As the end of the year approaches, more and more students are beginning to make a slow realization: they have 200 dining dollars left. There are plenty of students who have been there. Whether we eat like rabbits and purchase large amounts of inexpensive vegetables or purchase 20 ounce Java Chip smoothies daily, we need to reevaluate the way we think about our dining dollars. For many, dining dollars are just an added bonus to your awesome LoggerCard where food purchases happen with great ease and a bit of technological...

To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to counter George Martinson’s Letter to the Editor published in the April 11th edition of The Trail where he responds to Mariana Molina’s powerful Letter published on March 14th. While I do not doubt the sincerity of Martinson’s Letter, it is my opinion that his piece is ultimately ill-informed, misguided, and rhetorically problematic. Martinson’s Letter is ill-informed in a two-fold manner. First, its statement concerning the financial status of Mariana’s family is incredibly, and shockingly, presumptuous. I have zero knowledge of her...

Response to Recent Public Letters On March 28, 2014 the Committee on Diversity (COD), a standing committee of the Faculty Senate, discussed A Public Letter Written to the Faculty and Administration of the University of Puget Sound written by Mariana Molina (published in The Trail and Wetlands Magazine online) and When Allies Fail: An Open Letter to the University Community written by C. J. Queirolo (published in Wetlands Magazine online). Members of the COD commend both of these students for having the strength and courage to speak back to silence...

To Whom it May Concern, I read Mariana Molina’s letter to the Trail on March 14th. I was touched and sympathetic to her plight. At the same time I was angered because of the circumstances surrounding her anguish. When her parents came here illegally they came with good intentions. To better their lives and that of their children. Evidently they have done well financially to have been able to send Mariana to this university. What makes me angry is that their efforts, their energy and their money would have been...

To whom it may concern, Over the past months there has been a number of discussions throughout the campus community about some of the issues that have been continually brought forth in campus publications since last December.  The issues of Greek life being exclusive, elitest, and heteronormative, and the absence of open conversations about these issues are not new phenomena.  Two years ago, a large group of the Greek Community sat down in the Murray Board room with the express purpose of addressing the issues of heteronormativity and homophobia within...

Petition from faculty, staff and student members of the University of Puget Sound in Support of the April 5, 2014 National Day of Action Against Deportations Dear members of the University of Puget Sound, We write to offer you three ways to help stop the deportation policies described below and carried out four miles from our campus at the Northwest Detention Center. • First, consider signing the following petition to President Obama, available online at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/support-actions-against-deportations. • Second, consider joining us at the Rally at the Northwest Detention Center in...

Dear Emma Powers, Thank you, first of all, for expressing an interest in improving Green Dot and working toward the creation of a safer campus community. I believe that criticism reflects concern, and concern is indicative of genuine caring. If everyone cared a bit more about prevention of power-based personal violence then this campus would be a safer place. With that said, I would like to challenge a few of the points that you presented in your criticism of the Green Dot program. I want to begin by saying that...

This Letter to the Editor is in response to C.J. Quierolo’s letter in the March 7 issue of The Trail. Dear C.J., I have read not only your article in the Fall issue of Wetlands but also your March 7th “Letter to the Editor,” in which you claim that “Greek Life is inherently heteronormative, exclusionary, elitist, secretive and that many queers on this campus feel unsafe around members of Greek Life.” As a queer, “gender non-conforming,” member of Greek Life, I have a number of objections to your claims. First...

A Public Letter to the faculty and administration of the University of Puget Sound, I am writing this letter out of concern. Lately, there has been a lot of talk about increasing the diversity on this campus, but to be honest, I hope that the University of Puget Sound does not see an increase in its enrollment of students of color anywhere in the near future. This is due to the fact that I don’t believe that this campus is fully prepared to support a truly diversified student body. Before...

To the editor, On February 28, The Trail ran an article by Becca Duncan responding to an article I had written in Wetlands Magazine where I argued that Greek Life is inherently heteronormative, exclusionary, elitist, secretive and that many queers on this campus feel unsafe around members of Greek Life. There have been a number of responses by members of Greek Life now and in multiple forums. I am not persuaded by any of them. In fact, most of the responses convince me of the need for more critique of...

In regards to the article about Peoplesoft; It is no surprise that after two semesters of using PeopleSoft students are still experiencing problems navigating through the system.  Being a senior, I have had three years to grow accustom to Cascade’s straightforward links and screens, so it would be understandable why I, or any senior or junior would experience problems learning the new system.  The fact that sophomores and freshmen, having some or no experience with Cascade, are experiencing these problems as well speaks for the difficulty of the new system....