Block Party not SGA insiders

In Tuesday’s Lite Fare, The Diamondback labeled Block Party Student Government Association presidential candidate Emma Simson as the current “SGA administration.” I think any notion that Emma is the insider SGA candidate, especially considering that Kip Edwards is now in the SGA and Jahantab Siddiqui was an SGA legislator last year, is a pretty significant mischaracterization.

Emma Simson ran for Vice President of Academic Affairs last year with the Firm Party and was the only executive elected from a party other than Andrew Rose’s Next Party. The truth is that she actively opposed Rose’s election as president, and I think we’re realizing now that more of us should have followed her lead, given the disappointment this year has been. In her current position, her role has been to be active outside of the SGA. Her position does not embroil her in pointless internal SGA squabbling; rather, she has spent her time with students, administrators and state legislators working on issues of mutual concern. She’s worked to make the work the SGA does more relevant to students and make what has been an invisible organization under Andrew Rose into one students can actually see at work.

The Block Party has a revolutionary idea in their platform: Have the SGA actually do something for students! They would hold monthly block parties around the campus at which students and their representatives can have some fun and talk about whatever they want. Rather than having SGA representatives sitting around spending countless hours on whether they should spend two dollars on a stapler, Emma Simson envisions a student government that connects with students at a grassroots level. I think this candidate is going to follow through and won’t just give us more of business as usual.

Wesley Gee

SGA Director of Communication

and Public Relations

Rioters are simply embarrassing

It would be hard to think of a comment more ignorant than that of university senior Shea Hoxie, who was quoted in the April 5 Washington Post as saying, “I was disappointed we didn’t flip over the bus. We rioted for the women’s basketball team, which is out of character for us. We needed something to cheer for.”

Please, cheer away, Shea. But tip over a bus? Hoxie, a criminology and criminal justice and government and politics major (oh, the irony), no doubt regrets his words. Prospective employers should have a field day Googling his name.

As a lifelong Maryland fan and a resident of nearby Takoma Park, I continue to be astounded by the sheer brainlessness of people whom our society calls adults. Please, no excuses such as, “Oh, they’re just kids blowing off steam.” The Diamondback story on the riots was even more frightening, with students egging each other on to set fires and taunt the police. This is celebrating?

Sadly, given the intensity of previous riots, this one was seen as almost tame by comparison. I guess it all depends on your perspective.

Until the university gets a handle on the violence – perhaps by expelling all who have been found to participate in such illegal actions, and not allowing them to return, ever – Maryland will be a second-rate institution. Like it or not, the minority who engage in this behavior have established your reputation nationwide. And once again, a great athletic achievement has been sullied by a mob of idiots who don’t deserve the privilege of a college education.

Steve Davies

Takoma Park

Maryland women’s team a true inspiration

I just want to thank the Maryland Women’s 2006 NCAA national basketball championship team. I don’t know how much this will mean to them, but I can’t express how much their passion, play and performance means to me as a woman and as a former competitive athlete. I really think the way our women’s team performed in the NCAA tournament, let alone all season, has set the record straight for all those people out there who continue to downplay women’s sports, and even those who still refuse to see women as equals in general.

I literally got teary-eyed when we won. I was deliriously happy for those young women on our team who are such incredible and inspirational players and who now have at least one game they will never ever forget to be proud of. Better yet, as a supporter of women’s athletics, I get to smile when when the freshman point guard makes a blind fade-away 3-pointer to tie the game in the national championship against the No. 1 seed to force overtime and say, “So you really still think women’s sports aren’t exciting?”

Anyone who says yes is just wrong, irrelevant and clearly not here, watching with us, in 2006. So, when you have semi-final and championship games that are gut-wrenchingly close, when you realize that sports(wo)manship is not dead, and you see brilliant teamwork winning NCAA finals, you’ll know you’re watching women’s basketball, and it’s awesome. Thank you, ladies; I couldn’t have asked for a more amazing gift to my graduating class of 2006.

Sara Kane

Psychology

Senior