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Letters to the editor

Zoller's suggestions for venue far-fetched

While Mike Zoller raised several key concerns regarding the need for a more fan-friendly basketball and volleyball venue, his proposals were far-fetched. His suggestion for playing basketball in the new hockey rink would present many problems. First, there are already capacity restraints - try finding students seats for hockey games - and other issues including inherent condensation problems commonly found in multi-use hockey and basketball arena.

Secondly, the United Center in Chicago does not support a variety of physical education broomball and ice skating classes, as well as nationally ranked precision skating team. While the newer facility would be a plus, I think it's in the best interest to renovate the existing Millet Hall. The present facility is boring and drab, but colorful new seats, and a video board could offer a quick fix. Does the indoor track get used? Perhaps the seating arrangement could be reconfigured to allow spectators closer to the action.

A new Millet Hall elsewhere on campus would also need to accommodate the ROTC programs, an indoor practice gymnasium, Athletic Department offices, the sports training spaces, and thousands of parking spots. Lastly, I argue, what incentive does Miami have to replace yet another building with a useful service life still remaining?

Remember, students are a captive audience; we are one of the few schools with free admission to sporting events. If there were a line of corporate sponsors willing to purchase naming rights, and luxury boxes, by all means take the support. Unfortunately, I think the best chance at a better arena would be saving your money from The Miami Student and sponsoring Zoller Court at Millet Hall.

Jason mittermaierMitterjb@muohio.edu

VT tragedy requires look at gun control

For too long this country has refused to take a realistic approach to gun control legislation, often pointing to the debatable phrasing of the Second Amendment. This negligence has led to the horrifying events that unfolded at Virginia Tech Monday, capping a disturbing trend that the American public has largely chosen to ignore.

Demonstrating this, an article covering the shootings in the London Times contained a "Timeline in U.S. School Shootings," something that would be impossible for an American paper commenting on a similar story in Europe to include. Although the timeline detailed only the last 10 years, it contained 15 massacres at the cost of 72 lives and many more injuries. Lawmakers have to date been content to be bullied by the gun lobby into an inculpable submission, but they remain blameless no longer. If Columbine and Enoch Brown weren't enough to catalyze change, then Virginia Tech must, for the sake of schoolchildren across the country.

Daniel Wittwittdd@muohio.edu

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Graney's economic column misses mark

This letter comes in response to Brian Graney's April 6 column "Growing income disparity of trivial concern for U.S." Graney's editorial was simply such an offensive affront against the sound intelligence of the Miami student-body, I felt I had a moral obligation to respond.

I question the rhetorical flourish he offers with his assaults on Sen. John Edwards - it certainly does the job to frame the piece as a politically expedient argument, but it works better as a smoke and mirrors illusion. The fact that Graney offers George Will's lessons of Wall Street America as a basis for support suggests that he's too struck by the promise of corporate functionalism and its rewards to the few to wake the up to a disturbing reality of America today.

Edwards is right when he discusses the increasing financial divide between the rich and the not-rich. I'm sure Graney's familiar with the term "trickle-down economics." Here's an example of how that really works: The federal government gets lazy on enforcing corporate accountability, CEOs make millions of dollars a year going on golf trips, and when it turns up that their profits are going down, they give themselves raises and fire their base of workers. That happened with Enron, it happened with MCI, and it's happening right now with Delphi Automotive Systems, the foremost employer from my hometown. When 5,000 people from your hometown get fired in one summer, you can expect the consequences to trickle-down: the entire community shuts down, as well. Indeed, many of my high school friends' parents have been forced to take up jobs selling TVs at Best Buy. How can one argue that this will not affect the financial situation of their children's student loans? How can one argue that this doesn't complicate an issue that's been brewing for the last decade as cost of tuitions have skyrocketed? That degree's a great investment, but it damn well better be; it cost $50,000, and who can tell how it's going to be paid for?

There are too many Americans who cannot afford the basics of a healthy, sustainable life. There are too many Americans who cannot afford to get sick because they are uninsured. It's not, as George Will and Brian Graney would have us believe, an issue about life expectancy - are you kidding me? It's an issue of federal ineptitude and corporate mismanagement. It's an issue of affordable education and health insurance. It's an issue that challenges us to ask ourselves if we're not being too foolish about the promises we've been raised to believe capitalism will provide.

John Edwards is rich - OK, Graney, what's your point? He's got a big house built with money he earned from a career as a successful lawyer. Is he a target of misplaced insult simply because he wants to help disadvantaged Americans achieve as he has? Or is he just a convenient framing device for a lazy rhetorical sound-byte?

Andrew Pytlikpytlikja@muohio.edu


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