Good sports
I attended the UGA vs. ASU game last week and wanted to express my appreciation to ASU for the wonderful game environment.
I live in Provo, Utah and hold season tickets to BYU football. I have always enjoyed the BYU environment but rarely venture outside to other stadiums. I made the exception this time having been born and raised in Georgia and an avid Bulldog fan.
I could not help but enjoy the scenery of Sun Devil Stadium, the sunset and I loved the banners (“Welcome to the House of Heat” and “Not All Dogs Go to Heaven... Welcome to Hell”) as they provided some all-in-fun rowdiness.
ASU football was competitive, as expected, and your fans were courteous. Sure, there were the remarks of “overrated” before the game and “get out of here” after the game but no one was trying to pick a fight. One notably disappointed ASU fan even remarked that it was a good game for the sport ... this Pac-10 vs. SEC matchup.
Indeed it was.
A rowdy, fun, competitive environment without any violence; that is how college football should be. Thanks again, and we’ll see you Sept. 12, 2009, when BYU comes to visit.
Robert Ruiz
Provo, Utah
‘Gay’ column out of touch
(In response to Krista Norsworthy’s Sept. 19 column, “You could be ‘gay’ in all three ways”)
It’s clear that Ms. Norsworthy is missing the point. As ASU alumni who work for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) nonprofits, it’s not only not humorous, but downright offensive to see someone suggest that the word “gay” could have a third meaning — “lame” and that while “still keeping it with a negative connotation, the discriminatory edge is gone.”
If Ms. Norsworthy thinks that the discriminatory edge of derogatorily using the word “gay” is gone, she is living in a very different world than the rest of us. Perhaps someone should ask the students growing up gay in our schools today how they feel about the “lame” things around them being called “gay.” Do they think it’s funny? If only we could ask Larry King, the 15-year-old gay student from California who was murdered by a fellow classmate because of his sexuality, how he feels about the hilarious phrase “that’s so gay.”
Maybe we should ask the LGBT and questioning youth, who are up to four times more likely to commit suicide than their heterosexual peers, the four out of five who hear homophobic remarks often in their school, or the nearly one out of three who skipped school in the past month because they were simply too afraid to go, if they think there’s a lighthearted meaning when their peers mock them and attack them while calling them gay.
Gay and lesbian people are still not granted equal rights all over the world, often facing outright, hostile discrimination in the face of simply seeking equal protection for themselves and their families. You need only look at the intense battle currently raging over California’s Proposition 8 to ban recently allowed same-sex marriages, or reference New York state, where there are 1,324 rights and responsibilities of marriage that are denied to same-sex couples.
How about instead of trying to “change the tone and direction of the word toward a way to tell someone they are uncool,” we don’t try to change it. Let’s embrace “gay” for what it is and the people that it represents — and start to finally treat them with the dignity, equality and justice that they deserve.
Stephanie Berger
Alum
Communications Coordinator,
Empire State Pride Agenda
Jacqueline Wing
Alum
Communications Manager,
The Trevor Project
Peeved about Palin
Despite all the rhetoric we Americans have heard from Alaska’s Gov. Sarah Palin, Alaska now has a “Road to Nowhere” going to what would have been the “Bridge to Nowhere.”
Alaska’s transportation department has completed a $25 million gravel road leading to the site of a bridge that Palin now boasts that she stopped, so as to save taxpayers money. The “Road to Nowhere,” which opened several days ago, was built with my and your tax dollars. The $25 million taxpayer paid three-mile road will be useful for road races, hunters and possibly future development in Alaska.
Palin repeatedly tells campaign crowds she said “thanks but no thanks” to Washington when it came up with $400 million for the famous “Bridge to Nowhere” but, in fact, Gov. Palin supported the bridge during her campaign for governor in 2006, then pulled back taxpayer money for it a year later, after Washington had pulled the plug.
Guess what will most likely be built next year when the taxpayers aren’t looking? Yes, the “Bridge to Nowhere” will be built to connect with the “Road to Nowhere!”
Now we are being told by the Bush administration that we, the taxpayers, must bailout the Wall Street fat cats who drove their corporations into the dirt and then flew off into the sunset on their multimillion dollar private jets with their pockets stuffed with millions of dollars.
We, the people, are being lied to and as one very irate taxpayer, I am not going to take this anymore. When I cast my vote this November, be assured that my vote will not be for Palin or any other Republican scoundrel who only lies to all of us.
I am mad as hell and I am not going to take this anymore!
Dann Murray
Sedona
Defending Sarah Palin
(In response to Kevin King’s Sept. 9 column, “How can you do VP with ABC?”)
Throughout the immense amount of controversy that the 2008 presidential election has evoked, I have remained pretty neutral when it comes to the candidates and their platforms.
However, I found myself appalled by Kevin King’s editorial on John McCain’s running mate, Governor Sarah Palin. In the article, King insults Palin’s mental capacity based on a speech she gave to her church congregation at the Wasilla Assembly of God. King scrutinizes Palin because he considers her to have poor speaking abilities, when he really should judge her based on her beliefs and experience.
I have also seen this speech and hold drastically different views about Palin’s performance. King comments that Palin is only “vaguely familiar with the English language,” in regards to the rhetoric she used in her speech.
Although her speech may have contained a few grammatical errors, it was still extremely effective. Palin connected with her audience by sharing experiences from her youth at the Wasilla Assembly of God and even mentioned her own personal ties to some of the audience members. The audience applauded Palin several times to exemplify their approval of her kind words.
King also wrongly criticizes Palin by stating that she “seems to have the linguistic intelligence of a newborn basset hound.” He does not take into consideration that in many cases one utilizes a different form of language when addressing a large group of worshippers. Furthermore, King only mentions a few lines of Palin’s nearly fifteen-minute speech and therefore does not judge it on its entirety.
King questions Palin’s intellect several times throughout the article, calling her “wretchedly unintelligent” and “a fool.” If she lacked any intelligence, McCain would not have selected her for the position of vice president in such a close presidential race. He judges Palin’s entire character based on one speech, which is unjust. I have yet to decide whom I will be voting for, but will not take into consideration King’s harsh views of Palin when making my decision for who will become the next president.
Annie Cohen
Undergraduate
