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Show OP MION WEDNESDAY 616 TAGS 7 Daily Utah Chronicle THE CHRONICLE'S VIEW Felony charges for prank is 2oo MBf AGp. LS Loo r 1 I A VIRUS unfortunate rhen U baseball player Ryan Breska went to go pick up some photographs last month, he was met with an unpleasant surprise. Waiting for him in the store where he was picking up the photos were Brigham Young University police officers who arrested Breska and took him to the Utah County Jail, where he spent the night on felony charges. The charges stem from the pictures themselves, which show eight members of the Utah baseball team painting red U's on the large Y overlooking the BYU campus. Because that action is illegal, and because the damage estimate for the crime is greater than $1,000, the e players now face felony mischief charges, punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a display their pride in a nonviolent way. Often, these pranks are nothing more than innocent attempts at rousing support and attendance for sporting events. Rarely are these actions malicious or done with the intention of causing harm or serious damage. ' The intentions of the U players ought to be taken into consider- ation prior to their trial date. The fact that these Utes took pictures of their prank implies that they were not worried about criminal charges, as the photographs can be used as evidence. The logical question becomes, if these players were not consciously committing a felony, then what were they doing? Most likely, nothing more than continuing a tradition that has existed much longer than any of the players have been ' second-degre- $5,000 fine. Breska has said that the action was perpetrated in hopes of adding some fire to the rivalry. While these players' actions were by no means defensible blatantly breaking the law rarely is the serious repercussions they now face are unfortunate. Pranks of this nature are not uncommon between Utah's two biggest rivals. There is a history of players from both schools inciting one another in a friendly and competitive manner. There is not, however, a longstanding history of these players being prosecuted for their actions. Rivalries, school spirit and competitiveness are all facets of the college experience they have been for ages. Rivalry pranks have long acted as a way for schools to "in college. While not intending to commit a crime is no excuse for commitfelony ting one, second-degre- e charges seem a little extreme. Even the charge, felony mischief, sounds like an oxymoron fitting for the situation although illegal, what the players did does not warrant a felony charge that carries the same weight as certain types of child sex abuse and burglary. A lesser charge is much more reasonable punishment for what amounts to nonviolent collegiate indiscretion. Let the fate of these U players serve as a lesson for other students: While keeping the rivalry alive is a legitimate cause, the ramifications for breaking the law in the name of school spirit can be devastating. U long-standi- long-standi- Unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of The Daily Utah Chronicle Editorial Board. Editorial columns and letters to the editor are strictly the opinions of the author. The forum created on the Opinion Page is one based on vigorous debate, while at the same time demanding tolerance and respect. Material defamatory to an individual or group because of race, ethnic background, religion, creed, gender, appearance or sexual orientation will be edited or will not be published. LETTERS Editor: cally. ently has political instability and conflict. A case in point is the former Yugoslavia. The country, like Iraq, was created after World War I, but was made up of many diverse peoples whose only common experience was rule by the Ottoman Empire. Yugoslavia was an idea thought up by ambitious Serbs. After World War II, the only thing holding the coun- try together was communist ideology. When that fell apart so did the country; the result was brutal fighting and conflict. Iraq, likewise, shares a similar history except the -- Maintaining a state that contains groups of people that have very little in common linguistically, ethnically, culturally and religiously is going to be a state that inher TO THE EDITOR With liberation comes responsibility Editor: I would just like to express how much I liked Ahmed Barakat's May 26 column ("Americans need to their definition of liberation.") Like Barakat, I was horrified to see a nation that prides itself on individual rights and freedom but repeatedly betrays those principles. I felt the column showed a lot of truths that many Americans are reluctant to see. One of the biggest is America's lack of responsibility when dealing with conflicts around the world. The incidents at Abu Ghraib prison are not isolated ones and it is time for Americans to stand up and demand our nation be held responsible for its ac tions, whether they be good or bad. Although a shock to some, we cannot rely on our government alone to ensure basic liberties to those abroad and at home, something that incidents at Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo Bay have taught us. This is the real definition of patriotism. Though it may take a tragedy like the demoralizing abuse at Abu Ghraib to finally wake America up, we should learn from this incident and start redefining our motives and actions when "liberating" nations to prevent such atrocities in the future. If we don't do it, who will? Saddam, perhaps? Anisa Ramaileh Junior, Pharmacy U gun dispute really about obeying the law Editor: So former Chronicle editor Amanda (Skow) Weatherman was amazed and baffled when she read "with a dropped jaw" that Utah legislators expect state agencies, including the U, to obey the law ("Utah State Legislature's gun stance is baffling," June 2). She shouldn't be so staggered, and "with a sigh of relief," vow never to return to the state. Her new home state of Vermont has gun laws that make her concerns virtually insignificant. There, Vermonters may carry legally concealed firearms without glue that has held the country together for the last quarter-centur- y has been Saddam Hussein's regime. That has come to an end. Keeping all the different ethnicities together and expecting them to cooperate to maintain the state of Iraq is very problematic. Groups such as the Kurds in the north, the Shiites in the south and the Sunnis in the middle really have nothing in common. Once the United States leaves, the differences, especially those pertaining to political ambitions, will be expressed loudly and turn into conflict as one group tries to dominate another. The seeds of this can already be seen in Iraq as different groups, they have different agendas for the future. For now, the more violent factions' conflict is aimed at the United States, but when we leave, they'll turn on each other and other groups. The best solution is to break the country up according to the major groups. Create Kurdistan in the north, two states in the middle one for the Sunnis and a secular e of Baghdad that is composed of the immediate surrounding region and a state for the Shiites in the south. Give each a good cut city-stat- was guaranteed to her by then-GoHoward Dean, the former Demov. cratic presidential candidate. Deep breath, Amanda. The Utah law isn't about guns at the U. It's about the U obeying the laws like the rest of us. David Nelson Alumnus permission. This reasonable liberty Iraq should be divided, then left for America's future political plan for Iraq is seriously flawed and doomed to fail. Keeping Iraq in one piece and leaving its governance to a council of former intellectual refugees in six weeks is a recipe for disaster. Another solution must be found to create a politically and economically stable entity in the region. The best solution for Iraq is to destroy Iraq politi- XML self-governme- nt of the oil fields and let them govern themselves. There are some problems with this plan, however, but they can easily be resolved. The biggest problem is the creation of Kurdistan. This might upset Turkey and Iran, which have Kurdish minorities. If Kurdistan is created out of northern Iraq, this new country might want those portions of Turkey and Iran that contain Kurdish minorities. This could be remedied, however, with treaties and constitutional amendments within Kurdistan's constitution that denounce any annexation of other country's territory. This is far simpler than dealing with a protracted civil war, which is most likely the outcome for the current situation in Iraq, especially if, the United States hands over sovereignty this June. Break Iraq up now, and let the individual ethnic groups govern themselves. This will require a lot less U.S.United Nations intervention in the future and will foster stability in the region. Fracturing Iraq now will help us avoid a 1992 Yugoslavia or 1994 Rwanda in the future. Brian Fox Alumnus Nolan Karros is the best choice for U students He, unlike Huntsman, understands Board of Regents is useful a student's perspective, Karras is by far the in the Republican for governor. primary In debates, Jon Huntsman Jr. has proposed to eliminate the State Board of Regents, which Karras has headed for the past three years. It is difficult for the average student to understand what the Regents do and even harder to care. Regents handle all the big decisions for all public colleges and universities in Utah how much funding they get, whether or not they can build a new building and who their presidents are. They don't actually make the final decisions the state Legislature does that. But the board thoroughly investigates the needs of every school and makes very educated and thought-ou- t proposals, which the Legislature are supposed to heed when making its final decisions. As head of that board, Karras is thoroughly familiar with the needs of higher education and he cares From about those needs. Huntsman said dissolving the board would give college and university presidents and their trustees more control of their schools. The last thing to come out of a politician's mouth like this statement was the vomit the first President Bush spewed on the prime minister of Japan. The Board's existence serves at least four purposes that are critical to the U's relationship with the Legislature. It mediates funding needs, combats regional loyalties, establishes a vision for funding and functions as an advocate. Every school thinks its needs are dire and wants funding this year. When the school presidents present their needs to the higher education appropriations subcommittee, they sell their cases and compete with one another. Legislators have no understanding of these needs and which ones are more important. They do understand that if the school where their constituents go I.- - Andrew Kirk Opinion Editor gets money, the constituents are happy. The Board of Regents is appointed, not elected, and therefore serves as an objective voice of reason in prioritizing the needs of each school. Because fairness is usually believed to be the most objective way to appropriate money, the U becomes unpopular because it already gets the most money and this appears unfair. The Regents remind the appropriations committee that the state has a vision for higher education, a plan. In this vision or plan, the U gets a lot of money. If the vision is forgotten, the U will be forgotten. When the Regents make their recommendations to the legislature, they end up acting as a sort of advocate for higher education. I sat in on almost every session of the higher education appropria- tions subcommittee this spring. The feeling in the room when school presidents presented their needs to the committee reminded me of the medieval high courts where officials entered on their knees and crawled before the king and queen to kowtow before making requests. The Board of Regents is appointed by the governor and as such is on equal ground with the legislators, politically speaking. The Regents can function as an advocate for the presidents collectively. Furthermore, the U has only one friend on that commitLake tee, Rep. Patricia Jones, City, and she holds little political clout on the committee. lt PLEASE SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR TO LETTERSCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU OPYI The Board's existence serves at least four purposes that are critical to the U's relationship with the Legislature. It mediates funding needs, combats regional loyalties, establishes a vision for funding and functions as an advocate. The legislative committee has already shown how it feels about higher education when it refused to fund enrollment growth. It has shown what it thinks of the U when it refused to renovate Marriott Library. Karras will not only preserve' that voice of reason standing up for the schools, but that board will be appointed by its former helmsman, its greatest advocate. a kirk (chronicle, utah. edu |