Rain-chic advice unsafe for Seattleites

I don't usually object to shallow fashion columns, but that's because they usually don't give outright dangerous advice.

Shanelle Smith ["Rain chic: how every Seattleite can be fashionably prepared," Oct. 26] opines that no one should wear "iridescent" rain attire that "stick[s] out like sore thumbs."Instead, we should wear dark colors like black, navy, gray or brown.

Allow me to present a few facts for those who may care about things besides what Ms. Smith thinks are ugly: The rainy season in Seattle is dark.Within the next month, we will enter a part of the year when the sun rises around 8 a.m. and sets around 4 p.m.

It will, of course, be rainy. As always, drivers will be in a hurry and will not look for pedestrians. The rain will make it harder for drivers to see you, and since the roads will be wet, it will take vehicles longer to stop.

In these conditions, the difference between the car stopping in time and not stopping in time is often whether the driver can see you or not.

Ms. Smith suggests you be fashionable to her and invisible to cars in your all-black attire. I suggest a better choice would be ugly and visible.

Your choice.

—Greg Barnes

UW software engineer

Computing and Communications

Running Start students no different from the rest

I read Celeste Flint's article ["Too many Running Start students hurts higher education"] on Running Start students in Oct. 26th's issue of The Daily.

While I find the article generally offensive (being a Running Start student myself), I really do agree with you on the point that the standards are way too low in high schools.

However, I do not understand why you mentioned this, since it is irrelevant.

Running Start students must take the same admission tests as the other high school graduates. Therefore, they do not get into college any easier than others (ignoring the financial side). What offended me, and perhaps many others, the most is the fact that you denounce the Running Start students in general for not paying attention in class, falling behind, being irresponsible, etc. While it is true that many of them are the way that you have described, you have failed to realize that those are typical traits of college students.

So I do not grasp the point of your argument. You are generalizing the typical traits of college students for the Running Start students in order to denounce them.

One other thing that you have failed to see is the reason that the state offers the program. You say that the program is on the taxpayers' burden. Have you thought about the fact that after getting two years of a head start, they will probably become employed earlier than others, and therefore get about two years of a head start on paying taxes? In addition, have you thought about what sort of opportunities the state is creating in supporting the Running Start program, which will produce excellent taxpayers?

— Suk-Hyun Cho

Senior, applied and computational math sciences

Racism awareness week misses the mark

[In response to Garrett Troy's "Awareness week draws debate," Oct. 23]

I understand that as a journalist you are taught to find conflict and present both sides equally, and I believe that Garret Troy may have strived to do so in his article today.Unfortunately, I am afraid he has completely missed the mark and completely misunderstood the goals of the "Islamo-Fascism" group.

The Campus Republicans are presenting a viewpoint that I believe most Republicans would find reprehensible. This thinly veiled presentation supposedly against terrorism is instead an attempt to frighten the public and insight racism. I am very disappointed that neither Troy nor The Daily realized this fact.Instead he presented the propaganda of the Campus Republicans without question and without researching the speakers or the films.In essence, he became their pawn for spreading hatred.

I apologize for my strong language, but I am afraid that Troy has failed to represent the Islamo-Facism group as they really are, and I truly hope that he will learn from this experience and thoroughly research future articles before publication.

— Andrew Van Eck

Graduate student, biology

Islamo-Fascism week fails to educate, increases fear

When clubs on college campuses host events, they're considered an attempt to educate on issues that would otherwise go unknown or unrecognized. Last week the Republicans of the UW hosted Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, which appeared to be an attempt to create more turmoil with the Muslim community in the United States, rather than an attempt to educate.

There's nothing wrong with educating people about the actions taken by extreme Muslims, but we are living in a country that has suffered from Islamophobia since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

It's important to let students know that such people do exist, but not often do we hear about xenophobia or about the Ku Klux Klan hate crimes. And when we do hear about them, they are either old or fast news.

In our society, it is easier to increase the level of fear people have for a particular group than to cure it. Islamo-Fascism Week was more about helping people increase their level of phobia toward Muslims than educating about the dangers that exist. Such events serve as a manipulator to generalize a specific group rather than individualizing them.

I am not Muslim. But when the Republicans of the UW took the time to host Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, it was easier for me to think that this was an attack toward a religion and race. Why isn't there a Friendly White Christians Awareness Week educating students on the Ku Klux Klan? Probably ... because ... you know why.

— Martha Molina

Junior, political science

Hindu column contains gross historical inaccuracies

I appreciate that The Daily makes a point of publishing diverse viewpoints, especially on thorny subjects such as religion. However, I have some concerns with a recent editorial contribution ["Gandhi an example of Hindu faith in politics," Oct. 30, Shreyas Limaye].

While the author makes an effort to state how leaders such as Gandhi used the Hindu faith to successfully unite the Indian people for independence, in one instance he takes what I can only call a historically inaccurate and one-sided viewpoint of Indian history.

For example, take the struggle to "liberate" the princely state of Hyderabad. In the fall of 1948, Hyderabad was "annexed" by force into India through a state-sponsored military action in which thousands of innocent people, mainly of Muslim background, were killed. There was no peaceful reunification but rather brutal carnage and terrible communal violence at the hands of the state, backed by local religious leaders.

While Gandhi can be considered an exemplar of true Indian ideals of peaceful coexistence and understanding, I think that when discussing historical events such as the 1948 military action in Hyderabad state, one needs to be cognizant of the facts of what occurred — and that many leaders in India have used and still use a skewed religious ideology to stoke hatred against minority groups within that nation.

— Irmina Sultana Haq

Senior, political science and biology