University does have funds

for parking structure
Although the solution to the parking problem presented by the editorial on Wednesday is feasible, it is not practical for the understated number of people who live further than two miles away. The majority of people who live close to campus either move here every fall, or have moved here at one point, and it wasn’t using a bike.
Reality says that most people won’t give up a car in the dead of winter, even to ride the bus. I wonder how many times I’ve ridden the bus and had to sit next to some person who hadn’t bathed for weeks and was also carrying the bug I would suffer from for the next several weeks.
Additionally, I used to regularly ride my bike the five miles, often through a torrential downpour. Why would I ever want to drive a warm, dry, germ-free car?
Regarding the placement and funding of a parking structure: There is a big University parking lot right across the street from PLC that is an ideal spot. And how many tens of millions of dollars does the University spend on athletic facilities that us “regular” students aren’t even allowed access to? There’s no shortage of cash. If the University was the least bit practical with their money, the building of a parking structure would have been implemented years ago.
You’ve got to fight … for your right … to parking.

Tyson Kidder

senior

general science

Don’t condemn what

you haven’t tried
Today’s editorial (“There’s no hope with dope,” ODE, 10/15) was an example of sophomoric reductionism. It’s just not that simple. There are many highly motivated, successful people who “Puff the Magic Dragon”; you might be surprised. From the tone of the article, it was apparent that the author herself had not tried marijuana. Critiquing something that you have never personally experienced, especially in a public forum, can lead down a dangerous road.

Joel Wilts-Morrison

junior

environmental science

Hate causes war
The Taliban is to Islam what the KKK was (is) to Christianity. This is a profound and accurate analogy. For more than 100 years, the Klan terrorized mostly black Americans of the South. If Americans would pick up a book on the history of the Klansman and their so-called Christian beliefs, one might better understand what terrorism and bin Laden are all about — hate.
Readers may question why I bring this up at a time like this, when we’re all striving to be united as one. It seems that America is sometimes in a history-free zone, where history does not matter. But alas, history has brought us where we are today, and there is no turning back. We are possibly on the verge of the last war, a Holy War, World War III. And all because of hate. Maybe we need to look inside ourselves and see how much hate is in our own hearts and minds, for our fellow Americans as well as for people all over the world.
I hope this letter doesn’t provoke anyone out there to send me hate mail. I’m not full of hate but hope, hope that this country comes out of this united and whole, a better nation. Peace and love my fellow Americans; finally and perhaps forever, we are all in this together.

Pamela A. Hairston

Washington, D.C.