Dead-lock Forum debate

We probably should have two Forum pages: political and localaffairs. I’m kind of tired of recent fierce arguments aboutdead-heat politics on the Forum page. It is a very important topicbut it also may be a prime reason that little attention goes tolocal affairs.

As a Northwestern student with alien status having no voice butinterest, I’d better stay away from current politics that seems tocreate an intolerant society. And thank God, not many people insist”either you are with us or against us (then you will bedestroyed).”

— Thaweepat Buranathiti,

fourth-year McCormick graduate student

A sad farewell to Sigma Nu

In my college days, I was a consistently intoxicated presidentof Sigma Nu and a Daily columnist who averred that moreNorthwestern students needed to loosen up and get startlinglyinebriated, if not every day, then at least every weekend. I wasthus both saddened and proud to read Neil Flinchbaugh’s recentcolumn.

I must say that upon hearing that my beloved former home wouldno longer be filled with kegs, bongs and promising, if slightlyself-destructive, young men, I was outraged. If I could stumble myway through the drudgery of chapter meetings and four Evanstonwinters and keep this place intact, why couldn’t these guys?

It seems to me, upon further reflection, that times have simplychanged. Believe it or not, we did actually enjoy the occasionswhen we helped raise money for charity and deliver food to theneedy. But a sizable percentage of our members truly relisheddestroying brain cells and encouraging others to do the same. Backin 1994, I predicted in my column that NU’s on-campus social scenewould only get bleaker unless students went to great lengths topreserve it. Now that there are no parties on campus, it seems thatmost folks can’t justify dropping all that coin on being in afraternal organization. Since collegians can volunteer and makelifelong friends for free, and considering the ever-expandingEvanston bar scene and the sophistication of fake-ID-makingsoftware, these dry, highly regulated fraternities no longer addmuch value.

Pushing the celebratory consumption of libations off campus willhave its attendant problems: more noise, more crime and moregeneral trouble for students. As Flinchbaugh alluded, discoveringthe exact point at which one turns sickly green from the ingestionof grain alcohol is an important part of the collegeexperience.

As for me, I did so with such fervor and regularity as a youngman that I no longer imbibe at all, which makes my heart all theheavier knowing that the place that sponsored so many glorious,hazy memories will be no more.

— Matt Rhodes,

Communication ’96

former Sigma Nu president

former Daily columnist

Education with postcards

Our fourth grade class is currently studying the regions of theUnited States. We are learning about each state and theirenvironment, landforms and special places of interest.

We are asking for your help. We would like people to send uspostcards that show us what your state is like. This would give usthe opportunity to get a first hand look at your state.

Send them to:

Peshtigo Elementary Learning Center

341 N. Emery Avenue

Peshtigo, WI 54157

If you would like to write a note on the back, we wouldappreciate it. We thank you in advance for helping us make learninga fun and rewarding experience. We appreciate your help.

— Keifer Caebe,

Peshtigo, WI

Findley not an anti-Semite

I find the responses to the speech given by former congressmanPaul Findley misleading and disheartening. The allegation thatFindley is an anti-Semite clearly illustrates one of his points:that most of us do not question the American government’sunqualified financial and political aid to Israel for fear of beinglabeled an anti-Semite — a label that should not be, but sometimesis, misused as a convenient silencer of dissent.

Diversity entails openness to different sides of an issue. Mr.Findley ruffled some feathers as a result of his speech, but thatwas his point: to initiate open debate about our foreign policy.Allegations of anti-Semitism effectively kill this type ofdiscourse. We cannot afford for that to happen at an institutionsuch as Northwestern.

— Sarah Iftekhar,

Weinberg senior