Letters to the Editor

When tragedy strikes as it did Monday, we naturally ask why. We often do this in the retroactive sense, wondering: “Why was this allowed to happen?”

In Minnesota, guns kill one person and injure another each day. While the media draws attention to murders and mass shootings, three-fourths of firearm deaths are suicides, not violent crimes. In 2010, of the approximately 600 Minnesotans who committed suicide, nearly half used a gun. And University of Minnesota students should be concerned about suicide, especially as it relates to mental health.

On April 15, the Minnesota Daily published an article, “Misconceptions plague U’s Ayn Rand group,” on the Ayn Rand Study Group, which claimed that a misunderstanding of this group’s mission and goals prevented it from receiving funding from the student services fees. As the chair of the student group side of the Student Services Fees Committee, I assure that this was not the case. At no time did the committee make funding recommendations based on the viewpoint of any group, including the Ayn Rand Study Group.

It has been five years  since the Pioneer Press reported the disturbing sequence of events leading to the suicide of Dan Markingson in a psychiatric research study at the University of Minnesota. During that period, it is hard to say which development has been more remarkable: the indifference of the University community or the torrent of international condemnation. “I have been following this story, open-mouthed, as it has unfolded,” writes Iain Brassington, a medical ethicist at the University of Manchester.

Where I was raised, the term “tax loophole” had a menacing connotation for working families and often for main street business owners. Certainly with all the talk of comprehensive tax reform, “loopholes” must be on the table for consideration at all levels of government. However, the White House and some members of Congress are championing the elimination of tax-free, local government bonds, feeling that the tax break only benefits rich investors.

The poetry unit was one of my favorite units in middle and high school English classes; the rhyming and articulation of feelings was challenging but rewarding for me. Each year, without fail, my English teacher would have us read Robert Frost’s famous poem, “The Road Not Taken,” and I loved it more with each passing year. His proposition made sense; taking the road less traveled would lead to a more fruitful life. I found inspiration from his majestic lyrics. And for all those years, I bought into Frost’s sentiment.

The April 8 guest column by Rolf Westgard, “Global warming pause,” stated that global average temperatures have not risen appreciably since the late 1990s. Although Westgard is quite right that global warming appears to have slowed for the moment, ongoing research into its causes ought to be acknowledged. A growing number of scientists, including me, are driven to better understand the mechanisms that produce fluctuations in the pace of global warming.

As of one week ago, there were four separate tickets for president and vice president of the Minnesota Student Association. We would like to announce that when you go to vote, there will only be three. To send the message that unity is an action and not just a word, we announce the official partnership of our respective campaigns. After careful consideration, we have come together under one ticket: “Hedberg and Griffin for MSA.”

This Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, students have an opportunity to change the shape of student government through one simple act: voting. I encourage each and every student, regardless of which college they belong to, the student body they are a part of (undergraduate, graduate or professional) or their own beliefs on government, to voice their opinion.

This Monday through Wednesday, the graduate and professional students of this university have the opportunity to elect a president of GAPSA to represent them. The slate that will appear on the ballot does not represent any meaningful choice. I am interjecting myself into this process as a write-in candidate to provide a real alternative to the self-identified “team.” I believe in transparency, accountability and democracy. The existing slate has demonstrated no similar commitment.