Congrats to women’s basketball teamTo the editors:Congratulations to the Villanova women’s basketball team on an extraordinary season! You have made Villanova and the entire region so proud. With your Big 5 championship, Big East championship and your amazing run in the NCAA tournament, you have proven yourselves to be an “Elite” team. I’m excited to see what you will accomplish next season. Thank you for giving me a reason to cheer this March.Brent SchwartzClass of 1998Students support Holland and Gupte in electionTo the editors:I am writing you to inform the Villanova community of the potential benefits of electing Maureen Holland and Gita Gupte for SGA president and vice president. I have had the opportunity of participating in extracurricular activities and volunteer service with both Maureen and Gita, and I can attest to their integrity and dedication to the many aspects of Villanova life that they have been a part of in their time as Villanova students. Both Maureen and Gita have made significant contributions to Villanova in many different ways, especially to SGA in the past few years. The countless SGA accomplishments of the previous year are a clear representation of their hard work and dedication to improving Villanova life for every student. Their platform consists of realistic goals and not far-fetched ideas that will never come to fruition. My vote for SGA president and vice president goes to Maureen Holland and Gita Gupte. Next week, please make the same right decision.Topher KnoerleinClass of 2005To the editors:As a member of the SGA executive board over the past two years, I consider myself privileged to have had the opportunity to work alongside both Maureen and Gita. It’s hard to imagine anyone with more resolve than our own SGA president. Well aware of the great deal of work that goes with the position from her current experiences, Maureen’s seeking of a second term serves as a true testament to her dedication to a better Villanova. Having already accomplished much in this first year, she remains driven and persistent. With realistic goals, her 2003 campaign promises to be one of action and improvement. I am proud to call Maureen Holland not only my choice for SGA president, but also my friend.Kevin Maher Class of 2004To the editors:I find myself caught in a tough spot these days in light of the pending election for student government. I am continually torn, wondering if it is a joke, a popularity contest, or a political campaign. Despite the fact that I am not overly concerned with what happens to Greek Life or the safe rides program, the “sea of V” or whether I get to chose my academic advisor, I feel the need to voice my opinion on what I do care about. What I care about is my connection to people, both on Villanova’s campus and off. I believe that as a Catholic university devoted to the pursuit of knowledge, truth and justice, it is not beneficial for us, as students or as a student government, to have such a narrow view of our own power. For this reason, I feel the need to single out Maureen Holland. Maureen’s past leadership in the student government shows a strong dedication to justice and a valid recognition of the interconnectedness of people. Her support facilitated an arrangement with the university administration to ensure that the workers manufacturing Villanova’s apparel be given more rights. Villanova is now a member of the Workers Rights Consortium, and while that may not have been in Maureen’s platform, it is one of her most significant accomplishments. Maureen, in her three years of experience, has also realized the fact that it is not enough to make one good action, but that it is important to put in place a system that ensures that such good actions become common place. Thus, I commend her on her formation of the social action committee and her appointment of student members to the senate committee on mission effectiveness. I don’t pledge my support to Maureen and Gita because of a hate I bear towards any other candidate. If anything, my liking of the other candidates makes my decision difficult. I pledge my support to Maureen and Gita because of their pursuit to affect productive change on Villanova’s campus that have ramifications throughout the world. No other candidate has, in my opinion, been as daring or as up to the challenge to use the potential power of the SGA presidency to think outside the box of Villanova University. Katie KrackenbergerClass of 2005To the editors:I am sure my fellow students are aware that the SGA elections are right around the corner.  It is our duty as responsible members of the Villanova community to evaluate the platforms of all candidates, and then cast our vote for whom we believe is best.  I am writing to personally endorse Maureen Holland and Gita Gupte for the 2003-2004 SGA presidency and vice presidency.  I firmly believe that their platform, experience and character are of the highest caliber and they are truly the most qualified candidates.Maureen Holland served as SGA president this year and tremendously improved the quality of student life on campus.  She has accomplished so much this year, including the on-campus video store that is coming in the fall, the SafeRides program and Novateachers.com.  I served on the Campus Activities Team executive board this year with Gita Gupte and I am confident she has the talent and ability to excel as vice-president of SGA.  Maureen and Gita have gone the extra mile to improve Villanova for all of us and will continue to do so if re-elected.I am a rising senior and have been very active in campus life since freshman year.  This past year I served as commuter programming coordinator on CAT.  I am now president of CAT, fundraising co-chair of Novafest and am also involved with campus ministry through SEARCH and Habitat for Humanity.  My background in these different organizations allows me to understand the needs of many students.  I have the utmost faith and confidence in Maureen and Gita’s ability to serve and address the needs of all Villanovans. Michael J. McCulleyClass of 2004To the editors:As a current member of the SGA executive board, I would like to share my experience thus far in student government.  I am a co-chair for the social action committee and a co-chair in planning faculty and staff appreciation week.  My experience on SGA has been extremely rewarding.  I have been given the opportunity to work on projects and gain a better understanding of how different aspects of the university come together.  In every instance where I have reached a roadblock in achieving my goals, Maureen has been very helpful and supportive. Maureen’s tenacity and dedication to Villanova is a great inspiration to this University.  I have no doubt that Maureen’s experience on SGA for the past three years will allow her to be the best president for Villanova.Jaclyn JohnsClass of 2005Readers speak out about the warTo the editors:The United States had taken our complaint with Iraq to the United Nations Security Council. We obtained a council resolution which demanded that Saddam readmit weapons inspectors with power to destroy the weapons of mass destruction which they found. The implied promise was that if Saddam cooperated there would be no war. Saddam cooperated well enough that the inspectors thought they were succeeding. After not finding any weapons of mass destruction or their production facilities, they found 120 El Samoud 2 missles. The inspectors said they exceeded the 93-mile permissible range by 17 miles. The Iraqis began to destroy the weapons as the U.N. ordered, destroying about 60. Then, the U.S., knowing that the Security Council would not vote for its new resolution to make immediate war, violated the very U.N. inspection-destruction process it had started, and mostly began its own unilateral war.This means that the United States broke its implicit promise to Iraq. This is dishonorable. This is perfidious. This is shameful. I promise you that I will not attack you if you destroy your weapons. You destroy the weapons. Then, seeing that you are weakened, I attack you! These are the war tactics of moral scoundrels!Joseph BetzPhilosophyTo the editors:The Theology department claims that “as a weakened military power under intense international surveillance, Iraq has not constituted a danger to its neighbors.” This statement is entirely false. While it is true that Iraq is under “surveillance” by the United Nations, how many times has Saddam Hussein expelled U.N. weapons inspectors from his country? The only time he hasn’t is when the United States threatened to remove him from power by “any means necessary.” If the U.N. was so intently watching Iraq’s weapon building, how is it that they created weapons of mass destruction(whether chemical, biological or possibly nuclear), which is clear in reports given to the U.N.? Also, Hussein’s regime has developed missiles, including SCUDs, that have the range to attack Israel, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, among other nations in the region. Is Iraq really under “intense surveillance?” Clearly, the U.N. is not doing all that it can. Even if one disregards all of the above arguments as speculation, here is one fact that nobody can argue with. He used nerve gas on his fellow Iraqis. During Operation: Desert Shield, a protest of women married to Iraqi soldiers was put down by the Republican Guard by killing many of the protestors. It is possible to think Hussein’s regime is not a threat to neighboring countries, but it is a threat to the Iraqi people. This is why the U.S., as the lone superpower, must set an example that we, along with a coalition of more than 40 countries, will not allow oppressive regimes to continue to repress their citizens. Joseph C. GalloClass of 2004