Letters

Intelligence czar is crazy
I see much fear in the war fever sweeping our nation. Inparticular, I feel the effort to enshrine one man as “IntelligenceCzar” over all our police and intelligence agencies isdangerous.

Doesn’t anybody remember J. Edgar Hoover? He became so powerfulas head of our domestic intelligence agency that he becamedangerous to the survival of our democracy. Using his position asFBI chief, he accumulated tons of political dirt on all the leadersof our nation. Even though many of our presidents wanted to firehim, they couldn’t. Who could fire the man responsible for domesticsecurity in the global struggle against Communism? John F. Kennedyclearly wanted to fire Hoover, but the FBI chief outlasted all thechief leaders of our nation.

The lesson is clear. It is highly dangerous to concentrate ournation’s police and intelligence agencies under the control of oneman.

Phillip Simone
PSU Alumni

Homeless don’t belong in campusbuildings
Have you tried this year to find a quiet place to study in Smith? Ihave many times and what I have found is shocking. I don’t findfellow students; instead I find street people reeking of alcoholand poor hygiene. What do I do? Ask them to scoot over please andthen try to ignore the smell and occasional snore? Do I ask them toplease leave because I pay tuition and they don’t? One day after Ihad searched two of the upper floors for a spot to sit and study, Iwent to a little nook up the stairs from the Children’s center.There was a couple lying intertwined together on the couch. It wasobvious they were not there to study!

Most students expect to come to school and study in an academicenvironment. PSU needs to draw a line. I think it is theuniversity’s responsibility to make sure our school has theatmosphere of a learning environment. Allowing the kind of things Ihave seen in our study halls does nothing for PSU’s reputation asan academic institute.

Suzanna Ntalikas

Vanguard sports is negativepropaganda
What an absolutely negative look at the PSU Vikings (“Welcomeaboard Vikings…grab a bucket and start bailing,” 9-13-04).Doesn’t this imbecile realize that all programs are developing andthat it takes time for things to come to fruition? This is simply anegative propaganda publication to throw off that very work ofdevelopment. What a fool! What a bloody, stupid fool who wrote suchan ill-conceived piece of garbage. And what a terrible editor wholet this piece of idiocy into the paper. Guess we know what thequality of the Vanguard will be this year!

Kendall Derek
Palo Alto, CA

Facts don’t back up Measure 35
Insurance companies want us to think that doctors are leavingOregon to avoid paying high medical malpractice premiums. But Ijust read about a study by Public Citizen showing that the numberof doctors in Oregon is actually increasing. Measure 35 won’t helpdoctors but it will limit our rights by changing the constitution.Voters should not be swayed by the insurance industry’s slickcampaign.

Michael Fritsch