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Show ™DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE O PINION www.dailyutahchronlcle.com Wednesday, February 1, 2006 Everything in The Chronicle is worthless trash Editor: The Jan. 31 column by Eric Vogeler ("Anything a guy can do, a girl can do better") is just more evidence that The Chronicle is drivel. Publishes drivel. Is drivel. Not a day goes by without my skimming the paper and almost never reading anything other than the actual news pieces due to theJack of professionalism and substance. This, compounded with whomever decides to print opinions—whv do we have three-week long argufcents on a single subject? Although many intelligent opinions are put forfch, just how much of this do we need to read? -How many letters in the lastjtjhree issues were published and related to immigration, and more recently, immigration and tuition? ]-, I am sure this could be some, I: aspiring journalist's chance to actually do a piece on this subject instead of just allowing the supposed "people's forum" to be saturated in the same subject matter on a daily basis. .# The writing is drivel. How cou$ you ever use The Chronicle as a reference to gain employment in a journalist capacity with so much unprofessionalism? ,j, From the cliche food reviews, toj; some waste-of-time pieces—such,as Vogeler's column—is this a serious argument? If it is, then why is the $xample offender grandmothers" u^ed as evidence instead of some actual,-^ research—e.g., gender studies in agft gression and sex differences in leadership capacity or a study on patriarchy to support the argument. ,j I call for an overhaul of The •; Chronicle. Not even a new editor—fjut why donlt you all sit down and assess what it is you are trying to accomplish and just how this is looking to those who read this paper on a daily basis. I know you're busy. I don't need to hear about how there is no time—if you don't have time to do a professional job for our school as a medium of communication then let someone else step in. Salem Honey Sophomore, Business/Psychology Consider adoption before abortion Editor: I am writing in response to Kelston L. Benson-Goupil's letter ("Abortion is sometimes the only feasible option," Jan. 30). Benson-Goupil makes a strong argument for abortion as he paints what many would consider to be a grim picture involving a highschool-aged girl becoming pregnant. The one problem I-have with the argument is that the author does not adequately discuss the option of putting the child up for adoption, nor does he mention the fact that the average waiting period to adopt an infant in the United States is two years (see adoption.com). A waiting time like that shows an.obviously. high demand. • My best friend has been my bestJ friend since we were 3 years old. His adoptive parents were not able to have children of their own. As hard as the decision must have been, I'm grateful that my best friend's biological parents chose to put him up for adoption rather than abort him. j[ j Dan Youngberg Diversity makes America great THE CHRONICLE'S VIEW Editor: Russell Sias's glowing tribute to Kenny Williams ("Illegal immigrants are criminals," Jan. 31) was touching. Unfortunately; Sias and—I have to assume—Williams may need to brush up on U.S. history. For starters, I have to assume that the law-abiding "ancestors" to which Sias is referring are those who settled here in the 18th century or earlier, not immigrants who came over in the early 1900s. If so, he must have forgotten that these folks more or less stole the colonies from England, refused to leave when told to do so (in spite of bounties being put on their heads) and ended up winning the land through a war. Lawlessness and rebellion were rampant Even high school history books don't gloss over this fact Next, when Lincoln said"United we stand, divided we fall," he was discussing the north/south cultural differences that brought on the Civil War, not the English language. I actually think embracing his words would be a good idea right now as cultural differences here and abroad are making a lot of folks become dead. And about "not allow(ing) diversity to create factions within our country that divide us in our goals?" Pardon my ignorance, but whose goals are you talking about? I would guess your goals are not the same as your neighbor's, and that neighbor doesn't align perfectly with his or her other neighbors, etc. Part of living with diversity is accepting that not everyone is exactly like you. The great melting pot is not a homogenized white boys' club, or at least that's not what it's supposed to be. This country is great because of its diversity, not in spite of it. Letters such as those by Sias and Williams show me that the experiment known as the United States of America is still in development Of course, being a melting pot and an experiment, I welcome Sias and Williams to the fold. Even folks that I believe are confused contribute to the wonderful diversity of this country. ' J * •', State of disunion merica's interests overseas and its image abroad continue to suffer under a foreign -policy that is both broken and confused. In the meantime, the leader of our nation sits • idly by, dismissing 61 percent of the citizens of this nation who have expressed feelings of disenchantment with the current administration. When the majority of a democratic nation does not support its leader or even express a vote of confidence, but instead outright disapproves of his performance, something is obviously terribly wrong. . But what's worse is that President Bush is do- ' ; : !• ing nothing tofixit. ': Of course, approval ratings cannot necessarily run a nation. If rule was so easily swayed by popularity in the United States, we'd be under the helm of the other option 2004 offered—a president who pandered his thoughts, and likely his policy, to every wrinkled nose and each scowl on the face of the average citizen. . y However, a president should, at bare minimum, manage to maintain a level of respect necessary to muster the support of the majority of the people whom he serves. , r. Instead of concerning himself with what the American people want, Bush seems to have photocopied an old speech he found from the 2003 State of the Union address, calling for America to strengthen its borders and fight abroad to prevent the enemy from coming home as they did on Sept. 11,2001—a day that surely reshaped the very manner hi which the United States functions on both a multilateral and domestic level, but nonetheless a day that happened four-and-a-half years ago. Furthermore, he would expect to tighten control of the borders while avoiding appearing either isolationist or protectionist. An unapologetic Bush once again stood before millions of Americans and touted the war on terror, equating Iraq and Saddam Hussein with alQaeda—a force inherently capable of threatening the survival of our very way of being—our most basic rights to freedom and survival. All the while, Americans overseas—whether '& journalists, contractors or soldiers—continue toe rocked by roadside bombs, maliciously tortured by kidnappers, taken hostage and paraded on camera for the world to see. At times like these, it falls upon the shoulders of our leadership to unite these 50 states, to encourage its people to stand up for thefight,t o ' ' spread freedom and democracy, to reassess the situation under its current state with our current intelligence—but most of all to do all of this with words rather than rhetoric. • Instead, Bush simply pointed to problems he sees in the country—problems we need to solve—but offered no concrete means by which we could accomplish his goals. It would be easier to respect the president, even if we disagreed ?£ with him, if he would say something substantial^ and know where he is coming from. Bush used .; \ empty, vague language and referred to America's aspirations overseas as "freedom on the march.? • Bush should stand before Americans with a i'fe broken heart and contrite spirit and admit to '. what errors he and his adrninistration may have made. The general moderate population of this nation understands we cannot immediately pull out of war-torn Iraq, but their support of the ongoing struggle would come easier were Bush to step down from his throne and level with them in a person-to-person manner. : ../.>\ , : • . . : He's said it before in less public speeches. He's apologized for faulty intelligence without losing political capital, and it's time he does so while :. the nation watches. The president is right about one thing. America needs to unite and break down partisan politics to accomplish the tasks at hand both domesti- ;) cally and internationally. :. But he needs to recognize what it will take to establish a followership in the United Statesstrong, honest leadership led by a powerful apologetic president. 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 or race, ethnic background, religion, creed, gender, appearance or sexual orientation will be edited or will not be published. AU letters to the editor will now be published online at www. dailyutahchTonide.com. Letters that the editor deems best represent those received will be printed In the newspaper as well as online. • ErikRatdiffe Senior, Graphic Design Junior, Mechanical Engineering Kicking off Black History Month Let's recognize the contributions of Frederick Douglass and honor his memory T his nation belongs to African Americans, and this month is designated to recogfiizing their contributions to it. j Black History Month was the brainchild VALERIE JAR/The Dally Ulah Chrome of historian Carter G. Woodson, who wanted to bring national attention to the large contribution of African Americans to the history of their country. He chose February because in this month Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and Langston Hughes were born. Actor Morgan Freeman has expressed disapproval of Black History Month, remarking that "the history of black people is the history of America." Freeman is right—African American history should not be relegated to one chapter in textbooks, one month of the year. But until U.S. • history classes and books include the history of African Americans throughout their pages, it is still important to focus on African American history during February. .^ During this month, all of my columns will focus on famous historical African Americans. The first figure I wish to focus on is the former slave and American statesman Frederick Douglass. Douglass was born a slave in Maryland—his mother abolitionist organizations and was a frequent lecturer and I ] 1 1 1• i 1 JL/OUglaSS e m b o d i e d t h e speaker. Douglass took part in , m « r J « f i « u ; r t ^ «-f A ««-.:,-„ Vei the Seneca Fallsbirthplace Convention, 7 which was the of American feminism. Douglass later became a famous author, abolitionist and feminist. His most famous book is Narrative of the Life Jay Richards of Frederick Douglass. Many critics thought that it was inauthentic because they figured that an African American could never have written was a slave, his father a white maa such a good piece of literature. His mother died when he was 9 years old, and he was sent to a new Douglass lived a long life, dying master in Baltimore. in 1895. It was in Baltimore that his Frederick Douglass lived the master's wife illegally taught him archetypal American dream. He to read. The master disapproved arose out of the bonds of slavery to of this, saying that it would lead become one of the best authors in Douglass to desire freedom. DougAmerican history. He was fiercely lass later recalled that this was the patriotic and believed that the Confirst abolitionist speech that he ever stitution should be used to ignite heard. anti-slavery sentiments among the Douglass eventually escaped from . American public. slavery by traveling to New Bedford, I say that Douglass was patriotic Mass. Douglass continued reading because he did not hide from the and subscribed to The Liberator, truth, as most Americans did at the the journal published by William time. On July 5,1852, Douglass gave a Lloyd Garrison. He joined many speech at an event commemorating definition Of A m e r i c a : He was honest, upright, unafraid and loving. the Fourth of July. In response to the festivities, Douglass asked the audience, "What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?" In answer, he said, "A day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim... There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour." Douglass embodied the very definition of America: He was honest, upright, unafraid and loving. If every American would exhibit the traits of Frederick Douglass, the racial inequities that infect our nation would soon dissolve and be healed. letters® chronicle.utah.edu |
