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Show 5 Wednesday, January 16,2008 OPINION www.dailyutahchronicle.com DAVID SERVATIUS Democrat primary debacle FfcOBABUY Who to vote for with two strong candidates? L PHIL CANNON./ftftoiiyUt No dream for LGBTQ youth O n Aug. 28,1963, standing as tall as the long shadow of Lincoln behind him, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke words that grew like an oak. The "I Have a Dream" speech was a modern-day Sermon on the Mount, the greatest speech of the 20th century. U.S. Rep. John Lewis said of the words, "...by speaking the way he did, he educated, he inspired, he informed not just the people there, but people throughout America and unborn generations." Now, 45 long, winding years later, his impact is still felt. Iowa, 90 percent white, voted for Barack Obama. A nation looking for change, for growth, has placed a black man and a woman in the lead for the Democratic nomination. As King proclaimed, the nation seems ready to "sit down together at a table of brotherhood." Here in Utah, the brush of tolerance paints a different story. As reported in The Daily Utah Chronicle, director Cathy Martinez and the LGBTQ. organization gathered to conduct a high school conference last Saturday. One high school student attended. It was an improvement from the conference last March, which boasted an attendance of zero. It seemed local high schools ignored information packets and phone calls about the conference, going to the extreme of a mass e-maiL Secondary Guidance that sexual relations between two consenting adults of the same gender are wrong— always. NICHOLAS Statistics are especially troubling in teenagers. Every day, 13 Americans bePAPPAS tween the ages of 15 to 24 commit suicide. Thirty percent of them will be lesbian or gay. Fifty-three percent of transsexual ^youths surveyed had attempted to take their own life. Specialist Christen Richards-Khong made it clear how the district felt about the event. How, in our progressive society, have we corrupted our youth this way? Adolescent "No posting of information will be prohomosexuals are lost in a forest. Their vided by the school...No announcements parents, teachers and peers are branches will be provided by the school...No transblocking the sun. portation will be provided by the school." While other conferences organized by When they look down the path, they see the Asian American Student Association a nation against their rights to marry, to and Black Student Union are sponsored by adopt a child, to have a future. local high schools, the LGBTQ_event has Jordan School District's handling of the remained in the closet. conference is shameful. Those chosen to In November, we might find our nation educate our children have shown a clear led by a woman, a black man or a Latterbias. Administrators have effectively day Saint. Doors of acceptance are openpassed along the same message these ing. Yet, are we close to a homosexual man troubled teenagers will here every day of or woman running for the same office? their lives: "You do not belong." The answer is a resounding "no." As it "This is our hope," King said. "This is the becomes taboo to shun Obama because he faith that I go back to the South with. With is black or Clinton because of her gender, this faith, we will be able to hew out of the acceptance toward the LGBTQ community mountain of despair a stone of hope." remains in the dark ages. Our children need hope, but instead, the This intolerant hand reaches far past Jordan School District has thrown another Utah. U.S. News & World Report declared stone on to the mountain. that 66.3 percent of Americans believe letters@chronicle.utah.edu et*s hear it for the girl. As political turnarounds go, that one was impressive. Barely a week ago, after a third-place Iowa finish, it looked as though Hillary Clinton was about to suffer the same fate-as Howard Dean four years before. The pundit class had buried her. The Weekly Standard had even proclaimed "The Fall of the House of Clinton" on its cover. Of course, at some point between Iowa and New Hampshire, something happened, and now we have a real contest—at least until the Feb. 5 glut of primaries known as Tsunami Tuesday. The smart money says that either Clinton or Barack Obama will emerge as the nominee on that day, but neither of them has a lock on it yet—which, frankly, puts me in a real bind. Utah has moved its primary date up and will be one of 22 states voting on Tsunami Tuesday. For the first time ever, my primary vote is actually going to matter, and now that it matters, I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do with it. My heart tells me that Obama is the guy. I love his ability to make young people understand the connection between the political process and the quality of their own lives. That is so important when it comes to solving the problems that face us as a country. My head, however, tells me that Obama is too nice and too green. I worry that he will be destroyed by the ' high-powered slime machine unleashed on him in the summer and fall. The last time around, the Democratic nominee insisted on playing nice, and when the other side was done with him, a decorated war hero had become a soldier-hating coward who shot himself in the butt to snag some medals. That's what they do, and Obama doesn't seem prepared for it. Hillary, on the other hand, knows exactly how to beat them. I'm confident of that. She has done it again and again. There is nothing that could be used against her that hasn't already been tried. Could there be anything left after the non-stop attacks she has endured for nearly three decades in public life? There was a time when the idea of supporting a Hillary candidacy for president was like political porn for me, and I know that it would be absolutely re-invigorating to the soul of this country if someone could finally break the two-century-plus run of rich, white, male dominance in the Oval Office. She's most likely to do it. As much as I want to support her for nostalgic or practical reasons, I can't seem to overlook Hillary and the war. Not just her misguided vote to authorize it, but the several votes she has cast since to keep funding it. It's just too big and too fundamental an issue for me and for the country. I can't get around the fact that it was, simply, the wrong thing to do. Many people have died as a result and continue to die for no reason. So, I'm stuck. Do I go with my head and the imperfect electability of Clinton or with my heart and the hopeful possibility of Obama? Is this a case of not letting the perfect become the enemy of the good? All of the noble ideals in the world don't amount to anything if you don't first get the power to give them a platform. This much I do know: The most important thing in this year's election is that the Democrat wins, and the Republican reign of terror in this country comes to an end. letters@ chronicle.utah.edu The Nano will revolutionize cars as we know them T he websites of newspapers across the globe lit up with photos and videos to celebrate the global announcement of the Nano last Thursday. No, this was not the latest incarnation of Apple's ubiquitous iPod. Instead, this Nano is revolutionary. It is the new "i-lakh car" (approximately $2,500) from Tata Motors. Dubbed the "People's Car," the Nano has the potential to revolutionize automobile culture and production throughout the world. The big auto shows—Geneva, Frankfurt, Paris, New York, Detroit and Tokyo—are normally glamorous affairs that offer fantastic and futuristic concept cars that will not make it into production but gain rave reviews from auto enthusiasts and the press. For the practical driver, these shows promote production cars that demonstrate incredibly limited, incremental progress over . last year's model. New Delhi's Auto Expo 2008 has turned that model on its head. After driving his tiny white Nano onto the stage, Ratan Tata, the chairman of Tata Motors, proudly announced to the adoring crowd that the Nano is ready to go into production. This car has much to offer to the two billion people in the world's up-and-coming middle class. First, the Nano's two-cylinder engine is puny, with a displacement of 623 cc. This provides a mere 33 horsepower. This seems ridiculously low to Americans who expect constantly rising power (witness the new Corvette at 600 hp), but it is perfect for navigating the streets of the bustling and crowded megacities in India and the rest of the developed world. Rarely do the citizens of Mumbai or Delhi need to exceed the car's top speed of 65 mph. More important to these drivers is the Nano's design and efficiency. The Nano is engineered for superior urban handling. Its wheels are placed at the corners of the car to maximize turning and parking capabilities, and it gets more than 50 miles per gallon. The Nano is certainly no luxury car—indeed, there are no ameni- MATTEO JENSEN ties. It is the most basic of models designed specifically for transportation. For the price of the Nano, you can't even purchase a sunroof or navigation system on today's highend cars such as BMW, Lexus or Mercedes. Tata clearly understands the idea of aspirational product placement and has created a basic car that acts as a platform to which amenities can easily be added. This is the genius of the ultra-compact Nano. The automobile industry is becoming ever more reliant on the countries of the developing world to maintain profitability. The wealthy world is already heavily saturated. Too many car companies compete for the loyalty of too few customers in greying societies such as Japan, India, like much of the developing Europe and the United States. Tata world, is rich in human capital but Motors has seen a vision of the has little oil. To continue buildfuture and found a way to profitably ing its customer base among a reach new customers. It plans on population with little tolerance expanding into other large developfor skyrocketing oil prices, Tata ing countries such as Motors and other Brazil, Mexico, Indone^^^— companies will sia, Russia and China have to develop within the next few new fuels and I he automobile years. engine technoloTata expects to sell industry is becoming gies in the next at least one million of decade to meet these cars per year as ever more reliant on rising demand and demand rises in the inlower cqsts. By nethe countries of the creasingly prosperous cessity, these will middle class. No other be environmendeveloping world to tally friendlier and car company is even capable of competing more efficient than maintain profitability. in this price segment ^^^__ those in use. or will be able to do so ™ Look to the fufor years to come. This ture of the automoleaves Tata to build loyalty among bile industry in India, not Michigan. its customers and to profit from Mumbai is producing the cars to people's desire to become automomeet the needs and desires of the bile owners. billions of people in the emerging middle class. In an age of $ioo-per-barrel oil, driving is becoming incredibly exletters@ pensive, and the cost is a deterrent. chronicle.utah.edu Visit The Daily Utah Chronicle online at www.dailyutahchronicle.coni v |
