'Sex' column not so hot
(In response to Wednesday's column by Ray Ceo Jr. titled "Sex and church do not mix")
I left ASU in 2005 and recently returned last semester. When I left, The State Press was one of the best college newspapers in the nation. From what I read daily now, I wouldn't be surprised if U of A had a better newspaper. Wednesday's "Sex and church do not mix" could have been the worst article ever. It reminded me of a boy in high school who looks for any excuse to talk about sex. Ray couldn't control himself to one idea jumping from sex and a pastor, who promotes it in marriage, to child care "kid watching" to President Crow and Dennis Erickson to celebrity sex tapes.
I urge you, the editors, to read these articles before printing them. I urge you to challenge your staff to write at a college level. I urge you to get The State Press back into shape. Get Ray Ceo Jr. to take care of Sudoku and get him out of the real paper. Now we will see if you print constructive criticism. Thank you and good day.
Alexander Besich
Undergraduate
Full disclosure not the best solution
(Both letters in response to Tuesday's article "Should hidden mental health issues be exposed?" and editorial "On our minds")
Mental illnesses are too complex to be exposed. I agree with campus safety, but who would be in charge of defining what's sane or not. Mental illness is more than a ranging lunatic running around with a gun. Maybe it's a new mom with postpartum depression. Maybe it's the solider that just got back from Iraq. Maybe it's the genetics that can't be erased.
People in therapy should be commended for taking their meds and getting help, yet these are the same people who'll have a mental illness paper trail.
Meanwhile, there could be an undiagnosed person suffering from violent tendencies who slips under our radar. If a mental health disclosure is required, which mental illnesses will be considered the most dangerous? And who's saner?
Jocelyn Long
ASU aluma
Though disclosing any mental health issues that may pose a threat to others may help disarm some disasters, many people suffer from acute mental illness but are never diagnosed for some reason or another. A more effective approach to preventing another Virginia Tech or NIU is to implement a stronger policy when someone reports disturbing behavior.
If we may all recall, before last April, at least one of Seung Hui Cho's professors reported deranged violent thinking, but Cho never received treatment. I recently experienced this bureaucratic inadequacy when a student continuously harassed our professor outside of class and disrupted lecture numerous times, affecting everyone's grades. It was one week until the end of the semester before he was forcefully removed from our class, despite many requests from the teacher and reports from students throughout the entire semester. Even then, bureaucracy had failed him. I am positive he has never gotten the help he needed.
Esther Morantz
Undergraduate
