TUES 6 APRIL 2004
Letters to the Editor
Israel has right to existDear editor,
Studor’s March 26 column contains numerous errors.ÊThe Middle East is not the exclusive homeland of the Arab people.ÊAsk the Kurds.ÊIsrael is the homeland for Arabs and non-Arabs, including Druze, Armenians, Christians and Jews.ÊIsrael is not a Jewish “colony” — nonindigenous people settling land they had never lived on, like the American colonists.ÊJews have lived in Israel continuously since before 1000 B.C., establishing the kingdoms of Northern Israel and Judea, and maintaining continuous settlements (e.g., in Safed) despite attempts to exile and murder them.ÊAnd Jews have been returning — not colonizing — for centuries, e.g., after banishment from Spain (around 620), England (1290) and Portugal (1497).ÊBy 1948 the land the United Nations designated a Jewish state had a population of 498,000 Jews and 325,000 Arabs.
Second, terrorism is not Hamas’ only option.ÊIt can negotiate a peaceful settlement.ÊBut Hamas wants to destroy Israel, not coexist with it.
“Desperation” is no justification for indiscriminatingly targeting noncombatants, killing Arabs as well as non-Arabs.Ê
Finally, asserting that the United States “get out and take Israel with us” is patently invidious discrimination — like racial segregation and ethnic cleansing — advocating population displacement based on “religion.” Will Studor next argue that the United States “get out” of Idaho (colonized by whites for only 150 years)? Israel has a right to exist.ÊEven if the United States withdraws all aid from Israel, its citizens (Arabs, Druze, Christians and Jews) will rightfully defend their homeland.ÊWe should admire them for it.
Myron Schreck
adjunct professor of law
Vandal Athletic Center was long overdue upgrade
Dear editor,
As donors to the Vandal Athletic Center, we are displeased by the arrogance and lack of foundation revealed in J. A.’s opinion piece “Alumni Should Prioritize.”
The Argonaut has presented an unfounded position while addressing and denigrating alumni who contributed to the Vandal Athletic Center (VAC) as to how they should allocate their charitable contributions to UI. The Campaign for Idaho, the largest fund-raising initiative in school history was recently completed. The goal was to raise 100 million dollars, but more than 128 million was actually pledged to the UI Foundation. Just 5.9 million (less than 5 percent) of the total was dedicated by alumni for construction to benefit athletics.
The VAC was identified by the campaign as a long overdue priority building project, and funds were solicited by the university.
Unfortunately the VAC was the only building project that was not fully funded by alumni during the campaign. The opening of the 13,000-square-foot weight room addition is a small percentage of the planned 82,000-square-foot VAC that was scheduled for completion by 2002.
Your characterization of the opening of the weight room (a phase of the VAC) as “bitter sweet” only serves to degrade alumni volunteer efforts and donations which have resulted in the project’s current status. Construction of the weight room has no bearing on the circumstances of the fine arts department.
You question why UI supporters in good conscience agreed to donate $1 million for weight room equipment. It is because the donors are honorable alumni who follow through on their commitments. Not only did they provide the funds for the building, they are taking responsibility for the fixtures and equipment that make the new space functional without burdening the university.
Your editorial suggests that alumni should not honor their long-term pledges to the UI Foundation, that alumni donations benefiting students who participate in athletics are somehow inferior to donations benefiting fine arts students, and that UI departments and colleges are crumbling from one end of the campus to the other. (We only wish UI was in such “disrepair” when we were students.)
Are you suggesting that the opening of the J.A. Albertson Business College should have been considered “bittersweet” by the Athletic Department? Using your logic, we are convinced that the University Library would not mind if we redirected our Library Endowment to the fine arts department!
In regard to your hypothetical press release about a new Fine Arts Center funded by alumni, why not use the power of your pen to educate the public about the benefits of the program and inspire a campaign to correct the situation rather than diminish progress being made elsewhere on the campus. We suggest you reach out to UI alumni with a fine arts background and determine where their priorities lie. Please consider future articles on why athletic facilities have been neglected for decades and investigate why the vast majority of alumni do not donate to any aspect of the university.
We are always amused as to just how easy it is for the Argonaut to target the underfunded, overachieving Athletic Department every time a crisis arises on campus. Your divisive journalism only serves to create more misconceptions about UI athletics and more frustration between students, faculty and alumni. We shall continue to make the UI Athletic Department one of our charitable priorities and look forward to the day when facilities for UI student-athletes are on par with peer institutions.
Robert J. Yuditsky
class of 1981
John R. Yuditsky
class of 1961
UI Argonaut, 301 Student Union, Moscow, ID 83844
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