Regarding Casey Hoff’s “U. S. soldiers do not enjoy killing,” in the Feb. 7 paper, I served in the U.S. Army as a medic from June 1969 to January 1977. My brother volunteered for the draft and volunteered to extend his tour in Vietnam to gain an early out from his military contract. My father enlisted in the U.S. Navy after Pearl Harbor. And his father took a lateral transfer from the U.S. Army to the U.S. Navy after my dad enlisted. From our coming legally to America, my ancestors have served in nearly every generation in one or another of our armed forces. My qualifications are some match for young Casey Hoff.

I would not want anybody on line next to me who did not reflect the very attitude expressed by Mr. Mattis. The enemy of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and of our college boys, who were offended by the remarks made by a true American fighting man, makes me want to puke.

In basic training in June 1969, we were taught the “spirit of the bayonet” is to kill. We sang songs about killing our enemy. We were taught there are two kinds of soldiers — “the quick and the dead.” Had we not been trained in the school that understood combat was not a frat party, more than the 58,000 who died in the nearly 20 years we fought there would have perished.

Robert James Burkholder

Active duty June ’69 to January ’77

As a Catholic, I appreciated Mark Baumgardner’s Feb. 9 article, “Ash Wednesday: reason to reflect,” explaining the significance of the occasion. I especially appreciated the statement (quoted in the article) by Barone that “American Catholics are … more diverse in their opinions than ever.” Unfortunately, Baumgardner himself does a poor job of representing this reality as his article goes on to chastise supporters of embryonic stem-cell research, same-sex unions and abortion rights in a manner suggesting that all Catholics share his views.

In point of fact, they do not. Many Catholics support embryonic stem-cell research, and it was the Catholic mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, who issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples last spring. There are even Catholics who support abortion rights (see, for example, Catholicsforchoice.org).

Catholic moral theology allows this plethora of views, holding that one who has undergone a process of discernment (studying the Church’s teaching, praying and integrating all that with one’s own experience in the Holy Spirit) may dissent from the Church’s view. Indeed, one of the greatest Catholic theologians of all time, St. Thomas Aquinas, held that: “anyone upon whom the ecclesiastical authority, in ignorance of true facts, imposes a demand that offends against his clear conscience, should perish in excommunication rather than violate his conscience.”

In that spirit, perhaps the best way to assert the Catholic identity so straitjacketed by Baumgardner is to say, “I dissent.”

Matthew Rassette

School of Veterinary Medicine

Dorms. Let’s face it; they’re small and cramped, but they are home to a number of people. The University of Wisconsin has recently decided to close much of the graduate student housing, including my current home, Rust/Shreiner House.

While I personally would prefer to have more space, Rust/Shreiner was the perfect housing choice for me for my first year of graduate school. Since I was abroad last year, I did not have the opportunity to look for housing before the beginning of the school year. Fortunately, there was a room for me on campus, just minutes away from my classes and office. The rent is manageable and the bathrooms sufficient.

Living in Rust/Schreiner House has given me the opportunity to be part of a community that I otherwise never would have come in contact with. Here I have met people from Europe (Denmark, Germany and France) and Asia (Pakistan, India, China, Taiwan, Japan, etc.), as well as others from my home state of Minnesota. Because I grew up in central Minnesota, developing these international contacts has been an invaluable part of my education. I have also made at least one friend who I expect to stay in touch with for many years to come.

Dorms are an important part of the university experience, and not just for undergrads. It is a tragedy to see my home being closed and my neighbors being kicked out. Maybe we can turn this trend around.

Karen Scott

German department