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Show 12 Hi U T A H - ^ S WEDNESDAY, JAN. 12,2005 T A T E S M A N Contact: 797-1 762 editor@statesman.usu.edu Kudos for closing snowy campus Utah Statesman STANDARD ISSUE U.S. MILITARY LOAD A LOAD WOPTH CARRYING Much to the surprise and relief of students trudging through the winter snow and slush, classes were cancelled and campus was closed Tuesday to ensure the safe return of students, faculty and employees to their homes. As university employees shoveled continually to maintain safe conditions for campus goers, the unrelenting snow created hazardous conditions. Not only are there obvious dangers, such as driving and slipping on snowy streets, but other dangers exist to students and USU employees. Most students and many employees c fllir 11 OH/ ^v y-v walk to class and apartments or faraway parking lots. With the speed the snow has been coming down, safe and clear walkways and roads have been close to impossible to maintain. Although many of the sidewalks are maintained on campus, many students, faculty members and employees face the daily trek to their vehicle in distant parking lots. Often times, sidewalks to campus are not as well maintain as those on campus, heightening the difficulties many of us face. Kudos to the university's administration for putting the safety of its patrons first and closing campus mid-Tuesday afternoon. While Logan is known for its cold and snowy conditions, enough is enough at times. Among other things, professors can teach the needed material another day and shutting down the Fieldhouse will not break anyone's commitment to their New Year's resolutions. Do the math: Money plus merit equals better teachers Pop quiz: Name the one American profession in which workers ^ almost no rewards or a job well done; that's having the toughest time attracting and keeping the best and brightest people, just as it faces an unprecedented demand for new hires; and in which the quality of the worker determines, more than any other, whether or not our young people excel. The profession is teaching. And that's why Cov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's call to usher California's schools into the modern era with performance-based pay for teachers is the right reform at the right time. Few Californians need convincing that the state's schools are subpar. A Rand Corp. study, released last week, put it starkly: "California's public school system lags behind most of the nation on almost every objective measurement of student achievement, funding, teacher qualifications and school facilities." The report noted now far the state's position had fallen since it was a clear national leader a generation ago. What makes good schools good? If we could wave a magic wand and improve one thing, what would it be? Buy new desks and books, cut class size or put an exemplary teacher in as many classrooms as possible? First, consider what the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning reported last month: "Nearly 60,000 California teachers are over the age of 55. If those 60,000 teachers leave the profession at the average . . . retirement age of 60, California will need to replace one-fifth of the state's teacher work force in the next three to five years." Los Angeles Times Louis I Gerstne TEACHFRS See Page 13 Staff Editor in Chief Emilie Holmes News Editor Katie Ashton Assistant News Editor Brooke Nelson Features Editor Joel Featherstone Sports Editor Aaron Falk Assistant Sports Editor Andrea Edmunds World & Nation Editor Lindsay Kite Photo Editor John Zsiray Assistant Photo Editor Michael Sharp Many are asking why God allowed tsunami disaster For weeks now, the headlines continue to surface with little variation. The only thing that ever seems to change is the number. What started at 7,000 is now up to 150,000, with that number only expected to grow. As we all watched the death toll rise and rise, one couldn't help but ask why? Why would an all-seeing and all-powerful God sit back and let so much suffering take place? Why did God let such a disaster happen to innocent people? Others might go further than just why and consider such incidents as proof of God's lack of existence. To the truly faithful though, simply knowing that "[God's] ways are higher than your ways" (Isaiah 55:8) is sufficient. Or as the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi put it, "I know that He loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things" (1 Nephi 11:17). Meanwhile, for the rest, doubts can easily cloud the way. For most of us, the magnitude of such an event really hasn't registered. Just imagine the death toll of 9/11 multiplied by 30. Even at Pearl Harbor, where 2,400 soldiers and civilians were killed, the number doesn't come close in comparison. But such a disaster does help the rest of us remember how precious life really is. It allows us to reexamine where we're going and what we're becoming. Other things that before seemed so important tend to pale in comparison to such a tragedy. Though many doubt the help of God in any of this, one cannot deny the outreach of mankind throughout the ordeal. Countless individuals and nations have given time, money and anything else they can to help the victims in their race against time. But as much as we try, all of us together still can't seem to do quite enough. It is then that we, as so many have, must turn to a higher power. Sometimes it takes something as tragic as a disaster to recognize a need for help from above. Yet, many take the opportunity to doubt or condemn God at the time we need Him Ally Ally Oxen Free Jon Cox **• ^ 1 * 1 1 * -*•• most. I do not believe in a God who enjoys the afflictions of mankind. The God I believe in is the same God who looked down upon earth's sufferings and, as the prophet Enoch observed, "he wept" (Moses 7:28). I believe in an all-powerful God who, as the scriptures teach, stands at the command of "legions of angels" (Matthew 26:53) to help us in time of need. I believe in a merciful God and a loving God, a God who mourns for the loss of every one of those fallen to sin or tragedy. I believe in a God who, as the Christmas carol states, "is not dead nor doth He sleep/' (I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day) So as the world continues to count the mounting toll of INAMI See Page 13 Keep young drivers out of old SUVs Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for 15- to 20-year-olds. So it's a natural inclination for parents to encase new drivers in the largest piece of steel they can find. Many are choosing sport-utility vehicles, the closest thing to a tank on the road. But evidence is mounting that SUVs - especially used models - aren't the safest choice for accident-prone young drivers. National research shows that crash rates, per-mile driv- en, are higher for drivers ages 16 to 19 than for all other age groups. The crash risk For 16- to 17-yearolds is almost three times as high as for 18- to 19-year-olds. In other words, the majority of teens are likely to get into some kind of an accident. Ifs a question of how bad. The auto industry has long acknowledged that SUVs handle differently from cars; owners' manuals even say so. But most teens learn to drive in sedans. They're unprepared to handle higher, heavier SUVs, especially in emergencies. Falsely wrapped in the illusion that vehicle size equals safety, teens tend to drive SUVs too fast, leave inadequate time for braking, and overcorrect in turns - in a vehicle that has a greater tendency to roll over than a car. A study by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, which looked at SUV crashes and fatalities between 1999 and 2001, found that about 37 percent of SUV drivers younger than 25 in singlevehicle crashes rolled over. Rollovers account for 3 percent of U.S. crashes but a third of driving deaths, according to the National H ighway Traff i c Safety Administration. NHTSA administrator Jeffrey Runge, a Philadelphia Inquirer Guest Editorial former emergency room physician, remarked bluntly two years ago that he wouldn't let his own child drive a vehicle with a poor rollover rating "if it was the last one on earth." Just as new drivers aren't ready for a Lamborghini, neither are they ready for an Explorer, especially a used one. Automakers have improved the safety of newer SUVs by lowering their center of gravity and matching their bumpers better with cars. However, older, more accident-prone SUVs are moving into the used market, making them affordable to the least experienced drivers. That worries public safety advocates such as Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, the consumer organization "founded by Ralph Nader. "What parents should do is keep the old SUV and buy a new car for their kids," said Claybrook, who was head of NHTSA under President Jimmy Carter. If teens have no options SUVs See Page 13 Editorial Board Emilie Holmes Katie Ashton Brooke Nelson John Zsiray Aaron Falk Michael Sharp About Letters • Letters should be limited to 350 words. • All letters may be shortened, edited or rejected for reasons of good taste, redundancy or volume of similar letters. • Letters must be topic oriented. They may not be directed toward individuals. Any letter directed to a specific individual may be edited or not printed. • No anonymous letters will be published. Writers must sign all letters and include a phone number or e-mail address as well as a student identification number. • Letters representing groups — or more than one individual — must have a singular representative clearly stated, with all f necessary identification ; information. • Writers must wait 21 days before submitting successive letters — no exceptions. • Letters can be hand delivered or mailed to The Statesman in the TSC, Room 105, or can be emailed to editor@statesman.usu.edu or click on www.utahstatesman.com for more letter guidelines and a submission box. Utahstatesmaii.com Online Poll What should be done about classes which are dropped from students' schedules before the semester starts? • The QUAD should automatically notify students. (51%) • The Registrar's Office should send out notification of the cancellations. (19%) • The professors who can- cel the classes should e-mail every student who registered for them originally. (17%) • Leave it up to the student to check the QUAD every day for cancellations. (5%) • Departmental advisers should notify students. (6%) • Don't know. Need more information.(2%) Visit us on the Web at www.utahstatesman.com to cast your vote and see results from past Utah Statesman online polls. Check out these links on www.utahstatesman.com • Local TV listings • Faculty evaluations • Comics |