SG holdups as inevitable as changing seasons

Editorial

As the season changes, with leaves dropping from branches and warm winds replaced by ice-fanged nor'easters, we are reminded of life's inevitable cycles.

The young become old, new blue jeans become faded and torn, and another Student Government promise goes unfulfilled.

The new Osprey ID cards, complete with debit card functions and transferable balances, were supposed to have been released sometime in November 2007.

The release date was recently pushed back until the summer of 2008.

This latest delay might initially make SG seem content to make promises based on hearsay and rumor, instead of gathering facts to make a reliable estimation for promise fulfillment.

However, as a recent letter to the editor pointed out, it isn't SG's fault they can't fulfill their promises; after all, they are basing them in large part on what they are told by administrators.

Furthermore, it's possible that this latest delay is actually a positive one for the university community.

If the normal chain of events involves delays, then couldn't this delay exist solely for consistency's sake?

Imagine, if you will, a world where not only SG promises are fulfilled, but every promise imaginable comes true. That raise the boss promised would appear on your next paycheck, the landlord would finally fix that busted sink, Fox News would broadcast fair and balanced news, and our federal government representatives would accomplish all the campaign promises they ran on.

What a terribly boring world it would be.

Delays are an inevitable process within the body politic.

Like the smokestack of a locomotive, they can be spotted almost immediately after a promise has departed the loading dock of a senator's mouth.

But the fun and excitement comes when the delays turn out to be amirage, and the promise arrives at its final location, on time and fully intact.

Aside from the shock and awe variable of a promise fulfilled on time, another upside to the constant postponement in SG is its ability to prepare students for true-to-life politics.

Senators and other purse string holders provide a service to students and faculty alike.

The small delays and bumps in the senate road help set us all up for the world of hurry-up-and-wait politics that awaits us outside of college.

After all, a half-year delay in ID cards pales in comparison to the Democrats inability to turn the tide in a war they were elected to put a chokehold on.

So the next time you see a student senator, instead of berating them for failing to accomplish campaign goals, stop and shake their hand.

And don't forget to thank them for preparing an interesting microcosm of Capitol Hill politics right here on campus.

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UPD continues to keep university safe, crime rates low

Editorial

The University of North Florida community has witnessed two serious crimes over the course of the fall semester.

A group of students were held up at knife point by suspects claiming to be working with UPD. Since this incident, a resident of the Crossings reported he was robbed by gun-wielding assailants.

Outside of these isolated occurrences, the average severity of crimes committed on campus skews toward the lower side.

The closest UNF students will get to the criminal element is by sitting in on a Law and Justice lecture class.

This relative distance from dangerous on-campus occurrences can be attributed to the hard work of the UPD.

Despite being stationed in a homicide-friendly town like Jacksonville, the UNF campus has been astonishingly devoid of violent crime.

UNF might have the lowest crime rate of any Florida public school, but UPD Chief Mark Foxworth hasn't become complacent.

His department has been busy teaching officers the most up-to-date police techniques and undergoing advanced training.

The university even has a system in place to safeguard against an attack similar to the Virginia Tech shooting.

When nationally broadcast tragedies strike, UPD is quick to alter university protocol to insure future campus safety.

After the VT Shooting, the department immediately began to fine-tune emergency plans so the campus would be best prepared to prevent and defend future possible tragedies.

Officers received their training from the best departments available in the area.

UPD has been trained by Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Bomb Squad to be prepared for incidents ranging from false bomb threats to terrorist attacks. JSO has a mutual aid agreement with UPD to respond and assist in case of emergency.

The department is also able to communicate with every law enforcement agency in the area via radio.

While UNF might be lacking in the quantity of police reports, we surely make up for that in quality. Since the campus is a relatively safe place to roam, the exploits of a few ingenious delinquents often take center stage in the Spinnaker's Police Beat.

The section has featured umbrella thefts, felonious fake IDs, Gandhi's stolen spectacles and "Devil" sightings within the last semester.

While there have been a number of mundane offenses like parking decal thefts and underage drinking, the community has been regaled with stories of hidden treasure troves of Natural Light, drunken fisticuffs and severe injuries resulting from ill-fated mooning attempts.

Thanks to the hard work of UPD officers, UNF students have little to fear when traversing campus.

Based on this semester's police reports, the most dangerous activity at UNF is pressing your rear against a second-floor window.

We'd like it to stay that way.

See Police Beat Hall of fame
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Football might be far off; support teams we already have

Staffer Opinion

By Ross Brooks
FEATURES EDITOR

In four years, I've resigned myself to a few truths about the University of North Florida. Chief among these is that I will never see the day when the mighty osprey will be stenciled onto the glittered plastic of a football helmet.

It's a slightly depressing realization, and ultimately one I could only come to terms with during my final months at UNF.

However, the sadness and regret I otherwise might be feeling has been replaced by an epiphany: With no football, the door is left wide open for another sport to become king at UNF.

There is no clear favorite among the Division I sports at UNF.

As a matter of fact, the only thing that's clear is students' general lack of enthusiasm when it comes to any sporting event.

In the men's basketball season opener against Edward Waters College, I saw more parents in the stands than students, and there were still less than 500 people, total.

No one had painted faces, hardly anyone cheered, and the EWC fans made more noise than the home team.

Where is the sense of belonging to a school community, where students turn out to support their school not because it's going to win a national title, but simply because it's their school?

Had anyone attended the game, they would have seen a great contest where UNF came from behind to win in the second overtime.

Even the meager numbers at the basketball home opener would have been welcome at the last volleyball game.

In the final game of the season, which also happened to be a River City Rumble game, the stands were once again inhabited more by visiting fans than the Osprey faithful.

The only balancing factor was that it happened to be senior night, so parents made up half of the UNF crowd.

Our sports teams are nowhere near the top of the national charts, but a football team wouldn't change that.

If anything, a football team could only add to the list of teams ending the season with losing records.

The answer to our campus' sports woes is not better recruiting or coaching - although a good helping of both couldn't hurt.

As a school and community, we all need to come together to back our sports teams.

Plenty of schools across the nation have abysmal football teams: Duke University, the University of North Carolina and Kentucky University, to name a few.

However, what these schools lack in football prowess they more than make up for in basketball fanaticism. The Duke crazies are known for their stadium-wide taunts, offensive chants, and generally insane attitude about all things basketball.

While the Osprey basketball team isn't anywhere near Duke's status, it has started the season off on the right foot.

The players have played some tough teams - not to mention the University of Florida - and while crowd presence might not be the deciding factor, it could certainly help.

Instead of pining for a football team that's as likely to come to UNF as a sensible parking scheme, let's come together as a student body to support the teams we have.

Contact Ross Brooks at features@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE

Politicians should deal with threats, not just make rosy promises

Staff Opinion

By Joey Clements
SENIOR, COMMUNICATIONS

During a Pentagon meeting on nuclear nonproliferation last week, an Army general altered my view about national security and the 2008 presidential election.

The general was asked what he deemed to be the greatest security failure of the current administration. The general's answer did not regard Iraq, Osama bin Laden, Afghanistan, airport security or Iran.

He simply said, "The government has failed to prepare the American people for an inevitable WMD [weapons of mass destruction] attack." An attack the middle-age general believed would happen in our lifetime.

Huh? I thought WMDs were old hat - something the "Bushies" used to spook the public like a boogie monster under the bed. The threat of WMDs is the subject of hilarious jokes by Jon Stuart and ridicule by Keith Olbermann, not a voting issue. Since 2004, pop culture and opinion have told us WMDs are figments of Dick Cheney's diabolical imagination.

Sure enough, the sparsely covered news of a seizure of one pound of weapons-grade uranium powder in Slovakia confirmed the general's statement. Three Eastern European men were about to sell the dirty bomb material for $1 million. Apparently, someone with money and plans really wanted to buy the stuff.

Now we are left wondering which presidential candidate can save us from the next American tragedy. Every candidate seems to have a slightly different strategy to protect our country.

Barack Obama will speak articulately and charm renegade states through dialogue. Hillary Clinton will look austere and send envoys. Ron Paul will erect a fence and boot illegals. Rudy Giuliani will remind the terrorists that he prosecuted the mob. All the pundits, however, agree Iraq is the deciding 2008 security factor.

After poring over the Iraq question, I came to the stark realization that the war matters little to security at home. Iraq is a lot like unprotected sex: Pulling out does not make it safe, and staying in increases the risk of spawning something unintended.

Beyond that, even a perfect solution to the war will do little to enhance domestic security. Iraq, as insiders know, is only one minor beef the terrorist have with America.

The extremists believe - perhaps somewhat rightfully - that America is full of irreverent, buy-it-on-credit, conspicuously consuming reprobates. They are also furious about our bases in Saudi Arabia, support for Israel, and general unwillingness to promote the establishment of a caliphate from Spain to Indonesia.

No matter whom we elect in 2008, several million people in the Islamic world will still want our blood. The terrorists will continue to plan attacks, and we might foil 99.9 percent of those plots. Unfortunately, 0.1 percent of those schemes will result in catastrophe.

Our presidential hopefuls believe leadership is about promising that everything will be OK every day of their term. Americans should, however, be seeking the candidate they most want to raise the flag above the rubble.

I'm not saying we should cease trying to prevent terrorism. Our nation's policy priority should be stopping the bin Ladens of the world from striking.

The horrible fact still remains: No policy and no party completely eliminates the threat of terrorism on United States soil.

In 2008, we might well be deciding what our path will be from the next Ground Zero.

Contact Joey Clements at discourse@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE

Hey media: Less celebrity, more reality in my daily news, please

Staffer Opinion

By Laurel Wright
ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR

The agenda setting theory states whatever the media chooses to report is what the public will be concerned about, and lately what the media has been reporting is pretty lame.

I read more headlines about Britney Spears' latest custody dispute than I read about the deaths associated with gang violence in our cities.

I see more articles about Hillary Clinton's wardrobe choice than the AIDS epidemic in Africa. The latest celebrity scandal receives more play than human trafficking rings.

And you know what everyone is talking about? Britney's kids, Hillary's clothes and celebrity scandals.

Media outlets act as though the issues that affect our lives pale in comparison to the problems facing our favorite pop princess.

Who cares what happens in Africa as long as Hillary is well-dressed?

It should be the other way around. The media has the ability to mold lives and opinions based on what it reports. Why are we being influenced to care about insignificant news? The media needs to be addressing the issues crucial to our world.

The media defends their decisions to report trivial news by saying it's what people want to read.

It's time to realize that giving people what they want and what they need must become better balanced to ensure that society has adequate information to address important issues effectively.

While the media can't force the public to care about events that affect our world, they can encourage people to become informed. It is the media's responsibility to provide information to educate the public.

Our Founding Fathers ratified the First Amendment, freedom of the press, to ensure the public has the information it needs to make accurate decisions. I doubt the founders had any intention for us to use the First Amendment as an excuse to dig into the latest Hollywood rumor.

It's time the media reevaluates their values. Instead of leaving us searching for more information on important topics, try leaving us wondering how Britney is doing. We might be frustrated, but at least we'll know what's going on in the world.

Contact Laurel Wright at discourse@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE