MONDAY,MARCH 24,2003 THEUNIVERSITYDAILYKANSAN = 5A LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Sexism not from nature In her latest column on gender difference, Arrah Nielson asks the very important question of why we have not yet had a female president. Her answer? It's really much simpler than discrimination or any of its harmful manifestations — women are just biologically unfit to rule the country. Why? Ms. Neilson boldly asserts that women are naturally less aggressive and less ambitious than men, fully accounting for their low status. Besides being offended by this statement, I'm also curious as to where she found women untouched by gender-role socialization on which to base her argument. I expected a little evidence from a biological anthropology major, but there is none. Such women do not exist, and it is impossible to distinguish between natural tendencies and learned ones. There are undeniable differences between the sexes (and even more within them). The goal of feminism is not to eliminate these and make people "as interchangeable as Lincoln Logs." Quite to the contrary, feminism celebrates diversity and strives to create a society where such distinctions are not used as justification for oppression. I suggest that this particular science student inform herself on feminism before making such uneducated claims in the future. Jana Mackey, Hays junior Pledging neutrality My letter is in response to Matt Pirotte's article "Under God should stay in pledge" which appeared in the Kansan on Tuesday, March 11. Pirotte claims that, because the pledge has been banned for millions of school children, the court's decision violates the principles of democracy (majority rule). I believe Pirotte misunderstands a crucial component of democracy — the protection of minority rights. It is immoral and illegal for public schools to require all students to pledge allegiance to a god. It is a violation of the minority rights of individuals who wish not to pledge such allegiance. Furthermore, Pirotte asserts that the words "under God" represent an American tradition. To the contrary, the original pledge did not include the words "under God." Those words were inserted in 1954 after much religious and anti-communist lobbying. If anything, the American tradition should be a religiously neutral pledge — one that all Americans, regardless of their religious beliefs, can recite with pride. "Under God" has made a divisive prayer of what should be a unifying oath. One nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Keiv Spare, Parsons senior 'Hot or Not' harmful Jayplay entitled "Hot or Not?" and asked students to rate 13 of their peers based on three aspects: major, height, and weight. February 27, The University Daily Kansan ran a section in This is supposed to be an imitation of the television show and Web sites in which young people parade themselves in front of judges and are pronounced "Hot or Not" on a one to 10 scale. Our question is, how do you cram all that glam? Each of these 13 individuals encompasses much more value than can possibly be packed into a head shot and a few facts. We can all agree on that. But do we really understand what that means? Every time a catcall is made, every time a person is accepted or rejected based on his or her appearance, and every time a vote is cast in "hot or not" contests, we deny the fact that humans are more than just bodies. The effects of this kind of media are more than tangible, they are tragic. Consider these facts from the National Eating Disorders Association: Most fashion models are thinner than 98 percent of American women. Ninety percent of American women are dissatisfied with their appearances. Forty-two percent of girls in first through third grades want to be thinner. Eighty-one percent of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat. If you think the connection between "hot or not" and eating disorders is a stretch, think again. Where else do people get the idea that they must fit into a certain body type if not from the media? In a perfect world, that 90 percent would look at the Kansan, see the "Hot or Not" section and laugh it off. But we do not live in a perfect world, and the scary fact is that people look at that section and wonder if they are "hot or not." This type of thinking is unhealthy because it creates standards that can never be met. While we realize it is a difficult task to ask the world to stop the arbitrary judgment of individuals, it is not too much to ask that the Kansan not subject KU students to the idea that we are only worth our major, height, and weight. Anne Iverson, Le Mars, Iowa, freshman for Men Can Stop Rape War is the answer Marching for peace probably doesn't hurt anybody. Might even help, as it means exercise, sunshine and fresh air. But these people are utterly clueless as to what is happening. What's happening is a race between taking Iraq or losing Washington to a nuclear bomb. There is very good reason to believe Osama bin Laden has such a bomb. But can he use it before we take Iraq? If he does, we lose. If he doesn't, we win. We are going to take Iraq, put armies on the border with both Iran and Saudi Arabia and tell Osama we will take them also if he tries anything. Not only take them, but any more trouble and we close the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. We put a huge hole in his plan to unify the Middle East and reintroduce the strategy of mutually assured destruction as deterrence. There is no other way with any hope of keeping suicide terrorists with nuclear weapons from coming to your hometown. A monster has arisen from the depths of Islam. We are witnessing what may be the self-destruction of one of the world's great religions because it cannot adjust to the modern world. And majority of moderate Muslim clerics don't have the courage to tell the world what Osama is, a heretic and a cowardly murderer of women and children. No one wants to talk about it yet, but this is civilizational war. Osama's goal is to radicalize and unify all Muslim nations to attack and convert the world of us infidels. Our goal is to impose a Pax Americana on the world and to do that, we must first stop Osama by taking over the Muslim world. He will have no cause left to die for. If anyone thinks there is another way to save Washington, they are sleepwalking. just like the peace marchers. History has laid an empire at outfeet. We must either pick it up or be destroyed. The combination of suicide terrorism and nuclear weapons is fatal. "I'm outraged"—Oh,please. Leonard Magruder, president, Vietnam Veterans for Academic Reform SUBMITTING LETTERS AND GUEST COLUMNS The Kansan welcomes letters to the editors and guest columns submitted by students, faculty and alumni. readersrep@kansan.com. The Kansan will run as many submissions as possible that adhere to these guidelines. The Kansan reserves the right to edit, cut to length, or reject all submissions. For any questions, call Amanda Sears or Lindsay Hanson at 864-4924 or e-mail at opinion@kansan.com.If you have general questions or comments, e-mail the readers' representative at maidenren@kansan.com GUEST COLUMN GUIDELINES Maximum Length: 650 word limit Include: Author's name Class, hometown (student) Position (faculty member) Also: The Kansan will not print guest columns that attack another columnist. LETTER GUIDELINES Maximum Length: 200 word limit Include: Author's name Author's telephone number Class, hometown (student) Position (faculty member) SUBMITTO E-mail: opinion@kansan. com Hard copy: Kansan news- room 111 Stauffer-Flint Tax Time Specials... Invest your refund in a better night's sleep Sleep Value Plush Full Set Queen Set reg *239 Now "159 reg *269 Now "179 Twin Set Reg. $149 Royalty Queen 2 Pc. Set 羊 Twin Set Queen Set King Set Twin, 2 pc. set reg '199 Now '348 Full, 2 pc. set reg '549 Now '498 King, 3 pc. set reg '799 Now '699 Pillow Plush Full Set Twin Set King Set mg *2174 Now "2189 mg *2189 Now "2189 mg *2190 Now "2188 "The Mattress with the Just-Right-Feeling." Twin, 2 pc. set *1999* **New** '599 Full, 2 pc. set *1949* **New** '749 King, 3 pc. set *1999* **New** '1199 Big Brothers Big Sisters of Douglas Countv To Do List: Take a Study Break Add something to my resume. Be someone's friend. 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