Letters to the Editor

Middle East conflict

column ignores

bigotry of both sides

What is most disturbing to me about the recent column, "U.S. should not support Israelis in Palestine-Israel conflict," (April 6) by Ali Mirza, is how one-sided it is. My mind is just flooded with responses.

In a way I want to say, "So what if there are a couple of bigoted rabbis who may or may not have connections to the Israeli army?" The army still has an obligation to try to stop the terrorists attacking Jewish civilians, sending missiles into the neighboring Israeli towns day after day. They have a right to try to shut down the munitions supply lines from Egypt. They have a right to return fire from terrorists who store weapons in and launch attacks from schools, mosques and hospitals.

It is just bizarre that the press is so worried about what a couple of rabbis may have said to some Israeli soldiers. The good citizens of Gaza elected a government that has promised that they will kill all the Jews in Israel. They have promised them war, not peace. They promote war with their missiles. Their government has snuggled up to the president of Sudan, a criminal responsible for perpetrating a devastating war on the civilians in the Darfur region of his own country and whose soldiers use rape as a weapon.

Please. Israelis are normal. Having a few bigoted religious leaders is normal and is trivial compared to what their religious leaders say about Israelis and Jews.

Do the readers of this drivel at UConn know where Gaza is? It should be a luxury resort on the Mediterranean. The Israelis are not preventing that from happening. The Gazans should be building hotels; instead they are smuggling in bombs to kill the Jews.

It's time for UConn students to look at a big map of the Middle East and then find out why the Palestinian people are suffering and who really is causing it.

- Judy G. Singer

West Hartford

UConn class of 1969

Student defense of global warming speaker only spreads more inaccuracy

As a graduating 8th-semester environmental science major, I feel obligated to provide scientific evidence to refute the opinions of CFACT speaker Chris Horner. I write this in direct response to CFACT PresidentAndrew Provencher's letter to the editor on April 10. In Provencher's letter, he took issue with Daily Campus articles from earlier in the week that criticized Horner's lecture for lacking substantial evidence to refute the facts that Horner had presented. I would like an opportunity to provide that evidence.

The first scientific issue that Provencher presented in his letter was the fact that since the beginning of the 20th century, the global climate has only increased .6 degrees Celsius. This may not seem like a huge difference; however, the increase is not equally distributed throughout the entire world. The polar ice caps have been affected the most drastically, experiencing a temperature increase of 4 degrees Celsius. This is a significant change that is expected to continue with an increase in atmospheric carbon. Although the ice cap mass is increasing, this temperature change will eventually cause the caps to melt.

Further, the ice cap mass increase should not be used as data to suggest that global climate change is not happening. The increase in the mass of the polar ice caps is a result of a decrease in the convective properties of the ocean. Usually, warm ocean water rises because warmer water is less dense than colder water. Warm water reaches the surface at the arctic and releases heat, which results in melting. As a result of increased melting in the past, the surface waters of the poles have lower salinity - salt content. This water with low salinity had a lower density than the warm water below it, preventing the warm water from reaching the surface. The ice is able to grow because of reduced ocean convection, which is actually a result of global climate change.

Provencher also suggested that carbon dioxide makes up only .038 percent of the atmosphere and is therefore unimportant. By that logic, ozone is an unimportant gas in the ozone layer since it only accounts for .0008 percent of that layer at its highest concentration.

Humans contribute 3 percent of the atmospheric carbon on a yearly basis, but this does not mean that we are only responsible for 3 percent of all atmospheric carbon currently in the atmosphere. The Earth removes some of the anthropogenic carbon through natural processes; however, most of it remains in the atmosphere. The amount of carbon is compounded, since the planet is unable to cope with the excess carbon. Since 1960, the amount of carbon dioxide has increased by about 25 percent due mainly to anthropogenic reasons.

One of the natural ways that the Earth removes carbon from the atmosphere is through the ocean. CO2 is absorbed, and dissolved into the ocean where it remains for many years. This results in the oceans becoming more acidic, due to carbonic acid formation, and has caused fish stocks to plummet in recent years.

This is only some of the overwhelming scientific evidence that exists to refute arguments made by skeptics of global warming. I would suggest that if anyone has any questions, would like citations, or would like more information on this subject they should consult one of the 89,000 scientists who did not sign the Oregon petition.

- Collin Thomas

8th-semester

environmental science major

'Take Back The Night' event is not about women, but about men

Next Wednesday the annual "Take Back the Night" event will be held.

This is a turning point for our campus because it is one of the few opportunities men will get to change our world. Most men will treat next Wednesday like any other; this is a testament to how male priorities must change. Members of the male sex, in particular the heterosexual ones like myself, feel that they should be allowed to distance themselves from an issue like this since the chances it actually happens to them are so small.

For too long men have hidden behind this excuse; the time for being ignorant must come to an end. The fact that a man has not experienced a sexual assault makes it all the more necessary to attend next Wednesday.

Men need to leave the sheltered world they live in and open their eyes; this is a brutal world and just because we might not be directly affected, others are affected all the time. Log onto Facebook and look at the people in the "Take Back the Night" group - with few exceptions it is almost entirely female; this is where the change needs to start.

As men, we tend to overlook things that do not directly impact our lives; if rape continues to be one of those things, then progress is impossible.

Today I heard someone say "we are the generation of change," a statement so ridiculous it borders insanity. The fact that this event needs to be held shows that we are not.

Guys, wake the hell up, we are the ones that these brave people are trying to take back the night from. We are the perpetrators of this crime, and we are the ones holding the night hostage.

Any man who thinks that since he has not committed an assault, he shouldn't attend is a damn fool, because, honestly, what have you done to prevent future assaults from happening? This problem cannot be dealt with unless men embrace it as just that - a problem. For too long men have been the problem; it's time we become the answer.

Go next Wednesday and understand what it means to be a victim of sexual assault, and embrace those who have been affected so that we can heal not as individuals, but as a campus, because only then will we be the "generation of change."

- P.J. Bastura

4th-semester student

Student invites others to participate in MS Walk

Before I began interning at the Connecticut chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, I knew very little about the disease. I knew its motto was "help create a world free of MS" and I had no idea how much that entails. But working at the Connecticut chapter, I've witnessed the intense passion my coworkers have for raising awareness about the disease and support for those who have it, that I believe their efforts will lead to finding a cure MS.

I began my internship in January (it is also available for the summer). As a journalism major, I wanted to experience public relations, so I looked for positions on Husky Career Link. At first, I was primarily focused on improving my writing. It was not until I met and interviewed a 21-year-old who had MS that I realized there was a much more important aspect of my job. It was shocking to see someone my age battle a disease that robs mobility and independence. In just a few months he had lost control of his right leg and his vision deteriorated.

After seeing the effects of this disease, I, too, would like to have a world free of MS. Multiple sclerosis is a potentially debilitating neurological disease. In some cases the effects are aggressive and take hold in a matter of weeks. What starts with numbness of a limb sometimes leads to total paralysis.

Because I met the 21-year-old who had MS, and some of the other 6,000 Connecticut residents who live with multiple sclerosis, I realize why the National MS Society is so important. Through programs and events like the Walk MS, people raise awareness about the disease and support for those who are affected by multiple sclerosis.

I will be stepping out for the Walk MS at UConn on April 19 at 9 a.m. and I encourage others to join me.

-Katy Nally

8th-semester journalism major