To the Daily:
In response to Brent Accurso's letter regarding the Second Amendment ("Second Amendment has been severely misinterpreted," 2/22/99), I would like to point out that the Founding Fathers intended the colonial militias to serve as a bulwark against potential tyranny by the new federal government. An armed people, it was reasoned, was a free people. This insight lies at the heart of our 200-year old democracy.
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are very much alive and well.
Arnold Kim
School of Medicine
To the Daily:
The apprehension of Abdullah Ocalan by Turkish authorities has brought the Kurds to the forefront of international news once again. The Kurds living in Turkey are a repressed minority that are not allowed to teach, speak, or broadcast in their native language, Kurdish. One would think that our government would condemn the Turkish government for these repressive policies. But when Ocalan was apprehended, U.S. officials were "pleased" with the apprehension of this "terrorist."
United States warplanes are currently flying over Northern Iraq patrolling the no-fly zone. The reason for the establishment of this no-fly zone: To protect the Kurds in Northern Iraq from the Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi government in Baghdad. But since the arrest of Ocalan, Turkish forces have gone into Northern Iraq and bombed Kurdish strongholds. The United States has not objected to these actions.
Ocalan fought for autonomy for the Kurdish people, the most numerous stateless people in the world. The repression that the Kurds face at the hand of the Turkish government is far worse than what the American colonists faced at the hands of the British. But our government brands Ocalan a terrorist for fighting against the Turkish government. I don't think anyone would call our founding fathers terrorists for fighting the British. Our great nation was founded upon self-determination. The Turkish government has a long history of repression of minorities. One and a half million Armenians died at the hands of the Ottoman Turkish government between 1915 and 1918, a fact that the Turkish government continues to deny. It is the responsibility of the United States government to end this hypocritical policy which protects Kurds from the Iraqi government but not from the Turkish one. The United States needs to stand up to Turkey and demand better for the Kurdish people. History has taught us the cost of silence.
Gary Prudian
LSA sophomore
To the Daily:
I have always envisioned engineering honor societies as a gaggle of geeks trying to network their careers by performing community service. I have also regarded the organizations as professional and honorable. Nonetheless, recently Tau Beta Pi decided to cheapen the images of such societies by instigating a series of written insults against a fellow honor society in their most recent newsletter.
I believe that societies that once were as respected as Tau Beta Pi should have higher standards in their organization. To allow such nonsense with such deplorable taste and manner in their publications is a discredit to the association, to the College of Engineering and to the University. Thank you. I'll get off my soapbox now.
Jason Miao
Engineering senior
To the Daily:
It is utterly absurd for Athletic Director Tom Goss to raise prices of Michigan football tickets. The sheer grandeur of Michigan Stadium should be evident that the Athletic Department is making with plenty of money.
It is an asinine defense that the Department needs the money to cover the cost of renovations and expansion of the stadium. But if that is truly the case, should not the University bring the price of tickets back down in a few years? After two years, surely the raise in ticket prices will have covered the building costs.
If Goss wants to raise the ticket prices, he should commit to lowering them in the future.
Jeff Goff
University alumnus
02-24-99
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