Villas redemption
I wrote a firing line a couple of weeks ago regarding the Villas on Guadalupe and their property upkeep (or lack thereof) regarding the broken security gates ("Villa controversy," The Firing Line, April 9). Since all of these problems became evident, I have seen real effort from the Villas management to fix these problems. I still feel that the residents (myself included) were right to be critical in the past weeks, but now it is also fair to praise their efforts. I was personally approached by the office staff and had an open conversation with their management in which I both myself and the manager exchanged opinions, and it was all done in a friendly and open-minded tone. These actions make me feel that the Villas are now making a real effort, and the fact that they approached me so amicably speaks highly of them in the sense that they are genuinely trying to please their residents. I hope they stay on this track because improvements are now visible, and as much as I was critical of the Villas when all these issues were brought up, it is only fair to commend their actions now that they are on the mend.
Rodrigo Maycotte Advertising senior
Disenchanted with Powers
What was the purpose of the April 22 article "Powers to the People," and furthermore, why was it front-page material? A story about how the president of a major university is a very busy man should be news to no one. This is a university. We are all busy. There are so many students here at UT that have to work to afford tuition and books, and they quite often get less than six hours of sleep. Maybe next time The Daily Texan should tell a story about these individuals and not someone who is bringing home a large salary for his efforts.
This article does, however, bring up an important point. President Powers is very busy and on top of that he is often called upon to attend various student events. Being a senior, I have had the opportunity to attend a couple of these events and I have found his presence to be rather unfulfilling. For instance, at my ring ceremony, a big and memorable event for many seniors, President Powers seemed so busy that he had just enough time to run into the Alumni Center and ramble off a short impromptu speech before it was time for him to go. If this insulting performance was a product of his schedule, then perhaps he should make fewer commitments and give more attention to the events he does attend.
Jaclyn Tarloff Communication sciences and disorders senior
Earth Day irony
Just letting y'all know that my Daily Texan had three Earth Day inserts in it, all of them identical. I didn't check any other papers to see if they had extra inserts, but if they do, that's a whole lot of superfluous paper (and on Earth Day, of all days!). Oh well, I'll just recycle the extra ones, or compost them, or use them to catch my parrot's poop.
Erin Darling Civil engineering junior
Texas' youth left in the dark
Currently, Texas is ranked No. 1 nationally for having the highest rate of teen pregnancy and spends more money addressing this issue than any other state. Teenage pregnancy causes problems for society on multiple levels.
From 1991 to 2007, Texas went from fifth highest to the No. 1 highest teen pregnancy rate in the United States and spends about $1 billion annually. Texas has a conservative approach that promotes abstinence-only methods in schools. In Texas, it is not required that public schools offer sex education, but if they do, abstinence is emphasized.
Texas accepts money from the federal government to fund part of the effort to increase abstinence-only education among schools nationwide. In Austin, school nurses are contracted through Seton Medical Center which is a faith-based organization that supports abstinence-only. Young people who have a lower socioeconomic status represent the majority of teenage pregnancies and they are not getting the proper materials to prevent them from becoming a teenage parent. After reviewing this information, and simply with the knowledge that Texas has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the United States, it is obvious that Texas is in need of change to improve its sex education approach.
Shazi Chiha Social work graduate student
Unraveling the quilt
I was disappointed to read such a sloppy, lazy editorial as Colin Kalmbacher's recent piece ("Quilting with McCain," April 23). First, he claims that McCain's "vapid trophy wife" is a millionaire a hundred times over. I won't delve into how unbelievably sexist it is to insinuate that any attractive woman must be a shallow trophy wife. And I won't point out that she is actually a great philanthropist who founded an organization to bring doctors to third world countries. But her personal wealth is not publicly known. Any numbers used are just estimates, not facts. Second, he asserts that McCain's campaign is funded "in its entirety" by PACs and lobbyists. Actually, the McCain campaign has received only $720,000 from PAC's of its fundraising total of about $72 million. Obama has received far more money from big donors than McCain has (about twice as many maximum donations according to the FEC). In fact, one of Obama's biggest blocks of support in recent primaries has been the wealthy. As someone who has personally made a small contribution to McCain's campaign ($25), Kalmbacher's article is not only wrong but insulting.
Finally, it is worth pointing out that Kalmbacher doesn't even use the same statistics throughout his article. At the beginning, McCain spent $7,500 on quilts. In the last paragraph, the number is $10,000. This article seems like it was written at 3 a.m. the night before it was due. The statistics have clearly not been checked, and it reads more like an angry rant than a serious op-ed piece. If you want to claim that Obama is not elitist, maybe you should help him win a group of working-class voters for once instead of tearing down McCain.
Brandon Lighton Government junior
Unraveling the quilt II
While Colin Kalmbacher's April 23 piece is clearly his opinion, his ignorance and misrepresentations don't bode well for what is being taught to today's journalism students. His acceptance of Obama's "truths about the genuine bitterness of working-class Americans" show truly how out of touch both candidates really are with this demographic group.
The only evidence needed to render judgment on this point is the results from yesterday's Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. The characterization of Obama's "guns, God and gays" comments as an effort by the Republican Party's "noise machine" is laughable. The comments were taped by an individual working for the Huffington Post, which is run by self-described liberal Democrats and is hardly a mouthpiece for the Republican National Committee. The description of Cindy McCain as a "vapid trophy wife" is also interesting, given that they have been married 28 years and have four children. There must be a lot more trophy wives out there than any of us ever realized! And how do you know she is "vapid"? Ever met her? Interviewed her?
Good to know that Kalmbacher isn't a believer in the politics of personal destruction. Perhaps most disturbing is the fact that liberals such as Kalmbacher who aspire to hold the reins of power are woefully deficient in simple arithmetic - three quilts times $2,500 does not equal $10,000.
Murray Jardine UT alum
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