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Show 12 u T A HI-IS FRIDAY, DEC. 10,2004 T A T E S M A N Contact: 797-1762 editor@statesman.usu.edu Utah Statesman Good luck with the blue books next week Staff Editor in Chief Emilie Holmes News Editor Katie Ashton It may not feel like it yet, but today marks a huge accomplishment on your part. The amount of adrenaline beginning to course its way through your bloodstream might overshadow the importance of the event, but today really is the last day of classes. You have made it through a semester. Whether it be your first semester at USU, third semester or (we know there are ^ ,T. some of you) 11th illlir VlfiW .ii--|iii^lfMifrii i: semester at USU. Believe it or not, and most importantly, ready or not, finals begin Monday and will be over by Friday afternoon. For some, the end of this semester marks a much bigger event than it does for others. December Commencement will take place next week for the first time in many years, offering students in their final semester all the pomp and circumstance they deserve. So, good luck. Good luck while you're writing final papers at 3 a.m. in the TSC computer lab. Good luck when you feel like you might be going insane while going over your notes for a 14th time. And, most of all, good luck while you're sitting in class, debating whether to fill in the bubble A, B, C or D. Whether you're a freshman or a super senior finally claiming your cap and gown, luck is definitely something all of us can use when it comes to finals. Proposal to teach about Constitution actually weakens it Since Sen. Robert C. Byrd has such a passion for the U.S. Constitution, he won't mind our exercising its free-speech provisions to describe his current proposal: Lame. Interfering. Counterproductive. Potentially unconstitutional. AM U.S. schoolchildren should learn about their nation's great document in depth and detail - which doesn't happen nearly enough. But Byrd's proposal for schools to teach lessons about the Constitution in every grade on one day each year - Sept. 17, the anniversary of the document's signing defies good teaching, local school control and common sense. By attaching this bit of fluff to the massive spending bill that hurtled through Congress, the West Virginia Democrat made it almost certain to become law. That would set a terrible precedent. Tne 10th Amendment to the Constitution says powers not specifically given to the federal government oelong to the states. That includes public education. The feds get around this principle, as with the No Child Left Behind Act, by applying rules and standards only to schools that receive federal Knight liiililrr Tribune Li. Times PROPOSAI See Page 73 SSL 3 Q ^ B ^ m 11 F A #* ^ Assistant Features Editor Matt Wright Sports Editor Aaron Falk Assistant Sports Editor Andrea Edmunds World & Nation Editor Lindsay Kite Photo Editor John Zsiray Many will be without housing at this time of year Knight Bidder Tribune Congress is not doing any- decent place to live is where near enough to help almost unattainable the poor meet their housing for tens of millions of Americans. needs. Added to these In the appropriations bill that just passed, Congress financial realities is raised by 5 percent the the steeply rising cost amount it spends on the of heating fuel, which is eatSection 8 housing program to ing up even more of the famisubsidize rent payments. But ly oudget. this amount covers only a tiny Due principally to housing fraction of those who need costs, between 2.5 million support. and 3.5 million people are Then Congress went in the homeless, according to most opposite direction and cut estimates. And many more are funds for housing assistance "pre-homeless/' temporarily to the disabled, the elderly cfoubling up with relatives or friends. and the homeless. Poor housing conditions Housing is by far the largest expenditure for most contribute to serious health lower- and middle-income and safety problems, such families. Some- 13 million' —asthma, lead poisoning and American households must fires. spend half or more of their Far too many of the poorly income for rent or mortgage housed are concentrated in payments, according to the minority ghettos, leading to most recent Census data. This what sociologists term "hyperleaves insufficient money for segregation." Millions of lowproper food, health care, income families, mainly transportation to work, child black, are isolated from the care and other basic needs. mainstream. Confined to such Sadly, housing costs are ris- ghettoes, they miss out on the ing far raster than incomes. To contacts, job opportunities, pay rent for a two-bedroom schools and community facilapartment in a typical metro- ities that enable social, ecopolitan area requires an nomic and geographic mobilhourly wage of $15.21, ity. reports the National Low Part of the problem is oldIncome Housing Coalition. style discrimination. Laws That is almost three times the notwithstanding, there still is federal minimum wage. With rampant discrimination by the national poverty rate up landlords, Realtors, lenders, for the third straight year, a insurers and other gatekeep- Chester Hartm With the elections season past and Christmas coming up, I was pondering what I could possibly give to liberals on campus and throughout the world. I decided after such a horrific defeat in the election by the American public that I P IK 1 ^ • '"'ir'iJr^i P 'A 7 ATM TV >N ^f % 1 -1vv cs; " ^ / ^ vv ''1 ijjjhr i R-- • * • ^ ' \'-y. /^ ^ ^ #u 1^ i m m4'W • - - ^1 i 1^ i HD ^ i till f • •;••.•• tr't"' > g <• '' < f '•• : mm. m m [ ' ^.' y --; 4 s -•:.'>-. ^^1 Assistant Photo Editor Ryan Talbot Editorial Board Emilie Holmes Katie Ashton Brooke Nelson John Zsiray Ryan Talbot Joel Featherstone Matt Wright Aaron Falk Andrea Edmunds Lindsay Kite ers. Urban Institute studies, done for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, using ''paired About Letters testers," document blatant differences in how blacks and whites seeking to buy or rent • Letters should be limited housing are treated. to 350 words. Discriminatory residential • All letters may be shortpatterns rob many minorities ened, edited or rejected of the ability to accumulate for reasons of good taste, wealth through rising home redundancy or volume of values. Raciafwealth disparisimilar letters. ties are far larger and more -•-Letters must be topic orisignificant than income disented. They may not be parities. directed toward individuFifty-five years ago, als. Any letter directed to a Congress established a specific individual may be National Housing Goal of "a edited or not printed. decent home and suitable liv• No anonymous letters will ing environment for every be published. Writers must American family." sign all letters and include We have fallen woefully a phone number or e-mail short of that goal. address as well as a student Housing ought to be a right identification number. - like free public education, • Letters representing Social Security and Medicare groups — or more than and Medicare. one individual — must Congress can - and must have a singular representado more. tive clearly stated, with all Chester Hartman is director necessary identification of research for the Poverty & information. Race Research Action Council. Comments may be • Writers must wait 21 days sent to pmproj@progresbefore submitting successive.org. sive letters — no exceptions. • Letters can be hand delivered or mailed to The Statesman in the TSC, Room 105, or can be emailed to editor@statesman.usu.edu or click on www.utahstatesman.com for more letter guidelines and a submission box. Multiple reasons point to why Democrats lost this year /US ^ \ _ ROWSS FIRST VaUR OF DUTY Tw Features Editor Joel Featherstone •_ •_; TftVjYEU.C>Y/RlBB<tf WASFbR VQ\ Assistant News Editor Brooke Nelson : # ,T- I am? should give the left some reasons why they lost and why America is better orf without their corrupted and destructive policies. First and foremost, liberals need to recognize that government is not a fix all. Government does nothing but create more problems. For every social problem the juggernaut tackles, several more are created. In fact, Reagan hit the problem on the head when he said that government is never the answer rather it is the problem. If the left wants to know why healthcare is so expensive or why unemployment is so prevalent they should ask themselves what barrier of entry has the government created under the leadership of the left. Herein they will find the answer. The left needs to let America be America again; let free markets fettered only by price, choice and contract enforcement (with the application of criminal law when necessary) deal with the ills of civilized society. This is the only answer this is the Constitutional Why the Right is Right Jared Westbroek republic the founder's envisioned. This is what once made America great. Second, the left needs to recognize that the only equality that can be guaranteed oy government is equality before the law. Equal results cannot, nor ever, will be realized. Any time the government tries to engage in these types of activities, it has to necessarily treat some people unequal in order to give more to those who have less. The left tries to engage in some childish Robin Hood fantasy, in which they rob (demonize, tax, discriminate) from the rich and give to the poor (those who did not earn it), thus negating the accountability of persona! choice. By engaging in such activity the left deepens the divide of inequality that exists. And THF 1 FFT See Page 13 Utahstatesman.com Online Poll What should be done about classes that are dropped from students' schedules before the semester starts? , •The QUAD should auto- : matically notify students. ; • The Registrar's Office . should send out notifica- \ tion of the cancellations. • The professors who can eel the classes should e-mail every student who registered for i them. i • Leave it up to the student] to check the QUAD every! day for cancellations. • Departmental advisers should notify students. • Don't know. Need more information. Visit us on the Web at www.utahstatesman.com to cast your vote and see results from past Utah Statesman online polls. |