Letters to the editor

Church chooses wrong pope

The passing of Pope John Paul II presented the Catholic Church with an opportunity to show it had more competence than any other international actor. If the Conclave of Cardinals had chosen an African or South American candidate to become the next pope, it would have shown that an ancient institution could adapt to the realities of a changing world. A significant majority of the world’s Catholics live on these two continents. The issues John Paul II chose to make his own and thus the Church’s, like structural poverty and just governance, face some of their greatest challenges on these continents. What better way could there have been to advance the fight against these ills than to promote someone who has spent his career on the front lines?
In the secular reality of Europe and America, to appoint a conservative, aged German cardinal as the next pope shows that the Catholic Church has the same lack of foresight as most other world organizations and leaders. In not appointing a black or Hispanic pope, the Church blew a momentous opportunity to recoup much of the credibility it has lost among lay people due to its conservative stands on homosexuality and contraception. The appointment of Joseph Raztinger, now Benedict XVI, shows that the Church is unable to recognize the shifting economic and political landscape of the modern world and is a move that I cannot help but condemn.

Jeff Stottlemyer
senior, history major

JMU guys not the problem

I am writing in response to Jessi Groover’s contradictory April "Sex in the Suburbs" article.
She complained that JMU men consider women disposable and that guys just like the thrill of the chase. However, she stated in her article that she and her friends had in fact found some "good guys" that pursued them. The irony was that they did not want these quality men, rather than the other way around. Instead of saying my friends and I have met the kind of guys who only want one thing, maybe it is that these girls want the wrong kind of guys, instead of the good ones who want a relationship and do not consider a quality woman disposable. Guys can be confusing to us as girls, but I find women like this are far more difficult to figure out. Then again, if one finds particular insight into the male psyche through such mediums as a television show and magazine, one can hardly fault her logic, faulty as it may be.
And just an FYI, very few JMU men are of this opinion, I personally was appalled to hear that even one guy at this school could say something so ignorant. There are definitely quality men at this school and I would like to applaud these guys for being wonderful, even if they are under-appreciated by girls like the writer of that article.

Tracie Nelms
sophomore, biology/ psychology major

Writer misses the basics

The April 18 column "Professors aiding intellectual decline" by Peter Simpson suggests an intellectual deficiency but not bias-fueled intellectual decline. Analysis of Simpson’s "sluggish" rhetoric reveals the trouble.
Simpson’s writing professors should have mentioned that thesauri are best used judiciously and that incorrectly used multi-syllabic words impede meaning.
English professors should have warned that an argument in passive voice and predicated on sweeping generalizations and no textual evidence is neither viable nor valid.
History professors should have cautioned that conflating several hundred years of complex social, economic, political and intellectual history into two paragraphs without source references invites misinterpretation.
Finally, math professors should have explained that statistics rely on numerical conclusions rather than vague terms like "most," "partially," and "especially" in order to be meaningful.
Over six years, three-fourths of incoming freshmen and non-majors in my English and writing classes have consistently exhibited the skill deficits I identify in Simpson’s column. I teach these skills. I suspect similar scenarios exist in other disciplines. The problem Simpson exhibits and identifies is not enhanced intellectual decline but typical intellectual immaturity.
In my courses, intellectually immature students assume theoretical course content is the professor’s opinion. Intellectually mature students can distinguish between the two and understand which is relevant. JMU emphasizes the development of critical analysis skills; therefore, at JMU at least, "students who are willing to accept personal biases as truth" are not as much the victims of biased teaching as of their own failure or refusal to mature intellectually.

Michelle L. Brown
English professor

Women more appropriate term

I am writing in regards to the caption about Greek Sing on the front page of the April 18 issue. While it’s wonderful the event was mentioned on the front page, such a philanthropic event that led to an outstanding result should surely warrant an article. Despite this negligence, I was even more upset by the caption that summed up Greek Sing.
In this blurb, this year’s champions are referred to as "the girls of Alpha Phi." I assure you that the members of Alpha Phi — as well as any female in college — agree that we are not girls but women. I am sure that this seems like I am making something out of nothing, but to someone who has been a leader of an all-women’s organization it is very important and needs to be rectified. We are women and need to be recognized in that way. We are college-educated community leaders, many of whom are about to begin our careers. To refer to the members of Alpha Phi as girls is not only insulting to them, but also demeaning to all college women.
Our mothers and grandmothers fought for our right to be treated as equals in this country and the continued use of the word "girls" only allows others the opportunity to treat us as subordinates. At such a forward-thinking university as ours, I think it is important for not just The Breeze, but our community as a whole to begin recognizing all of the accomplishments that the women of this university achieve. By making this minor change in word choice we will see a powerful and positive change in our community and ourselves.

Joy Dzurovcik
senior, HTM major
Delta Delta Delta