Free speech Friday

WAR CRICICISM IRONIC

Aaron Scwhitters was right to imply that the costs of avoiding the war in Iraq could have been far too high ... but only if those costs had actually included leaving a rogue nation's destructive capabilities unchecked ("Anti-war stance is all political," Oct.24, 2005).

Of course most reasonable Americans now recognize that Iraq's nuclear prowess was never a credible threat to world safety. In his haste to chastise the American left for turning war into politics, Schwitters presents a humanitarian argument for the war that only picked up steam after political support for the original justification had waned. Surely he knows that the benefits of ousting a murdering despot weren't even part of the original cost-analysis equation ($2 million war or mass destruction?) this underhanded administration sold to the American people and the U.S. Senate.

Ironically, Schwitters' pro-war stance is all political.

--- Daniel Luck

Senior, aquatic and fisheries sciences

VIDEO GAMES NOT THE PROBLEM

In response to "Would you like a video game with that happy meal?" (Oct. 26, 2005) I must say I was a bit disappointed. While I don't argue that the effects of eating fast food and having a sedentary lifestyle will cause obesity, I think that the argument presented retains some flaws. While offering free access to video games might encourage children to play them, I don't think that by attacking McDonalds' proposed plan to provide this is adequate.

What McDonald's is doing is no different than Starbucks offering free WiFi for its customers; in fact it's one and the same. The Nintendo DS uses WiFi to connect players around the world, so in fact, when the games that utilize this function come out, I could go to Starbucks instead of McDonald's to play these games. The author's point that the implementation of free video game access comes at a convenient time is misguided.

The timing has nothing to do with the legislation passed; the games that will use this function have yet to come out, so how would this have been done? I think that a more sensible response to this question would be to educate children on the effects of their lifestyles instead of attacking companies with good business plans and benefits for customers.

So next time you stop by McDonalds in November and see a child playing an online game, just think, at least he's not taking your seat at Starbucks.

-- Robert J. Schmuck

Sophomore, communication and anthropology

SPEAKER WRONGLY PRAISED

 The Oct. 24 article on the appearance of Guatemala's Bishop Ramazzini left me slack-jawed ("CAFTA critic: Trade pacts don't cater to human rights").

Ramazzini is one of the last diehards of a 1960s-and-later phenomenon known as the Catholic Liberation Theology Movement. Liberation Theology, as it came to be known, was at best an expression of frustration with capitalism's apparent inability to improve overall well being in Latin America and elsewhere.

His shrill and unreasoned opposition to CAFTA is totally out of sync with Guatemala's Congress, which earlier this year approved the free trade pact by an almost 10-to-one margin.

Worse yet, at least in the view of many of his Roman Catholic colleagues here in Guatemala, while Ramazzini was toying with Liberation Theology and tilting at the CAFTA windmill, his church in San Marcos lost about half of its market share to the various evangelical congregations who now make up about 50 percent of San Marcos' professed Christians.

Finally, it appears that assistant professor Godoy, who praised Ramazzini for "his unwavering commitment to human rights," does not include a woman's reproductive rights as part of her teaching repertoire within the departments of international studies and law, societies and justice. Ramazzini and his fellow bishops earlier in this decade reneged on a government-evangelical-Catholic Church agreement to disseminate family planning information.

At present the average indigenous woman in Guatemala bears eight children, starting at age 14.

Aren't these 14-year-old children lucky that Ramazzini is "unwavering" in his commitment to their human rights?

-- Carlisle Johnson

"Good Morning Guatemala," FM 97.7, an ABC radio international affiliate