Domestic avian flu threat overstated

There was a major inaccuracy in the March 3 story, “Health Center preps for avian flu.” The story stated three cases of birds infected with avian flu have been reported in the United States. The statement is inaccurate and misleading and may cause undue concern among Diamondback readers.

Avian flu, or Avian Influenza, should not be confused with what is commonly referred to in the media as “bird flu,” which is caused by a highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of Avian Influenza virus. The H5N1 virus that is causing severe mortality in poultry and some human infections and deaths in Southeast Asia has never even been reported in the United States. There are several strains of Avian Influenza that affect poultry and other bird species. Most strains reside normally in wild waterfowl, such as ducks and geese, where they cause no illness.

Only the H5N1 strain has shown the greatest ability to infect both poultry and humans, although human-to-human transmission has not been reported. Federal and state agencies, with the help of the poultry industry, are continuously monitoring domestic poultry for H5N1 and other pathogenic strains of Avian Influenza. In the unlikely event H5N1 gains entry into the United States, a federal-state-industry emergency response plan to eradicate the virus will be immediately implemented.

Regardless, it is always prudent to follow good hygiene and sanitation practices as recommended by public health officials.

Dr. Nathaniel Tablante

Associate Professor and Extension Poultry Veterinarian

VA-MD Regional College of Veterinary Medicine

Nationwide marijuana policies unreasonable

In the Feb. 28 column “New marijuana policy just,” we were given another example of a complete lack of understanding of how these drugs and the people who use them operate in today’s society. The column exemplified many common misconceptions and absurdities about marijuana that continue to prevail despite evidence to the contrary. The social policy of criminalizing marijuana use has cost society billions, jailed countless non-violent people who pose no threat to society and done little to curb illicit drug use. Moreover, it has turned what is primarily a personal and psychological/medical problem into a legal one. Universities across the nation, including Maryland, refuse to adopt a sensible policy that would stop this unreasonable system of depriving students of an education and tarring them for life.

The column also offhandedly mentions legalizing marijuana may free up some jail space. Is this not a priority in our society? Freeing prisons to make room for violent criminal offenders seems practical. It also states legalization would “immediately spell out the detrimental effects for our society in the long term.” Why? Where did this notion that legalizing marijuana will create a country full of stoned zombies? Maybe those who smoke will continue to do so peacefully as they have always done, and there will be no backlash to society.

While the university does have an obligation to keep order in the dorms and on the campus, this can be done without exacting such harsh and unfair punishments to students who have not committed serious offenses. It bewilders me every time I see people still categorizing drug use as criminal behavior, and I plead with society to leave myself and other D.A.R.E graduates to choose what we want to put into our own bodies.

Scott Ratner

Freshman

Letters and sciences

UMD no exception, media sustains gender bias

Sean Coleman’s March 2 letter to the editor responding to Emily Kloc’s Feb. 28 column on gender bias made clear the author missed the point of Emily’s column. It was not to say men and women are the same; obviously there are differences in physical appearance and cultural experience everyone concedes to. The main idea was men and women do not receive equal opportunity, despite what people may believe. And there are, in fact, figurative “laws” preventing women from achieving as much as easily as men do – it’s called living in a traditionally sexist society. Denying the existence of sexism – be it sports, business, etc. – is ridiculous.

This not as an attack on men but rather a call to think about, discuss and fight against manifestations of sexism and gender roles we feel are unfair. Speaking of gender bias, I also feel it necessary to point out though the guest columnist refrained from personal attacks, she was still accused of “showing us a lot of anger.” However, the letter itself displayed anger and seemed to find no problem with this approach. Most memorably, people who held “these attitudes” were told to “stop whining [their] life away.” Here is a perfect example of gender roles in action – in general, a woman with a strong opinion is seen as angry, threatening or whiny while a man’s strong words are taken in stride. Even the way The Diamondback presented the two letters unintentionally evidences this. Kloc’s piece was sold as extremely opinionated under the heading “Media creates gender bias.” Coleman’s, on the other hand, was portrayed as more neutral with the conciliatory label of “Men and women are different, and that’s okay.”

Anne Price

Sophomore

English and history