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Show nion Don't bro me, tase Jack Waters Managing Editor "Don't tase me, bro!" This despondent plea, recorded on camera, from an apprehended and tased University of Florida student has flooded the country with speculation from all sides. Andrew Meyer, during a speech forum featuring Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass), began an eclectic question tirade toward Kercy, and was subsequently escorted away from the microphone for breaking the set forum rules. With cameras rolling, the situation evolved to non-compliance with a pofice officer, resulting in Meyer being tased in front of the audience listening to Sen. Kerry. A Florida state investigation found that the university police were justified in using taser force in the highly publicized incident. The coverage of the event is widespread, with YouTube versions edited to paint Meyer as both a ranting maniac and a political martyr. The obligatory calls for human rights and freedom of speech violations came in as expected. All major media outlets latched onto the story, fueling the feelings of its viewers. But, in a letter released Oct. 29, Meyer publicly apologized for his "failure to act calmly" during the speech, and also admitted that he had "stepped out of line" and was truly sorry for tarnishing the university's image. Meyer admitted guilt and the police justification, and the story seemed to fade out of the spotlight. The urge to quote Shakespeare is too perfect, "If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die?" Perhaps the Bard would add this quip, "And if you tase us, do we not apologize?" With the apology, he may be able avoid the legal charges against him. How ironic, seeing as he has already been charged with the electro-shock weapons, which rendered Meyer instantly incapacitated. This need for apologies that are coerced by a threat of further prosecution are as bogus as the excessive force used by many officers nowadays under the guise of law. So, what exactly did Meyer do wrong? Speak out at a public forum? Many people have acted similarly. He wasn't violent-just loud, and perhaps a bit intolerable. Was it within use of force guidelines for six officers to hold down one average-size student? Would it hurt to walk the guy out to the lobby at least? Perhaps the phrase should be inverted, and read as "Don't 'bro' me, tase." In other words, "Don't befriend me, violence." Befriending these violent actions and coining them as 'normal and reasonable' begins a slippery-slope of violent reactions. Just because a law is set in place sanctioning aggressive actions it should not authorize brutality. Perhaps the Missouri extermination order of Latter-day Saints will ring a bell. The 19th century order, enabling the scot-free killing of a group of religious followers, was only recently rescinded. Is this to be accepted? With movies and media numbing this nation to violence, it is only a matter of time until the next victim bellows out the phrase "Don't tase me, bro!" Hopefully by this time, the cry of "Don't 'bro' me, tase" will be a reality. Letter to the editor cc Us Mormons, huh? To the editor. I'm a practicing member of the LDS faith. Every morning, I say my prayers as soon as I wake up; every night I read my scriptures before I go to bed. My ancestry includes Brigham Young, John Taylor and Hyrum Smith. I'm not from Utah, and to be completely honest, Utah Mormons offend me. 1 just read the Opinions section from the most recent College Times, and I'm shocked at the things that Mr. Adler has written. "Sure, you can deny, question, and argue with God all you want, but us Mormons know you're just buying a one-way ticket to apostasy." Wow. Us Mormons, huh? Let me tell you what this "Mormon" believes. First off, if you really, really believe that the doctrines the church teaches are true, there's no such thing as a one-way ticket anywhere. If this church is true, then the Savior made this little thing called repentance a reality. It seems to me that people in Utah are incapable of thinking in anything but black and white, black being everything they think is wrong and white being everything that they think should be. So what if people want to give gay people rights? We're not just talking marriage here, pal, we're talking the right to be treated like a human being. If you were to hang out in a room full of gay people, you wouldn't be gay too. You'd just be in a room of gay people. It's possible to let other people live their lives, just like they let you live yours. The "doctrines" you're professing are the same ones that caused our ancestors to be driven out of state after state. After all, back then we Mormons didn't deserve rights. And while I'm ranting, what in the world is Luke Hickman saying? Is he really advocating euthanizing the homeless population of the world? Did that really come out of someone's mouth? Is there any wonder that people call us UVHS? The College Times MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2007 Health care and "Dream" t-ebitient in by Greg Wilcox ?&& i however, that with Universal Health ;; Coverage, health care costs would be* less. All we need to do to confirm this is any of us in this na- look at other countries spending. The j. tiorTseek the American Dream; that US spends-.far more than any.other ?r is, living prosperously, among other country per capita on health care, ..things. The Declaration of Indepen- yet doesn't cover everyone as other dence clearly illustrates this desire, industrialized countries do. How can Stating "We hold these truths to be this be? The main reason, as quoted ?|elf-evident, that all men are creat- the aforementioned Harvard Law Ree d equal, that they are endowed by view article; is that a vicious cycle is their Creator with certain unaltenable created, where only the wealthy arej Rights, that among these are Life, Lib- now abl£ to receive decent health! erty and the pursuit of Happiness." care- This allows drug and insurance:; \ / One has to wonder what "unalien- companies to drive the price up fur-^ able rights" our citizens have when ther, alienating more people from £the US does do not adequately pro- coverage. : vide health care to its citizens. Instead, We often hear about the supposed it has become a perverse circus ring horrors of waiting for health care in<pf;greedy insurance and pharmaceuCanada or elsewhere. Some will tell; tical-companies, all competing aricL you how bad the health care systems^ Seeking to get the most money out of are in other countries. Certainly, the J iur health needs. manner in which universal health What we currently have is not care is administered is different for j-tfie pursuit of happiness unless, of each country, and each will have its bourse, you're rich. Yet this country own challenges. Yet, even with their .j ! was founded on the protecting the : imperfections, they cannot hold a rights of "all men," not just those.; candle to the flaws in our system. ^fortunate enough to be born into a* Universal health care would also be i ^higher class. With our current health much more of a democratic and uni-: jsystem, far too many people are not form approach to regulating health jjven an equal chance. Those born itzare, as opposed to it being run by Sfito a household where there is not' profiteers, as it is now. Profiteering .:' proper health coverage go without should have no placein health care, adequate care. Our current system is in the position of abdicating,the re- .where people's lives a're at stake. We need to cut out greedy insurance sponsibility of caring for the sick. \Many seem to have a misconcep- companies, a n d ^ e : deceitful tricks tion that to not have' health cover- . they play. Qfl&eMiese,..companies age is the fault of the individual. The scheme wa^jfwrWJke sure they get Article "Universal Access to Health out of covering high-risk individuals. SiCare" in a recent Issue of the Har- . In. the recent Republican conven-^j vard Law Review revealed, however, tion, a few politicians speaking began.^ the majority of the uninsured in bashing filmmaker Michael Moored Pfhe country are full-time employees. "and his movie Sicko. "Moore showedf '•So much for that assumption. I think how nice the Cuban hospitals were;; "most citizens would agree that there but he didn't stay-he came back to^ tare many valuable, necessary careers the United States," one politician n ^that do not merit health coverage in marked. I couldn't help but wonder^ the US. Clearly, this is a major flaw in why they felt it necessary to taker^ time from their meeting to address apur current system, film-maker like Moore's, unless they; .Conservatives that don't under- were hiding behind this commentary hand how a single-payer system instead of addressing the very real' work often vehemently oppose needs of American citizens. Seeking rits implementation with convoluted medical coverage for all isn't antirfacts and figures. The main concern ,AnWican;iit is the -most- American ' usually tax money. Indeed, with health-care for everyone, the money •thing we can, do, helping everyone would need to come from American /achieve the American Drearm. > ' •''tax-payers. Many people don't realize, Taylor McCarrey Wolverines prefer carpal tunnel over jock itch Jared Magill Opinions editor Last FebHiary, an event touted as "Superhero Night" took place in conjunction with a men' s basketball game in which UVSC students were encouraged to attend the game dressed as their favorite superheroes. According to members of the College Times' sports staff who were in attendance covering the game, by far, the most popular superhero among UVSC students was the invisible wolverine. Then just last week, representatives from the NCAA were on campus rubbing elbows with all the big mucketty-mucks from UVSC athletics. In conjunction with the arrival of these distinguished guests was a conveniently timed pep rally held on the morning of Nov. 5 t in the cafeteria. Given the well-known fact that UVSC athletic events get very little attention from the student body, it seems a bit strange that the school is going to all the trouble of applying for membership in the NCAA. All the hoopla, all the hype and all the money spent marketing a product students are not buying. So who is it really for? It is true that sports are popular in the Utah Valley community. And the wholesome Utah culture fosters a very deep local talent pool. It is also true that athletic programs provide terrific scholarship opportunities to student athletes, who might not be able to afford college without scholarship, And strong athletic programs do tend to cultivate a sense of shared identity throughout a campus community. However, the primary goal of team sports is to win. Likewise, the objective of athletic programs is to win, to be the best within the respective region ... to be successful. But here at UVSC, the administration, the student body and the community itself do not appear to possess the fortitude to lay claim to top status. Here it seems we have reserved for ourselves unconditional second-place ranking in the hearts and minds of the public. An obvious example of this can be seen in the high number of BYU T-shirts circulating around campus. They are so prominent it makes one wonder if they are being handed out for free in institute classes. It is unlikely that the reciprocal situation, BYU students sporting UVSC t-shirts, would be seen on BYU campus. The situation this all points to is that within the Utah Valley community, the sports identity is already spoken f o r and Utah Valley is not big enough or diverse enough to support two Division I athletic schools. Therefore,attempts to mold our identity into that of a sports school is to impose upon us an identity that is not our own. And to do that would make us poseurs. Like it or not, it is events such as The Vagina Monologues and the Banff Mountain Film festival that sell out each year at UVSC, while our sports teams continue to be ignored by all except sports journalists and the most die-hard fans. And yet, the administration continues trying to sell us the idea of being a second-place, second-rate, secondclass, poseur sport's school. Newsflash; We are not buying it. Before we move forward with NCAA membership students, should be made aware of all it entails. We need to know if there are membership dues involved. And if so, how much do they cost? How i much of that money would come from student fees? And once those and any other questions have been answered, we1 heed to be given time to consider whether or not athletics are the best thing for us or if school resources would be better spent on other programs. Because current attitudes indicate that if we want the NCAA, we can go visit it... in Provo. > • For an opposing view check The College Tiwes Opinion section November 19. : |