editor:

I support Kyle Erdman and Derrick Skaug because I recognize their sincere belief in the value of diversity. They respect and cherish the unique contributions that are made to our university community by our diverse student body.

Kyle and Derrick are committed to ensuring the positive experience of all students no matter their race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity. They recognize the important work done by Multicultural Student Services to ensure students have the tools they need to succeed. They understand the great value that the student-run multicultural conferences have for not only the high-school participants and event organizers but also the entire student body.

Having participated in these and other events put on by ASWSU’s Multicultural Committees, Kyle and Derrick are vocally opposed to any effort to decrease funding to these vital activates. As someone who has personally benefited from the Conferences I applaud Kyle and Derrick for their support and urge my fellow Cougs to vote Erdman/Skuag on March 6-7.

Lakecia Farmer
freshman, philosophy and political science

editor:

The flaw in Dylan Hoff’s argument is the assumption that making guns illegal will make them disappear. All that will happen is that ordinary, law abiding citizens will not have guns, while the criminals do. And, if you follow the logic you are presenting and remove guns from the police, then you have armed criminals against unarmed police. That sounds like an awesome idea.

Also, did you factor in population size into your equations? The U.S. has over 313 million people, whereas the U.K. has barely 62 million. Granted, that doesn’t account for the entire disparity between the two, but it does make your figures inaccurate.

Saying that no other country has the power to invade the U.S. is grossly inaccurate (and I served on active duty for six years, so I have some experience here to talk from). While no other military is as advanced as ours, and very few could stand toe to toe with us in a long war, that doesn’t mean we are impervious to attack. Not to mention, most of the reason other countries don’t try to take us on is the threat of what would happen if they do. Imagine what would happen if they knew that we were no longer armed.

And the Founding Fathers could never have imagined the advancements in technology, which is why they made the document as flexible as they did. They were writing in a time where people needed some form of fallback if their government turned on them, and there is no guarantee that a similar situation will never happen again. The Second Amendment has also been refined over the years just as the First Amendment has, which is why there are gun control laws and background checks. Granted, these still need to catch up to the Internet, but that’s a flaw in how the intent is carried out, not the original idea itself.

I suggest in the future you do your homework before you push a radical ideal like this. It will prevent you from making a fool of yourself again.

Dane C. Flewelling
senior, English

editor:

As a residence hall leader, I have had several opportunities to work with Joey Pacific and Samantha Hege in their capacity as undergraduate student assistant hall directors.  

I have observed them both to be exceptionally professional decision makers and believe they are the best trained and best prepared candidates for the roles of President and Vice-President of ASWSU.   Between them, they have five years of training and job experience managing budgets, personnel and programs, and also provide leadership and problem solving for the people they work with.  

These are the same skills needed to run ASWSU.  As Cougs, we have the opportunity to choose leaders who know how to execute and follow through in the March 6-7 election.

I encourage everyone to vote for Joey Pacific and Samantha Hege for ASWSU President and Vice-President next week.

Brenden Niedermeyer
senior, management information systems