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Show OPINION Thursday, October 26,2006 Page 6 . EDITORIAL AiCE Free to be you and me HELUO PRETTY T IJ when considering the name he academic-freedom panel discussion—for- of an event, but it is also necessary. merly known to some Additionally, the postponeas "Banned at BYU"—will ment of this take place » event was the tonight at 7 best thing that p.m. in the could have Union Ballever happened room, after LINDSEY to it. what was SINE 'if-' surely a BYU is just too easy a tarwise name —' get to belittle change on by exploiting the part of a panel made of BYU profesASUU. The panel, which was origi- sors who have been fired. Of course professors get nally scheduled for Septemfired there—it's a private reliber, was postponed because gious/educational institution. of concerns over whether The private and religious facthe title and subject matter ets of their institution make would offend people in the it apparent to students there community and make it difficult for the school to lobby that they're getting a side of the Utah State Legislature for God with their biology. funding. In the time between the original date for the panel Some would look at the and now, a couple of panelseemingly logistical moves ists have been added from made by the Associated the U, which will make it Students of the University less likely that the panel will of Utah as a cowardly form juvenilely drone on about the of crippling under pressure school down south and how to please "the man," but closed-minded they are. the decisions to postpone, broaden the panelist pool In the end, ASUU walked and change the name of the the line with this event, and event were all very good that is a good thing. They moves by ASUU on behalf of didn't cancel it outright, nor the students. did they try to go all out with the anti-BYU message that First, yes, changing the would have likely offended a name is sort of catering to large group of people—they the powers that be, but this chose to do what would school needs the support of result in the greatest good the Legislature. Without it, for the greatest number of the U would receive minimal people. 7funding, making it impossible to keep tuition rates Students still get their down, which would in turn panel, only now it's better lower enrollment, making it because it avoids a likely bias impossible for people withby involving more people. out enough money to go to In addition, the students kv school, thereby inhibiting the get to keep a few good allies spread of education that our they probably weren't aware community so dearly needs. of because, instead of being offensive, ASUU decided to It is an exorbitant chain err on the side of caution. of events to have to look at • • > * ' • • WHY HELLO MICE VINCENT FRITZ/ The Daily Utah Chronicle Let the past go T Unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of The Dally 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 or will not be published. All letters to the editor will now be published online at www.dailyutahchronicle.com. Letters that the editor deems best represent those received will be printed in the newspaper as well as online. Online poll Are we headed for war with North Korea? 349: Total polled • 175: No 129: Yes • 45: I don't know Should ASUUdit Vote online fyMvw.dailyutahchmnicle.com wo weeks ago, I was standing on the sidelines watching as my recreation- league soccer team, The MATT Demolition Derby, began its PATTON .\ fifth game of the season. It seemed to be starting out •f like most of our games, with the other team appearing poised There always seem to be sevand ready while our team looked out of synch and in des- eral grown men who wish they were back in their glory days, perate need of conditioning. hearing the roars of the crowd, We entered this particular putting on a show to impress game with an impressive 0-4 their high-school sweethearts. record, but the chance of a tie They just can't seem to let it was in our sights as we found go. They can't accept that it's out our opponents would be over. one man short. Uncle Rico is a perfect What we didn't know, howrepresentation of this in "Naever, was that the other team poleon Dynamite," and as lame had Beckham. as it makes Uncle Rico appear, At first, I didn't even notice him, but it only took a few min- there's still a million of these "Beckhams" everywhere. utes before I knew this game wouldn't be our typical recThese people just don't get league soccer contest. it—IT'S OVER. As we got into the second half Now, of course, this wasn't of our game, my older brother, the actual David Beckham, but who was still frustrated from rather a man probably in his the first half, plowed into Becklate 20s with frosted blonde ham while going for the ball, hair (styled much like David which led to Beckham declarBeckham's—thus earning him ing, "Hey mate, you can't go his nickname) and an English through a brick wall!" accent. He immediately Jbegan to Moments later, he was able to wreak havoc on thefield,and slip past our defenders, includwhen I say wreak havoc, I don't ing our goalie, as he came out to mean because of his soccer contest his shot. skills, I mean because of his Rather than simply kicktrash-talking skills. ing the ball into the open goal, Not even two minutes into the Beckham decided to bask in the moment by stopping the ball game, he said something to my older brother to start a confron- right at the edge of the goal, taunting our defense before tation, so I subbed in to allow finally handing his team a 2-1 my brother time to cool off. As soon as I came in he made lead. a comment-to me about my With only a few minutes left, wife (which was less effective it looked like we were heading considering I don't have a wife), for yet another loss, especially and by halftime it was apparent with Beckham kicking the ball that he had successfully jabbed as far out of bounds as he could at each of us. to help drain the clock. I was amazed at how seriUnexpectedly, my older ously he was taking this soccer brother chipped in a goal with game. Why are there people out less than two minutes left, and there who have to live in the we found ourselves in a 2-2 tie. past? No longer allowing his team- mates to touch the ball, Beckham took over for his team and started playing at a panicked pace. We were doing a good job of holding him off, but with the game coming to a close, my leg made contact with his leg and he hit the ground with a tumble that would make a gymnast proud. The referee blew his whistle and confirmed that time had run out, but that Beckham would be allowed a penalty kick. I felt terrible. Standing in our goal was my younger brother, who rarely plays goalie, and it was now between him and Uncle Rico...er...Beckham....er... whatever the guy's real name is. Before taking the shot, he looked over at me and stated proudly, 'Tour foul just cost you the game, mate." We all went silent, and Beckham reared up to kick. The ball was kicked hard and straight, but my brother was able to block the ball straight into the air, ending the game in a 2-2 tie. Immediately after the kick, my younger brother shouted in an English accent mockingly, "How's that for a brick wall, mate?" The game clearly didn't finish the way Beckham wanted it to, and he wandered off the field, back to reality. Sadly, sports aren't the only things people can't let go of, but past girlfriends/boyfriends, missions, scholastic achievements or even bad reputations are past lives that people seem to continually hold on to. There's a lot out there, and if we are so consumed by our pasts, we won't have time to look at what we can achieve in the future. When it comes down to it, nobody cares about what you were. What really matters is who you are now. letters@chronicle.utah.edu Living in a high-tech world with a "good-to-go" culture I went to a play. I know that in this day and age, it seems like a social faux pas for anyone under the age of 60 to admit that he or she enjoyed a cultural activity, but I did. I didn't go because a professor made me attend for class credit or to view a friend's performance. I went to enjoy a theatrical production. „ Looking for a familiar face, J I found myself surrounded by middle-aged professionals and senior citizens. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the company of an adult audidnce that didn't "boo" during •sub-par performances or try to start a mosh pit during an intense orchestral interlude. However, I was sorely disappointed that my fellow U peers who are "in the pursuit of knowledge" were nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately in our hightech world of fast food, TiVo, text messaging, the Internet and simulated video games, it seems as if the X, Y and Z generations have all lost track of actual life experiences. We're ridden with apathetic attitudes toward politics, literature and culture. We all ask questions like "Why read the book when I can wait for the movie?" or "Why go out golfing when I can play the XBox version?" To this I ask: In a world where technologically and simulated experiences are the now, where is there room left for culture? In a country where divorce rates are above 50 percent and BETH RANSCHAU obesity is affecting people in epidemic proportions, we're just beginning to see the initial repercussions of our short attention spans. The same "good-to-go" slogan boasted by the fast-food industry has inspired our "good-to-go" attitudes on serious issues such as health, marriage and the environment. I'm not saying that I'm entirely innocent in this cultural crime. There are times that I, too, would rather watch reality television than pick up a literary classic or catch up on current events. But while we live in a day where the world is virtually—literally and figuratively—at our fingertips, our generation needs to be wary of laziness. The recent technological advances even within the past 10 years have had amazing potential to help individuals. Cell phones enable those who are in danger to contact authorities, new medical technology helps preserve the lives of thousands and the Internet has connected the rest of the world more than ever before. Instead of using these technological advances to excuse our lethargy, we need to use recent technology to reinvigorate discussions and help fellow citizens. We have the opportunity to watch bad reality TV now and check up on important current events in an hour thanks to CNN and the Internet. Unlike previous generations, we don't have to work laboriously in the fields to make a living, but can instead focus on other pursuits, such as discovering the cure for cancer or AIDS. Unless we begin to utilize the benefits of our high-tech society, soon we and the generations to come will ensure that any remnants of cultural activity will become "good-to-go." letters@ chronicle.utah.edu |