OPINION

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Stupid?

Editor:

Robert Lukacs’ letter in response to J.D. Hayworth was certainly his bloviating opinion, but it is hard to believe, in view of events since Joe Biden took office, that anyone could be so stupid.

Since Joe took office, gas has increased in excess of $1 per gallon, our Southern border is out of control with no signs of relief, and Joe wants to spend $6.5 trillion, the latter of which we don’t have.

The country’s debt is out of control, impossible to repay, and politicians continued spending will increase our national debt, which is driving our country into bankruptcy.

Robert must realize that Democrats are also skilled at lying, Republicans do not have exclusivity. Wake up, Robert Lukacs!

Jim Swenson Goodyear COVID-19 collateral

Editor:

I am sad, and I am angry. My good friend David Wilson passed away of COVID-19 on Friday night, Sept. 18.

David lived a full life of service to friends, family, church and to the University of Southern California, where he was a choral conducting professor for many years. He loved music and spent the last few years conducting the church choir of Christ Presbyterian Church in Goodyear.

We met seven years ago when David became my oldest cello student at age 75. He was a dedicated student who put in hours of practice in pursuit of a dream.

I am angry because David did not have to die in this way. He was vaccinated and followed medical advice. Somewhere along the line, other people were not as vigilant as he was and spread the disease to him.

I hear people say COVID-19 will just have to run its course. The collateral damage of that approach is not acceptable. We have it in our power to love our neighbors and stop this curse. We did this with smallpox and polio, with measles and chicken pox. Science says the vaccine is safe and effective and it has been tested on 181 million fully vaccinated people in the United States. It is time to stop the carnage.

Mary Wilkening Litchfield Park Vote ‘yes’ for Agua Fria override

Editor:

Providing the best education to our children is the key to Arizona’s future success and securing a better future for our community.

Children need a solid foundation. Knowledge is the key. It is a guarantee and a promise of success.

Our community needs your “yes” vote! We know the important role education plays in our local economy. From economic opportunities to safe communities, strong schools play a pivotal role. If we want to continue attracting strong businesses and families, we must continue to support our local schools. I sincerely encourage everyone to vote “yes” on the override continuation for the Agua Fria Union High School District and the Litchfield Elementary School District this October. A “yes” on your ballots and a quick return will keep our communities strong and thriving.

JUDGE’S OPINION — King Features

Camelback Road traffic congestion

Editor:

Camelback Road traffic congestion has become terrible. About 90% of the traffic is from commercial vehicles, yet there are signs on the road staying no thru commercial vehicles. Why are semitrucks, cement trucks, dump trucks, etc., allowed on Camelback at 2 a.m. when Olive Avenue has 90% less traffic and no residential homes?

Ben Sanchez Litchfield Park Excellent letter

Editor:

I’d like to commend Thomas Rico on his excellent letter in the Sept. 29 West Valley View. No truer words have been spoken in a long time. He should have been a carpenter, because I never saw anybody hit so many nails on the head in one letter.

James Logan Buckeye

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WEST VALLEY VIEW NEWS | OCTOBER 6, 2021

ASU incident forces rethinking of college

BY DAVID LEIBOWITZ

West Valley View Columnist

Used to be, college was a place where new adults smacked face-first into life. You met people unlike any you’d known before. You confronted new ideas and cultures. You got challenged a little. You learned a lot.

That concept of college appears stone cold dead, and video evidence proves it.

Its footage shot last week in ASU’s Student Pavilion, in a room recently designated as a “multicultural space.” Before that, the space was a room where ASU pre-med student Chase Beckerman — a white male in his early 20s — sometimes went to study, including with his laptop, adorned with a “Police Lives Matter” sticker.

The sticker allegedly sparked the conflict, which last week racked up 5.5 million Twitter views and earned coverage from Fox News to Europe. In it, Beckerman and a white male friend — sporting a “Did Not Vote For Biden” T-shirt — are confronted by two women of color, sustainability grad student Sarra Tekola and undergrad Mastaani Qureshi, leaders of ASU’s Multicultural Solidarity Coalition, which lobbied for the creation of the space.

“What did I do wrong?” Beckerman asks.

“You’re offensive,” one of the women says. “Police lives matter?”

“We’re just trying to do schoolwork,” says Beckerman’s buddy, while Beckerman notes the presence of a Black Lives Matter sticker.

“But this is our space,” the woman says. “You’re making this space uncomfortable.”

“You’re making me uncomfortable,” the anti-Biden T-shirt guy says.

That’s when the whole thing goes to hell.

“But you’re white,” one woman shouts. “Do you understand what a multicultural space (is)? It means you’re not being centered.” To this the anti-Biden guy poses a question: “White’s not a culture?”

“White is not a culture,” Tekola yells. “Say it again to the camera. You think whiteness is a culture? … So anyways, this is the violence that ASU does and this is the type of people that they protect, OK. This white man thinks he can take up our space, and this is why we need a multicultural space. Because they think they can get away with this.”

Beckerman says he’s “just trying to study,” which unleashes another tirade. “You’re a racist. Your sticker’s racist. Because police, that’s a job. … I don’t choose to be Black, OK. You can choose to be a cop. You can choose to kill people with a badge, and you’re protecting that. … Which means that you’re racist.”

More shouting ensues, more cursing, more woke talking points.

The men leave, and the gist is clear: Police are evil. White men, too. The appearance of a pro-law enforcement sticker in a multicultural space is an act of violence.

The self-anointed police of this space feel empowered to defend it by enforcing a version of the same Jim Crow segregation Americans of all races battled against for decades.

Now Beckerman has an attorney and a public statement. “I support good people of all colors, creeds and religions and support those who want to end racial and social injustice. I am a student. My only desire is to study hard, work hard, and complete my studies at Arizona State University. I am cooperating with the university’s investigation into this incident, and I have faith in that process.”

ASU also released a statement: “Differences of opinion are part of the university experience. The university expects respectful dialogue between students in all engagements.”

In a righteous world, respect would be a two-way street. You’d get it no matter the title of the space, no matter the color of your skin, no matter the slogan on your sticker.

I learned that in kindergarten. Now you go to college to unlearn it.

David Leibowitz has called the Valley home since 1995. Contact david@leibowitzsolo.com

J.D. Hayworth represented Arizona in the U.S. House from 1995-2007. He authored and sponsored the Enforcement First Act, legislation that would have mandated enforcement of Federal Immigration Law in the 109th Congress.

ASU student confrontation handled with euphemism

BY J.D. HAYWORTH

West Valley View Columnist

Dr. Michael Crow has completed almost two decades as president of Arizona State University. He spent a portion of that time co-authoring a book that encapsulates what could be considered his mission statement for the institution: “Designing the New American University.”

But when a new controversy erupted on the Tempe campus and went viral via video on social media, Crow’s subordinates responded with old-fashioned euphemism.

On Sept. 23, in Room 321 of the Student Success Center, two white male students were harassed by members of the Multicultural Solidarity Coalition, which then posted a nearly 8-minute video of the confrontation that has since been taken down. (It remains available at other websites, though the graphic language contained therein is far from “quaint.”)

One of the white students, as Chase Beckerman, had a sticker on his computer that read “Police Lives Matter” and the other, who remains unidentified, wore a T-shirt reading “Did Not Vote for Biden.”

Two women of color, undergraduate Mastaani Qureshi and graduate student Sarra Tekola, appeared to take the lead in confronting the white men, demanding they leave Room 321.

Perhaps the most revealing part of the exchange comes when Beckerman, trying to strike a conciliatory tone, asked, “Is there anywhere I can go?”

Teacola responded, “Yeah! The whole rest of the campus! The second floor, the first floor, the whole MU (Memorial Union) — every single part of the campus centers you! This is the only space that you’re not centered, and you’re still trying to center yourself, which is peak cis-white male (crap).

Beckerman then asserted, “I’m not racist, I’m just studying.”

That assertion brings a hot-tempered response from Teacola: “You are racist! Your sticker is racist because police, that’s a job! You can choose to be police. I don’t choose to be Black! OK, no — you can choose to be a cop, you can choose to kill people with a badge, and you’re protecting that (expletive), which means that you’re racist!”

Beckerman said: “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to offend you guys or anything.”

Teacola has long taken offense at ASU because school officials have not yet officially designated the space she was insisting the white students vacate as a multicultural center.

The university maintains that efforts to establish one are being formulated, but a specific location and dedication date have not yet been established.

Tekola is a Ph.D. candidate in ASU’s School of Sustainability and is Ford Foundation Fellow. The fellowship provides a stipend of at least $24,000 annually, which ASU accepts as full recompense for tuition and fees.

Despite the fact that the Ford Foundation describes her academic achievement as truly elite — in the top 4% of applicants — Tekola views herself as a victim.

Perhaps that is why, in addition to her role as the founder of MSC, she also is the Phoenix Metro Chapter of Black Lives Matter’s “co-minister for activism.”

Maybe that’s why ASU’s statement in response to the confrontation was so muted. It read, in part: “The Dean of Students Office is aware of the disagreement between a handful of students … (and) will be discussing it with all involved. … Differences of opinion are part of the university experience. …”

The statement does not detail if any ASU student will face disciplinary action, but Beckerman has retained legal counsel and issued his own statement, which emphasizes reconciliation and “meaningful change.”

It could also be that Chase is aware that Crow’s book is described as a “radical blueprint for reinventing American higher education” and understands the operative term is “radical.”

No euphemism there.