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Show vrctsvren% % %% i uy> editor@statesman.usu.edu statesman@cc.usu.edu AboutUs OurView Editor in Chief Rising parking fees against the Every year students pay close attention to ASUSU [to see how much student fees will go up and to Tier iiand Tier II tuition to know how much money to ? start stuffing into their piggy banks. You thought ^.yoli had it covered, didn't you? You thought you :'}jad an eye on all moving targets. * I N o w students have been hit with yet another £fee increase, but from, a different direction. This |tiroe it came from-the Parking and Transportation f^fvisory, Committee in the form of slightly higher t parking meter fees and more expensive permits, i';;| The increased fines will go toward paying off the school's loan for the big new parking garage on the west side.'of/campus. The garage hasn't filled up as'hoped and the "money has to come from sbmewhere/|$; instead of increasing the cost just for thfe peopife^h^^e using the .garage, the burden is Jailing on all students and faculty who park on qampus. " The justice of this is questionable. Why should people who aren't using the $7.5 million terrace * have to pay off the cost of building it? The burden ;• should fall on those who have permits for the ter. race or who just want to leave their car there for a | few hours. The cost of permits has only gone up a few dol, lars, and the cost of a half hour at a meter only :', costs a few cents more, but as expenses mount up, 1;i students start to panic. j Most things get more expensive over time. Whether * the'terrace, had .been built or not, and whether the Living and Learning Center had been finished on schedule and in time to fill it right away or not, the • fees would have gone up to cover some other rising expense. It just rubs against the grain to have that expense I be clue to poor planning. Political craziness you missed this summer efore I begin, here's a bit about me: My name is Jon Adams (not a bad name for a political science major, eh?). Like many of you, I had a fairly conservative and religious upbringing here in Utah. Politically, I think of myself as unabashedly liberal, but I may soon have to identify as moderate considering today's leftward swing. Too bad, actually, because I'm most comfortable as the "fish out of water." How else could a liberal, bisexual, single and secular student survive at USU? Enough about me. What did you do over the summer? If you're the typical college student, you put your brain on standby for the break. No New York Times, no PBS, not even The Daily Show - for months. You are woefully uninformed. Luckily for you, I have a chronic fixation with current events. And as a testament to how dull my life is, 1 often find three to four hours each and every day to scour the news. So allow me to bring you up to date: Since May, we have already been subjected to 12 vacuous political debates. At this rate, by Election Day, the candidates will have had more debates than Mitt Romney's had political reinventions. No simple feat. Seriously, though, I'm thrilled by what seems like an early interest in presidential horse race. It's evidence that America is starving for change. But this early on, and given the characters running, you should be watching this race if for no other reason than your amusement. For example, did you catch Gov. Richardson's gigantic gaffe at the Human Rights Campaign? Before an audience of Lesbian, Cay, Bisexual, Transgender couples, Richardson said homosexuality was a choice. A choice?! The hilariously awkward incidentcould've qualified as a scene from "Borat." I knew the state of American politics was a joke, but, until this race, had no idea just how funny that joke can be. "Sicko," Michael Moore's acclaimed documentary on our health care crisis, made a hard-hitting debut in theaters across the country on June 22. The film compares our corporate system to the universal systems of Canada, the UK, France and (gasp!) Cuba. After reviewing each system, Moore makes a sobering diagnosis: America's health care system is hazardous to our health. And who better to remind us how unhealthy we Americans are than Michael Moore? Love him or loathe him, Moore's thesis in "Sicko" is validated by the facts. Despite our system being the most expensive in the world, the World Health Organization ranks the US system No. 37. This is no surprise to the 60 million Americans who are either uninsured or under insured. While you may ultimately disagree with Moore's prescription for America, a not-forprofit universal system, only the most callous person could leave the movie without being embarrassed by and angry with the status quo. Global warming was, quite literally, a hot topic this summer. Yes, in brazen defiance of Al Gore's Live Earth concerts, global warming continued unabated - in fact, 2007 is slated to be the Earth's second warmest year on record. Generally speaking, this translates into extreme weather events, glacial B 01 See POLITICS, page 13 Aug. Seth R. Hawkins News Editor Arie Kirk Assistant News Editor Liz Lawyer , Features Editor Manette Newbold Assistant Features Editor Brittny Coodsell Jones Sports Editor Samuel Hislop Assistant Sports Editor David Baker Copy Editor Rebekah Bradway Photo Editor Tyler Larson Assistant Photo Editor Patrick Oden Letters to the editor • A public forum eral years, new students aren't being apprised of an important bike safety concept - riding on the right side of the To the editor: street is safer than riding on the roadside sidewalk or riding on the wrong (left) side of Mor.day night ASUSU the street. And the results are decided to have a party at quite apparent on campus as the Fun Park. Unfortunately trie new school year begins. they did not realize that the Back home, new students Fun Park is surrounded by may have gotten the impresapartments. The also did not sion that roads are for cars, realize that their music was or that bikes don't belong on so loud that residents, such as the road, or that bike riders myself, could here the words must behave like pedestrians, to the music clearly with all or that riding on the road isn't the windows in their apartsafe. Those impressions are ments shut. Unfortunately false. Various crash analysis they also did not realize that studies have shown that riding many of these people go to on the roadside sidewalk is bed before 11:00 and also two to eleven times more hazhave small children. I hope ardous than riding on the right that ASUSU activities will be side of the road. Riding on the more considerate of the peo- wrong (left) side of the road is ple they affect in the future. the leading cyclist-fault cause of car/bike collisions. John Mulholland Visit the Aggie Blue Bikes shop for advice from one of their certified bike safety instructors, or check out their website at www.usu.edu/ucc/ bikes/ Don't look like a newTo the editor: bie on a bike! Be a visible, predictable, legal cyclist. For the first time in sev- ASUSU creates disturbance Ride bikes responsibly Kudos to USU Facilities To the editor: I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone in USU Facilities and the Taggart Student Center for the wonderful new covered bike parking on the west end of the TSC, not to mention the new covered bike structure being built on the east side of the Fieldhouse. For many years multiple students, staff, and faculty have been begging for more sheltered bike parking on campus. It's these little improvements that will encourage more of us in the USU community to ride to campus and reduce air pollution. It's very comforting to know that after I've pedaled up Old Main Hill I can at least park my bike where it will not become damaged due to rain, UV rays, snow, and sprinklers. Sean Damitz Does the Constitution matter? oday there are many conflicting views on the position of the U.S. Constitution in our government today. There are some who believe the Constitution is just as relevant today as it was the day it was signed. However, there are also those who hold the Constitution to be a be "outdated" and "quaint." The question each of us must ask ourselves is, "Who is correct, and why?" One of the most important things for all of us to remember is that the Constitution was a product of lifetimes of study and experience. The Founding Fathers were well read. They had studied their contemporaries, such as Blackstone, Locke and Montesquieu. They were also just as familiar with Cicero, European history and the Bible. This amazing group of individuals had a great understanding of philosophy, religion, economics and history. They were conscious of both the strengths and weaknesses of mankind. They were well acquainted with various forms of government, many of which are being sold to Americans as "new alternatives" to what some would claim to be an "outdated" Constitution. Among these were monarchy, democracy and the welfare state. The Founders had a great deal of practice and experience in writing constitutions. Many had helped in the drafting of their state constitutions. Much experience was also gained in the drafting of the failed Articles of Confederation. The constitutional convention took many months to slowly develop the great document we know as the Constitution. It was carefully crafted and polished What does this mean for us today? To me, it means that the Constitution was based on basic, eternal principles. These principles existed long before the days of ancient Israel, They applied in the times of the Founding Fathers, and they are still relevant in today's modern society. Technology has changed, and the world has changed, but man has not. Power can be just as corrupting today as it was in the days of Caesar. The Founders understood this and created a Constitution which would hold all of the representatives of the people in check and T appropriately distribute power so as to keep any individual from becoming too powerful. Many would contend that the Constitution is "flexible" and can be changed at the whims of Congress, the court and the president. The Founders did understand that times would change, so they provided for amendments to the Constitution. However, they made it clear that until amended, the Constitution was to be strictly followed. They taught that this nation is based on rule of law, not the whims of man. They specifically directed our representatives to give an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution before taking office. Those words are not just a mere formality, but an obligation of trust entered into by our representatives in government with us, their fellow citizens. There are those who would simply do away with our Constitution. To those who would replace the Constitution, I would ask with what would they replace it? Can anyone show me a system that has turned a small, developing nation into the prosperous nation we enjoy today? A nation that has but a small share of the world's resources, land and people, but that possesses a vast majority of the world's wealth? What else would you have? Any other system of government either leans too far to the side of tyranny or too far to the side of anarchy. Neither has proven effective. The Founders placed our government squarely in the center of this spectrum, at a place that maximizes the freedom of its citizens. Any departure from the basic principles of the Constitution would lead us to too much government to still ensure freedom, or so little that freedom cannot truly be maintained. To me, the proof that the Constitution is effective is in its fruits. These fruits are all around us. This nation, and indeed the world, is more prosperous because of it. If this nation is to continue to flourish, we must maintain the principles of freedom, self- sufficiency and integrity that allowed the United States to prosper. I sincerely hope that all of us will strive to O See PRESERVE, page 13 Editorial Board Seth R. Hawkins Arie Kirk Liz Lawyer David Baker Brittny Goodsell Jones 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 letters and include a phone number or email address as well as a student identification number (none of which is published). Letters will not be printed without this verification. • Letters representing groups — or more than one individual — must have a singular representative clearly stated, with all necessary identification information. • Writers must wait 21 days before submitting successive letters — no exceptions. Letters can be hand delivered or mailed to The Statesman in the TSC, Room 105, or can be e-mailed to statesman@cc.usu.edu or click on www.utah statesman.com for more letter guidelines and a box to sumbit let ters. Online poll Who will win in USU's home opener on Thursday? •USU •UNLV Visit us on the Web at www.utahstatesman.com to cast your vote. 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