OCR Text |
Show Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010 Page 12 Views&Opilli011 Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com OurView AboutUS Editor in Chief Patrick Oden As student fees go up again, so should involvment News Editor Rachel A. Christensen Assistant News Editor Catherine Meidell W e all know the process of paying the university tuition all too well. It involves writing the check. Then signing the check. Then sending the check to USU and watching the money drain from our checking accounts, but what's next and where does the money go? USU students will pay $88.62 in student service fees next year. Since the students pay these fees and the amount of fees changes from year to year, it's probably good for students to know what the money is being used for. Here's why: Students decide how to implement the fees. The student fees board is made up of, you guessed it, students. So if these students know where they want their money to go, they're more likely to get it there. You have a right to have an opinion about where the money goes. The more active you are in the process, the more likely your opinions will be heard. The student advocate VP's position means he does just that: advocates for the students. He also heads the student fees committee. However, he doesn't know what to advocate if the students aren't telling him their opinions. While voicing your thoughts doesn't mean they'll necessary be put into action, it doesn't mean your efforts are futile. You'll be helping those who actually make the decisions get a better idea what the student body wants. It's your money, it should be used for things you use. The fees board decided not enough students utilize the Aggie Shuttle system, and therefore a $10.02 increase for the bus system wasn't approved. Some students rely on the shuttles to get them from point A to point B. If you're one of these students and you're affected by what changes the new student fees will bring to Aggie Shuttle, you'll want your voice heard next time. Also, if you know where it's going, you can know what resources are available to you. Your fees go toward equipment and man power for computer labs. It also goes to things such as campus recreation. So since you're already paying for it, you might as well use it, and let's face it, as students, money can be tight and we don't like to waste what little money we have. Features Editor Courtnie Packer Assistant Features Editor Benjamin Wood Sports Editor Connor Jones Assistant Sports Editor Matt Sonnenberg Copy Editor Mark Vuong Introducing you to ASUSU HASS Senator Josie Olsen I things taught to the youth. It doesn't make a huge difference whether the kids know the deep meaning of the rule, they just need to follow it and benefit from it, and as they age they'll understand on their own. Some rules are a lot more complicated and too dangerous to just apply at face value. Marriage and sexuality are both extremely important parts of our relationships, and most religions put them together for this reason. On its surface this just turns one thing into an obstacle for another in the culture, turning the whole thing into a cornpetition instead of a relationship. Most of the people I grew up with took it this way: marriage was just a way to banish virginity, and the sooner the better, yet they still put themselves on pedestals above others because they followed protocol. The marriage may be built on nothing but lust and convenience, but it's still superior. This is where the roots of hypocrisy set in. Hypocrisy is born out of pride, and pride goeth before the fall. It's called a deadly sin for a reason. In hypocritical worship like this, expecting to be forgiven for Saturday's fun on Sunday morning, pride is the poison that leads to madness, blinding its hosts from seeing where they really stand in the grand scheme of things. I See FAITH, page 13 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 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. F ree hot chocolate, provided by the HASS Council, will be served to students and faculty on campus Feb. 10-11 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the plaza near the water fountain. "We want to give back to the members of the university for working so hard all semester in such a cold environment," said ASUSU HASS Sen. Josie Olsen. The College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) Week is Feb. 8-12. Students will also be selling "I [heart] Suki" shirts as a part of HASS Week for $5 and buttons for $1 all week long in the Taggart Student Center, Room 326, to raise money for student scholarships. Yasuko Brown, also known as Suki or The Pizza Lady, who is famous for selling food in The Hub, agreed to be the face for the products in order to serve the students. "Yasuko has become a campus celebrity," Olsen said, "and she wants the best for students. She supported the idea because it was ultimately generated by students for student." For more information about HASS Week, contact Josie Olsen at josie.olsen@aggiemail.usu.edu Josie Olsen • Letters representing groups - or more As a matter of faith f there aren't grown men diving for Tootsie Rolls and plastic coins, guys fighting over strands of colored beads thrown by a drag queen from an acid trip float and if the street sign doesn't say Bourbon, it ain't Mardi Gras. My first year at USU, I attended our school's more humble version of the event. It wasn't bad for a school event in a small mountain town, but the most it had in common with the real Mardi Gras was the number of cops present. The "casino area" in The Hub was packed. Hundreds of people going from Black Jack to roulette to craps, rolling die for the chance to roll more die, or for popcorn or whatever. I've lived in this state most of my life and know a thing or two about the culture, and I saw more than one CTR ring fidgeting with cards and die over those dark wooden tables. No one was gambling for money, but they seemed to be feeding that impulse all the same. It was a night for fun and seemed harmless, but then again the community might have thought differently. Looking back I wonder how seriously people take the laws or teachings of their faith. Some prudence should be applied to them depending on circumstances, but these rules are supposed to guide us along the right paths of piety and honor. They aren't to be thrown aside out of personal convenience. Some rules make practical sense at their core, such as Photo Editors Pete Smithsuth Steve Sellers THE 11 WHAT? ANOTHER GIMMICK? TribungMii&ncokil s Ask Miss Jones omething extremely sad happened this week. I opened my e-mail account and found it empty. At first I chuckled to myself and went looking in my spam folder, because surely someone must have problems that needs to be shared with Miss Jones, right? Well, apparently, that's wrong. I looked in every folder and only found letters from past issues. I found myself wondering, "Could this really happened? Has USU stopped needing Miss Jones?" Surely not, I thought, so I rushed over to my Facebook page, thinking that the hip generation I write for has resorted to what it finds easiest and coolest. I signed in - zero new messages, zero friend requests, zero wall posts and, worst of all, zero picture comments (no, not even a thumbs up). I sat in my massage chair, staring at the screen. Amazed at what was happening, I literally sat in my favorite chartreuse computer chair for eight hours. "How?" I asked myself. "How can this be?" I know people read my column. One of them has more than 1,200 views on aggietownsquare.com . "Why would students pick up the paper every Wednesday specifically to read Miss Jones but not contribute to the greater purpose? The discussion, bringing issues to light that their fellow students surely have?" I snapped out of this trance only because my black cat named Princess Tasja Brown, which I long ago renamed Lucifer, was peeing on my foot. I flung her across the room and was soon bombarded by all 18 of my cats, meowing and rubbing against my leg. After feeding them, I returned to contemplating possible reasons for this tragedy. I felt like Tiger Woods, that cute young golfer who was one day loved by all, more popular than the president of the United States and then shunned by all society and forced into sex rehab just like those no good liberals on "Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew." The thing is, I didn't cheat on my husband. All I wanted was to give USU students advice that would help improve not only their college experience but their life. I See JONES, page 13 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.) Sound Off Leave your comments on the stories and columns you find in The Utah Statesman at aggietownsquare.com |