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Show opinion/ MONDAY'OCTOBER 3*2005 NAFTA and corrupt corp Nafta was intended to remove trade and investment barriers but what has it really done? Adam Streeter ganizations such as the Zapatistas. Ask any CEO of these corporations who are taking advantage of NAFTA and they will tell you greatest thing that has ever happened to After all, it's a great way for them increase profits and decrease liability. But talk to the workers in these countries who are being exploited, and even workers here in the United States whose jobs have been shipped off to Mexico, and you won't hear such glowing testimonies. We are trying to combat terrorism in .this world, yet we are on the verge of increasing the reach of NAFTA to an ' ••;./ additional 31 countries. NAFTA mobilized the Za;:/ patistas in Mexico. •' Extending this agreement to additional countries simply for the sake of putting a few extra dollars in these CEOs and investors' pockets could result in additional attacks against Americans; and it's the Republican Party and our own President Bush who .. ; ' are pushing it. Isn't our President supposed to be protecting us from terrorism? If we want to combat terrorism in the world, we need to solve the problem at its root. Opinions Writer Football at UVSC Not to beat a dead horse, but... Here I go. UVSC needs a football team. There-I said it. The fact dawned on me twice this past week: once, when attending the BYU football game, which even though they lost 51-50, was just incredible to anyone who appreciates the beauty of sports-60,000 fans screaming, the mountains, the atmosphere, the spirit {I speak here of team spirit, not the Holy Ghost)-it's just something every college student should get to experience. Imagine, I thought, if UVSC one day had something like this-and we didn't even have to invite Michael Moore. The second dawning took place when watching the other Utah football highlights that evening. As I watched schools like Weber State. Snow College, and Dixie I thought, man, they look like high school games. But at least...at least they have a team. And their stadiums, small as they may have been, were packed with excited, enthusiastic students. So what about UVSC. the fastest growing college in the state, with 24,000 students, Division I in athletics with a top notch baseball field and basketball arena. It's obvious what's missing-football! Even if it's small to begin with, this college will never have the kind of school spirit they so desire without a football team. You know, for those few thousand of you who took the time to vote, that was actually one of the platforms of this year's Student Government. They vowed to start making efforts-in the community and with administration-to start getting this football thing back on the table where it should be. Our Student Council should be held to their campaign promise, because as far as administration is currently concerned, it's not only not a priority, it's not even on the radar. Look, I know there are those reading this who think football is hardly a priority. Who cares about a stupid sport, they say, what we need is a library. Hey, I agree we need a library, and a fine arts center, and more colored pipes...All I'm saying is we need football too. I don't care what it takes: raise student fees, call Kay Anderson for that $25,000 check, court Steve Young. Let's just get this thing rolling again. Imagine even 5 tol0,000 UVSC fans (a mere fraction of what BYU and the U typically get) on a cool fall day, making their way to Wolverine Stadium to watch some football. Green and gold uniforms charging out onto the field, the smell of nachos and hot dogs and churros, thousands of cheering students, faculty, and community members in one great conglomeration of unified purpose. Now that v would be something to see. Many college-age students have never heard of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. NAFTA was put in place in 1994, intending to foster economic growth in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It was meant to do so by removing barriers to trade and investment among / the three nations. But what has NAFTA really done? It has enriched international corporations, giving their CEOs and investors reason to celebrate; but what has it done for \ the worker? Since its in\ troduction, the United v States has lost an estimated 766,000 jobs due to the agreement. More manufacturing jobs have been created in Mexico, but the average wage for one of these jobs has dropped 21 percent, \ causing many people to work extra jobs, increasing the need for children to work in order to support the family rather than going to school. NAFTA has also increased support in Mexico for terrorist or- Courtesy graphic/Transport Canada UVSC student studing at Oxford Community has rights to voice concerns Dear Editor, I was so excited to see that a UVSC graduate was pursuing his education at the prestigious Oxford University. The article was found on the front page of the UVSC homepage. Although this academic triumph was somewhat over-powered by the headline: '"Jason Singh '04 Studing at Oxford." For those of you who cannot live without spell-check, I will make this easy for you; they spelled "Studying" without the "y." As you click on the headline for the full text, the error is fixed, but most people just read the headlines as-is on the homepage. This is a laughable error, unless "studing" is some advanced academic term that as a simple under-grad student, I do not know or understand. There are two very different representations for UVSC: the Oxford student and the web-site reporter who cannot spell. Dear Editor, I am always amazed at the ignorance of some UVSC students. For example. Laurissa Poll's "Please Let Go" article in the last issue of The College Times. Ms. Poll addressed the community's "over involvement" in what is being taught at UVSC. Yes, Ms. Poll makes some interesting points, but is she forgetting that the community pays taxes to help fund our school? Is Ms. Poll saying that the tax paying community should have no say in what is being done with their money? Last time I checked, we live in democratic republic where everyone has the right to an opinion. If the community doesn't agree with what is being taught at UVSC, they have a right to voice their concern. Besides, with a conservative community like Orem and a Marx loving philosophy department here at UVSC, I think the two even each other out perfectly. — Elizabeth Nickeis Yurs Trulie, Even clones and rhinos are unique -ChantelC. Dear Editor, I'm writing in response to the article on conformity, where everyone became Rhinoceri except Berenger. It's true that there are a.lot of tools that go to UVSC and in other places in Utah, that conform to the media's standards, because they've perfected cloning technology. Women must look the same, complete with long hair doused in highlights, baby doll T-shirts, and booty shorts emblazoned with "bootylicious" on the ass. Men must wear surfer shorts, any shirt that has a skater/surfer logo on it, flip-flops, have short spikey hair, or a buzz. If you see this, then the cloning technology worked properly. If not, you are defective and must be disposed of. You are unacceptable. Or you start your own trend. The one who is most original sets the trend. If I started wearing, say, shorts over my pants, and people saw me do it and thought, "That's cool. I'm going to do that tomorrow!" They do it, and more people see them do it, and I created what people want to be. I am original-everyone is my clone. But often, most people have their own little quirks that make them special, but they don't have what it takes to make people conform to them, so they conform to the people they want to be friends with so that they have social standing with those people. That's why meeting someone who is a clone may not be a bad thing necessarily, once you get to know them better you find out why they are special. letter/ lo (he editor Homosexuality is personal agenda Dear Editor, Here we go again. Mr. Streeter, why didn't it surprise me to see that you wrote this letter? Of course bigotry and prejudice exist, even against your precious lifestyle, but it seems Hke it's not the prejudice that you are fighting against. Nobody asks Adam Streeter to justify being gay and quite frankly, nobody cares that Adam Streeter is gay. So why does he do this? Perhaps Adam Streeter is still trying to justify to Adam Streeter that he is gay and that there is nothing wrong with it. While my religious beliefs preach against homosexuality, I prefer to take a much lazier approach. I don't care! As long as it doesn't affect, bother or change my daily routine in any way, I don't give a damn who, or what, Adam Streeter does. Perhaps if he climbed down off his soapbox, he'd notice that the rest of us feel the same way. Move on Mr. Streeter. You don't have to justify your actions to anyone but yourself. Which is probably why we're still hearing about your choices. — Evan Faust Community pays the taxes Dear Editor, Well, what an interesting idea-sit down, pay your taxes and shut up. Well Laurissa, when you begin to pay state sales tax, state income tax, state property tax, state utility tax. federal sales tax, federal income tax, federal property tax, auto license and highway tax, to give you an education, then you can dictate to me. But let me tell you a secret, if I don't like the way they mow the lawn, I'm going to say something; if I see 3 people painting a banister, which should take 1 person, (which I've seen) I'm going to say something. If I see people throwing trash in the parking lot, I'm going to say something. If I don't like seeing certain lies being taught, I'm going to say something. Why? Because I'm paying for it. I'm paying for your education. I'm paying the lights, the heat, the air conditioning, the landscaping. In other words, me and thousands of others are paying for you to get an education. You are the one that should just say thank you once in a while instead of belittling us for our interest in our property. Thank you for the new baseball stadium. Thank you for the new buildings. Thank you for the heat in the winter and AC in the summer. Thank you for the computer room and telephon. .^stem. And until you start paying for it, until you start working 12 to 14 hours a day just to pay taxes, at that time then you can tell me and thousand of other people to just shut up pay taxes. Until then, just a little appreciation would be nice instead of all the put-downs. — name withheld LETTERS TO THE EDITOR * E-Mail letters lo uvscopinions@hotmail.com * The NetXNews room is located on campus in SC22O. * All letters become property of NetXNews and may be edited fpr content, specifically clarity, length or other concerns at the discretion of the Opinions Editor. * Letters between 50-250 words are encouraged and those letters marked by their succinctness are more likely to be published. * Letters must be accompanied by full name, address, and phone number for verification purposes (contact information will not be published). Occupation, title or major is optional. -E.Wallace HW80BBSBHHHM Visit us online a t • Send story ideas to uvscopinlons@hotmail.com |