Letters to the Editor

>Enough with the eggs

The Daily's recent commitment to dedicating an absurd amount of editorial space to the issue of how chickens are housed is disappointing. With the editorial board's commitment to real social change, it is disheartening to see them concentrating their efforts and column space on attempts to make farmers be nicer to chickens.

One entry was particularly disturbing. On Tuesday, Nick Coughlin's letter to the editor documented all of the atrocities suffered by the poor chickens. He maintains that just because a company who raises chickens keeps them healthy simply for profit, that somehow they are in some sort of nebulous moral hole because their intentions are not pure. The absurdity of this implication should raise eyebrows. Should we stop using pharmaceuticals simply because the companies who produced them did so strictly to make a profit?

Coughlin lists a number of the so called "outrageously cruel" requirements of battery cages. Among them are clean enclosures, continuous access to clean drinking water and adequate access to food. There are literally hundreds of millions of people on this earth who don't have access to clean houses, clean drinking water and enough food to fill their stomachs.

I suggest that before we start worrying about the well-being of animals which may or may not be even capable of emotion, we get our own house in order. It is time to look at the suffering of people before we look at the "suffering" of some chickens.

Tom Meyer

University undergraduate

chairman, Campus Conservative Cultural Program

Coke is not the enemy

I cannot understand why the Minnesota Student Association and University students and staff have taken up a fight against the Coca-Cola Co.

While Coke is being accused of questionable practices in India, there is no evidence linking scarcity of groundwater in India with Coca-Cola Co.'s operations. Coke has continued to comply with all state and federal laws in India regarding water usage. Local Indian government figures have confirmed that in some areas, including Kaladera in Rajasthan, there are lower levels of water depletion because Coke has been there. However, in other areas, including Varanasi, water levels have risen since the Coca-Cola plants were built.

Aside from Coke's global practices, we have neglected to consider the benefits the Coca-Cola Co. has brought to the University. Because of Coca-Cola Campus Life Initiative, Community Initiative and Academic Initiatives, University students, colleges, departments, programs, centers and registered student organizations have received funding for academic and community projects throughout the University. Without this funding many of the projects and events wouldn't exist.

Before we continue accusing Coke, we have to look at the facts and consider the opportunities that Coke provides our community. For more information on Coke's contributions to the University, visit www.umn.edu/beverage. It is a shame to fight against an organization that has acted legally and ethically around the world and that has also greatly contributed to the University community.

Sarah Johnson

undergraduate student

Find the cause

Thank you for Brian Hokanson's informative Jan. 25 guest column on psychiatric screening, "Depression screenings faulty."

The combination of psychiatry, pharmaceutical companies and Madison Avenue is dangerous to one's health. Drugs are not the answer to all of life's problems. Drugs simply mask the problem.

A better approach might be to find the cause of mental upsets in our society. What are the factors that depress people and drive them to dangerous drugs? Are there alternatives? If a child is upset after being molested, is he or she mentally ill? Is the solution to drug the child or remove molesters from our communities? It is ironic that psychiatric "expert" testimony is used to justify releasing a molester back into the community despite the fact that he or she will most certainly re-offend. Could it be that psychiatry views molesters as a patient procurement device?

"The love of money is the root of all evil" certainly rings true in this case.

 Tony Miller

Fresno, Calif.

Life without a doctor

I would like to salute you, Brian Hokanson, for "testing" the mental health screening "test" as you did in your Jan. 25 guest column, "Depression screenings faulty," and pointing out the number of things wrong with the picture, including the most important thing wrong which is that any combination of answers, even the most benign, will lead to advice that one should see a doctor right away.

You are absolutely right about our need to find nonmedicinal solutions to our problems and your observation that students should lead the way with this endeavor. I fully agree with this approach. I know, as do many other folks who have found effective, nonmedicinal solutions to their minor " and sometimes major " difficulties that there are ways to improve one's outlook and success in life without seeing a "doctor" or using medicine. If anyone wants to know how they might be able to do so, they can contact me via e-mail at almalibre@comcast.net. 

Maria Monet-Walicki

Philadelphia