Letters to the editor
Student Action
To the Editor:We wanted to personally thank The Santa Clara for including the Victoria's Secret protest in last week's issue. The protest on Saturday, Sept. 30 was an effort by the Labor Action Committee and concerned students as part of a larger national awareness and solidarity campaign. Because of Victoria's Secret's unwillingness to pay union wages to the Thai workers at the Gina Form Factory, they will be moving the production to China where workers are unable to organize, a practice known as "cut and run" abandonment. As a result, 1,600 workers at Gina Form Factory will lose their jobs after recently winning a battle to achieve living wages and non-sweatshop conditions.
Those who protested on Saturday do not assume that this social injustice will be righted because of this one action; rather, we are trying to promote awareness and show solidarity with the Thai workers, who will actually see pictures of the action.
A boycott against Victoria's Secret would hurt workers; instead, we are asking that students take action. Please consider participating in one of the following:•Talk to the manager at your local Victoria's Secret store.•Call Grace A. Nichols, President and CEO at (614) 577-7000 and tell her that cutting and running is union busting. Production must stay at Gina Form Factory where human rights are respected.•Go online to www.unionvoice.org/campaign/thailandgina to sign an online petition.•Contact Matt Lee at mllee@scu.edu if you are interested in further involvement with LAC.
Thank you to the Santa Clara students for taking a stand on important social issues that transcend individual political concerns. We encourage students to continue being actively engaged in whatever struggle for justice invokes their passion, through LAC or one of the many other justice-based organizations available here at Santa Clara.
Nicole Brand-CousyAnthropology '07Cristina SanidadSociology '08
Owens coverage justified
To the Editor:In his column in last week's issue of The Santa Clara, Mr. Kaufmann failed to point out that professional football is a business. Players owe no loyalty to the cities they play for. It's the owners that owe loyalty to their players. Terrell Owens, who took an almost insultingly small contract just so he could play for the Eagles, was hands-down the best receiver in the NFL in 2004. The haters never mention how he risked his entire career by rushing back from an injury to play with the Eagles in the Super Bowl. So when the 2005 season came along and he asked for more money, the owner owed it to him to pay up. Instead they kicked him off the team and vilified him in the media. Terrell Owens did nothing more than try and get what he rightfully deserved.
Kyle CattermoleFinance '08
Unrealistic view of sex
To the Editor:In response to "Immorality behind Contraception" in the Sept. 29 issue, what a horrible depiction of sex. Sex doesn't, by default, enhance a loving relationship, but it's not a destructive act. The article references the "divorce mentality" and how it is created by premarital sex. This implies couples require a legal bond to remain faithful, versus the emotional bond real marriages are made of.
If you are not legally bound to me, I don't trust you? That's love? Sex shouldn't be forbidden if the emotional bond necessary to sustain a relationship is present. Sex is no different with or without contraception, even if the contraception is limiting sex to a woman's infertile phase. The author believes the rhythm method is acceptable, but using the pill or a condom changes the act of sex? The same feelings, physical and emotional, are present during sex, regardless of pregnancy control method. What strains a relationship more, contraception, which the article says leads to infidelity, or an unexpected birth to a couple not emotionally or financially prepared for a child?
The article criticizes contraception-using developed nations because that led to their declining populations. Is the decline because of contraception, or because, financially speaking, children are an expense in developed countries, and an asset in third world countries? Latin American and African nations who do not have regular access to birth control have exponentially increasing populations, with five or six births per woman. Thankfully, these "contraception-free" nations also have adequate access to health care, education, and drinking water.
Either sex is strictly for procreative purposes, or it's an act that can be independent of procreation and thus not changed based on any form of contraception.
Chris ProctorFinance '07
Wahoo's is dissatisfying
To the Editor:In response to the restaurant review of Wahoo's Fish Taco, Wahoo's is not quality Mexican food. First, it's not quality. Second, it's not really Mexican food. It is at best average, overpriced eats.Go to La Victoria near San Jose State University if you require decent Mexican.
Mike PellicioPolitical Science '07