WSU e-mail systems are cluttered, confusing

Editor:

In order to receive communication from WSU I am required to sign into three separate programs which each require an independent log-in. If I need to communicate with my professors, I am required to log into eLearning@wsu.edu. If I want either important or trivial information about university events or changes, I go to my.wsu.edu. If I’m interested in general university communication with administrators, classmates or teaching assistants, I’ll go to connect.wsu.edu. For reasons I am unable to understand I have two separate WSU e-mail addresses. Confused yet? Me too. Why can’t WSU get its act together and make one complete system?

Charles Schmidtlein

graduate student, pharmacy







Basketball deserves more student huzzahs

Editor:

As a Cougar alumnus and basketball season ticket holder, I just want to say how impressed I am with the ZZU CRU and their spirit at Cougar Basketball games. They obviously appreciate what a special basketball team we have right now. I think watching Tony Bennett’s crew is worth driving hazardous backroads from Spokane to see, which I and other alums have done the past week. What is appalling and disappointing to me is the hundreds of empty seats in the upper student section for the top 25 basketball matchups in a great basketball conference. This is something we should never take for granted in Pullman. If the students outside of the loyal core that are always there don’t want to come to the games, I think Athletic Director Jim Sterk should open them up for reserved seating and general admission, so that we can get the monetary support the Athletic Department needs to sustain such a great program. I challenge the students to be at Friel Court the few final games to give the team the appreciation it deserves.

Bob Anderberg WSU alumnus, 1989









Senate bill won’t pass for different reasons

Editor:

Nickolas Conrad is wrong on his stereotypes of conservatives in his Monday column “Bill threatens education.” David Horowitz is not a Christian, but a self-described agnostic, and not interested in sneaking evolution into science classes. Furthermore, Conrad’s states “students would be able to unjustifiably inject their own beliefs into fields ...” The prospect of students having their own beliefs is admittedly horrifying enough. But would this argument also not apply to, let’s say, your math professor taking 20 minutes of class to rant about Iraq or Bush?

Or take Conrad’s point “we are here to learn and be challenged, not for college to accomodate all our preconceived ideas.” From Socrates to today, there have been many ideas about what “social justice” ought to mean, but on college campuses it means only one thing, and requiring students to believe in it before graduating is indoctrination, not education.

I disagree with Horowitz’s proposed legislation, because it won’t work; academics will collude to make it unenforceable. If some professors did not abuse their privileged position and their power over their students, no one would be interested in such legislation.

Gabriel Hanna graduate student, physics





Caucuses actually limit our voting rights

Editor:

In Paul Dec’s Wednesday column, “Caucuses vitalize democracy,” he argues that caucuses are more democratic than primaries because they sway undecideds and encourage discussion. I would like to point out many caucuses deprive participants of the right to a secret ballot, allow only declared party members to attend and allow only a minority of registered voters to allocate votes. Many people are unable to attend caucuses. These include out-of-state college students, military members overseas, homebound individuals and anyone who can not attend during the limited hours of a caucus. I find no shame in favoring primaries which allow all voters to express the right to vote.

I have no doubt attendance at Washington’s Democratic caucuses swelled last week. Many there probably felt it was the only way to avoid having their legitimate primary votes ignored by the party.

Alix Berglund sophomore, zoology







School district levy deserves ‘yes’ vote

Editor:

The Pullman School District is once again putting forth a request for a regular Maintenance and Operations Levy. As a past school board member, I know the thought and consideration put into this regular request and the impact this local support has on the district’s programs. This year the board decided to run the levy for four years rather than the usual two. This, I believe, was an excellent decision and I know a lot of planning was involved to make the amount of the levy request the very best for the district and the taxpayers. The board and administration of the Pullman School District are very thoughtful in spending the public’s money. The quality of district programs is excellent and local support through the local levy is vital to that excellence. The support of district patrons has always been very strong and very much appreciated. It truly is an advantage for our students. I encourage all to find those mail-in ballots and get them in the mail by Tuesday with a ‘Yes’ vote on this important issue.

Claudia Peavy Pullman resident