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Show lnion The College Times MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2007 Local talent, national attention Ben Webster Sports editor This article is in response to an opposing view that was published in the Nov. 12 Opinion Section of The College Times, "Wolverine's prefer carpal tunnel over jock inch." A survey conducted just over a decade ago found that only 12 percent of Utah Valley citizens knew that UVSC had been providing students opportunities to receive four-year degrees for what at that time had been over five years. At the same time the survey was conducted. Utah Valley was competing against Snow College, Dixie and other junior colleges in athletics. The community's view of this school went hand in hand with the view of UV athletics and, frankly, that hasn't changed. What was Utah Valley on national TV for last week? It wasn't because of the great programs here, which there are-it was for sports. With a budget of over $5 million dollars, athletics is expensive, but at most schools in the country athletics isn't just about the money. Going Division I means spending more money, more than students already pay in student fees, which as of now represents the most for athletics statewide. It takes money to compete at Division I. However, it's generally money well spent. As good as the business school is, as good as the science department is and as good as all the other programs at Utah valley are, they won't get Utah Valley on the local or national map the way sports can at the D-I level. Athletics does it. Sometimes all it takes is one win for a small unrecognized school to make national headlines. That doesn't happen at the junior college level. And it's true; too many students at this school don't appreciate what great things are happening in athletics. It's time to take off the other school's garb and get with it. It will take more than playing at the D-I level too. It will take consistent winning. But that doesn't mean give up and let another school hold on to its monopoly. It takes time; it takes building a tradition for the change to happen. People don't want to be considered second class when it comes to the other university in this MyT^!prants: But counts lor what?! ; valley and we shouldn't be. Why should the athletics department give in and say 'Oh, we don't need to get better because students already have a sucessful athletic department to turn to?' The status quo is rarely good enough. Utah Valley has the capabilities to be a great educational institution and athletics can be involved in that. Would Utah Valley be a university if the athletics program were still playing at a junior college level? Not likely. Or could you imagine the athletic program continuing down the same path,- plodding along in NJCAA while Utah Valley was no longer a junior college? No, it. doesn't happen. Athletics is important at any university. Stanford, Harvard, and Yale all have amazing educational opportunities and all lose money on Division I athletics. Athletics brings in minorities, balance between female and males and needed recognition. All are things the school desires. Athletics are important at this and most universities in the country. To make a splash nationally, time and time, again it is going to happen in athletics more than any other department. Athletic success translated to publicity nationally and that will benefit every aspect of this school. Carmell Hoopes-Clark Opinions contributor I went and voted. Other voters who turned out at the polls on Nov. 6 may have noticed Utah has electronic voting machines now. Within the confines of voting booths expecting privacy and anonymity we found the logo of "Diebold," the emissary of Big Brother staring up at us. Since the 2004 ballot tampe4ng debacle, Florida is stilj-going the rounds with elegpronic voting. Washington has elimi»d electronic voting aljether, and has made any iange in party voting susncious. They now throw out tuspicious votes. m California's Secretary of State, Debra Bowen, decerjjjfied all Diebold's voting Machines On Aug. 3, after i'p was discovered that prior itp the March 2067 elections, |flie company had installed [Uncertified software and fMevices in machines sold to jcounties under conditional 'approval; highly illegal in California. California also discovered that in November 2006, Diebold had installed uncertified software in 17 counties across the state without notifying state officials inxluding some county voting officials. Civil and criminal charges are now being brought against Diebold. Younger generations know nothing of sacrifice Dave Gillespie Opinions contributor Are you willing to die? It has been a week since Veteran's Day and here is an interesting statistic circling around the Internet: one in four homeless persons has served in the military. Hm...interesting. Does anyone really care? Does this writer? Bill O'Reilly randomly asked young adolescents what they thought of their country and whether they felt any allegiance. Some were shy and didn't have much to say. Some stated they liked their country but were not sure why. And some . . .well some said they didn't owe America anything and, in fact, America was in debt to them. Wouldn't President Kennedy be so proud? He was the one that said, "Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country can do for you," right? The disheartening truth is our culture is declining in patriotism. The average person doesn't care about the physical and mental sacrifices the men and women of our military have made for us and the world. When was the last time you thanked a veteran? Yours truly tried once but felt a bit uncomfortable. Perhaps because he really didn't care or understand what such a sacrifice entailed. On top of that, how many of us are willing to die for our country? Is there anything we are readily and wanting to give our lives for, so those around us may continue to enjoy it? Or are we the interviewed child who thinks only of himself and views the government as nothing worthy enough to be protected; yet demands it to provide the services him or her desires? Are you or I willing to die for this country? Unfortunately, many of us, if not most of us, are not willing. And for that, the homeless veteran is richer than we will ever be. This is not the first time in California Nor is it an isolate incident. Arizona, Washington, Ark a ns as, Kentucky, O h i o , Georgia... the list oonti nues. As previous!1, stated, Florida has been dealing with this problem for a long time. In fact, Florida State University has uncovered significant problems in security measures for Diebold machines and software. Among these is the ability to easily access and change information from voting terminals in a matter of a few minutes without •any trace of tampering. But many of the other state investigations were triggered by Bruce Funk. Funk is the Elections Coordinator in Emery County, Utah, who publicly announced the serious security problems of Diebold instead of using hushed tones behind closed doors. When the inquiry came, it was into Mr. Funk more than his allegations. Funk became more of a Mr. Smith in a postOrwellian Washington. Through this incident, he was barred from his job, and the latest information shows his pension status as uncertain. So, what • security problems are-at issue here? Security on Diebold machines consisted of locking a bar over the data card in the machine and attaching a seal to it. Security testers proved this was easily overcome in a matter of minutes by unscrewing the actual machine itself, top from bottom. Once open, the card was extracted and replaced in moments without compromising the seal. Washington, San Diego, and others said they sent voting machines home with poll workers, once sealed, because the security was sufficient. However, the latest California machines were found to be capable of wireless access. But the coup de grace In response to Campus Connection's ridiculous red flagging of the Alex Caldiero's Humanities 2020 poster which depicts the Caravaggio painting "Cupid Triumphant/' our staff responded to this: This response will seem like an attempt at humor, but it's dead serious: blending chocolate and mint. Ewww. I find mint-chocolate anything highly offensive. I'd rather eat rat bile and horseradish. Jason Pyles I DO find the term "Staff Infection" offensive. Britnee Nguyen There really is afineline between art and something you would find profane. If something is made to-depict the human body with all its soul, one can find nothing but beauty and innocence. However, when something objectifies the body, it steals the soul. The main point is this: beauty is in the eye of the behplder. It's all in how you look at it. Sarah Brimhall I can't describe it, but when I see it, I know it. Yes, if you're wondering, I am a jackass. No, I'm not Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart. Amy Thaut Recently I went to go see Across The Universe at the Provo Towne Center Mall. Due to there being a couple surprise 'boobies' having been shown, most of the people left the theatre. Only in Provo. The rest of the rnjjvie did not feature more nudity, and was very good. It is offensive to me that people have the "piety* to act like that. Even LDS film director Richard Dutcher has , said ;It,S fetter, to tell an R-rated ' . trutti-thfri a G-rated lie" • \\ ! *.' •'• • Greg Wilcox; The term patently offensive gets thrown around alot in discussions of obscenity and pornography. There's a pretty clear distinction between art and pornography, in my opinion. Art is socially acceptable and should be studied in terms of form, function and design. Pornography -• is riot art; it's intent is titilation and arousal. I don't see how art and erotica can be so confusing. Chad Hunt: • • • ! • • I walked out. I felt violated. I absentmindedly placed the sticker on rhy dashboard, and hurried home. As Iwas driving to class later, I noticed all in. a moment: the sticker. The "o" in Voted; was afingerprint."0"... my god. ••'••• :: the line, for me. I don't accept the idea that violence justifies violence. I also don't accept the justification that violent movies, television programming, cartoons, etc. merely reflect our culture. I believe that constant exposure to violent images does not reflect our culture but ere-, ates an increase of violence in our thoughts, and therefore, in our lives. , ; Robbin Anthony -j We go dutifully in to cast our votes thinking we have some semblance of freedom) and some part of the powers that we live under. But! maybe we don't. Not like^ we'd like to think. \ What is more, we are no longer anonymous, private.! We haven't been for a lon^ time. Terrifyingly, the reals ity of this has come several? steps further with, the elec4 tronic ballot. My voting i | a way to track me, pin raj down, sell me electronical^ for money. Electronii6£M|| gerprint. r/jfc The voting volunteers were ignorantly pleased with these little stickers-thought they were fun and creative. They have no concept of the terrible irony. How many people walked around that day with little red stickers that show us all as good citizens, electronically, Orwellian-Iy known citizens, willingly submissive to having less and less privacy, autonomy, or rights to enforce accountability. There are no simple solutions, but to take back our vote, we will first have to take back the machine that is our country. Where do you personally draw the line or what material do you personally find offensive? • Mind an invasion that kills people, Anything that would bring a dark ' broadcast on public TV for enspirit into my presence, that would • tertainment to be obscene. I find make me feel uncomfortable,,This ' lying to the American people or would include: pornography (or enforcing patriotism to be profane. anything degrading toward anyoneI find censorship of free expression (expression that does not seek to -especially women), profanity, harm or limit free expression,) to obscenity, idolatry, etc. Stupidity .$e offensive. I find the publicizing also does not appeal to me. Robert • . f .-;-' . • • , . • ; - l s : J : k ^ 4 v- " ' Jones df crime scene bodies and stories, The Colgge Times! What a liberal ' 'photographing people killed in wars piece.6f,fonservative nonsense! '; for evening news, and rubber-neckEspecially that Stafflnfection. ing at accidents to be pornographic. ImaJ^jpf violence, war or death Justin Ritter usea to' prb'rhbfe'Jjatriotism cross Sex and swearing don't leave a body • was the discovery by California's Red earn that vote totals could be changed without tracking, and that authorization could be escalated from voter, to poll orker, to central count administrator. Knowledge of the security keys was not needed. I turned from the booth; disgusted andborrified. The man took the "credit card"voting card that electronically logged my-, vote and handed me a n . & Voted" sticker. ' - $ . ; ': "•.'.;• count. Carmell Hoopes-Clark Quoting US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, "I know it when I see it." Honestly though, I define pornography as content and context. Nudity in Playboy is pornographic because it is designed to sell sexuality. But Michelangelo's "David" depicts the nude male human form . which could be considered pornographic, but the venue it is presented in, art museums, definitely would not be considered pornographic. Jason Adkins I think if we can plaster Britney Spears's bloated, drunken character on TV and in tabloids walking around town—coked out, dropping her kids, using them as airbags and giying them baby bottles of Pepsinothing is taboo anymore. Luke Hickman |