Broken red lights improved traffic flow

I wanted to publicly call for University and city officials to take note of the situation that occurred Wednesday morning on College Station Road with the red lights.

One would expect red lights would be vital to the traffic flow in the area. However, as a result of the lights being out, there was little to no delay in driving to school Wednesday morning.

I hope someone besides us lowly students got the chance to see the ease in traffic this morning. I hope someone sees five red lights in the short stretch between East Campus and Riverbend all timed individually doesn’t make the most sense in the world. Now while sitting in traffic backed up to Research Drive, I will reminisce of an overcast Wednesday morning, when the red lights went out, and the traffic actually flowed!

Mitchell Hall
Sophomore, Athens
Pre-nursing

Loving overseas neighbors ‘logical’

Could I suggest that Marc McAfee read Zaid Jilani’s column a third time? Contrary to McAfee’s brilliant logic (in his Wednesday column, “Love thy neighbor, not terrorists”), loving our Middle Eastern neighbors doesn’t mean condoning the actions of terrorists.

Jilani was advocating a more open-minded approach in U.S. foreign policy that would take into account the welfare of other countries rather than just our own.

This attitude of neighborly love in global exchange is something we desperately need. As uncomfortable as it is to admit our way of dealing with other countries has contributed to the growth of terrorist recruitment, it is our responsibility as a powerful, influential nation to admit to and learn from our mistakes.

Loving our overseas neighbors seems like the logical way to go.

Sarah Quinn
Junior, Atlanta
Art and Art History

Univ. promotes sexual awareness

I opened Wednesday’s Red & Black to find Trojan ranks the University “ninth out of 139 colleges and universities” for excellence in promoting strong sexual health. How refreshing! While adopting abstinence remains a highly defensible moral and healthy choice, as humans, we are biologically programmed for sex.

Thus, the mainstreaming of sex through easily accessible media doesn’t reflect an infiltration of gross immorality into our entertainment and information conduits, but instead an ongoing attempt to better understand ourselves, and to explore what makes us human. Kudos to the University for fostering an awareness of healthy sexuality, and for providing proactive aid, rather than reactive condemnation, to students seeking knowledge, resources and support.

Bob Krask
Graduate Student, Suwanee, English

Obama quickly surpassed peers

Tuesday, Vincent Neri raised important issues in regard to Sen. Barack Obama and the financial meltdown, but missed one point (see “Obama’s tie to financial crisis”). He pointed to a set a data that showed Obama has a comfort level between Sens. Chris Dodd and John Kerry for congressmen who have received donations from Fannie and Freddie.

He did not mention the data covers from 1989 until today, a 19 year time period. Dodd, No. 1, has been in the Senate for 27 years. Kerry has been in the Senate now for 23 years.

Obama is in his third year, which means within three years, Obama has surpassed every member of Congress, except Dodd, in contributions from Fannie and Freddie. Is that really change we can believe in? If we are talking about speed, I guess so.

Matthew Ralston
Freshman, Blue Ridge Political Science