Editor,

This letter is in response to Monday’s opinion piece by Andrew Fu that attempts to make martyrs out of the Marshall Nexus slate.

I want to point out that if this group of people really wants to change the system, as they claim, they should go to each and every council meeting and participate in their college government. Council decisions typically arise from group consensus on issues, and proactive students should take charge of their representative government and sit in on meetings to influence it.

Of course, this is true only if Fu is, in fact, correct, and this “”bunch of average college kids”” are truly trying to make things happen. Sixty-seven individual elections code violations committed by the members of the Nexus slate certainly indicate that they have the fervor to do something.

‹ Cristina Villegas
Former Muir College Council chair

Age discrimination Appalls Student

Editor:

It is not often that I am at the blunt end of such blatant discrimination as I was last Friday evening. It was absolutely appalling, as most cases of discrimination are.

However, this case was different. I was not discriminated against due to race or gender. I was discriminated against because of age. And though some may take this lightly, the injustice of it is still present, as in all cases of discrimination.

What happened that unfortunate night to make me feel so slighted? It had to do with alcohol. (Of course‹what else could it be about?)

Yes, I am underage (a minuscule 20 years old.) But that is beside the point. The point is that I was merely the companion of someone legally able to purchase alcohol. And although he was over 21, he was not allowed to purchase the drinks at Sav-On because his underage friend didn’t feel like waiting in the car by herself so late at night.

The manager claimed that the alcohol was a dual purchase, and therefore he would need to see both of our identification cards.

Where does the law claim that, in order to purchase alcohol, you need to be of legal drinking age and have no friends that are underage? Where in Sav-On does it say that all alcohol purchases made by more than one person require the identification cards of all persons in the party? And how far does this rule extend?

If I was purchasing some beer with my father, would they check my ID? What if my Dad sent my older brother and me to get some beer because we were running low at the barbecue? If my 8-year-old sister were to go to the store with me, would she have to show ID? Or should I leave her wandering alone all over the Sav-On playground? Should I dump her in the car while I go get my drinks?

Tell me, where does this madness end? The manager claimed that he was technically selling it to a minor. He was selling it to the person who paid for it, not little . I was just standing beside the legal purchaser. Why must innocent people be persecuted because they associate with others younger than they are?

The whole point of this letter-to-the-editor rampage: Either boycott the crappy, unrefrigerated alcohol at Sav-On and purchase the nice, cold drinks at Albertson’s and Ralphs instead, or leave all underage friends in the gutter when purchasing alcohol there. Either way, it saves us all the anguish of discrimination.

‹ Shirley Hwang
Third-year Marshall Student