OCR Text |
Show www.dailyutahchronicle.corn 5 OPINION Tuesday November 27, 2012 Online Comments "ASUU event funding cuts coming in spring" (Topher Webb, Nov. 25, 2012) News V1-g14 LE 61 S ATo The Anonymous Student posted on 11.26.2012 at 4:29 p.m. Typical of ASUU. Cut the arts and give it to the football program – what a disgrace. In real life people make a living from things like arts and working hard – very few actually make it in sports and here we are cutting it with ASUU cutting funds to arts, meanwhile the Athletics block on the mandatory fees is the highest.When are we going to start to learn/teach to youth/young people that those who work hard are those who do well in life and not those in sports.This is not how you do it – oh well I guess we can forget about that who cares about hard work and so forth as long as the football team is doing well all is dandy. *nods head* S. Swenson '02 posted on 11.26.2012 at 5:55 p.m. Cutting funds from the Presenters Office would be a mistake. Take it from someone who served on ASUU back in the day. Every year a new student government takes office and sets out to make its mark by "slashing spending and eliminating government wasterWhen I was there, we went on a foolish rampage to cut the fat at KUTE radio. But guess what? Not a single bit of good comes about when programs are cut in higher education. It doesn't matter whether the programs are academic or entertainment.The whole purpose of a University is to provide an environment of learning, experience and interaction. Campus activities and events oftentimes provide more opportunities to -meet people different than you, -exchange ideas and -experience new things than any classroom or course possibly can. Not to mention, they are usually the most memorable parts of college to the people who attend. Also, don't make assumptions about what the drafters of Redbook intended when they built the funding mechanism into the bylaws (I doubt enrollment was significantly lower when the provisions were drafted). When we looked into cutting budgets when I was there, we found that the primary purpose of the guaranteed funding mechanism was to create a safeguard against this very scenario! It was to ensure that every johnny-come-lately student government didn't ruin a good thing by decimating student activities in the name of self-righteous fiscal responsibility. Just have fun and absorb every opportunity while you are in school. Who cares if the activities budget is big? If the money isn't going to activities, it is going to get spent somewhere else by somebody else and it likely wont benefit as many people. "Free speech needs protection" (Mimi Marstaller, Nov. 26, 2012) Opinion Mr. Anonymous .....•■■1••■•••• LUIGI GHERSI/The Daily Utah Chronicle Alcohol laws costing Utah lthough we endlessly hear the Republican legislators in this state sing the praises and virtues of small government, they still remain steadfast in their commitment to one form of big-government interventionism: alcoholic beverage control. Former Gov. Jon Huntsman delivered to the state some practical reforms for our most excessive and unnecessary liquor laws. Perhaps most notably he was responsible for doing away with the system in which all bars in the state had to sell "private club" memberships to people wishing to have a drink. The aim of most liquor laws is noble: to curb drunk driving. Supporters of the liquor laws point to the low incidents of DUIs in the state as evidence of the laws' success. However, the low rates are more likely attributed to a majority of the state's population belonging to a particular faith, which disallows the consumption of alcohol. The grand majority of our state's ludicrous liquor laws do not protect our children from alcohol or save lives A KYLER KEN BOWERS Opinion Columnist by preventing drunk driving. Rather, these laws protect the delusions of their creators. The faulty logic necessary to imagine any of these preposterous laws have any real efficacy requires a special level of cognitive dissonance. Moreover, instead of examining whether there is any legitimacy to Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control actions brought by the state Legislature, bureaucrats compound the lunacy by creating ever more inane laws. Ever notice you can't buy mixers or refrigerated beverages when you go to the liquor store run by the state? The state would make a killing by simply offering nonalcoholic mixers for purchase alongside adult beverages. In addition, it would create convenience for consumers. One of the most trivial laws forces restaurants that serve alcohol to put up what has been dubbed the "Zion Curtain" to obstruct the view of alcohol to restaurant patrons. The logic behind this is children will want to drink if they see drinks prepared. Yes, our Legislature has gotten to the root cause of underage drinking, which isn't a lifetime of being fed alcohol advertisements during televised sporting events, but rather, the family outing to Applebee's where children are left to witness the uncensored mixing of alcoholic beverages at the bar. In addition to the inconveniences Utahns face from liquor laws, there is also a real economic cost. Restaurant chains, which otherwise would love to move into our state, prefer not to deal with the current hurdles to obtaining a liquor license, nor the future threat of having to heed whatever the Republican legislature or the unelected bureaucrats at the DABC decide to throw their way. We lost business because of our antiquated liquor laws. Much like restaurant chains, tourists also opt to take their business to a more sensible state. With Utah holding the strongest Republican majority in 8o years, and a Republican governor willing to rubber stamp anything that does not muster sufficient public outrage to compel a veto, there will likely be changes, for the worse, in the state's liquor laws. The demand for sanity must come from the citizens, then. Restaurants, bars, ski resorts and other businesses must mobilize an email and social media campaign similar to the effort last year against HB363, the bill that would have banned comprehensive sex education in Utah's schools. Because most representatives live in safe, gerrymandered Republican districts, they are under no threat of losing their office. The public must demand Gov. Gary Herbert veto any attempts by the state Legislature to advance additional senselessness into our liquor laws, and must hold those who push for outdated rules accountable. letters@chronicle.utah.edu Black Friday brings out America's worst posted on 11.26.2012 at 4:39 p.m. What I really love is those posters that read, "We have zero tolerance for intolerance," which means, if we disagree with you, then we consider you to be intolerant, and we will not tolerate you. So we are open minded, but you are not. So we forgive ourselves in advance for being hypocritical and doing exactly what we accuse you of doing, simply because you have expressed a contrary opinion. Love it! COURTNEY TANNER Opinion Columnist s go the shoppers, so goes the nation. With Black Friday over, it's become clear American shopping idiosyncrasies are a good mirror of American values. American morality decreases just one day after Thanksgiving — a day supposedly about being thankful — in favor of buying more things. The juxtaposition of Black Friday following -----) Thanksgiving is surely ironic. Greed for material goods swiftly replaces appreciation for family and friends. Family dinners are sacrificed for a place in a line full of picnic chairs and tents. The turkey feasts are put on hold to save a couple bucks. Businesses don't even show a holiday left. The basic idea of the semblance of respect for Thanksholiday season is to spread love and giving by opening on Friday. The kindness, not gifts and toys. To help day of consumerism chaos has now someone who deserves it is worth a meandered into Thanksgiving itself, lot more than a video game or a new with stores such as Target opening its purse. doors at 9 p.m. Even the name Black Friday has a No longer are people buying spenegative connotation, and the term cial, thoughtful gifts for friends and "doorbuster" implies violence and family, but rather loading the latest barbarism. technology in their cart for their own People each year are trampled to homes and personal pleasures. death, hospitalized and more. Human The materialism is outrageous and life is devalued. The disregard for an affront to perhaps the only pure others is astounding. A RORY PENMAN/The Daily Utah Chronicle In fact, this year at a Walmart in Florida, two people were shot because of a parking space rivalry. They hadn't even made it into the store before violence broke out. Tensions run high on Black Friday, and apparently turkey hangovers and little sleep do not mix well for the modern shopper. The trend is clear, too. Last year, at a Walmart in Los Angeles, a woman pepper sprayed 20 people to get to the electronics department before them for an Xbox, of which there were plenty. Consumerism is now what defines our country. We might as well go by the name of the United Consumerist States of America. The purpose of Black Friday should be to think of others, to buy gifts for those you love while helping the economy to prosper. Black Friday is not, however, a thoughtful day in the slightest. It brings out the worst in us, not the best. Our shopping habits reflect poorly on our values, and it's a shame. letters@chronicle.utah.edu |