Presenting today's news
OCT. 7, 1997
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By Kara Shire, State Press
A 26-year-old engineering student died Monday morning when his bicycle collided with a FLASH bus in front of the Classroom Office Building on Orange Street.
The accident occurred about 10:30 a.m. The bicyclist, Jiang Aiqing, was pronounced dead at 11:14 a.m. at Scottsdale Memorial Hospital.
ASU Police Chief Lanny Standridge said he was able to notify the victim's mother and brother in China late in the afternoon.
Witnesses told police the cyclist rode off the sidewalk into the street and collided with the bus.
There is no indication that the bus driver, Jerry Lee Raiford of Valley Coach Co., was at fault in the accident, Standridge said.
"I'm not ready to place any blame on the rider either," he added. "When you have a lot of congestion and you factor in the human aspects in the movement in that area, it's extremely difficult to identify individual failures."
Standridge said most students recognize the area where the accident occurred, Orange Street, between McAllister Ave and Normal Street, as a choke point on campus.
The accident will focus more attention on campus safety, he said.
"Whenever we have an accident, especially one this serious, a lot of people will be looking into it," Standridge said. "We really need to take a good, hard look at safety on campus."
This is the first transit-related fatality on campus, said Linda Riegel, assitant director of parking and transit. She added that a blood alcohol test will be administered to the driver, as is done in all accidents.
Witness Elijah Williams, a senior civil engineering student, said he was next to the victim when the accident happened.
Williams said that as the bus began a turn, it hit the bicycle's handlebars, throwing the student off the bike and underneath the bus. The back tire of the bus then passed over the fallen victim's head, he said.
"I ran up to the door (of the bus) and I said, 'Call 911! You just hit somebody,'" Williams said. "(The driver) seemed kind of dazed, like he was in shock.
"It was just kind of shocking. It was so fast. Here's a guy riding to class and it took all of a second."
Denis de Silva, a junior business student, was also at the scene of the accident.
"I was at the ATM at the bookstore when I heard people calling for 911," de Silva said. "I went to see what happened and the kid was lying on the street. There was somebody holding his hand, but you could tell that he wasn't alive."
Ashley Kuersten, a senior exercise science student, said she and another nursing student tried to revive the accident victim.
"We just turned him over so we could start CPR," she said. "There was no pulse."
Valley Coach refused to release any information on the accident or driver.
Stanley Iwai, associate director and chief psychologist for counseling and consultation, said people who witnessed the accident may have nightmares, anxiety and sleeplessness.
"As is typical in this situation, the students were quite upset, having seen something like this happen to a human being," Iwai said.
Counseling and Consultation sent a team of counselors to the accident scene to help witnesses.
Standridge said anyone else who witnessed the accident should call police.
State Press Reporter Chris Passamano contributed to this article.
By Chris Passamano, State Press
Motorola donated $11 million to ASU's Manufacturing Institute and Community Outreach Program on Monday.
It was the largest gift in the University's history.
"The centerpiece (of the pledge) is for the Manufacturing Institute," said Milton Glick, senior vice president and provost.
The Manufacturing Institute, a joint effort between the College of Business and the College of Engineering, will receive $9 million. The other $2 million will go to the Community Outreach Program.
The cornerstone of the gift will be a $2 million endowment to the University for recruitment of a chair for the department, said Vicky Smith-Daniels, co-director of ASU's Manufacturing Institute.
"We are going out to recruit a recognized leader in research and education to be the chair," Smith-Daniels said. "The person will then be paid by the interest accumulated on the $2 million endowment. This is Motorola's way of making a long term investment."
This is not the first time that Motorola has made a contribution to ASU, Glick said.
"Motorola has been a godfather to the College of Engineering for 30 years," he said. "Motorola has worked to help ASU establish engineering and has always been supportive of the University."
Some other uses for the $9 million to the Institute include funding fellowships, scholarships and internships for engineering and business students, Smith-Daniels said.
There also will be work done to create a "virtual" manufacturing environment, which is an environment to collaborate on manufacturing issues.
Also, the money will fund a new teaching facility at ASU East that will help train people in a facility-type environment, Smith Daniels said.
The donation is Motorola's way of investing in the future, said Joe Gacioch, manager of media relations at Motorola.
"We have been exploring with Motorola to help ASU go to the next level in engineering and investing in the community," Glick said.
ASU President Lattie Coor said the University was proud to build on the growing partnership between ASU and Motorola. He also said ASU is proud to serve as a training ground for future engineers and Motorola employees.
By Sharan K. Gill, State Press
Increased enrollment at ASU this fall forced many of the colleges on campus to hire additional teaching assistants and open more class sections.
The 1,000 student increase in the freshman class affected mostly the general education classes in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Gerry Corey, assistant dean for academic programs in the CLAS said, "We have some rules in effect that are absolutes. The classes that will require giving students individual attention are capped off at a certain number and no overrides are accepted."
Each freshman English class is capped at 25 students and foreign languages have a 28-student maximum. Science lectures, which tend to have 200 to 400 students, have breakout lab sections that are capped at 24 students.
"One doesn't just hire more professors in a case like this," said Corey. "There are many levels of educators, from faculty associates to teaching assistants. We had to scramble this summer to hire more T.A.'s for the breakout sessions."
Duane Roen, director of english composition, said, "We had to add sections, teachers and space to keep the cap because I firmly believe teachers cannot do a good job if the class capacity is exceeded."
The T.A.'s who teach the breakout literature sections are graduate students who get thorough training for two weeks in August and attend ongoing workshops in the fall and spring semesters, he said.
The biggest increase was in the English 101 classes. This fall, 139 sections were opened compared to 114 sections last fall.
Rosemary Renaut, chair of the mathematics department, said the department was allotted money from the provost's office to add 26 math sections and hire six additional instructors on one-year appointments.
"We had to do an entire reorganization of the schedule because we had to add classes and move people around to accommodate for the instructors," she said.
In spite of the extra instructors, class sizes were still increased. One calculus class was bumped up from 30 to 35 students, and another went from 70 to 100 students, Renaut said.
"We saw dramatic increases in Brief Calculus this year and we have not been able to get that class size number down," she said. "We also could only increase classes that were in large classrooms."
Ted Humphrey, dean of the honors college, said his department also has had to hire additional instructors.
"The additional students affected us substantially and we tried to accommodate them by adding sections, but we still ended up having to bump up class sizes from 18 to 20 students," he said.
Most colleges that have professional programs did not see much of a difference in enrollment this year because freshman must complete required general courses before applying, said Kay Ferris, assistant dean of the college of business.
"For the first time, there was no room left in Economics 111 and we couldn't add extra sections or give any overrides," she said. "But pre-business students have to take both Economics 111 and 112, so those that didn't get into 111 could have taken 112."
Marilyn Hart, coordinator of academic administration for the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, said they have not had a problem. Students in the CEAS take a majority of their core courses in their junior and senior year.
By Ginger Scott, State Press
Thirteen campus departments are collaborating to promote respect and diversity in the first annual Respect Month, a collage of awareness issues.
"October is the month for rape-prevention awareness, domestic violence, alcohol awareness and National Coming Out week," said Freddy Roman, Respect Month co-chair from the Student Health Center. "We (the representatives from the different departments) thought we could combine them all together, because the basic issue is respect."
October 6-10 is Gender Communication Week, which will include programs ranging from male and female relationship issues to National Coming Out Day on Oct. 10. Sexual Respect Week is Oct. 13-17 and will include programs on rape awareness. October 20-24 is Multicultural Week and Oct. 20-30 is Alcohol Awareness Week .
Jesús Treviño, director of Intergroup Relations in Student Life, said it made sense to cooperate with all of the other departments to form Respect Month.
"From a practical perspective, we collaborated to maximize our resources on campus," he said. "Philosophically, we did it to see the commonalities of the different groups on campus. I think when you put something big together like this, it highlights it."
Respect Month is sponsored by several different departments on campus and is run by student and faculty volunteers.
Dale Noonkester, co-president of the Rape Awareness Prevention and Education Organization, said approximately 50 student volunteers are involved with the different Respect Month programs.
Funding comes from the different departments' budgets. Each department pays for the expenses of its own programs.
"We are trying to work on whatever each department can afford," Roman said.
She said she would like to see the program continue next year and hopes to be able to apply for a grant for future Respect Months.
"This is an important project, because these issues all have to do with diversity," Treviño said. "It teaches students how to have basic respect for each other."
By Stacy Mann, State Press
Written in an elementary school 20 years ago, a textbook by an ASU professor took home a national award this summer.
Chuck Corbin's book, Fitness for Life, was one of seven textbooks recognized by the Text and Academic Authors Association. Corbin said he enjoyed being recognized by his peers, as other professors nationwide chose the winner.
Although the text was only recently recognized, Fitness for Life was first written in 1968 as an elementary text. The book evolved into separate college and high school editions as well as a Canadian edition.
Corbin's high school edition, which is used by a few local high schools, brought home the recognition.
The useful, practical information included in the textbook is responsible for its success, Corbin said.
"I was an athlete in college, and I wondered why I had to take this sport or that sport," Corbin said. "I thought, 'There has to be a better way to teach fitness.'"
Corbin's text is dedicated to teaching fitness as a lifestyle rather than a dreaded requirement. The book includes chapters on how to evaluate exercise equipment, critically assess health articles and develop a personal fitness plan.
Corbin thought high school students were important to reach, as many of them are not required to take physical education when they get to college.
"By high school, there are usually two groups of kids: Ones who really do like physical activity and ones who don't like it at all," Corbin said. "I try to get kids to think, 'I can do that,' rather than, 'I was always the one to play right field.'"
Fitness for Life explains that fitness is not necessarily the same as sports.
Regardless of athletic ability, Corbin teaches his students about their own personal fitness abilities.
"A lot of people try to be somebody other than who they are," Corbin said.
He tries to teach students that regardless of physical stature, fitness is necessary for good health
Campus clubs and organizations may submit written entries to the State Press in the basement of the Matthews Center. Requests will not be taken over the phone or via fax.
Deadline for requests is noon the day before publication and entries will not be accepted more than three working days before publication. Only one entry per organization per day is permitted.
Entries must contain the full name of the club or organization, a description of the event, date, time and the full address of the location. All requests are subject to editing for content, space and clarity. Incomplete or illegible entries will be discarded.
The Today Section is a daily calendar of events printed as a service to the ASU community. Requests are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis and are printed as space permits.
* Counselor Training Center -- Counseling for ASU students, friends and family is provided by graduate students in Payne Hall, room 402. For more information or to set up an appointment, call 965-5067.
* Career Services -- "Job Search on the Internet" workshop will be held 2 p.m. in Room 223 of the Computing Commons.
* Career Services -- "Completing the Puzzle" workshop will be held 2 p.m. in Room C 363 of the Career Development Center, located in the Student Services Building.
* Career Services -- "How to Succeed at Career Fiesta" workshop will be held 12:40 p.m. in Room 223 of the MU.
* Baptist Student Union -- "Tuesday P.M." praise and worship will be held 8 p.m. at the BSU Center, located on 1322 S. Mill Ave.
* Coming-Out Discussion Group -- Weekly session will be held 5:30 p.m. in Conference Room B of the Student Services Building.
* Child and Family Services -- "Love and Discipline: A Guide for Parents and Teachers" will be held 12 p.m. in the Yavapai Room of the MU. Learn methods of communication between parents and childresn that praise and prevent, rather than punish.
* ASASU -- Senate meeting will be held 5:30 p.m. in the Gold Room of the MU.
* Society for Creative Anachronism -- Weekly meeting will be held 6:30 p.m. in the MU. Check monitors for room number. Also, fighter practice will be held 7:30 p.m. on lawn east of the Student Sevices Building.
* ASASU -- Spirit and Cultural Day volunteers are needed to help plan the event. If you are interested, attend a 12:30 p.m. meeting in the MUAB offices on the third floor of the MU.
* ASASU -- Lantern walk volunteers are needed. If you are interested, attend a 4 p.m. meeting on the second floor of the MU. Check monitors for room assignment.
* Anthropology Club -- Video on primal man will be held 3:45 p.m. in Room B-203 of the Anthropology Building
Please fill out our survey on our Police Reports.
The ASU police reported the following incidents on Monday:
* A student reported that someone damaged the door of his vehicle while it was parked in Lot 37.
* A student reported that someone removed his bike from the racks outside Sahuaro Hall where it was locked up.
* A student reported that someone broke into her Jeep while it was parked in Parking Structure 5, and removed two stereo speakers.
* Two men not associated with ASU were arrested, cited and released for being minors in possession of liquor and furnishing liquor to a minor.
* Two men not associated with ASU were arrested, cited and released for assault at Sun Devil Stadium.
* A woman not associated with ASU got sick at Sun Devil Stadium. She was transported to a local hospital.
* A man not associated with ASU reported that someone removed a cellular phone from Sun Devil Stadium.
* A man not associated with ASU was arrested, cited and released for theft at Sun Devil Stadium.
* A student was injured at the Student Recreation Complex. He was transported to a local hospital.
* A stolen motorcycle, Arizona License number Z2W JMC, was recovered from the Karsten Golf Course. It was impounded by Fast Towing.
* A woman associated with ASU reported that someone removed her mountain bike from the west side of Manzanita Hall.
* A man associated with ASU was cited for underage possession of alcohol at 615 Alpha Drive.
* A man not associated with ASU was arrested on an outstanding warrant from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. He was booked.
* A woman not associated with ASU got sick at Gammage Auditorium. She was transported to a local hospital.
* An Arizona license plate, number ATY2B, was impounded for destruction by the ASU police.
* A black day planner was impounded for safekeeping by ASU police.
The Tempe police reported the following incidents on Monday:
* A 36-year-old man was arrested at Foxfire Apartments, 1701 E. Eighth St., after he allegedly broke a bedroom window of an apartment and climbed on through. While inside, he reportedly moved the victim's property over to the window. Officers arrested him while he was in the apartment. He was booked into Tempe City Jail and held to see a judge.
* A 33-year-old man was arrested at 4849 S. Darrow Drive after he allegedly "ransacked" an apartment and attempted to cut his wrists in front of his girlfriend and her child. He was transported to Tempe City Jail where he was booked for disorderly conduct/domestic violence and held to see a judge. He was later turned over to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
* A 26-year-old woman was arrested at 1514 S. Price Road after she reportedly beat and kicked in a door to the apartment of her girlfriend. The woman then allegedly broke out an adjacent window by hitting it with her hand. She was transported to Tempe City Jail and booked.
* A 32-year-old man was arrested at 708 S. Lindon after he allegedly kicked in an arcadia door at his apartment, walked up to his wife and punched her in the face. He was taken to Tempe St. Luke's where he was treated for a severe cut on his shin. He was then booked into Tempe City Jail and later released on his own recognizance.
Compiled by State Press reporter Brian Anderson.
By Ed Odeven, State Press
The meat of the Sun Devils' grueling Pac-10 schedule is staring them right between the eyes.
ASU (3-2) hosts USC Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Then the squad travels to Stanford, before returning to Tempe to host Washington State on Nov. 1.
Now it's time to see how hungry they are.
"I think every game is the most pivotal game," ASU head coach Bruce Snyder said Monday at his weekly press conference, "and can set your direction. USC is certainly that in terms of the Rose Bowl."
An old cliché fittingly describes this game, Snyder said.
"A team's not going to the Rose Bowl with two losses, it's not going to happen," he said. "So, one of the two teams that's going to play Saturday is going out of boat. One's going to move on and one won't."
Snapper's job intact
After Jeff Johannesen's apparent poor snap on Robert Nycz's third missed field goal of the game Saturday, Snyder lost it.
"I blew all my fuses," he said.
And he replaced Johannesen with Brian Jennings as the team's short snapper for the second half.
"What stood out was the missed field goals," he said, referring to the surprising special teams' woes.
But Johannesen's job is safe, he will return as ASU's short snapper for the next game.
Mirror images?
There are stark contrasts in the current offensive philosophies of the two schools.
ASU employs a well-balanced attack. USC has been transformed into a West Coast offense.
Defensively, there are contrasts as well.
"They blitz a lot more on defense than we do," Snyder said. "They played a lot more man-to-man."
Yet both squads have something in common: 1-1 Pac-10 records, along with UCLA.
Old buddies
In more ways than one, Snyder and Robinson have crossed paths before.
At separate times both played college ball for Oregon under head coach Len Casanova. When Snyder transferred from Citrus College in 1960, Robinson was the head coach of Oregon's freshman team.
"I never played for him," Snyder said. "But I admired how enthusiastic (he was) from a player-coach perspective."
It wasn't Robinson's enthusiasm that Snyder remembered most. It was his useful advice that helped jump start Snyder's coaching career.
"That first step was really his suggestion," Snyder recollected, about a conversation that took place during a Friday night social.
Snyder said he told Robinson he wanted to become a college coach, while he was still coaching at Eugene High School.
"He said, 'I'll tell you what to do. Go in Monday and resign. Go back up to the university, volunteer and take every crappie job there is away from all the other coaches. And they'll love you so much that they can't afford to get rid of you."
The rest is history.
The duo served as Oregon assistants from 1964-71 and USC assistants in 1974. Also, Snyder served as the L.A. Rams running backs coach from 1983-86 under Robinson.
"We are good friends," Snyder said. "I admire what he does. I trust him. I think he's really good to people."
Despite their competitive nature, Robinson doesn't expect it to be the biggest factor Saturday.
"I think when you play against a friend you're always focused on it. Hell, we used to play handball together all the time. We used to be rivals then.
"I don't think you play against other coaches. You play against other teams. I almost never look across the field at the other guy. I don't see myself as beating the other guy."
Coaching philosophy
Can it be that it should all be simple?
Coaching isn't considered an easy task, but Snyder believes good coaches find ways to make it as simple as possible.
"To me the brilliance of coaching revolves around two things," he said. "One, If you can be simple and effective, there's some brilliance that way. And, the other is adapting what you do to your talent. Making sure that if you have a player that can do A but can't do B, don't ask him to do B. It's stupid. But it's amazing how many times that can happen ... There's a brilliance in being simple."
However, some established programs have maintained success using another approach.
"Now the teams that are really rolling and understand running and win a lot, they recruit to their system," Snyder said. "The players that come in can operate their system because that's what they were recruited to do."
"The teams that struggle tend to be those that aren't strong enough to recruit that type of player all the time."
Sun Devils trivia
ASU is the only Pac-10 squad with a winning record against USC. The Sun Devils are 7-6 all-time against the Trojans.
By Josh DeFamio, State Press
The San Francisco 49ers survived an opening-week loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and won four in a row to lead the NFC West.
Big deal.
The 49ers should lead the NFC West. Not because it is the only real team in the west (it is), but because it is the only team that actually plays west of the Mississippi River.
While baseball is talking radical realignment, perhaps the NFL should do the same. We've got Arizona and Dallas in the East, Atlanta and Carolina in the West, and Tampa Bay and Jacksonville reside in the Central.
St. Louis -- the city right smack dab in the middle of the country -- has had two teams. First in the East, then in the West.
Maybe realignment isn't the answer. At least not geographic realignment. It doesn't seem anybody in the league offices can read a map.
But there is a solution. Realign based on nicknames.
We'll start, not in the East, not in the West, but in the past. The American Past, that is. We'll team the 49ers up with the Dallas Cowboys, the Washington Redskins, the New England Patriots, and the Kansas City Chiefs. This'll be the strongest division as all five teams are coming off winning seasons.
The toughest division will be the Pillagers. We've got the Buccaneers, the Oakland Raiders, the Minnesota Vikings and the San Diego Chargers. Just to keep this division honest, we'll throw in the New Orleans Saints. Of course, that adding the hapless 'Aints should only make the other four drool.
Now, we've got a division of teams with names that couldn't scare a baby. There is the Arizona Cardinals, the Seattle Seahawks, the Miami Dolphins, the Baltimore Ravens and the Buffalo Bills. Then again, none of these teams would scare a baby.
Next'll be the Blue Collar Group. How about the world champion Green Bay Packers, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Tennessee Oilers? Then throw in both New York teams, the Jets and the Giants (as in industry giant -- yeah it's a stretch, but so is Baltimore in the central) and we've got a very interesting group. None of these teams seems to play the same way week after week.
The last 10 teams are all named for animals. We'll split them up by Cats and Carnivores (Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Jacksonville Jaguars) and Birds and Other Four-Legged Animals (St. Louis Rams,, Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, Philadelphia Eagles, and Atlanta Falcons).
Okay, maybe it's a little far fetched. But then, so is New Orleans in the NFC West.
Josh DeFamio can be reached via e-mail at rudsten @asu.edu.
By Lori Haro, State Press
Running along Lake Michigan is a stretch from the dusty trails of the desert, but the change proved to be good for the ASU cross country team as the men's and women's teams both placed in the top-three of the Lakefront Invitational Saturday in Chicago.
Missouri took first place on both the men's and women's sides. ASU's women's team finished in second place while the men's team placed third behind second place Western Michigan.
"This was probably our best team effort," head coach Walt Drenth said. "They did what I thought we could do."
On the women's team sophomore Mary Duerbeck finished the race in fifth place with a time of 18 minutes and five seconds. Freshman Kelly MacDonald and junior Allison Had weren't far behind, finishing 18th and 19th, respectively. MacDonald came in at 18:57, with Had following a second later at 18:58.
"I think we did pretty well," senior Matt Repak said. "There were a lot of teams there but it was more quantity than quality."
ASU had two top-10 finishers on the men's side. Senior Ari Rodriguez placed fourth in the men's race with a time of 25:15 and senior Matt Repak placed ninth at 25:23.
"I thought everybody ran pretty well," Drenth said. "I hope it gives them confidence, hopefully from this perspective they're seeing some progress. It feels good to do well."
Drenth also thought that this race gave the team a better national perspective, and that it benefited the team to get a look at some of the Midwestern and Eastern teams.
The teams on the women's side that participated included Missouri, Bradley, Western Michigan, Loyola-Chicago, Purdue, Kent, Eastern Illinois, Northern Illinois, Valparaiso, Wisconsin-Green Bay, DePaul, Creighton, Illinois-Chicago, Oakland, Xavier, Evansville, Northeastern Illinois and Chicago State. The men's team faced all of those except, Purdue, Northern Illinois, Depaul, and Northeaster Illinois. Iowa, Colgate and Toledo only brought men's teams.
The only way ASU might face these teams again is if they can make it to nationals, which begin Nov. 24 at Greenville, S.C. However, the Sun Devils have one more invitational before heading to the Pac-10 Championships on Nov. 1.
The team has this weekend off before hosting its only home meet on Oct. 17, the ASU Invitational in Gilbert.
Men's Soccer Club
ASU was blanked by NAU 2-0, in Flagstaff on Saturday. A scoreless tie at halftime, the Sun Devils were unable to wrinkle the twine in the second half despite numerous scoring opportunities. ASU is now 1-2 on the season.
On Sept. 26, ASU lost its season-opener at home to UofA, 3-1. ASU's lone goal was scored by Danny Adams and assisted by Eric Neely.
Two days later, the Sun Devils soundly defeated Embry Riddle 6-1, in Prescott.
The State Press Club Sports Box is compiled by Scott Lewis. For more information call 965-2292 or e-mail at cubie@asu.edu.
Line-item veto power for the President of the United States, in the hands of the right man or woman, is a devastating blow to "pork-barrel spending" by Congress.
Since the birth of the country, Presidents have had to hold their noses while signing important legislation loaded with expensive pet projects that benefit the home states of powerful congressmen.
For 120 years, Congress has fought successfully more than 200 attempts to give the President this power of specific (line-item) veto, because it limits Congress' ability to control federal monies.
Critics have condemned the line-item veto because of its potential to allow the President to use it not to help cut spending, but as a lever against Congress to get them to vote the way he or she wants.
But yesterday, President Clinton demonstrated once again how fair he would be with this awesome new power by vetoing items in a military spending bill according to a preset criteria.
Clinton cut nearly $290 million from the bill by vetoing 38 projects ranging from a $19.9 million ship-repair station in Virginia to a $16 million railroad project in Colorado.
His cuts were bi-partisan, affecting both Republicans and Democrats, and targeted -- among other things -- items that provided no "substantial contribution" to improving the lives of U.S. troops. Many of the items were proposed by chairs of the Senate and House Appropriations Committee and naturally benefitted the home states of those legislators. Other cut items would have benefitted Georgia, the home state of Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
The balance of power has clearly shifted from key agents in Congress to a more assertive President.
In August, the President used this power for the first time to help trim taxes and balance the federal budget.
It seems he's off to a great start with his new power.
Used wisely and fairly, the line-item veto will enable Presidents to manage the U.S. budget more effectively, while putting all members of Congress on a more level playing field. Intelligent, solid proposals will be signed into law more on inherent merits than complex political wheeling and dealing. And if Congress really wants an item, it can always override the President with a 2/3 majority vote.
The line-item veto gives the President unprecedented powers to rein in Congressional spending, and judging by the deficit spending of the last 20 years, this can only be a good thing.
Crime is good publicity. Ask Marv Albert, ask O.J., ask the 16-year-old from Mississippi who went on a killing spree at his high school last week.
Why do we, as a country, waste so much energy publicizing our country's waste?
We focus so much on the minds of the criminals and their lives, trying to uncover what makes them tick a certain way and what made them go astray. Why are we so intrigued by criminals? Why can't the media just tell what happened?
Would it be so boring or so unusual to just say: "Marv is a pervert who likes to bite," "O.J. isn't that innocent" and "a young kid took away his future, along with many others?'"
Should we shed tears that Marv lost his job, O.J. lost his home and a young schoolboy will serve time? What about the other side of the story -- the side that we don't get to see in detail?
Where are the victims? Who are the victims? They deserve to be sheltered from the media if they wish, but they also deserve the country's attention and sympathy, much more than criminals.
Our society and our media pride themselves on the phrase "victim's rights." Perhaps it's just me, but that reeks of irony.
How many victims actually feel as if they have rights? Isn't that why they are labeled as being victimized, due to the fact that someone has somehow taken their rights from them? It seems the term would be almost insulting to them.
I wonder how much we help victims by isolating them from the world and making criminals the center of it. I believe that it should be mandatory, despite age, for criminals to have their names and pictures released, but they don't need to be the Sunday Night Movie of the Week or on the best-seller list at bookstores. The crime -- not the criminal -- should be exposed.
Several months ago, a convicted child molester moved into a Chandler neighborhood within blocks of a school, and police were criticized by the media for letting residents know they would be neighbors with a child molester. Where are the victims' rights now? Shouldn't it be their turn to speak up?
I wonder how differently the students at ASU would have reacted if they had been allowed to see the recent rape victims immediately after their brutal attacks. I wonder if so much energy would have been wasted debating the rights of an editorial cartoon! Where are the victims' rights, and have we forgotten who they are?
We do not live in a perfect world, but it's sad when so much time is spent defending, excusing and glamorizing the minority of people who choose to take rights from others, while somehow expecting their rights to improve. Isn't it time criminals were actually deprived of a few rights in order to restore some rights to the victims?
Chad Twitty is a senior studying journalism and can be reached at chadtw@imap3.asu.edu.
Life presents each of us with a vast number of choices. Our decisions will determine our future happiness. Therefore, we must carefully consider every option and its potential consequences. We must meticulously contemplate every possibility, and weigh and appraise every nuance to avoid a careless mistake.
There is one decision that Arizonans generally make far too quickly, without enough thought. To prevent future generations from propagating this mistake, I have put together this little pamphlet, entitled:
Baby Bombings or Beer Bongs? A Guide to Finding the Right Militia, by Scott Bennett.
(Remember, not every militia is right for everyone).
* Is the militia as paranoid as you? Paranoia discrepancies are the most common cause of conflict between militias and new members. Do not assume that the militia shares your beliefs on the government weather machine, or you may be in for a shock at your first meeting. Ask about their black-helicopter policy, awareness of current government surveillance techniques and general preparation for the coming revolution.
* Is the militia active or passive? This is traditionally known as the "bomb-or-get-bombed debate." Does the militia actually go out into the community and blow things up? Or do the members play "armchair assassin," sitting around, drinking Schlitz beer and planning the deaths of senators? If you are like most potential militia members, you have a burning need to kill and maim and will probably not be happy unless you are detonating a bomb or threatening a federal agent's life.
* Perhaps the most often overlooked issue is stockpiling. Every militia stockpiles, but how well? Does the militia have the foresight to balance non-perishable food items with high explosives? Asking about their stockpiling policies will prevent future embarrassment, like discovering at the beginning of the revolution that you will have to live on 1,000 cases of S&W peaches.
* Consider their principles. Are they good, fanatical Christians? Do they understand that God wants government employees to die? Are they willing to pay the small price of killing babies in order to get the IRS off our backs? You might consider asking them to drown one of their children to prove their sincerity.
* Examine their political awareness. Do they regularly update the political hit list? Tragedy is finding yourself in the company of people who are still trying to assassinate Nixon. Consider subscribing to a fanatical conservative's newsletter. I suggest those of Rush Limbaugh or G. Gordon Liddy. These are a good source for reliable, unbiased information.
* The most important issue should be patriotism. After all, your militia will have to rule the country after you eliminate the enemies of freedom -- like mail carriers, infants in daycare centers and federal building receptionists. Look for clothing made of American flags and cardboard stand-ups of Newt Gingrich. Of course, any reputable militia member should repeat the Pledge of Allegiance hourly, if not more frequently. Furthermore, I would avoid -- or even consider bombing -- militia members who wear red or are related to a Democrat.
Modern Americans have very few true human connections. The government has split people apart through brainwashing and electronic mind-control devices. The only remaining social unit is the militia -- the foundation of society.
Where would society be without the militia? I cannot speculate, but I can say that I would not want to live in such a world. I fear the day when politicians can walk outside their houses without fear, free to control our climate, manipulate our brain waves and take our anti-aircraft weapons. My children will never pilot the black helicopters, I promise you.
So remember: Thoroughly examine potential militias. Get references from past members. Attend picnics and bomb detonations. Do not rush the most important decision you will ever make. Pick the militia that is right for you and together we shall preserve the American way.
Scott Bennett is a sophomore studying journalism and can be reached at militias.are.fun@asu.edu.
I write this in regards to Nathan T. Howard's (Sept. 29) editorial about late nights at the Commons. $2.40? Do you really think that this is all that the concern was about? What about all the other employees at Information Technology (IT)? There are more than just two student worker's pay that would have to be increased. The many employees (student and full time) at IT work very hard for the students, faculty and staff of this University. I know firsthand because I am a student worker for IT. For the most part (I can't say all workers are, because in the past I've met a few who were abrupt), we are courteous and friendly, even though a majority of everyone expects us to know the answers for everything such as "Does ASU have an art program?" to "Why can I not run concurrent jobs of a program I compiled on the Unix System V environment?" I answer questions, or in rare cases ... I find someone who can answer them. I do not do this job for the money, because the money is not here. I do it for the experience in what I do and what I am learning. I enjoy my co-workers' company (other student workers). If I wanted to be "in the money," I could probably obtain a job in the "market" and make a few extra dollars an hour. But I like ASU, and I enjoy serving the faculty, staff and students who help make this university one of the best in the country. And I would really like to know where you got that extra $100 million fact from, because it sure isn't obvious from this end that it goes to not serving the students, faculty and staff at ASU.
Jon M. Perry, Sophomore, Computer Systems Engineering
After reading Nathan Howard's comment about long lines in Computing Commons in Monday's (Sept. 29) State Press, only one thought was in my mind -- what a crybaby.
Hey, Nathan, thank you for the info on the long line in the Commons. But frankly, it's your problem of not managing time well enough that you have to use the Commons at late hours ...
Have you ever heard about the other available computing sites? Farmer building? Goldwater Engineering Center? ECG150? BAC16? BA386 and BA396? If you ask the workers in the Commons about the available classrooms on the first floor and second floor, you probably would get your assignment done sooner. I assume you have never even read the flyers they have in the Commons or other computing sites. If you read all of them properly, you will find out a lot of info about the computing sites on campus and off campus.
Plus, maybe you should find out (whether) the assignment you are doing requires Windows-compatible software or Macintosh-compatible software so you would not wait in the wrong line and then complain about it. And if you are thinking about accessing your professor's class notes from the Internet, make sure to ask him/her if their Web site is working properly. Many professors would tell their students about their Web sites and give out their e-mail address, but they never check if the Web sites are working properly, and many never even reply their e-mails.
Hey, Nathan, have you ever even read graphs posted by the marker board in Commons? They are called "computer usage graphs," and they would show you clearly when the site is not busy. They are available at any computing sites. Take a peek, and you will not be sorry.
If all that still does not satisfy you, then there is one more solution: Sell your car and buy a computer of your own, and then make sure to read all the documents ... because then there is no one to help you with your whining and complaining.
Use common sense my friend, and quit complaining. If you still think I am unreasonable, then let me ask you: "Were you born yesterday?" and I guess not.
Tian Tang, Junior, Mechanical Engineering
This letter is in response to J.E. Hardee's editorial concerning ASASU and the Computing Commons ("Use ASASU, student voice wisely," Sept. 29). While I do not agree completely with his position, Hardee does raise the important problem of how to efficiently allocate scarce resources. I doubt it will be the last time we as a community confront this issue.
Two summers ago, I had the good fortune to escape the Valley's heat and attend classes at a major Big 10 university. I was amazed at how limited the computing resources were, considering that it is one of the country's largest and most prestigious campuses. The equipment for students consisted of tiny monitors, outdated hardware and dot-matrix printers. Laser printing cost 10 cents a page! It was obvious that, for this school, student computing had become a low priority.
I returned home with a profound respect for ASU and its commitment to providing excellent access to first-rate technology for students. In the long run, I believe it will make a difference for our graduates. I also acquired a sense of what it must cost to keep the Computing Commons running. Watching students print limitless copies of documents on our high-speed laser printers, without so much as a second thought, I wondered how long it would be before the cost of operating the Computing Commons caught up with us. Would the University reduce hours of operation, or begin charging us for laser printing as a way of reducing expenses, or both? Would they cut corners on hardware, slowly allowing the system to regress into obsolescence? Fortunately for us, Provost Glick recently reaffirmed ASU's intent to provide free and easy access to the Computing Commons. That none of these terrible things seem to be happening, for the time being, is something for which we should all be grateful.
It would be naive, though, to think that the computing-resources debate has forever ended. Without a constant infusion of resources, our facilities will inevitably degenerate into a replica of those at that Big 10 school. All students who value their access to computers should reflect their concern through a conscious effort not to abuse our privilege. For example, by exercising self-restraint with the printers, respecting the equipment, recycling and keeping the Commons clean, we can each do our part to keep operating costs lower. After all, the money to run the Computing Commons comes out of our pockets (through tuition and taxes). As a community, we will always be faced with expenditure trade-offs, and no one wants to face a real tragedy of the Commons.
Greg Marfleet, Graduate Student, Political Science
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