Jordan River Forum

Seat belt enforcement a help, not a hindrance\nI just wanted to make a brief comment on your recent article titled "You Make the Choice: Operation Pullover Wastes Funds" in Thursday's paper. The article argues that, while the seat belt law is a good thing, it is a waste of the taxpayers money. The author of the article should check their math. The article claims that $40,000 are being spent in Bloomington, a large amount. But the article also claims that 2,272 tickets were issued. At $25 per ticket, that comes to $56,800.\nAdmittedly, there are probably some hidden costs not covered by the $40,000 grant, but, roughly, the state is not loosing money with this venture, it's showing a profit of about $16,800. So the author's argument is not valid.\nBut aside from this, there is a good reason for making occasional efforts on enforcing the seat belt laws. People are creatures of habit; when we get into our car to drive somewhere, we usually don't stop to think whether or not we "want" to put our seat belts on, rather, we automatically either put them on or don't. The occasional strict enforcement of the seat belt law is made to train us to be in the habit of wearing our seat belts (operant conditioning).\n

\nSutherland ignores other side to issue\nI'm writing in response to Willie Sutherland's August 28th column ("CNN's conservative conversation") bemoaning CNN's "liberal" bias and extolling the virtues of the Fox News Channel. I will not debate his claims regarding CNN's liberal bias simply because I do not receive CNN as part of my cable service. I do, however, watch Fox News and disagree strongly with Sutherland's defense of Fox's "fair and balanced" reporting.\nFirst, how balanced is Fox News? Sutherland writes, "It should be clear that if ever a liberal wants to hear his own beliefs mindlessly echoed back at himself, turning on CNN is all that needs to be done." Luckily for Sutherland, Fox News provides a similar service for conservatives. Earlier this summer, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, an independent media watchdog group, released a report detailing the Republican bias of Fox's signature political talk show, Special Report with Brit Hume. Over one five month period, Hume interviewed 56 political guests, of which 50 were Republicans, while only six were Democrats -- an 8 to 1 imbalance. In addition to this party bias, guests on Fox News are predominantly male and white, demonstrating a deeper imbalance.\nSecond, how fair is Fox News? Sutherland argues, "to a liberal, reporting all sides of the story is considered conservative." As a liberal, I would amend this to read, "reporting all conservative sides is, in fact, conservative." The Columbia Journalism Review notes a trend at Fox News to hire conservative commentators. CJR goes on to report that many former Fox employees complain about Fox's conservative "management sticking their fingers" in the preparation of news stories to "make a story more palatable to right-of-center tastes." Clearly, a network run by conservatives and hiring conservatives will report news in a conservative manner.\nFox's conservative bias contradicts their own slogan, "We report, you decide." Yet, I question any reporter's ability to maintain total objectivity. The best we might hope for would be an increased debate from both left and right over significant political issues. Such a goal would adhere closer to "we debate, you decide" and would require less ideological homogeneity among the reporters, editors, and managers at any one media outlet. It is ironic that Sutherland, who bashes CNN's liberal bias, similarly bashes CNN's efforts to increase its conservative voice. Instead, Sutherland blithely praises Fox News, a channel that has, since its inception, claimed objectivity while practicing conservatism. \n\nUniversity should ask for monetary help\nFor me, the only logical response to issues of retirement fund payment is to ask the state legislature for help. I realize that Myles Brand dislikes this idea greatly because he feels it may damage the school's reputation, but this philosophy of 'form over function' holds responsibility for the school's current monetary problems as it is. To continue with this mentality would emulate the original absurdity that landed the school here to begin with.\nI calmly accept that the mistakes of previous administrations place IU in this situation. I wholly deny that we can deal with $2 billion in payments easily and responsibly. Why is it that tuition was raised 7.5 percent this year? Meanwhile, I see on the bottom of yesterday's IDS front page that donations to the Varsity Club continue to increase ("Varsity club sees donors increase", Aug. 28). Something is very wrong here, and priorities need straightening.\nI would like to say that money could be siphoned from things like athletic scholarships, team budgets, and the entertainment industry on this campus in general, but that would serve a bullet in the foot of our campus' appeal. We've come full circle, back to the issue of 'form over function.' You can't always have everything, Myles Brand. Show the student body that your highest priority is our welfare, not the school's facade of perfection. Willingness to budge and sacrifice for the common good of your students might be the best thing for IU's image.\n\nProtect yourself, start with the numbers\nI have some advice that I'd like to pass to this year's new students. I recommend that you go to the registrar's office immediately and do two things: 1) Ask them to change your student ID number to a random number; 2) Ask them to block your address, phone number, and other so-called "directory information." \nHere is my rationale for each recommendation: 1) If you don't change your student ID to a random number, you will find yourself writing down, transmitting, and otherwise passing around your social security number on a fairly regular basis. Every time you buy software in the bookstore, every time you go to the health clinic, every time you log onto Insite, and in many other situations you'll have to give your social security number.\nLast year someone hacked into IU's computer system and stole thousands of SSNs (including the SSNs of most of the grad students in the School of Education). The hacker could sell this info to anyone who wants to set up an account using the stolen SSNs. So do yourself a favor and limit the exposure your SSN receives. It's one more random number to remember, but you'll be glad you took the trouble.\nYou should block your "directory information" if you don't want to get hundreds of calls from telemarketers who have "special offers for students." I was shocked to discover last year that IU treats student addresses, phone numbers, programs of study, etc., as "directory information," meaning that they will publish it and give it away to anyone who asks for it. What seemed especially unfair to me last year was that by the time I found out about blocking my SSN and my directory info, it was already too late. So do yourself a favor now. Best of luck with your studies! IU is a great place.\n\nCheck your tube tops and mascara at the door\nI wanted to express my gratitude to Bridget Graf for her extraordinary column ("Beauty queens have it hard," Aug. 29). I am a freshman, and new to the campus. I did not expect to see so many perfect girls every day. I assumed that everyone would have the same attitude as I do about their daily appearance: they want to be comfortable. But, I was very wrong. Even girls that I see jogging are sure to have on their tank tops with rhinestones and their makeup freshly applied.\nIt honestly amazes me. I was a columnist for my high school newspaper, The Times, at South Side High School in Fort Wayne. I am a journalism major, but was unable to get into any journalism courses this semester. After reading Graf's column, I realized how much I missed writing. I love to write about human observations, like the one's that Graf mentioned in her editorial. Her writing is similar to my own, especially the way that she uses sarcasm. I was smiling to myself the entire time I read it because her thoughts are the same as mine have been since the moment I arrived.\nSo, thank you for pointing out what has been bothering several people that I know. I don't know who these perfect girls are out to impress.\n