Eisner column a waste of space

When I sat down to write this letter, I intended to respond to Alex Eisner’s breathtaking column from Thursday’s Hatchet (“Just wait for buyer’s remorse,” p. 4) with a reasoned, point-by-point criticism of his argument. After about 10 minutes of attempting to do so and re-reading his column – a column essentially devoid of reason, humor or intelligent thought – I realized that I had greatly overestimated my patience.

Therefore, I’m going to press “Enter” 10 times, so as to demonstrate how The Hatchet might have better utilized the space on its opinions page, rather than printing Mr. Eisner’s column.

John Krizel, Graduate student

Help those who want to help others

In response to “University may reward for public service jobs,” Nov. 13, p. 1:

Many in the District know me as the woman that chases people down the street saying, “I am $100,000 in debt to get YOU to quit smoking, use a condom and put your weapon down.” I then follow up and say, “I am working on my masters in public health.”

I think the comment I enjoy from people the most is “Oh, well, it is worth the debt!”

Actually, not really. Myself and 600 or so other colleagues never went into public health to “get rich.” We love people and we want to make a difference. Most of us, however, are in severe debt. I was able to consolidate my undergraduate loans at the University of Utah for a fraction of the cost that my debt will be to GW.

There would be nothing more rewarding in life to know that GW honestly supported what I like to call the “what were we thinking, but love what we are doing” master’s degree students and undergrads. Maybe they could help us to not only pursue our intended careers, but to be able to maybe own a home and have a balance more than $5 in their checking accounts, instead of spending $350,000 on a float for the inauguration, even though I do love Obama.

I moved to D.C. to stay in D.C. I realize I am one of the few, but I wonder how many more students, particularly in public health, would stay in D.C., given the dire need for public health officials in the District. I can assure you I would feel more inclined to give back to the University or have the ability to give back to the University as an alumni if I saw any light at the end of that deep, dark, black hole of student loan debt.

Jana Baldwin, Graduate student

‘Yes’ vote for Prop 8 not about intolerance

I’m from California. My mom is a Hispanic immigrant and my Caucasian father is from another solidly blue state. Los Angeles County’s 9.9 million residents, myself included, constitute a minority-majority. I grew up speaking Spanish and French, had mostly Asian friends, lived two blocks from Compton and went to a Christian private school.

Any one of the above would have been cause for discrimination 30 years ago. Civil rights have progressed to the point where the majority accepts the minority and vice versa.

And yet I voted for Proposition 8.

I voted to allow the government to legislate against the civil rights of a very large minority. Why? Because on this one, I can’t allow myself to fulfill my constitutional responsibility and separate church and state.

As hard as I’ve tried, I’ve come to the same conclusion as Catherine Chandler – I’ve found “No legal argument against gay marriage” (Nov. 13, p. 5). It doesn’t come down to hate. It’s not legislation against love or happiness.

The majority of the 52 percent majority didn’t vote for Prop 8 because we “hate fags.” We voted for this “giant leap backward” (Nov. 13, p. 5) because of our religion. We cast that unpopular vote due to our beliefs.

Shaun Conners, Freshman