Students looking for sport spirit are at the wrong school

If Richard Voit is looking for school spirit, he’s at the wrong university. I enjoy the fact that UTD focuses on academics, not athletics.

Shame on the students who said they support a ban on gay marriage because “the Bible says so.” Remind me, when did America become a theocracy? And might I remind them that the Bible also opposes interracial marriage, wearing polycotton blends and eating shellfish. If you don’t believe in gay marriage, then don’t marry someone of the same sex. It’s as simple as that.

Rachel Blubaugh

Psychology, Senior

Condom photo inappropriate

In concurrence with the opinion letter printed in the last addition, I must state my opinion of the matter regarding the picture in the previous edition.

It was very poor judgment to put such a picture in the paper, as it does not help in your journalistic integrity. You may not have known this, but ECS Summit (UTD recruiting session) was in place while that edition was out.

I had the privilege of speaking on the student panel during one of the events, and one of the parents wanted to ask me about the school privately.

She seemed to be distraught over this issue. Just imagine how we look to these intelligent prospective students.

You are not making anybody “aware” of anything; you may have turned off this nice woman, her son, and possibly other students from attending such a fine institution as UT-Dallas.

I hope you look at this issue in retrospect and have better judgment in the future.

Sean Seguin

Computer Science, Freshman

Mercury articles on religion reflects divergent opinion

Kudos on your article “Religious mosaic flourishes at UTD” (March 1, 2004).

Your recognition of the strength and diversity of the religious community at UTD is refreshing and encouraging.

As a Christian, I looked forward to this cultural diversity, hoping I would learn more about other religious beliefs and be able to make friends with people from many different countries.

For the most part, I have been able to do this, but I have been disappointed that many people on this campus have exerted an unusually negative pressure on me to abandon my personal faith in favor of looser values and a more liberal, yet less educated world view.

Your article takes a giant step in providing your readers a brief understanding of the facts – that “three in four students have a positive regard for spirituality and find personal help in religion or spirituality,” and also that people who embrace religious values present as diverse a population as any other group.

At the same time, your article, “Local author offers a unique religious perspective” threatens to negate that giant step by presenting conservative Baptists in a negative light.

In truth, conservative Baptists are not all cut from the same mold, and whatever misgivings Mary Blye Howe succumbed to are not shared by all conservative Baptists.

I can speak from personal experience when I say that, as a conservative Baptist myself, many people at UTD tell me what I believe, but rarely do they ask me what I believe.

Eileen Baland

Arts and Humanities, Graduate