Letters to the Editor

A cry from the most marginalized

It would appear that Ethan Chatagnier's article concerning his opinion about the Vagina Monologue's has created quite a stir. As a mute, hermaphroditic, paraplegic, African-American Jew (or HPAAJ), I feel that everyone should stop feeling bad for their own gender and the resources allocated to the study of the plight of that gender and start feeling bad for me.

I mean I'd love to get involved in the urinating contest going on in the editorial pages, but I urinate in a bag and I'm typing this at one word a minute with my nose.

My people (mainly me and one other person in rural upper Mongolia) have been ignored too long. It's about time everyone stops to think about how good the have it compared to the two HPAAJ's out there.

Where's the play about my genitalia? Where's the hemophrodic studies center? I demand that the four-limbed establishment hear my voice! (even if I speak with the aid of a computer). Thank you for your time.

—Gregg Deslauriers
Grad student, cognitive science

Musical activism needs political unrest

In response to Monday’s editorial on the role musicians should play in politics, I feel the editors have grossly oversimplified the nature of popular culture’s impact on political activism. To claim that it was Joan Baez and Bob Dylan who got the hippies riled up enough to march on the Capitol Building is deceptive. In truth, the feelings of unrest were already there, and musicians were able to give those feelings a voice that could be broadcast throughout the nation. Music acted as a feedback loop, taking the unheard voice of the counterculture and making it audible on a far larger scale, which increased the counterculture’s confidence and sense of political efficacy.

Today’s musicians, the Dixie Chicks being a perfect example, are trying to recreate that political activism of the ‘60s. By all means they should be succeeding, since they have far larger bank accounts and greater media exposure than Joan Baez or Bob Dylan ever did during their political heyday. So what’s the problem? Why are the Dixie Chicks booed off the stage instead of being followed like three pied pipers? The problem is that the feelings of political unrest just aren’t there, and even in the rare cases where artists do advance an anti-U.S. sentiment or two, they just aren’t energizing enough people to make any real difference.

So perhaps the editors should be careful what they wish for. If the nation’s musicians turn political, they will more than likely sing about all the things that are right with America, and the minds of our youth will be poisoned with the outrageous idea that being a citizen of the United States, one of few nations on Earth that values liberty and truth above all else, is a rare privilege.

—Timothy Ellison
Sophomore, English

Pedestrians not the problem

When I read Luke Moritz’s Infotainment column in last Friday’s Collegian, I was patiently awaiting any sign of sarcasm to explain the use of utterly stupid arguments. Alas, I waited in vain. Luke proposed that poor air quality is caused by people walking across traffic, forcing the cars to stop and go.

So let me get this straight. People who walk cause air pollution? Anti-intuitive? Could that be because it is completely asinine? While I agree that pollution does increase due to stop and go traffic, I would not be so bold as to say that people walking is the problem.

Rather that people who can no longer support their massive weight and find it necessary to drive their gas-guzzling Hummer a quarter mile to the quickie-mart to buy their salt- and fat-laden potato chips are the problem. Yet this is another exaggeration. Most drive their midsize SUVs.

The solution to the pollution problem in the Central Valley is only going to be found in an adjustment in people’s individual responsibility and in the consumer culture in which we live.

As for Luke’s proposed anti-walking laws, I would ask him to follow his argument to its end. What happens when you increase the ability of cars to drive? More do, more often. And what does this mean for pollution?

Luke illustrates the depressing lack of critical thinking in our society. Might I suggest a new title for Infotainment? “Waste of Space.” Of course, that’s just my opinion.

—Patrick Moyle
Senior, natural science

Cars the culprit in Valley pollution

Luke Moritz writes his opinion of the air pollution problem in his March 11 article "Look both ways at preventing pollution." Moritz states that the right of way granted to pedestrians should be eliminated to move motorists more rapidly and preserve air quality.

While this argument may be logical in premise, is it really legitimate? Do the half-dozen people you see walking to campus on a typical weekday make that big of a difference? What about the east and westbound traffic you encounter on your drive north or south?

Our car-dependent lifestyles seem to be of greater concern. When students commute as little as two blocks to attend a class, we have a major problem. Air quality, petroleum shortages and other environmental issues are in no way the fault of pedestrians.

Lane-widenings and road expansions at the expense of all will continue until people make significant changes in their daily commutes. Pedestrians are marginalized by these expansions and extensions.

Walking on a cracked, narrow sidewalk along a six-lane avenue is not only insulting, but dangerous.

Then comes the long wait for the cross signal, followed by a hurried dash across the street and the possibility of a safe arrival at the other side.

This automobile complex that has become a a part of American life cannot be sustained indefinitely. Oil reserves are sparse and our lifestyles are slow to adapt.

Cities like Fresno are perfect illustrations of suburban sprawl unchecked. It should take you 20 minutes to get from Fresno State to River Park. Take those concerns up with city planners, but don't use the lowly pedestrian as your scapegoat.

—I.W. Struble
Senior, political science and biology

CSU should take steps toward clean energy

The article "Group promotes solar energy" began to address the numerous solutions solar energy would provide for the Central Valley. "Fresno's bad air" is a common phrase tossed around when speaking about allergy or asthma concerns.

Pollution from car emissions and the burning of fossil fuels like oil and coal are major contributing factors to bad air quality in the Valley. Corporations and Fresno State administrators have started to promote solutions with smart commute efforts like convenient parking incentives to carpool participants.

But the CSU system is an entity that has the opportunity to combat this battle on a much larger scale.

Right now, CSUs get their energy from dirty fossil fuels, and they need to adopt a clean energy policy.

Solar energy is an excellent clean alternative to the dirty energy that we purchase. It can also save the CSUs money if it is installed on-site. This is a great opportunity to alleviate budget constraints and take concern for the community's health.

Many universities have taken the initiative to purchase clean energy like CSU, East Bay and Sonoma State and cities like San Francisco.

Mandating this for the entire CSU system, like the UC system has done, is a definite solution. Chancellor Reed and the CSU Board of Trustees will be meeting on March 15 and 16 and possibly discussing clean energy to cut energy costs. It is unfortunate that Chancellor Reed is slow to act on such obvious solutions while our universities' budgets and community health are at stake.

—Anjelica Cebreros
Sophomore, mass communication
and journalism

—Evelyn Gutierrez
Senior, political science

Biking a better way to fight pollution

The article that Luke Moritz wrote, "Look both ways at preventing pollution" is ridiculous. He stated that "If drivers were not required to stop every time someone needed to cross the street, they would not have to sit in their cars with the engines pumping out pollution." The majority of all crosswalks are found at intersections, where cars are stopped anyway in order to allow opposing traffic to cross.

In order to effectively eliminate cars that are stopped at intersections, one would need to create a bridge system at intersections. Say, for example, that all cars traveling north or south would have an overpass, while cars traveling east or west would have an underpass. The problem with this particular solution is that those cars wanting to turn would be unable to.

Truly, if one desires to help prevent pollution, ride a bike. UC Davis has a law that freshmen cannot drive cars to the campus, forcing freshmen to bike everywhere instead of drive. If people used a bicycle to travel, the use of fossil fuels, which Mr. Moritz says "takes millions of years to create,” would decrease, with the added benefit that biking is faster than walking.

Let me remind you that driving is a privilege, not a right. A person, no matter how much he or she weighs, will never be a match for a small car, which weighs roughly 1,500 pounds, let alone a large car, like SUV's or vans, which weigh well in excess of 5,300 pounds.

—Melissa DenHartog
Sophomore, undeclared