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Show Views&Opinion Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009 Page 10 Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com OurView AboutUs Editor in Chief Patrick Oden A short-lived tradition News Editor Rachel A. Christensen D oing away with winter commencement ceremonies next year will be an inconvenience for those students who finish their education in the fall semester. But how big of an inconvenience and is the demand worth the price? Many students don’t realize USU didn’t have a winter commencement ceremony for 117 years; the first one took place four years ago. Every winter, graduates up to that point accepted the fact they would celebrate their commencement five months later or be OK with not being handed an empty folder (what they give you at the ceremony doesn’t actually contain your diploma). The reality is only a small fraction of the students who are eligible to participate in the winter ceremony actually do. As unfortunate as it is for the graduates, who want a commencement but can’t wait for spring, the money saved by holding only one ceremony is certainly worth the inconvenience. With enrollment numbers on the rise and professors taking early retirement left and right, many students are finding themselves out of luck in getting into required classes. Other students are feeling unfulfilled because the class they are taking is filled with more than 300 students. The money saved by eliminating one commencement ceremony is enough to pay someone’s annual salary. One professor in a staff of 863 may not sound like a lot but if it opens up an extra class, relieving those of you who have been begging professors to sign an add form, it’s a sacrifice with purpose. Ultimately, this is a smart and easy cut to make. Maybe one day when the school is rolling in dough, the green beam has made its return, and they can finally afford to fix the seats in the TSC Auditorium the fall commencement can return, until then, sorry early grads, see you in May. T Assistant News Editor Catherine Meidell Features Editor Courtnie Packer Assistant Features Editor Greg Boyles Sports Editor Assistant Sports Editor Graham Terry Copy Editor T Exercising the 1st and 2nd he hostility and anger on display at some recent town hall meetings are disturbing. Shouting down lawmakers is not the best way to get answers to legitimate questions or to propose alternatives to pending health insurance reform legislation. The presence of firearms near events with President Obama this month, however, took our concern to a whole new level. It seems to have started when William Kostric showed up outside the president’s health-care forum in New Hampshire last week with a gun strapped to his leg. That he also carried a sign that read, “It Is Time to Water the Tree of Liberty,” only fueled fears he might have nefarious intentions. That’s because it was a riff on a line from Thomas Jefferson that says, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” On Monday, a dozen gun-toting men, including one with an assault rifle, were outside Obama’s speech to veterans in Phoenix. The Department of Homeland Security has warned about an increase in right-wing extremism because of the soured economy and the election of the first African American president. So anxiety over the threat posed by armed men at politi- cal events cannot be sloughed off as merely paranoia. Yes, all of these men were abiding by the law. In both New Hampshire and Arizona, it is lawful to carry a loaded weapon in public. Also, according to the Secret Service, the immediate area occupied by the president is considered a federal site, with no weapons allowed. This prohibition is enforced by requiring attendees at presidential events to go through magnetometers upon entry. The White House seems untroubled by it all. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has said, “There are laws that govern firearms. ... (They) don’t change when the president comes to your state or locality.” This is true. But American history is replete with examples of folks sending a message through the barrel of a gun. That’s why this new show-your-gun craze is frightening. Supporters of the Second Amendment ought to find another way to send their message _ assuming it’s a peaceful message they’re trying to send. The following editorial first appeared in the Aug. 21 edition of the Washington Post. When gas prices hit $20 per gallon W Seesaw Senate seats he ailing Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, DMass., has asked the Legislature of his home state to overturn a 5-year-old law under which the voters, not the governor, will choose a successor if Kennedy can’t complete his term. Kennedy’s unselfish idea probably won’t be adopted, but it could help derail an unnecessary amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Kennedy, who suffers from brain cancer, understandably wants a senator sworn in swiftly to help the Democrats enact health care reform, long a priority for him. He’s also right on the general principle. An interim appointment guarantees that a state won’t have its representation in the Senate reduced by half while a special election is organized. The problem is that in 2004, fearful that Republican Gov. Mitt Romney would choose a replacement for Sen. John F. Kerry if Kerry were elected president, Democrats in the Legislature abolished interim gubernatorial appointments. A new law provided that the voters would choose a successor 145 to 160 days after the seat became vacant. Kennedy supported the change. Now he is asking that Massachusetts again provide for an interim appointment by the governor. In a letter to Gov. Deval Patrick – a fellow Democrat – and legislative leaders, Kennedy reiterated his support for the 2004 law but added: “I also believe it is vital for this Commonwealth to have two voices speaking Tim Olsen for the needs of its citizens and two votes in the Senate during the approximately five months between a vacancy and an election.” He also asked Patrick to appoint a caretaker who wouldn’t seek election. It’s ironic that Kennedy now seeks to reinstate a practice Democrats dismantled for short-term partisan advantage, and that his proposal likely will collapse under the weight of that contradiction. Still, it will have the salutary effect of reminding members of Congress of the usefulness of interim appointments. Earlier this month, with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., sensibly voting no, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee approved a constitutional amendment proposed by Sen. Russell D. Feingold, D-Wis., that would strip governors of the power to fill Senate vacancies temporarily. The vote was an overreaction to the unusual number of recent interim appointments, including one made by disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The 17th Amendment to the Constitution already allows states to dispense with interim appointments by governors. Most states, including California, have chosen not to – for the very reason cited by Kennedy for his own change of heart. The following editorial first appeared in the Aug. 25 edition of the Los Angeles Times hen gas prices reached $4 a gallon in the summer of 2008, panicky American commuters changed their vacation plans and dumped their SUVs. So imagine if prices hit $6 or $8. We’d see riots, right? And at $10 or $15, might we have a second Great Depression – for real this time? And if a gallon of gas cost $18 or $20, would the nation descend into a sort of post-motorized Lord of the Flies? Well, Forbes reporter Christopher Steiner has imagined it, and his advice is not to worry. In his new book “$20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better,” Steiner posits that expensive oil, while traumatic as it becomes reality, will ultimately make America a cleaner and healthier nation. Each chapter forecasts our lives at a different price per gallon. At $6, public transportation becomes “the belle of the ball,” with subways overflowing and new train routes proliferating. Driving deaths and obesity both plummet. Say goodbye to the little yellow school bus – unaffordable. At $8, “the skies will empty” as the airline industry contracts and ticket prices spiral upward. Vegas goes back to being just a desert. When gasoline hits $10 – a price Steiner believes is a decade away – electric cars go mainstream. “Gasolineslurping big boy toys,” such as jet skis and snowmobiles, are out. At $12, families abandon the suburbs and cluster in cities, sparking a renewal of commerce and culture from Atlanta to Cleveland. A price of $14 per gallon of gas marks the death of Wal-Mart as global shipping costs become prohibitive. Manufacturing firms rediscover small-town America. Onetime suburbs morph into farms for local markets when gasoline reaches $16, as the costs of transporting fresh food skyrocket. Eat your toro sushi while you can. Finally, when gas prices top out at $18 or $20, highspeed rail takes over nationwide and nuclear power becomes “the clear choice” for most of our energy. The ground Steiner covers is not entirely original, of course, and the gaps in the tale (What happens to the Middle East? How do rich and poor deal with rising gas prices differently?) are far from trivial. But as thought experiments go, Steiner offers an interesting, counterintuitive case – one that part of me hopes we’ll never have to put to the test. This editorial was writen by Carlos Lozada, deputy Outlook director of the Washington Post. So, something on your mind? You can always write a letter to the editor. Time to shine. Go to www.aggietownsquare.com for a submission box. Photo Editors Web Editor Mark Vuong Pete Smith Tyler Larsen Karlie Brand About letters • Letters should be limited to 400 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@aggiemail. usu.edu, or click on www.aggietownsquare.com for more letter guidelines and a box to submit letters. (Link: About Us.) Online poll With all of the talk in the media about health car reform, how well would you say you grasp the complex issue? • I’ve read the entire bill, more than 1000 pages, and I get it. • I feel I have a working knowledge of the issues and have formed an educated opinion. • I just find the whole thing to confusing to deal with. • I have Advil and Band-Aids, that’s all the health care I need. 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