Letters to the editor

SGA responds to editorial

We are writing in response to the Herald’s Feb. 11 editorial.

The Student Government Association is aware of the problem of lacking attendance at our forums, and we commend the editorial staff for noticing this.

However, there was only one solution offered in your editorial. We already have representatives that attend each meeting of the Campus Activities Board and other organizations that you mentioned in the editorial. And they do report what SGA is doing and encourage those members to attend.

Sadly, those members do not tell other people about the forums, nor do they typically attend themselves.

We have always utilized the Herald and take out large quantities of ad space each year to make students aware of our forums and other events. Is the Herald not an effective means to getting our information out?

… Our next forum is March 13 at 4 p.m. in DUC 305. The topic is housing. See you there!

Jamie Sears

SGA president,

John Bradley

SGA executive vice-president

A nation of hatred or freedom?

This Saturday, people throughout the world were protesting the war in Iraq, including some here in Bowling Green.

Being a peace-loving American, I braved the weather to stand on a corner and hold a sign reading, “This madness must cease,” a Martin Luther King Jr. quote about the Vietnam War.

Usually, people would honk as they drove by, and we acknowledged the support. Most who disagreed would glare and keep driving.

There were incidents, though, which made me again question the motives behind this war.

It seemed ironic that those against our protest exhibited such anger and hatred. They told me that I was “unpatriotic,” or that I should “love it [the United States], or leave it.” But I do love America, which is why I was protesting.

An elderly woman said that “the next time 9-11 happens, [she] hopes the planes fall right on our heads.” Another man rolled down his window and flipped the bird.

But the saddest thing I saw involved a young boy, who gave us a look of disgust and the thumbs-down sign. The boy must have been around 6 years old. How can a 6-year-old feel such anger toward a group of about 40 citizens exercising their First Amendment rights?

I can handle such expressions when it’s a group of adults. But three children were among the protesters.

It scares me to think of what those three children will remember about Saturday’s protest. Will they view this nation as one of hatred or one of freedom?

Hilary Bogert

Louisville junior

Slogans don’t represent all students

I respect the fact that all Americans can have their own political views and have the right to express them through a guarantee of freedom of speech.

What I don’t respect are the vague, catchy little phrases chalked all over our library and sidewalks. Some call it “speaking out.” I call it tacky, temporary vandalism and cheesy graffiti.

Campus activists of all creeds should stick to removable signs, leaflets, bulletin board postings, forums, rallies, etc.

As a student here, the library and sidewalks belong to me, too. I don’t agree with some of the ideas behind those slogans. They do not represent me or my sentiments, and I don’t think they should be plastered up on facilities that I and many others in disagreement pay to use.

Furthermore, it looks tacky. Vague, chalked slogans about peace, impeaching President Bush, releasing Mumia [Abu-Jamal, convicted death row inmate] and “thinking outside the box” aren’t the lasting impression first-time visitors to campus should have when they leave here.

Philip Campbell

Elizabethtown junior