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Show Tuesday, March 19, 2013 Page 10 ci 0 17 c 6Free Speech inio - , 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@aggiemail.usu.edu Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.conn The air may clear, but effects linger For a few weeks every January, the air quality in Cache Valley plummets. For those weeks, complaints clog social network feeds and it seems nearly everyone is a clean-air crusader. As soon as the air clears, however, and we start seeing a few clear days, the problem seems to disappear in the minds of many. But does it disappear in our lungs? Particulate An Editorial Opinion air pollution can cause long-term problems despite short-term exposure. According to a presentation by C. Arden Pope at the USU Air Quality Symposium in 2005, significant increases in deaths due to respiratory and cardiovascular causes have been observed in areas with elevated particulate matter in the atmosphere. Pollution can also reduce lung function and development in children. The long debate over vehicle emissions testing in Cache County seems to be winding down — the Cache County Council recently approved an emissions testing plan. While proponents of testing see it as a step in the right direction — limiting what pollution we have direct control over — others argue that the worst-offending vehicles are aging off the roadway as they become too costly for their owners to maintain. Regardless of the council's intentions, we're still likely to see significant winter smog and dangerous air pollution for years — probably decades — to come. But the problem can't be limited to the few extremely smoggy days we see a year. Either it's a problem to consider year-round — when you're buying a new car or truck, when you consider biking on your commute in the summer — or it's a danger you can live with indefinitely. A bou tU S Editor in Chief Steve Kent Copy Editor Eric Jungblut News Editor Tavin Stucki News Senior Writer Tmera Bradley Our View Social media not the culprit in Ohio rape LOS ANGELES — Sunday, Amanda Hess two teen-age Steubenville, Ohio, football players were convicted of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old Nat'l girl at a high school party. Starting from the night of View the assault last August, their rape case was one of the most widely publicized in American history — largely because the assailants and their witnesses whipped out their cellphones to document the event in real time. In sentencing the boys to a minimum of one year in juvenile jail, Judge Thomas Lipps doled out some advice to their peers on how to avoid the same fate. He urged them "to have discussions about how you talk to your friends; how you record things on the social media so prevalent today; and how you conduct yourself when drinking is put upon you by your friends." That's an unfortunate message to leave the teen-agers of Steubenville, and the world that is watching. The "social media so prevalent today" did not cause a sexual assault in a small Ohio town. In fact, social media is what made the case prosecutable. Following the events of the party, news of the assault spread through the community — and later, the media — in a web of incriminating text messages, selfreferential tweets, Instagrammed photos and forwarded cellphone videos. The victim herself testified that she could only confirm she had been assaulted after she "read text messages among friends and saw a photo of herself naked, along with a video that made fun of her and the alleged attack." Thanks to social media, this wasn't another case of "he said, she said." It was a case of "they all said." As the victim's mother told the boys, "you were your own accuser, through the social media that you chose to publish your criminal conduct on." Certainly, social media can be wielded as a weapon. Each classmate who "liked" an Instagram photo of the unconscious girl being dragged by her hands and feet, or tweeted to the world that she was a "whore," participated in her victimization. But as the course of this prosecution shows, social media can be a powerfully positive tool in fighting sexual assault, too. Cellphone videos can be forwarded to authorities, not circulated as jokes. Text messages can be used to identify rapists, not shame victims. And photos can establish central facts, not publicize humiliation. Unfortunately, Judge Lipps didn't warn teen-agers to reassess the attitudes that led to this sexual assault in their community, or the beliefs that inspired bystanders to side with the rapists over the victim. Instead, he told them to watch how they "record things." It sounds like he's advising teens to cover their tracks better, not to prevent rapes in the first place. Social media is a way of life. Rape doesn't have to be. And the more teens joining a discussion about it on social media, the better. - Hess is a writer and editor in Los Angeles. She blogs for DoubleX on sex, science, and health. Tweet at her @amandahess. Features Editor Allee Wilkinson Features Senior Writer Cale Patterson WHEN YOU'RE DONE FILLING CUTYOUR MARCH MADNESS BRACKETS, I'D LIKE TO EXPLAIN HOW LEGALIZING SPORTS BETTING WOULD Do IRREPARABLE DAMAGE To COLLEGE ATHLETIC." Gratitude the parent of all virtues Richard Winters 4,14., 'SP ' Common Sense ) II is With a 16 trillion dollar national debt, a Congress that has a record low of 10 percent of Americans' approval, corrupt leaders, moneygrabbers and the government encroaching more and more on the rights of the people, it is sometimes difficult to see the bright future that lies ahead for many of us. We are very lucky and sometimes we forget that. Because to try and instigate any meaningful conversation often requires discussing societal ills and specific problems, critics of my previous columns have written to me and about me to explain there is much good in the world. Well, I'd like to completely and blatantly agree with them. There is much good in the world, and for this I am grateful. Sometimes it is difficult to convey the good because to tackle any issue one must often attack it head on, but allow me to take the time to announce the world has not completely collapsed and seems to continue turning day in and day out. And how grateful we should all be. Did you know there are still hundreds of millions of people without sanitary drinking water? More than three thousand children die per day of diarrheal diseases. Billions go to bed hungry each night and several hundreds of millions have no electricity. Billions of people in the world live under dictators and communist regimes. Terrorism seems to be the norm in many parts of the world. And yet here we are in happy ol' Utah going to a wonderful school where we often play on our iPhones and laptops or even read this newspaper during class and disregard an education that billions of people would give everything they own for. I just took a vacation to San Diego. Yes, a vacation — another wonderful luxury billions of people do not have. We were driving down the road and saw a man in a sleeping bag lying in the sidewalk. He was homeless. This is nothing new: There are many homeless people in this world, but do we ever marvel at the fact that we are not, or that we live in a country where the problem is so minimal? We really are a rich nation. We talk of cruises, sports games, mansions, traveling, fancy cars and airplanes. We are free to build wealth and free to spend to our hearts content on things that make us happy. Now, I should be clear that this isn't an attempt to make you feel guilty that you have so much and so many people have so little. It's great that we've been given so much. We are very lucky and very blessed. There's nothing wrong with being wealthy or being prosperous. I'm not telling you that you should go spend all of your money to adopt a Kenyan or anything like that. I'm merely pointing out that the clouds have not all gone black: There is so much to be grateful for, and we should recognize it. We live in America. We live in the first free nation in modern times. We live in the place which made leaps and bounds economically and socially and has inspired a world with technology that has never before existed. We live in a place where almost everyone has a home and a full belly, and we live in a place where people are typically good, upright and honest. We live in a wonderful country and should be grateful for it. Cicero said, "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others." So yes, we have to pay attention to the world around us. We have to have difficult conversations about even harder issues. We shouldn't bury our heads or turn a blind eye to problems that affect our lives or our futures, but beyond all of that we should notice the good every single day. There is much of it. It surrounds us at every turn. I watch people on this campus do kind things for each other every single day. I'm often surprised by people I wouldn't expect. One person in particular I disagree with on just about every single political issue that I can imagine. We have often butted heads in classes, and then one day I ran into him at a bus station where he was looking after a mentally handicapped kid. Interesting that at the time, I was doing the same thing. I still disagree with him on just about every single political issue, but I like to think we're both decent people. That's the point I'm trying to make. There are good people everywhere. We live in a fantastic world and we go to school at a superb university. I am not going to stop trying to discuss things that really matter simply because they sound negative and neither should you, but I do think it's important to take some time out now and again to point out just how blessed we really are. - Richard Winters is a senior majoring in Law and Constitution Studies and Communication Studies. Send comments to rajin82@hotmail.com Sports Editor Curtis Lundstrom Sports Senior Writer Mark Hopkins Photo Editor Delayne Locke Senior Photographer Curtis Ripplinger Web Editor Cale Patterson Editorial Staff: Steve Kent Allee Wilkinson Delayne Locke Tavin Stucki Eric Jungblut Curtis Lundstrom Cale Patterson 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. 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