2008 Woodie Awards
Letters to the editor
Issue date: 10/8/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Apathy causes death
I am writing because I am surprised there have not been many responses to the upcoming smoking ban. It is hard for me to understand this new push for "public safety" and "public health."
I am not here to claim that smoking is good for you; just the opposite - I know smoking is bad. I hear many people say, "I had a family member die from smoking and that is why I want smoking banned, " or "my mother died because my father smoked." Guess what - your family member chose to smoke, and your mother stayed with your father by choice and cancer was the consequence.
You don't think that after several years of smoking the coughing and wheezing didn't give the hazards away? The public health advocates act like smokers are ignorant, so they are making this decision for our own and everyone else's good. Where will their decision-making stop - mandatory exercise, low-fat only menus, or implants that give an electric shock every time we think of greasy food or cigarettes? Pavlov anyone?
Why won't anyone take responsibility for his or her own actions instead of trying to blame everyone else and control everyone else's behavior? I know smoking is bad for me, yet it is my choice. Why don't we ban double whoppers? I see plenty of people on the verge of having a stroke because they are severely obese, but they still stuff their faces with unhealthy foods.
Well, they don't make other people sick, you say. They make me sick looking at them and I will have to help pay for the long-term medical problems associated with their obesity. However, the difference is I respect their right to eat whatever they want.
Where will the "public health" advocates stop? They won't. This is the new control.
Stephen J Gilbert
Senior
Landscape Architecture
Fans too negative
In the midst of all the "hoopla" surrounding the state of affairs of our football program, I write this to appeal to all people who consider themselves true Razorback fans and most importantly to the students. Razorbacks, unite! Let us all come together in order to cheer for and support our team, no matter if you are a darksider, hugger or someone who straddles the fence. I'm not asking anyone to change their beliefs or feelings, just to check their negativity at the gate when you come to watch the Arkansas Razorbacks battle the Auburn Tigers. Leave the black shirts at home and the banner-towing airplanes in the hangars. Suppress your feelings to boo a decision or play-call and direct your energy toward cheering for the team. If you must boo, do so when the Tigers enter the field or when the referees throw a questionable flag. Cheer for our team, our success and when the halftime scores are announced and Texas is losing. The negative energy that some fans bring into the stadium does nothing but distract our team and other fans' cheering. It is well-known that there is dissension among the fan base concerning our program, so why continue to purport the opposition at the games, where the players can mistake the boos as being directed toward them? Leave the arguments in the message boards and at the water coolers. Come to the game to cheer on our team and to call the Hogs - do not come to show your disapproval for the leadership. We already know about it. Razorbacks and students, unite!
Geoffrey Reddick
Senior
Psychology and Classical Studies
I am writing because I am surprised there have not been many responses to the upcoming smoking ban. It is hard for me to understand this new push for "public safety" and "public health."
I am not here to claim that smoking is good for you; just the opposite - I know smoking is bad. I hear many people say, "I had a family member die from smoking and that is why I want smoking banned, " or "my mother died because my father smoked." Guess what - your family member chose to smoke, and your mother stayed with your father by choice and cancer was the consequence.
You don't think that after several years of smoking the coughing and wheezing didn't give the hazards away? The public health advocates act like smokers are ignorant, so they are making this decision for our own and everyone else's good. Where will their decision-making stop - mandatory exercise, low-fat only menus, or implants that give an electric shock every time we think of greasy food or cigarettes? Pavlov anyone?
Why won't anyone take responsibility for his or her own actions instead of trying to blame everyone else and control everyone else's behavior? I know smoking is bad for me, yet it is my choice. Why don't we ban double whoppers? I see plenty of people on the verge of having a stroke because they are severely obese, but they still stuff their faces with unhealthy foods.
Well, they don't make other people sick, you say. They make me sick looking at them and I will have to help pay for the long-term medical problems associated with their obesity. However, the difference is I respect their right to eat whatever they want.
Where will the "public health" advocates stop? They won't. This is the new control.
Stephen J Gilbert
Senior
Landscape Architecture
Fans too negative
In the midst of all the "hoopla" surrounding the state of affairs of our football program, I write this to appeal to all people who consider themselves true Razorback fans and most importantly to the students. Razorbacks, unite! Let us all come together in order to cheer for and support our team, no matter if you are a darksider, hugger or someone who straddles the fence. I'm not asking anyone to change their beliefs or feelings, just to check their negativity at the gate when you come to watch the Arkansas Razorbacks battle the Auburn Tigers. Leave the black shirts at home and the banner-towing airplanes in the hangars. Suppress your feelings to boo a decision or play-call and direct your energy toward cheering for the team. If you must boo, do so when the Tigers enter the field or when the referees throw a questionable flag. Cheer for our team, our success and when the halftime scores are announced and Texas is losing. The negative energy that some fans bring into the stadium does nothing but distract our team and other fans' cheering. It is well-known that there is dissension among the fan base concerning our program, so why continue to purport the opposition at the games, where the players can mistake the boos as being directed toward them? Leave the arguments in the message boards and at the water coolers. Come to the game to cheer on our team and to call the Hogs - do not come to show your disapproval for the leadership. We already know about it. Razorbacks and students, unite!
Geoffrey Reddick
Senior
Psychology and Classical Studies
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