Dear Editor,
This letter is in response to Maria Castagliola’s letter in your Oct. 13 issue in which she accused me of being a “shameless rsum builder who belongs at a more conservative religious school.”
I have never used a religious argument against the Ludacris concert because I am not under the false impression that everyone shares the same worldview. This being the case, a religious argument would be ill-suited and unpersuasive.
I am opposed to the concert on the grounds that both the vote for the activities fee increase and the e-mail vote on the artist were slipped in with next to no advertising last semester and therefore left the vast majority of students without an opportunity to voice their opinion by voting. I would be opposed to any event that was funded in such a way in that it is anti-democratic.
It was only well after I began this fight that I discovered Ludacris’ lyrics, to which I am opposed on the grounds that they are degrading to women. An example? Take your pick: “Hoes in My Room,” “Dis B—-, Dat Hoe,” “Move B—-,” “Freaky Thangs”… need I go on?
Considering the fact that this is a university where “PEOPLE come first, are treated with dignity and respect, and are encouraged to achieve their full potential” – as per our mission statement – I feel that it is inappropriate for us to support an artist who demeans fully one-half of the student population.
As far as my speaking out against the concert being a “slap in the face to the SGA: I am on the SGA to represent my constituents, not to agree with whatever the majority of the senate believes to be the best for their constituents.
The SGA is a representative governmental organization in which there will always be disagreements.
If each and every member of the SGA simply went along with what the majority of members consider best, then there are students who are not being represented. I can think of no issue on which every student on this campus agrees and, therefore, there should be few if any issues on which the entire SGA agrees. When was the last time the U.S. Senate made a unanimous decision?
I hope that you would never vote for someone who will simply go with the status quo, accepting whatever their fellow senators place up for debate.
Jama OliverP.S. The reason that no one protested the religious concert The Well held on the intramural field is because it was privately funded, i.e., the student body was not forced to pay for it.

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