Spinnaker [Distributed: Wednesday, October 25, 2006]

As Halloween approaches, the campus is aflutter with students exchanging costume ideas and discussing party plans.

The holiday gives students an excuse to let loose their inhibitions and become someone (or something) else for a night. But as party-hungry revelers pack into keg parties and area clubs, they should keep a few things in the backs of their minds.

Every year, about 1,400 people between the ages of 18 and 24 die from complications due to binge drinking. A shocking half a million more suffer injuries.

It's easy to lose oneself in a giddy haze of drunkenness, especially during a holiday that happens to fall the week after midterms.

But if students just learn to pace themselves and help others they care about to do the same, statistics like these could become a thing of the past.

With an excess of alcohol often comes a shortage of common sense. This is a particularly important issue for women.

In the Nov. 2, 2002 edition of the University of California at Santa Barbara's student newspaper "Daily Nexus," the reporter cited the case of a possible rape on Halloween. The victim, who was apparently heavily intoxicated, had agreed to go home with the alleged assailant. Though she reportedly changed her mind once she got there, the man forced himself upon her.

She showed up at the police station three hours later, unable to identify the house where the incident occurred or give the identity of the suspect.

One would suppose that had she not overdone the alcohol intake, she might not have been in a situation where a guy would take advantage of her.

Or, if she and her friends had planned ahead of time to not let each other get separated, there might have been another set of eyes watching out for her.

Another result of reckless intoxication is reckless driving.

Last year more than half of the 239 traffic fatalities reported last year on Halloween were alcohol related.

On Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day this number was less than 50 percent.

In other words, Oct. 31 is a fairly notorious day for people to lose their lives because someone behind the wheel is driving while intoxicated. These statistics can be prevented. Have a designated driver, or, better yet, put a cab company's phone number on speed dial. Then everyone can get tipsy and get home safe.

Halloween is a creepalicious holiday that has the potential for creepalicious memories. People can be completely bizarre without facing any social consequences. In fact, normalcy is somewhat frowned upon.

There is nothing wrong with letting loose, especially after the pressure and stress of midterms. Just make sure to watch out for each other and not let visceral judgment completely take over.

Kudos to funding Coastal Biology flagship

Editorial

With the upcoming addition of Coastal Biology to its roster of flagship programs, the University of North Florida will continue to strengthen its role as a leader in addressing issues pertinent to the Jacksonville community.

The choice to upgrade the program represents the next step in a precedent the university is setting for engaging problems unique to the local region - a move that could not be more appropriate or well timed.

The new designation as a flagship program will mean a $1.5 million boost to the program for UNF faculty and students to conduct research in coastal regions throughout the area.

The administration has said it believes UNF to be specially situated to carry out this kind of research because of its proximity to three coastal habitats: the St. John's River, the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean.

In the midst of concerns about viral algae blooms, red tide and other malefactors to the local environment, a reinforced effort to study and understand aquatic biology is a laudable move by the university.

Just last week, the Environmental Protection Agency approved a change to the way dissolved oxygen Ñ essential to much of the native life in the St. John's River - is handled in the river, effectively lowering the standard for what constitutes a healthy environment.

Consensus among local experts seems to be that river residents will suffer as a result - the latest entry on a long list of worries about local waterways.

Research funded by the program could help curb the development of these plagues on some of the First Coast's most valuable natural resources.

It is hoped that as UNF steps into the arena of active engagement, it will take its responsibility to the community very seriously and use the redirected resources to apply positive change to challenges facing the coastal areas.

The previous three programs UNF adopted as flagships suggested a pattern of local awareness and addressed the unique characteristics of the local area.

Community Nursing, International Business, and Transportation and Logistics were all choices that had strong ties to Jacksonville interests. And supported by their new resources, they prepare students with competitive skills for work opportunities in and around town.

This program shows a commitment by this university to strengthen the importance of advance work in the field. Students now have another unique opportunity to get hands-on experience in the careers that most interest them.

This initiative gives the university the opportunity to be recognized for its academic success on a national level.

Zan on the soapbox

Student Opinion

Ever feel like we as a society are going to hell in a hand-basket? That something is missing or something is very definitely wrong with everything around us?

Well, in many ways it is. Below is a social commentary on what has become an f'd up situation in America.

In my opinion, we are an unlucky generation. No, we have not had to deal with a world war and we have not endured a draft but let's face it, many things are pretty bad right now, and they don't seem to be getting any better.

Our generation will have to deal with issues that have never existed before. Issues like global warming. I know there are you naysayers out there who side with Dr. Moron, but global warming is very real. The polar ice caps are melting, which was proven by a recent NASA study. Keep in mind that rocket scientists work at NASA, so they are not making this stuff up.

The earth is getting hotter, we have more intense hurricanes and winter has been pretty mild for the last few years. And whether you realize it or not, it's our job to help curb this problem.

Now, I'm not saying I'm the poster boy for this sort of thing, but realize that if every person made a little effort in this department, it would eventually make a difference.

OK, so if you made it this far, you're like "damn this guy's quite a granola," well yes to an extent, but I'm just speaking the truth.

On top of the destruction-of-the-earth thing that's going on, we also have a slight problem occurring in the Middle East called the "war" in Iraq that resulted from the terrorist attack of 9/11.

Because of this terrorism thing, Americans are losing privacy rights like never before. Just in case you didn't realize, we can be wire-tapped on the phone, seen from satellites in the sky and monitored by plenty of other high tech instruments, all in the name of security.

Maybe George Orwell was right. All of a sudden that little brother we had has gotten very big indeed. Now, on to Iraq we go.

I'm not going to take a side either way about whether or not we should be in Iraq. At this point it's a done deal; we are there. Unfortunately, it's our generation that has to pay the trillions of dollars for all those "cool" toys that you see on the army commercials.

Besides that, thousands of people our age are putting their lives on the line every day. Our presence in Iraq costs billions of dollars, and I'm not seeing the ROI (that's "return on investment" for you non-business majors) or the real reason that people are dying everyday.

So now you're bummed and you might be thinking you need to drink heavily after reading this stuff. Well yeah, I feel you.

If your parents thought there was an oil crisis in the 1970s, just wait. In case you didn't realize, crude oil is a non-renewable resource. That means that when it's gone, that's it, no more. Though oil is cheaper right now, don't think for a minute that a minor glitch couldn't send the price right back to $70 a barrel. Speaking of money, let me get into the vanity issue real quick. Something is wrong when things like Louis Vuitton purses are regular objects around campus, whether they are real or not.

Ever watch "Laguna Beach"? I can't make it through an episode because it sickens me, but that show - and Hollywood - in general are fueling a major problem. Everyone is trying to keep up with the Joneses who, in case you didn't know, are all those celebrities you see on TV.

There is a reason they are a little different than the rest of society. One is that they make millions of dollars every year, and two is that people worship them for some reason. We have become a money-hungry society and in so many ways have lost our humanity for it. I realize that now, after I have traveled and lived in societies where money is not the No. 1 priority.

So maybe you disagree with some of this stuff, but hopefully it opens your eyes to what is going on around you. Actions always have reactions, and sometimes these reactions can be a very bad thing, especially if the action wasn't well intentioned to begin with.

Although the issues that we face make it seem as if hope should be lost, nothing is set in stone. It takes fresh thinking and new ideas to enact change; that is the very essence of change. Each person can make a little effort, and all of a sudden a big effort exists.

It will be the job of our generation to shape the outcome of society and nature for perhaps centuries to come. Many important issues hinge on decisions that we as a generation of people make. We can either reverse the damage that has occurred or let it fester.

We must remember change is not necessarily a bad thing, and it is better to change for the good of everything sooner rather than later.

Media should cover 9/11 as more than 'unfortunate'

Student Opinion

I ask that Americans listen to the way Sept. 11 is reported in news outlets.

Listen carefully to the verbiage and vocabulary that reporters and politicians use when describing the events. It is undoubtedly reported as "unfortunate," as if the reporters, with their fancy degrees from Harvard and Yale, do not have a more vast vocabulary to describe the horrific events that took place.

Synonyms for unfortunate include unlucky, adverse, inopportune, regrettable, ill-timed and awkward, all of which describe an event more akin to someone's car being broken into and less describing the attacking of innocent civilians on our soil.

Being the lowly, uneducated Southerner I am, even I could think of a handful of words that would better describe the events that happened on that day. Some more appropriate ones might be: ghastly, appalling, immoral, wicked, unimaginable, horrendous, unspeakable, irreversible and a dozen other words I can't recall or don't know due to my mediocre vocabulary.

If someone were to speak nonchalantly of the raping of a young child, there would be an outcry from all sorts of activist groups arguing that this event is catastrophic and shouldn't be dismissed as anything less.

Why would reporters and politicians obviously be trying to desensitize this issue? My thoughts are that reporters and politicians do not want Muslims in the United States to be ostracized, and they want to soften the events to orchestrate a movement against the war on terror so they wouldn't be seen as unpatriotic.

I think that it would be wrong for Americans to operate under the assumption that all Muslims want to blow up buildings, but make no mistake that it was indeed radical Muslims that crashed those planes into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and intended to hit the White House.

If it were another radical group, we would be using strong language and carefully watching all known members of that group so this could be prevented in the future. Instead, we are avoiding the use of words that would appear "inflammatory," so Americans would somehow forget who did these unspeakable acts.

Unfortunate is almost always used when one or both of these two groups are speaking lies about the American reaction to 9/11.

You will hear them say that 9/11 was an unfortunate event, but we do not belong in Iraq. Sept. 11 was an unfortunate event, but we need to limit our scope of pursuing terrorists. Sept. 11 was an unfortunate attack, but that does not mean we should take away civil liberties of American citizens. Sept. 11 was unfortunate, but terrorists deserve the rights given to them by the Geneva Convention.

We do belong in Iraq, we do not need to limit the scope of the war on terror to target only bin Laden, and we are not taking away any Americans civil liberties.

There is evidence that Iraq and Saddam Hussein had relations with Al Qaeda, and Iraq was listed as a threat to the world by the United Nations in resolution #1441.

Bin Laden is not the only terrorist enemy that the United States has.

There are no documented cases in which any American has been illegally wire tapped under the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. act.

The Geneva Convention makes special exception to enemies that do not fight under the rules stated for warfare, also known as terrorists (Saddam Hussein).

It states that terrorists have no rights under the Geneva Convention and can be handled as seen fit.

The reason for saying "unfortunate" in the same sentence as "but" is to undermine the war effort and gain political power.

Politicians and reporters assume that Americans are dumb, lazy and illiterate, and we will take their words as fact and can not or will not research the facts for ourselves. This assumption is a mistake, because it simply is not true.

When listening to politicians and reporters speaking on the subject of 9/11, listen to their choice of words. If they use "unfortunate," let them know you are outraged. We have the power, as citizens of this great land, to take these people out of office and to put these media outlets out of business.

We give them power to legislate and operate a business, remember we can take it away. If you hear a politician say "unfortunate" when describing 9/11, don't vote for them. If you hear a reporter say "unfortunate" when describing 9/11, change the channel.

You have the power as Americans to change the way your country is being run and who runs it. Condemn these people for speaking so carefree about these horrible attacks. Do not be a spectator. Remember, if we give power to politicians and the media, they will never give it back..

Pay More, Learn Less

A report titled "The Coming Crisis in Citizenship" from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and conducted by the University of Connecticut's Department of Public Policy, is the first to ask whether our institutions of higher education are preparing students for lives as educated and involved citizens of a republic. Researchers asked 14,000 randomly selected college freshmen and seniors multiple-choice questions about America's history, government, foreign relations and economy.

The report paints a bleak picture. It found that many of our best-known colleges are failing their students. On average,, seniors scored just 1.5 percent better than freshmen did and their scores averaged the failing grade of 53.2 percent.

Even worse, "at many schools, seniors know less than freshman about America's history, government, foreign affairs and economy," the study found. Many students are actually regressing while on campus.

Plus, in higher education you don't necessarily get what you pay for. "Students at relatively inexpensive colleges often learn more, on average, than their counterparts at expensive colleges," the report says.

ISI found that Rhodes College does the best job teaching about American citizenship. Seniors there answered 11.6 percent more questions correctly than freshmen did. Colorado State was No. 2, with a 10.9 percent gain. Meanwhile, students at many supposedly top-flight schools seem to lose knowledge while on campus. At Berkeley (49th on the list) seniors scored 5.6 percent worse than freshmen, and at Johns Hopkins (dead last) they were 7.3 percent worse.

Overall, of 50 schools surveyed, students regressed at 16 of them. Seniors there "apparently either forgot what is known by their freshman peers or, more ominously, were mistaught by their professors."

All of this matters because the study also found that young adults who understand American history and institutions are more likely to vote, volunteer for community service and join political campaigns. Thus, if we want the young people of today to become the leaders of tomorrow, we'll need to change our approach to civic education.

Those who don't know history, it's said, are doomed to repeat it. We need to make sure today's young adults learn about America's great history, so they can not only avoid its mistakes, but emulate its successes, and make the events to come even better than our past.

KDistributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE

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DISCOURSE

Have Halloween fun, not fiasco

Editorial

Kudos to funding Coastal Biology flagship

Editorial

Zan on the soapbox

Student Opinion

Media should cover 9/11 as more than 'unfortunate'

Student Opinion

Pay More, Learn Less

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