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Show Free Speech Zone Tuesday, April 2, 2013 Page 10 17 &C) Utah State University • Logan, Utah • 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 www.utahstatesman.com Be aware of social opinions Our View An Editorial Opinion Last week, social media was buzzing because because of the Supreme Court decisions on the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8. Profile pictures were changed, blogs posts were written and friends were removed with the click of a mouse. Generation Y spoke quite loudly. The question is, did anybody actually hear them? journalists, As we understand the importance of voicing opinions. There's something important about being able to articulate an opinion, especially when it comes to political issues. Healthy discussions should be a part of every student's life. It encourages growth and balances the part of us that still wants to play Halo and eat cheap fast food for hours on end. Despite this, students need to be careful of social media. It's never been so easy to throw a thoughtless, harsh and sometimes downright-gross comment into the public forum. It's also never been so easy to take one side of the other, like there's nothing in between. No matter where our stance lay, we should all be able to agree on one thing: Marriage is a complicated issue. There are more than 1,100 references to marriage in the federal code and the decision from the court won't be absolute. Maybe our opinions shouldn't be so one-sided either. Take a stand, but think beyond the wings of political parties. There are more considerations. For u m L etters My teacher of the year award To the editor: I'm a proud student of Utah State University. Like most, my path to college required hard work and dedication to be accepted and earn a scholarship. I was proud of my acceptance into this university. But I was puzzled by a playful jeer used by those older and wiser who had already passed through college. "You know, in the end," they said, 'those thousands of dollars just pay for that piece of paper you receive at graduation." While this is an obviously farfetched statement, I have come to find some truth to it. I believe that my tuition pays for the rich college experience that Utah State provides for its students. We have a great social atmosphere, excellent programs, and a myriad of clubs and organizations. But I have been somewhat disappointed by the quality of teaching that my tuition money pays for. I find it ironic that I learn more from watch- Letters to the editor • A public forum ing free online videos and reading my textbook than I do from listening to some of my tuitionfunded lectures. And I'm not the only one. I've met up with many fellow students outside the classroom that inform me that they no longer attend class because, they learn more from reading the textbook anyway. I'm reminded of an old high school math teacher. He was an excellent teacher. His lectures started with the most basic elements of a concept and he built upon those concepts with examples, stories and proofs. It was exciting to learn because we understood the material and saw its application. The impact of a prepared and involved teacher shaped the future of many of his students. I entered college expecting to have many similar experiences. While I've had some terrific professors, I've been disappointed at the number of teachers who lack the ability to teach for understanding. They seem to be disconnected with the learning process. They regurgitate aimless information while students hopelessly scribble notes trying to make sense of it. I can already hear the rebuttals — "But you're in college now. You're expected to learn at a higher level." True. But it all depends on how the university defines its primary learning source for its students. If it's the professors, I think that there's work to be done. If it is textbooks and online material, then I think they are doing a great job because that's where I learn the most anyways. God bless open courseware. Troy Winder Remembering the true reason for Easter I've been pondering this week the most important social issue of all time. We just had Easter a couple of days ago; I wonder if many of us really respect and grasp the true meaning, much less celebrate it. I think many, especially around here, do remember well, but with all of the excitement of bunnies and baskets, jelly beans and Jolly Ranchers, along with the infamous Peeps, I wonder if we get so wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of it all that we naturally divert our attention from the root of the most important social issue of all time — Jesus Christ. One may disagree with the significance of this man — or this God, depending on your beliefs — and one is free to disbelieve his miracles, but so much has been written of him and he has had such vast effects on the entire world that one would be hard pressed to find an educated man who argued that he didn't actually exist. Attend to your parents Nat'l View A look at what others are saying The following editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune on Monday, April 1: If you're a grown-up with parents, you may think it's a major pain to have to take time out of your busy life to go see them or have them over. You may get tired of their hints that they don't get enough attention. You may even have to listen to resentful complaints or demands. Plus those questions about why you let your kids get away with (fill-in-the-blank) ... Think you've got it tough? Some of your contemporaries in China gladly would trade places with you. That's because in the world's most populous nation, attending to your filial obligations is no longer entirely up to your discretion. It's a legal obligation. The government has enacted a law mandating that children visit their parents and that employers give the children time off to do so. And if Junior shirks his duty, Mom and Dad can sue him to force compliance. Chinese culture has long placed a heavy emphasis on respect and care for parents. "While father and mother are alive," said Confucius, "a good son does not wander far afield." But in China's fast-paced modern economy, many sons and "How God dealt with Moses and the children ofIsrael was a key factor in the organization of this coup I/ His teachings have permeated philosophy and social science, languages and countless books. Numerous universities have been founded on Christian principles and have borne his message. Some of these schools include Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Princeton and about every one of the first hun- dred-or-so major schools in America. Even our very nation was founded on JudeoChristian principles. The founding fathers studied, among other things, the Old Testament for guidance on how to create a functional government. How God dealt with Moses and the children of Israel was a key fac- for in the organization of this country. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were on the committee to create the first United States seal. They suggested that the seal consist on one side of a depiction of the Children of Israel being led by a pillar of fire. This was not eventually pursued given the constraints of space. Te n The Commandments, prayer and the Bible played primary roles in the aspects of nearly every American's life. Franklin later wrote in a letter to Ezra Stiles, the President of Yale *See SENSE, Page 11 or else bad things happen daughters take jobs far from where they were raised, and see their parents only rarely. That doesn't sit well with the elders. "I know the person who drafted this provision, and the first thing I told him was, 'Really nice move,'" Ninie Wang of the Gerontological Society of China told The New York Times. Americans who have not reached middle age may consider such remedies laughable. What they may not have considered is that the ranks of seniors are being rapidly augmented by the baby boomers, who have long enjoyed the power that goes with outnumbering every other generation. Boomers are used to getting their way, and they are not about to give that up just because they've got gray hair and creaking joints. No sirree. Boomers pushed Frank Sinatra and Perry Como aside for the Beatles and Stones. They got the draft abolished. They got the voting age changed from 21 to 18. They got the drinking age lowered for them — and then raised for their kids. They think the world revolves around them because for two-thirds of a century, it has. In retirement, they will have not only outsized numbers but even more time to spend arranging the world to their satisfaction. The generations that follow them have long worried about paying to keep Social Security and Medicare benefits at the level these fledgling seniors have been led to expect. But boomers will not be bought off with mere money. They will expect time with the kids — and the grandkids. They will expect company for Sunday dinners and summer trips. Birthdays and holidays — you can guess. What if they don't get what they want? Well, the Chinese have devised one option. And if we know anything about our representatives in Washington, it's that they have no desire to take on a bunch of cranky old folks with a habit of showing up on Election Day. A couple of decades back, seniors who were protective of their retirement benefits earned the nickname "greedy geezers." Greedy? Kids, you ain't seen nothing yet. |