Columnist unduly attacks individuals

(This letter is in response to Zaid Jilani’s Monday column, “Speak against social wrongs.”)

Mr. Jilani’s most recent column has prompted me to speak out against a social ill I find particularly offensive: poor logic.

To call yesterday’s piece sloppy would be an understatement.

Instead of expounding upon the very real, very serious problem of date rape, Jilani chose to construct a vague, rambling “argument” that attempted to draw nonexistent linkages between rape, T-Pain and our country’s current economic crisis.

Though date rape and the unscrupulous deeds of Wall Street CEOs are deplorable, I fail to see how either action relates to Jilani’s condemnation of T-Pain and hip-hop culture in general for two reasons.

First, Mr. Jilani wrongly equates sexual explicitness with sexual violence. Though T-Pain’s lyrics are undeniably sexual, they are utterly void of the misogynistic undertones Jilani rails against.

Second, to paraphrase an old National Rifle Association slogan, rap songs don’t rape women – MEN rape women.

An individual can indeed be influenced by a song (regardless of genre), but his or her actions are ultimately of his or her own accord.

In addition to speaking out against injustice, it is my most sincere hope that Jilani will learn to narrow the scope of his columns and attack issues instead of individuals.

Marcus Crawford
Senior, Cataula
English and Magazines

A sincere wish for Vandy game

We all come to a time when we need something more from the University that has already given us so much. I am getting married this Saturday.

Yes, I understand the ramifications of getting married during football season, the least of which is missing the game. However, when planning the wedding, I felt I was making the right choices.

The wedding was originally scheduled for Oct. 11. When we found out our wedding date would be the day of the Tennessee game, we promptly rescheduled for the weekend of a less threatening game – the Vanderbilt game.

Who knew at that time Vanderbilt would actually be good this year? Who knew what we would assume was a throw-away game actually would be more challenging to our beloved Dogs than Tennessee?

So please coach Mark Richt, if you’re out there reading this, please do not let us lose on my wedding day. I don’t think my future husband would ever recover from that.

Rachel Gibbs
Alumnus, Athens
History

Teenagers need reputable sex ed

I think abstinence-only education should be an optional but encouraged program in the state of Georgia.

Georgia should implement a comprehensive sex education program that parents can opt out of if they believe it is too much for their children.

Georgia has the eighth highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation. Obviously, abstinence only sex education is not working in this state. Many people believe a comprehensive sex education program will make teens want to have sex even more, but I do not believe that is true.

I believe it will make all teens aware of the risks and eliminate the myths that circulate in the classroom.

Such myths that say a girl can only get pregnant one day a month, or that having sex while on your period is safe.

Teens need to be aware of all the risks, and a comprehensive sex education program is the only way for teenagers to get the facts from a reputable source.

Amanda Beaman
Graduate Student, McDonough
Non-Profit Organizations