On Tuesday, Patrick Walters wrote a column ("Journalistic saboteurs beware: There's still time to improve" SN 4/27) in which he made the outrageous claim that I had implied that "rape education is a bad idea."

My stance on rape education is that it is fine but not foolproof. Instead of focusing on lecturing men, the education should focus on self-defense and prevention. All men know that "No" means "No." I did not learn that in sex education or from some class; I learned that from having common sense and honorable parents.

The lowlifes keen on forcing women into sex cannot be taught again that rape is bad; they already know it, and they need to be stopped by any means necessary. Lecturing to a group of men isn't going to stop the handful of drunken thugs who force women into sex. Should a situation arrive where a woman feels threatened, she needs to know proper self-defense.

Personally, I would feel safer if my sister or wife were armed or knew self-defense rather than hoping that the rape-education classes did their job.

Regarding affirmative action, awarding points for skin color implicitly states that those benefiting are not capable of achievement on their own. As a minority, I find this insulting. I want to be treated just like everyone else, not differently because I happen to be of Indian ancestry.

I feel that judging African Americans, Caucasians and other races differently because of their race is racism. Period. Building a multicultural building is not going to prevent ignorant whites from committing hate crimes. Black caucuses already do a fine job of providing support for minorities. Pride in your race or ancestry will not come from a structure, but rather from learning about your past, which can be done at any library. I learned about my ancestry from my parents, not the schools.

I view blacks, whites and others as equals, and they should be treated as such solely on merit. In regard to the rest of my column, I stand by everything in its entirety. I thank The State News for allowing me the opportunity to clarify my previous column.

Jim Lala
finance senior