OCR Text |
Show PINION -Page 7 Thursday, March 1,2007 EDITORIAL; No art • # - ' • for anyone's sake Bureaucracy, and how the best intentions sometimes get the&orst treatment f the more than 7,800. '•- able. Is this a trick? ,., So a resolution was passed students polled in "by student representatives a recently adminissuggesting tered survey, that other 50.8 p e r c e n t • •'' student repdeclared that resentatives they axe in ERYN pass a similar favor of a resolution GREEN modest fee insuggesting crease to benthat yet more efit fine-arts representaon campus, tives (the Board of Trustees, but 58.5 percent decisively Regents, etc.) then pass the opposed increases for study ^decision via endangered abroad scholarships at the U. •carrier pigeon to the top of With a resounding 50.8 an undisclosed mountain in percent approval rating, the India, where it will be sent $5 fine arts increase—which, through a series of secret unit ought to be noted, is a FRACTION of the proposed ; derground tubes to the Board $4O-to-$6o increase for the ./of Even More Redundant and . Inefficient Bureaucracy, who vaguely named Student Life will pass it into real legislaCenter—would work to give tion. students free admission to fine arts productions on camAha! Now THAT doesn't pus and implicitly increase : seem reasonable at all! awareness of the arts in the . A n d everything was going community. , swimmingly until, somewhere along the line, some Hearing this, the Associrepresentative didn't listen ated Students of the Univerto some other representative sity of Utah Senate passed who didn't listen to some a resolution last week supother... porting the $5 fee increase for the arts. Then the ASUU And we wonder why everyGeneral Assembly rejected 'bne hates the government... the Senate's resolution and, I guess the point is this: essentially, said, "Neener, . Although it is ultimately the neener neener, the Senate's a , task of the Board of Trustees big fat weiner!" while stick- • to formally decide on the fee ing out its tongue. increases, it was the task of the student leaders to conFor his part, Student Body , vey the sentiments of their President Jake Kirkam is constituents to the proper strongly opposed to "throwauthorities. And they didn't. ing in the towel" on that What's worse, this error repwhole study abroad thing. He has yet to take a position . resents one instance in a hison those.;.uh.;.what are they . tory of miscommunications called-, again?...artsy-fartsy, .*,> *-, and political disjunctions. tfcungamajigs.u^ j ^ Why not e-mail thousands "' of students about the gargan;: Let's slow down, take a ">•'•• deep breath and think about' •' tuan proposed fee increase for the Student Life Center? this whole scenario in less : convoluted terms: U students Who is in charge here? Elmo and Cap'n Crunch? There said they were in favor of are few human traditions paying a little extra cash to support .the fledgling fine arts as priceless or absolutely necessary to our progreson campus. ; sion as both individuals and Gotcha. members of society than art. ; They also said they weren't To neglect its importance is so into the idea of paying to resign ourselves to a very money to benefit the study , real kind of darkness. abroad program. Still with you. This is totally • '*•;. New treadmills don't'teach reasonable. .us about ourselves, nor do /they bring entire civilizations Then, the ASUU Senate met and decided to represent •to tears of joy. the desires of its...uh, con' \ Unless Frank Gehry built stituents...by doing what they •; them. And they're dipped in wanted. ;goid. This is also totally reason- • ' , Are they dipped in gold? ; G ! • - ' - • • I Unsigned editorials reflect the majority 'dp'inib^r of The Daily Utah Chronicle Editorial Board. Signed editorials, editorial colunin§.:'arnj letters to the editor arc strictly the opinions of the author. The forum created'on the Opinion Page is one based on vigoro u s debate, while at the same time demanding tolerance and respccl. Material defamatory to anjndividual or group because of Vace, ethnic background, religion, creed, 'gender, appearance or sexual orientation, will be edited or will not be published. All 'letters to'the editor will now be published-online at www.dailyutahchronicie.com, Letters that the editor deems best -re^resgpt.Jhose received will be printed in the •newspaper as well as online. . j ; ^yfe&v•-.;;;.• 3 8 2 : total votes I 198: Who cares? They hand out cookies and I don't see them for a year. 5 1 ; $1.5 million IS a lot of money to control. I don't want monkeys doing it, but any human beings will do. 133: Concerts, health insurance, building projects...these are vital issues that require strong leadership! Next fe luestionkHow do you feel aboutih^proposechstu4ent Teases? Vote-ooline at wwwsdailjvtahchronicte.com ^-— s TREVOR DOW/The Daily Utah Chronicle KURT FRANC0M/7fcr Daily Utah Chroniclr What will the Dems do if the shoes DONT fit? AARON O L S E N / H K Daily Utah Chnnide An inconvenient truth about 'An Inconvenient Truth' T he earth is heating up, no doubt about that. There is ample scientific evidence to support the fact that the temperature of the planet has risen a little more than half a degree Celsius in the last three decades. Originally the pet issue of environmentalists, the global warming phenomenon has been getting an increasing amount of attention in the mainstream. However—though many wish to deny it—the causes of global warming, as well as the longterm effects, are still up for debate. While many people would have you believe that the entire scientific community agrees on the causes and implications of global warming, that's just not the case. Take, for instance, the claim in the documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" that if current icecap-melting trends continue, the sea-level will rise 20 feet by the year 2100, displacing more than 100 million people. In truth, however, the actualfigurefor estimated rise in sea level by 2100, as given by the United Nations, sits at about 19 inches. So according to the United Nations and contrary to Gore's claim, Shanghai, Calcutta and Florida would all still be well above the water line. Richard Lindzen, a meteorology professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is perhaps the most outspoken critic of the global warming debate. He argues that—despite claims of scientific "consensus" by activists—many scientists don't agree with the alarmist take on global warming. He also claims that embracing global warming is becoming a fad in the scientific community and the few researchers whose work takes a contrary stance to are seeing their funding cut. In spite of the stigma, _I,indzen's not alone when it comes to being vocal. In April, 60 scientists from universities and AARON ZUNDEL like today's scientific "consensus" on global wanning, back in the 1970s there was a similar "consensus" among climatologists that the planet was cooling down (also, believe it or not, by about a half degree Celsius). This drop in temperature caused such alarm among some scientists that they proposed we^cover the polar ice caps with soot to help them melt. That is not to say that there ' isn't credence to humanity's responsibility for global warm- . ing. No. The point is simply that there's more research to be. done,^ The evidence goes both •vVays., There is data to suggest that fos- . sil-fuel emissions have negativef . and lasting effects on theatmo- /. v;>; sphere and the climate, but there is also sufficient data to suggest that we may be in a natural state of climatologicalflux.Most * 2 likely, it's a combination of the * institutions across the globe wrote an open letter to tl^e prune minister of Canada asking him to reconsider his stance on recent plans that the Canadian government made to accommodate the Kyoto Protocol. It's clear that not even the activists believe everything they're peddling. In 2006, while being interviewed by ABC's chief Washington correspondent George Stephanopoulos about "An. Inconvenient Truth," Gore admitted that when it comes to the actual impact of global warming on the planet, "(scientists) don't know, they just don't tWO. . . • • : " ; • ! know." Many people who dismiss the Additionally, on Monday the idea of global warming outright Tennessee Center for Policy Redo it because it would truly be an search reported that, according inconvenient truth for them and to public records, Al Gore-spent they don't like the implications more than $30,000 last year on to either their sense of reality the energy bill for his 20-room or their financial bottom line. mansion. By the center's calcuThat's ignorant and irresponlations, Gore used more than sible. However, an equal nuniber 220,000 kilowatt-hours (numbers of people eagerly jump on the he doesn't dispute) of electricglobal-warming bandwagon, J ity in 2oo6...that's 20 times the thinking that they are being •' national average. Talk about a smart, enlightened, compassioncarbon footprint. That's pretty ate or embodying any number of audacious for a guy who screams other granola-munchihg sensiat others to conserve. bilities. This is equally ignorant V and irresponsible. Disingenuous activists aside, scientists like Lindzen who opWhen people mixflawedor pose the global warming hysteria incomplete science with politics aren't denying that global warm- and feel-good self-indulgence, ing is occurring. They agree with bad things happen. As responthe data. The planet is warming sible students and citizens we up. It's just that those scientists ought to continue to support rearen't convinced about what the search for, and practically work cause of global warming is, what against, global warming, but at the impacts will be or how long the same time we ought to fry to it will even last. Many scientists restrain ourselves from zealotous cite insufficient historical data overreaction and sensational- : and a lack of scientific underizing the issue until we have a . standing when it comes to the , definitive answer. planet's climate. Indeed, much ••; letters@chronicle.utah.edu |