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Show TUESPAY, JANUARY 18, 2000 UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OPINION P.AGE10 VIOLENT MOLLY IVINS CRIMES COMMENTARY f)REWAV Prio,:it'ize your paranoias UJWN. I Now is the winter of our discontent, so I think we ought to coordinate our paranoias. I've been worried about our paranoias lately - we don't have them in order. · Some of us got all paranoid about the Y2K bug; while the media enjoyed a late-year terrorist boomlet. Meanwhile , our more advanced thinkers are into global warming. Personally, I think you have to be pretty smart to (a) understand the science involved, and (b) accept an emotionally unsatisfactory outcome in which we have met the enemy and he is us. Y2K paranoia was great for technophobes, a sort of just-short-ofKaczynski distrust of all modernity. But global warming is for those who actually trust scientists, or at least think scientists tend to know what they're talking about. And djstrust of science runs deep in our culture - in many cartoons , scienti~ts still look like Dr . . Frankenstein's assistant, Igor. That's why I'm interested in resistance to the idea of global warming as a source of paranoia. Part of it seems to be political - maybe because Al Gore is worried .about it or the Clinton administration signed the Kyoto accord, so it's politically incorrect for Republicans to take it seriously. piling guns. Also. global warming is practically a perfect subject for denial. It's hard to see a shrinking polar icecap , or even a shrinking glacier unless you live in Alaska. I was reminded of the power of denial in a political context when Gov. Dubya recently went into denial about the· existence of hunger in Texas. The U.S. Department of Agriculture came out with the same-old, same-old: Texas is second-highest in the nation in both "food insecurity " and actual hunger . Five percent of Texas households were listed as experiencing hunger, compared to 3.5 percent nationally. Bush took this as a political shot. "I saw that report that children in Texas are going hungry. Where?" Bush demanded. · 1 don't believe 5 percent are hungry. I'm surprised a report floats out of Washington when I'm running a presidential campaign .. You'd think the governor would have heard if there are pockets of hunger in Texas." You'd think so. I hate to tell him this, but the same report has been floating in Washington and seeping out of Texas since at least the 1960s. They don't seem to count by counties anymore, but there's absolutely nothingnew in the Ag report: This state has had a high hunger count s ince people started counting. You'd think the governor would know that, wouldn't you? Unle ss you looked , of course. If the leading Republican presidential candidate can be in denial about something as oftenproven as hunger in Texas, why should we expect global warming to catch on in the paranoia contest. Molly Ivins is a nationally syndicated columnist. SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY· CEl>AR CITY UTAH DIRECTING STAFF AND DESK PHONE NUMBERS: Editor Kamilynn Egan 586-nSO Associate Editor Anna Turpin 586-n59 Opinion Director Cami Per1ons 586-7759 Photo Editor Corl(y Foster 586-7750 Copy Ed!tor Debo<ah Perry 586-1992 Focus Editor Jessica BlonqulSI 586-1992 Arts Editor Lizzy Rugg 865-8443 Sports Editor Jasen Asay 865-8443 Ad Manager Miranda Mabbutt 586-7758 Faculty Advisers Larry Baker 586-7751 Moms Brown 865-8556 SENIOR STAFF WRITcRS AND REPORTcRS' qesK 586-77~7 586-5488 The u-,.,1y Joum« •• pubiishe<I ove,y Monday and Thursday ol Che academoe y•ar by and for tile stuelent bOdy ol 5o<J1nem Utah Unv8f•rty fl rec:.tves _,..,,,..,, Imm lhe ..,..,er,ny·• communoaooon ~ n t and trom the utwe<Sfty adrnintStrabon The ~teWS and op,ntons exprttSs•d ,n the Journal ere tho&• of ,nctiv,dUal wnlefS and dO not neeesunty reflect tho ....ews ol tho oosbtubon. faculty, staff or student bOc!y "' general The uns,gne<S ed- dorec::tly at><we ,s the Ol)lt'lon or 1he Urwvorslty Journal as a s,nglo entity Lette<s to 1he editor must be typed and ondude lh8 name an<I phone number. Only the name w,I be pnnted. Names w,Q r\Of be wllhheld under eny con:umstaices and tho edlor reserves edtling pnviega. lenefs must be submitted by S p m l'hlndays ro, ondusoon ,n Monuay edltlons. and by s p m Mondays tot Thtn<lay edollOnS Grievance•: Ally ondov<lual With 1 -once aga,nst tho Journal sllo<Ad direct such prolllem Int to lh8 edit<>< II u,vasolved, that gnevance snook! then be dncled to tho faculty tM Journal Steering Comm,ttee, which IS c:ha,red by Or Fra,n G Peanon. 586-7971 Unlwn/ty Journal: Offices ,n SUU TOCllnOlogy 8uld.ng 011 M a.I a t SUU . Cedar C,ty, Utah 84720 FAX (435) 586-$487 E-maol address JOUrnal@•w odu CJPRINTED ON RECYCU:D PAPER. PLEASE RECYCLE TlilS COPY ACCESS MLK observance should mean more Day, Pulaski Day (a crazy state holiday unique to Illinois) and all those other days, should be scho9J _ days as well. If you think I'm saying this to belittle the · achievements of these people, and if you think I'm on the verge of saying something racist. start thinking in the opposite direction. Because as it stands now, Martin Luther King Day is a hollow gesture of thanks to the man whose name it celebrates. About a week ago that I wouldn't have to hop a Dr. King sacrificed his own existence to change train to school on Jan. 17, I sobbed . - - - - - - - - - - - - , millions of lives for the better with tears of joy. and we go ahead and celebrate After all , receiving a day off in that existence by spending a Monday in the mall or on the college without cutting class is about as rare as fin d ing nutrition at couch. (And just in case you were S wondering, watching the weekly McDonald's. As my inve stig ative rep orting KKK episode of "The Jerry teacher reminded the class of this Springer Show· isn't doing Dr. rarest of occasions , my fellow King's memory any favors.) students and I joined hands, sang We're not fooling anybody these and threw our books out the window, days with our current method of accidentally killing two pigeons and SO celebration. If we wish to preserve a snowman in the effort. Dr. King's memory. we need to To be honest, I've always been understand just what makes him confused by the practice of taking the day off, at so memorable in the first place. And for those c;,( least in cases like this. Before you stage protests you teachers/parents/teachers-to-be/parents-tobe who know Dr. King and his history better than about this column, please let ·me explain. In case you had a long fall down the stairs and your own name, good for you . But I guarantee don't remember anything , Monday was Martin someone you know doesn't know a thing. So do Luther K ing , Jr. Day , a date reserved for the honors and teach· them all about it. Americans - black, white. both or neither - to take Remember. you're free that day. It would be unrealistic for the entire country to time off and reflect on Dr. King's revolutionary achievements. wind down completely and dedicate the whole day You did reflect on Dr. King's achievements this to thinking about Dr. King; in any case, that's not the point. The point is that we should take at least past Monday, didn't you? Hmmmmmmmmm? When I was younger, saying what I'm about to some time out to teach ourselves and each other would most likely have won me a beating or at about the ·man to whom many owe their current least a wedgie, so I kept my mouth shut. But I'm well-being. in college now, and those kids on the playground After all, even if it's only for an hour or two, have nothing on me. so I'll go ahead and say it: shouldn't Martin Luther King Day be about Martin Martin Luther King Day , along with Columbus Luther King? 'Access' is a recurring column through which students, faculty or staff may comment on issues of concern to our readership . To submit to 'Access,' contact Cami Perkins, our opinion director, by phone at 5~6-7759, or by e-mail at · · joumal@suu.edu. Today's column is by Billy O'Keefe, a College Press Exchange correspondent from Columbia College, Chicago, /II. If we wish to preserve Dr. K. , tng memory, We need to Understand just What makes ht·m memorab/f;J. |