Jordan River Forum

I would like to thank Kacie Foster for her Nov. 3 article "Forum aims to reduce 'casual racism' on campus." As mentioned in the article, the Facebook can be a great tool to promote student interaction on campus but not when some IU students create groups such as "We hate Asian drivers." This illustrates the need in our community to actively promote the value of diversity on campus. The members of hate-mongering Facebook groups who direct their casual yet mean-spirited comments not only toward Asians, but other groups they feel qualified to lump together, should realize these casual acts of racism are offensive and undermine the goals of the educational institution itself. They have taken the freedom of free speech and abused it substantially. What I do not understand is why these members do not see the impact they are having on themselves as well as on their friends and their communities; do they not realize that future employers may come across their Facebook profile and use it to make a judgment on their character? And do we not realize that allowing casual racism to fester within our community leads to a divided student body and an inability to learn from each other? Corey Hayashi
Graduate student

Disrespectful drivers

In response to the gentleman who yelled out his window "I didn't have to let you go, you know," as I crossed the intersection of Jordan Avenue and Seventh Street the evening of Nov. 3: Yes, you did. My time and rights are equally as important as yours, and they deserve respect. What are the cardinal rules of drivers' education courses? In case you've forgotten: 1) Always watch out for "the other guy," and 2) Pedestrians always have the right of way. And in case you were wondering, I didn't just take the right of way, walking through an intersection like a brain-dead zombie consumed by her iPod and cell phone. No, I waited (just as a car would, or should) for my turn to cross the intersection, sans any electronic distractions. Bloomington drivers, wake up! I understand your frustration with inattentive pedestrians who don't use crosswalks and walk out in front of your vehicles at the most inopportune times; I get that. However, please realize that we walkers are tired of being treated like mere annoyances (or maybe targets?) by those of you who don't have to hoof it. Pedestrians are people, too. Let's make a deal: You enjoy your parking pass and let me enjoy my crosswalk. Jeanne Power
Junior

Responding to emergencies

I think it is amazing how incompetent IU is when responding to emergencies. I am currently living in Read and own a weather radio. When the tornado sirens went off, the only reason I knew there was a tornado warning was because of my radio, not because of any notice from the residential adviser or the other alert system in the building. None of my friends in the building ever knew a tornado warning occurred. Something needs to be done to alert the residents in the dorms, let alone have a better citywide tornado warning system. People think tall buildings are invincible, but they are not. The school needs to explain to the campus community the serious danger it is in when living in a tall building and create a better plan for informing the students about dangerous weather situations. Ryan Aylward
Senior

Threat on academic quality

This letter is to address the threat laid forth by the College of Arts and Sciences faculty. It is one thing to urge IU President Adam Herbert to reconsider, but it is another to threaten the quality of the education you provide. This comment was irresponsible and an unbelievable threat on the student body. We have no say in who President Herbert picks to fulfill Interim IUB Chancellor Ken Gros Louis' position. Therefore, it is unfair to threaten the quality of education that you provide to us. I hope that the rest of the student body will read your comment in Nov. 3's Indiana Daily Student ("Angered faculty members rally against Herbert") and be just as outraged as I am. The article said that the letter says if Subbaswamy is not named as the next chancellor it "will have adverse consequences for faculty morale and academic quality, in the College, on the Bloomington campus and throughout the Indiana University community." I cannot believe that professors of this university would resort to threats on the quality of education provided as means to get their agenda through to the president. If Political Science Chair Jeffrey Isaac (the author of the letter) would like to apologize to me or the student body, he is more than welcome to call me. (Please don't write. I have noticed a drop in my literacy rate due to a reduction in the quality of my education.) Ryan Risse
Sophomore

Thanks to our veterans

To the men and women of the American armed forces, past and present, on this Veteran's Day: Thank you. Nov. 11, Veteran's Day, is a reminder of the never-ending gratitude our nation owes to its 25 million past and present servicemen and servicewomen. Regardless of where, or how, they have served, all soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines deserve our praise. Too often, we as a people take our freedom and its guardians for granted. We forget that though our rights are self-evident, our exercise of them is not. Our veterans' sacrifices have kept us safe and our liberty secure for more than 200 years. And so again, we, the IU College Democrats and Republicans, say thank you. You have protected our rights to pray, assemble, speak and live freely. You have protected us from tyranny guised in fascism, communism and Islamic extremism. We owe you more than we can ever possibly repay. Finally, we ask that each member of the IU community also share his or her appreciation with America's veterans. Write a note. Shake a hand. Make a call. Our grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, siblings and friends deserve that and much more. The IU College Democrats and the IU College
Republicans

Misguided protestors

I was disgusted by the article in Tuesday's Indiana Daily Student about the Christian church protesting gays by burning their flag and holding hateful signs in the street ("Group protests gays with flag burning, songs"). I have a challenge for everyone involved in that protest. Why don't you pick up a Bible and understand that Jesus didn't come to judge the world but to save it (John 12:47)? I'm tired of my Christian brothers and sisters being proponents of hate and believing they know the status of another person's soul with God. Maybe instead of spending every waking moment deciding who is going to heaven and who isn't, you should understand that God belongs to everyone, and everyone belongs to God. A friend of mine in seminary wisely related to me about heaven: "I believe I'm going. I want to go. But do I deserve it? No. Is there anything I can do to earn it? No. Grace isn't grace if I can choose it." If not for yourselves, then for the children you brought along with you to protest, cast down your stones and try picking up a cross. You'll find that it is much heavier. Chase Haller
Sophomore

Boycott blood

Due to a policy implemented by the Federal Drug Administration in 1985, a gay man cannot give blood if he has had sex after 1977, citing an elevated risk of carrying HIV. Now, almost 20 years later, it is time for the FDA to wake up. Every blood donation is now screened using three different tests for HIV alone. This virus has evolved from afflicting a mostly gay population to becoming a problem affecting the entire population regardless of sexual orientation. Rates of HIV infection are highest now in black and poor populations: Can you imagine walking up to a blood bank and being told that you cannot donate because of the color of your skin or because you're below the poverty line? This is not the right way to combat the problem. A policy that assesses risks based on factors such as the number of sexual partners and condom use is needed, similar to that recently implemented in Italy. Stereotyping all gay men as HIV positive is not acceptable. U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois pointed out the ineffectiveness, discrimination and homophobia inherent in this policy when she wrote to the FDA commissioner in 2003: "A gay man who has consistently tested negative for HIV and who has had only one protected sexual encounter with another man can never donate blood. However, a heterosexual man who has visited prostitutes or has had intercourse with an HIV positive individual is only banned for one year." This inconsistent Red Cross policy does not match the ideals of equality and nondiscrimination IU takes great pride in. Because of Red Cross encouragement for this FDA policy, which consequently influenced the narrow vote that kept it in place, I urge this campus to boycott them this year. What's more, I would like to see IU join the ranks of several other universities which have banned them from their campuses in determination to make them change this policy. Zachary Lehman
Junior

A closer look at Alito

I have several comments to make in respect to Bryan Schmidt's arguments of the column pushing to confirm Alito ("Approve Alito," Monday). A well-educated person does not mean the person is well-qualified. O'Connor's seat is a swing vote seat, which is more than just being well-qualified. A belief in the right to privacy does not constitute a belief in the right to an abortion. These are two very different issues with arguments spanning cases from Griswold v. Connecticut to Roe v. Wade. I would like to point out the absurdity of Alito's ruling against a woman's right to choose. Alito decided in one case that women should have to inform their husbands of their desire to have an abortion, even if the husband is abusive. Personally, I don't care what his other pro-choice rulings are. This one speaks volumes about his beliefs. He didn't even suggest a judicial bypass allowing women to go to the court to avoid facing their husbands. I also want to remind readers that Alito voted to allow machine guns for private owners, which to me serves absolutely no reasonable purpose. He also tried to make it almost impossible to prove a complaint in a sex discrimination case without "smoking gun" proof. Alito decided in favor of making discrimination based on race and disability harder to prove. If Republicans use the "nuclear option" and vote to get rid of the filibuster, they are the ones to be blamed. Democrats would only be exercising their rights within our democracy, and Republicans would be making a seriously stupid mistake considering Democrats and Republicans have traded places in the majority multiple times throughout history. Also with this particular nomination, political leaning is a judicial philosophy. Sandra Day O'Connor's seat may be the most important one on the Court. She holds the only position as a swing vote judge, and I personally feel that her votes keep the court fair and balanced instead of separated based on two distinct political ideologies. Elisabeth Crum
Senior

Learning from protestors

The wicked of this world make ludicrous spectacles while pursuing fascinatingly inane agendas. On Monday rabble-rousing John Lewis led members of the Old Paths Baptist Church in protest of a local "gay business," The Inner Chef. Protest tactics included singing and sign waving, including idioms like "Fags Die, God Laughs." Disparaging the close-minded and yearning for civility is almost a futile platitude; thus, I won't volley salvos of colorful, four-lettered belittlements. Instead, we should learn from this baseless protest. Let's transcend debate on the "gay business" subject of the protest by assuming that the ostensibly good folks from Old Paths are fiendish, blundering fools incapable of fielding intelligent arguments concerning any epistemology. Groups such as Old Paths flourish only by the existence of "difference." They categorize, castigate and ostracize to find purposeful fulfillment when, in fact, their mission is purposeless. When these cadres confront us with their hateful hypocrisy, we discover that we care about our community. We put down our Playstation controllers. We ready our minds, mouths and markers. We fashion counterprotest posters, we write letters to editors and we engage in thoughtful discourse. By an uncomfortably comical contrast, Pastor Lewis' absurdity teaches us to carefully regard the genuine issues that impact human dignity. This preposterousness should give us a little chuckle. After all, if a bigot gives you trouble, just shrug it off and simply quote the attendant at The Inner Chef: "Uh oh. I'm going to hell, I guess." K. William Staser
Bloomington resident