Letter to the editor
Issue date: 7/31/09 Section: Ed-Op
Dear Editor,
"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" I think it is important to recognize the 40th anniversary that just recently occurred. Neil Armstrong said it best that this was a huge milestone for mankind. This happened during the Vietnam War and while our country was undergoing racial tension in all aspects of life. The Civil Rights movement was very important and I don't think it is a coincidence that we got the first man on the moon in 1969.
This was something people of all races could be proud of. The people of the United States had won the moon race over the Soviet Union. The astronauts who walked on the moon were just people of mankind; it did not matter what the color of their skin was.
If we all put our ingenuity and scientific knowledge together to walk on the moon, then we can accomplish great things right here on earth, right? Forty years later the main Civil Rights struggles are still ongoing. Most people cannot put their differences aside and work together to solve these issues.
Not every person in our country has equal access to certain things. Maybe officially, we say everyone is equal, but some people do not have the same health options and education opportunities.
One major challenge that I see is the AIDS epidemic. I know that not every person has the same IQ in our country, but why can't we at least provide better education for our kids? We need to teach them more about safe sex and AIDS. I hear people say that mostly black people in the U.S. and black people in Africa have AIDS. Yes, a lot of black people, latinos, and other minorities have AIDS. On the contrary, there are plenty of white people that have AIDS in the U.S. Why don't we ever talk about these white people with AIDS?
Looking back on a great accomplishment as the man walking on the moon in 1969, I also look to the future when we confront this great challenge of eradicating AIDS. If we have enough knowledge to get a man on the moon, I say that we can get rid of AIDS by 2049.
Lonnie Snyder
Senior, Mechanical Engineering
"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" I think it is important to recognize the 40th anniversary that just recently occurred. Neil Armstrong said it best that this was a huge milestone for mankind. This happened during the Vietnam War and while our country was undergoing racial tension in all aspects of life. The Civil Rights movement was very important and I don't think it is a coincidence that we got the first man on the moon in 1969.
This was something people of all races could be proud of. The people of the United States had won the moon race over the Soviet Union. The astronauts who walked on the moon were just people of mankind; it did not matter what the color of their skin was.
If we all put our ingenuity and scientific knowledge together to walk on the moon, then we can accomplish great things right here on earth, right? Forty years later the main Civil Rights struggles are still ongoing. Most people cannot put their differences aside and work together to solve these issues.
Not every person in our country has equal access to certain things. Maybe officially, we say everyone is equal, but some people do not have the same health options and education opportunities.
One major challenge that I see is the AIDS epidemic. I know that not every person has the same IQ in our country, but why can't we at least provide better education for our kids? We need to teach them more about safe sex and AIDS. I hear people say that mostly black people in the U.S. and black people in Africa have AIDS. Yes, a lot of black people, latinos, and other minorities have AIDS. On the contrary, there are plenty of white people that have AIDS in the U.S. Why don't we ever talk about these white people with AIDS?
Looking back on a great accomplishment as the man walking on the moon in 1969, I also look to the future when we confront this great challenge of eradicating AIDS. If we have enough knowledge to get a man on the moon, I say that we can get rid of AIDS by 2049.
Lonnie Snyder
Senior, Mechanical Engineering
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