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Show PRiWPOWN OurView AboutUs • Editor in Chief Not the state's job to provide comfort Seth R. Hawkins News Editor Arie Kirk' Assistant News Editor Liz Lawyer T he Salt Lake Tribune reported last week that liquor control commissioner Bobbie Coray, a resident of nearby Garden City, asked her fellow board members to consider implementing further control of liquor bottles in restaurants. » According to the Tribune, the new rule would completely cover liquor bottles as to not offend non-drinking patrons of restaurants. ' Also, this just in: Utah is a conservative, LDS state. Alcohol is to Utahns as electricity is to the Amish. The very view of alcohol, or a flatscreen HDTV - depending on the culture - apparently sets people ablaze. As if the LDS influence in this proposed rule wasn't apparent enough, the Tribune quoted Coray calling the new regulation "a Zion curtain" for Mormons who are offended by the multi-colored glass spirit bottles that adorn the bars at local restaurants like Chili's and We are in no way suggesting all LDS people are offended by the sight of alcohol bottles. In fact, emboldened by a faith in humanity - some would say is misplaced - we believe most Mormons and nonMormons alike are sensible, moderate people, who can coexist even on such a divisive issue as liquor. In the least, we would hope sensible people wouldn't want to be seen as the crazy, extremist neighbor that has to close it's eyes to differing viewpoints and lifestyles. What kind of thing would be covered up next to save our sensibilities? Women's ankles and wrists? •'-'•'• So we would hope there could be some sort of moderate presence in the discussion, a cooperation that proves everyone - drinker or non-drinker - could come to a solution that doesn't make Utah fodder for late-night TV hosts. •• •..--.*.•,.-.—;r-,y -:-. "• M- -WW^I-- • But that's not the most disturbing thing Coray said in the Tribune article. Coray says in the Tribune the commission has a dual 'responsibility to make alcohol available for drinkers, and "at the same time not make anyone uncomfortable." When did it become anyone's job, particularly a state entity's, to make sure no one is uncomfortable? ; Life isn't comfortable. •-; .:,v'-••"••->;.' :^ v; When was the last time this state entity, USU, assured your comfort? Anyone remember midterms? If our goal as a state is to keep people comfortable, then we are providing a path to empathy. Change doesn't come from comfort. Issues aren't dealt with when we recline comfortably, never challenged. Animal rights activists take things too far F or years, 1 have watched with growing concern as my University of California, Los Angeles colleagues have been subjected to increasing harassment, violence and threats by animal rights extremists. In the last 15 months, these attempts at intimidation have included the placement of a Molotov cocktail-type device at a colleague's home and another under a colleague's car - thankfully, they didn't ignite - as well as rocks thrown through windows, phone and e-mail threats, banging on doors in the middle of the night and, on several occasions, direct confrontations with young children. Then, several weeks ago, an article in The San Francisco Chronicle about the work I have been doing to understand and What others are treat nicotine addiction among saying about issues. adolescents informed readers that some of my research is done on primates. I was instantly on my guard. Would ! be the next victim? Would the more extremist elements of the animal rights movement now turn their sights on me? The answer came this week when the Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for vandalism that caused between $20,000 and $30,000 worth of damage to my home after extremists broke a window and inserted a garden hose, flooding the interior. Later, in a public statement addressed to me, the extremists said they had been torn between flooding my house or setting it afire. Maybe I should feel lucky. Having come to the United States as the child of Holocaust survivors who had lost almost everything, I appreciate that perhaps "only in America" could I have fulfilled my dream of becoming a biomedical scientist, supported in doing research to reduce human suffering. But it is difficult for me to understand why the same country that was founded on the idea of freedom for all gives rise to an organization like the Animal Liberation Front, a shadowy group identified by the FBI as a domestic terrorism threat, which threatens the safety of researchers engaged in animal studies that are crucial to moving medicine forward. I have devoted my career to understanding how nicotine, methamphetamine and other drugs can hijack brain chemistry Nat'lVoice 01 See ANIMALS, page 13 l Features Editor : Manette Newbold Assistant Features Editor Brittny Goodsell Jones Sports Editor Samuel Hislop Assistant Sports Editor ; David Baker Copy Editor Rebekah Bradway Photo Editor Tyler Larson Assistant Photo Editor Patrick Oden Forum Lette rs Sports debate of little value To the editor: This is just to say, the weekly sports debate between misters Baker and Bryner is a waste of print space. A sports debate is a great idea, but in this case, poorly executed. I am in constant shock at the lack of knowledge and apparent choice not to attempt to understand the subject before giving an opinion. Statements such as hockey not being a sport so who cares, I don't know much about (insert sport/team here), so who gives a rip, and other such paragraphs having nothing to do with the question and only serve to dis- Letters to the editor • A public forum credit the persons speaking. It seems to have no purpose other than to tear one team down or flaunt ignorance about any given situation. The opening question in Wednesday's edition, regarding the upcoming Sunday showdown between undefeated NFL teams New England Patriots or the Indianapolis Colts, is the last straw. One side said he loathes both teams and so choses the lesser of two evils, and the other admitted to not knowing/caring and went with a gut feeling. Where are the stats? The information on offense and defense? The quaterbacks could. be compared (though not by saying "1 hate one because he's good looking and one because he has a lot of commercials") or the differences in coaching. Editorial Board Seth R. Hawkins Arie Kirk Liz Lawyer David Baker Manette Newbold Brittny Goodsell Jones Sports debates should present objective opinions, given after researching statistics and potential, not personal vendettas or a lack of caring about the outcome either way. If the About letters individual does not know much • Letters should be limited about hockey, or'baseball, or to 350 words. any other sport in question, • All letters may be shortsome research should be done ened, edited or rejected so at least a semi-educated for reasons of good opinion can be stated. When the questions presented can be taste, redundancy or volanswered in an intelligent, well ume of similar letters. informed, non-biased way, then • Letters must be topic orithe sports debate will be worth ented. They may not be reading. Until then, it is a pathetdirected toward individuic attempt at a sports^related als. Any letter directed to ; comedy, column, and, needs tp, y,, ""a specific individual may I be critically revisited as to its • be edited or not printed.-J relevance to American sports. • No anonymous letters will be published. Kristen Encheff 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. ters are exactly the same on as they are off 'the stage/ Others, on the other hand, take • Letters representing off their costume when the curtains close. It groups — or more tnan happens less than we fear but more than we one individual — must all would prefer. It's sad when I hear conflicthave a singular represening stories about officials and then witness tative clearly stated, with something entirely different in the news. As all necessary identificaa general rule, I tend to err on the side of the tion information. politician in assuming we don't always see • Writers must wait 21 the big picture on the news. But big and little days before submitting exceptions do take place. successive letters — no I still mean what I say when taking the exceptions. pledge of allegiance, but are we really one ! • Letters can be hand nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all? Well, this year's mayoral candidelivered or mailed to dates are free to spend what they want. The Statesman in the I've worked with Benfield on occasion TSC, Room 105, or can in various civic organizations and was, on a be e-mailed to standard, impressed. 1 know the mayor well statesman@cc.usu.edu and have seen some of the effective steps he or click on www.utah has taken to improve the city when the opporstatesman.com for tunity was ripe. He and other mayors have more letter guidelines done excellent things to change the city at a and a box to sumbit let pace everyone could handle. The only thing ters. small communities hate is change. Well, that, and maybe that one neighbor who got caught doing you know what. If you know what I'm Online poll talking about... Rexburg is really not unlike Cache Valley. What do you think of the Both are predominantly one religion. Both Howl? have a strong pioneer history. The weather is A great tradition even about the same. Actually, my freshman A slut-fest Needs reworking ficrtnruA\irc « -*a Need the Scream to & See CHANGE, page 13 balance it out Small town politics facing big money changes just heard my childhood hometown is being corrupted. Scary part is I'm almost OK with it. The mayoral election is coming up in Rexburg, Idaho, with bigger politics than ever before. The one-term incumbent, Mayor Shawn Larsen, is hoping to maintain his position. In the most controversial local election anyone can remember (and some of these folk have quite the grasp on small town politics), the current city council president is challenging Larsen for the seat. This is the most expensive campaign season anyone has ever seen - unlike the national media, I'm not referring to the presidential election. As of Oct. 1, Donna Benfield, the challenger, has spent more than $12,000. Larsen is trying to stay in the game with once-successful habits. His bill is at about $4,000. When I first heard how much money was being spent, I thought, "It's about time the local scene finally caught up with real politics." The 'progressivism' I'm accustomed to in D.C. and in my university studies asserts that change is inevitable. Progress is good. The frightened small-town kid inside me whispers, "Don't give up what you have trying to get what someone else prefers." Rural American politics, you see, are different than the national show. Very different, and I'm beginning to believe they need to preserve the community's culture. Being in D.C, I get a backstage pass before the show ever steps into the public arena. True to my hopeful ideology, some charac- I YourTake Midterms , Tell us what you think. Submit a letter to the editor at www.utahstatesman.com Halfway through. Say it again, halfway through. By this time in the semester, students have a pretty good feel for what the remainder of the semester is going to be like. Students know how teachers will grade and just what's expected of them. Their heads are also full of a lot of information. Just when the homework, papers and group projects start piling up, teachers throw in a midterm, to make things interesting. Now, attention has to be diverted to cram half a semester's worth of information in order to regurgitate it on the midterm exam and then promptly forget about it and get back to the Monday Night Football and the start of the NBA season. Are midterm exams effective? Do students need these tests to effectively prepare for final? Do midterm tests accurately measure learning? Should they be worth a heavy percentage of a student's grade? What's your take? Tell us at www.utahstatesman.com/messageboard. Visit us on the Web at www.utahstatesman.com to cast your vote. Check out these links on www.utahstatesman.com: • Archives • Forums • Joke's on You! • Puzzle answers • Activities and events • Classifieds • Wedding/Engagements • Slide shows & Video |