Letters to the Editor

In Ronald Dixon’s May 7 column, “STEM employment myth,” he tells us that science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors don’t necessarily pay and that there are 50 percent more engineers than there are jobs for them.

Let me open by saying I made a point to save this letter until after Spring Jam. As someone who owns all of Mat Kearney’s CDs, I was not one of the hundreds of angry posts on the Student Unions and Activities’ Facebook page in an uproar over the decision. SUA was put in a difficult situation and made the best of it with the resources it had. However, what did put me in an uproar was its lack of good public relations in dealing with the masses. Here’s what it should have done leading up to Spring Jam.

One of the best parts about college is supporting our Gophers sport teams. I have had season tickets to Gophers football and hockey for the past three years.

What better way to show school spirit than wearing your favorite Gophers jersey and cheering them on? Unfortunately, politicians in St. Paul are not as supportive of this as we are. The proposed budget in the Legislature includes a 13 percent tax increase on licensed, sports-related products in Minnesota.

Before I begin, you guessed it — I smoke cigarettes. However, to every person that has written for a smoking ban on campus, I’m 99.9 percent sure you don’t smoke and have never smoked. Now it’s time to read this opinion from a person who has been on both ends of the spectrum.

Simply put, banning cigarettes on campus is the most ludicrous idea imaginable. Let me enlighten you.

While the motives behind the Boston bombings are unclear, it is important to remember that killing innocent lives has no justification. As an American Muslim, I find in the Quran (5:33): “Whoever killed a person … it shall be as if he had killed all of mankind.” While the culprits claim to be Muslim, it is clear that they lacked the proper guidance that would have illuminated this Quranic verse.

The Minnesota state Legislature currently has a state version of the DREAM Act before it that will allow access to higher education to the highest-achieving undocumented students. The University of Minnesota is amongst many institutions, including the Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools, the Minnesota Private Colleges Council, the American Civil Liberties Union, the city of Minneapolis, the Citizens League and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce that support the legislation.

Politicians are officially attacking sports. In the Legislature’s proposed budget, a “memorabilia tax” would be imposed. This tax, as the name suggests, would increase the price of sports memorabilia.

Want a new Gophers jersey? Tax increase. Want a Gophers T-shirt? Tax increase. Want a Vikings jersey or a Twins jersey? Tax increase. Excited to support the Wild as they head into the playoffs, and want to buy some merchandise? Tax increase. Want to get the new Madden game? Tax increase.

Grading curves are more important than students realize. Meg O’Connor argues in her May 1 column “Grading curve should be no more” that professors should write easier exams in order to rid the system of these seemingly unnecessary grading scale adjustments, but I would argue that classrooms should adopt more rigorous tests and repeal the hard-set boundaries that define a grade A, B or C range.

President Barack Obama’s administration continues to wrestle with the issue of approving the Keystone XL pipeline that would transport oil from the huge Alberta oil sands reservoir (it’s oil, not tar) to refineries in Texas, Oklahoma and Illinois. The issue is pitting those who are concerned about environmental impact against those who see the benefit of a large new oil supply from our friendly North American neighbor.