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Show Editorial TUESDAY, JULY 26,2011 THE SIGNPOST The Signpost Viewpoint Selling out traditional parades What is the most troublesome issue in America today? It isn't raising the debt ceiling to a number that sounds like it was designed by kindergartners. It isn't the overhaul of a flawed system of education that both punishes our nation's children and encourages squabbling between underpaid teachers and underfunded districts. And it isn't figuring out how to patch up our porous borders while accepting and assimilating those already here. America's biggest problem? The commercialization of the parade. The parade is not an American invention, but as a recreational activity, it has been embraced here like it has nowhere else in the world. Where parades in many countries are associated with military and processional occasions, Americans see a parade as nothing better than an opportunity to cover a Winnebago with papier mache and clap for hundreds and hundreds of different horses. Parades are most often associated with patriotic holidays (Independence Day), major sporting events (the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena and New York City's old ticker-tape parades for champions returning home), national holidays (the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City and Boston's St. Patrick's Day Parade) and specific, regional celebrations (Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Pioneer Day parades across Utah). Parades are supposed to be about small towns, high school bands, Boy Scout troops, mediocre bands made up of retirees, Shriners on itty-bitty motorbikes, flowery church floats and queens of the rodeo. Candy should be tossed liberally and snow cones should be readily available. Audience members should be able to glory in the perfection that can only be found in viewing a float, made entirely out of recyclables, that depicts the awesome scene of the Chester A. Arthur funior High School student body officers, waving and smiling, piloting a space shuttle over Mount Rushmore and back down to a Hawaii beach luau, while overhead a giant banner reads "CHESTER A. ARTHUR J.H. SBOS: YOUR IN FOR A ADVENTURE!!!" But parades are no longer like this. Sure, the odd marching band and squadron of horses comes along, but half of the parade entries these days are realtors and car dealers. Instead of hurling Tootsie Rolls, they hand out fliers. Where once the fire department blew their loud sirens at small children, there now passes a Ford truck full of Jiffy Lube employees shouting through bullhorns about "low, low prices." What's worse is that, while parades fill up with commercials, no one has invented Parade Tivo. Do not despair, however. There is hope. Legend tells of parades in smaller cities, like Grantsville and Beaver, where parades still run uncorrupted. Huntsville's Independence Day parade, which runs around a small city park, only recently became too large to continue its usual practice of traveling the parade route twice. For those not fortunate enough to visit these smaller bastions of American sincerity there are some ways to make your modern parade more palatable. Cheer loudly for every nonprofit float, buggy and pony, and glare coolly at realtors, politicos and banks who think that, just because they're in the parade, they're also a part of it. Comment on this column at wsusignpost. com. Set aside ideological differences Debt crisis through purple- colored glasses Nathan Mikami • The Signpost columnist News stories and headlines have been dominated by the ever-escalating debt crisis looming over our economy, and ultimately both short-term and long-term American prosperity. Through it all, I somehow feel that a "debt crisis" is an inaccurate description of the type of crisis in which our nation is involved. I feel a more fitting title would be a "common-sense crisis" or a "maturity crisis" or the always- ridiculous "I am the morning and evening star. I know everything, and you don't" crisis. As I watch these elected officials banter back and forth and regurgitate that which their staff tells them is safest to say, I wonder what Weber State University Wildcats might do if faced with a similar situation. Imagine if WSU was faced with a severe debt problem because we have borrowed too much and spread ourselves too thin with extra programs and events that we can't sustain on revenues alone. Coupled with the extra spending and borrowing, we have given tuition breaks to everyone, including the students whose wealthy parents pay for all of their fees (including their new Audi GT), all while they maintain a 'C average. The president of WSU sees that, in order to deal with this looming "debt crisis," some tough decisions are going to have to be made. There would need to be cuts to certain programs along with tuition increases, especially for those who park their Audi in the Al parking lot, and whose parents are fully capable of providing the necessary funds for their tuition. When the president pitches the idea to the student council, there is a bit of a divide. There are those on the council who represent the students who don't want any cuts to any programs other than some athletic scholarships, but the other half of the council represent those who are wholeheartedly opposed to any cuts to athletics and oppose any tuition hikes, especially for the wealthiest students, because they theoretically create more significant donations. Now, there are two possible outcomes to this particular scenario: Either we could rant and rave about what the founders of WSU would have us do and why the other side's opinion is flawed, or we could work together to secure a bright future for WSU and its students. I feel like we would have the decency and common sense to choose the latter, to cut out some programs and clubs that ultimately have little impact on the quality of the school, while having everyone do their part by taking some tuition increases, including the Audi driver. Of course, how I feel we Wildcats would face this crisis is very different from how the men and women in D.C. are currently handling the real crisis. They preach and sing about the Constitution and what our Founding Fathers would want us to do about the current crisis we face, and then refuse to compromise on any issue. This is mind- numbingly hypocritical in that the Constitution is a direct result of several tough compromises made by the founders of the nation (as my WSU history classes have taught me). Now, to say that if the Founding Fathers were here today, they wouldn't budge on tax increases or entitlement cuts is absolutely outrageous. They would, just as they did 200 years ago, look past their personal agendas and delusions of grandeur (mostly), then do the right thing for the nation regardless of party rhetoric or what would be politically expedient. It's time for serious public servants to take on serious problems by meeting in the middle rather than putting up the defenses in their polarized corners of the ideological spectrum. Now, whether my hypothetical WSU scenario will play out in D.C. is yet to be seen, but may we all strive together to put aside petty differences and work as one to create a brighter future as we slowly take the reins as the leaders of tomorrow. Comment on this column at wsusignpost. com. Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor News Editor Sports Editor Photo Editor Business Editor Spencer Garn Melissa McComas ShayLynne Clark Nathan Davis Bryan Butterfield Emily Hulse 626-7121 626-7614 626-7655 626-7983 626-8071 626-7621 The Signpost is a student publication, written, edited and drafted by Weber State University students. Student fees fund the printing of this publication. Options or positions voiced are not necessarily endorsed by the university. Features Editor A&E Editor Copy Editor Adviser Ads Manager Office Manager Jerrica Archibald Kory Wood Stephanie Simonson Shane Farver Shelley Hart Georgia Edwards 626-7624 626-7105 626-7659 626-7526 626-6359 626-7974 The Signpost reserves the right to edit for reasons of space and libel and also reserves the right to refuse to print any letter. Letters should not exceed 350 words. Letters should be submitted online to thesignpost@weber.edu and read Letter to the Editor in the subject box. |
