0 The Daily Collegian ;11 Keeping close watch Coup in Pakistan must be closely watched for proliferation 'o the past, it would have been another coup d'etat in a coun on the other side of the world : 1,, 1 1)0 one would take much !‘ , tice of. 1 11 1999, however, a military Iceover in Pakistan must be Htched very closely by the inter ional community. :'hanks to the wonders of t!,:clear proliferation, the coup O.; tt took place in Pakistan last ek caused the world to stop and •!se art eyebrow. With both Pak an and India possessing aeons of mass destruction, as 11 as a vast hatred for each ‘. Her, the takeover escalated s of a subcontinental nuclear since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two nations have come closer nuclear war than Pakistan and have in the past few years. appeared they were heading in direction again this summer fighting broke out over the iputed Kashmir region. Then last week, the government Islamabad fell into the hands of Pakistani general who led Many of the military maneuvers !)ng the Line of Control (LOC) in I.psbmir this summer. The world t , :lred the worst. ortunately, tensions are calm- Hg. Pakistan's new leader, Gen. !)t‘rvez Musharraf, has begun polling troops from most parts of he Indian border (but not the T.( )C). He has promised to restore i , ,lnocracy in the near future. Still, Musharraf's promises , YList not be accepted as fact until - bout the Board of Opinion: ilorials are written by The Daily Collegian Board of Opinion. The members of How d ot Opinion are: Chris Antonacci, Beth Baumgardner, Stacey Confer, IY Dailey, David Edelson, Cheryl Frankenfield, Aimee Harris, Don Stewart, Sample, Patricia Tisak and Matt Wunsche. itiley Collegian Wednesday, Oct. 20, 1999 c 1999 Collegian Inc. Editor in Chief Stacey Confer Business Manager Laura Trovato ce D2 , [ 1 , ,, Collegian's editorial opinion is deter ed by its Board of Opinion, with the editor 'iolding final responsibility. Opinions ovoressed on the editorial pages are not nec essarily those of The Daily Collegian. Colle gian Inc The Pennsylvania State University. Collegian Inc publishers of The Daily Colle gian and related publications. is a separate •:;crate institution from Penn State. Rejection of former U.S. senator, during the con firmation proceedings of an African-American judge, remarked, Does one make the judgment on the basis 1 his individuality or his race? Does one ote against him because of his record or or him because, as Maya Angelou has :aid. 'he has been poor, has been nearly utfocated by the acrid odor of racial dis- Timination, is intelligent, well trained, 'lack and young enough to he won over Mr. President, I believe individuali is more determinative than race." On Oct. 5, the Senate voted to reject the _onf irmation of Ronnie White to the fed :ral bench. He happens to be the first udicial nominee of the Clinton Adminis ,ration to he rejected by the full Senate. It also happens to he that Ronnie White is )lacl: He is the first African-Amer'can wrist on the Missouri Supreme Court and s xvell qualified to be a district judve. The Xhite House immediately attacked the senate as racist and called the vote a "dis 2raceful act of partisan politics." Almost very attack from the White House these Jays uses the term "partisan politics," as rhough politics has ever been anything Ise. ftipled with the claims of racism on the Ponnie White vote, the White House nd the Democrats accused the Republi :in-: of holding up the confirmations of he acts upon those promises. With millions of civilian lives hanging in the balance, the United States and the rest of the interna tional community must keep a very close eye on the subconti nent. Tensions have eased somewhat, but the potential for widespread destruction and annihilation is still there. The United States and several other nations have threatened economic sanctions on Pakistan if democracy isn't restored. That's a good start, but the international community must pressure the new government to end its hostilities with India. No, troops and warplanes shouldn't be sent into the region. Not yet, anyway. The new Pak istani regime deserves a chance to prove it isn't bent on destroying its neighbor. But if the threat of nuclear war should arise, then the internation al community must act in whatev er way it can to prevent wide spread carnage. For now, though, the United States and the rest of the world need to act like a night club bouncer. They should stand at a distance with a stern face, arms crossed, watching closely for a fight to break out as India and Pakistan sit at the bar. Most likely, nothing will happen But if it looks like it's about to get a little ugly, the international community should rush in and break it up before things get out of hand. Complaints: News and editorial complaints should be presented to the editor. Business and advertising complaints should be presented to the business manager. If a complaint is not satisfactorily resolved some grievances may be filed with the Accuracy and Fair Play Committee of Collegian Inc Information on grievances is available from Gerry Lynn Harrill- on. executive secretary. Collegian Inc Letters Policy: The Daily Collegian encourages comments on news coverage, editorial policy and university affairs. Letters must be typewritten, double spaced and no longer than 400 words. Students' let ters should include semester standing, major and campus of the writer. Letters from alumni should Include the major and year of graduation of the writer All writers should provide their address and phone number for verification of the letter. Letters should be signed by no more than two people. Names may be withheld on request. Members and officers of organizations must include their titles if the topic they write about is connected with the aim of their organization. minority and female nominees to federal judge positions. There are 45 nominees awaiting confirmation by the Senate, and statistically women and minority judges wait longer than white men to be con- firmed. Clinton commented at the annual meeting of the national Hispanic Leader ship Conference that he was "deeply dis satisfied with the Senate's partisan han dling of some of my minority nominees." The Ronnie White rejection was more ammunition for the Democrats who believe minorities and women are being discriminated against. And as always, they had a lot of colorful (no pun intend ed) things to say on the matter. Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) went as far as to say, "This vote tells minority judicial candidates 'do not apply.' " Sen. Patrick Opinions icial candidate not necessari OnF c". "C 1999 14,40 131 Points against Ga. built on assumptions Adam Drake was right in his Friday let ter to the editor; two wrongs don't make a right. However, his argument against affirmative action was built on faulty assumptions. Why is it that whenever someone attacks affirmative action, they portray this intel ligent white (male) student who was denied admission to the college of his choice because some inadequately pre pared African-American student was allot ted his spot. Affirmative action does not place people who are not qualified into positions; it seeks to ensure that qualified people of color and women will not be denied a posi tion because of their race or gender. Penn State does have programs that help students who come from educationally dis advantaged areas prepare for the rigors of post-secondary education and these pro grams are not solely affirmative action programs. They typically serve low income and/or first-generation college stu dents. These programs help serve white students as well as students of color. So, please understand a program's true mission, not the rumors that surround it, before you judge it. Affirmative action helps qualified people get the jobs the qualify for. To counter an argument that is forming in some people's minds: Yes, an employer would not hire a qualified indi vidual simply on the bases of the individu als skin tone or gender. If you don't believe me, read a history book; they are full of examples. Let's not attack a program that seeks to correct the prejudices of our ancestors. If you don't like the way in which it changes the system, then find a better solution, or better yet, help to end the problem so we won't need the programs anymore. Kizzy Frey senior-special education Police, staff need to do jobs at stadium This is in response to the Friday article about police strengthening security at Beaver Stadium during football games. If officers were supposed to be present to crack down on scalping and cup-throwing, then they may as well stick to their forte parking meter patrol. Scalpers were at their prime outside the stadium, and cup-throwing seemed to be at a season high within the stadium. "The Ronnie White rejection was more ammunition for the Democrats who believe minorities and women are being discriminated against." Leahy (D-Vt.) said he hoped "the United States has not reverted to a time in its his tory when there was a color test on nomi nations." Presidential candidate Bill Bradley said in a press release, "this vote unfortunately calls into question the true motives of those who oppose Ronnie White." It was full of references to racial discrimination and the plight of African Americans. The Democrats all but said that Orrin Hatch was burning crosses at Ronnie White's house the night before the vote. Republicans countered that White's record on the death penalty was the rea son, citing various law enforcement agen cies that couldn't support White because he was "soft on crime." Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) reminded everyone that the Senate had already con firmed 21 judiciary nominees including four women, one black, four Hispanics and a guy named Stefan since the begin ning of this year. Both sides used words such as "outrage" and "out of order" (and I even heard the overused, but fun to say IMEMP AVING PRIVATE BUCK-IANAN. Perhaps an officer or event staff needs to be showered by a Pepsi before he or she will come to life. Speaking of event staff, it seems that these folks seem to all but disappear once the fans have been seated. There are cer tainly plenty out and about to check my ticket for the correct seating, but once we've all been seated, they're gone. I rarely see another staff member picking out the cup-throwers. If these staff members were doing what they are said to be doing, identifying to the police those persons throwing objects, then there is no doubt in my mind that watching Penn State football from the stu dent section would be a much more pleas ant (and less sticky) experience. Vouchers would break separation In Monday's column, "Separation of church and state invalid in voucher issue," Imtiaz Chaudhry argues that the separa tion of church and state central to Ameri can government has no bearing on the issue of whether the government should provide vouchers for families. Chaudhry asserts that, in a separation of church and state, the state simply cannot favor one religion over another, but reli gion doesn't have to be eliminated from public life. The great fallacy in his argument is that he completely overlooks the fact that many private schools support one religion strongly over other religions, and that reli gion is often Christianity (usually Catholi cism). I have no problem with the Catholic religion, but the government has no busi ness supporting it financially! Chaudhry also says that the opponents of school vouchers believe that the separa tion of church and state means no religion in public, that religion is personal and should be practiced personally. This is plain wrong. For those of us who choose to practice a public and organized religion, the First Amendment protects our right to do so. The separation of church and state has absolutely nothing to do with how public religion is. It is merely an assurance (a very important one) that the government may not support any one reli gion over another. Third, the column states that religion is already central to public education. Chaudhry mentions that during the Gulf War, his elementary school teacher explained the importance of the American soldiers' fight to protect democracy and "impugned." Say it out loudly) It all made me think about what ever happened to the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. and the day when we would all be judged by content of our character as opposed to the color of our skin. Instead Washington, D.C., has chosen to polarize the races by using the color of one's skin to further its political agenda. It's the per fect scam. One side calls into question an issue with a nominee and the other side cries racism. And I didn't have to look too far back in the congressional record for evidence of this little game. In 1991, Daschle and Leahy voted against the nomination of Clarence Thomas. In fact, a lot of Democrats who are so easy to cry racism now voted against Clarence Thomas. They said it was because of his ideology. On Oct. 4 1991, Daschle cited concerns that Judge Thomas' judicial philosophy was "outside the mainstream." Then-Sen. Bill Bradley questioned then-President George Bush's motives for appointing a black conserva tive judge with anti-affirmative action Bill Simon sophomore-computer engineering Wednesday, Oct. 20, 1999 .. lii i„ P ; •fy dk 4 , Emma liberty, and all the students made yellow ribbons to hang outside. But this is not reli gion! He even argues that telling someone not to impose their morality in you is, in fact, imposing your morality on them. But this is about morality, not religion, and there are some ideals that American government is based on. I see a very clear distinction between teaching peace, liberty, love, compassion, cooperation, democracy, free speech and tolerance vs. teaching specific religious ideology. The separation of church and state ( which Chaudhry calls "self-defeating - protects individuals' rights by preventing the government from supporting a specific religion, hut has nothing to do with the pro motion of morals and ideals central to American democracy (and central to human society and all religions). Dev Thakur freshman-premedicine Irresponsible drinking disgusts student Irresponsible drinking is a disgusting thing. This weekend I saw countless acts of those who could not control themselves due to one thing alcohol. Now before you think I am some sober lunatic let me say that I do drink, but I do it responsibly. I love the grandpa's cough medicine as much as the next guy, hut there is no rea son why it should control yuur actions. I don't care how old you are or where and what you are doing when you drink, but when you can't handle yourself it is sickening. One guy I saw this weekend strolled into my bathroom with vomit all over himself and asked me if he could use the sink. He then walked out and spews all over the hall. He then falls down, tells me he is on antibiotics, and passes out. This idiot is absolutely serious, what kind of fool does this? How fun can that be, being completely out of control of your actions? It really makes me wonder how many students here are actually like this. Irre sponsible drinking is something that really needs to he curbed here because it defi nitely is a problem. One group that I feel has taken steps to address this problem are the greeks. who at recent meetings have passed numerous initiatives to limit irresponsible drinking and I feel should be commended. Chad Stevens sophomore-environmental resource management views. And then Anita Hill showed up and there was much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Talk of a pubic hair on a soda can almost cost a man a position on the Supreme Court, long before the days of a certain semen-stained dress actually made a president more popular. The Sen ate was enraged that the debate be shifted to one of race by remarks by Thomas that it was a "high-tech lynching of uppity blacks." And many a senator was impugned. When it's all said and done, the Senate's job is to ensure that the president nomi nates qualified candidates. Rejecting a judge on a single issue is just as unfair as crying racism in a crowded Senate cham ber. Washington, D.C., would he wise to heed the words of the senator I quoted in my opening paragraph. Individual merit is more important than race. In the upcoming months, will the politi cians continue to use minorities to push their own agendas and win votes, or will they focus on the real issues? Bill Bradley should especially heed those ex-senator's words. Being that he's the ex-senator who said them eight years ago. Greg Bock is a junior majoring in psychol ogy, and a Collegian columnist. His e-mail address is gabock@hotmail.com. ly racial
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