Letters
No more cable complaining!
Editor:
What a bunch of cry babies! I can’t believe all the complaints
and fuss over the minor "inconvenience" the dorm residents must
face in getting cable installed ("Cable installation project to
begin in dorms," Feb. 23).
How much stuff could you possibly have stuffed into those little
dorm closets? C’mon, think about it. You are getting CABLE TV! How
many dorms in this country have cable TV?
I only dreamed about getting cable when I lived in the dorms.
Right now, if I wanted cable in my apartment, I would have to pay
about $30 a month. And you only have to pay about $75 for nine
months. That is about $8 a month. What a deal!
You don’t realize how good you have it right now. You have the
Sunset dorms and all those conference centers around Sproul which
didn’t exist way back when. So stop whining and complaining.
It’s not like you have to empty out your entire room. It’s only
one little closet and a few drawers for about a day.You should have
seen our apartment when we had to clear everything out for
fumigation last week. Now that was a lot of work.
So just be happy and enjoy your MTV and ESPN. I’m going to go
watch the news now to see if we beat Cal.
Michael Kim
Senior
Psychology
Greens are true ‘conservatives’
Editor:
I could not help but respond to Cosmo Wenman’s Feb. 24 article,
"Over-control of development: the problem with Greens." Wenman
criticizes environmentalists for often "feeling" their way through
environmental issues rather than thinking them through. And that by
doing this, they "display indifference to human happiness."
How does ensuring open space and clean air and water display
indifference? It appears that what Wenman believes is exactly what
Newt Gingrich wants by imposing his Contract With America  to
allow a minority of the populace (developers, ranchers, miners,
corporations) to do whatever they want to the environment in the
name of profit, even if it means destroying it for the rest of us.
This sounds more like "indifference to human happiness" to me than
the model Wenman suggests.
For example, hidden within the GOP’s contract is a veritable
"Polluters Bill of Rights," euphemistically named the "Job Creation
and Wage Enhancement Act." This so-called "takings" legislation
would reverse the principle that polluters should pay to clean up
their pollution, shifting the burden and costs to the taxpayer.
I for one don’t feel we should pay someone else NOT to destroy
the environment. Unfunded mandates, which recently passed in the
House of Representatives, would allow state and local governments
to give up their responsibility to protect their citizens and
ensure a safe and healthy environment unless the government pays
them not to. The risk assessment part of this legislation proposes
that pollutants should be "innocent until proven guilty" Â
even if our families are being exposed to them without our
knowledge or consent.
Also, restraints currently imposed on corporate misconduct would
be removed, making it difficult for citizens to take large
corporations to court. The GOP contract would actually limit
penalties for corporate wrongdoing instead of holding them
responsible for their actions.
Wenman should take another look at the facts and discover that
many true "conservatives" want to preserve the environment for
future generations rather than take it all away in the name of
short-term profit for the few.
Andrea Leigh
Library Assistant
Science & Engineering Library