Letters to the editor
Stuft Pizza review was unsubstantiated
To the editor:
After reading an article on a comparison of Stuft and Fast D's (Feb. 3), I must say I was severely let down by the poor portrayal of Stuft. As a junior on campus, I have witnessed countless student events generously sponsored by Jay Conlin, who always contributes part of the profits to the clubs hosting the event (Santa Clara Democrats, Santa Clara Republicans, Ruff Riders, the Abroad office, and other student organizations have all taken advantage of this).
My main complaint is that the personal assumptions the writer obviously made, were portrayed as empirical research. I am very familiar with the processes of the business practice of Stuft Pizza to know that produce orders are placed every day and delivered every morning at 5 a.m. The "ingredients" are not "out of a huge bag and thrown on your pizza." This is an unfounded perspective that lacks valid and supporting evidence.
Furthermore, if the writer had bothered to browse the menu, he would have found that Stuft offers a variety of crust options -- thin being one of them -- so that he is not "chewing on too much bread after every bite."
This article is not up to the standard I expect: it was poorly written and poorly researched. Prior to the author's review, he should have been able to accurately affirm his statements, those that he presented as facts, but are merely his biased assumptions. Many of his claims were merely an attempt to boast his admiration for a small, mediocre pizza joint in order to compensate his personal distaste for Stuft Pizza, a successful student-oriented establishment.
I would hope that in the future, individuals who chose to write restaurant reviews are cognizant of the honest inner workings of each establishment prior to publicizing their opinion to the entire student body.
Megan Conlin
Psychology '06
Discussion panel bias
To the editor:
On Tuesday, Feb. 1, we attended the "discussion" panel on the war in Iraq. We attended the panel in hopes of learning more about the current situation in Iraq. It became very clear, to us at least, quite early on that instead of being a "discussion" panel, that in fact a majority of the panel were quite biased against the war in Iraq.
We find no fault in their opinions, which they have every right to hold, but as students in search of a greater understanding of world events, we felt we were not being presented with all the facts and opinions. Upon further investigation, we learned that this event was promoted as being unbiased. The flyer presented the event an impartial learning experience, when in fact only one view was given. One of the three C's, which are so important to the student body here at Santa Clara is conscience, and we feel that this should be kept in mind for the creation of similar future events.
Lisa Rozakis
Classics/History '07
Katie Wampler
English '07
The resiliency of tsunami survivors
To the editor:
I arrived roughly three weeks later after the devastating earthquake and tsunami ripped through the Indian Ocean, and specifically off the western coast of Indonesia and northern Sumatra. Being so personally and professionally vested in the region, and having spent half my career there, just watching CNN wasn't good enough. I had to go. I had to do something.
The view that fits in the square of a camera lens doesn't begin to capture the scale and scope of the devastation: human, material, emotional. The relief effort was immense, global in every sense, with assistance coming in from every political, geographical, and religious corner.
I want to introduce you to Agiel and Mr. C, both from Banda Aceh, both taken for medical treatment with countless others, to hospitals in Medan shortly after the tsunami. We met on a military flight from Medan to Banda Aceh. They were going home, what was left.
Mr. C lost his wife, eight months pregnant, torn from his arms. However reserved and thoughtful he was with us, he was also strong. He owned an auto garage.
Agiel, a teenage boy, lost his immediate family. Over time, he also lost some of his shyness and found some of the English words he knew, deciding he liked having his photo taken with the foreigners "helping his people." This is the picture of youth and resilience. All they had when we met is what they were wearing. We put together kits for them from our own bags. We spent 24 hours together due to diversions from Banda Aceh to Thailand. Yes, Thailand. But it was not an insignificant diversion.
Imagine: going through what they had, never having been out of Sumatra, and now taking military aircraft with strangers, landing in a foreign land. Agiel had his first bite of cheese tortellini in a military MRE. He was surely afraid of all Italian food now.
On reaching Banda Aceh, leaving them was heart-wrenching. In a lighter moment, we had three MREs left, Agiel begged us not to force them on him as he left us. He'd had enough, joking with us about rice; just rice. He was ready to go. Mr. C accepted them gladly. He was looking abandoned. It was tough to look him in the eye, especially since we couldn't explain ourselves in Indonesian. I know they had places to go, but I felt responsible for them to an extent that I can't explain. This is only one of many stories. As difficult as it is, I am glad I went. I am in awe of the human spirit and will to go on. People are so resilient.
Terresa Christenson
Brodeur, SVP Western U.S. and Asia Pacific
SCU Alumni '90
* Editor's note: The names in Terresa Christenson's letter have been changed.