Spinnaker [Distributed: Wednesday, September 27, 2006]

"The Devil's Recipe."

That's what Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called the content of President Bush's Sept. 19 address to the United Nations the day after it was delivered. He didn't stop there, though, not even close.

Chavez went on to call Bush the devil himself and made the comment that the room still reeked of sulfur a day after his visit. The delegates in the room even witnessed Chavez making the sign of the cross as he said it. Other highlights of the speech included Chavez accusing the president of a host of other indiscretions: acting as the "owner of the world," a "Yankee imperialist" and, yes, even a racist who supposedly "looks at your color, and he says, oh, there's an extremist."

President Bush is a lot of things. Perfect is certainly not among them-far from it by most Americans' accounts these days-but on Sept. 20, President Chavez became one worse. He evidently completely forgot his role as a politician, opting instead to play the passionate radical who slings bad names around like a fourth grader in after-school day care.

To get the full and unadulterated account, one must also look to the speech he gave in Harlem the next day. There, Chavez reportedly added these to the list of Bush's alleged roles: an alcoholic, a John Wayne wannabe (puffy-chested impression included) and the leader of an administration comparable to the Nazi regime of World War II.

Reactions to Chavez's comments have been mixed. Within the U.N. General Assembly, there has been reported both snickering and simultaneous resounding applause. In the United States, however, the response seems to be a cohesive and highly unexpected one: proponents of both parties are rushing to defend their president.

Several democratic leaders, among them Nancy Pelosi and outspoken Bush critic Charlie Rangel, said they consider Chavez's comments inappropriate and called him an "everyday thug," among other things. Many Americans agree it is entirely disrespectful for foreign dictators to disregard diplomacy among neighboring countries. President Bush is the proverbial mother, whose family members complain about her on a regular basis, but who rush to her defense if an outsider has the audacity to do so.

"You don't come into my country and criticize my president," Rangel reportedly said. It's arguable that bi-partisan unity has not been experienced on such a scale in the United States since the days following 9/11, although this time it is admittedly a much more limited response.

As international relationships develop and the trend toward social and perhaps political globalization inevitably rolls on, one must hope that in the future Americans will find ways to unite without necessarily being threatened on their own soil by outside forces.

More than that, though, people everywhere must hope that their political leaders engage in international discussions with an increased measure of sensitivity and diplomacy that should be inherent in every political calling.

History has shown time and time again that when officials forget their constituencies and use their privileges only to engage in the bashing of other officials, their own legacies become quickly forgotten.

U.S. must seek stronger U.N. action on Iran

Editorial

Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a statement urging doctors to begin routinely testing patients for HIV, whether they are considered "at risk" or not.

The reason for this measure is that new and improved treatments for HIV are being developed on a daily basis, but they only work if a patient is diagnosed early. The CDC estimates that 250,000 Americans have the disease and don't know it yet. If doctors begin treating HIV testing as routine--like getting a cholesterol test--its current stigma may be lifted, and people won't be as hesitant to take it.

But if HIV testing should become common, why doesn't testing for ALL sexually transmitted diseases become routine?

More than 12 million cases of sexually transmitted diseases are reported in this country every year. Many more go unreported or untreated, because some STDs don't have immediate effects.

Certain strains of the Human Papillomavirus have proved to be catalysts to cervical cancer in women. About 75 percent of sexually active people will contract HPV sometime in their lives. Many infected women go untreated, because the virus has no immediate symptoms. Granted, doctors are urging young women to take the Gardasil vaccine, which prevents the disease, but it is expensive, and many insurance companies don't cover it.

Chlamydia is the most common STD in the United States. Three million people get the disease every year and, like HPV, it can be treated. But many cases go undiagnosed because of a lack of symptoms. It can cause sterility in both men and women. Chlamydia can also cause ectopic pregnancies, a condition where the embryo attaches itself to the fallopian tube, which can rupture and lead to the death of both mother and child.

These are just two common, curable STDs. Diseases like herpes and syphilis are painful and incurable, but they continue to be spread regularly around the population, because in many cases the carriers of these diseases allow themselves to go untested and untreated.

Though many women receive pap tests every year as routine health maintenance, they do not get tested for STDs. Men, however, are less likely than women to have routine tests done by their doctors.

The CDC's recommendation to make HIV testing routine is admirable, but should be taken to the next level. Testing for ALL sexually transmitted diseases should be routine. If the stigma was removed from STD testing in general, then fewer cases would go untreated and fewer people would be infected every year. HIV is a serious disease, which needs constant and immediate attention around the world, but so do the other diseases that can go undetected for years and then morph into something deadly later on.

Adherence to proper rules of the road makes parking less of a nightmare

Staff Opinion

It's Monday morning, around 9:30 a.m. I'm making the right-hand turn from Alumni Drive to the thruway connecting to the Building 45 parking garage. My heart is racing. My palms are sweaty. My foot starts involuntarily tapping the brake. At stop signs I pause for at least a full minute, looking left, looking right, looking left again, maybe right again. With every little flutter of movement in my peripheral vision, I jerk my wheel to the left or right, in hopes of avoiding an oncoming catastrophe.

And I haven't even gotten to the parking garage yet, where the real danger begins.

So what's with the paranoia? Well, if you're really asking that question, then you've obviously never experienced driving on the University of North Florida campus. Somewhere between 9A and Kernan people lose all sense of good and courteous driving skills.

Blinkers become unused relics on the steering wheel. Stop signs either disappear or become tentative yield signs. Turning requires a speed of at least 15 mph so the driver can be sure to swing ALL the way into the opposite lane. Reversing the full length of an aisle is not only perfectly acceptable, but common.

Now, in one point of view you could say, "Well this is what I have to do to get a parking spot. If you're not aggressive, you're driving around in circles for hours." I know this is a direct quote, by the way, because it is the same one I say to myself every day when I'm following a person walking out to his or her car.

But there is a difference between being aggressive and being a sloppy driver, especially in the parking garages where the space is barely large enough for two cars to drive past each other.

The parking situation on this campus has been discussed ad nauseum, including on the pages of this publication, but losing all self control and human decency is not the answer.

Here are a few tips that, if we all follow, we can all drive around our campus without fear of being blind-sided or rear-ended:

1. STOP at stop signs - they are really there for a purpose.

2. When turning, use the appropriate turn signals - that way drivers around you know why you are suddenly slowing down.

3. Adhere to posted speed limits - this is a particularly tough one for me, but really, what is the point of speeding when you're just going to have to stop in two seconds anyway?

4. Park slowly and carefully - too many tail-ends have been bumped and bruised because people swing willy-nilly into an adjoining space. I know finding a spot is exciting, but you have to learn to keep your composure.

5. When "hovering" (waiting patiently for a person to start walking to his/her car so you can pursue him/her) try to get as far out of the driving lane as possible. Though my daily routine consists of this "hover and pounce" system, I know it is horribly selfish to expect others to have to drive around me.

6. Drive on the correct side of the road - I realize that parking lots don't have lines separating the lanes, but that does not make it OK to just drive down the middle.

7. And this is the BIG ONE - when someone is stopped with a turn signal on, the parking spot opening up belongs to THAT PERSON. DO NOT sneak up and steal it. If you need an explanation of why not to do this, then I have no time for you, and you will get your karma in due time.

So now that we have all this worked out, we can move on to more important things, like getting educated, which is why we're all here in the first place. If we keep our heads and not get caught up in the parking rat-race, we can avoid the current fear and danger that exists when driving on our campus.

Another lie from President Clinton in recent interview

Student Opinion

Although I was more interested in toys and make-up throughout most of the 1990s than politics or current events, I was still influenced by the media bombardment of praise for the Clinton administration.

I knew that the economy was the greatest it had been in years and signs of turmoil or strife were nowhere to be found - or so I was led to believe. But according to former President Clinton in a recent interview with Fox News's Chris Wallace, there was an on-going battle to kill Osama bin Laden throughout his entire presidency. And though he admitted the war was never won and that bin Laden still lives, he should still be given credit for trying.

Huh? Now, I understand that every president wants to leave some kind of legacy, one that school children can read about in their history books generations later. And I also understand that much of Clinton's true legacy cannot be printed in children's books. There is no reason, however, that he should have to lie about what he did in office because he is too ashamed to admit that he did nothing in the war against terrorism.

He claimed that many Republicans ridiculed him because he was too obsessed with finding and killing bin Laden during his time in office. Was this before the 1993 bombings of the World Trade Center? Or after bin Laden declared war on the United States in 1996?

No. Clinton went on the offensive in 1998 in Iraq, conveniently around the same time he did seem obsessed with being inside his office. And the Republican-dominated Congress made it clear that it supported whatever the president decided to do in Iraq.

During the Fox News interview, though, Clinton was on the defensive, squirming around like a kid who just got caught stealing a candy bar. It was a side of him I had never seen. He was trying so hard to get the attention off himself. He nervously leaned over in his chair, pointed his finger, and tapped on Wallace's notes in an accusing manner. It looked as though he believed he had been forced to come, then strapped in a chair under interrogation lamps.

Don't get me wrong. I do not blame Clinton for the Sept. 11 attacks or anything that bin Laden has done. One person cannot be held responsible for the actions of such a monster as bin Laden. I do, however, have a problem with the fact that Clinton went on national television and claimed that he did more to fight bin Laden than the Bush administration is doing. That is a lie. But even as a child, I knew he was always good at telling those.

Letters to the Editor

Front-page graphic uncaring for feelings of fellow students

The front-page graphics featuring Lambda Chi Alpha's letters with two large red slashes through them was in my opinion, completely uncalled for. I realize they were kicked off campus for a reason, but to deface their letters on the front page of the school paper is obscene. I think the former members of this fraternity are owed an apology for the nature of these graphics.

On-campus smoking causes a nuisance and an eye-sore

Why not make this campus a non-smoking campus? Since smokers are in the minority now, why should they trash the place with cigarette butts that are an eyesore to a non-smoker?

It causes our grounds people lots more work when they are picking up litter and it causes lots more work to the people who are maintaining the landscaping, among other things.

The University of Utah in Salt Lake City has one of the cleanest campuses in the country. They do not allow smoking on campus and they do not allow littering.

What would they think if they saw our beautiful University of North Florida, strewn with litter and cigarette butts? And no one does anything about it! Let's get with the program and BAN smoking on this beautiful campus!

Drive-by act of kindness paints positive portrait of UNF students

The Jacksonville news is full of drive-by shootings, but recently I experienced a drive-by act of kindness while visiting the University of North Florida campus.

I was on campus looking for a job and did not realize it was the first week of school and that the parking lots would be full. I drove along Alumni Drive looking for a parking space and noticed that many cars were parked along the side of the road in a grassy area along the sidewalk.

I normally don't park where I am not supposed to, but it was the only place on campus to park, so I found a spot and pulled in.

About an hour later, when I went to leave, I backed up and my tires kept spinning. I got out and saw that the ground was soft and I spun the grass away. So I got back in and tried to back up again, but at a different angle, and again I kept spinning and then fishtailed into the edge of the woods.

So there I sat. I just did not know what to do. Believe it or not, I am one of the last people on earth who still does not have a cell phone. So I flagged down a facilities person in a golf cart and he called the Campus Police for me.

Shortly after, the Campus Police arrived and, even though he was very nice, there was really nothing he could do for me and said I would need to be towed out.

Just then a shiny red Hummer pulled up and three nice young men stepped out and said "Do you need a tow?, I have a rope and we could pull you out."

I was blown away! How cool was that? Just when I needed help someone drives by and commits an act of kindness!

They hooked me and told me which way to turn my wheels and pulled me out while the officer stopped traffic.

Just like that I was out of that slippery parking space and on my way. I gave a big thank you to the three young men and the officer. Although I am not in the position to give a monetary reward, I am definitely going to pass along their drive-by-act-of-kindness attitude, and the next time I see someone in need of my help I am going to "pay it forward!"

I think the media need to give more attention to these acts of kindness instead of all the violence we so often hear about. So that is why I am writing to you, so it can be shown that the UNF students are indeed helpful and kind!

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DISCOURSE

Chavez sets bad diplomatic example

Editorial

U.S. must seek stronger U.N. action on Iran

Editorial

Adherence to proper rules of the road makes parking less of a nightmare

Staff Opinion

Another lie from President Clinton in recent interview

Student Opinion

Letters to the Editor

Front-page graphic uncaring for feelings of fellow students

On-campus smoking causes a nuisance and an eye-sore

Drive-by act of kindness paints positive portrait of UNF students

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