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Show Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2011 Page 11 V • "-Free Speech el 0 11 IS Zone Opinions on this page (columns, letters unless otherwise identified are not from Utah Statesman staff, but from a wide variety of members of the campus community who have strong opinions, just like you do! This is an open forum. Want to write something? Contact: statesman@aggiemailusu.edu Utah State Universit • Lo • an. Utah • www.utahstatesman.com OurView THE THAESPICAYUNE ©Loll A bou tU S OF COURSE I SEE YOU'RE DRESSED AS HERMAN CAIN/ BUT YOU'RE STILL NOT GETTING NINE OF EVERYTHING... Brush the dust off of your comic books Editor in Chief Catherine Meidell Copy Editor D. Whitney Smith H ave you checked out the exhibit on graphic novels in the library? We haven't. Well, maybe a little. We mean, it's right in the middle of the lobby, so how could we have avoided it? OK. We confess. We spent an hour reading every dialogue bubble. Why is it so hard to admit we like comic books? Parents. Parents have been giving comics the evil eye since before violent video games were invented. Parents write angry letters "en masse" demanding newspapers water down the funnies page until it becomes a soggy mass of mind-numbing pulp. Protective parents harangued comic book publishers until they created the Comics Code Authority, which is meant to keep any topic of substance out of comics altogether. With a history of censorship like that, is it any wonder society attaches a stigma to comics? When readers tried to lose the stigma by rebooting their books as graphic novels, they may have tricked a few inattentive consumers. For the most part, though, it seems like people now assume comics are for nerds, and graphic novels are for meganerds — nerds of a different caliber, nerds who speak languages like Klingon and Elvish. Now the mega-nerds are coming out of the closet. As the masses embrace film adaptations of "X-Men," "V for Vendetta" and "300," it's easier to admit you've read the comic versions. You know, just for comparison, of course. Gradually, graphic novels are rising above their pulp-fiction origins to a form of actual substance. No, Sarge stomping Beetle Bailey won't teach kids what war really means, but what about "Maus?" With a few simple brushstrokes, Art Spiegelman depicted the holocaust with more emotional force than a history textbook could ever hope to muster. The library's exhibit states that some educators use graphic novels in their classes. It's been done before, and done well. Physics Professor James Kakalios said after he replaced textbook physics demonstrations with super heroes in his class, he stopped hearing students complain they would never use the principles in real life. Graphic novels could be hit or miss with students. We can already hear many students whining, "Why do we have to read this crap?" On the other hand, reading a 100-page graphic novel in half an hour is no Herculean feat. If the thought of reading a graphic novel makes you cringe, well, more difficult required reading is not hard to come by. No matter your view on graphic novels, the genre looks like it's here to stay. The "Scott Pilgrim" generation has made a hallmark of resilience to parental scorn. From Razor scooters to Ninja Turtle T-shirts, students on campus don't show signs they'll put away their other childhood things, so why shelve comic books? Why do only white females go missing? While my heart aches for From the those who knew Alexis Rasmussen, a 16-year-old girl Soap Box who was found dead on Oct. 18 near the Weber River, I can't help but think of all the others who have not been found, and seemingly, weren't searched for much to begin with. Not surprisingly, Alexis was a young, attractive white female. It makes me think about the tack board of fuzzy computerprinted mugshots hanging in Walmart. When I stand in front of the board and contemplate the smiling faces, I wonder where they are. I wonder if they will ever be seen again and which of their family members are still huddled in sobs, even though their loved one has been missing for months, maybe years. On the top-right corner of the board is a Hispanic man, and my assumptions lead me to believe his face was never plastered all over the 5 o'clock news. Perhaps, he is still alive. My eyes wander to a snapshot of a young black girl on the bottom center of the board. Her braids hang from her head, like the curved leaves of a house plant, each clipped with a colorful barrette. I ask myself how many people panicked. I ask myself if the regional news stations brushed over the story as though it was to be expected. I am not rightly willing to believe every person who goes missing is a young, white woman. Think back with me — Elizabeth Smart, 2002, Natalee Holloway, 2004, Caylee Anthony, 2005, Reigh Boss, 2008, Susan Powell, 2009, and Alexis Rasmussen, 2011. I recall when a beautiful, young college woman from my hometown of Reno, Nev., had her photograph in the city newspaper for months on end. Brianna Denison went missing in January of 2008 and was found dead See DAMSEL., Page 12 News Editor Rob Jepson Assistant News Editor Megan Allen Features Editor Kellyn Neumann Assistant Features Editor Allee Evensen Sports Editor Tavin Stucki Assistant Sports Editor Tyler Huskinson ForumLetters Variety of people are anti-abortion To the editor: Liz Emery's article on abortion certainly tries to be provocative, as an editorial column should be. However, it is also trying to be a rallying cry, and it does both on the basis of very poor, emotional arguments. She implies that only "rich men" are opposed to abortion, which is simply untrue. Women and men both put themselves on either side of the issue, and some pro-life groups, such as Live Action (the group that performed video stings against Planned Parenthood recently) are run by women. These women are not Stepford Wives robots; they believe abortion is the willful killing of an inno- cent person and is wrong no matter what. Appealing to gender for authority misses this fact and also misses the point. If my gender stops me from talking about a "woman's body" then there should never be male doctors for women. Also, by that rule, women shouldn't tell men what moral issues they can discuss. Gender doesn't disqualify me from discussing moral issues any more than scientific ones. The moral issue is what is important here, anyway. She claims the Catholic Church opposes abortion out of patriarchy and repression, but the church claims that abortion is the willful murder of an innocent person, and what right is there to that? The idea that abortion is at least the willful destruction of a human being isn't a religious claim, its a scientific one. The fetus will not grow up to be an oak tree or a seahorse. Liz, as Photo Editor Ani Mirzakhanyan Letters to the editor • A public forum have others, may claim it is still not a person, and therefore not given moral standing, but she doesn't make such a claim, and it's a dangerous road to walk. The claim that conservatives oppose the planning of families is also nonsense, since there are other means to do so beyond artificial birth control and abortion, and the issues run deeper than gender roles. I applaud Liz for trying to be provocative as she should be in a student paper. Trying to hold rallies on bad information and demonizing statements, however, is dangerous and part of the current problem in our country as we are seeing with the Wall Street protests. Will Holloway Abstinence does not equa success Saying "success comes to those who wait until marriage to have sex" is like comparing the consumption of massive amounts of green beans to alcoholism — it's untrue, laughably nonsensical and something you could only find in Utah. Unsurprisingly, an ad ran in the Cache Valley Transit District's buses claiming those who abstain from premarital sex are bound for success. This statement is so blatantly false that it hardly requires a breakdown; but for the column's sake, let's do it anyway. The first problem lies within the first word: Success. What exactly does success mean? My favor- ite dictionary definition I found said, "The favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors." Another said, "The achievement of wealth, fame, etc." Yet another said, "Any outcome." Clearly there is no way to define success, since for every person it means something different, and — equally important — because success is so transient. If I graduate next summer, I will be rolling in successful bliss, and so will those who hate my columns — but six months later when I still can't find a job, I may not feel quite so successful. See what I mean? Success is such a broad term that Lizzen Up it really can only be used when describing an individual's personal feelings, and not an entire group. The next great flaw in this premarital proposition is directly related to the first — this is that "those," meaning everybody who waits to be intimate, will find success. In 2002, 95 percent of Americans polled had sex See BUS, Page 12 Assistant Photo Editor Carl R. Wilson Web Editor Steve Kent Editorial Board Catherine Meidell Rob Jepson Kellyn Neumann Tavin Stucki Ani Mirzakhanyan D. Whitney Smith Steve Kent About letters • Letters should be limited to 400 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 (none of which is published). Letters will not be printed without this verification. • Letters representing groups — or more than one individual — must have a singular representative clearly stated, with all 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 e-mailed to statesman@aggiemail.usu.edu , or click on www.utahstatesman.com for more letter guidelines and a box to submit letters. |