Before ASU officials ask the Arizona Board of Regents to consider a mandatory meal plan for students living in dorms, they should consider the health and quality of the food being offered.
The food offered to students is laden with fat, cholesterol and preservatives and is unappealing to a student body that is increasingly conscious of the health and social issues impacted by their diet.
... I encourage ASU to follow suit of the thousands of universities in this county that recognize that providing healthy vegetarian and vegan options will result in more students willing to eat on campus.
--Reasa Haggard
Student Animal Legal Defense Organization
(SALDO) president
Sports fumbles local-only coverage
In the first Devil Dish of this year, Brian Gomez said The State Press sports section would be exclusively for ASU sports; no Diamondbacks, Suns, etc. So why have there been three Rattlers articles in the past two days?
Last time I checked, they were not an ASU team. Way to already break your promises.
--Jordan Sabin,
friend/relative of student
Thompson column applauded
We at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) enthusiastically applaud Tyler Thompson for his compassionate article on cockfighting.
... Chickens are social, intelligent, interesting individuals who show affection and feel happiness, love, loneliness, fear and pain just like dogs and cats do.
But roosters raised for fighting are often confined to tiny cages and tormented to make them aggressive. Cockfighters pump "gamecocks" full of stimulants and blood-clotting drugs and attach razor sharp spurs to the birds' feet. The birds suffer broken wings and legs, punctured lungs, severed spinal cords and gouged out eyes.
Culture is no excuse for cruelty to animals.
--Heather Moore
PETA senior writer
Senator seeks clarification
I write to clarify my quoted comments on Hispanic test scores ["English-only bill hot topic during Tempe forum" Jan. 26 issue of The State Press].
Arizona has the third highest percentage of foreign-born Hispanics in the nation. Schools [that] teach these students are at a tremendous disadvantage in test score comparisons. So is Arizona as a whole in comparing test scores.
The RAND Corporation ranked the quality of Arizona schools as 20th in the nation in a scientific "apples to apples" comparison.
My point is not to disparage Hispanics but to give proper credit and accurate assessment of our policies and schools.
--John Huppenthal
state senator
