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Show • • * " ' • ' • MONDAY, NOVEMBERS, 2007 Opinions Letters to the editor ; • Too often one finds tasteless and insensitive attempts at humor in The College Times, however it is hard to imagine a more, insensitive and immoral statement being published in paper than that made by Luke Hickman: "I don't get homeless people. Is it that hard to get a job?... Maybe we should euthanize them' and solve the world starvation problem1. That would give them a purpose. That would be like paying us back for all the coins we've given them over the years" (Oct. 22,2007). , Mr. Hickman's . comments are so coarse and mean-spirited that I cannot imagine how they found their way into print. What structure of authority and : accountability exists at The College Tidiest I realize he is an editor (!), but are the editors accountable to no one? How does such a person come to be an editor? Homeless people are, more often than not, suffering from mental disabilities. They typically stand in need of medication they do not have. They have been beaten down and assaulted by life's many difficulties. They are Utah schools need alternative funding wounded persons who have suffered serious hardships. They deserve respect, compassion, and at least an attempt at understanding. Often they deserve admiration. What they don't deserve is the immoral musings of Mr. Hickman, who, in suggesting the killing of persons for the failure of being without a home, has come perilously close to the euthanization of his own heart and soul. Michael Minch Associate Professor, Philosophy Director, Peace and Justice Studies "God doesn't answer atheist prayers" To the'editor," I found Russ Adler's letter to the editor on Oct. 22 very disconcerting. I can only hope (but not pray; God doesn't answer atheist prayers) that it was a satire. If not, well, he didn't do a good job of convincing me that he (and everybody in the "we" he frequently referred to) is right. Maybe he hasn't read 1984, or if he has, the extramarital sex in the story possibly distracted him from figuring out what the book was about. Allowing the government to search our belongings as they wish is an invasion of privacy. I'm not hiding any drugs, but I don't want anybody going through my private belongings without my consent. Not wanting to be searched does not implicate me of criminal activity anymore than not believing in God makes me a bad person. Even if allowing searches might make life a little safer, as paraphrased from Benjamin Franklin, "He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither." Russ's acceptance of government control because of "God's will" didn't make sense to me. The LDS beliefs allow leeway for interpretation, but I know the God of scripture times didn't always support following the law. If they are unjust, they should be broken. This stands today, so far as I'm concerned. He's tired of being told to think critically? I'm tired of being told to follow blindly. Mormons have not always followed the "land of the law"; and to allow or follow unjust laws is wrong. HELP W A N T E D I j*J\c\tc\g/tafihjtJUi. A 9 Cant vouch for division ';••; A euthanized heart To the editor. . THE COLLEGE TIMES I Laura M. Gilchrist questions to link the antivoucher UEA to other agendas not usually supported by typical Utah voters. The list In every conflict the vic- of questions given to Central tor is always the one who Marketing included, "If you proves to possess the stron- knew that the same group gest will. that opposes vouchers, the In the swirling vortex of li beral national teacher's divisive rhetoric surround- union, aggressively supports ing Utah's school voucher same-sex unions, higher debate it appears the victor taxes and more government will be the side that is willing involvement, would you to stoop the lowest in smear- be very or somewhat more ing its opposition rather than or less likely to vote for or actually finding solutions to against the Utah referenproblems facing Utah's edu- dum?" cation system. Caught in the Likewise, in an Oct. 3 crossfire of the debate are on-campus voucher debate the state's school-age children whom both sides agree deserve better than what they are getting. The part upon which they disagree What we don't need is is whom fault should be atnine-children-having tributed to and who deserves elitists using status to the power to steer the state's opt themselves out of the education system into the very system they've been future. destroying, J? Currently public opinions polls show support for vouchers at around 40 percent according to a Nov. 2 article in the Daily Herald. However Dan Jones polls Overstock.com CEO and repeatedly cited in the Salt pro-voucher lobbyist Patrick Lake Tribune articles for the Byrne claimed that the orgapast six months have always nization of public schools put voucher support to be in the U.S. was centered on around 35 percent. This may Jim Crow era racism and indicate that voucher sup- segregation. porters have made a little Currently, Utah's school headway in recent months system spends around and if so it could be attrib- $7,500 per student per year uted the pro-voucher inter- and apparently that sum is est group called Parents for far too low. Choice in Education, who Government inefficiency back in August hired a New may be partly to blame but York based polling firm so too is the fact that there called Central Marketing are just too many families to conduct opinion polls of whose drain on the public their own. According to a system vastly outweighs Deseret News article from their contributions to it. Aug. 18, Parents for Choice Large families being derived a series of "loaded" the norm in Utah and large Jared Magill Opinions editor families being the very factor that has crippled Utah's education system, the solution seems fairly obvious. Schools in Utah need to be funded differently. Take for example the family of Richard and Linda Eyre, the wealthy self proclaimed "parenting experts" who were featured in the now famous commercial which used piles of Oreo cookies as an analogy for school children. The Eyres are the parents of nine children. If all nine of those children were in school at the same time it would cost the state $67,500 per year just for one family. While it is unlikely that all nine Eyre children were ever in school all in the same year, it is highly possible that six or seven were for a multi-year period. With this scenario being extremely common in Utah it's no wonder the school system struggles. Perhaps the best solution would be for influential men such as Patrick Byme and their lobbies to focus their efforts on improving a system that already has an existing infrastructure. That is what would truly benefit all children. If the teacher's union is incompetent, let's work to fix it. If the system is under funded why not employ the financial expertise of men like Byme to devise new funding strategies. But what we don't need is more division, more fragmentation and more ninechildren-having elitists using their privileged status to opt themselves out of the system they have been instrumental in destroying. Attention: All Students, Faculty, and Staff: Would you like to have EARLY VOTING MACHINES on Campus? Why have early voting machines on campus? 'Convenient •Saves Time •Central Utah County Location Visit SC105 and Sign a Petition to bring them on Campus. Help Bring Early Voting Machines On Campus For Election 2008! Questions? Email palfrema@uvsc.edu |