Jesus is not a bad guy.

I read the quote box in the Spinnaker that, if you sleep with a sorority girl you’re not married to, you will “indeed go to hell” [Squawk Box, Feb. 16].

Must say, I got a little irritated with the speaker.

Let me establish, for the sake of Christians, that I don’t know any one believer who likes both Jesus AND the ignorant individual who made that comment. Christ himself in Matthew 6:2 criticized people who hang out at corners like that. Aggressive evangelism is never successful, and it represents God as nothing more than a judge waiting for an excuse to throw a sinner or two into devouring flames.

And true, premarital sex is definitely frowned upon Biblically — but remember, so is what this guy is doing. Don’t take the word of someone who evidently doesn’t know what he is talking about. It gives the rest of us a bad name.

There have been a few of these individuals on campus lately, apparently under the impression that the University of North Florida is a great big breeding ground for Greek organizations spawning Satan’s finest. I have to force myself to walk past, but I can only imagine the damage they’re doing in the hearts of students. All I ask is that you don’t take them seriously, because I read the Bible, and I don’t.

Stephanie Sandmeyer
Freshman, communications


Fire safety laws put damper on student study area

It has recently come to my attention that all tables and chairs in the atrium of the third floor of the Mathews Building were removed due to citations for noncompliance with state law. I am told this is happening campus-wide — not just in my neck of the woods. The reason for these tables and chairs, which many of our students enjoy socializing at and studying on, being removed is that they might have blocked the walkway to an exit in the event of a fire.

There is at least 6 feet of walkway between the tables, leaving plenty of space. Furthermore, the tables were not mounted to the floor and could easily be moved if one had to move them. If we are to apply this really bright law to, say, doorways, perhaps we should be cited because the doorways have less than 6 feet of walkway. An oversized person might get stuck in the doorway and block the exit for others to safely exit the building. We should just stop installing doors — after all, the lock to the door might cause one to unsafely exit the building in the event of a fire. In fact, why have buildings at all? If we didn’t have buildings, what would there be to burn?

It does not end with just tables and chairs. Our faculty has been instructed to remove all fliers from their doors because they are fire hazards. Let me remind you, these fliers are hanging on wooden doors. Of course, the thousand books inside the faculty offices are fireproof — not to mention the fireproof ceilings, walls and carpet.

Maybe I have misunderstood the problem, and it isn’t the walkway or flammable materials that are germane. Perhaps we are being cited because in the event of a fire, some of our students might be too lazy to get up from the table to safely exit the building, or they did not receive proper training. Perhaps we should be cited for not mandating required fire drills as we did in grammar school. Another suggestion might be to require a three-credit-hour course in introduction to how to get your a$$ out of a building if it’s on fire.

So, to all of you commuter students who used to have a place to sit for lunch and between classes, you will now have to sit, study and eat on the floor where it is safer, according to our ingenious legislators and fire marshal. If this is how one should regard the implementation of laws to make our lives safer, then I say we are safer without them.

Albert Ritzhaupt
Alumnus, 2004