Letters

Elections

Expect another $30-plus raise in student fees per term. That comes out of your pocket. That’s $90/year and $180-plus for the next two. Expect another 125 percent increase in OSPIRG’s budget, now that one of their lead organizers has taken over the highest-ranking position of the student group that allocates over $8 million of our student money.

The Vanguard says that their election means nothing for the average student? Tell that to the average student when next year they are shelling out an extra $90 to fund OSPIRG. “Keep tuition low” – a campaign promise of Morse/Bufton; but what about their obvious advocation of increased student fees?

Even uninvolved students are forced to pay student fees. PSU students are funding this paper. They are funding all of the campaigns that ASPSU runs. They are funding the 125 percent increase in OSPIRG’s budget.

If that is nothing, than I beg to differ. No wonder the Vanguard endorsed Morse/Bufton. They can’t see the big picture. The election does have implications for the ordinary PSU student. More money, less product. Great choice!

Amanda Barron, Student
PSU

Bonds

Thank you Brian Smith for writing exactly what I have been telling people ever since this all began. Thank you for stating the obvious reasons why Bonds is the steroid scapegoat: 1) the fact that he is African American and 2) the fact that he is African American and doesn’t act like a saint to media that do nothing but run him down and make him out as one of the worst human beings on the face of the earth. How can he be expected to be a happy-go-lucky guy during all this. All of you people who want to run him out of baseball should dig up the McGwires, Sosas, Cansecos, Palmeiros and Giambis of the world and do the same. Otherwise you are just a bunch of hypocrites.

Andrew Sykes
Canada

Water

With few exceptions, all municipal water needs to be filtered at least for chlorine, taste and odor before it compares to good-quality bottled water. Face it, the high cost of bottled water is controlled by what people are willing to pay for it. Same as a football game! Stupid isn’t it? Marketing, advertising, advocate groups, transportation, equipment cost, labor, taxes, insurance, etc., all add to the cost of any product. Put a good system in your home and stop buying bottled water, or shell out a buck or two every time you get thirsty. Of course there are those that have a water system at home and still buy bottled water that costs more than gasoline because they don’t feel like filling up a bottle for the road – people are willing to pay big time for convenience and that’s that! Get off our backs!

Bill Bugg, Water Systems
Location not disclosed

There are locations where bottled water is suggested but in most places it’s not any better. Some bottled water is filtered through membranes and ion exchange and may have no mineral content at all and be very soft. Is this really healthy? I suggest community groups get independent water testing done once a year and test for pesticides, chlorine and metals and compare it to the standards. If the results are good, let the community know and reduce the “fear”; if the results are bad, work to get the water fixed and use bottled water until conditions improve consistently.

Bill Green, Water Treatment
New Jersey

Doing a head-to-head taste test on tap water v. bottled water proves nothing. Tap water that’s clear and appears to be clean can contain a variety of contaminates that can’t be tasted or seen. The same is true of bottled water. If you really want to do it right, assemble a number of different brands of bottled water and also assemble the same amount of samples of municipally treated tap water and private well water from a variety of different locations and have all the samples laboratory tested for contaminates, then post the results. I would recommend contacting the Water Quality Association in Lisle, Ill., 630-505-0160, for a recommendation on a qualified laboratory to do the testing. The real issue here is safety, not taste.

Wayne Alioto, Residential Water Treatment
Chicago

Abortion

So while states are now trying to over turn Roe v. Wade, maybe we need to look at the reasons why women need abortions in the first place – such as, the lack of availability of contraception, the unwillingness of insurers to cover women’s health and the lack of education. In addition, until we can make sure women are no longer raped, abused, threatened, that incest never happens, and that every woman has the capacity – emotionally, mentally, physically and financially – to support and raise a child, we need to have options such as abortion and adoption available to all.

Though you may not believe that abortion is right, what right do you have to force your religious ideals upon me? In a country that is supposed to provide separation of church and state, freedom from all religious persecution, and was known around the world for its civil rights. But as these freedoms are chipped away at, what else will we lose in the process? Maybe the next freedom we lose will be one you want.

Samantha, Student
Portland