Loose drivers
Editor's Note: This letter is in response to a typo in an article about police pullovers, in which "You Drink, You Drive, You Lose" was spelled "You Drink, You Drive, You Loose."
What a revelation to read about the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's new "loose driver" awareness campaign. Although I had never considered it, I must admit the NHTSA makes a valid point that alcohol-impaired drivers are much looser than non-impaired drivers.
Why, just the other day I observed an obviously loose driver (the open container was a dead giveaway) whose apparent happy-go-lucky disposition prevented what could have been an unfortunate case of road rage when an uptight and badly-in-need-of-a-drink driver swerved in front of him and almost sent him careening into a ditch.
Instead of honking, using an obscene hand gesture or madly ramming his vehicle into the careless driver, he merely laughed, waved, and began gleefully singing "American Pie" in full voice out the driver window, albeit rather off-key. What an inspiration this was to me to witness such good cheer in the face of potential rage!
With these types of averted disasters occurring daily around the country, it's no wonder the NHTSA has adopted the "You Drink, You Drive, You Loose" campaign to promote the spirit of care-free, good-natured, and ultimately forgiving attitudes on our nations highways. Kudos to the NHTSA, and kudos to the Sun Star for bringing this campaign to our attention!
Barry Miller
Tuition versus financial aid
I would like to thank all the students that have come to the ASUAF offices in the past weeks to talk to members of the student senate and me about tuition increases. That said though, I would also like to say that there are not enough of you.
The reason ASUAF responded as it did to the tuition increases for needs based scholarships was not because we do not believe they should be given, but that the creation of such scholarships from tuition is a dangerous precedent to create.
The Board of Regents had no clear idea of what this program would look like. Would these funds be given to the Alaska Commission for Post Secondary Education as was suggested by some? If so, our tuition dollars could be used to send students to schools other than the University of Alaska. Or would it be used to serve only students in the rural communities as was also suggested?
The point is that throwing money at a problem and saying, "the details will get worked out" should not be acceptable for this student body. I don't have the space in this letter to state my full argument and so I encourage anyone to come in to the ASUAF office and talk with me.
We are not a rich student body. I can say that. I know this because most of my fellow ASUAF officials and I are in debt from loans we have to take out in order to come here. So no, I do not have a silver spoon in my mouth as others have tried to point out.
Sven Gilkey
ASUAF President
