
Colin Lowenberg Electrical engineering senior White Rose Society National Advocacy Coordinator
Be the first to comment on this article!