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Show THE A D Y L ! UTAH CHRONICL E OPINION muim lumjara maun fii ii wimirfiiiMiiiMii ill THE CHRONICLE'S VIEW Making an E ffort To B e Seen "t'f Ilt's -- v. t nritr Kf- quite another to walk the Trial's why the Associated Students of the University of Utah deserves a symbolic pat on the back for recent efforts to increase student involvement at " - theU , "ASUU held fcsshed-pu- " , v - , ic cussion is generally unproductive. This time, however, ASULT took the next step in the commitment to inyolve more students. of Jess Daiton, president ASUU. outlined his party's campaign platform step by step, Daiton noted where ASUU is, and where it should be, in each area, providing a good mid-semest- er update for the mentaiized student government. Then, the general assembly of 75 student leaders split into sub- -' groups to discuss specific areas in. which ASUU can improre. The subgroups mixed Executive Cabinet members with gcneral- often-compart- -- Or am Swre. - .A combination ' of the two types cf student leaders provided fresh perspectives on oV,, - neii-specif- general-assembl- - . a general meeting wtth members cf its aiany boards Monday. The student govern-- . ajent- discussed a plan fox an expariiioo of its visibility on campus. This is a good place to start; but often, with any large group, the discussion begins and ends with statements on the importance of involvement and vague ideas of how to make people feel included. This type of dis- asserribiy members from other areas of ASUU Cabinet members are often in the know about most ASUU- y related issues, but members are usually tied ta a specific steal of student government arid have little- sj in what goes on in other sections. . t Issues, ;' " ;- - An organization thai does p.ot cannot be jdlcw for a strong one. And an organisation that does not take responsi- biiity for its promises cannot be a strong one either ASUU took a step in the direction of action by acknowledging self-criticis- m its shortcomings and discussing concrete ways to get past them. , The result was good. Tangible, creative ideas surfaced. Fresh perspectives led ti more active discussions. Now, xo continue its commit; mem to student inclusion, ASUU needs to ask for input from regular students who are not involved. These students are the most aware when it comes to what keeps people from getting involved, and they will have the best iniighs for possible action. ASUU should continue to walk the walk by implementing plans and hepefuiiy succeeding in greater student involvement. tan LETTER TO THE EDITOR Satire Served No Purpose Editor: I am writing in response to Rachel Sawyers' letter to the Saints editor about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da- y Oct. 23. printed I read through the letter several times, hoping to find something of value in it. Instead, the only thing I could find was anger. How sad that in a day when so many walls of prejudice are being torn down that people still find it necessary to hate someone for who they are or what religion they belong to. This article is very much like ones that most members of the LDS Church have found on their windshield after a Sunday meeting or have handed to them when they leave Temple Square. I imagine that most groups that have been targeted for hate have had the displeasure of reading similar material. As with most hate rhetoric, it contains lies, sarcasm and most of all Sawyer paints d a picture of members of the LDS Church being zealots, committed to taking over the world and burning the infidels. If she has such strong feelings about "Mormons," why not cite specific examples? I hope that she can someday resolve these feelings of anger for her own sake, and I hope that the rest of us in the community can avoid such immature tactics and try to reach a level of peace and understanding without one group trying to tear down the other. SCOTT HOLLEY Sophomore, Business half-truth- s, wild-eye- Staying Away From the Political Pageant CHRIS YEATES Chronicle Opinion Columnist egarding the right to vote, there has been a lot of criticism toward persons JL in our age group. They say ve are indif ferent, uninterested, dispassionate. But they have neglected to realize that many of us are also apathetic and extraordinarily lazy. For some time my editor, my father, even my barber, have pressed me to write about the upcoming presidential election. I personally refused because there could be little less sound than writing an opinion column on the (not to mention little position of less stupid). In other words, I admit from the outset that choosing to vote over choosing not to vote is smarter, healthier and only a little more exhausting. It is, after all, only a few blocks to the library and a few check marks beside some names. So with all the good reasoning and rationale behind voting, I am most perplexed not-voti- as to why I myself am not going to vote. I don't understand politics extremely well and while I haven't made any outstanding efforts to learn why the field is important, the field has neither made any outstanding efforts to persuade me that it is. I might be wrong, but it seems neither George W. Bush nor Al Gore is particularly offensive I watched the presidential debates and have heard more divine answers given at a Miss America pageant. In fact, are political campaigns any different from pageants? It seems that the candidates have lost themselves in the urge to win. They stand on a soapbox for nothing. There are bland issues at stake, taxation that may or may not have as much effect on the economy as the introduction of the Big Mac at McDonald's. Bush is Gore is Neither really pro-lifmade a moving statement about abortion, however. They each simply want to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies. I canthink of a less controversial stance. Perhaps afterwards they could be so vague as to say that they want all families to be happy, all lives to be full, and like the dimwit-- , ted, pageant contestant, stutter about world peace. something So is it this feeling of manipulation that dissuades me from voting? Is it that I am a child of the media, born into the insatiable appetite of an industry that believes it can be objective and greedy in the same breath? My father insists it was people like myself who were responsible for Adolf Hitler getting into office in Germany. Now, being somewhat uneducated on all the candidates' promises, I may be unaware of one which entails genocide. Of course, even Hitler must have realized that such a position would have agitated his election. So perhaps Bush or Gore are merely keepiwg quiet on the subject of mass annihilation and, once in office, one or the other will begin to scrupulously do something more ethically upsetting than getting a blow job in the oval office. But it is unlikely. And even if I did vote such CHRONICLE e. pro-choic- e. big-breast- ed OPINION EDITOR SCOTT LEWIS a man into office, would I really believe myself to blame after the optimistic and juicy promises given by the campaigns? No, I wouldn't. Yet it is this pride, the pride of mostly older generations, that disturbs me more than our accused apathy. I cannot recall how many times I have heard someone say, "Well, it's not my fault. I didn't vote for Clinton or Reagan or Bush." And perhaps he didn't. But does that really . There are bland issues at stake, taxation that may or may not have as much effect on the economy as the introduction of the Big Mac at McDonald's. make him exempt from the results? Does it mean if the economy or fluality of life takes a nosedive into the toilet that he is excused? After all, he voted, and not for the man in office. So sit down, relax, because he did his part. His single vote against the current president is the most indisputable proof of his good character. And so I am confused. I cannot decide which is more slothfulto mechanically fulfill your responsibility as a citizen and vote for one of these boring candidates or simply not vote. I'm truly at a loss. And I realize that many of you, quite a few of you, feel differently, that you will vote, and that you do believe LETTERSCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU that many of the issues at hand arc important. In all honesty, I admire you. I wish I could h feel the same. I myself am but the penalty, sentimental and quite honestly cowardly way in which these and ail issues arc approached does nothing but disgust me. If one candidate stood up and said "I will abolish the death Penalty" or "I will make abortion illegal" or "I promise by the end of my term all automobiles will be electric;" if one candidate said something that might upset the other party, be it Republican or Democrat, I would more than likely not only vote but cheer, pass out, laugh, pass gas and feel a renewed faith in our government ail at once. But they don't. They lean on the fenccpost but not enough to lose balance. They say nothing daring in order to not stand for something that might be construed as controversial. And so it seems that perhaps even they are plagued with this contagious apathy. Perhaps they too can be defined as indifferent, uninterested, and dispassionate. I am not trying to persuade anyone to not vote. Vote if you want, if you find that Bush or Gore does embody something you care about. But I would like to insist that choosing not to vote is not always apathy, that it is a statement also that there is no courage in the campaigns, that the candidates are gutless and persuasive beauty queens attempting to be crowned. In short, not voting is a statement not of apathy but about apathy. It asks that just one politician be brave, take a definitive, not wayward, stance it asks them to risk their pride for their ideas. And it does not endorse or applaud this political fencepost pageant. - pro-choic- 581-704- 1 e, anti-deat- |