Letters to the Editor

SG should let old rivalries rest
Re: SG impeachment trial

Ever since the debacle that was the election of 2000, democracy in this country has been under siege. I suppose the underbelly of our Student Government, known as the senate, has taken a page from its right-wing mentors in California and Texas. This is not about petty charges trumped up against a legitimate leader. This is payback.

It seems the Greek frat boys that have run this campus just cannot deal with defeat. The only mistake student body president Omar Khan made was in believing that Mike Berman’s henchman from the senate actually would put the student body’s interest first. Get over it. You lost and you are not qualified for anything beyond senate ranting. If you really want a fair investigation, the committees should be free of those who have an axe to grind.

John Duddy is a graduate student in political science.

Atkins diet works for some people
Re: “Atkins diet not worth the long term risks”

Any diet can be damaging if done improperly. Some diets are known to be dangerous.

My wife and I have been on the Atkins diet for about six weeks. Sue has lost 20 pounds; I’ve lost 15. Both of our blood sugar levels have stabilized, our cholesterol has gone down and I feel much better than I have in years. Daily stomach problems have dropped to a fraction of what they were. Incidentally, our initial weight loss was not water loss.

Dr. Atkins was recently vindicated by tests showing that what he said is correct. Anthropologists will tell you that the Atkins diet is close to what everyone’s ancestors ate up until a few thousand years ago. Humans evolved eating a diet similar to the Atkins diet. The only people I have heard of who oppose the diet have had a financial or political stake in maintaining the status quo. This includes the sugar industry. They get rich off of wrecking people’s lives.

The Atkins diet is not only relatively safe, but effective. Like any other diet, you need to work with your doctor and follow the guidelines. You really need to read his book to know how to apply it. I would agree that many of the bastardized offspring of his diet are not good ideas, but his diet is.

For 35 years, I could only gain weight. Any attempt at dieting made me violently ill (profound headaches and nausea). This diet is the only one that doesn’t affect me like that. This diet has helped my health in every way.

It’s an easy diet to live with.

Robert D. Bowers is a junior majoring in anthropology.

New music building should be a priority

If you go to the USF School of Music’s Web site http://music.arts.usf.edu/ ,the first thing you will see is a drawing of a brand new building with a caption that reads: “USF Board of Trustees Unanimously Supports New Music Building as the Top New Construction Project.”

Need I mention that the caption was posted more than a year ago? The School of Music is one of the oldest buildings on campus. With some of the best music educators in the country, USF’s music school turns out phenomenal teachers and performers every year. During the last four years of my career here at USF I have seen a long and drawn out fight by our faculty and staff to get a new music school on this campus. Their efforts seem to have gone ignored.

If the Board of Trustees “unanimously” supported the music building to be on top of the list, why is it that they have since “added on” a new sports complex, chemistry projects and broken ground for a new nursing building?

It doesn’t make sense. In a world where music educators are fighting to be heard, it’s quite obvious that we’ve been yet again lost in the mania of sports and research. To quote the movie Mr. Holland’s Opus: “Well, I guess you can cut the arts as much as you want … Sooner or later, these kids aren’t going to have anything to read or write about.”

We need a new music building with better facilities. Giving precedence to sports and research is not an excuse. The arts are just as important as everything else. The recent “face-lifts” to the building have done nothing but mask the issue.

You can change what it looks like on the outside all you want; but that doesn’t take care of a smelly elevator (the only one in the entire building) the poorly ventilated practice rooms (only 26 for a school of 200+ students), mold on the floors, asbestos, an animal menagerie and the freezing rehearsal halls. By the time USF gets a new music building, I will no longer be a student here. I just want to know why the USF Board of Trustees has chosen to put the music school on the back burner when they promised us a new building on the “top of the list!”

Ginger Hill is a senior majoring in music education.

Latina Magazine founder inspiring
Re: “Founder of Latina Magazine Speaks for ULS”

On Sept 23, 2003, I heard Christy Haubegger speak in the Marshall Center Ballroom. She is the founder of Latina Magazine, of which I am a dedicated subscriber. Haubegger’s personality matched perfectly with the tone of her magazine: funny, witty and real.

She explained how developing the first magazine that included “people just like her” had been a childhood dream. I admire her for her determination with this project. It took her three years just to get her foot in the door.

Haubegger is definitely an excellent role model for the Hispanic community. I would like to thank the University Lecture Series and Mexican-American Student Association for inviting her to speak at USF.

Jennifer Soberal is a senior majoring in English education.

Campus needs bike lanes for safety

A record number of freshmen have enrolled at USF this fall semester — most, of course, here at the Tampa campus. Many of us tenured students (U Stay Forever) have abandoned the fight for a parking space long ago. We use bikes, skateboards, skates- anything to bypass the gridlock of parking on campus. It’s hard not to notice the packed bike racks. The detail that disturbs me is the lack of bike lanes, particularly on the periphery of the campus. A lot of construction is blocking our habitual paths to class.
With the boom in the construction budget, why not invest in the safety of the students and faculty by constructing a bike lane and/or sidewalk on Pine Street? This is the street the USF Botanical Gardens is located on, between Alumni Drive and Fowler Avenue.
It only makes sense. After all, many students have class at the mall; Pine Street. gets you there. Between the awkward stop sign at Pine and Alumni Drive and the speeding cars, most pedestrians chose to walk or ride their bikes in the grass. Take a look on the south side of the street next time you pass and you’ll see the often trodden path in the grass.

Debbie King is a junior majoring in biology.

USF needs cowbells for home games

USF began C-USA play this weekend at Army and plays host to two of the elite schools in C-USA in the coming weeks, namely Louisville and TCU.
While playing at home has its definite advantages, USF has no real football tradition. Schools such as Florida State have the Seminole chop, University of Florida has the Gator chomp and Texas A&M fans are so crazy they are known as the 12th man. USF is going to need that distinct home field advantage against teams like TCU and Louisville, 23rd and 36th in the CBS rankings respectively.
I am proposing USF students buy cowbells. Not only are they annoying but the noise they produce carries well. Home field advantage is essential against the upper echelon teams in C-USA.
Cowbells are relatively cheap ($7-$12) and can be found almost anywhere, even on the Internet.
I already know at least 30 people that have them ready for the next game. Who is to say that 1,000 ringing cowbells will not be a factor when Louisville needs a touchdown and is trying to score near the USF student section?

Christopher Scanlan is a senior majoring in interdisciplinary natural sciences.