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Show I—ecfitx>r(6)st4tesrihan.ijsu,£i Sept. 17, 2007 OurView AboutllS Editor in Chief Living life to the fullest extent S% News Editor Arie Kirk Assistant News Editor Liz Lawyer A ll men are created equal. At least that's the thought. In reality, each person comes into this world with certain abilities and disabilities. Some are minor, like not being able to remember where the car keys were placed. Some disabilities are more severe, requiring adjustments to how everyday life is carried out. Either way, life is what you make of it. Often we hear stories of everyday people who face enormous adversity that seems overwhelming, yet these people make a choice to make everyday count and not let their disabilities and challenges keep them down. Such is the case with some of the blind students attending USU. Sight is something most people likely take for granted. It's possible to go through an entire day watching television, reading books, surfing the Internet and walking to class with ease, without once thinking how lucky it is to have the gift of sight. But what if that were taken away? How would. you survive? Or could you survive? Some blind students at USU find a way to read, using Braille, do their studies and enjoy other activities like athletics or music. Sure they have a disability, but so do many of the so-called "normal people" in this world, but their disabilities may hot be as apparent. The point is these brave students value the opportunity to get a college education. Do we? For many of us, going to school can become a hassle that gets in the way of hanging out with friends and other leisure activities. It's no big deal to pick up a book and study for a class, though getting the motivation to do so is another story. ; USU's Disability Resource Center provides assistance to those who don't have the gift of sight by providing alternative learning aids such as computer programs that can read text to the user, magnification screens and Braille books. This is a great praise to the dedication of the leaders of the university in their efforts to provide all students a chance to learn. A couple hundred years ago this would have been unthinkable. The blind, deaf and maimed of these time periods were considered burdens to society, incapable of contributing anything merely because they lost one sense. While members of the blind community may not have the gift of sight, maybe they have something better: the blessing of greater insight. ; , , .„ These people don't allow their disability to get in their way. They live life to the fullest as all of us should. It's easy to whine about not feeling good when walking through the snow (don't worry, it's soon coming) to class and act like life has dealt a blow. It takes a person of true character, and true ability to look past that and live life, regardless the hands that were dealt. Another seat in Utah has ties to D.C. The Senate, which in recent days has been preoccupied with the state of democracy in Iraq, will soon have a chance to bolster democracy at home. The Democratic leadership is supporting legislation that would give residents of the District of Columbia a vote in the House of Representatives. The bill would increase the size of the House from 435 to 437 members, awarding an additional seat to Utah, which came the closest of any state to increasing its representation in the 2000 census. The case for a vote for D.C. is obvious, but why a fourth House seat for Utah? One reason is the mathematical possibility that What others are a 436-seat House might divide saying about issues. equally with no one to break ties, as the vice president can do in the Senate. For the more cynically minded, it is significant that Utah is a bright shade of red, meaning that a likely Democratic representative from D.C. would be offset by a Utah Republican until the next reapportionment. Take your pick: Whatever the explanation for the Utah addon, this compromise represents the only realistic hope for enfranchising more than half a million residents of the District--and for retiring those "Taxation Without Representation" license plates. And, unlike statehood for D.C, representation in the House could be accomplished under Article I of the Constitution, which empowers Congress to legislate "in all cases whatsoever" involving the nation's capital. Not everyone agrees. President Bush, not usually known for Nat'lVoice [lSee SEATS, page 15 Seth R. Hawkins Features Editor Manette Newbold NO MATTER HCW ClO&U{ Assistant Features Editor Brittny Goodsell Jones Sports Editor Samuel Hislop Assistant Sports Editor David Baker S )> Copy Editor Rebekah Bradway CW^TOOO Forum Lett e rs The wireless safety blanket denly become very interested in cloud formations, or make sure I don't step on a sidewalk crack, or better yet, become To the editor: fascinated by a point in space directly left of the other perMany times while walking son's head. Just at the brink around campus I've turned of having to actually step out a corner onto a long stretch of my comfort zone and say of sidewalk, and there at a hello, 1 remember that I have a distance is one other human little blankie in my pocket that being walking toward me. I can pull out and hold tight During the seemingly eternal as I suck my thumb. That little time lapse before we pass each blankie is my cell phone, and other, 1 find myself trying to as that other person on the decide whether I should sud- sidewalk passes by, in a mad Letters to the editor • A public forum rush I whip out that blankie and check to see if I got a text message. Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I breathe easier and secretly thank my blankie for giving me an excuse not to say hello to the stranger on the sidewalk. May I suggest we use cell phones as doorstops if We're going to be using them as escape routes from some of the simplest gestures of human kindness. Ben Watkins War protests dying on the streets I hope,you enjoy today's biased-coverage of- -4: very morning, J-wake-up^nd.-jus^hqp&another this weekend's Iraq war demonstrations. 9/11 hasn't happened overnight." ("Come quick, Martha — the media's finally There is, as ever, a vast middle range of peoowning up to their bias!") ple who don't have all the answers. They don't Anti- or pro-war, journalist, blogger or read- know whether it's better to withdraw the troops er, we can probably agree that news cover- and let Iraqis kill each other or stick with a longage of events such as Saturday's rallies along term military mission that has little prospect of the Mall routinely reveal a strong media bias success. toward covering crowds of people doing stuff But many other Americans have concluded outdoors, especially on a day featuring crisp air either that we must stay in Iraq and seek someand brilliant sunshine. thing called victory or that this is a war gone ^ m m — m — ^ — I say this not bad, and it's time to end it. The majority in both to -belittle the camps do not attend street rallies. At any given moment, vastly more people several thousand people who argue and shout on Web sites and blogs such What others are devoted their as dailykos.com and freerepublic.com than saying about issues. Saturday to the attended Saturday's rallies. Are new channels of constitutionally protest pushing aside the grand American tradisacred act of sounding off in their nation's capi- tion of taking it to the streets? Protest organiztal. But after talking to many passionate people ers say it has become far easier to draw a crowd on both sides, I came away uncertain about online than in person. whom they were trying to speak to and what Why is it news when several thousand demthey hoped to accomplish. onstrators take a pleasant walk through the city People at the pro-war, pro-surge Gathering but not when many more express the same pasof Eagles rally on the Mall and at the much sions in an online forum? larger anti-war, anti-Bush march from Lafayette Protest organizers are perplexed by their Square across from the White House to the inability to turn high anti-war poll numbers into Capitol had one thing in common: They were huge street gatherings. "The size and intenfrustrated, both by smaller-than-expected sity of the demonstrations, protests and acts crowds and by their inability to get their mes- of resistance does not at all measure up to the sages across, either in the media or to their vast magnitude of feelings against the Iraq war elected officials. among the general population," says a treatise "Nothing," Toby Mikle said when I asked from the ANSWER Coalition, the main orgawhat he expected would come out of the anti- nizer of Saturday's anti-war event. war rally that he traveled to from St. Paul, Minn. ANSWER blames a splintering of the anti"I'm really disappointed. I guess people are too war movement. Some of the largest and bestbusy with work. Everybody I know has two or funded anti-war groups neither embraced nor three jobs." publicized Saturday's protest. Some organizers At the pro-war rally, James Choate of no longer see street actions as effective in Birmingham, Ala., attributed the lack of a mas- changing minds or policies. sive turnout to many Americans' belief that Does it advance a cause when people stand they are safer than they really are. "Most a few feet apart on Pennsylvania Avenue NW, of the country doesn't want to believe" that more terrorist attacks are inevitable, he said. "Everybody's getting a false feeling of security. 01 See PROTEST, page 15 Nat'lVoice YourTake Tell us what you think. a letter to the editor at What makes a candidate? Submitwrww.utahstatesman.com 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 being represented this presidential election. Hillary Clinton is a 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. These characteristics of candidates define them to a point, but are they the features that should be most focused on? Is 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 atwww.utahstatesman.com. Photo Editor Tyler Larson Assistant Photo Editor Patrick Oden Editorial Board Seth R. 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