---

Your View: Belittling Women is not a Part of How Southern Chivalry Should be Defined

November 19

Editor, the Auburn PlainsmanI was recently referred, by a friend, to an article appearing in the Wall Street Journal regarding football traditions in the SEC.Auburn's program acts as a primary example of many points made by the author.What I find particularly appalling and embarrassing is the quoted material offered to the publication by members of Auburn's student body which illuminates, proudly, a part of our campus culture which should be discouraged, if not at least hidden.That part of the culture being the "dating games" for the football season (as labeled by the author and illustrated by Auburn students).The most humiliating, though telling, part of the article is the characterization of women given by various fraternity men regarding football knowledge and femininity/masculinity.One particular student claimed that it was undesirable for a girl, who is a date, to be more knowledgeable about football than a boy because it is "emasculating."Instead, a desirable candidate is a girl who can adequately baby-sit and nurse a drunken and childlike man who is too inebriated to behave with maturity and decorum.I find it completely ridiculous that one would find a knowledgeable girl emasculating; what is emasculating is that you "gentlemen" cannot get your acts together and stay sober enough to stand up, refrain from violence and diminish your consistent ability to offend the rest of the population of game attendees through brash yelling and profanities.What is also emasculating is the unified abandoning of academic responsibilities of many Auburn men (and women) days in advance of a home game as evidenced by absence from classrooms and campus in general in favor of partying downtown.Perhaps if we gave more attention to becoming an institution known for our academic endeavors rather than our date selection and football program, then Auburn wouldn't be negatively portrayed in an international publication, thus providing an avenue for commentary which labels Southerners as "uneducated" and "sexist." What is additionally laughable is the statement that all of this is part of "Southern chivalry" and part of "building better men."I hope that "Southern chivalry" does not truly involve degrading women by scoring them as potential dates based on the criteria of who can best nurse a hangover while looking the sexiest in an orange dress.I also hope it does not mean provoking fights in the stadium, cursing our players in times when we're struggling to score, and getting tossed onto the pavement by Jordan-Hare security before the game even commences due to being intoxicated to the point of irrationality.Women, I also implore you to consider yourselves worth more physically and intellectually than accessories to this behavior, beings only useful as mannequins and supporters of unappreciative men.Do not concern yourselves with purchasing cute dresses and accompanying boys to parties, suffering all the while through the above-mentioned behavior simply to get a good seat and a plate at a tailgate celebration; rather, view yourselves as good enough contributors to our campus to denounce this behavior and work to discourage the Wall Street Journal's published, negative perception of our institution's current social climate.Benjamin ArnbergPearl ShieldsGraduate Students, English

YOUR VIEW: Coalition Believes Cessation Programs Should be Covered by Medicaid

November 12

Editor, the Auburn PlainsmanAccording to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control, Medicaid expenditures attributable to smoking total nearly 22 billion dollars annually, representing 11 percent of all Medicaid expenditures.

YOUR VIEW: AU Alumna Angered by Honors Not Shown for Fort Hood Soldiers

November 12

Editor, the Auburn PlainsmanI am an alumna of Auburn University and have always been proud of that achievement.However, today I was ashamed of my alma mater by the lack of respect shown for those brave soldiers who died and were injured at Fort Hood this past week.I attended today's game expecting to see the American flag being flown at half staff and expecting a moment of silence to be observed for those victims of this latest act of terrorism in America.I was appalled when I saw the flag flying high and the pre-game festivities carried out as usual.This lack of acknowledgement is in opposition to Governor Riley's own directive issued Friday that flags should be flown at half staff on state government buildings until sunset Tuesday.While Jordan-Hare Stadium is not a government building, it is part of a state university.It's ironic since he was actually attending the game today in order to bestow honors on Auburn University's latest Homecoming Queen.The lowering of the flag to half staff should have been an obvious action to take regardless of any political directive.I was so distraught by this lack of respect that I questioned a security guard and eventually contacted facilities personnel via text message when I couldn't locate an actual person.The response I received stated that they had not received "any official notification" and that they would investigate.Needless to say the flag was not lowered during the game.

YOUR VIEW: Fan Calls for Tighter NCAA Rules, Penalties

November 12

Editor, the Auburn PlainsmanOn Dec. 28, 1905, the NCAA was birthed along with a rules committee in a meeting attended by 62 colleges.

Your View: Bookstore Assistant Director Supports SGA Textbook Plan

November 5

Editor, the Auburn PlainsmanI would like to write in support of the SGA and library's efforts to put textbooks on reserve for students.

Your View: Sessions' Vote Against Franken Amendment Hazardous, Shameful

November 5

Editor, the Auburn PlainsmanThank you Senator Sessions for yet again embarrassing the great state of Alabama.Earlier in the year during the Justice Sotomayor confirmation hearings, Sessions made our state seem backwoods and racist during his times to question.Sessions was more concerned with asking questions about race and empathy than about Justice Sotomayor's extensive judicial record.Sessions all but called Justice Sotomayor a racist.Guess it takes one to know one, right, Senator Sessions?Now, Sessions has topped himself by voting against an amendment of Senator Franken of Minnesota that would defund federal contractors that force their employees to use arbitration.Franken's amendment would allow for the employee to chose sue in court as an option as well as choosing arbitration.But we cannot have employees have choice and rights, can we Senator Sessions?Franken introduced his amendment because of a 2005 incident involving a KBR (Halliburton) employee in Iraq.Ms. Jamie Leigh Jones was working in Baghdad on a KBR worksite when she was gang-raped by some of her fellow employees and locked inside a railroad container for more than a day.But Ms. Jones had signed a contract waiving her right to sue in court, instead having to take her claim to an independent arbitrator.Sessions seems to think that the federal government should have zero power over the contractor's to which we give government contracts.We would not want the government meddling in government business, would we Senator Sessions?Sessions also believes that the Franken amendment will lead to the elimination of arbitration altogether.Looks like someone has been using his Jump to Conclusions Mat."Arbitration agreements allow parties to avoid the cost of litigation, a benefit that may be of particular importance in employment litigation, which involves smaller sums of money..." said Sessions.By this, Senator Sessions, do you believe that gang-rape deserves a "smaller sum of money"?Arbitration also allows the employers to basically hide the crime, thus it could happen again.

Your View: SGA President Urges Students to Continue Support for Football Team

October 29

Editor, The Auburn PlainsmanFriends, I heard a story yesterday that I felt is worth sharing with you all.In the heat of the battle against LSU on Saturday, Kodi Burns took a shot to the chin that cut open his lip and knocked out two of his teeth.Kodi came to the sidelines with the teeth in his hand.The trainers sewed his mouth up, wiped off the blood and Kodi went right back in the game and ran the ball as hard as ever.He never quit.The game was a tough, tough loss, but none of our players ever quit.They scored their only touchdown of the night on the last play of the game.One thing I noticed was that the LSU student section got there early, stayed late and made a lot of noise until the very end.They made the difference for their team.We play Ole Miss on Saturday in a game that we need to win to become bowl eligible.Between now and Saturday, you might see signs or stickers that simply say "11:21, be the difference."We had those signs and stickers made to remind all of you that kickoff is early on Saturday.It's at 11:21 a.m.

Your View: Outgoing Dean Corrects Last Week's Article

October 29

Editor, The Auburn PlainsmanI am writing to indicate that the headline "Reaccreditation Causes Dean to Retire" in a front-page story of the October 22 Plainsman was a misrepresentation of a well-written and accurate article by Mr. Blake Hamilton.As the focus of the story, it is to be noted that I am not "retiring," but plan to step down as Dean of the College of Sciences and Mathematics and to continue to devote my time to Auburn University by returning to teaching and research as a professor of chemistry and biochemistry.Furthermore, for the headline to suggest that I was leaving my position because of reaccreditation implies that I was backing away from the responsibility.On the contrary, COSAM is in an excellent position for its role in the University's reaccreditation, but I did not see myself as Dean in 2013 (4 years from now), when the on-site evaluation will occur, and believed that it would put my successor at a disadvantage to take on such a crucial process without the option of being involved in the early data gathering and analysis steps with a vision to the future.With that said, I regret that more care was not taken in reading Mr. Blake's article in determining a more appropriate and descriptive headline to accompany it.Similar quality control should have been accorded the name associated with the photo that was associated with the article.Stew SchnellerDean, College of Sciencesand MathematicsProfessor, Chemistry and Biochemistry

Your View: 'Thanks' from Iowa State

October 29

Editor, The Auburn PlainsmanAs an Iowa State fan I want to thank you for taking our football coach last year.You were also kind enough to send us one of your assistants to be our new head coach.He has done an incredible job at Iowa State.

Your View: President's Nobel Prize Win Justified, Should Cause Pride, Joy

October 15

Editor, The Auburn PlainsmanThere has been a lot of outcry over the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to President Obama, considering the president is only 10 months into his first term and the deadline for nominations was two weeks into his presidency.While the Nobel Peace Prize has always been a politically motivated award (given to two critics of George W.

Your View: Possible Way of Ending the Old Federal Income Tax

October 8

Editor, The Auburn PlainsmanThe passage of the 16th Amendment to the Constitution authorized the Federal Income Tax.The 16th also created an ever-being-replenished pool of tax dollars.Every payday withholding tax goes into this pool.This money has created a deeply entrenched spending industry in Washington, D.C.Citizen protests of increased federal spending are essentially worthless.Look at spending since September 2008, despite many reasonable protests.What can be done?Repeal the 16th Amendment.The replacement will be the CONSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT TAX (the CST). Under the CST, the Federal Budget will be divided among the states by a fair-to-all-states formula.This "1040 formula" will be based upon income totals taken from greatly simplified tax returns from all income earners.No Federal bureaucracy will create the formula.Each state's citizens will decide how to tax themselves to pay their state's share of the budget. The CST will have multiple constraints on federal spending.

Your View: 'Outburst by Tennis Star Inappropriate'

October 8

Editor, The Auburn PlainsmanWell, I must state that something like this does not surprise me.After all, we have an undisciplined spoiled brat who is underworked and overpaid that probably never had to earn a living unless you consider hitting tennis balls all your life as some sort of labor.I am not familiar with the rules of tennis (nor do I want to be), but it seems apparent that this sport has a rank order of judicial authority similar to other sports.Evidently the line judge is subordinate to the chair umpire so it would seem that if one is not satisfied with the decision made by a line judge they would simply appeal to the chair umpire.But when people are raised to believe that winning is the only thing and everything else is discounted one may draw the conclusion that what Ms. Williams did was perfectly acceptable and appropriate.Let's see, "screaming at an official with a jabbed finger" and stating: "I'm going to shove this ball down your (expletive deleted) throat."Even John McEnroe (another spoiled brat) was taken aback by her behavior. If I were the line judge (whether or not I was familiar with America's culture or lack thereof), I would have felt sufficiently threatened to seek out the protection of law enforcement.Williams should have forfeited the match, been arrested and banned from tennis.Her ill-gotten gains then could be rightfully distributed to accomplish more important things than rewarding the tirades of a selfish materialistic ego.The question that remains for all forms of organized sport is where does one draw the line between protest and a complete disregard for authority.A public apology is simply not acceptable and the sponsors of Ms. Williams need to be made aware of this through direct contact up to and including the boycott of products.As the old television commercial states "anything less would be uncivilized."Joe BialekCleveland, OH

Your View: Spanking Could Be Seen as a Biblical Mandate

October 1

Editor, The Auburn PlainsmanI thoroughly agree with the two articles in last week's Plainsman that the matter of spanking children is important.It is so important that God gave us specific instructions in His Word as to how we are to train children.It is essential to understand that discipline must be preceded by instruction concerning the child's sin and followed by an opportunity for repentance.Proverbs 22:15 reads, "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of correction will drive it far from him."Notice that this does not say to leave the child alone because physical discipline will only bring harm; in fact, it specifically says that this discipline will drive away his or her foolish sin.Further insight is given in Proverbs 29:15.

Your View: Idea for how to pay for new nationalized health care

October 1

Editor, The Auburn PlainsmanSo, how would we pay for a single-payer national health care plan?Easy.For starters, roll back the enormous tax cuts given to the wealthiest of Americans during the Reagan and Bush Administrations and increase the tax on unearned income from the present 15 percent to 25 percent.How about rescinding the provision in the Medicare Modernization & Improvement Act that prohibits Medicare from negotiating drug prices with pharmaceutical companies?That provision alone incurs countless billions of dollars in additional costs to Medicare.And why not plug up tax loopholes that allow American corporations to avoid paying U.S.

Your View: Fan angry about past Mountaineer behavior

September 24

Editor, The Auburn PlainsmanI am a proud life member of the Alumni Association and love my Tigers.Last fall, I went on the Total Sports Travel trip to the West Virginia game.I must admit, I was excited about the prospect of the trip, going to West Virginia for the first time and hoping that our boys would win.How the trip ended is another story.After the game was over, many of us were treated so rudely by the students of West Virginia.One of them spit on one of the Alumni Association's representative as she was walking back to the bus.

Your View: Editing, writing in Plainsman not up to where it should be

September 24

Editor, The Auburn PlainsmanI am a 9th grade composition teacher, a former journalist and the son of an AU journalism alumnus, and I would flunk any student (including those I taught in a Third World context) who submitted anything as egregious as The Plainsman's account of the West Virginia game.Only my love for Auburn football saw me through a painfully ill-considered monstrosity that reminded me of the semi-literate ramblings of ignorant ex-jock sportscasters who want to sound important.Get over yourself, son, and learn to write a decent sentence.Why tell us that the kicker "would miss" the extra point?Just tell us he missed it - and while you're at it, do away with "would connect" and "would rush."I was especially, ah, impressed with the riveting passage in which we were informed that the AU "running game...were held to 100 yards rushing (missing comma) causing the passing game to have a big night." It were?And do running games no longer specialize in rushing, so that they may be held to 100 yards of something else?And does a weak ground attack guarantee a strong passing game?Gosh, I'll have to tell my colleagues who coach football.I also read with great interest that BOTH Auburn and West Virginia combined for 900 yards of offense instead of just combining with each other in the normal way.With whom did each combine for this impressive total?The writer's way with words also results in our being informed that the Tigers not only will play Ball State next Saturday, they will "finish the month of September" in that fashion.We never would have figured that out on our own, and it was a great clincher sentence for a brutally incompetent article notably under-equipped with punctuation and over-equipped with the stale colloquialisms of bad sports journalism and kid-speak.But I don't wish to single out the writer, Mr. Van Der Linden, who somehow has managed to be named Assistant Sports Editor; surely there is a proofreader somewhere who deserves to retake English 101 with him (assuming he has indeed taken it).This is not The Plainsman I grew up reading, and it is a gift to anyone who wants to perpetuate the jokes about Auburn people being hicks.Paul CulpTempe, AZ

Your View: Is Gerald Ford really Thomas Jefferson?

September 24

Dear Editor, The Auburn PlainsmanI'm writing in response to Mr. Thomas Dowling's response to Mr. Sims' article on Sept.

Your View: Tailgating Way of Life Ending

September 17

Editor, The Auburn PlainsmanI'm not sure if my letter will be read or even glanced at, but I feel as an Auburn supporter and avid fan I must write expression of my feelings in regards to the tailgating experience at Auburn.I'm a 28 year old Auburn fan and I bleed orange and blue.