Letters to the Editor

>Clearing up opinions

Thank you for publishing my guest column "Coca-Cola's lies don't float" in the Thursday Daily.

I was somewhat distressed to learn that the published version changed the wording of one of the key points of my opinion - that Coca-Cola denies access to water through affecting the quantity of water through massive water use and affecting the quality of water through pollution.

The editing of the opinion does not truly reflect the original intent of the opinion.

In the original document submitted, the third paragraph says, "The Coca-Cola company is guilty of denying thousands of people access to water in India by affecting the quantity of water - through its massive water use, and the quality of water - through pollution."

It is my hope that you can make this clear to your audience.

Amit Srivastava

coordinator of India Resource Center

The real question

I'm writing about M.K. and S.E. Brantseg's thoughtful March 23 guest column, "Toking up or taking pills to alleviate the pain."

Should adult citizens be allowed to use marijuana for pain relief? It seems to me that this is the wrong question. The question should be: Should marijuana remain completely unregulated, untaxed and controlled by criminals?

Because marijuana is now illegal, it is sold only by criminals (criminals who often sell other, much more dangerous drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine). And they often offer free samples of the more dangerous drugs to their marijuana customers, thus creating the so-called "gateway effect." In a regulated market, this would not happen.

Do the readers know of anyone who has been offered a free bottle of whisky, rum or vodka when legally buying beer or wine? I don't either.

If we regulate, control and tax the sale and production of marijuana, we close the gateway to hard drugs.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.

An ineffective trend

There is a trend sweeping the University of Minnesota campus. A trend like this has swept through the campus every semester since I started at this college. This trend goes back, probably before most of you were born. This trend goes back to before good old Bobby was even considering wrecking our once great University.

I'm not talking about tuition rising, I'm not even talking about outrageous student fees to pay for unneeded things. I'm talking about the "national cause of the semester" club the editorial board of the Daily subscribes to.

Every semester, the Daily editorial board chooses a new, en vogue cause to chortle about. Last semester it was cage-free eggs. This semester it's the evils of Coke. Next semester it'll be something new, the semester after that, something even newer. But how many companies in the United States have changed because of the editorial board's rants? How much profit is Coke actually losing?

My rant here is not to point out the ineffectiveness of taking up causes; my rant is to point out the ineffectiveness of the "national cause of the semester" club. By never being consistent and by being national, the editorial board outdoes itself. We've seen people move on both Coke and cage-free eggs, but we haven't seen real action that helps us.

While the editorial board lambastes on companies like Aramark (evil) and Coke, they only once in a rare while will talk about things with real importance - tuition costs skyrocketing, a do-nothing legislature, the Republican anti-marriage amendment and other local causes.

I am therefore using my rant to call on students like me who want to make a real difference; who want to change their own lives for the better. Call your legislators; call the governor's office. Call Fun Bobby and get some changes made. Protest for your rights. Worry about Coke, but on a much smaller scale than a weekly editorial. Write about the things that matter, fight for the ones that matter.

If every student who protested and rallied for cage-free eggs took the time to write their legislators and told them to fight to lower tuition or they would vote against them, change could happen. April 6 was Lobby Day at the Capitol. This is not enough. Every week, students should lobby at the Capitol. Every week should be Lobby Day until students actually make their voice heard, and the changes should come with help from our own newspaper and its editorial board.

Evan Cordes

University undergraduate