LETTER: To counter terrorism
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THE CURRENT traffic study being conducted to examine potential delays around the new Emmet Street parking garage is a positive step, as it actively includes city officials and seeks to assuage the concerns of residents of Lewis Mountain neighborhood. Since its inception, the controversy surrounding construction of the garage has done nothing but further widen the rift in relations between the University and Charlottesville community. According to University Architect Mary Hughes, construction of the garage is unlikely to be altered at this point as the project itself has already begun ("Officials announce results from new traffic study," January 20, 2003). Although in all likelihood commissioning a new study will amount to no change whatsoever in the University's plans to proceed with the garage, the fact that the University has chosen to commission a second study in the midst of looming questions about the first study's accuracy, and strong objections of the Lewis Mountain Neighborhood Association, show that the University has not abandoned concern for residents of the Ivy and Emmet area. It is an illustration of the University's concern for the community at large which should not be passed over as trivial or routine.
As America inches closer to war with Iraq, it has abruptly been presented with a new threat from the east -- North Korea. North Korea's choice to withdraw from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty has presented the world with the possibility of the development of weapons of mass destruction from the rogue nation, whose population suffers daily under intense political oppression and waves of famine. The United States' proposal Monday to encourage private investment in North Korea that could help ease energy shortages in exchange for disarmament, however, is a step in the wrong direction. As in past exchanges with economically similar nations, specifically China and Cuba, the idea of creating incentives or restrictions to encourage certain behavior -- using dollars as diplomats -- has been consistently ineffective. Rather than negotiate using North Korea's crippled economy to promote de-escalation, the United States should follow South Korea's strategy and pursue heavy diplomatic negotiations. The aim should be to push the economically devastated nation to back away from its threats, in the interests of preserving the already fragile balance of life in North Korea.
Having been in Rome for just about two months now, I've experienced only recently the inevitable and undesirable homesickness that I'd been dreading ever since my plane landed back in August. Homesickness is something that I had only thought about before coming to Rome, an afterthought at best, and certainly something I'd never given much serious thought to.
Having never lived in a big city -- and by this I mean a Wash- ington, D.C., or a New York -- coming to Rome, Italy was tough. Not only did I have to deal with the whole big city thing, but I also had to adjust to a new culture -- people's attitudes, basic ways of living, the fact that every small shop, store and restaurant stays open a maximum of five to six hours a day -- little things like that.
YOU ALL have probably heard at least a hundred times in the past few months that college will be a life-changing experience. Relatives and friends undoubtedly have buried you with the "new freedoms, new choices and new challenges await you" line. This is all true. However, you'll find your life at the University still will reflect quite a bit of your life at home. Making new friends at the University, like in your life at home, will be a new and interesting challenge for you once you arrive, and one that you'll find wonderfully rewarding, provided that you realize the added importance of these friends in your life as a whole here.
THROUGHOUT history there have been many walls of oppression and exclusion throughout the world. The Berlin Wall was the "Iron Curtain" between the Soviet bloc and the western world. The Walls of Istanbul prevented the Ottoman Turks from entering Istanbul. The Great Wall of China was constructed to prevent invasions from barbarians. And now, on a much less important scale, there is the Great Red Wall of Library Blockage. The wall prevents University students from getting to Clemons and Alderman libraries from Newcomb and nearby areas without a long and arduous trek either around the wall and along McCormick Road, or behind Clemons Library and up several flights of stairs. This wall is annoying. It is also ugly.
I AM NOT a pessimist by nature, but now that President Bush is sending Secretary of State Colin Powell to the Middle East to "help quell" the escalated Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I must implore you all to not give a crap, and go about your everyday lives. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is over 2,000 years old, and incorporates an overwhelming spectrum of factors - religious, moral, territorial and historical. U.S.-sponsored cease-fires inevitably fail after a few days or weeks at most - an Israeli soldier will shoot a Palestinian, a Palestinian will blow himself up on a bus in Jerusalem and the cycle continues until the next U.S. sponsored cease-fire is negotiated. Powell will be going after yet another coveted cease-fire on this trip. Given the track record of Israeli-Palestinian cease-fires, and the United States' current war on terrorism which is causing a healthy dose of worldwide Muslim backlash, don't hold your breath for the current crisis to be over anytime soon - especially with U.S. help.
AMERICAN history is littered with frivolous lawsuits. A Virginia inmate once sued himself for $5 million because he got drunk and violated his religious beliefs, causing him to commit a crime. The inmate didn't have $5 million, so he asked the Commonwealth to pick up the expense. Three Yemeni men claiming to have ownership of Mars once sued NASA because of the Pathfinder landing program. Their suit stated, "We inherited the planet from our ancestors 3,000 years ago. Sojourner and Pathfinder ... began exploring it without informing us or seeking our approval."
FOR THIS week's column, I've chosen not to address a typically opinion-friendly issue like race relations or budget cutbacks. Instead, I'd like to tell you about one of the most rewarding Spring Break trips available, which you definitely should consider in your Spring Break plans next year. A group of about 40 University students made the journey south to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to work with Habitat for Humanity. I was one of these students. While clubbing in Cancun or relaxing at home certainly have their appeal, all involved agreed this trip was one of the greatest experiences of their entire lives. The trip to Florida provided a rewarding and fun environment that allowed participants to do charity work in a hands-on way, and see the fantastic results that working as a team can produce.
Today, just as at the time of the University's founding in 1819, communication between city residents and students remains pathetically rare. If anything, dialogue between students and Charlottesville residents has boomed whenever significant problems have arisen - prime examples include traffic from football games and noise from late night parties. While our relationship with the community has been on the whole a healthy one, there is room for improvement. Formation of a permanent University committee to serve as a forum for airing concerns between University administration, students, townspeople and city officials would be of great benefit to us all, and would help to solidify and strengthen our relationship.
FEW CHALLENGES presented to University students moving off-Grounds can be as confusing and difficult as investing in telecommunications technology. Currently, Sprint and Adelphia are the two primary providers of in-home telecom services in Charlottesville. Sprint controls local phone and DSL service. Adelphia reigns over the cable Internet access and cable TV market. Dealing with these companies is not an easy prospect for students.
LAST THURSDAY, it was reported that, due to funding constraints, the economics department will lose 11 instructors between this year and next. As a result, the economics department will be left with 23 instructors teaching some 846 majors. Roughly 600 fewer spaces will be available for students taking classes in economics. This seems like a sick joke. When one of the most popular majors at the University begins to scramble for faculty, it's undeniable that a very deep problem exists, and it urgently needs to be solved. Consistently declining levels of state support for higher education have made the support of suffering departments a difficult task for the University. More needs to be done, urgently. Private donors, particularly alumni and friends of the University, need to step up to the plate and inject some cash into our school's academic programs, or risk a steep and painful decline from the status our University now enjoys. This is where another change must be made immediately. Alumni who give to athletics need to divert their generosity toward the University's academic programs, or risk seeing whatever investments they've made in the past tank horrifically and permanently.
THE UNIVERSITY is a school steeped in tradition - some well-known, some not-so-well-known. Streaking the lawn. Dressing up for football games. Gus Burger eat-offs. No tradition, however, has carried more importance throughout the years than that of the honor system. The honor system has managed successfully to evolve and adapt to the changing tastes and needs of the University community. The current issue of whether to adopt or reject the informed retraction proposal is an outgrowth of this evolution. As our predecessors embraced change as the honor system's merits were questioned, we too, should now embrace change. If the informed retraction proposal comes to a vote on the 24th, passing it will strengthen and renew our honor system, and will do justice to those that attended this University before us.
THIRD-YEAR student Liana Kuyumcuyan was killed around 10:30 p.m. Jan. 29 in a car accident. She was returning to Grounds from Wintergreen with friends after an evening of skiing. While the investigation surrounding her death continues, it's appropriate in light of this tragedy to address an issue that many students don't consider very often when driving around Grounds - automobile safety.The horrifying reality of driving is that each time you drive, you put your life on the line, subject to your own split-second decisions and those of other drivers on the road. As a well-educated group at one of the most prestigious universities in the country, our community constantly should keep in mind the risks involved and the choices we make each time we set off on the road by closely examining the telling statistics.
A S THE number of al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners at the United States Naval base in Guatanamo Bay, Cuba increases daily, U.S. leaders and policymakers increasingly are coming under fire for what could become a clear cut issue of human rights violations. While these prisoners have continued to make threats against Americans even while held in their cells, and according to United States officials present a clear and present danger to the security of the United States, they nonetheless deserve to be treated with the respect afforded inhabitants of the prison system in the United States.
THE NOW defrocked John Geoghan, a former Massachusetts priest, was convicted Friday of indecent assault and battery in Boston stemming from a 1991 incident in which he touched a 10 year old boy. Geoghan allegedly molested more than one hundred children during his time with the Church, and faces over 80 civil suits and two more criminal trials as a result. During his stint as a priest, Geoghan continued to move as a priest in good standing from parish to parish throughout Massachusetts, in spite of the archdiocese being repeatedly informed of his behavior.
IS THIS you? You just ran inside for a minute. When you came back, you found that those merciless angels of death at Parking and Transportation decided to pin a ticket underneath your windshield wiper, like a modern-day scarlet letter, brightly proclaiming your irresponsibility as a motorist. These types of incidents have led to longstanding less-than-warm relations between P&T and students at the University. With large parking projects like a new garage to accompany the new Arts & Sciences building slated for the future, Student Council should now redouble its efforts to smooth relations between students and P & T.
AS BOMBS continued to fall over Kandahar and Kabul, as troops were flown into Afghanistan to combat the Taliban, nearly 40 million Americans held their breaths and watched as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the New York Yankees. This was the largest television audience of game seven of the World Series in 10 years. Similarly, another 17 million or so Americans tuned in to the Emmy awards the same night. We are fortunate this is the case - we are still able to find a sense of an older, pre-Sept. 11 reality in entertainment.
FOLLOWING some 51 years of existence, New Cabell Hall is on its way down. A little over a week ago, the Board of Visitors voted to completely demolish New Cabell Hall. It will be replaced with a new Arts and Sciences building on Jefferson Park Avenue, and a "new" New Cabell Hall. Additionally, renovations are planned for Cocke and Rouss Halls - voted some of the worst buildings on Grounds - along with construction of a new parking garage. In the midst of the attention this project is receiving, a more subtle point is easy to miss. This project is a great opportunity for the University to begin closing the publicity gap between athletic and academic expenditures.