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Alumni Sandstorm Op-Ed Page for 11/10/04
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From: Jim Grow ('51)

Re:Vic Marshall ('71) Letter of Tuesday Nov. 9

That letter should not have been published as it cast
dispersion and disrespect on the Richland Police
Department. We do not need any stories about "infamouse
encounters" or "poor cops" or "ton of stories". I feel
sorry for the poor fellow. He should be ashamed of
himself.

Jim Grow ('51)

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From: Mike Brady ('61)

Subject: Controversial issues

In regards to Jay Siegel's comments, "...controversial
issues published in a paper such as Sandstorm will very
seldom influence anyone..." I agree with you. Change
happens very slowly. For example, I imagine many Bush
supporters still believe the Viet Nam War was the right
thing regardless of contradicting evidence. They also
believe there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq,
Saddam had a pipeline to Bin Laden, Bush will protect us,
and good moral values include killing over 100,000
innocent Iraqi people.

The reason I submitted my entry last Friday was to take a
stand for the minority of Bomber alumni who believe as I
do. I was overjoyed by by the number and content of e-
mails I received. I renewed some acquaintances and made a
lot of new friends.

I was not kidding about an eastside, westside reunion!

-Mike Brady '61

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From: Rosann Benedict (Gold Medal Class of '63)

Subject: Heal the Divide

Instead of digging in and fortifying the trenches, which
seems to be the nature of political discourse in our
country, how about some thoughtful words on how to heal
the divide?

If we can't talk without yelling, if our words are
nothing but insults (with lies), then there will
inevitably be a chasm between us. And if we can't heal
the political divide, can we at least propose strategies
to get along? After all, few "Red" states were
overwhelmingly red, and none of the "Blue" states were
totally blue. But perhaps the impression we all have is
that we are totally split.

Irreconcilable differences between spouses leads to
divorce. Passionate differences in politics such as there
is today has really only occurred a few times in the
United States (and for now is still is the "United"
states). Once, it led to civil war. The other times it
led to violence.

Surely no one would wish our divisions to go to that
ultimate rupture. How can we get along better? How can we
carry out the vision our founding fathers had for us?
(And their divisions were mammoth, yet they managed to
forge the remarkable, unequalled American Constitution.)

If your answer to this is "everything is fine as long as
the other side agrees with me", you are part of the
problem and not the solution. Any ideas? We had some
excellent history teachers back in the day...can we put
our educations to work on one of the really tough
problems we face today?

Rosann Benedict Gold Medal Class of '63

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