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Show Sept. 7, 2007 Page~t2 OwrView Justice should prevail in the classroom I nnocent until proven guilty. Probable cause. : AboutllS I WISH FOR DEIAOCR.ACV... I WISH FOR DE/AOCRACV... I WISH FOR. DEMOCRACV... M L RIGHT, ALREADY... YOU'VE BEEN RUBBING FOR FOUR YEARS! IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. ASK FOR SOMETHING ELSE, OK?! xrvv Due process of law. In America, that's how our legal system works. Unless we're talking about Cuantanamo Bay, we usually don't just slam people on the mere suspiW cion of a crime. We need some sort of evidence to support any harsh action. Apparently, when it comes to cheating, USU is more like Guantanamo Bay. Professors have the power to fail students on mere suspicion of cheating. A literal reading of the policy would mean — and this is an extreme example — if a professor merely suspects that a student who is tying their shoe is actually trying to sneak a peek at their neighbor's quiz, they could fail that student, no questions asked. Now don't get all in a huff just yet. The Statesman Show respect isn't condoning cheating. Cheaters deserve to fail. for beliefs Everyone works hard and when someone cheats, they are cheapening everyone else's effort. To the editor: But we also can't condone such quick judgment without an examination of the facts — without I was deeply troubled by the some scaled-down version of due process of law. article hy Jon Adams concernWe realize a university isn't set up to be the U.S. ing Mother teresa. I am not justice system. Professors need to be more dictator from Utah, but since coming here I have been mystified by than Supreme Court Justice in their classrooms and the complete and utter lack of there doesn't need to be a long, drawn-out legal respect for other religions. Not battle over whether a student was cheating or just only did Mr. Adams' article yawning. insult Mother Teresa, but he directly insulted Catholicism And maybe it's just semantics, but the phrase as a religion. "mere suspicion" doesn't exactly harken back to Living in Utah as a Catholic what we would consider American traditions of is hard enough without our justice. We shouldn't be comfortable as a nation school's newspaper endorsing bigotry and close-minded about getting some severe penalty.for the mere suspicion of a wrongdoing. We like to. think ; we r . ideasr Wnile:~Motrrer' Teresa aiding the sick, lonely and ha\Je a chance to give our side of the stoty.r ? ":"" was poor, she was going through Swift action often leads to false conviction, and a persona! crisis of faith. She in a situation like cheating, a little investigation wrote to many priests in her surrounding area of her trou— which isn't too much effort — will probably turn bles of conscious. What makes up the truth. It's not like a teacher needs to do DNA her so inspiring is her humantesting just to see if two students copied off each ity. She was undergoing a seriother. ous personal struggle yet she put that aside to help those In reality, are professors going to abuse this that others would turn a cold power? Most likely not. shoulder to. Not only that, but More than anything, this "mere suspicion" policy she inspired everyone around cultivates an attitude, a feeling, that leads to an atmosphere of distrust — something not particularly conducive to an open learning environment, which is what an institution of higher education is supposed to be like. Right? RUB RUB RUB Editor in Chief Seth R. Hawkins News Editor Arie Kirk Assistant News Edrtor 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 Edrtor Forum Lette rs her and anyone who heard of her good deeds. How many of us can say that? Besides this, I have a hard time believing that someone would be published in the Statesman if they directly insulted the president of the LDS Church of even one of the Twelve Apostles. The nonMormons in Utah are forced to keep our thoughts to ourselves and show the LDS community respect. It's only fair to ask the same in return. Letters to the editor • A public forum with French speakers when Africa is already listed? Did the writer try to "pad" the list? However, my main contention is with the line "French is the most widely spoken language in the world next to English." Most widely spoken? Using what criteria? Where is the source for this? Using the criteria of number of native speakers, French is nowhere near the most widely spoken language. According to the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), a non-profit organization with formal consultative'status with the United Nations, there are approximately 78 million native French speakers. That puts French tied in eleventh place, along with Korean. The •lop-10 are, in order:Mandarin; Arabic, Hindi, English, Spanish, Bengali, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, and German. "Ethnologue: Languages of the World," ranks French 13th, with Wu and Punjabi having more native speakers. Even with an estimated 250 million secondary speakers of French added on, it still falls behind Tyler Larson Assistant Photo Editor Patrick Oden Editorial Board Seth R. Hawkins Arie Kirk Liz Lawyer David Baker Manette Newbold Sammy Hislop About letters • Letters should be limited to 350 words. • All letters may be shortened, edited or rejected for reasons of good taste, redundancy or volSarah Lytle ume of similar letters. • Letters must be topic oriented. They may not be directed towarci individuals. Any letter directed to a specific individual may be edited or not printed. To the editor: • No anonymous letters will be published. How do you say "lies and Writers must sign all misrepresentation" in French? letters and include a I ask this because in the "A phone number or ePlus" section of last Monday's The Utah Statesman, that's mail address as well as what the French department a student identification provided. "Have you ever number (none of which wanted to travel to ... Africa is published). Letters will ... (or) Madagascar?" Why not be printed without include Madagascar in a list of this verification. U S e e LETTERS, page 13 continents and world regions • Letters representing groups — or more than one individual — must have a singular representative clearly stated, with all necessary identificakipping across the water at 30 miles per explored. The pace of life in Washington, D.C., tion information. hour, I laid my inner tube into the trench is different than my Pineview Apartment days • Writers must wait 21 of safety in between the wake powered in Logan. There are new rules, new boundaries days before submitting by my boat and the smooth water next to it. and unbroken waters to be explored. successive letters — no As I was going around a bend in the water, a I've walked by one presidential hopeful, brilliant, personal realization came to me: this gone through Chinatown and had a new definiexceptions. is craziness. tion applied to the term 'fresh food' at a nearby • Letters can be hand Why would anyone subject themselves to restaurant - all in the stretch of my first 24 delivered or mailed to It's no longer true that presidential races begin on Labor Day being pulled at ridiculous speeds across a field hours here. Does Utah have a Chinatown? The Statesman in the , (unless Presidents Day counts as the new Labor Day). But even I now have an identification card which acts TSC, Room 105, or can with this year's unprecedented early maneuvering, the contest still of water that feels nothing like water when comheats up as autumn temperatures cool. The exchanges between ing to an abrupt and complete stop? Boating as my lifeline to a safe trip into and out of my be e-mailed to candidates sharpen; the advertising wars intensify; voters focus enthusiasts may disagree, but my Labor Day place of work. The congressional representastatesman@cc.usu.edu weekend spent on the water was a realization tives and senators aren't required to carry a more intently. or click on www.utah "Voters in early states for a while simply process what they are that we all have a comfort zone. And that day I similar card. They have a lapel pin to distinguish statesman.com for them from everyone else in a suit. told by the political media," says Democratic strategist jim Jordan, crossed mine a bit. more letter guidelines There are experiences in all our lives which Whiplashing my head from the suit coat to an adviser to the campaign of Sen. Christopher Dodd. "But by and a box to sumbit let November or December they have seen enough with their own we snuggle up to and others we spend energy suit coat of everyone I pass got old after a few ters. .,, \ ' staying away from. What makes us want to try hours. Pretty soon, the vivaciousness of the eyes to form their own impressions. And that's when races start to Pardon my French, but... Keeping your head above water Presidential race moves to a gallup move. With Labor Day past, and that potential movement ahead, it's a good moment to pinpoint the key questions that could decide each party's nomination. One fundamental difference separates the two races: Democrats have a genuine front-runner - Sen. Hillary Clinton - and Republicans don't. That contrast shapes the pivotal issues on each side. There's no mystery about the most pressing question for Democrats: Can anyone stop Hillary? The answer largely will turn on two other questions. First: Can change, or ideology or electoral viability trump experience? One pillar of Clinton's strength is that polls show Democratic voters see her as tougher, more experienced and better prepared for the presidency than her principal rivals, Sen. Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards. The two men are trying to overcome that advantage mostly by insisting they represent a more profound change in direction. Obama, attempting a form of jujitsu, argues that his lack of time in Washington makes him more qualified than Clinton to change the capital and unify the country. Edwards maintains he's more committed than Clinton (or Obama) to confronting big business and achieving liberal change. These arguments will resonate with Democrats who find Clinton either too polarizing or too accommodating. Clinton's challengers also will find support from Democrats who doubt she can win a general election or are reluctant to reopen the controversies of the Bill Clinton era. But the early evidence is that these concerns alone won't topple \M See RACE, page 13 S something new and painful is sometimes the moment either overwhelms you or straps itself drive necessary to succeed in life. Deciding in next to you for the rest of the ride. where the effort is worthwhile is an individual My day on the water, which was the first in a and often contemplative choice. long run of years, taught me about my comfort Coming to the nation's capitol and 'hub of all things political' was a soft reminder to me there are plenty of foreign tastes out there to be H5ee WATER, page 13 Your What makes a candidate? Tell us what you think. As the 2008 presidential election edges ever closer, the plethora of candidates are increasingly in the limelight and under close scrutiny by media and concerned citizens alike. Not only are positions on hot issues like the war in Iraq, education and illegal immigration being taken into consideration, but other aspects of the candidates \ ..>••( are becoming popular. For instance, major minority groups are 'V^ being represented this presidential election. Hillary Clinton is a /-V^ woman, Barack Obama is a black man and Mitt Romney is a Mormon. Hey, to save time and votes, maybe Gladys Knight should run and satisfy . '. all three minorities. A,'.\•'.• ;•,••• l These characteristics of candidates define them to a point, but are they 'i the features that should be most focused on?ls having a woman in the White , House the biggest worry in this election? Will a' Mormon in Washington turn the country upside down? What role do these characteristics play in the presidential race? Is it something voters should look for or are political issues more ; important? What's your take? Let us know at www.utahstatesman.com. : Online poll What do you think of the new Living and Learning Center? \ • A good addition to the school • A waste of money • Isn't there enough oncampus housing? Visit us on the Wep at www.utahstatesman.com to cast your vote. Check out these links on www.utahstatesman.conr • Archives t "\ •Forums • Joke's on You! • Puzzle answers • Activities and events ./$ • Classifieds i • Wedding/Engagements • Slide shows & Video ' |