Budget realities
Re: “Student leader, interrupted,” Letters, Mar. 10.
Shalia Kibria’s letter complained of the position taken by student government members at the recent meeting of the Council of Student Services (COSS): “Admin could not understand why we voted against some of the increases.”
It should be noted that the concerns expressed by admin had to do with the fact that some student leaders rejected the budgets of three of the four co-curricular services while giving very little explanation as to why. In all cases, these budgets were the result of a consultative process that included significant student participation.
While Ms. Kibria may have felt intimidated by admin, the only person that asked the student leaders ‘intimidating’ questions was me. They were requests for accountability and transparency that are to be expected of all student leaders, not decried as intimidating.
While my characterization of the recent COSS meeting differs, I could not agree with Ms. Kibria more: the process by which ancillary student fee increases are debated and approved is fatally flawed.
The solution is not solely lobbying the central administration and provincial government for greater funding.
Not when administration and student leaders are still faced with day-to-day budget realities. While I support the opposition of student governments to increased student fees, I cannot counsel linking the provision of student co- curricular services to the ‘hope’ that lobbying will succeed.
Russell Field
Co-chair, Council of Athletics and Recreation
Kourni no slouch
Re: Hypocrisy exposed, Mar. 10.
Marisse Roco’s assertion that Anna Kournikova has never been ranked in the top ten is simply wrong. She has, in fact, been ranked as high as number eight in singles and is a former number one player in doubles, with multiple Grand Slam doubles titles. She has multiple wins over former number one players, including Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, and 22 time Grand Slam winner Steffi Graf. Anna also became the second woman in the history of the sport to reach the semi-finals of Wimbledon at her debut at the very young age of 16. In the late 1990s, Kournikova once again made history when she became the only player in the Open Era to defeat four top ten players in one tournament.
This certainly paints as a far more complete picture of Anna’s athletic talent than many would want to admit. Anna Kournikova is certainly deserving of more than the title “sex-kitten.”
David Leszczynski
Anti-tech paranoia
Re: It’s all in the genes, Mar. 3.
Milena Gubernic’s article was a display of paranoid anti-technology rhetoric that must have been taken directly from the movie Gattaca. It’s amusing that after telling the reader about the horrible road that genetic profiling will take humanity down, she advises us to keep an open mind.
The author’s argument is based almost entirely on the highly exaggerated “potentials of abuse” argument. She is condemning a new healthcare technology because of its novelty, not because it’s fundamentally different. An example given is employer discrimination. But there are now rules in place to prevent discrimination based on race, gender, or ethnicity, so why would they not apply with genes? It’s already illegal for employers to access medical files.
The author should not be condemning genetic engineering practices without researching the science adequately. She states companies could produce drugs, for HIV for example, that were genetically engineered for wealthy North Americans and not those in poor, developing nations. She’s forgetting how closely related genetically each and every human being is. The DNA sequences of any two humans differ by only 0.1 per cent.
Marilyn Goulding
We’re not worthy
Re: Axworthy’s tour de force, Mar. 10.
There are those who question Lloyd Axworthy’s authority and his audacity to write to Rice in the first Place. The man could have been Prime Minister, had he the financial resources. He was an excellent foreign affairs Minister, and as President for the University of Winnipeg he takes an ongoing interest in the inner city community. In human rights issues in Iraq, he has been right on. Although I am a communist, I secretly went out to vote for Lloyd.
D. P. Graham
P2P conspiracy
Re: Is music going to the dogs?, Mar. 3.
I have read that music companies “leak” quality tunes into the newsgroups in order to see what tunes the public likes enough to begin trading via P2P. When they see what folks like, they learn what to push to the radio stations. Sounds like one heck of a double standard if they are really doing this, hoping for people to download from the newsgroups and move the tunes into P2P channels, and then suing several thousand individuals just to make examples out of them so the timid majority is still willing to buy. So when the recording companies say they are losing billions it’s not true. Getting more music out among the public will increase the chance of sales rather than decrease it.
Bill Harris
