Purdue Pete callout upsets student

Purdue should hear all students

Well, it has finally happened. Purdue has fallen off reality like so many other national institutions of higher leftism.

I want to congratulate all of the purposeful rioters of the past few semesters and the eco-friendly zombies who drive SUVs and banter about hemp and solar energy. And the starving few tent dwellers who, by sheer determination, have succeeded in casting more than one vote in a matter of public debate by moral superiority. A vote not against sweatshop conditions, mind you, but against the oversight authority that the University selects.

I have no problem with airing minority viewpoints for all to hear.

That is, more or less, the purpose of college: exposure to new thoughts. What I do have a problem with is the hijacking of our policy by a select vocal few. We aren't hearing pleas. We are hearing demands.

I hope the University hears the starving opinions with exactly the same weight as each of the opinions of the thousands of less strident, busy students who received sufficient attention as children.

Never mind democracy. Progress toward the MTV ideal is more important.

Chris Culbertson

graduate student

Crimes tarnish Purdue's reputation

What's wrong with some of the people on this campus? We have riots, robberies at ATMs and just yesterday my bike was stolen. You'd think we were in one of the bad parts of Los Angeles.

College is a chance to prove that you can succeed as a mature adult, but so many people treat it as one big, irresponsible party.

I hope that the University will impose strict discipline on its students in the future so that Purdue can again become a name respected worldwide. If they don't, our degrees will be worth much less. And if you see a big old yellow Schwinn boy's bike with an orange chain locked around the top bar, it belongs to me.

Damon Sisk

senior, Schools of Engineering

Columnist should tolerate others

I would like to address Mr. Grindlife's comments on the Day of Silence. As a Christian, the things written about Christianity offended me. For a column about tolerating all people, it was not very tolerant of Christians. I found that it stereotyped Christians into one group with beliefs not many of us have. Christians, for the most part, try to be very tolerant of all people, for it was Jesus' commandment to "love your neighbor as yourself." None of us is perfect and whether or not anyone's actions are wrong is not for us to decide. It is for God to decide. Determining whether your actions are right or wrong in God's sight can only be done through prayer, reading the Bible and truly seeking the answers. In response to the comment about the laws in the Old Testament having only been written to protect the people from their own ignorance, I would like to say that while very few Christians follow all the Levitical laws, we all do try to follow the Ten Commandments. This set of 10 laws is even now being posted in some public schools to hopefully emphasize that we all need a system of morals to follow. One of these, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," is in direct contradiction to "getting it on with whomever you want." Not that every Christian has adhered to this law strictly because, as I said, none of us is perfect. At the same time I would just like to add that the next time Mr. Grindlife wants to spread his stereotyped comments about Christianity around, he might want to research them first because the only way to create a society in which there is no prejudice is to be tolerant of all people.

Ann Dougherty

freshman, Schools of Engineering

People need to restrain government

In the April 6 Exponent, Brian Ruby's letter suggested that political conservatives believe in inaction. The author believes that they simply want to rigidly maintain the status quo. Conservatism — at least insofar as I identify myself with it — refers not to a lackadaisical attitude toward politics but to the manner in which the government should restrain itself, or more often, be restrained by the people. This means that we oppose the expansion of government power into new areas, and in today's environment of power-grabbing politicians, rolling back that power as far as possible.

Government is a necessary evil. Power corrupts. Government is not the solution, it's the problem. There are any number of clichés that I could use to make my point, but it was best explained in a little document that starts out, "We hold these truths to be self-evident..."

We are not generally given to whining and throwing temper tantrums to get what we want from authorities because we do not regard the authorities as being all that terribly important. (Yes, sitting down in the middle of the Memorial Mall and threatening to starve yourself to death constitutes a tantrum, much like the child who threatens to hold his breath until he gets what he wants from mommy.) We had rather go about living our own lives without the threat of Big Brother over our shoulder.

If Mr. Ruby believes that more government (e.g. liberalism) will keep anyone from being exploited, I would suggest that government is the greatest exploiter of people in existence. Every person in this country gets exploited on April 15. Politicians constantly exploit their own particular constituent groups for the preservation of their own power. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. A true conservative is always ready to stand guard.

Bradley Eisenhauer

senior, Schools of Engineering

Plasma donations help save lives

I was disappointed to read Olivia Conroy's column on Thursday, in which she states that giving plasma is an "act of desperation." An example of an "act of desperation" is resorting to prostitution. On the other hand, plasma often means the difference between life and death to young mothers whose blood types are incompatible with their children's. Also, serum albumin made from plasma makes it possible for accident victims who experience shock and burns to recover quickly. And those are just two examples of how plasma saves millions of lives.

So before Olivia Conroy decides to express her (ignorant) opinions next time, I suggest she does her research and realizes that her opinions could potentially influence her readers and could consequently be damaging.

Sholape Teriba

junior, School of Management

Purdue should focus on cutting costs

Once again, the trustees of Purdue have voted to increase tuition at a rate outpacing inflation. This time they say increased enrollment justifies the rates. Usually the reason is decreased state funding, "quality of education," or keeping up with other schools. And once again, nobody seems excited about it. Not even the Exponent.

Take a moment to think about this. When I started at Purdue in the fall of 1996, the yearly cost of tuition, fees, room and board for a full-time out-of-state engineering student living in Shreve Residence Hall was $14,906. For 2000-2001, including all new fees, the same student pays $18,490. That's the equivalent of a 5.5 percent annual hike. The annual increase is 3.1 percent above the 2.3 percent annual inflation since 1996.

When our children are ready to attend Purdue in about 25 years, the cost of a four-year out-of-state education will be $308,000 if these increases continue. Assuming inflation stays the same, that cost is $168,000 in today's dollars. That's more than the average house. Most people use a 30-year mortgage to pay for their family home. Perhaps Purdue's administration expects us to sell our homes or take on a 30-year mortgage for each child's education. The administration sure seems to think students and parents are a limitless source of funds.

President Steven Beering's real legacy will be skyrocketing tuition rates. It seems nearly every major university suffers the same ailment. Perhaps the administration should focus more energy on containing costs than on appeasing every student group that decides to hold a hunger strike. Or perhaps in his commencement speech next month, Beering should remind the graduates that for each of their children's educations, they may need to spend over $300,000.

Michael D. Powell

graduate student

Stardom encumbers Elian's custody battle

People should attend University's Bug Bowl

Letters to the Editor

Letter Submission Form

Purdue Exponent 2000