Free speech Friday

[b]A rant about 'Rants and Raves'[/b]

On Thursday, April 20, the "Rants and Raves" section of your periodical directly attacked "frat boys" as sexist and womanizing men, comparing them only to horny pre-pubescent males and "dirty old men." This is not the first time that Greek men, as well as the lifestyle of the Greek community, have been deliberately affronted by your newspaper. Personally, I am appalled. Although I do credit your publication with some discretion as to comedic leniency, this term is just as derogatory, especially in the given context, as a racial or homosexual slur.

In fact, I would argue that the Greek system incorporates a much more diverse body than most of these other derogatory terms, rendering the colloquialism "frat boy" even more offensive. Not only within the IFC fraternities are there a wide range of cultural backgrounds, but also in other systems of Greek life at the UW there is a wider representation of race, lifestyles and sexual preferences.

Effective immediately, you and your staff should know that I and numerous others would like to see a great improvement in your "political correctness" when referring to the Greek community. Else, I will not hesitate to begin a campus-wide petition and include University of Washington officials. I have the entire Greek system behind me and we are sick and tired of opening our college's publication and being offended.

[HTML_REMOVED]Jeff Mason, Sophomore, History[HTML_REMOVED]

[b]ASUW objects to military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy[/b]

Thank you for your coverage of the Senate's recent debate about the government's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and how we as a campus should respond to it.

I would like to clarify that over the course of our discussion, the central issue that arose was whether we should admonish the military or military recruiters for administering the DADT policy, or whether we should admonish the U.S. government for creating the policy. An amendment was proposed to change sections objecting to the military or recruiters so that they instead object to the policy itself. This amendment passed with a clear majority.

Therefore, I would say that rather than objecting to military recruitment, the ASUW Senate objected to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. That said, the ASUW stands firmly opposed to discrimination of any kind against the GLBT members of our campus community -- including any extent to which such discrimination occurs during military recruitment as a result of the DADT policy. We call upon the University to place signs at any military recruitment site that highlight the fact that the DADT policy is discriminatory, and we join other voices across the nation that call upon the federal government to repeal the DADT policy and replace it with a policy that meaningfully welcomes all able people into the ranks of our armed forces.

[HTML_REMOVED]Alex Kim, Student Senate Chair, Junior, Anthropology[HTML_REMOVED]

[b]'Clinics' must provide education about all choices[/b]

I am responding to the recent article in The Daily entitled "Choosing Sides" (Ninette Cheng, April 24). I find it ironic that the anti-choice so-called "clinic" on the Ave. has assumed the name "Life Choices," as the range of choices offered there is narrow.

By not providing contraceptive care or information about abortions, the "clinic" is under-educating its patrons and potentially endangering their reproductive health. I would also like to challenge the author's use of Heidi Campbell's assumptions about Planned Parenthood's revenue as a legitimate source. Even if her assumptions are true, what the author failed to articulate was that providing unobstructed access to contraception mitigates the probability of an abortion for sexually active women. In addition, Planned Parenthood, along with other pro-choice organizations, have continually supported accessibility of medically-accurate comprehensive sex education and information that also serve to decrease the rate of unintended pregnancies.

By providing education about all the choices available, pro-choice organizations empower women to make decisions that directly impact their own reproductive health.

[HTML_REMOVED]Emily (Dylan) King, Senior, Communication [HTML_REMOVED]

[b]In praise of Norwalk virus coverage[/b]

We just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate how respectful the article was about the Norwalk virus. As you know, there are many rumors that have been blown out of proportion and are being spread around the University. The article in The Daily was very nice and extremely accurate. Thank you for being so respectful.

[HTML_REMOVED]Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority[HTML_REMOVED]

[b]A pharmacist's claim to medicine[/b]

Quite frankly, Kelly Hills' "journalism" amazes me. Not only was the entire content of your opinion piece ("Pharmacists' moral acumen," April 24) just regurgitating "Bitter Pill" by the Stranger's Josh Feit, but you do a tremendous disservice to the more than 350 hardworking students earning their Doctor of Pharmacy degrees at the University of Washington.

Hills clearly believes that pharmacy is limited to dispensing pills. Pharmacists do much more, such as providing access to immunizations, asthma therapy, diabetes and cholesterol screenings, and chronic disease management. And that is only in the community setting where you think we only "dispense medicine." Are you even aware of all the pharmacists in other practice settings?

Pharmacists work in hospitals in a range of specialties from infectious disease to cardiology. They work in long-term care facilities, are involved in clinical research and help managed care organizations optimize medication services, to name a few. Had Hills done any independent research on this topic, she might have discovered that, or you could have interviewed students and faculty from the UW School of Pharmacy. Why don't you come on Saturday to the American Diabetes Association's EXPO at the Stadium Exhibition Center at Qwest Field? There will be pharmacists and student pharmacists providing blood glucose, cholesterol, and other health screenings, in addition to counseling and assisting diabetics with a whole host of issues. Then you tell me if you think all we do is dispense, and not practice, medicine.

[HTML_REMOVED]Andrea Eberly, Senior, Doctor of Pharmacy Candidate 2008[HTML_REMOVED]

[b]Article irresponsibly represents abortion[/b]

I have a strong objection to yesterday's Feature by Ninette Cheng ("Choosing Sides," April 26). First and foremost, in bold letters, larger than your front-page headline, the article states "ABORTION = MURDER" in capital letters. Second, the article irresponsibly delved into the negative aspects of abortion, without showing any of the lifelong difficulties for parents, child, siblings and family that an unwanted pregnancy can bring.

Third, as Mark Twain said, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics." Ms. Cheng's bold statistics suggest that Roe v. Wade is all but doomed. On the contrary, other public opinion polls wildly disagree with the numbers shown in those graphs. This is irresponsible, imbalanced, reporting that belongs on the opinion page (or on Fox News), rather than as a feature. (http://www.pollingreport.com/abortion.htm) shows much more optimistic numbers for those of us who are pro-life, especially we who also experienced family abortions and are grateful our single mothers were not over-burdened, and thus able to feed and clothe us, and give us her loving attention.

While I still imagine what my would-have-been siblings would have been like, I understand how hard it would have been for myself and my mother to have additional children. That is what Ms. Cheng has chosen to ignore.

[HTML_REMOVED]Hawkeye King, Graduate, Electrical Engineering[HTML_REMOVED]