Letters to the Editor

WVU fan needs ‘sense of humor’

In Cathy Meighan’s letter on Sept. 30 she said that JMU fans at the West Virginia University football game on Sept. 25 were an "arrogant, snobby, obnoxious bunch of fans." I was at the game and I agree with her when she says that the chants of "overrated" was obnoxious. However, I had to laugh when I realized that the chant was coming from a few students trying to "stir up the pot" with a little misplaced enthusiasm.

Meighan needs to get a sense of humor and then take a walk through the parking lot of her "beloved" Mountaineer stadium as a visitor. On game day, my husband and I got to the stadium parking lot and made it about 50 yards before we encountered a group of 10 tailgaters. The only things that identified us as being from JMU were our purple shirts. They booed and cursed at us. The comments and barbs continued as we walked past other groups. We said nothing. We had been to JMU games at George Mason University and the University of Richmond in the heyday of JMU basketball. These were serious rivalries and, yet, we never had experienced hostility like that of these WVU fans. Why would Division I-A powerhouse WVU care about the fans of Division I-AA JMU that they were sure to trounce? At that point, I only could conclude they were an "arrogant, snobby, obnoxious bunch of fans."

I think the WVU fans need to do a little self-evaluation before turning the mirror on JMU.

Dawn Smith Morris
Alumna, JMU Class of 1983

Breeze not for religious opinion

I thought that The Breeze’s decision to print Brian Goodman’s article on Christianity and homosexuals was in extremely poor taste. On top of the fact that articles with a religious spin do not belong in the opinion section — everyone has an opinion on religion and you never could have enough space to print them all — Goodman did not really give a good impression of Christians wanting to "befriend" homosexuals. "Not being afraid of befriending a homosexual person is a great place to start, heaven forbid." I’m not gay, so I don’t know for certain, but I’m pretty sure that homosexuals don’t really want friends that have to overcome a fear of speaking to them because of their lifestyle.

I also did not like reading things in a newspaper that sounded like a handbook for converting non-believers.

I can appreciate and agree with Goodman’s opinion that Christians no longer should look at homosexuals as the "lepers of our time," but the next time The Breeze gets an article with such a Christian spin, please put it where it belongs — Trinity Broadcast Network or the Fox News Channel.

Matt Keenan
sophomore, biology major

Column provides good advice

Thank you for writing and printing the article entitled "Goals of Christians are outreach, not hate" in the Sept. 30 edition of The Breeze. Homosexuality is one of the most prevalent controversial issues in our society today, yet it is an issue that is feared by most Christians. I think this article is a good wake-up call both to gays and Christians because it explains both of the groups’ viewpoints and addresses the first priority of Christians — to love. Many non-Christians are turned off by evangelistic strangers, so I hope that more Christians start to follow the example Brian Goodman suggested in his article: We love the people individually first; that is our job. It is God’s job to convert them, and if he uses us to accomplish the conversion, it is wonderful, but verbal assertion of the Gospel should not be forced upon people. St. Francis of Assisi stated, "Proclaim the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words." There are no extra steps involved — all you need to do is simply love. I believe the article was right on target, and I hope that every JMU student reads it.

Kristen Letnick
freshman, social work major

Warren ticket policies illogical

Before tickets even are sold for a Wilson Hall show, they are physically partitioned. One set of tickets goes to online sales, another to local stores and a set stays in the Warren Hall Box Office. When you go buy a ticket at Warren, they will give you the best seat, but only out of the ones that they have.

Potentially, you could sleep in, mosey into Plan 9 Music or hop online at 2:30 in the afternoon and get a better — slightly higher priced — seat than somebody who waited in Warren Hall Box Office all morning.

It gets worse. After a day or two, the tickets that aren’t selling at these satellite locations are brought back to Warren Hall for them to sell. The person 10 minutes before you at the box office just got bad seats in upper balcony, but then a new set of tickets shows up and you get great — normal priced — seats down in orchestra. That doesn’t seem fair.

Thankfully, companies like Ticketmaster have the sense to use a computer. When you go to a Ticketmaster outlet, call or shop online, that vendor will search the database, get the best seats, and either prints your tickets right there or you get them later. Different stores don’t get different tickets beforehand. Your odds of getting a good seat do not change depending on how you purchase the ticket.
The solution for JMU either is to sell all tickets at one location or have ticket printing capabilities and a database system.

Chris Babb
senior
math/ secondary education major

Weapon bearers not a threat

The problem with a concealed weapon does not lay on campus, it lays off campus. All the staff and a large student population live off campus. These citizens have a legal right to protect themselves and their property. In my experience, the No. 1 reason people carry a gun is for travel. When a person is going to campus, they have to be unarmed and that is problematic.

The argument most often told to me is a rogue threat idea — "I don’t want someone to have a gun on campus because they will shoot someone." According to the National Center for Policy Analysis, "since Virginia passed the right-to-carry law (1995), more than 50,000 permits have been issued, not one permit holder has been convicted of a violent crime." The reason is quite simple — CCH permits are difficult to get and only true law-abiding citizens can get them. No policy ever is going to prevent a recurrence of the Appalachian Law School shootings on Jan. 16, 2002. A fact that often is overlooked is that the suspect was apprehended not by campus police, but by legal citizens who were exercising their right to conceal a weapon.

The bottom line is that law-abiding citizens are not a threat to campus security. If the SGA wants to do something about campus security, why don’t they work on Student Body President Tom Culligan’s proposal to increase the number of blue lights around campus or the many other issues they could be dealing with?

Justin A. Gray
senior
political science/ philosophy major