It’s time to turn in your get-out-of jail-free card.

The University Judiciary Committee voted unanimously Sunday to dissolve the Student Legal Defense Fund, putting to rest a service that provided bail to University students for more than 30 years.

Those in favor of abolishing the fund said it has become an underutilized resource in recent years.

“There just isn’t really a need for this service anymore,” outgoing Committee Chair Alexis Gregorian said.

Several factors contributed to the elimination of the fund. Carter Peatross, chair of the now-defunct Student Legal Defense Fund subcommittee, said the recent decrease in the number of secured bonds issued by the Charlottesville/Albemarle Magistrate’s Office has rendered the fund unusable. The fund can only be utilized for secured bonds, which require cash to be paid up front.

In addition, Peatross said while the number of requests for the fund has increased since the service was revamped in 1999, very few students actually were qualified to use it. In the past four years, only two students have qualified.

Students who are arrested for a non-violent Class 6 felony or misdemeanor can use the fund.

Peatross said many students who wish to use the fund do not qualify because they are intoxicated and must remain in prison overnight anyway.

“We just think there’s less students who are qualifying,” Peatross said. “The money could be better used elsewhere if there aren’t students who qualify.”

Gregorian added that the time and money spent to maintain the service, including a monthly pager fee, was another consideration.

“It’s costing us about $300 a year,” Gregorian said. “In the grand scheme of our budget, it does add up.”

According to Eli DeJarnette, Student Council vice president for organizations, the elimination of the fund is not permanent because it can be reinstated if it is needed in the future.

“With UJC and Student Council pushing for it, it shouldn’t be too hard to find $10,000 in one year’s allocation,” DeJarnette said.

Committee Chair-elect Angela Carrico said she agreed with the Committee’s decision to dissolve the fund.

“I think it’s a great service to the University, but in practice it just wasn’t working out,” Carrico said. “It wasn’t an opportunity to help the students.”

First-year judge Dan Hecht voiced some concern about abolishing the fund. Hecht said while he respected the Committee’s decision, he thought there were other options that could have been explored, such as decreasing thebudget for the fund and moving the responsibility to Student Legal Services, a program that provides assistance in legal matters to University students.

“The fund wasn’t in a lot of use, so I think something definitely needed to be done,” Hecht said. “But I think the Committee was too hasty in abolishing it.”

The fund was created in the 1970s in response to the large number of University students who were arrested for protesting the Vietnam War. The $10,000 fund, which came from the student activities fee, could be used for bonds up to $1,000.

Student Council unanimously passed a resolution last night recommending that five student questions written by Council be included within course evaluations and that students have access to the data produced as a result the questions.

Currently, students fill out course evaluations, but the results are usually kept within the departments and not revealed to students.

“Council has been working hard for the past few years in order to give the administration an idea of what students want to see on course evaluations,” said College Rep. and bill co-sponsor Tanay Amin. “We are looking to institutionalize the process to give students access to student evaluations.”

Council President Daisy Lundy said the resolution was the result of years of work.

“Student Council has done extensive research working with students and student groups to get to this point,” she said. “Since we have formulated five specific questions, we would like to put these forward as coming from the student body. We want to be more informed about the classes we are taking.”

According to the bill, students will strongly agree, agree, claim neutrality, disagree or strongly disagree with statements pertaining to their classes.

Students will be asked if the “lectures and assigned course work effectively communicated the subject matter of the course” and if “the amount of time required to succeed in the course was appropriate to the course’s stated level of difficulty.”

They will also be asked if the “course’s goals and requirements were defined and adhered to by the professor” and if the “professor was approachable and made himself/herself available to students outside of the classroom.”

Finally, students will indicate whether or not they would retrospectively take the course again.

Council Vice President for Administration Will Sowers expressed satisfaction with the resolution.

“After years of filling out seemingly useless course evaluations, students will soon have the opportunity to see the results of the evaluation and choose courses intelligently,” he said.

Amin said the recommendation will go to the course evaluations committee in the office of the Provost.

“We hope that the administration will carry forth the spirit of the resolution,” Amin said. “I am optimistic about this, and I am hoping that students will see course evaluations hopefully by spring semester next year.”

It was a dark and stormy night, and profiles of black birds were projected onto the walls of Memorial Gymnasium, looming over the crowd.

The atmosphere was completely appropriate for the centennial anniversary of the Raven Society, said Alexander G. “Sandy” Gilliam, co-chair of the event.

Raven Society President L. Cameron Howell said the Raven Society’s mission is to bring together outstanding students, faculty and alumni to promote the welfare, honor and dignity of the University. The Society also works to celebrate and protect the legacy of Edgar Allen Poe’s time at the University.

The crowd of approximately 720 members began the black-tie gala March 20 with drinks at Alumni Hall before moving to Memorial Gymnasium for the night’s main festivities, Howell said.

Traditionally, the Society’s annual dinners are limited to members only, but because this was a special event, members were permitted to bring friends and family, Howell said.

“The evening was a great opportunity for people who had not seen each other in a long time to catch up,” Howell said.

Gilliam said a highlight for him was a reading of the poem “A Century of Raven,” written for the centennial festivities by English Prof. Stephen B. Cushman.

“I received a lot of positive feedback,” Howell said. “The guests felt that the evening was worthy of the Raven Society’s history and purpose.”

The Society presented Raven Awards to two faculty members and two students. Annette Gibbs, director of the Center for the Study of Higher Education, and English Prof. William H. Fishback both received awards.

“I so enjoy teaching students here, as I have for about a quarter of a century,” Fishback said. “To receive a Raven Award is something very special.”

The students honored were third-year Law student and former Raven president Kevin G. Ritz and fourth-year College student Kurt E. Mitman.

Howell said recipients of the award excel in their scholarly work and demonstrate a sustained commitment to the University. He added membership in the Raven Society is not a requirement for nominating someone or winning the award.

Gibbs, Ritz and Mitman could not be reached for comment.

The Raven Society was created in 1904 in response to the creation of Phi Beta Kappa, an organization that also promotes academic excellence, Gilliam said.

The Society admits 75 individuals per semester — alumni are admitted in the fall, faculty in the spring and students during both semesters.

The Society offers annual fellowships and scholarships made possible by gifts from its members.

Army Lt. Chris Goodrich used to attend the University, participate in ROTC drills on the Lawn and eat at Pavilion XI. His life changed dramatically when he was deployed to Iraq last year.

“These people lived in adobe mud huts with no running water,” Goodrich said. “They still always wanted you to come in and eat lunch with them. They would give me goat’s milk, and I would have to drink it because it was impolite not to, and I would be paying for it for the next three days.”

Goodrich was stationed in an area originally occupied by the Kurds, many of whom were later pushed out and replaced with Arabs loyal to Saddam Hussein.

“We had to deal with a lot of issues, trying to mediate between the Arabs and the Kurds,” Goodrich said.

Goodrich, along with four other University graduates and three other officers who were stationed in Iraq, spoke to current ROTC members in Wilson Hall yesterday. Between 40 and 50 University alumni currently are stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan, Army ROTC chair Hampton Hite said.

Captain Tara Spears said she also had positive experiences with Iraqis in the hospital where she was stationed.

“They had nothing but respect for us,” Spears said. “Even if it was just a small piece of bread, they wanted to give us gifts as a thank you. They were all very grateful for the medical care and everything as far as bringing freedom to their country.”

Lieutenant Kimmy White said she initially had trouble working with Iraqi vendors.

“Eventually, they learned they would have to talk to me, they would have to invite me into their building, and they would have to deal with me to get anything done,” White said.

Jim Holzgrefe said the Iraqi people expressed a desire for stability.

“They want to make sure their kids have a school to go to, a stable place to live and not have to worry about the secret police knocking at their door,” Holzgrefe said. “When you talk to those people, it’s really enlightening. They are the people who suffered the most.”

Holzgrefe also said the Iraqi people demonstrated their appreciation when he traveled to Baghdad.

“I felt like a rock star,” he said. “The people were waving and throwing candy. It was an awesome experience to see how excited those people were.”

It wasn’t always easy, however. Goodrich said conditions in Iraq were uncomfortable and challenging.

“Basically, it was hot and dusty,” Goodrich said. “It was over 120 most of the summer. Of course we were always in body armor, and men carried 50 to 60 pounds. Basically, we were soaked in sweat for three or four months.”

Goodrich said providing strong leadership in the small town in which he was stationed was a key element of his position.

“I was dealing with the local major on a day-to-day basis and trying to provide law and order,” Goodrich said. “The infrastructure there was falling apart. We tried to make life a little better for those people.”

Lieutenant Jaime Sullivan said initially her new leadership position intimidated her, but her ROTC training enabled her to command her platoon for eight months.

“I had an awesome experience,” Sullivan said. “I wish I was still there. At times it was very stressful, but it was also very rewarding.”

White added that while she was well-trained, there were some situations that she could not prepare for.

“We got out there and had to fly by the seat of our pants,” White said. “A lot of the stuff we did was not in the book. I got down there and got dirty and learned about the equipment that way.”

Hite said the goal of the program was to present students with information about different types of army careers and assess the University’s ROTC program. According to the panelists, the University has prepared students adequately.

“I was really nervous about going into the army when I first went in, but as soon as I got to my officer basic course and I looked around me, I was really confident,” Sullivan said. “I felt really prepared. I really felt I received a lot of invaluable training.”

Charlottesville ranks as the nation’s best place to live, according to the popular travel guide company Frommer’s.

Yesterday, Frommer’s released “Cities Ranked and Rated,” a guide to more than 400 of the country’s communities.

The guide scored metro areas in 10 categories — economy and jobs, cost of living, climate, education, heath and healthcare, crime, transportation, leisure, arts and culture and overall quality of life — and then averaged the scores to compute the area’s overall score.

Charlottesville scored especially high in the health and healthcare and the economy and jobs categories, ranking eighth and 12th, respectively, out of the cities evaluated.

City government officials credit Charlottesville’s top-notch ranking to a wide range of qualities and strengths, including the City’s economy, environment and residents.

“I think there are a number of issues that illustrate Charlottesville’s strengths,” City spokesperson Maurice Jones said. “The overall quality of life, the strong economy, the low unemployment rate, a number of strong schools K through 12, and the community college and the University as well, are all strengths of our city.”

In addition, City Council members said recent efforts to improve the City may have played a part in the ranking.

“We’ve had several years of falling crime rates and done a lot to protect our parks and open spaces,” Council member Kevin Lynch said. “We’ve really focused on making Charlottesville a pedestrian environment where people can walk around and live in a healthy manner.”

The City’s status as a college town also played a role in its top-notch ranking.

“The University definitely affected Charlottesville’s ranking,” Frommer’s Senior Publicist Heather Hunter said. “The authors found that college towns rated high, and that had a lot to do with Charlottesville’s ranking.”

Members of City government also attribute Charlottesville’s high ranking, in part, to the status of the University.

“The University being one of the top institutions of higher learning in the nation brings a certain level of prestige to Charlottesville,” Jones said. “In addition, the University is the economic engine for the City.”

However, the University could do more to promote the entire community, Lynch said.

“We look to the University, as the number one employer in Charlottesville, because they set a lot of wage policy,” Lynch said. “The University tends to pay at the low end of the pay scale. The University should do more to help keep Charlottesville affordable for the people who live here.”

The University also could do more to protect the local environment, Lynch added.

“One of the reasons we’ve gotten high rankings is the attention we pay to the environment,” Lynch said. “We have been waiting for some time for the University to put scrubbers on the steam plant by the hospital. The plant puts out sulfur dioxide every day.”

The recent ranking could potentially have both positive and negative effects on the community.

“Charlottesville has received these types of rankings quite often in the past 10 to 15 years, and they certainly have a positive effect,” Jones said. “People want to come here and participate in a community that cares for them.”

However, with a growing demand to live in Charlottesville comes an increase in the cost of living.

“One of the downsides of the high demand to live in Charlottesville, however, is that is creating an increase in the cost of living,” Lynch said.

Although Charlottesville has been given top rankings in the past, this one is unique, Mayor Maurice Cox said.

“For the first time Charlottesville was compared to a full range of cities, including cities with hundreds of thousands of people, and still came out on top,” Cox said.

At an off-campus party Sunday, a Virginia Tech student was injured after falling from a third-story window.

He is the 12th student to be killed or injured this year as a result of a fall, the largest number of such incidents within a school term, according to a Roanoke Times article.

Alcohol consumption links all of the incidents, and three accidents happened this month, officials said.

Virginia Tech officials said all the incidents have occurred off-campus. There have not been any falls in student residence areas.

Virginia Tech officials said they want to stress the importance of personal safety.

“While the university is doing its part to maintain a safe environment, what is necessary is that all students take a more proactive role in their own personal safety,” Virginia Tech spokesperson Larry Hincker said.

University spokesperson Carol Wood said a student fell out of a McCormick Road residence area four years ago, but there have not been any University students injured from falls out of windows or balconies this school year.

Since 1988, the Consortium of University Publications has allowed student publications at the University to pool resources and equipment, permitting them to put money toward publication and distribution costs.

In addition to the 11 organizations comprising the cooperative, the COUP itself is a Contracted Independent Organization which also is eligible to receive appropriations from Student Council.

According to COUP President Andrew P. Pratt, the allocated funds are used to purchase, update and repair equipment for its member publications.

“Basically, the COUP operates as a way to save Student Council money,” Pratt said.

A cost-saving consortium

Like many CIOs, the COUP recently has experienced a reduction in funding as a result of increased demands on the fixed resources of the Student Activity Fund, from which appropriations are drawn.

By sharing workstations provided by the COUP in the basement of Newcomb Hall, publications are better able to use their individual allocations for printing and distribution purposes.

“The COUP is extremely efficient,” said Chris Vickers, editor-in-chief of the Virginia Advocate, a member publication. “It is a great resource. It would be completely infeasible for each publication to acquire or maintain all of the resources offered by the COUP.”

If not for the resources offered by the COUP, individual publications would be strained to purchase and maintain sufficient equipment in addition to the costs of printing, Pratt said.

“Without the COUP, Student Council would be in the position of being able to provide each publication with maybe one computer,” he said. “Under the umbrella of the COUP, each publication has access to a bunch of computers.”

Despite the relief the COUP offers Student Council and its member publications, Pratt said, recent cuts in appropriations have created a strain on the operation of the COUP and individual publications.

Dwindling funds

Until last school year, Council was generous in its allocation of funds to the COUP and its member publications, Pratt said. Student Council often over-budgeted in its appropriations in years past, assuming that much of the allocated money would be returned.

“This past year Council was forced to become more financially responsible because there were a lot more groups applying for funding,” Pratt said.

As a result, Council has been forced to be more stringent with its allocations, including funds given to the COUP.

If Council continues to cut funding to the COUP, member publications will have to use their individual allocations to purchase and maintain equipment, Pratt said. As a result, the publications will lack the financial means to print and distribute.

“Basically, 100 percent of our budget is printing,” Vickers said. “There is no way to cut our funding without cutting the number of issues we publish.”

Media matters

Reducing the circulation of student publications would likely have a detrimental effect on the diversity of written expression at the University by limiting the publication opportunities available to students, Pratt said.

“The COUP publications offer an important forum for people to be able to write and critique ideas at the University,” Pratt said. “Limiting that voice is problematic.”

Members of the COUP say they recognize that funding cuts have put an extra financial burden on many of the University’s CIOs. However, because publications affect such a large portion of the University population, budget shortfalls for media organizations cause a heightened sense of frustration.

“COUP publications offer professional training not available in any academic department at the University,” Pratt said. “Gradually allowing them to dwindle away is a problem.”

Editor’s Note: The Cavalier Daily does not apply for appropriations funds.

With the number of Contracted Independent Organizations at the University growing every year, Student Council has faced the increasingly daunting task of allocating Student Activities Funds to student groups on Grounds.

This year, 320 CIOs requested a total of $1.5 million in appropriations from Council funds. Despite the high demand, the $39 Student Activities Fee paid annually by students provides only $605,000 for Student Council to allocate among the wide range of student groups.

Progressive problems

Each CIO applying for appropriations this semester was given the opportunity to attend a budget planning workshop sponsored by the Appropriations Committee and was offered individual guidance from a Committee member.

In late February, the Committee held hearings at which CIOs officially presented their budgets and offered explanations for their financial needs.

Since Council does not have adequate funds to meet 100 percent of the appropriations requested by CIOs, the Committee began using a progressive cut system last year in the allocation of funds.

In addition, if an organization’s self-generated revenue exceeds the amount of its non-fundable expenditures, the additional amount is applied to the CIOs fundable requests.

“Automatic cuts don’t compare how much a group actually needs,” said Sam Brody, executive editor of The Declaration. “The cuts are based on how much you ask for, not whether what you ask for is proportional to what you need.”

Admittedly, the progressive cuts affect some student groups more than others, DeJarnette said.

“CIOs in the top tier are definitely hit the hardest,” DeJarnette said. “This group usual includes club sports, media groups and law journals.”

These and other CIOs must be capable of meeting their own social and otherwise ineligible costs, he added.

“It is problematic if a CIO is not bringing in enough money to cover non-fundable expenses,” DeJarnette said.

Making changes

Because cuts have put a strain on many of the CIOs which depend on Council appropriations for funding, the Committee has been urged to reform its current appropriations process.

One of the most significant critiques of the system is the seemingly runaway creation of new CIOs. The number of CIOs at the University has tripled over the last four years, DeJarnette said. With more student groups vying for the fixed amount available through the Student Activities Fund, each group is receiving less money.

Some of those involved in the process said they believe that limiting the number of CIOs and encouraging students to collaborate with existing groups rather than establishing new ones might relieve some of the burden new CIOs are placing on the Student Activities Fund.

“A lot of CIOs continually being funded overlap,” Consortium of University Publications President Andrew P. Pratt said. “A full scale audit would really help people understand the situation and encourage them to establish themselves through a group that already has infrastructure set up.”

Limiting the creation of new CIOs could easily result in lawsuits against Council, DeJarnette said.

“Student Council does not have the right to not allow a group to associate,” he said. “We have the right to deny a group association based on overlapping status, but it is easy for groups to find an original purpose.”

At the same time, encouraging similar groups to collaborate may free up funds, said current Appropriations Committee member Rebecca Keyworth.

“There are a lot of groups that provide similar service and have similar goals,” she said. “Molding groups together and putting new groups in touch with people with similar interests would improve the process.”

Offering rewards

Although the growing number of CIOs and subsequent funding cuts have placed financial strain on many student groups, Council is working to reward CIOs which demonstrate financial self-sufficiency through a newly-implemented rebate system.

Now, groups who are able to support some of their fundable expenditures will receive a refund from the progressive cuts.

“We are really trying to put an emphasis this year on encouraging CIOs to become self-sufficient,” DeJarnette said. “Through the rebates, we are trying to reward those groups who are working towards self-sufficiency.”

Still, some groups, such as media publications, maintain that self-sufficiency is an unfair standard by which to reward CIOs.

“Student Council is trying to emphasize self-sufficiency, but publications only have so many ways to make money,” Brody said. “Self-sufficiency is a ridiculous demand for publications.”

Many of the University’s publications have been forced to cut their distribution as a result of recent budget cuts, Pratt said. Adding to the problem, these publications may find it more difficult to attract the same number of advertisers as publications with larger circulations, such as The Cavalier Daily, which is independent.

As a result, smaller publications only are able to achieve a limited degree of self-sufficiency, he added.

According to Keyworth, who was recently elected to serve as Council vice president for organizations in the upcoming school year, CIOs that are not satisfied with the Committee’s allocation must appeal by Friday. Typically, 10 percent of CIOs appeal.

AFTER the first few days of public testimony in the ongoing 9/11 Commission, the verdict is in: President Bush did not have prior knowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks. Testimony indicates there were security failures in both the Clinton and Bush administrations, and more steps should be taken to make sure another attack doesn’t occur on U.S. soil (and thanks to Bush, this is happening).

In the midst of such a high-profile investigation, some tidbits of information have slipped through the cracks, no doubt intentionally, by the media regarding our fiercest allies, the French, the honorable United Nations and, last but certainly not least, President Bush’s predecessor.

In protest of the war in Iraq, some European nations (e.g. France) cite the argument about the Iraqi war not being linked at all to the war on terror.

This notion is simply incompatible with a sound rationale. Iraq’s future poses the largest threat to terrorists, because it would represent a bastion of democracy amid several dictatorial regimes in the Middle East. Its success will perhaps pave the way for the demise of totalitarian governments that financially and ideologically back terrorist organizations. This explains why so many foreign terrorists have fled to Iraq to thwart Coalition efforts to rebuild the nation.

While Spain blames the United States for the horrific bombing in its country because of its participation in the Iraq war, France — who was one of the lone countries opposed to war in Iraq ­– has found two bombs on its train tracks in the past month. (Just for the record, the United States does have a coalition of 49 nations who have publicly announced support, larger than the Gulf War — 28 nations — and Clinton’s NATO-backed Kosovo attack — 18 nations.)

The message is this: No country is safe from terror. If this were not the case, the terrorists would be praising Jacques Chirac, not planting bombs. The French became a terrorist target even though they opposed the Iraq war, which negates the legitimacy of the claim that a lenient policy will result in less terror.

While it is not confirmed that al Qaeda planted the bombs, according to the Associated Press, the group responsible is thought to be either al Qaeda or a Moroccan terrorist cell with ties to al Qaeda. No one wishes ill upon France, but it is evident that even appeasement will not quell the terrorists’ desires, similar to the failure of an appeasement policy toward Hitler immediately before World War II. Proactive measures, such as going after terrorists, are the only way to prevent further attacks. Media analysis of Spain’s attacks was rampant; but the implications of France’s vulnerability were not discussed at all.

However, The International Herald Tribune (based in Paris and owned by The New York Times) headlined an article, “9/11 panel cites warnings to Bush,” which read, “Members of the commission… said that a series of intelligence reports sent to President George W. Bush in 2001 warned of an imminent, possibly catastrophic attack by al Qaeda, a disclosure that prompted harsh questioning of… administration officials about why they had not done more to pre-empt a possible terrorist strike.”

Is this insinuating that Bush should have attacked al Qaeda before Sept. 11?

Another story that has received little attention is the U.N. Oil for Food program. The United Nations, which is supposed to be regarded with integrity, has lost all credibility (if it already hadn’t after not enforcing any of its resolutions regarding Iraq for 11 years), with its duplicitous actions. This program, set up to provide humanitarian relief to Iraqis under Saddam’s rule, was in fact a method of channeling billions of dollars into Saddam’s pocket. Arab, Russian, French and British political and economic leaders all benefited; they received bribes in the form of oil vouchers from Saddam Hussein to keep the program’s deliberate ineffectiveness under wraps. The New York Times reported on this about a month ago, but no new information has been publicized since.

The United Nations, which was supposed to be monitoring this program, obviously dropped the ball. We’ve all been well-versed in the alleged corruption of Halliburton, but this has yet to make a significant appearance in the media spotlight.

And finally, on to the Clinton administration. Reports surfaced soon after the Sept. 11 attacks that the Clinton administration was essentially offered Osama bin Laden’s head by the Sudanese government in 1996 and again in 1997. In 1996, Sudan’s minister of defense met with State Department and CIA officials, proposing to have Osama bin Laden extradited to Saudi Arabia and guarded with U.S. aid.

Mansoor Ijaz, who presented the offer to the U.S. government on behalf of the Sudanese president to share information with the U.S. about Al Qaeda in 1997, was turned down.

While some parts of these reports have been disputed by the Clinton administration, I doubt if such allegations were raised of Bush that they would go so unnoticed and without criticism by the media.

Whitney Blake is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. She can be reached at wblake@cavalierdaily.com.

LIFE SUCKS as a terrorist. Terrorists somehow get pleasure from killing hundreds of innocent people and then once you die, people around the world mourn your death. The recent views stemming from pro-Palestinian opinion columns and international institutions involving the assassination of Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin is both appalling and hypocritical. People, especially Americans, cannot possibly criticize Israel’s military strategy when President Bush has stated that he wants to capture Osama bin Laden dead or alive. Hamas is a more religiously-based organization than al Qaeda, but it is still comprised of brutal terrorists.

Spirituality and Koran references do not vindicate terrorist activities. The leaders of Hamas have repeatedly planned attacks against innocent Israeli citizens. The group is responsible for hundreds of deaths, including Americans.

The media has used the words “spiritual leader” and “religious organization” to describe the recent assassination, as demonstrated in CNN.com’s March 24 article, “Hamas names interim leader in Gaza.”

Many Americans are beginning to move away from supporting Israel. Although the United States was the only veto power in the United Nations who voted against a condemnation of the recent assassination, the country’s support has diminished. World opinion is turning as support diminishes for Sharon’s policies to employ targeted attacks against Palestine.

There is no difference between Yassin and Saddam Hussein — both committed violent acts against innocent persons. Therefore, Israel’s tactics in Palestine are similar to the United States’ more arrogant occupation of Iraq. If Saddam Hussein had been assassinated in his capture, international media would not have pointed out Hussein’s religious nature or dedication as a leader. He is a horrible man, no different from Yassin.Any country that helped out in Iraq has no room to criticize Israeli actions in Palestine. The situation is the same.

Bin Laden’s planned attacks on Sept. 11 raised unprecedented anger and revenge in American communities. These emotions are normal reactions to such a horrific event. We are a hypocritical nation if we do not recognize that Israelis face these angers on almost a daily basis. Going after the leader of Hamas who continues to disrupt Middle East peace negotiations is completely justified. There is a difference between targeting terrorists and targeting innocent bystanders. This is why America continues to support Israel.

If bin Laden was killed, would media outlets still call this an assassination? American media might instead hail this as a great military achievement or the end of terrorism. Yet, when Israel engages in the same practices, some Americans claim Israel is fostering more terrorism.

The argument that more terrorism will result from the Yassin assassination is not valid. Hamas has engaged in terrorist activities for years in Israel, and they are not stopping. Taking out “spiritual leaders” is a step in the right direction for destroying a terrorist organization. If Israel quietly follows peace plans and does not address terrorists, attacks will continue and innocent people murdered.

Granted, this environment of killing is not desirable. Ideally, organizations like Hamas will cease suicide bombings and peace can be achieved in the Middle East. Yet Hamas is not going to stop terrorizing Israelis. This leaves Israel with no other choice but to fight a war with Hamas. These targeted attacks are part of this war. Since Hamas is not a sovereign country, this war does not fit normal international definitions of battle. However, this is the type of conflict in the new age of terrorism. Targeted attacks counter suicide bombings.

Once again, the difference between a peaceful nation and a terrorist organization is the targeting of murderers or of innocent citizens. Americans are experts at justifying conflicts with this notion and should not criticize Israel for engaging in the same military tactics. Terrorism against any country should not be vindicated. People should focus on the killing of a prominent terrorist leader and the implications for Hamas and Middle East safety — not referring to Yassin’s religious and spiritual intentions. Israel does not harbor terrorists or engage in terrorist activities. They are actively eliminating terrorists from the Middle East, and this is an admirable and justifiable mission.

Michael Behr’s column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at mbehr@cavalierdaily.com.