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Show THE SUMMER " V' THE CHRONICLE'S f VIEW v$ itu'ir.tJ to il rities is cc . ics oce too f . it credit to : r . r c r - i c.o;..-- to an cr:., c:. " iza-- '. ',: . ' ' e . tioa t: . i v , coni.icis j . -- i ts c t;Ii j:.' ;,."( Ye,; Hvirj s'..s of I'enya. , , i.-rc- y . tL;y could a , zl no re af.'.;, t'i a stuL., let. Yeiie So IV a i. A griie a fell Lt- - e::!y wanted to understand the ? studu help often harsh realities of ks, such as the suffering of the desperately poor' in Kenya. By donating money, students could help improve life La the country. Unfortunately, though Yeagle's intentions were coble, she bas essentially allowed students to buy grades in her summer classes. Rather than showing students the importance of charity work, the practice only teaches money ioreimpor-- , tant than academics.;";,' In her semester-lon- g classes, volunstudents invites to Yeagle teer be ally for extra credit- - In stu-dentl.i- - HHP rL J edited or will 0fie Cl0Sed r0a S 3 tim& well-bein- g, STUDENTS SPEAK OUT . is What Do You Think About the Republican Party's Decision to Close its Primary Election? think it's fine. I don't want Democrats sabotaging the primary. Only Republicans should be able to decide who the Republican candidates in the general election will be. Letting Democrats into the primary doesn't make any sense. Anthony Mazza Second Year, Pharmacy I not Unsigned editorials reflect the majority epini&a of The Daily Utah Chroaicit Editorial toard. Editorial columns and letters te the editor are strictly tbe opinions of the author. The forsra created oa the Opinio Page is one based oa vigorous debate, while at tbe same time demandlftf tolerance and respect Material defamatory to an Individual or group because of race, ethcik background, gender, appearance or sexual oriwiii be Making your mcj-.e- doesn't matter. Utah is so heavily conservative that Republicans will win most of the general elections anyway. If the party wants to limit the election to card carrying members, that's fine. It entation tS3 X R A X UTAcommute more efficient M those classes the experience of active service complements the class material. But when students in condensed courses are asked , simply to donate money, they gain little academic enrichment Grades thould reflect academic performance and the material , students learn in courses. Do rut'sy, howevei; only reflects .a student's financial and some students can't even afford textbooks, let alone extra credit points. The U does not currently have a written policy that handles situations liSie Yeagle's, but one is needed to prevent . desperately similar incidents in the future. Yeagle wants to make good on her word and award students the extra credit for. their donations, but the U.should not allow that to happen- - The students who have already collected money can donate it, but without grade benefits, f In one of Yeagle's classes, students are still donating money, but will not receive extra credit .Yeagle sbo.uli establish the same .policy in all of her courses. Donating Smoney to charity is laudable, tut doing so for a grade j JJffh ftsS j A ;: CHRONICLE UTAH net be published. Kim Splan Senior, Environmental Studies Because Utah has such a large Republican majority, Democrats might try to go to the primaries and select the weakest Republican candidate. I think closing the primary is a smart move. Kellee Goodwin Second Year, Pharmacy It's not a big deal. The Republican Party is just trying to set the best candidates forward. Letting Independents and Democrats vote might be more widely representative, but the Republicans need to get a feel for what voters within the party think. Sarah Vraneslch Junior, Nursing Democrats Not Invited to Republican Party primary," in which creating a "semi-close- d one party in the state has a closed primary, JOHN MORLEY Chronicle Opinion Editor you know what's coming up June it's not your mother's birthday. not your sister's, either. It's not even your three-monanniversary with your girlfriend. It's the state Republican Party pri25? Do th mary. Like most Utahns. you probably didn't know and probably didn't care. As an average citizen, the statistical likelihood that you will vote in any given primary election is tiny only about 20 percent according to most estimates. However, next week's primary may actually be one worth remembering. It's the first time since the that a Utah political a has tried closed primary, in which party only registered members of tbe party can mid-196- 0s vote. At last August's state Republican Party convention, conservative delegates forced through an initiative limiting participation in g Republiprimary elections to cans. Before then, both parties in Utah used an open primary system, in which any registered voter could simply show up the day of the primary and choose a party. The Democrats will continue to allow Independents and Republicans to participate, card-carryin- and the other has an open one. Moderate Republicans and Democrats will be tempted to dismiss the state GOP's new system as yet another example of how Utah's unique conservativism is ruining local politics. It's easy to simply say, "Those right-win- g wackos, they did it again!" However, moderates should be careful about blowing off the closed primaries as a product of Utah's kookiness. In actuality, most of the country uses closed primaries. Furthermore, the Republican party has a constitutional right to determine its nomination process. Granted, the party may shoot itself in the foot by nominating extremists in primaries who can't win in general elections, but it's the party's prerogative. Criticism that the Republicans are being exclusive or unfair misses the fundamental point that political parties are organizations of private individuals trying to advance an agenda. Insofar as closed primaries serve that purpose, it's hard to fault party insiders for wanting them Primary elections first began in the early 20th century as part of the Progressive movement. At that time, political parties exercised incredible influence over every aspect of public life. Because most civil service positions, right down to garbage collection and water sanitation, were filled by political appointment, huge numbers of government workers relied on their parties' electoral success to keep their jobs. Campaigning for a party thus became synonymous with putting CHRONICLE OPINION EDITOR f POOR COPYi JOHN MORLEY food on the table. Parties exercised so much "machines," such as the power that New York Democratic Party's Tammany Hall, regularly rigged local elections. Progressives called for the primary system, in addition to civil service reform, as a way of breaking down the parties control. Rather than having top officials hand out nominations, primaries forced parties to let ordinary voters decide. Currently, 29 states, including New York, Florida and Pennsylvania use closed primaries, and many others, including Massachusetts, New Jersey and Oregon, use d primaries like Utah's. Perhaps because of a culture of individualism, Americans feel uneasy about the general concept of political parties. This feeling is unique to the United States, as is the primary system. In every other major democracy in the world, there's no such thing as primaries, and party discipline is extremely rigid. In fact, most European democracies elect at least some of their legislators using a system of "party lists," in which voters check the name of a party, and the party's leaders decide how to fill legislative seats. The fact is that although political parties may have exercised too much control in the past modern parties serve a necessary role in electoral politics. They field candidates, fund campaigns, and help organize the government. However, the dramatic increase in the number of unaffiliated, or "independent," voters in the last 50 years has frequently undermined parties' legitimate functions. In California, for instance, voters approved an so-call- ed semi-close- LETTERSCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU initiative in 1998 that created "blanket primaries," in which voters used a ballot listing both parties, where they could check their favorite candidate for every office. Both major parties sued, arguing that the system undermined their right to determine nomination processes, and hindered them from effectively doing what primaries are designed to do nominate candidates who represent the party's agenda. The Supreme Court agreed, and struck down the law in 2000. Some Utahns argue that the Republicans' new requirement that voters register a party affiliation will give the government threatening new powers to invade privacy. That's There's nothing dangerous about letthe ting government know your party affiliation. The worst that could happen is you get a few more mailings and perhaps a phone call or two from party headquarters every year. Perhaps the most important observation a moderate commentator can make on the new closed primary is that, more than ever, Republicans need to step out of the and become of active. Moderate conservatives politically who fear that extremists will hijack the Republican Party should get involved and start voting, rather than sitting on the sidelines bemoaning the loss of their political individuality. The primary takes place June 25. There's still time to register. John welcomes feedback at jmorleychron-icle.utah.edSend letters to the editor to hog-was- h. middle-of-- the-road ho-hu- m non-affiliati- on u. 581-704- 1 |