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Show Editorial WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31,2011 THE SIGNPOST The Signpost Viewpoint Don't vote based on religious discrimination Since when were we OK with religious bigotry? No one can get away with racist discrimination in a national election. Anyone who said anything about Barack Obama's race during the 2008 campaign was given a welldeserved proverbial crucifixion by the media. However, during this latest election, several disturbing incidents have occurred regarding discrimination amongst the Republican candidates. During one of the earlier Republican primary debates hosted by CNN, current candidate Herman Cain was asked about a past statement he made regarding whether he would allow a Muslim to be a part of his cabinet. When asked to clarify, Cain expressed concerns about whether a Muslim would be loyal to the have been attacked by the else, his religion - not his United State and uphold its media to such a degree that previous stances on abortion, laws. He stated that he would they should have had to end or the health care law he ask any Muslim candidate their campaigns the next day. passed when he was governor questions that he would not ask More recently, dark horse of Massachusetts. Instead, the Christian or Jewish candidates. Rick Perry has entered the most controversial aspect of During the debate, two of the Republican primaries and has his candidacy has always been other candidates, Tim Pawlenty surged to the top of the latest his allegience to the Mormon and Newt Gingrich, pitched polls. Former frontrunners, Church. Interestingly, he was in to the response, saying that including Michele Bachmann one of the few candidates they would also be hesitant to and Mitt Romney, were blown during that previously cited hire Muslims to their cabinet. out of the water by his sudden debate who actually took a Gingrich even compared entry into the race earlier in more rational and moderate Muslims to communists and August. One of the things that view of the appointment of Nazis. What was perhaps most makes him do so well is his American Muslims in the sickening about this exchange, appeal to social conservative United States government. aside from Cain's hypocrisy (he voters, who have previously The Signpost is certainly not did grow up in the Jim Crow been rallying around endorsing Romney or anyone era) and Gingrich's outright Bachmann and, to some extent, else for president; however, the nastiness, was the seeming lack Romney. blatant discrimination he has of focused outrage on these One of the reasons Perry been a victim of during this Republican candidates for has taken so many social election, as well as the last one, the horrific things they had to conservatives is that they are must be pointed out. say about Muslim Americans. wary of voting for Romney During the 2008 campaign, These three candidates should because of, more than anything Romney walked into a coffee shop, and was told by a potential voter that he would not vote for a Mormon. During both this and the previous presidential race, the main thing that seems to come up about Romney is the fact that he's a Mormon. The main source of this religious bigotry is the evangelical community, which holds considerable sway over the Republican party. However, this is pure hypocrisy since evangelicals often claim to be victims of religious discrimination. Furthermore, any form of bigotry is wrong, whether it be racial or religious bigotry. Comment on this column at wsu signpost. com. Pragmatic Perspective The issues of WSU going smoke-free Has anyone heard about Nathan Mikami the student senate-led disThe Signpost cussions about columnist creating a socalled "smoke-/ tobacco-free" campus? I heard about it briefly a few months ago, but didn't think it was serious until I saw a poster on the first day of school encouraging students to voice their opinions on the discussion board of the student senate's Facebook page. Wanting to see what people had to say, I visited the page and found literally tens of comments! Of course, when I say tens, I actually mean four comments, only one of which I believe was from a non-student senator. Despite being somewhat pathetic in scope, I did think the discussion provided some interesting opinions and insights. Upon reading every single comment - all four of them (yes, I'm going to poke fun at it the entire time) - the first issue that crossed my mind was that there wasn't one smoker who had made a contribution to the discussion. The Deseret News even did a story back in February on the possible "smoke-free" future of WSU, and there was only one less-than-intelligent entry on the online comment board. Shouldn't smokers be offering their views and concerns? This affects them more than anyone else. Shouldn't they be worried? I'm not sure if you're aware, but Weber State University already has regulations pertaining to smoking. Yep, that's itor-in-Chief Managing Editor News Editor j Sports Editor Photo Editor Business Editor Spencer Gam Stephanie Simonson •R1: Nathan Davis ? Bryan Butterfield Cole Spicker Features Editor A&E Editor Copy Editor Adviser Ads Manager Office Manager 626-7121 626-761 626-7655 626-7983 62^8071 626-7621 The Signpost Is a student publication, wrii^eWldited'and drafted by Weber State University students. Student fees fund the printing of this publication. Options or positions voiced are noijnecessarily endorsed by the university.;, . \) right, no one can smoke within 20 or 25 feet of any building. Is this news to anyone else? It's probably news to you, because no one has ever seen this rule followed, nor have we seen it enforced. Smokers aren't commenting because they don't feel threatened. When they smoke outside the doors of Elizabeth Hall, nobody stops and tells them to move 20 feet down the sidewalk, so why should they be worried about future regulations? Enforcement needs to be a top priority for our student senate upon making any new regulations. Sure, you can make rules, but how are you going to be sure that students are keeping them? The second issue to address is whether or not smoking is doing enough damage to completely ban it from our campus. Is secondhand smoke a real threat? To smokers, I ask this question: Do you really think that your smoke only affects you and no one else? I think there are many unhealthy activities in which we can participate that truly only affect ourselves, but I don't think smoking is one of them. Again, this begs the question - should WSU be completely smokefree, or should there be designated areas specifically for smoking? Would this measure completely alienate smoking students? These are all issues that would need to be addressed as to how far we should take such regulations. The third issue to be addressed is that of freedom. But is this really an issue of freedom? I know many will decry smoking regulations as Nazi-like fascism and a deliberate attack on American freedoms. And »v- Jerrica Archibald KoryWood Alexandria Waltz Shane Farver Shelley Hart Georgia Edwards to them I say-get over yourselves and stop listening to so much talk radio. Before you slap on your "Don't Tread on Me" T-shirt while screaming Orwell quotes, just stop and think about what this issue truly implicates. It's not an issue of freedom, but of public and, more specifically, student health and wellness. Do you see McDonald's employees protesting on the streets because they're not free to choose .whether or not they wash: their hands before preparing your Big Mac? Or do you see doctors screaming 'Big Brother' because they have to use different needles, on different patients? No, because they understand how their actions affect public health and wellness. Now, I understand that this is a bit of a different situation, but similarly, we should all understand that less tobacco on campus would create an overall healthier atmosphere for everybody. I'm not a smoker myself, but I do feel that if someone wants to partake of tobacco products, then they have a right to do so. I do, however, feel that, just like any other public institution, we must look after the overall health and wellbeing of all those being served. We must also remember that any new regulations must be enforced and viewed as serious. We furthermore need to try to meet the needs of all WSU students, smokers and nonsmokers alike. And lastly, we need to recognize that this isn't an issue of freedom, but rather an issue of. making and keeping WSU one of the best institutes of higher education and learning. Comment on this column at wsusignpost.com 626-7624 626-7105 626-7659 626-7526 626-6359 626-7974 The Signpost reserves the fight to STtreasons of space an bel and also reserves the right to refuse to print any letter. Letters should not exceed 350 words. Letters should be submitted to theslgnpost@weber.edu and read Letter to the Editor in the subject box. r , * • • • ' . • • |