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Show . editor@statesman;uj thedth With. STIMULUSjoacanbereadyWhenthemomeiitisrigW: • OurView Editor in Chief Seth R. Hawkins Don't lose sight of college experience e now interrupt your regularly scheduled ranting and raving to bring you a special public service announcement. * This is going to sound strange coming from the same gray box where it seems like every week we get caught up in the middle of some tense campus issue - partly because that's our job, to get you guys talking - but we feel like the tension is just running a little too high right now. We all just need to chill. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Good. With all the controversy about smoking, Tier II tuition, fire extinguishers, etc., we think some Aggies - truth be told, we're as guilty as anyone - may be losing sight of what college really is. A time to party, stay up late and eat ice cream and Fritos for every meal because we're adults and we're going to do what we want? Not exactly. A time to learn and prepare ourselves to be productive citizens of this nation? Partially. College is supposed to be the time of our lives, right? You ask any old person and they'd probably trade a lot for just one more year of college. So instead of wasting all of our time bickering and further driving a wedge between the student population on campus, maybe we can all just take a second to realize that we're all really a part of the same experience. Man, that sounds weird, because we bet there are people reading right now and saying, "Well, I really think the paper is the one trying to drive the wedge." We aren't wedge drivers, just conversation facilitators, but we can see how that conversation may lead to some divisiveness, which we all cogld use a break News Editor Arie Kirk Assistant News Editor Alison Baugh W • f r o m . - - . -. •••••-' - .-. ; - •• . ^ ^ * % " ' • > . : We don't need to forget about campus issues, though; They are important, and should be discussed. But in the whole discussion, we can't lose sight of the fact that college - except for a couple weeks out of each semester - is supposed to be fun. We'll have all our lives to yell at each other about a plethora of different problems, and there will be problems to yell about. But, we only have four years, some have five or six or eight, to be in college. After this, we've heard it's pretty hard to squeeze in an eight-hour block of "Guitar Hero" or four or five day marathons of "The Gilmore Girls" or "Lost/' Basically, life s u c k s after this, s o s o a k it u p , k i d d i e s . ?•. •: ;•'. -• • •; -.-,;. •'•>,-•• •:••-; -. ^ / ' ^ - V : . ' • ~;'. ' ••• • Maybe we all need to take ourselves a little less seriously, loosen up, button down a little. If we're too high strung, we're liable to turn into our parents. And we can all agree that terrifying transition c a n w a i t . " . v . .,--:-.-.\ •,:;-:/••• \ . \ • •-" •••- Features Editor Brittny Goodsell Jones Assistant Features Editor Di Lewis Sports Editor politicafil * ST| MULUS i* the only prescription economic dysfunction (ED) tablet clinically proven to revive a weak economy. Individual results may vary. Ask yourdoctor if yoifre healtftyenough for economic activity. Assistant Sports Editor David Baker Copy Editor Rebekah Bradway Letters to the editor • A public forum ers. It may be reasonable to doesn't require it, we won't think that I, a rational adult do it." Where is the supby some accounts, could posed deep concern for stuchoose to avoid those sec- dent safety? The fire marshal tors of the TSC serving the claims reasons of vandalism, To the editor: unhealthy cakes. Yet we all the intended purpose of fire have our compulsions: our extinguishers, and lack of Dear ASUSU: Now that you've pro- anti-smoking partisan must training as the reasons for posed to spare us from feign a cough or two upon not having them installed in smoke that the Bear River seeing an outdoor smoker; the parking terrace. It is true Health Department has I must partake of the pas- that fire extinguishers are not deemed more harmful and tries when in the presence meant for ALL fires, but there odious than emissions from of the plump. And as the are thousands every month an Aggie Shuttle Bus (even overweight continue to mul- throughout the nation that as my lungs beg to differ), tiply on our beloved campus, ARE SUCCESSFULLY used please direct your attention I find it utterly impossible to on by people other than certo an additional danger that shield my eyes from all of tifiea fire fighters. I doubt the USU student threatens to compromise my them. body lacks so much common You've resolved to delivhealth: persons on campus er others from secondhand sense as to charge into a fire who carry excess poundage. In what possible way do smoke. 1 implore you to pro- and harm themselves simply fat laden persons endan- tect me no less earnestly or because a fire extinguisher ger my health you ask? avidly from the perils of the is available. The fire marshal Well, whenever I see one portly. It's; dear thatyou know "•'waif even quoted as saying I'm drawn irresistibly to the what's best for us. I have no he didn't want students to Hostess Cupcake section of doubt that you'll take actions use an extinguisher. And the the Quickstop. In instances necessary to eliminate yet "fear" of vandalism is EASILY more severe, I make haste another health hazard from and for MINIMAL cost fixed by a fire extinguisher cabinet, for Hazels. In short, stout per- our campus. such as is used in many pubThanks so much for being sons trigger urges beyond my lic places. here to monitor our behavpower to subdue, to engage It saddens me to see the in unhealthy behaviors. ior. university show such an open When I see them 1 can't help John Walters lack of concern for student but crave the sweet things Merriil-Cazier Library safety. I feel the underlyof which I try so forcibly to ing reason comes down to deprive myself. money. It appears to me the My sensibilites are no less university would rather call refined or worthy of conthe students vandals and cresideration than those who tins rather than spend a few would regulate the behavhundred dollars on fire extinTo the editor: ior of our tiny contingent of guishers. outdoor smokers. As selfI am appalled at the deciOh, and for the record, I appointed campus nannies, perhaps you could bring your sions of the university and not only am trained on the sanctimony to bear on my of the USU fire Marshal. I behalf, sheltering me as you feel I can sum up their state- [M See LETTERS, page 11 have decided to shelter oth- ments as "Because the law Stop monitoring our behavior Fire extinguishers are valuable America has much to learn from the EU T wo weeks ago, I discussed the impending creation of the North American Union. There have been many who have shrugged off the warnings of what is happening to our nation, dismissing the well-informed individuals giving these warnings as conspiracy theorists. When considered alone, these warnings are grave enough. However, when one considers these warnings in light of what is occurring in Europe, the creation of a North American Union is much more ominous. oday, March 19, marks the fifth anniversary of the There are many parallels between the Iraq War. Remember that - the Iraq War? It's been creation of the current European Union and largely ignored by the media and the public the past few the creation of a North American Union: If months. the citizens of the U.S., Mexico and Canada A new Pew Foundation survey found that only six percent are not careful, we may find ourselves in the of Americans said they were closely following the war news. same situation the people of many nations of Millions of Americans are more concerned about their eco- Europe are facing. nomic security. The media are fixated on petty election season The European Union was not created overpolitics. And, admittedly, the war is quieter than it has been in night. Its foundation was laid in 1951 with the years. So it's no wonder the war has faded from our national European Steel and Coal Community. This consciousness. began the process of economic integration Had my father not left for Iraq just weeks ago, I too may that has led to the further political integration have forgotten about the war. His leaving left me thinking of Europe. about the war and all we have suffered because of it these past The European Steel and Coal Community five years. evolved gradually. Eventually, the European Truth is the first casualty in war. We invaded Iraq, pre-emp- Economic Community was formed. This tively and without provocation, under several false pretenses, community later became the European foremost among them the Bush administration's assertion Community. The European Community led to that Saddam Hussein had reconstituted his nuclear weapons the current European Union. program. This conclusion was made on the flimsiest intelliThroughout this process, there were many gence, spun out of context by administration officials and then who warned of a future political merger. reported uncritically by the media. These people were silenced by the architects United Nations weapons inspectors scoured Iraq for the of the EU and their allies. alleged "weapons of mass destruction/' but they proved European citizens were told repeatedly by elusive. We now know Hussein had long since abandoned their leaders that there were no plans for polithis nuclear ambitions. The CIA's Duelfer Report found he ical integration. British journalist Christopher Brooker said British citizens were assured that d See IRAQ, page 11 the European Common Market was merely Five years later and what to show? Samuel Hislop Stimulus.*, . So let's all just try to make USU a fun place,, especially since the sun will be coming out soon. Thank you for your attention. Shortly, we will return you to our regularly scheduled programming of angry ranting and perpetual complaining. T AboutUs "an economic agreement: a kind of free-trading area primarily concerned with creating jobs and prosperity." People were told the agreements would lead to "harmonization," "integration" and "convergence." However, political integration was planned all along. This should serve as a red flag to all Americans, as our leaders are feeding us the same lies about NAFTA, the FTAA and the SPP. These agreements have also been sold as mere economic agreements. However, these agreements are also paving the way for political integration. EU leaders have been relentless in their efforts to expand the power of the EU. Several treaties have held that once a nation gives the EU authority over a certain area, that authority will not be surrendered. All nations entering in the EU must comply with EU rules and regulations. Initially, actions to be taken by the EU needed unanimous agreement among member states. Rules have changed to allow the EU to take actions with only the consent of a majority of member states. Attempts were made to create a European Constitution for the EU. According to the president of the European Commission, the purpose of the constitution was to "mark the birth of Europe as a political entity. [The Union] is not an alliance between States or a federation. It is an advanced supranational democracy that needs to be strengthened." The constitution was barely rejected. The Treaty of Lisbon was created last year. Many feel that this treaty would serve the same purpose of the constitution. This treaty would greatly expand the power of El See EU, page 11 Photo Editor Tyler Larson Assistant Photo Editor Cameron Peterson Multimedia Editor Gideon Oakes Editorial Board Seth R. Hawkins Arie Kirk Di Lewis David Baker Alison Baugh 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 dick on www.utah statesman.com for Online poll How far will the USU men's basketball team go in the NIT? 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