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Show IP^v,-- -"•••(•" Opinions iday W August 11, 2008 Go tell it on the mountain Lesbian marriage announcement gains attention Jennie N i c h o l l s ^ Editor at large If you don't read Utah's local newspapers or own a TV to catch coverage from the local broadcast stations, you may have somehow missed the coverage of the most controversial classified ad of the year. Two women in a committed relationship from the Cache Valley area sent in their marriage announcement to the local newspaper, The Herald Journal. And what an uproar has ensued on its behalf. The editors of The Herald Journal must have been holding their breaths the morning the paper was delivered. The controversial announcement's publication was broadcast statewide, and a slew of controversial letters to the editor followed suit. Because same-sex mar- riage is not recognized by the state of Utah at this time, critics of the ad have claimed it did not belong in the marriage announcement section. To post an announcement in the paper, all you must do is type it up and pay the fee. Since advertisements for glue, cars and condominiums are not affiliated with the publication, there is no reason to turn away a paying customer. But the content of ads is under the discretion of a newspaper's editorial board. In the case of the marriage announcement, The Herald Journal's editorial board prepared for this situation in 2006 with a constructed policy to be used in the event of a same sex announcement submission: "Since wedding announcements are paid space in the newspaper ~ essentially no different than display advertisements - the newspaper management feels a responsibility to give all paying customers equal access to the service.*' More interesting is the outpouring of community insistence that the running of the announcement was offensive. KSL did a story on the ad and has received, to the point of my deadline, 667 comments of cyber tug of war. Supporters of the gay community are entreating upset readers with messages of understanding, while opponents of the ad claim morality and legality as reasons to take offense. According to a story done by The Herald Journal, four subscriptions have been canceled due to the ad. The discussion of samesex marriage on KSL's comment page is frightening. The incredible amount of hate and anger over something as wholesomely intended as things you shouldn't though you can? a wedding announcement is incomprehensible. Had,this ad been placed in The Daily Herald, the outrage would likely have been the same. After careful reflection on the standardized and publicly accepted values of this community, it is certain that these deserve to be revised. The values of this community do not promote unequal rights. But in recalling the ominous proceedings involving Michael Moore, it's clear there is more hate in the valley than we would like to admit. The inevitable outrage that would likely ensue over the ad here would have larger repercussions than it did in Logan. Sadly, there would probably be a Kay Anderson somewhere out there to buy out the newspaper and make it a more conservative version of The Mormon Times. Flirt wiBTa professor and wink when you think no one else is looking. -Jennie Nicholts - editor at large Vyhen I'm bored, I go to a store like Smiths or Target and I will undo the bottom part of the box of perfume, or something else made of glass, and carefully place it back onto the shelf. When the person picks it up, it falls out and breaks. But I look at this as a service because some people's feet stink. -Dave Iba - photo editor Not register to vote and then complain about the state that the economy and government are currently in. -Ethan Dodge - asst. opinions editor Girls shouldn't think I'm creepy because I kiss on the first date, but they do anyway. I shouldn't laugh out loud after I tell a friend to watch out and they don't. I definitely shouldn't laugh out loud after I tell the same friend to watch out again and again for no reason and they do. Yeah, I do it anyway, because it's funny and because I can. Letter to the editor This letter is in response to an article written by Ethan Dodge in the June 16 issue of the UVU Review, titled "Liberal, but still the man/' -Parker Donat - staff writer Procreate. Certainly, Obama's hyperconservative detractors will have their cataclysmic prophecies frustrated should his campaign render success in the upcoming election. But, no matter how much Ethan Dodge wishes it were the case, not all voters skeptical of Obama's message view him as the herald of our nation's demise. In reality, only a minority of people subscribe to this asinine perspective — and those who do seem to have more in common with the Obama faithful than they do with the more mainstream naysayer. Both segments seem to believe the same, crucial premise: that Obama can drastically change this country. But how? Neither side seems entirely sure, and from the looks of Ethan Dodge's article, neither is he. Yes, Obama is an excellent orator. Yes, he is persuasive. Yes, his campaign has been filled with idealistic slogan after idealistic slogan. But should we elect a president based on the sentimentality his speechwriters are able to inspire? Obama has been able to rally vociferous support from college-bound consumers, but this is a decidedly easy demographic to market to. If there is a group of people on this earth more bent on appearing fashionable - be it socially, intellectually or politically - advertisers have yet to identify it. We are whores for looking cool, and nothing is cooler than Obama right now. That past campaigns have been so immensely unsuccessful in targeting such fish in a barrel speaks volumes on the obliviousness and inefficiency of American politics. That Obama has succeeded in marketing where other politicians failed is a marvelous indication of his opponents' capacity to hire a mess of incompetents on for their PR staffs. So how is Obama going to change this country? We'll still have a nauseatingly wealthy man in office. His popularity will still have been built on the methods used by marketing agencies the world over. Cheap ideals will still be pranced out on the catwalk in place of honest, pragmatic discussion of policy. All that seems to have changed is the target Obama has changed is that, even discounting the bumper stickers and pins, we finally have a presidential candidate we want to buy. Finally, a president so accessibly fashionable that even a fresh-out-of-high school conservative knows that buying Obama is the perfect accessory for his iPhone and Diesels. -Brandon Schelin - designer Smoke within 25 feet of buildings, read sorority-drama novels, and point out every flaw of television personalities. -Mel Sundquist - life editor Sometimes I like to see how far away 1 can stop behind a car at the red lights. The cars behind me can't see in front of me but on the sides people sometimes look confused. Also, every once in a while, my OCD will kick in while I'm driving the roundabouts. I have to go around twice. Letters to the editor requirements uvu.review.opinions@gmail.com -Diego Jbanez - staff writer • Letters must be turned in on Wednesday by noon in order to be printed in the next edition. • We make no guarantee that letters will be printed. • Letters 300 words^or less have a greater chance of being published - anything longer will be edited for content. • Please provide an electronic copy regardless of whether or not you wish to submit a hard copy. • All letters become the property of UVU Review as soon as they are submitted. Shop at Wal-Mart. o Eat all of the food on your plate when you are already full; the kids m^ never get it anyway, and eating SSSS&D^H just make you fat. 2 7 9 4 3 8 9 1 8 1 7 9 Solutions at uvureview.com 5 3 1 6 4 5 6 7 9 2 6 3 2 3 2 5 HARD MHH.SUDOKU• 1 4 6 2 7 4 1 9 6 9 8 7 5 1 3 5 2 1 2 9 7 4 6 6 1 i 8 9 5 8 9 2 3 5 5 7 1 6 9 5 2 9 1 2 3 8 5 1 9 8 6 3 9 9 5 7 8 4 5 8 4 1 9 SAMURAI 1 3 9 1 8 7 2 4 MEDIUM 1 4 5 7 3 5 4 2 3 6 1 5 8 6 5 1 4 o -Robbin Anthony - office manager -Spencer Shell - opinions editor o O SUDOKU 1 2 audience and the efficacy of the ad. The American government will still wade through a bureaucratic quagmire the likes of which history could never have imagined. It will still support the interests of the world's corporate kings, whose wealth and power grease the cogs of capitalism — all the while proclaiming an interest in the salvation of the common man. What 1 4 |