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Show OPINION Page 7 Friday, September 8,2006 EDITORIAL Take your cubbyholes and shove 'em T Why? Why, when anyhe U Bookstore is body can walk into officially that little a Barnes rock & Noble— in your shoe which is that won't, no larger in matter how LlNDSEY size and hard you try crvrp has more to shift your customers : toes, stop cutat any one ting your feet. time than .'•' Let's start with the lockers and cub- the U Bookstore does —with a bag, purse or byholes. Cubbyholes? Honestly, satchel of some sort, can when there's a ip-minute we not, as adults, do the break between classes, same here on campus? Could it be that per-' and a student just has to get a binder to throw haps the bookstore thinks some power point slides the students are less than into so that she can prop- honest and likely to thieve erly take some notes, why a U shot glass or two? is that student stopped Well, while we are here and asked to properly casting stones about disstow her bag? honesty, let's flip the coin Who wants to shove his and talk about how the bag, which has a million bookstore is blatantly personal items in it, in- overpriced (no shocker cluding an iPod and a lap- there) and how a vast matop, into a freaking cubby- . jority of the International hole? No one, that's who! Standard Book Numbers Now, the bookstore will for course books are diftell you that if you are ferent from what they are worried about the safety supposed to be. of your personal belongSo when a poor unings, you can just as easily knowing soul decides that shove them into a locker he or she wants to pay $20 that will refund you the less for a book on Amaquarter that it requires to zon, he or she can't tell operate it when you are whether the right book is done using it. being purchased because What if a student doesn't the real ISBN, which is have a quarter? Well, he or listed on Amazon, doesn't she can walk over to cus- match up with the course tomer service to wait for listings that the trusted help, and then finally get bookstore gives. a quarter on loan from Where is the trust, peothe bookstore, which they ple? will trust you to bring The bookstore should back when you're finished have a little more faith in with it. the students at the U (or Oh, but wait, in the time maybe a little more secuthat it took to figure all of rity). this out, there is only five It should also stop ripminutes left to walk from ping us off, whether it the bookstore to HPER knows it is or not, and West. maybe the students at the Can you say late for nu- U will be able to have a little more faith in it. trition class? Unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of The Daily Utah .Chronicle Editorial Board. Signed editorials, 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 1 or will not be published. All letters to the editor will now be published • online at www.daiiyutaliclironide.com. Letters that the editor deems best represent those received will be printed in the newspaper as - iwell as online. ; RYAN PERKINS/ The D-Jilv Utah Chronicle A step in the right direction A vote of 'no confidence' against Rumsfeld could have been the start those whiny liberals need L iberal Democrats are so dumb! They believe their moral high ground makes them too superior to do their homework to understand their enemy. If they did do their homework, they'd see that making broad, sweeping accusations against Bush doesn't work. If they did their homework, they'd also realize that there are a few key issues about which even Bush supporters are unhappy. I'm so glad they're dumb, because otherwise I might have to rethink how I vote. When I hear hippies cry about Bush "lying" to the American people, I think to myself, "if I knew a dangerous man used to have weapons, and I had pictures of where he was probably hiding them, it'd be pretty easy for me to conclude that I knew where they were." I know that the administration lied about aspects of its "evidence," but it looks to me like policy-makers were trying to play it safe. When I hear hippies scream about Dick Cheney, I have to laugh because, frankly, he's pretty funny looking. I can't think of a single way he could possibly influence my life. When I hear hippies whine about the erosion of civil liberties, I have to question what they're saying on their cell phones. What makes Say cheese, Europe? LETTER TO THE EDITOR ; Editorial was right about T Hinckley Institute Editor: I agree strongly with your unsigned editorial ("Hinckley Institute's intentions need to-be closely monitored," Sept. 7) regarding the need to keep a vigilant eye on partisanship at the Hinckley Institute of Politics because its director, Kirk Jowers, has shown his active partisanship by serving as Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's political action committee's legal counsel. I served 18 years as director of the Hinckley Institute and walked the fine line that Jowers now treads. As director, one must show students the need for partisan involvement by example but manage the institute's programs and programming in a way that involves all varieties of opinion—a point well made by your editorial. In my view, Jowers has done an excellent job so far with this delicate task. I know from personal association—though Jowers is Republican and I am a Democrat—that his views are moderate and well positioned to afford lively debate—an atmosphere the Hinckley Institute is famous for. "Every student a politician," is the institute's motto, and this should apply to keeping a bit of heat on Jowers. That heat, provided by The Chronicle and others during my days, will help Jowers meet the challenge. Ted Wilson Director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics, 1985-2003 feld is a start. I may have strange and screwy reasons for defending Bush, but I have no warm and fuzzy feelANDREW ings about Rumsfeld. The decision to immediately KIRK disband the Iraqi military upon invasion was pretty stupid, as was most of the post-invasion plan. No Child Left Behind is a good them so nervous to know people are idea, but is being implemented horlistening? ribly. It's clear New Orleans isn't • being rebuilt. It's clear the Taliban And let's face it, those levees is regaining strength. It's clear the would have broken and FEMA prisoners at Guantanamo need legal would have been stuck with its yourepresentation. know-what in its hands even if John Kerry had been president. Even though there is a laundry list You see, I don't care about any of things I euphemistically believe of the hot-button issues that make "could have been handled better," I people believe Bush is the worst don't conclude that "the administrapresident of all time. But more tion" is a disaster. important for the enemy to know, I Nixon will be remembered for his don't see the "administration" as the successful foreign policy and Reagan culprit for all the things wrong in for the economic prosperity the the world. country experienced. These adminBecause I don't blame one man for istrations were also called the most disastrous of all time. everything bad, I ignore criticisms of said man. I do, however, recognize I tune out when politicians discuss that many people appointed by said pulling out of Iraq and impeach"Great Decider" are doing a horrible ment. I listen carefully and shamejob. fully, however, when clear, specific failures are pinpointed. Why should If hippies pinpointed individuals, you care what I think? Because getagencies and specific decisions to ting my ear is the first step to getting criticize, I would be forced to admit my vote. they were right. Congress's call for a "vote of no letters@ confidence" against Donald Rumschronicle.utah.edu There's something about that 1,800-year-old cathedral that just can't be captured on film his past summer I spent an expensive month studying abroad in London (and to quote Ferris, if you have the means, I recommend visiting; it is so choice!). And while I'd like to say that studying occupied ioo percent of my time...we all know that's a lie. The truth is, I spent a disturbing amount of time fretting over the quantity and quality of my picture taking. I had this nervous, nagging feeling that I was somehow missing London if I wasn't squinting through the camera's peep-hole the entire time. Thoughts like, "Should I have taken more pictures of Her Majesty's rose garden?" morphed into "Average people eating an average lunch...why didn't I get that?" It's a sickness, and many of us suffer from it. I blame the picture albums with shots of Minnie and Mickey and every family member—all "ooohing" and "awwwing" and someone inevitably yelling, "That's a great one, Tom; you'll have to make me a copy." And then to be in Europe with all its photographable history? I panicked: How did I know I had captured whatever I was supposed to be capturing? I'd say, "Wait, one morc.you weren't smiling," to the ALICIA GREENLEIGH Tower of London. My plan was to amass hundreds of pictures and hopefully the perfect one was somewhere in there, and no one would know I didn't know what I was doing. However, during one of the weekends during which I really should have been studying, Jon, a fellow abroader, and I went to Paris, where we were fortunate enough to visit the Cathedral of Notre Dame during a midday mass. Angelic voices filled the cavernous rooms; a man draped in white, silky robes with gold and red sashes hanging from his shoulders led the prayer. Common sense said, be quiet, no photography. There were even signs up with a red line through the images of a camera and a mouth, just in case common sense was not one's strong suit. But apparently it doesn't apply to tourists because as the chorus sang and the word "Amen" floated around our ears, so did the sound of camera buttons being clicked. That's not to say that the tourists weren't moved. Their mouths were opened in "awe," eyebrows furrowed and bent, eyes moist with tears, and then...click. But my point is thus: Do the rights of the tourists—which definitely exist—outweigh the rights of the historical place—which also definitely exist? Seeing all these, renowned places of significance descended upon like ants on a gummy bear made me realize that they are, in essence, nothing more than tourist attractions. But when did wanting to see a major piece of history require you to snap a picture inches away from an original Van Gogh? It's a fine line, my friends. And in the end, is your photo worth potentially damaging the invaluable painting? It seems to me that there is something about being in the same space as something that a camera simply cannot capture. So the next time you visit London, tell the Tower and the Abbey to take five. After all—you've been there, and that's much better than seeing a picture of it. letters@chronicle.utah.edu |
