OCR Text |
Show WEBER STATE UNIVERS TY MONDAY, JANUARY 4,2010 Signpost Viewpoint The decade in review: From Facebook and Web 2.0 to another two American wars to the rise of Disney's tween empire, America has changed a lot in just ten years. Whether it's good or bad is a question we leave to you, but here are the highlights (or at least our favorite bits). 2000: Smooth sailing instead of mass chaos led us into the new millennium as Y2K was debunked. But the internet boom still ends. The closest presidential debate leaves unanswered controversies on who really won in the George Bush-Al Gore race. Cuban 6-year-old Elian Gonzales washes up in Miami, but is ultimately returned to his father in Cuba. American Beauty steals Best Picture at the Oscars. 2001 :Fortherest of time, this year will alwaysbe the year of Sept. llth.This year is also the most significant moment of the decade, the worst terrorist attack on American soil in our entire history. As Tfie Signpost put it in 2001, it was out generations 'Pearl Harbor.1 Less than a month later, bombings began in Afghanistan in attempts to oust the Taliban government. Lizzie McGuire starts the new Disney revolution of "cool tween" opening doors for Hannah Montana and High School Musical. 2002: Catholic molestation scandals dominated headlines and by late December Cardinal Bernard Law resigned under pressure for his attempts to cover up the scandals. The Osborne's spawns a new type of reality television and Spider Man revitalizes the dying comic book industry. Ironic, U.S. health officials recommend mammograms begin at age 40 instead of 50. 2003: America invades Iraq and one month later Baghdad falls to U.S. troops. The Columbia space shuttle explodes and kills seven astronauts. As one trilogy ends, another begins. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King leads in the box office and is followed by Pirates of the Caribbean. The Da Vinci Code hit (and left) shelves at an alarming rate. June Carter Cash passes away only to be followed by her husband, Johnny Cash, four months later. 2004: Abu Ghraib photos are released to the press showing U.S. soldiers abusing and humiliating Iraqi prisoners. George Bush is reelected as president, defeating John Kerry. The Patriots start a new NFL empire, beating North Carolina 32-29 as Janet Jackson "exposes" her breast at the Half Time Show. Martha Stewart is put under house arrest for insider trading and Ronald Regan succumbs to Alzheimer's. Facebook is founded, but begins as just a Harvard social networking site. That didn't last. 2005: Hurricane Katrina kills more than 1,000 Americans and leaves millions more homeless. FEMA is crucified by the American public. The Terry Schiavo case stirs the "right to die" debate among Americans and in Congress and John Roberts becomes the 17th chief justice of the Supreme Court. And there was that infamous moment where Tom Cruise loses it on Oprah, jumping on the couch in excitement over his engagement to Katie Holmes. Sadly, Star Wars comes to an end with Revenge of the Sith. 2006: Democrats take control of both the House and the Senate, reflecting a shifting American attitude towards the GOP and the BushAdminstration. Steve Irwin dies after a sting ray attack and Suddam Hussein is executed. 2007: The Bush Administration .takes more public slack as Karl Rove resigns, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigns for illegal firings of attorneys and Lewis "Scooter" Libby is found guilty for releasing information on Valerie Plame, a CIA agent. Minimum wage is increased for the first time in 10 years from S5.15 to $5.85. The Departed takes Best Picture at the Oscars and awards Martin Scorcese with his first Oscar for directing. 2008: The next presidential elections really begin as Barack Obama faces off against John McCain. On Nov. 4, Barack was announced the winner, lining him up to be America's first African American president. Heath Ledger died shortly before the release of his break out role as the Joker in Dark Knight and polar bears are placed on the threatened species list. The Daily Show with John Stewart wins an Emmy for Best Variety Show. 2009: The most significant reform to the American healthcare system passes in both the House and the Senate, leading way to serious change in the way health care is run in the U.S. Obama amps up the war in Afghanistan and appoints Sonia Sotomayor as the first Latino in the Supreme Court. Michael Jackson died and Susan Boyle blows up YouTube with her version of "I Dreamed a Dream." Hulu changes the way busy people get their network fix. Comment on this column at wsusignpost.com. 1 HE POST Managing Editor Gina Barker Gimaron Neugebauer Editor Matthew Maynes Sports Editor Bryan Butterfield ShayLynne Clark Features Editor Jonah Nap.) Allison Hess Adviser SheUeyHart Office Manager Georgia Edwards essica Schmoe sssEdit 626-7614 626-7655 626-7983 626-6358 626-7621 626-7105 626-8526 626-6359 626-7974 626-7624 MUCH UKE OUR NUCLEAR PROGRAM.... Right Again Cap-and-Trade goes too far with CO2 Cap-and-Trade legislation is designed to control emissions by providing economic incentives reduce these emissions. Each company gets a certain amount of credits (which determines how much they can emit) and if they emit too much, then the companies must purchase credits from other companies that don't need them. This is supposed to penalize those who go over the allowable levels by making them purchase credits, and rewarding those who do not emit as much by allowing them to sell their extra credits. This is Cap-and-Trade in a nutshell. In theory it is supposed to reduce emissions at the lowest cost to society. Cap-and-Trade has been used in the past to regulate the emissions of pollutants that create smog and acid rain. Now, however, there is a bill before Congress that is proposes the implementation of Capand-Trade on Carbon emissions. Carbon Dioxide is by far the most common sort of carbon emission and it is the focus of this legislation. Passing this bill would not be a rational decision. This bill has both a very high cost and literally no benefit to the American people. Carbon dioxide is colorless, odorless and inert. It poses no possible threat to our health, because if it did we'd be dead already. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the human lung is 140 times higher than the atmosphere. For carbon dioxide to impede lung function would require 25 times as much as is found in the air we breathe. Carbon dioxide also is not part of smog or acid rain. Carbon dioxide is in no way harmful to man. The real motivation for Cap- SOURCE: AP EXCHANGE and-Trade policy is to prevent anthropogenic global warming because carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. To be succinct though, anthropogenic global warming is false. For more depth go to the The Signpost'Web site and read my previous column on global warming or go to the Cato Institute or Heritage Foundation Web sites. There is no reason to pass this bill because we gain nothing. No harm is prevented, no temperatures cooled. Even if you did believe that man was causing global warming, Cap-and-Trade would still not be the way to go about fixing it. Bjorn Lomborg, former director of the Environmental Assessment Institute in Copenhagen, has long been trying to stop anthropogenic global warming, which he fully believes in, and even he is against Cap-and-Trade policies. As he says in his own words, "even if every major government were to slap huge taxes on carbon fuels — which is not going to happen — it wouldn't do much to halt climate change any time soon. What it would do is cost us hundreds of Say HELLO to us on fitter. | C^y--', <s> ,-vp^> -The Signpost is published Monday, Wednesday and Friday during fall and spring semesters. Subscription is $18 a semester, First newspaper copy free, each additional copy SO.50. -The Signpost is a student publication, written, edited, and drafted by Weber State University students. Student fees fund the printing of this publication. Opinions or positions voiced are not necessarily endorsed by the university. Vie Signpost welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must include name, address, telephone number, relationship to staff, and the writer's signature. -The Signpost reserves the right to edit for reasons of space and libel and also reserves the right to refuse to print any letter. Letters should not exceed 350 words. Bring letters to the editorial office in the Student Union 401, or mail to: The Signpost, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah 84408-2110. Attn: Frances Kelsey.' E-mail thesignpost@weber.edu billions — if not trillions — of dollars." The truth of it is that there are much better ways to spend that money. On that topic Lomborg said, "for the money it would take to save one life with carbon cuts, smarter policies could save 78,000 lives." Cap-and-Trade is a waste of money that could very effectively be used elsewhere. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill passed by the House would reduce GDP growth by between .03 and .09 percent annually. Now that sounds like a very small amount but it's not. According to the CBO's projections the U.S. will be cost more than $300 billion a year by 2050, and this projection is run off of the very optimistic .03 percent. Keep in mind that this is the CBO and they have consistently underestimated just about everything. Even so, that is a lot of annual growth that is going to be given away for nothing if Capand-Trade on carbon emissions is implemented. Putting Cap-and-Trade policies in place on carbon emissions would be an irrational decision. We are in no way harmed by the output of carbon dioxide, which is the focus of such bills. Furthermore, implementing these policies would have an immense cost to the American people. High cost and no benefit is a bad deal. Comment on this column at wsusignpost com. Say HELLO to us on facebook. Just Search "The Signpost" facebook f* • THE «* Sigr |