Letters to the Editor

Open letter to A&F

The Greater Seattle Chapter of the Organization of Chinese-Americans writes to officially convey our shock and disgust at Abercrombie & Fitch's recent line of graphic T-shirts adorned with Chinese caricatures. These grotesque misrepresentations of Chinese-Americans rely on racist stereotypes for their source of "humor." We, as most Americans, strongly believe that belittling and essentializing an entire race and culture along with its struggle in the United States, for the sake of selling T-shirts, is not only offensive but displays an ignorance of history.

Slogans such as "two Wongs make a white" or "get your Buddha on the floor," partnered with stereotypical portrayals of Chinese laundrymen wearing pointed hats and buck-toothed grins, have no place in a modern organization looking for the business of Asian-Americans. We must seriously consider: If the lack of humor and tact that would have been questioned by a first-year business student eluded A&F, then what of the sensitivity and intelligence of every level responsible for designing and marketing the T-shirts? If you're going to be racist, you might as well be equal-opportunity. Where is A&F's line of African-American tees with stereotypical "Sambos" and "Uncle Toms?" It is not funny, never was and we can't imagine how it could ever be confused to be so. We are demanding a public apology with the distinct knowledge that this issue is not a mere difference in sense of humor, but A&F's blatant racial insensitivity.

There will be a protest organized by UW students at the Westlake Abercrombie and Fitch on Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. Please attend if you support the cause.

Chia-Chi Li

Organization of Chinese-Americans

senior, computer science, philosophy

Can you use wisely?

While I agree with Omari Taylor ("The war on drugs," April 23) that government funds are better allocated toward harm reduction, he failed to properly identify what harm reduction is. Harm reduction is not "government-sponsored legalized drug use." Harm reduction is the system of admitting that drug use does and will exist; therefore, education and safety -- not jail -- become the primary programs. Government programs such as "Just Say No" are not adequate to stop the drug war. By creating programs to dispel misinformation, assisting -- not punishing -- those who choose to use and taking steps to make drug use safer, our society will not feel such harmful effects of drug use.

DanceSafe is an organization that offers these services. By handing out information about drugs, giving talks to inform people about the truth of drugs and by promoting Ecstacy testing kits to test for MDMA-like substances, we can dramatically lower drug-related deaths, particularly in the rave and dance community. While harm-reduction programs such as DanceSafe and SOS (needle exchange) have been proven to work, government programs of "Just Say No" and DARE have not.

It is up to each individual to be a responsible drug user: Be informed about what drug you are taking. Don't mix drugs. Know your dealer. Test your pills. Keep things in moderation. By following these guidelines, drug-use safety will increase. Most importantly, remember that no drug is safe; each drug comes with inherent risks, and no matter how many times you've taken a drug before, each time is different.

Micah Isaksen

DanceSafe volunteer/event

coordinator

junior, English

Don't legalize hard drugs

It is sad that any drug-free person would support and promote a legal drug market knowing how dangerous drugs are to the user and everyone around the user ("The war on drugs," April 23). Omari Taylor needs to get his facts straight and some better comparisons.

The Netherlands is part of the European Union and cannot flaunt E.U. drug laws. It has very liberal views on drug use and supports needle-exchange programs, but police still bust people for possession (even marijuana) exceeding a certain amount. Dutch citizens are becoming displeased with liberal drug laws due to increasing use and addiction to "hard drugs" among teen-agers and the crime that seems to go hand-in-hand with those drugs.

Concerning Prohibition: The reason Prohibition came crashing down was mob involvement in bootlegging, not the outcries of ordinary citizens. But to work that comparison, alcohol is legal and yet is the largest addiction problem next to tobacco, but unlike tobacco users, alcoholics kill people on the road and destroy families every day, just like hard-drug addicts. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2000, 16,653 people were killed in crashes involving alcohol, 40 percent of the people killed in all crashes (vs. 38.3 percent alcohol-related fatalities in 1999). Two-thirds of partner-abuse victims reported that alcohol had been a factor; for spousal-abuse victims, the offender was drinking in three out of four cases. We aren't spending government funds busting alcoholics for possession and there are plenty of good programs for them, so why is the problem getting worse?

Yeah, legalizing hard drugs is a GREAT idea.

Diane Hutchison

senior, French, international studies

Women will rule the world

I want to clear some things upthat seem misleading about these "equal pay" rallies ("Students rally for equal pay," April 17). First, there is no systematic discrimination against women that causes these pay differences. "Women make 76 cents for every dollar a man makes" does not take into account equal experience or education (and is exaggerated regardless). For most of the working U.S. population's lives, women have had less education and work experience, mostly due to the fact that they take time off to raise children. Women who don't take time off from education or work actually make more money than their male counterparts (possibly because of affirmative-action-type policies or decisions). In fact, women aged 16-23 make almost $1.10 for every $1.00 a man makes, because few of these women have taken any time off of work to raise children.

Now that many women are becoming "career women" and more women get higher education than men, I suspect that the statistics will be the opposite once I'm retired

Jeremy Fuller

senior, psychology

Rape victims are not statistics

Scott Loveless' letter ("That lump of cells is a human baby," April 22) treats rape victims as faceless statistics, suggesting that since the conception rate in rape cases is low, it's negligible. But rape victims are not statistics: They are your friends, your sisters, your neighbors and your daughters. Every single one is an individual, and every single one should be in control of her recovery from such a devastating tragedy. Rape is a crime of hatred and power to leave the victim feeling worthless and dirty, and it is a continuation of that of that hatred to tell a victim that should she be pregnant, she must carry that child. She will feel even more violated and powerless if control of her own life is not returned to her.

As for the idea that a fetus is a person at all points of a pregnancy, I must ask: As a person, why do no religions afford naming and burial rites to as late as a second-trimester miscarried fetus? And no one is up in arms about miscarriage, which is a natural abortion that happens when the body knows that something is wrong with the pregnancy and terminates it before putting the mother at risk. A conscious abortion happens when a woman knows that she or the baby will be at unacceptable risk, physically or emotionally, and decides what is in the best interest of her survival. Rape victims, along with every other woman on this planet, deserve our faith in their ability to make the best decisions about their bodies, and the dignity which comes with such trust.

Aiko Akers

sophomore, English

Don't compound the crime

I believe that abortion being such a beloved right for women today is a sign of society's increasing laziness and self-denial, especially with all the anxious couples out there waiting to adopt. I would be considered a pro-lifer by most, but even I am willing to grant that there are exceptions to this rule, including incest, genetic defect and rape.

Scott Loveless' argument Monday ("That lump of cells is a human baby," April 22) does not take into account some important facts in a rape pregnancy case:

1) The pregnancy of a rape victim came to her by no fault of her own. She should not have to bear pain to conceive her rapist's child. It is almost like the criminal wins twice; he violates and then procreates.

2) This is a child born not of love and not even lust; it a child born of a horrible invasion. Why should a mother be forced into raising her attacker's child? Granted, she could give it up to adoption, but would you want to adopt a sex-offender's baby?

3) The child will have to live with being a rape baby the rest of his or her life. That is a horrible stigma (especially if the child is male) to carry around with you. I'm not sure anyone would want to live with that, famous singer or not.

Women who choose to have the children of their rape are extremely self-sacrificing and should be commended. But the standard should not be to force crime victims through yet another ordeal.

R.J. Miller

junior, communications

At long last, the truth

I was quite amazed by "10 aids to reflection on the Middle East," written by professor Alexander. If someone is tired of hearing about all the bickering about the Arab-Israeli conflict, not knowing what to believe, everything that Alexander describes is documented in history. This piece is a true opinion piece, containing factual information that revisionist historians wish to forget. It is great to see The Daily finally encouraging its writers to use facts, and not allegations, in its opinion pieces, but we can only wait to see how long that will continue. If you want to learn the "myths and facts" of the century-old conflict, visit: www.jsource.org/jsource/ myths.

Eric Hasson

junior, accounting