Editor:

Questions for the A.S. Council:

How are people currently living if they are not getting paid a “”living wage””?

If someone doesn’t agree with your “”living wage”” policy, are they pro-death? If you determine that I am pro-death, can you give me a cool nickname like “”Darth Vader”” or “”The Reaper””?

Why doesn’t the A.S. Council focus on something that matters to students at this school?

Why don’t members of the A.S. Council donate some of their personal money (that they get paid from our fees) to local labor instead of forcing others to do so?

— Bryan Barton

John Muir College junior

UC fee hike is nothing to complain about

Editor:

Somebody has got to say it: Nobody should be complaining about the $135-per-quarter fee hike. We pay as much for parking permits. Here’s an idea: Take a bus, ride a bike, walk or carpool. That in itself would make up for the fee hike. Or maybe you could trade in your Cadillac Escalade and downsize to a car more fitting for a student. Ed Wu was right on when he pointed out that even with the fee hike, UCSD is still a bargain. If you ever feel sorry for yourself, just think of all those USD Toreros paying $30,000 dollars per year to attend an inferior school.

What I don’t understand is why we students will sit idly by while our cost of living (especially electricity and rent) goes through the roof; we pay $0.25 more per gallon of gas than anywhere in the country and our taxes are about to be raised. It seems like the state of California and the city of San Diego can do whatever they want in the way of price-gouging, and some feathers are getting ruffled over $400 a year? It would be nice to have a state-funded educational system and pay $90 per quarter like in the “”good ol’ days,”” but we don’t, and given the alternatives (USD and SDSU), I, a tight-fisted conservative, will be content to fork out the extra cash.

And if anyone is still furious about a fee hike, just trace it back to its roots: reckless spending by a Democratic state government that has led us to a $34 billion budget deficit. Think of it as your reward for voting Democrat. And if you didn’t vote for Davis and the rest of the California Democrats, think of it as once again paying for someone else’s stupidity. Me? I’ll be waiting for those Bush tax cuts to kick in and make up for the loss.

— Evan Rowley

Earl Warren College junior

Advising excellence needs student help

Editor:

I have been an academic advisor at two of the six colleges here at UCSD and know many of my colleagues at the other four. As advisors, we take pride in our work and pleasure in helping students attain their goals. We are human, of course, and may make an occasional mistake. But your recent editorial paints us with a very broad brush when it suggests that it is always the advisors’ fault when students don’t know what they need to complete in order to graduate. You fail to consider the important fact that academic advising is a partnership; it works best when the student plays an active role.

I have advised hundreds of students. Frequently, the ones who are most successful are those who have made the time to meet with an advisor on a regular basis. These students read the catalog, speak with their major department advisor, and think through the various choices available to them here at UCSD. They tell us their plans, ask questions, ask for advice and seek reassurance that they are on track, thereby hearing their requirements not once but several times. They allow us to get to know them better, and we then can make suggestions tailored to their particular needs, interests and dreams.

I urge all students who are looking for excellent academic advising to come in and engage us often. We are here to help.

— Terri Cain

Academic Advisor, John Muir College

Lott’s statements not excused by others’ acts

Editor:

In response to Dustin Frelich’s article on Trent Lott (Jan. 9 issue of the Guardian), it should be noted that, whether or not Mr. Lott is actually a racist, and whether or not the Democrats have acted equally stupidly in their time, and whether or not affirmative action is “”just as racist”” (yawn … haven’t we gone over this before?) — regardless of the true, assuredly hideous nature of the Republican and Democratic parties, Sen. Lott should watch his damn mouth.

He is a prominent government figure, so what he says in public, even if it is at just a small, insignificant birthday party (full of cameras and reporters), makes a difference.

Citizens of the United States have a right to feel welcome. When a senator nostalgically endorses a campaign that ran on racist policies, that’s bad. He might not have remembered — but the rest of the country does. It may not have been malicious, but it was kind of stupid, and high-profile stupidities that make people feel unwelcome because of their skin color are a big deal.

And if the Democrats are also being stupid, that’s a big deal too, and I praise Mr. Frelich for decrying them. But at the same time, it’s very stupid to use that to excuse Sen. Lott. So if former Democratic President Bill Clinton jumped off a bridge … you know how it ends.

As for the rest of the article, and the remarks about groups vs. individuals, conspiracy theories and the history of the Civil War, none of it really pertains to Lott’s oafishness, so I’ll leave it to the political science majors to thrash out in section.

I will say, though, that it was pretty gnarly to see Trent Lott on Black Entertainment Television. Kind of like seeing President Bush in a mosque, you know?

— Ted McCombs

Revelle College junior