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Show Monday, Nov. 22, 2010 Page 11 Il •Orli VieW S 011111411 Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com OurView Aboutik Editor in Chief This Thanksgiving, show us the parade NBC n addition to gorging ourselves on a bounteous Thanksgiving meal, hanging out with loved ones and watching football, many of us look forward to watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Or at least, we did until they starting increasing the disappointment in degrees year by year. We turn on the TV anticipating colorful floats, military-like marching bands and fabulous Broadway numbers complete with dancing and costumes. But instead we get to see two people we don't even care about hogging the screen, making corny rehearsed jokes and talking about their Thanksgiving dinner plans. What happened to the actual parade being the main event on television? It seems like so long ago that we could watch the parade without superficial interruptions. Now to be fair, we are sure those two hosts work hard. They must get up pretty darn early in the morning to they can beautify themselves, rehearse those jokes and practice flirting on TV without looking trashy. But that does not mean that those of us who want to watch the parade turn it on to look at them for over two hours. Showing the actual parade for fifteen minutes of the two hour show is not even logically sound. You would think that it would be cheaper to show more of the parade anyway. If the stars they choose to host are paid by face time on the screen, then it would be less expensive for the station to not show them as much. Or if we had our way, they don't even have to show them at all. We want to make clear we have nothing against the Macy's parade itself. Macy's does a wonderful job of putting together balloons for the kids to enjoy, floats with singers, performing shows and a variety of other entertainments for the crowd to enjoy. Our beef is with NBC and the terrible job they are doing at making the audience happy. Not all of us have the opportunity to travel to New York and see the parade in person, but if that opportunity ever arises for any of you, we suggest a mass boycott of NBC. We also would encourage a group of paradegoers to storm that little box where the two host sits and yap and give them a piece of our mind - or two, or three. Here's to hoping someone at NBC sees the light and puts together a show worth watching this year. Seven aspects of service confirmed over time As a child I wanted to be a journalist. Not long after, my career aspirations changed to having a dual career as superwoman and queen of the world. With such alterations in my ambitions, my writing skills have since diminished TASHA JORGENSEN - in short, don't expect much in regards to literacy appeal from this piece. Though my views often change as I obtain more information on a subject, these seven characteristics of service have become constant. An increase in experience and knowledge has only further confirmed these key aspects of service. First, education is a crucial aspect of service. Before you can make a change in the world you need to know where changes need to be made. As a freshman I expressed interest in joining Aggies for Africa; the director asked me what I was doing to stay educated on Africa. I realized then that picking up shoes for those in need in Africa is helpful, but Utah State would not be donating the shoes if someone had not been educated on the diseases experienced due to lack of footwear. Research has also helped PALS, a youth mentoring program in the service center, regarding the possible negative effects of a mentorship that does not continue for a long enough period of time. While many of us complain about the high cost of education, few realize the amount other people have invested in our education. Which brings me to my second point; we have what we have because of the service of others. While others were protesting the Vietnam War, Val R. Christensen with several others decided to put their efforts into something that would improve the community. They created The Val R. Christensen Service Center, originally called VOICE. Today the Service Center houses approximately 1,000 volunteers and services on a community, national, and global I See SERVE, page 12 Benjamin C. Wood News Editor Catherine Meidell Assistant News Editor Megan Bainum Features Editor Courtnie Packer Assistant Features Editor Kellyn Neumann Sports Editor Adam Nettina Assistant Sports Editor Matt Sonnenberg Copy Editor Chelsey Gensel ForumLetters Groups have a right to represent To the editor: If you could think of a word to describe Utah State University, what would it be? Would it be safe? Would it be boring? How about diverse? I would like to think that Utah State has some diversity running through its veins. With Nov. 19 this year being diversity day, I would sure hope we are diverse. We have students of all different races and ages, shapes and sizes. We have students from every religion and sexual orientation. We also have students that belong to different affiliations and groups, one of those groups being the Greek system. For those who don't know, there are eight different fraternities and sororities at Utah State. I found the recent opinion column, "Dear Sigs, get the Ep out of Section F," to be incredibly offensive. Not only did the article attack the Sigma Phi Epsilon men, but it attacked the Greek system as a whole. The author praised the Greek community to then turn around and in the same paragraph call the Greek community elitist. Not only was this statement very untrue, but it was a huge contradiction to the aforementioned "praises." The Greek system has nothing to do with being better than anyone else, but it has everything to do with wanting to get involved and make a difference. Any house on Greek Row is a collection of individuals with similar interests at a similar stage in life. The Sig Eps at the Utah State versus Weber State basketball game have been in attendance at most Aggie games. They have very fairly earned their spot in Section F. As stated in the recent article, the Spectrum is OUR HOUSE. That means that it is also the Greeks' house, the STAB's house, the Black Student Union's house, the Service Center's house, and the Asian-American Student Council's house. We all have a right to be ourselves and represent ourselves there. By saying anyone of these groups is not allowed, or in the wrong, to represent their colors is like saying Wild Bill can't dress up to distract the other team because he isn't conforming to the rest of the student body. The Sig Eps flying their flag along with the Utah State flag was merely a showing of support and love that they have for the basketball team and Utah State. The Spectrum is about the unity of all students, no matter what their background or affiliation. Just because we are Aggies does not mean we have to conform to an expected norm. We have a right to individuality and we have a right to express that individuality. My final question is this: if the flag had been blue, would it have been an issue? Or, is this a deeper-rooted prejudice that was taken out on the members of Sigma Phi Epsilon? Meaghan Fors Averages don't tell whole story To the editor: I want to correct the misleading impression that was communicated by the graph on the front page of the Statesman on Friday, Nov. 19. The graph showed the "average professor" earning $89,100, an associate profes- Photo Editor Carl R. Wilson Letters to the editor • A public forum sor earning $69,000, and an assistant professor - i.e., usually in her/his first 6 years at USU - earning $62,000. But the truth is that there are full professors who have been teaching at USU for 25 years or more - winning awards, publishing books, ranking high in student evaluations - who do not yet earn the supposed $62,000 of a new hire. So, a basic math lesson: the average of $150,000 and $30,000 equals $90,000 - the salary of the "average professor" at USU, according to the graph. But those two numbers - $150,000 and $30,000 - carry more real information about the actual state of salaries at USU than the $90,000 "average," which is a meaningless statistic in human terms and bears little relation to the actual salary of any given professor. Some professors are very well paid while some are very poorly paid; for the most part that depends on the field and the college in which you work rather than the quality of your contribution. What difference does this make? Unfortunately, citizens seeing these figures might very well think professors are overpaid, especially compared to the salaries of most Utahns. That false "fact" may give them another reason to support their legislators in cutting back the state education budget. And students might think being an "average professor" is a relatively lucrative career. Averages are not false but presented without context, they are misleading. In this case, the false perception is not only unjust but can have negative consequences. Steve Siporin A grateful thanks to fall's Newsmakers When the semesFrom the ter began, I Chief invited readers to take full advantage • t, of The Utah Statesman. I BENJAMIN WOOD urged you students, faculty, community members, travelers waylaid by the storm - to read, write, and BE the news. Because news is about people, whether you're behind the pen, reading the page, or sitting naked on top of the bull statue admiring the beauty of the flashing lights. We truly, couldn't do this without you. Assistant Photo Editor Alison Ostler Web Editor Tyler Huskinson Editorial Board Benjamin C. Wood Catherine Meidell Courtnie Packer Adam Nettina Chelsey Gensel Tyler Huskinson 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 email 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 officers we find few pot-stirrers. President Tyler Tolson, halfway through his second term in office and oozing charm out of his ears, appears comfortable in his position. Not to mention that following his nuptials earlier this year, his relevance among 50 percent of the USU population has diminished and the rest are just happy he's not a threat anymore. statesman@aggiemail. usu.edu, or click on www.utahstatesman. corn for more letter guidelines and a box to submit letters. Online poll Elsewhere, Executive VP Brent Crosby skirted through the election process unopposed and aside from some obscure bills in the Executive Council hasn't done much since. And I don't think anyone feels advocated by Dan Ricks. Who is your favorite Newsmaker? • • So, giving credit where credit is due, I wanted to take some time before we separate for the holiday to thank this semester's Newsmakers, without whom we would have nothing to write about. Then there was Tom. Last year when Mr. Atwood ran on a platform of bringing high-profile acts to campus we had no doubt he would win, and no doubt his subsequent actions in office would be divisive. Say what you will, for good or ill, about some of the Programming decisions this year but one thing is certain, Atwood shook things up. Tom Atwood Red Jumpsuit Apparatus might not be your Looking over this year's crop of ASUSU I See NEWS, page 12 • ASUSU Programming VP Tom Atwood Mr. USU T.j. Pratt. Quarterback Diondre Borrel. Visit us on the Web at www.utahstatesman. corn to cast your vote and see results from this straw poll. |