ILC welcomes, seeks cultural diversity
I was pleased to see the story in The Daily Cardinal about the new International Learning Community slated to open on campus next fall (""Adams Hall to house new German and Italian learning communities,"" Jan. 30). However, the article left a misleading impression that I would like to correct.
Although the International Learning Community will collaborate with the German and Italian language floors in Adams Hall, it is a separate program. With space for 60 undergraduates in addition to those on the language floors, the ILC will offer activities, courses and programs in English featuring a variety of cultures. All students are welcome to apply and do not need to speak German, Italian or any other foreign language to participate.
We are aiming for a maximum of diversity and hope to welcome students from many different countries in the world as well as domestic students from a variety of cultural backgrounds.
Green Party omitted from political articles
In the last week, two articles ran in The Daily Cardinal asking the opinion of campus political parties on President Bush's State of the Union address (""Campus parties vary in opinion of State of the Union Address,"" Jan. 30), and the position of gubernatorial candidates on campaign finance reform (""Gubernatorial candidates differ on views of campaign finance reform,"" Feb. 1). These articles failed to seek the input of the Green Party which has many members on campus and is running a candidate for governor, Jim Young. I am writing to provide the Green Party's views on these issues.
A central theme of the State of the Union address was the war on terrorism. Although the Green Party supports bringing those responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks to justice, we do not support military strikes on Afghanistan or any other nation. We are also extremely concerned about the antiterrorism measures proposed by the Bush Administration that passed Congress and were supported by both Republicans and Democrats.
Jim Young, the Green Party candidate for governor of Wisconsin, is a strong supporter of campaign finance reform. Unlike Democratic and Republican candidates, Jim accepts no funds from political action committees. He also supports full funding disclosure of campaigns and free public access to campaign information.
I hope in the future The Daily Cardinal will include the Green Party in its articles.
Striving for religious ideals difficult today
Undoubtedly, this will not be the only letter you receive in response to Mike Murphy's article (""Religion finds network TV, friend's future,"" Jan. 30). Science teaches us to make generalizations about how certain things behave or work based on individual experiments or observations. So, Mr. Murphy is only using sound scientific reasoning in forming his opinion about religion based on his own experience. Perhaps I would feel the same way that Mr. Murphy does if I had had the same experiences.
Our history books teach us about the Crusades, and we hear about the Taliban everyday in the media. It is easy to forget the thousands of poor that have been helped by Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul II, who embraced the man who had attempted to assassinate him a few days earlier, because they are the minority. In our culture of instant gratification and self-seeking, it is easy to see a system of ideals that preaches self-denial and serving others as ""strange"" and ""wrongheaded."" When we see those who twist the tenets of an ideal, it is easier to call that ideal ""flawed"" than it is to put forth the effort to discover the truth. It is easier to subscribe to nothing. I hope we all don't end up taking the easy way out.
