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Show OPINION Monday, December 4,2006 Page 6 "'"••", • THECHRONICLE'S VIEW -r Campaign finance bill makes sense quality is swell. Nobody disputes that. Unfortunately, equalization isn't the solution to everything. In some arenas, excessive leveling of the playing field can make it hard for any side to ' actively win anymore. ; That's the logic propelling the Associated Stu•".. dents of the University of Utah's recent deci. v sion on campaignfinancing,in which it activates i "wholesale" as a new category of expenditure v available for student use. ,; Previously, every item on a campaign's expenditure disclosure was listed at everyday retail value ,. in order to prevent students from gaining an unfair competitive advantage through pre-existing, personal business connections. According to this bill, listing all expenditures at retail value was "both vague and limiting in nature." The practice caused myriad grievances every year, as candidates constantly vied to exploit loopholes in the "retail" designation. Companies such as Costco were deemed to be "wholesale," while other smaller businesses' significantly reduced prices were still considered "retail." Last year's victorious BLOC Party candidates violated the old guidelines and jeopardized their entire campaign in the process. The Supreme Court almost struck them from the ballot before the Committee on Student Affairs intervened and reduced the punishment to a $400 fine and a ban on campaigning the day of elections. Now candidates will be encouraged to seek out wholesale alternatives, giving them the chance to gain a leg up on their rivals if they're resourceful. They will likely save money and learn valuable lessons about good business. There is, however, one remaining loophole in this bill: What's the definition of wholesale? Though companies have to show electronic receipts and agree to offer the same price to other candidates if approached for service, how can students determine what is and isn't an "everyday wholesale company?" What if a small business agrees to alter its price and lists the products as "wholesale," even if they typically aren't? Who's going to know? Also, what if candidates are especially secretive, and the other parties only find out about their indiscretions after the fact? Will there be any way to react once the election is over? As this bill goes to the Board of Trustees, it is important to consider how it might affect students involved in ASUU. Student government is all about networking, and this bill gives it the chance to use those skills to further effect. Though students can still exploit this new bill unless a satisfactory definition of "wholesale" is discovered, the legislation is a step . : . in the right direction of outlining what students • can do in future elections. E Unsigned editorials reflect (he majority opinion of The Daily Utah Chronicle Editorial Board. Signed editorials, editorial columns and 1 letters to the editor are strictly the opinions of the author. The forum created on (he 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.dailyutahchrovicle.com. Letters that the editor deems best represent those received will be printed in the newspaper as • well as online. I choose to wash my hair in the toilet I will soon be registering with ASUU to start a new club promoting more respect and understanding for people like me who choose to wash their hair in the toilet. Allow me to explain myself. As a youth in public schools, I was frequently held upside-down by bullies and forced to hold my breath while dunked in toilets. Now that those bullies are no longer allowed to harass me like that, I have chosen to disarm the offense and humiliation by choosing to do it to myself. There are many benefits to dunking one's self in a toilet. For starters, few sinks are large enough to wash one's entire head of hair in. Sinks usually require one to bend over, making it likely that at least some water and suds will get on the back of one's shirt or blouse. Tilting the head completely upside-down eliminates dripping. Lastly, flushing the toilet provides a soothing rinse. ANDREW KIRK I was motivated to start my club after hearing criticisms of Ariel Levy's book Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise ofRaunch Culture. Critics say that Levy misunderstands the reasons women want to dress like porn stars. Now that feminist activists have succeeded in suppressing male chauvinism, they say, women are free to choose to be sexy, free to display their bodies with confidence and free to choose to be sexual objects. I was also inspired to apply for ASUU funding this week after hearing criticisms of Paul Mooney and Jesse Jackson asking all people to quit using the "N" word. Defenders of the "N" word say that AfricanAmericans showed ingenuity in taking the most offensive term used by their oppressors and making it their own. Today the "N" word belongs to the people it refers to, the defenders say, and they may use it however they wish. This weapon of a word was hijacked, redefined and turned around to be the friendly jargon of the African-American dialect. I agree that offensive ideas should be embraced and brought home. If you succeed in getting people to stop shoving your face in feces for centuries, the thing to do is make it your new nighttime face cream. That's why I am proud to wash my hair in public toilets. I want people to understand that it's not only okay when I do it to myself, but should be applauded because I demonstrate my freedom and creativity as I do it. letters@ chronicle.utah.edu LETTERS TO T H E EDITOR The U is not inferior Editor: I was scanning through the opinion section when my focus was pulled to a reader response from Frank Millward entitled, "U writers couldn't hack it at BYU" (Nov. 31). Naturally, the title itself angered me, and reading the piece only made it worse. Millward wonders why we here at "the other school up north" hate BYU folk so much. Is it because we are trying to disguise our disappointment about being academically inferior to Provo's best and brightest? Is it because we are crushed that we cannot be Cougars ourselves? Oh, yeah, I'm just.dying to go to a school where what I look like and what I think are dictated by the administration, where every second date with a girl results in marriage. Why do we hate them so much? Maybe it's because BYU students like Millward write things like "U writers couldn't hack it at BYU." What happened to turning the other cheek? If you keep stoking the flame then we are going to stay red hot. Oh, and why is "Crimson" always associated with the devil? You know, Millward, I bet if you were to cut yourself, you wouldn't bleed dark blue, so I guess your red blood associates you with the devil, too. You know, blue can be tagged onto a number of things as well: depression, coldness,-blue balls—the list goes on. Red and blue are just colors. Please leave red and blue out of this. As far as our mascot is concerned, better a chicken than a pussy...cat, that is. Chris Dammert Sophomore, English Sen. Kerry is right Editor: The national press coverage regarding Senator John Kerry's remarks to students about staying in school to avoid ending up in Iraq is totally overblown. As every college-aged person knows, when you leave high school you have basically three paths to choose from: college, joining the work force or joining the military. Since joining the work force leaves little room for success, as everyone knows, the most logical choices left are college or the armed services—which many go into in hopes of seeking a college degree and other financial incentives that are offered by the military. It is true what Sen. Kerry said—the only way to escape from a low-paying job or expensive student loans is the military; the split between the wealthy and poor has reached an enormous gap, and that is a fact of life in America. Scott Park Junior, Undeclared Media hinders U.S. efforts Editor: Matthew Piper really hit the nail on the head in his article "Gameboy media: We've reached a new level" (Dec. 1). In fact, I made the same comment, "The media's coverage is a self-fulfilling prophecy," just a couple of weeks ago in my political science class. How true this point is. I believe this is one reason why the U.S. failed in Vietnam, and with the media's extremely negative attitude and bias, it may happen again with the Iraq situation. As Piper said, the media portrays a world that cannot possibly improve, no matter what. Since everyone is exposed to the media's twisted reporting and negative connotations, there is no doubt this plays a role in the public's attitude toward the situation. My question is: Does the media want us to fail in rebuilding Iraq out of their sheer hatred for the Bush administration? Do they even realize that the way in which they report hinders and weakens our brave military's efforts, and helps insurgent forces? Maybe they ought to change their outlook, and be supportive and patriotic. Amanda Stein Junior, Exercise and Sport Science CHARLES GONZALEZ/Tht Daih Utah Chronicle I ao*t <x paper CUT CHARLES GONZALEZ/TheDoily UtahChmnidt ' \ |
