Article Unfairly Maligns Intelligent Design

Dear Editor:

I thought that overall your article, “When Real Judicial Conservatives Attack” was moderately fair, but my concern is not with issue of the “name calling” of the Intelligent Design group. My concern is how you have represented I.D. You have called it “nonsense” and inferred that its proponents are dishonest. Now both of these things may be the case (I believe them not to be), but to slide these (unjustified) comments under the rug is both sly and dishonest. The federal appeals court in the recent I.D. case was not a ruling on the validity of the theory, but was a ruling on the misuse of I.D. by the Dover School District. Thus to insinuate the nonsensical nature and dishonesty of I.D. as a theory was done without justification; this is my qualm.

Maybe you could do an article on what I.D. actually argues. I would like to give kudos for the remark: “intelligent design isn’t supposed to be about God at all,” which is perfectly correct. I just wanted to say that, for most people miss that point.

­— Josh Norton

UCSD Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness Club Member

Outdoor Cigarette Smoke Not Significantly Harmful

Dear Editor:

In your Jan. 12 issue, a letter complained that “40,000 nonsmoking Americans die yearly due to exposure to secondhand smoke,” then alluded to students being “forced to breathe others’ secondhand smoke as they’ve walked to or from class.”

I don’t remember ever walking through a cloud of smoke to get to class, but setting that aside for the sake of argument, I wonder: How many of the 40,000 mentioned above died from incidental outdoor smoke? In terms of research, could health effects possibly be attributed to such minimal exposure?

I’d wager gasoline-burning vehicles do more damage to our lungs at UCSD than do people smoking here and there on campus.

— Dana Dahlstrom

Vice President Internal, Graduate Student Association

UCSD Alumnus’ Political Campaign Worth Support

Dear Editor:

I am a senior at San Diego State University. I am writing this letter in regards to the article, “UCSD’s Varied Political Spectrum.” I, for one, am very excited that UCSD alumnus Bryan Barton is running for Congress. I look forward to voting for him because he really looks out for student rights. Because the 53rd Congressional District has more college students than any other district in the country, we need someone like Barton to represent us.

I will soon be re-registering to vote for the 2006 election and I would urge others to register as well, especially college students.

— Erin Levine

San Diego State Senior