Letters to the Editor

Sports commentary

Boys and girls are different

I agree with Vijay Singh. However, I would not merely withdraw from the tournament if I was paired with Annika (Sorenstam); rather, I would join the European Tour.

It has been the social standard to separate men and women throughout history. Not since seventh-grade co-ed soccer have boys and girls competed together on the athletic field. This is not because of sexism, but rather because of the scientific fact that the level of athleticism is greater in most men than it is in most women. It would be less than fair for a man to want to "prove his credibility" in an all-women field of competitors, so why must [Sorenstam] prove herself in The Colonial? She is arguably the best female golfer to walk the planet to date and has nothing to prove to the world. Furthermore, if she were to win this PGA Tour event, what would she win? Plaid sports jackets are not the current fad for modern women celebrities.

That being said, I move on to a more important topic. Tiger Woods has popularized golf a great deal, yes. But he alone did not make it cool, I believe that can be attributed to the rivalries of the 1960s and 1970s between Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson. To say golf tradition sucks is an ignorant opinion, and to successfully take this stance requires more research than finding out the ethnicity of Singh and how many PGA Tour events he won last year.

-- Matt Kuffel

freshman, pre-engineering

Trauma reporting

Gauge impact

I found the article "No charges filed in sexual assault" grossly inappropriate and absolutely offensive. I rely on this publication as a means of information. However, I found the article to resemble propaganda. The intimate details included in this article are unnecessary, private, and personal. I would be outraged and humiliated if I were that girl. I would encourage The Daily's staff to be more sensitive to this story because this is somebody's life. While I am not assaulting [Kevin Arnold's] journalistic skills, it may be more appropriate to consider a female reporter on such issues. While I respect The Daily's intentions and its publication, I think The Daily should consider the implications of its articles on people's lives.

-- Kelly Mondin

senior, business administration

Homeless feature

Expand perspectives

I appreciate that the two Daily staffers went out of their comfort zone and spent the night on the Ave., but the "Asylum" article (May 21) and the "Headshots" are still perpetuating the awful stereotype against homeless people. Many of us don't see the lives of homeless men and women who are working hard to get themselves out of that situation. The Daily should have been at Seattle Youth Garden Works where homeless youth sell their produce to make money for the organization and are taught valuable working skills, or at the Sanctuary Arts Center where youth are spending time making beautiful works of art or creating poetry books for sale, or talking to the vendors of the Real Change newspaper. There should have been pictures of youth helping design and make the mural on 15th Avenue Northeast or the homeless who live in Tent City and go to work everyday. The "Headshots" talked about asking one man why he doesn't have a job; his response definitely does not represent the entire homeless population. So, I ask all of you to do your homework and watch the documentary, Kids on the Ave. before you pass any judgment about the lives of homeless people. Also, if you think that you are the victim because you were asked for change and screamed at, please think twice, because you are still going home to your warm safe bedroom, whereas these people become the prey at night for physical and sexual abusers.

-- Kathlyn M. Kocher

junior, community &

environmental planning

[Editor's note: The Daily has covered the issue of homelessness frequently over the past three years. Two articles have been written about the Sanctuary Arts Center ("The colors of reality," April 8, 2003 ,and "Between pastel walls," Oct. 30, 2002). Other articles about homelessness, including several about the Real Change organization, were printed Nov. 22, 2000, Dec. 6, 2000, Jan. 25, 2001, and Aug. 14, 2002.]