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Show 4 Tuesday, January 29,2008 OPINION www.dailyutahchronicle.com THE CHRONICLE'S VIEW Let people protest T he problem started in July when the Salt Lake City Council passed an ordinance barring protesters - from demonstrating within1 ioo feet of any residence in Salt Lake City. The ordinance is now being broadened to encompass all of Salt Lake County. The U's administration initiated these measures as a result of interaction between a group of animal rights protestors and U researchers who conduct. animal testing. It has to be said that these ordinances are a violation of our rights. * People should be able to protest on public sidewalks whenever they feel like it. One has to be able to do what one wants on public property. It is our right as taxpayers and citizens of this country. It is frightening to see city councils playing so freely with these rights—who knows what they will touch on next? Granted, people are allowed to protest IOO feet from a resi- dence, but what good does that do instead of protesting directly at the person at whom the demonstration is aimed, protests will be on the sidewalks of the offenders' neighbors. The U pursued this ordi- ;•• nance after vandalism and ; threats started to frighten re- • searchers. The space someone has to have between themselves and a house is not going to stop someone who is willing to break the law by damaging someone's property or .•' threatening someone. Instead, the protests will burden ofher people while the people who want to break the law will continuetodo so. : At this point, the U and the county are wasting time and money on something that will not solve a problem that only affects a handful of people. Those who get into a field where they will eventually be doing scientific research on animals have to know that eventually, if their identity is found out, they will be subject to the protests of people who disagree with what they are doing. They have put themselves in a position to be targeted by people who disagree with them. Although people should not be harming them or their possessions, people should have the right to protest their actions on ; public land, no matter what's within ioo feet of that land. J JEREMIAH DURAIS/Tht Daily Utah (hmnkk 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 or will not be published: All letters to the editor will now be published online at www.dailyutahchronicleicom. Letters that the editor deems best represent those received will be printed in the newspaper '/••V ; ^-v' v:; ."."• '-'\"V ••"*''•' But, what if I don't care about the Super Bowl? T he meek may inherit the Earth, but we'll still never have our own national holiday. I don't consider myself that different from the average American. I'm a Caucasian, RYAN middle-class, SHATTUCK twenty-something college student. I vote, pay taxes, hold down two jobs, own a dog and fall just slightly left of the American dream. I'm only an inch shorter than the average American male, and asidefroma few small quirks that differentiate me from some (I was a vegetarian for a year, I'm gay, I listen to NPR and I used to be Mormon), I consider myself to be a relatively normal, average American. . Oh, except I don't understand football—so never mind. Now, before I say anything else about football, I will admit that I am careful where I tread with such a topic. I've come to realize that denigrating football is more sacrilegious than making fun of a Virgin Mary. Americans have a love affair with their football—more specifically with their Super Bowl. Nearly 90 million of us can't get enough of the TV-watching, pizzaeating, couch-seating, Janet Jackson's nipple-spying phenomenon. During Super Bowl Sunday, one in eight Americans orders takeout, and approximately 8 million pounds of guacamole, 20 million pounds of potato and tortilla chips and more than 4,000 tons of popcorn are eaten during the game. This smorgasbord results in nothing less than the second-largest day of food consumption of the year, trailing only Thanksgiving. On an unrelated note, antacid sales go up 20 percent the Monday after Super Bowl weekend. As further proof of the irrefutable and scientific fact that the Super Bowl is more important than • Christmas, Easter, Independence Day, a spouse's birthday, or—lef s be honest—even one's spouse, Pete Rozelle, the man responsible for giving birth to the Super Bowl (I'm hoping it was a caesarean), was once listed by Time magazine as one of the "top 100 most influential people" of the 20th century. Let that fact swish around the brain for a minute. The top 100 most influential people of the 20th century include the following: Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein, Rosa Parks, Bill Gates, Winston Churchill—and the guy who came up with the Super BowL To be fair, Pete Rozelle may not have been a civil fights pioneerbut Martin Luther King Day never gives people an excuse to eat nachos in front of the television for five hours. Like a Jew during Christmas or Paula Poundstone during Valentine's Day, what is a non-football fan like myself to do during the de facto holiday that is Super Bowl Sunday? While I find comfort in knowing that two out. of everyfivepeople who watch the Super Bowl supposedly aren't football fans, I still find myself feeling hopelessly lost in the labyrinth that is the Super Bowl. Why do we cheer when nothing happens? Why is this game measured in yards? How is that ad possibly worth $2.6 million dollars? What exactly is a wardrobe malfunction, anyway? Why do those animated frogs inspire me to drink beer? Did I just fall asleep again? What do you mean if I don't stop asking questions, you're going to kick me out of your Super Bowl party? Although not everyone understands football, most people understand the cultural significance of the Super Bowl holiday. The lowest weekend for weddings is during the Super BowL Since 2000, the Super Bowl has made up eight of the top 10 network telecasts. More people watched the Super Bowl in' 2004 than voted for President Bush. While Pete Rozelle may not have affected politics, science, religion or medicine, he's clearly impacted our culture in ways in which very few people in history ever will. With an event as monumental as the Super Bowl, is it any wonder that those who don't watch the game might feel as if they were a minority? I have a tendency of being stubborn and immovable when it comes to my opinions. Nevertheless, I can concede that it might be worth my while to watch the Super Bowl, because although I'm in the minority, I alsofigurethat 90 million people can't be wrong. If anything, I no longer want to be thought of as "Dr. Strange American, When I Can Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Super BowL" I'll sit back, have some nachos and think to myself during a Budweiser commercial, "The majority of Americans may love the Super Bowl, but at least the meek will inherit the Earth." And when we* do, we're going to make everyone play golf. letters@chronicle.utah.edu Hinckley will be missed The LDS president did a great deal of good in the world I 'll begin this column with a disclaimer. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. Somewhere, amongst NICHOLAS volumes of faithful followers, my name is written in ink. PAPPAS I converted when I was 18. Fresh out of high school, I was passionate, naive and in love. I converted for a girl. Her family, bound for the celestial kingdom, didn't know much accomplished what is most imporabout our relationship. They never tant—he made lives better. would have approved. Deep down, I "There is a sad tendency in our knew it couldn't last. world today for persons to cut one I wanted it to. I wanted to keep my another down," Hinckley once said. "Did you ever realize that it does head in the clouds and eternity even not take very much in the way of higher. I took the lessons. Young brainpower to make remarks that men came to my house and taught me about Jesus with may wound another? flash cards. They ~ Try the opposite of told me about the that. Try handing levels of heaven. out compliments." e was a great man, They always smiled. As I read the I envied them. comments under the a wise leader and, in story of Hinckle/s The truth is, I the end, a person who passing in The Salt don't believe in Lake Tribune, it was God. I never have. accomplished what is sad to see so many As much as I besit down at their lieved in love at 18 most important—he computers and willyears old, I would ingly try to wound. never want to live a made lives better. _ In Utah, there is lie. I said goodbye. t a never-ending holy I loved her war. It is an epic battle between enough to let her go. Mormons and non-Mormons. We I do believe in people. They are have become caricatures. Multiple real and tangible. Every day, human wives wear jeans under dresses. beings decide to make the lives of Mormons sport magical underwear those around them better or worse. and have horns growing out of their For this reason, I will mourn the heads. Non-Mormons are drunks. death of LDS president Gordon B. Hinckley. He was a great man, a wise They spend their days yelling about leader and, in the end, a person who bubbles and their nights doing H, drugs. We are all foolish. Hinckley was a man who believed strongly in his faith but deeply respected the choices of others. "Where there is appreciation, there is courtesy," he said. "There is concern for the rights and property of others. Without appreciation, there is arrogance and evil." During the Olympics, he greeted the world with a trademark smile and promised tolerance among the mountains. The people of the world ' came as guests and toasted their ; host, some with wine and some with water. Hinckley knew the first step toward acceptance of bis faith : was acceptance toward the faith of others. If you choose to, you will learn about a man who worked tirelessly for what he believed in. You will read about a prophet with a sense of humor. You will hear about a carpenter who built his own house and planted more than 1,000 trees. If you choose not to, you will miss out. Although it is easy to read words of doctrine with a red pen, it is cruel to hate a man who didn't hate anyone in his long and moving life. In the end, the path always leads back to love. If you love anything in • your life as much as Hinckley loved ; his faith, then it is worth living. . ,; President Hinckley will be missed. Regardless of what others believe, he will live eternally. i fetters® chronicle.utah.edu Ticket quotas should be banned A flash of red and blue in the rearview mirror is enough to ruin anyone's day. Whether you rolled through a stop sign on an abandoned neighborhood thoroughfare or strapped a measly three or four kilos to the belly of your vehicle, that siren is going to make you late for work. Of course, traffic safety is a huge concern in any city of any size. I join the early morning rush for prime parking spaces at the U and could attest to the risks some people will take at the helm of a ton of steel and glass. I've been pulled over a number of times. A few times, I deserved it, and other times, I really deserved it. It's a frustrating, costly and timeconsuming experience and one that is indispensable in maintaining some semblance of order on the notoriously dangerous roadways of Utah. Without question, if you speed or drive recklessly, you should be cited—it's in the public interest. That's basically the premise of resurrected House Bill 264, formerly H.B. 255. Brainchild of Rep. Neil A. Hansen (D-Ogden), the bill seeks to ban law enforcement agencies from imposing ticket quotas on their officers. Greiner and the Utah Chiefs of Police Association are united firmly against the proposed bill, because basically, they insist they don't need LAUREN to be prohibited from doing what they claim they've never done. MUELLER Simply put, the bill's only function is to ease the burden on an already burdened police force. Cops are free _ to write tickets as Of course, ticket they deem necesquotas have never sary, but the departLops are free to actually existed. Ask ment shouldn't be any cop or police allowed to hold its chief, and you'll hear write tickets as they officers to-a quota—; the same thing. The deem necessary, but the especially one that quota is a figment affects their pay of your 16-yeardepartment shouldn't be scale. old imagination. This law isn't ! allowed to hold its officers about Remember when speeders try- lr all the cops of the to get to work • to a quota—especially if ing world were out to faster without the ,'! get you? of repercus-;',[ it affects their pay scale. threat sion. A performance As it turns out, evaluation should teenagers aren't the ___ _ only ones who have be based on more [ '• taken note of the rash of ticketthan revenue for the department. * writing that culminates at the end of The performance of a police officer ,; the month. Several Utah lawmakers can't be measured by the same ruler» tried to push this ordinance through as a salesperson. Keeping the peace the Senate in the 2007 legislative shouldn't be a business venture. Besession, only to be railroaded by sides, if no such practice exists, then Ogden Police Chief and State Senalower your guard. tor Jon Greiner. letters@chronicle.utah.edu t. 1 • • ' (i |
