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Show Must we burn Modern Warfare 21 DAVID SELF NEWLIN Opinions editor Like an obscene inchworm, a wounded woman crawls across the commons area of a Russian airport in desperate search for cover from the brutal terrorist attack raging all around her. This is not a description of a recent attack. Rather, it is a video game mission, a mission in which the player is required to slaughter (there's really no other word) many innocent civilians for the greater good of keeping his CIA cover and stopping further attacks. It is the latest iteration of Call ofDuty\ a popular first-person shooter game and sure-fire weekend study destroyer. It has recently been released to some commotion, both because of the popularity of the game and because of the above mission. Critics are calling the game overly violent and morally problematic. Innocent civilians? There seems to be something different between the faux killing of an enemy in battle and the imitation of killing an innocent person in cold blood. There are also the ever-present arguments that video game violence, given their realistic depictions and participatory aspect, encourages violence and aggression, especially in younger children who have a harder time telling reality from fiction than adults do (or so they say). Critics of Modern Warfare 2 perhaps contend this is simply an especially egregious example. Then there are the slippery slope arguments - what's to stop us from inventing a video game in which one actually simulates torture of some kind, and not for the greater good, but just for the hell of it? Imitating torture becomes entertainment. Indeed, what is stopping us from doing this? Actually, it's already done; all the same criticisms were made of Marquis de Sade, of pornography, of violent movies, of violent comic books, JORDY KIRKMAN AJVU Review of graphic musical lyrics. There are examples in each one of these genres of morally reprehensible acts, but the consequences that were supposed to precipitate from them, well, just never did. Or at least not in the over-the-top moralizing way we usually hear. There are studies indicating violent video games can at least correlate with increased aggression, though not with particular violent acts as such. But, studies show no link between the kind of depicted violence and the aggression. Even cartoonish violence (remember Earthworm Jimt) correlates with aggression and even across age groups from children to adults - the graphic nature of Modern Warfare would no more cause violent behavior than any other Letters from the wasteland JOSHUA WEST Opinions writer Writers like Edward Abbey and Terry Tempest Wijliams have changed the vie\v of deserts as wastelands fo one of wonder and beJuty. But there are some who would like to return the desert to its wasteland status. As the folks from the Appalachian Mountains know all too well, there is no better way to destroy a beautiful space to strip mine it. The Alton Coal Mine is one such area waiting to be destroyed, just 10 miles from Bryce Canyon, a popular and beautiful tourist destination for families and students alike. According to the Oct. 27 Associated Press article, "Regulators approve strip mine near southern Utah town," Alton Coal Development LLC plans to surface mine 400 acres of private land, and will "exhaust the private reserves in three to five years, when the company hopes to mine adjacent federal lands." The Southern Utah C.O.A.L.M.I.N.E. Coalition is a group formed to specifically combat the efforts to create (if the term create can be applied to a blatant act of destruction) the Alton Coal Mine. The group's objections deal primarily with the effects the mine will have on the surrounding cities and towns, the tourism industry, as well as the natural environment. Specifically, the large trucks required for the project will have a disas- first-person shooter. Which brings up another important point. It's easy to score ethical golden stars by criticizing games, and there are plenty of new violent games coming out all the time. Modern Warfare 2 just happens to be highly anticipated - easy pickings for critics wishing to shore up their family-values image. There is even an argument to be made that the graphic nature will be a turn off to some players who would otherwise wish to play the game. It might just be too much for them. At any rate, all you can do is see for yourself and play the game. Or don't. To read a review of Modern Warfare 2, check out page B4. Just another brick in the wall How the Supreme Court could limit academic freedom „_ ALEX SOUSA Opinio'ns'wrftef'" Strip mine near Atlanta airport. trous impact on the roads and communities surrounding the mine. Air and noise pollution, the extra cost of maintaining roads subjected to the stress of heavy truck traffic and decreased property values are just some of the concerns associated with coal trucks running 153 round trips per day through Panguitch and Hatch. The impacts of strip mining itself have far more sinister potential. Here are just a few of these potential impacts: the decimation of local wildlife habitat, extensive blasting damage to nearby homes, air pollution due to toxic chemicals used in preparing coal which have been linked to asthma and other illnesses, Letter to the editor requirements uvu.review.opinions@gmail.com * • 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. • Anonymous letters are only publishable when the safety or professional status of the letter writer is in jeopardy. r.com and pollution of watersheds with heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury and lead. These problems have resulted in the entire surrounding communities being forced to abandon their homes. But what about the tremendous job opportunities that the mine will bring to the area? Couldn't these job opportunities possibly outweigh the aforementioned maladies? The answer to this absurd question is obviously, "No." Even if we were to entertain the idea that job opportunities could take precedence over the human rights of the established inhabitants of an area, modern strip mining is largely mechanized and creates very few job opportunities. Estimates on the amount of jobs that could be created by the Alton Coal Mine vary between 50-150, a paltry sum. UVU students use Bryce Canyon as a destination in the state for recreation and to study the land. These activities would be greatly hurt by the air and noise pollution that go hand-in-hand with strip mining. Strip mining is a barbaric practice left over from an era infamous for its cruelty and greed. It should have no place in modern discourse, let alone in our own backyard. Utah is renowned for the beauty of its deserts; let's not allow Alton Coal to build a wasteland in their place. Courage to keep going I am so happy about the Nov. 16 article "Project Encourages Women to Continue Their Education." It helps me keep being motivated and continue with my professional career. A couple .of years ago, I was feeling a little depressed and kind of lost. I have had in my mind for a long time the idea of going back to school andfinishingmy degree. But, I didn't know what to do in order to get the information 1 needed and all the paperwork organized to be able to return to school. Luckily, 1 met one of the general counselors at UVU and she helped me to get in the right track. She gave me cour' aee and assured me that cvervthins was going to be OK and that I was going to be able to accomplish my goaJ even when I had to do it little by little. I am very happy though, stressed at the same time (it is a good stress!) I have been able to finish almost three semesters. I feel great and motivated to continue until the end. It has given me a sense of fulfillment. Finally, I am doing something for me and for my own benefit. I am glad there is help out there for women who are probably feeling like I was and don't know what to do or where to start. Thanks for offering this help. A lot of us will be grateful for the rest of our lives. Frances Auffant Epictetus once said "only the educated are free," but a Supreme Court ruling may challenge that. Although no professors were involved in the Garcetti v. Ceballos case that was settled in 2006, the verdict could endanger teachers1 freedom of speech in their own classrooms, which would directly affect the academic freedom we take for granted. The case involved Richard Ceballos, a California deputy district attorney who addressed his superiors concerning a matter in an investigation. Ceballos claims he was demoted and transferred for speaking out against a matter of public concern. It was brought to trial but lower courts dismissed the claim, stating that Ceballos's speech was not protected because at time of the confrontation he was acting as a public servant and not as a private citizen. A recent brief filed by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the Thomas Jefferson Center for Protection of Free Speech argues that if speech related to employment was not protected by the First Amendment, there could be alarming and dangerous repercussions for any public employee; professors at UVU are state employees and they could be censored in their own classrooms. Professor Scott Abbott, chairman of the university's AAUP chapter, was . recently quoted in the Deseret News in a Nov. 15 article titled "Professors fear erosion of the freedom of speech," saying that "real education is impossible without academic freedom for faculty and students . . . if you start restraining academic freedom in one area, it wnnlH trirUft Hnwn " The great irony of this is that a teacher-becomes more restricted when speaking about the topics in which they are experts. Imagine a political science professor at a state university - since she is employee of the State to teach social and political history specifically, according to this case her freedom of speech is not protected when discussing that subject matter. In short, she surrenders her rights while working. However, if she were to give some advice on the culinary arts in class, there would be no problem because she's hired by the state to teach history, not cooking. Cooking tips are protected under her rights as a private citizen. One can almost imagine a J984-sty\e university where teachers lecture according to governmentapproved scripts, unable to stray or alter from the approved wording. When teachers are suppressed it limits the creative and educative process. Professor Abbott said that our rights only seem important "when someone tries to stop [them] . . . [and that] is also our time to act." This decision from the Supreme Court ties our professors' rights of free speech to academic freedom. We students need to concern ourselves with protecting the rights of our professors as their restrictions inhibit our-education and growth. We should proactively contribute in the classroom and take advantage of these educational privileges. The central purpose of our university's .chapter of the AAUP is the "defense of academic freedom," the freedom that we all require to progress not merely as students but as a society. We too can defend this academic freedom and the freedom of our teachers. We're obligated to do it. |