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Show v • & 411 11 =Free Speech Monday, Nov. 28, 2011 Page 9 Zone Opinions on this page (columns, letters unless otherwise identified are not from Utah Statesman staff, but from a wide variety of members of the campus community who have strong opinions, just like you do! This is an open forum. Want to write something? Contact: statesman@aggiemaiLusu.edu Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com OurView Black-eye Friday shopping The phrase "Black Friday" is discomforting. We understand the original term refers to retail profits going from red to black, but the color sets an unpleasant mood. Maybe the dynamics of this epic shopping day would be more positive with a perkier color. Seeing as we — poor students — need cost breaks to afford gifts for family and friends, Black Friday is yet a joyful day. We've heard of the madness that occurs during this purchasing marathon, and we've seen it, to an extent. However, the maniac shoppers that made the news brought the meaning of "Black Friday" to an entirely different level. The word "black" is entirely too fitting. It is our understanding the word alludes to black eyes, the black pepper — as in pepper spray — and the blackness of the pre-dawn morning as hundreds of antsy game console consumers trample each other through Best Buy's doors. We are not aware of anyone being trampled to death during this year's sales, like the tragic death of a Walmart employee in 2008, but we are appalled by the absurd actions of customers trashing stores, stealing right and left, and pepper spraying those competing for a limited item. In fact, a number of people were arrested for fighting over various items they probably could have done without. In a down economy, it's clear businesses want to lure customers into stores any way they can. This year, businesses opened even earlier than last year, beginning the shopping madness as soon as the clock struck midnight. By intensifying the shopping situation, we feel people are exaggerating the novelty of the sales. Hundreds of our favorite stores have sales throughout the year. Is this post-Thanksgiving hype worth the anxiety of shoppers who shove and bite to get their hands on a pancake griddle that's 20 percent off? How many shoppers go out wanting one of just three plasma televisions sold at 70 percent off and end up driving home with nothing to show for their sleepless night? We blame the businesses for getting Americans all riled up, especially those Americans who develop high emotions when they hear the words "buy one get one free." We all need to take a deep breath and remember broken faces and sitting in the back of cop cars are unnecessary outcomes to our discounted apparel fetishes. Sleep in, clip a coupon and go the next day. This way, we will stay out of jail, make wiser decisions and respect ourselves at the end of the day for acting civilly. Internships are an undergrad necessity Reality bites. The simple fact is that a university education doesn't go as far as it once did. Today's undergraduate degrees are loosely equivalent to yesterday's high school diploma, and having one no longer makes you overqualified to flip beef at Burger King. With the job market barrier tougher than ever to break through and more than 1,000 students set to graduate at USU in May 2012, one must admit I don't think a diploma from a standard 4-year institution holds nearly as much weight as it once did — and that's scary. I'm not saying that you should throw your diploma in a shredder with last month's bank statement, and I'm not telling you to do anything less than bust your butt at studying for your next physiology exam. What I am saying, however, is that it seems obvious to me that students who are committed and take initiative outside the classroom are the ones who are competitive in the real world. What, if anything, is there to do about it? Since my senior year at Pleasant Grove High School, I've completed four internships, and I'll finish up with my fifth in March. After months of doing everything from making copies to intense research, my honest opinion for you is this: Rather than spending your next summer knocking on doors, coercing people to buy alarm systems or perching over a receptionist's desk, why not do an internship in your chosen field of study? For me, pursuing these internships has yielded not only a genuine competency in my field of choice, but also a solid job offer for after I graduate. Most USU students don't know about the university's Institute of Government and Politics, or that the outfit employs a communications director who has spent the last ►See ASUSU, Page 10 AboutUS ■ 10111111111111111 1111111111r 11111111111111111111111111111n 111111111111111111111111111111if 111111111111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111111M Editor in Chief Catherine Meidell Copy Editor D. Whitney Smith News Editor Rob Jepson Assistant News Editor Megan Allen Features Editor Kellyn Neumann Assistant Features Editor Allee Evesen Sports Editor Tavin Stucki When police have gone too far From the left ANDREW IZATT In the early morning hours of Nov. 15, the NYPD, bedecked in paramilitary fatigues and riot gear and without warning, stormed into Zuccotti Park — just shy of Occupy Wall Street's second month of protest. Citing "health" and "sanitation" concerns — despite the protesters' small army of cleaners — sleeping bags, tents and other personal items were tossed into large, indistinguishable piles to be taken to Manhattan's sanitation department parking garage. The little village, complete with kitchen, library and medical center, was completely dismantled within hours. Similar scenes of pre-dawn evictions of other Occupy movements have occurred around the country. While protesting the eviction of thousands of families, they have been evicted themselves. In the end it became less about public safety than it was about protecting the private property rights of Brookfield Properties, the real estate firm that owns the park. But as the police continue to crack down and employ increasingly harsher, brutal and unnecessary methods to control "unruly" crowds, the movement receives new vigor and life. Ironically, the police's tactics have become the protesters' best friend. Despite the police's alarming and most severe crackdown on journalists and reporters in recent history, images have managed to surface, drawing attention to the extent of police brutality and violence. In the age of the cell phone, YouTube and Facebook, every►See LEFT, Page 10 AColumn Divided Two students take two angles on one political issue From the right Assistant Sports Editor Tyler Huskinson Photo Editor Ani Mirzakhanyan Assistant Photo Editor Carl R. Wilson Web Editor Steve Kent MIKE BURNHAM When I was a 3-year-old, I developed a fondness for a fourletter word that begins with the letter F. My parents warned me and tried teaching me differently, but the word had such a fun ring to it I didn't stop. Eventually, a few healthy shots of pepper sauce on my tongue purged the word from my lips — served me right. Thankfully, I had parents responsible enough to teach me this lesson at a young age: persistent rule breaking may be met with forced compliance. It seems, however, not everyone learns this lesson. This past week, an unfortunate group of college students at the University of California-Davis were blessed with the opportunity to be taught by police officers what their parents may have overlooked. As it turns out, much larger misdemeanors than using the F-word merit much larger doses of pepper. A crowd of Occupy protesters on the UC-Davis campus were illegally pitching tents and obstructing walkways. When the police arrived and the protesters refused to leave their site they were showered with pepper spray and forcefully removed. Since then, there has been a national outcry against what has been labeled as police brutality, and many want the police officers involved to lose their jobs. Brutality, I think, is too harsh a word to describe the use of pepper spray. However, one can't help but watch the video of a police officer walking down a line of crouched students and calmly spraying them without thinking ►See RIGHT, Page 10 02pogiommetrilerriViAemfr-efAreost 'vD Nas, 681,1-rtios pont 6/we cAN661?1" Editorial Board Catherine Meidell Rob Jepson Kellyn Neumann Tavin Stucki Ani Mirzakhanyan D. Whitney Smith Steve Kent 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 e-mail 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.utahstatesman.com for more letter guidelines and a box to submit letters. |
