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Show 70 Friday, March 31,2006 797-1762 statesman@cc.usu.edu www.utahstatesman.com Cutting lower-level Chinese courses was a Utah Statesman bad move by USU The recent decision to cut the Mandarin Chinese classes below the 3000 level was a bad move for the language department and the university as a whole. Now only people who already have two or more years of experience in the language WitoncM will be able to take classes here at USU. So while those students will be unaffected, everyone else will be. University officials said that students would have to find other sources to get to language skills to attend the higher-level courses, citing the Internet as an option We wish all interested students luck in finding such a Web site that gets you to the level of the native speakers and returned LDS missionaries who generally make up the Chinese 3010 class. We don't feel the need to stress how important a language Chinese will be in the future. A May 2005 issue of Newsweek put it best with their headline, "The Future Doesn't Speak French." Nationwide, high schools are investing money in offering their students the chance to learn Chinese. Do we really want to be the school that shrugs its shoulders at the future? We encourage the university to take another look at the situation. Surely there is another way to save money without cutting the legs out from underneath the Chinese program. Staff PRAISE ALLAH! AFGHANISTAN IS FREE. RELIGIOUS Editor in Chief Brooke Nelson News Editor Aaron Falk Assistant News Editor Marie MacKay ._ Features Editor Our View Knowing when to fold Assistant Features Editor Emma Tippetts Sports Editor i Andrea Edmunds Assistant Sports Editor Bryan Hinton Diversions Editor Nat'lView Send letters to: editor@statesman.usu.edu ' Matt Wright • |r Copy Editor Letters to the Editor Lindsay Kite . Photo Editor \Public Forum Feral cat colonies not good for community USU Chinese program should not be cut Dear Editor: Dear Editor, Shannon Jolley misspoke when she said that colonies of feral cats may be "a good thing for a community." Despite the apparent low-cost rodent control service, freeroaming and feral cats are devastating to native bird and mammal populations wherever they occur. Ecologically, domestic cats are an invasive non-native predator species. Feral cat control programs strain already small Focal animal shelter budgets. Moreover, feral cat colonies provide reservoirs for feline diseases, injure themselves and other cats by fighting, and distribute cat feces into play and garden areas. Kudos to Aggie Cat Services for addressing the problem of feral cats on campus. Pets are not disposable and responsible pet owners supervise and maintain control over their animals, cats included. On a final note, cats with homes need not remain solely indoors - the National Humane Society (www.hsus. org) provides instruction on how to provide adequate fencing s.o cats can enjoy your backyard. In the Wednesday March 22nd edition of The Utah Statesman there was an article written by Aaron Falk which discussed the cutbacks that are being made in the Chinese program at Utah State University. The decision made by the department of languages, philosophy and speech communication department is both irresponsible and unfortunate. 1 feel very strongly about this issue, i myself choose Utah State impart, because they had a Chinese program. Mr. Falk mentioned in his article that Mandarin is, "the most widely spoken languages in the world' 7 I would add to his statement by saying there are more Mandarin speakers in the world than there are English, Spanish, German and French combined (CIA factbook). Something that confuses me greatly is that Utah State offers full bachelor degrees in all four of these-languages. Yet, with China's exploding economy never a greater need for American Chinese speakers in political, economic and business arenas they cut funding to the Chinese program. Alissa Salmore You would think with all of these developments in China Andrew Card's resignation as chief of staff was no surprise The resignation of Andrew Transportation), and then Card as White House chief of another five years in the Bush staff reminds me of the words "43 White House. That's a lot of Charles de Gaulle: " T h e of years. graveyards are But eventually, full of indispensover the passage able men." The of time, your French leader was number comes cold-blooded in \pfher~Voices up. On Wall his detachment, Street successful but he was dead right. traders have good streaks, That is, you can be center but ultimately, in the parstage - and then, one day, lance of the biz, they " b l o w you're not. The challenge, in up." Perhaps those "masters any line of work, is to Figure of the universe" had perout how to make a grace- suaded themselves that they ful exit; that's a lot better had cracked open the secrets than sticking around so long of financial alchemy - but, in that you suffer the indignity fact, there was a lot of luck in of being carried off by your their equation. rivals and replacements. That's true in politics, During his six decades in too: If you stay too long, you public service, de Gaulle sur- " b l o w up." And that's sort vived two wars, several assas- of what happened to Card. sination attempts and several After a great run, he suffered rises and falls. He was the a modified blowup. soul of postwar France, and Card had let it be known yet he was pushed out of he wanted to set the record power in 1969 by noisy pro- as the longest-serving chief tests in the streets of Paris of staff in White House his- how little things change tory. That's an OK objective across the decades - and everybody wants to be in the died the following year. I "Guinness World. Records" have been to his grave; it's a book for something - but great place to reflect on the he kept on saying it, even swift passage of the glory of after the debacles of Harriet the world. Miers, Hurricane Katrina and Andy Card was never a the Dubai Ports World deal. grandiose figure. In fact, he Big mistake. In publicly was a very nice guy - and meditating about the lengtn yet smart, too, in his nice- of his tenure, he made it ness. We worked together in seem as if his own " i r o n the White House of President man" career ambitions came George H.W, Bush, when he before the well-being of the was the deputy chief of staff president, or the country. and I was a lower-ranking So on Tuesday, one more domestic policy aide. On one indispensable man became occasion, the then-chief of dispensable. The media were staff, John Sununu, was mad kind enough, in the sense of at me, and let me know it in capturing his likability, but a furiously four-letter-worded the th overallll story line li ill was still phone call. cutting to Card: The presiUnderstandably, I was a dent, finally responding to little shaken. pressure from critics and A little-while later, Andy seeking to reverse falling poll called to say, " D o n ' t worry numbers, saw that it was time about it. It'll blow over." It for new blood in his White was a nice thing for him to House. And the old blood, of do. Yet, at the same time, it course, was Card's; was a smart thing to do; ., it. Nobody need shed tears was part of his job to keep for Andy Card. He was on the peace inside the White top for a long time, and he'll House House. ' h d l suffer ff now, at lleast not hardly Indeed, Card proved to financially. be valuable in three different But the lesson is this: If you Republican White Houses. don't know when it's time to He spent four years work- fold .... your ,__. hand,, .they „ _ , will ing for Ronald Reagan, three eventually fold it for you. years working for Bush 41 James P. Pinkerton wrote this {plus a stint as secretary of column for Newsday. > Sieve Shinney it would be pretty obvious that any decent university would seek to either begin a Chinese program, or improve their existing one. This is in fact what is happening throughout the country at more and more universities; but not at USU. WHY? In Mr. Falk's article he said that the Department Head Charlie Huenemann said that they are actually "dip[ping] into extra resources" to keep the Korean department going. There is something very wrong when administration is willing to "dip into extra resources" for a program that rarely has more than six students registrar per semester (which is the case for the Korean classes), but is so readily willing to cut the Chinese program. I can't believe my tuition is actually paying administration to not think. This decision to cut the Chinese program will have unavoidable repercussions on the future students of Utah State University. I hope that this letter will reach the eyes of some responsible administrator or student that will help correct this huge error and irrational decision. Joshua Law Terrorists? Or being terrorized? In his second inaugu- in the regions it controls, upon ral address, President Bush threat o f serious harm. Nearly made a Stirring commitment 2,000 Colombians who faced to oppressed people yearning, such circumstances as paying to be free: "When you stand a ransom or " t a x " - and who for your liberty, we will stand later fled the country and with you." were determined by the United For half a Nations to be century, one of refugees - have the best expresbeen denied U.S. sions of that UtTier Voices resettlement on bond has been the federal Refugee the basis of the "material Resettlement Program. This support" provision. State Department-adminisIn Liberia, a female head of tered program seeks to offer a household was referred to a safe harbor to those fear- the U.S. resettlement program ing persecution by tyranni- by the Office of the United cal governments. But thou- Nations High Commissioner sands of people whose lives for Refugees as a person parare at risk for standing up ticularly vulnerable to attack. for freedom will this year Rebels had come to her home, be denied help because of a killed her father and beat and Kafkaesque interpretation of gang-raped her. The rebels who is deemed a terrorist. held her hostage in her own The laws governing eligi- home and forced her to wash bility for refugee status have their clothes. The woman long denied it to anyone escaped after several weeks who commits a terrorist act and made her way to a refuor who provides "material gee camp. The Department support" to terrorists. These of Homeland Security has laws were strengthened after decided that because the rebSept. 11. The problem was els lived in her house and she created by recent legislation washed their clothes, she had that expanded the definition provided "material support" of terrorists. There are real- to the rebels; the case has life consequences from such been placed on hold. myopic "reform." A Sierra Leonean woman's In Colombia, for exam- house was attacked by rebple, the leftist guerrilla group els in 1992. A young famFARC often kidnaps civilians ily member was killed with and demands ransom from machetes, another minor was' their relatives. FARC also subjected to burns, and the requires the payment of a wom'an and her daughter "war tax" from Colombians were raped. The rebels kept Nat'l View the family captive for days in their own home. Homeland Security has placed the case on hold for "material support" concerns because the family is deemed to have provided housing to the rebels. Under this interpretation, it does not matter whether the support provided was given willingly or under duress. Unfortunately, the actions of Homeland Security go far beyond barring the affected refugees from entering the U.S. They become permanently tainted by suspicions of terrorism ana find themselves shut out by other nations that resettle refugees. And the governments now providing these people with temporary asylum might even force them back to the nations they fled. U.S. policy toward authoritarian governments has been turned on its head: The victims of terrorism are being denied protection and sanctuary. Yes, we must remain vigilant against terrorists. But in order to implement Bush's commitment to stand with those seeking liberty at great personal risk, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff or Congress must rectify the injustice that treats victims of coercion as supporters of terrorism. Ceorge Rupp wrote this column for The Washington Post. ; Michael Sharp Assistant Photo Editor Jessica Alexander I Editorial Board I Brooke Nelson Aaron Falk Marie MacKay Michael Sharp Steve Shinney About letters • Letters should be limited to 350 words. • All letters may be shortened, edited or rejected for reasons of good taste, redundancy or volume of similar letters. • Letters must be topic oriented. They may not be directed toward individuals. Any letter directed to a specific individual may be edited or not printed. • No anonymous letters will be published, ' Writers must sign all >3 letters and include a •*• phone number or email address as well as a student identification number. 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