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A spirit that is not afraid

Letters



The Auburn Plainsman

Letter to the Editor: Pedestrians

Dear Editor,I am writing to express my concern over dangerous activities displayed by some of our Auburn students, relative to their walking/biking activities in and around this wonderful campus. We have recently redesigned the Auburn University campus to become a more informal, user friendly "walking campus" with many plazas, walking malls, and concourses. This redesign has had many good points, however it does have one serious drawback.

The Auburn Plainsman

Another Pro-life Response

Editor, The Auburn PlainsmanThis letter is in response to "Pro-life a sad misnomer" by Marcus Goff and "Preachers, protesters only upset the willing" by Lindsey Davidson.While I love to see people discussing abortion and the issues that surround it, the arguments in these two articles are poorly thought out.For one, the Students For Life displays on campus last week were not created simply for "shock factor," but were instead meant to raise awareness and start dialogue.One of our main goals was to collect signatures in support of a free day care for students' children.

The Auburn Plainsman

YOUR VIEW: Grad Student Takes Aim At 'Gay Animals' Article

While I welcome any Plainsman article about science, nature or research, The Plainsman article "Can animals be gay?" (Intrigue, C1, 8 April 2010) was far too similar to the recent New York Times article "Can animals be gay?" (29 March 2010).Both articles discuss the Laysan Albatross (in The Plainsman article referred to as simply "albatross") in Oahu, using the same numbers and similar language (39 of 125 nests were female-female pairs, albatrosses live 60 to 70 years, 450 different species).It is clear that The Plainsman article is a summary of the New York Times article, but without citing or mentioning Jon Mooallem (the original author).I applaud The Plainsman for quoting Linda Wolfe (a scientist with research in the subject), but the quotation from veterinarian Ted Albert is both false and absurd."Everything animals do is instinctual" is obviously not true to anyone who has ever trained a pet or studied animal behavior.I am glad to see space devoted to current scientific research, but summarizing articles in prominent journals without citing original sources and quoting individuals without any relevant knowledge of the subject matter cannot be acceptable journalistic procedure.

The Auburn Plainsman

YOUR VIEW: Fascist Reminds All Of Meaning Of Easter Holiday, Jesus' Life

The Eucharist is a Christian sacrament or ordinance, generally considered to be a commemoration of the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his arrest and eventual crucifixion.The consecration of bread and a cup within the rite recalls the moment at the Last Supper when Jesus gave his disciples bread, saying, "This is my body," and wine, saying, "This is my blood."To the Church at Corinth, St.

The Auburn Plainsman

YOUR VIEW: Reader Pleased With Editorials About Drinking

I was glad to see the staff columns addressing under- age drinking, how to care for drunk people and drunk driving issues.Considering the number of Auburn students who have died, been injured or been arrested in alcohol related incidents I hope you will continue to address this issue.You will not reach the people who see nothing wrong with drinking so hard that they are losing more than their memories, but there is value in making your fellow students not feel so isolated or unusual if they choose to abstain from the drunken lifestyle.It's hard to think of alcoholics as anything other than old, fat, bald men with red noses, but many young, fit, men & women in the bars around town and on the bleachers on gamedays also fit the definition.I hope The Plainsman will continue to raise awareness of this problem in Auburn and the programs available to students with alcohol issues.

The Auburn Plainsman

YOUR VIEW: College Republicans respond to letter

In response to the letter by Brent Culver in the Feb. 25th publication of The Auburn Plainsman, Auburn University College Republicans would like to clarify our position on several key issues concerning the 2010 elections.Auburn University College Republicans has not, and will not, endorse a candidate in the primary race.When Mr. Culver was accusing College Republicans of compromising their credibility with a primary endorsement he was referring to the College Republican Federation of Alabama's endorsement in a press release on Jan.

The Auburn Plainsman

YOUR VIEW: SGA Vice President Urges Students to Pay Attention and Have a Voice

Editor, the Auburn PlainsmanI would like to thank you for emphasizing the importance of SGA elections in your recent editorial.The SGA is always working to increase publicity for our elections in an effort to encourage more students to voice their opinion on who should lead the student body.Your editorial mentioned many powers that SGA student leaders hold, including the annual allocation of student fees by the Senate Budget & Finance committee, campus organizations requesting status approvals and fees from O-Board, and Cabinet's outreach projects that represent all Auburn students to the community and state.One factor that you did not mention, however, was that the SGA President is the student voice to the Board of Trustees.

The Auburn Plainsman

YOUR VIEW: College Republicans Wrongfully Endorse Candidate

Editor, the Auburn PlainsmanI am a conservative student and I consider myself to be a Republican.I have always thought that the College Republican organization did a good job of providing opportunities for all students to hear the views and opinions of all candidates running for office on the Republican ticket.It had always been my understanding that the role of organizations like the College Republicans was to provide students with information without preference in a primary election and, as a result, students could use that knowledge to make their own decisions at the ballot box.To that end, I was shocked and disappointed when I read that the statewide organization had decided to take the unprecedented action of formally endorsing a candidate for governor in the Republican primary.I believe that this move does not help the College Republicans in any way.If anything, it damages their credibility when endorsing a specific candidate in a primary election, especially so many months in advance.This action is antithetical to the purpose of such organizations and is contradictory to the organization's purposes and goals.I urge all Republicans to research each of the seven Republican candidates as well as the issues and make your own decision when you go to the ballot box.It appears the leadership of the College Republican organization thinks that its members are incapable of deciding which Republican to choose and would rather listen to the views of the small majority that hold the power.