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Show MONDAY • AUGUST 21 • 2006 WWW.NETXNEWS.NET One Person's Opinion . • % • • The enemy within Staff Views Justin Ritter Opinions Writer Commuter campus blues The time is right to find new solutions to old problems With gas prices soaring, student housing policy evolving and library construction looming, members of the UVSC community need to seek out alternatives to driving their cars to campus. Necessity may dictate that we ditch our "commuter campus" model and move to a more centralized college environment. With the DLCs construction estimated to last a few years, parking for both students and employees will be at a premium. You can count on more construction when projects like the proposed performing arts center gets underway. All this construction means increased congestion and fewer parking spots. Add to this equation the fact that enrollment growth is expected to spike in the next five to ten years and you have a bleak future where parking will replace Math 1050 as the reason people fail to graduate. So far the fair city of Orem has done little to accommodate the growing UVSC student population. Having housing closer to campus (like Parkway Crossing or Village on The Parkway) is a start, but more will be needed. But UVSC should not wait for the slow moving city fathers to make room for more students. Action should be taken now to ensure that the campus can accommodate more people in less space. One idea is to finally bite the bullet and build on-campus housing. Having residential halls on campus would foster the "true college experience" that the school has always lacked. Poor attendance at athletic events would be a thing of the past as dorm students, hungry for something to do on a Friday night, would pack the McKay Events Center. We should also be proactive by researching the viability of UVSC going Greek. Fraternities and sororities in campus-adjacent housing would instill much needed leadership and unity while also providing more housing options'for students. UVSC should also invest in helping UTA bring more students to campus. We should work closely with UTA to make taking the bus more attractive to students. This starts with building a bigger and better bus station, and perhaps moving this station from the south side of campus to a more central location. As more parking lots are carved out to make room for buildings, and as more students choose UVSC, the parking situation will only get worse. We hope that the administration takes the steps needed to make sure everyone A fter more than a month of violence, a cease-fire agreement has finally been reached between Israel and Hezbollah. While the final outcome remains to be seen, one thing is certain: the real losers of the conflict are the Lebanese civilians. Their country, their homes, and their way of life were destroyed not only by the Israelis, but also in part by their fellow Lebanese who marched under the banner of Hezbollah. Hezbollah is more than an underground group of suicide bombers; it is a massive organization with military, political, and social factions. The social faction in particular puts on a good face by building and providing cheap health care, winning over Lebanon's civilian populace. Hezbollah even went as far as to aid refugees from Beirut during the air strikes. But underneath the harmless mask is a violent organization which cares about nothing other than its own agenda, which includes a plan to destroy Israel. Hezbollah is so set on eliminating the Israelis that it has allowed its own homeland to be reduced to rubble and its fellow citizens to be killed, in an effort to take down the Israelis. It was Hezbollah who initiated the conflict in the first place. Its soldiers entered Israel and engaged Israeli troops, killing three and capturing two others. This brazen act of war came on the heels of a similar operation launched by the Palestinian militant group Hamas—an operation met by fierce Israeli retaliation. Hezbollah knew the Israelis would fight back against them as well. That is what they wanted, and that is what they got - at the expense of Lebanese civilians. It didn't stop there. As the war developed, militants began firing missiles at Israel from civilian areas. In fighting back, Israel was forced to drop ordinance over residential neighborhoods, a decision that brought international condemnation. What Hezbollah did, however, was far worse. The use of human shields was not only a war crime; it was a complete betrayal of the Lebanese people, the very people Hezbollah purports to protect. All the schools, hospitals, and refugee aid in the world cannot compensate for such manipulation. Hezbollah's willingness to sacrifice citizens could be Lebanon's greatest threat Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. is no price too high to pay in the war against Zionism. Lebanon, its cities and infrastructure, and its civilian populace, are all expendable. Political analysts can debate over who, if anyone, won the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. The loser, however, is without a doubt the civilian populace of Lebanon. Israel was not their only enemy during the conflict. Their other enemy - whether they know it or not - is their provider, educator, and caretaker, Hezbollah. Now, even with the cease-fire in place, the Lebanese still haven't seen the end of their troubles. As long as Hezbollah exists, they will be at its mercy, because Hezbollah doesn't want peace. War actually helps the militants, because both Lebanese support of Hezbollah, and international contempt for Israel, grow every time a civilian is killed in an Israeli air strike. Both of these outcomes give the militants a greater base for doing what they truly desire - to annihilate Israel. Hezbollah has demonstrated there The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly The Good: Killer finally fesses up After almost 10 years of speculation the JonBenet Ramsey case might finally be solved, as John Mark Karr has admitted he kidnapped the 6year-old beauty queen and that she "accidentally" died in the process. The Ugly: Troy Gentry kills tame bear The Bad: STDs on the rise m Utah County is seeing a spike in the number of sexually transmitted diseases. Still think abstinence -only sex ed is the best policy? Troy Gentry, one half of country duo Montgomery Gentry, is accused of buying a tame black bear, shooting it with an arrow, and then claiming he killed it in the wild. t" -5 V.i 5-H I I |