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Opinion
 

Letters to the Editor

Illegal immigrants are causing conflicts in the U.S.

To the editor:

Florian Martin sets up his article "Immigration not a problem for the U.S." (Tuesday, Opinion) by mentioning four arguments that opponents of illegal immigration typically have, and then fails at even attempting to counter three of them.

Martin didn't even try to disprove that illegal immigrants take American jobs or exploit the social system. 

Illegal immigrants do exploit the social system when they send their children to American schools without paying taxes. When someone cheats the system by sending their child to school for 12 or more years without paying taxes, someone else has to pay for it: us. 

City, and even state governments are losing money that they could be spending elsewhere to improve citizens' welfare (and yes I know that any child born within the U.S. is a U.S. citizen, but that's a separate story).

Perhaps funniest of all is how Martin states that opponents of illegal immigration "claim" that illegal immigrants increase the crime rate and then he himself acknowledges that they do.

He holds that laws prohibiting illegal immigrants from renting apartments will make life as an illegal immigrant harder, which will "only" result in more poverty and crime from that group, implicitly stating it is already committing crimes, therefore increasing the crime rate.

Jaime E. Gracia-Romero
University Studies Freshman

Residence halls were depicted incorrectly

To the Editor:

Many of the issues that Jim McCormick raised in his Wednesday opinion column, "Residence halls aren't what they used to be" were incomplete. I would like to clarify a few. 

The Urban Experience Program office's expansion only took six feet of space from the Oberholtzer second floor study area. That study area is still there, and is used frequently.

The Food Service Advisory Committee includes representatives of both Residence Halls Association and Student Government Association. Residents with complaints or suggestions regarding Aramark's practices should contact their representative. 

In addition, Residential Life and Housing hosts open meetings between residents and Aramark staff members each semester. Also, RLH is working with Aramark toward offering more meal plan flexibility to residents.

The Internet in the residence halls is currently slower than it was. RLH Information Technology and UH Information Technology are working together to upgrade the connections. The process will be completed in Summer 2007.

The residence halls were over 100 percent full this year, and our retention rate has not dropped. 

Lastly, I agree wholeheartedly with the recommendation that residents become more involved with RHA. Many changes made have been made based on RHA recommendations. 

Where RHA goes and what it accomplishes is up to the people actively involved. If residents would like a say in how things operate, this is the most effective way to do it.

Andy Blank
Executive director
Residential Life and Housing

Letters to the editor are welcome from all members of the UH community and should focus on issues, not personalities. Letters must be typed and must include the author's name, telephone number and affiliation with the University. Anonymous letters will not be published. Letters are subject to editing for clarity, language and space. Letters may be delivered in person to Room 151C, Communication; e-mailed to dclettrs@mail.uh.edu ; or faxed to (713) 743-5384.