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Show Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 Page 10 Views&Opilli011 Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com OurVi ew AboutUS Editor in Chief Patrick Oden The demise of print journalism? News Editor Rachel A. Christensen Assistant News Editor Catherine Meidell I t was a little more than disappointing to find print journalism rated at rock bottom of the list of most marketable college degrees for 2009. We know the market for traditional newspaper journalists is on the decline, and we are aware that the way people are accessing news and information today is different than even just five or 10 years ago. But, we feel there will always be a need for trained, investigative and ethical journalists to dig for information and tell the true story, and we don't see newspapers going away anytime soon. Today, just about anyone can get onto their computer, create a blog while eating a bagel in their jammies and express his or her opinion about any topic. This accessibility to expression is one of many benefits to modern-day technology, but many people are substituting reading the paper each morning with a quick glance at an opinion blog written by a humorous accountant or biased politician. However, there is no accountability, standards or professional training behind this opinion being passed off as fact. How are sources validated? How is the information verified as truthful and objective? Was the information passed on second hand? What happens to the relationship of trust developed between the news gatherers and community? How do we know if a story has been investigated or is just surface level? The day the community has a complete disregard for these standards is when newspapers (and an appreciation for fact and truth) will disappear. Is the real reason newspapers are on the decline because people aren't willing to pay for news when they can access it online for free? Perhaps some feel they will save money by canceling subscriptions and getting news online but find they don't check news outlets as much as they planned on and are becoming misinformed. It is interesting to note that The Utah Statesman, essentially free to students, has not experienced a decline in readership over the past few years as traditional newspapers have. Students still enjoy grabbing a paper on the way to class and reading about campus and community happenings. So, perhaps the answer to the problem of the newspaper decline is not for them to go away entirely, but for them to become free just like their online counterparts. We understand that as technology advances we must be flexible and adaptable. So although we yearn for the days when a newspaper accompanied a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice every morning, we don't see the century-old tradition disappearing anytime soon. People will always need access to reliable and trustworthy information and there will always be journalists willing to provide it. Even if MSN calls us the least marketable degree of 2009. Features Editor Courtnie Packer Assistant Features Editor Greg Boyles Sports Editor Tim Olsen Assistant Sports Editor Graham Terry Copy Editor Mark Vuong Photo Editors Pete Smithsuth The slippery slope goes vertical A startling chant rose from the crowd in the latest round of anti-government protests in Iran. The tens of thousands who took to the streets a few days ago, risking imprisonment or worse by defying the regime, cried out in their native Farsi, but in the cellphone videos sent around the world one can easily make out one word echoing inside a puzzling sentence: "Obama, Obama!" Why would the protesters call out the name of the American president? Listening to the sounds and watching the grainy images online, one might think the pro-democracy protesters - still undaunted after the brutal repression that followed the stolen elections in June - called Obama's name as an icon of democracy and freedom. Or maybe they wanted to conjure his trademark campaign pledge, Change. The truth, however, is less inspirational and much more troubling. The full chant went something like this: "Obama, Obama: You are either with us or you are with them." The protesters are worried that President Obama is, in fact, helping their oppressors, the people who are beating, imprisoning and killing them. How could that be? The timing of the Obama cry made it particularly poignant. Pro-democracy protesters had taken to the streets on Nov. 4, the 30th anniversary of the day when Iranian students took over the American embassy in Tehran, a milestone of Iran's Islamic revolution. The day is marked as an anti-American, anti-Western holiday in Iran, with the government busing crowds for large demonstrations against the "Great Satan." This year, the opposition took advantage of the occasion to show their movement remains alive against impossible odds and to send their own message to the West: Don't forget us. Since the disputed election in June, the government has stepped up the level of repression in Iran. What used to be a regime founded on a unique combination of Islamic principles, democratic ideals and popular support has degenerated into a Middle Eastern dictatorship. The Iran expert Ray Takeyh, until recently a senior adviser to the Obama administration, wrote that, "The regime is systematically eviscerating its democratic opposition" even as it develops its "infrastructure for repression." The anti-regime forces, meanwhile, are nervously watching Washington and the West try to negotiate a nuclear deal with the same men carrying out the political evisceration of the pro-democracy movement. The focus on Iran's nuclear program is becoming a source of concern for opponents of the regime, and their concern should be a warning to the West. Reformers - and knowledgeable analysts - worry that Tehran is using the negotiations to gain cover for its repressive measures. As long as Washington wants to get a positive answer from Tehran on its nuclear program it will refrain from criticizing the political crackdown or sanctioning the regime for human-rights abuses at home. Until now, negotiations with Iran have yielded no results. Iran remains wholly predictable in its ability to drag out the process while it continues enriching uranium, arming Islamic militants throughout the Mideast and oppressing people at home. The Obama administration rightly wants to find a peaceful way to stop what most Western countries are convinced is Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. But we should remain fully aware of the price of this policy. Obama was reluctant to speak out in support of democracy protesters when hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the street this summer, and he remains tight-lipped now. America is surrendering the moral high ground in pursuit of a deal with Tehran. That makes it even more critical that Iran not be allowed to trick the West into letting it run out the clock. With every day waiting for that elusive nuclear agreement, the regime in the Islamic Republic is not only moving forward with its nuclear program, it is also destroying the opposition. And it is diminishing America's moral standing as a defender of human rights. The chants of "Obama, Obama" raise the stakes in negotiations. They demand an even firmer deadline for nuclear talks. And they remind us that the regime with which the West may agree to make a Faustian bargain is not trusted by those who know it best, the Iranian people it betrayed. This column by Frida Ghitis first appeared in the Nov. 12 edition of The Miami Herald. Tyler Larson Web Editor 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 • • • • Everything that dies someday returns I n the words of Bruce Springsteen, "Everything dies. Baby, that's a fact. But, maybe everything that dies someday comes back." All the proof I need about how great the decade of the '80s was can be seen in how many things from that fantastic era are now being embraced by a new generation of slaves to Pop Culture that live and breathe in the 21st century. Unconventional Wisdom Re-Entry Thoughts I can almost never go into my favorite watering hole on a weekend night without hearing Journey blaring through the bar room speakers. Journey should be immortal. There is nothing like a good guitar riff sandwiching powerful vocals in a neatly packaged four minutes of bliss. I loved all its songs, and I feel a tinge of vindication knowing that the music of my misbegotten teenage years is now considered classic rock and worthy of a dollar of hard earned jukebox cash here and there. There is one thing I should explain about the wonderment some of us had for that highly popular rock band. For many teenage boys, listening to Journey was not so much a testament to their musical excellence as it was an experiment in Social Darwinism. As a teenage boy, I spent my summers down the Jersey Shore. My cousin Mike, who at the time was considerably better looking than me, listened to Journey. All the girls down the Shore listened to Journey. If I wanted to hang out with my cousin, his ultra-cool friends, and the girls ... yep, you guessed it. The rules were not complex back then. Assimilate into the culture and get yourself into the room. Natural talent and Steve Perry's crooning would take you from there. Another sign I see that my decade was the best ever comes from how many of you who grew up after the '80s embraced the video games from back then. I have a Wii and am somewhat surprised how my kids have come to love the Super Mario games from my youth. It makes me a little teary-eyed to see preteens grit their teeth and curse their very existence as they die time after time in the electronic nightmare that is Ice World. This past weekend, another Super Mario game was released. If has four-player action. The generations will come together in the ultimate crusade to kill Bowser and his evil minions. The video games of my era were primitive. But, you have to remember that our time back then was not nearly as taxed as yours is now. In today's society, we have conditioned ourselves to be busy every moment we are awake. In those days, we had fewer distractions. A game like "Super Mario Brothers," which made the Atari 2600 games feel like we were playing with a stick in the woods, was perfect for those years right before the Internet destroyed our lives. With Atari, most of the games had simple graphics and were often repetitive. As we were often bored due to a lack of computers and cable television service with only 20 channels, we still played these games for hours on end. Style was irrelevant. We strived for longevity. And then came Mario. I cannot imagine what my life would have been like without that vulgar Italian stereotype coming into my life. Trivia question: Do you know what Mario's last name is? Mario. Everyone wants to feel that the things they did in their younger days were pretty damn cool. No one wants to feel that their teenage years were The Age of Suckdom. There is a good chance that in 20 years many of you will beam with happiness as Y2K retro stores pop up in malls around America. When that time comes, will you wax poetic about Kanye like I do Journey? Will you plop down on the couch with your kids and fulfill your nostalgic need for speed with "MarioKart" as I do with "Pole Position?" And will you try to explain why Adam Sandler kept getting paychecks for making awful movies with the same level of frothy bile that I use telling you guys of the strange career of Andrew McCarthy, the ugliest man ever to appear in films. The old axiom is true: You are only as old as you feel. Keep pumping out those Journey songs on Friday nights and I will never die. Harry Caines is a senior re-entry student majoring in interdisciplinary studies, from Philadelphia. Unconventional Wisdom will appear every Monday. Comments can be left at www.aggietownsquare. com. 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 There is no questioning the fact that there are changes facing the world of journalism. 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