Jordan River Forum

Teter-Wissler speaks out: Stop the blame game\nWe have read a lot of stuff in the paper about the pornography that was filmed here at Indiana University. But none of the writers live on the third floor of Teter-Wissler, none of them were there when it happened and none of them saw anything that was going on. But we live on the third floor of Teter-Wissler, we were there that fateful afternoon of Oct. 3 and we saw what actually happened. \nFirst off, we'd like to say that while the permission-less filming of Shane Enterprises might have been illegal, nothing they actually filmed was. Everybody involved was of legal age, nobody was forced to participate and nobody was forced to watch. Everything that happened was consensual. \nSecond, we would like to absolve our resident assistant from any wrongdoing. He was at class when this happened and cannot be held responsible in absentia for the actions of his residents. \nThat said, there is still the issue of who is at fault. We have heard many different opinions on this issue, with guilty parties ranging from Shane Enterprises to the students who allowed them to film on our floor, to the entire floor for not putting a stop to it. This whole blame game is ridiculous. The only reason that Shane Enterprises was here filming porn was because Indiana was named the No. 1 party school, so let's blame Princeton Review. Better yet, let's blame IU's entire student body for earning that dubious distinction. We can even blame Bill Clinton for teaching us that there's nothing wrong with oral sex. The point is, trying to blame someone is pointless. \nWhile we may have showed poor judgment, how many other fully functioning males out there would have turned away a group of porn stars? Exactly. The President of the United States was forgiven for thinking wrong, can't we be too?\nMichael Satir\nFreshman\nReaction to porn seemingly fascist\nI'm appalled by the reaction of the University and the IDS to porn being filmed on campus. The Indiana University morals police make the University seem as if it is located in Saudi Arabia, not the United States. What's next? The IDS endorsing what is good material to listen and watch? Anyway, weren't the students in the film consenting adults? It makes the school seem fascist to determine "proper behavior" for grown adults not violating the law.\nTodd Truitt\nIU Alum\nNeighbors, not Israel to blame for deaths of Palestinian civilians\nDeema Davis takes umbrage with a friend's argument that one cause for civilian deaths in a July Gaza bombing is Palestinian civilians' harboring of militants, which argument by Davis' reasoning, "implies that Palestinians are by nature inhuman, and would simply volunteer their children to be blown up like firecrackers" (Oct. 22, "Palestinians and Israelis inflict terror on each other"). \nDavis' logic is disingenuous. \nFirst, Davis' friend's argument clearly doesn't imply that Palestinians are "inhuman." It merely recognizes the undeniable fact that terrorist militants are knowingly raised and given shelter by Palestinian civilians.\nSecond, Davis' denial of the reality that many Palestinians do volunteer their children to be "blown up like firecrackers" is even harder to understand. Has Davis missed the reams of file footage showing toddlers adorned by their smiling Palestinian parents in the garb of homicide bombers, complete with explosive belts and Hamas headbands? Is she unaware of the financial rewards and community reverence these families reap after they send their homicide bomber "martyr" "heroes" off to their ultimate demise? \nFinally, Davis continues to express her doubt that Palestinians even have the "time" to stage the "Jenin Massacre." Sure, we never see Palestinian protests because they don't have "time." Baloney. Did she miss the "Jenin Massacre" video too? I recall clearly seeing a man, who appeared to be deceased, roll off of the elevated platform upon which he was paraded through the streets by purportedly mourning and outraged Palestinians, only to land on his two feet and join the procession. \nCertainly, the death of innocent civilians is regrettable, but were all those Gaza civilians "innocent?" The bombed Gaza building was not the residence of the sought Hamas militant, Shehade, nor of his family. It was merely another temporary hiding place. Did those sheltering Shehade not know his terrorist politics? Please. Unfortunately, many young children there, and others living nearby, did not choose to shelter Shehade. Their and Davis' complaint should lie with Hamas terrorists and those who shelter them, not with the Israeli Army's unavoidably imperfect intelligence as Israel proceeds in its own War against Terror.\nScott Dillon\nGraduate Student\nExecution costs skyrocket; Morrill lacks opposing facts\nThis letter is regarding Lauren Morrill's article (Oct. 22, "Good case for the death penalty"). I understand that this is an opinion article, so I'm not going to debate the sheer ignorance of it. But, I do believe that her facts should be displayed as just that: Facts. In her sixth paragraph, she argued the "high cost of containing a prisoner for the rest of his natural life." While it does cost somewhere between $300,000 and $800,000 to retain an individual for life, Morrill neglected to do her research. If she had done so, she would have found that it costs on average (I would like to emphasize average) somewhere between 2 and 3 million dollars to execute someone. This includes all of the court costs, appeals, time in prison, etc. which all death row inmates are guaranteed under the Constitution. I understand that this was not her main argument, but it should still be stated that she has neglected her research, and therefore, made her argument mute. I used to write for my school paper. I know that it was not as prestigious as the IDS, but we were still forced to emphasize the facts as true, and we were not allowed to just make them up for our opinion articles. Thank you for your time.\nDylan Terrell\nFreshman\nForgiveness the best justice of all\nI am a little baffled by Lauren Morrill's column regarding the sniper and the death penalty (Oct. 22, "Good case for the death penalty"). Although I am in complete agreement with Morrill that this person is most certainly a deranged and ruthless human being, her arguments for the death penalty are not convincing.\nHer willingness to kill a human is, in my mind, just as disturbing as any criminal's intent. Making our point through violence does not necessarily mean an end to this ordeal. As Sister Helen Prejean discussed in the debate last week, loved ones of murder victims often find little relief upon viewing the execution of the murderer. They instead replay the image over and over, wishing the revenge could occur repeatedly, instead of just one quiet and humane passing. Nothing, even death, can ever qualify as justice for these families.\nAnd yes indeed, there are no facts that show that the death penalty is a deterrent for such crimes. But there are facts that indicate violent crimes have instead increased since the reinstatement of the death penalty. In Morrill's article, she quotes John McAdams explaining that if there is no deterrent effect, all we have done is "killed a bunch of murderers." But this not only demeans persons who (even with their horrible pasts) are still humans with equal rights to you and me, but fails to mention the many mistakes made in our justice system which have put innocent people to death. Although Prejean has never lost a family member to a sniper, neither has Morrill, and I would certainly consider the former to be much more familiar with the emotions and personal conflicts that are associated when dealing with a senseless crime and those affected. This includes not only the victim's family, but also the criminal and his or her family. Prejean also works through her faith, which, as far as I have always understood, teaches forgiveness above all. As hard as this might be in situations such as this, it is a concept which is universal and is, in my opinion, the best justice of all.\nKaren Orwick\nSenior\nNew science building site should be saved\nI would like to respectfully express my disappointment that a proposal to build a new science building behind Myers Hall on the Indiana University campus has been approved. I believe this historic area of campus, including the wooded area around the IU Chemistry Building, is an extraordinarily beautiful and precious area that should be preserved and not changed. I would like to express my appreciation to IU board of trustees member Peter Obremskey for his decision to vote against the proposal to build the new science building behind Myers Hall.\nCarol Thompson\nIU Alum\nTips have nothing to do with service\nI would like to respond to Terry Ord (Oct. 24, "Tip, but what for?"). I've been a waitress for the last four years, and I have found that quite often the tipping has nothing to do with the service, or at most, very little to do with it. More often, it is a response to the quality of the food or the other services the customer received while at the restaurant. From how the food was cooked to how clean the dishes were (neither responsibility being the server's), the tip is more dependent on these factors than on the service itself. And more often than not, great service isn't rewarded as it should be. At $2.13 an hour (minimum wage for waitresses/servers in Indiana), service people generally rely on the tips from customers to make up the difference -- what the employer should be paying just to be able to pay our bills. I'd like to thank Ord for writing about this problem that we are facing in our nation, and I sincerely hope that the employers either start paying what they should, or that customers begin to realize that servers have no control over the dishes, or over how a meal is cooked. We are there for you to make your meal as enjoyable as possible, as much as we can to our control, and reward us appropriately.\nArianna Fettinger\nSophomore\nLet Southern Indiana prosper, support I-69\nFor those who truly do not live in or around Southern or Southwestern Indiana (which means south of the Bloomington area), I'm here to help you with some valuable information. For the majority of my life and the lives of my family members and friends, we have had the unfortunate opportunity of traversing highways 57, 54 and 45 in order to get to Bloomington to be a part of our beloved institution. On those trips of two and a half hours, we have all witnessed and nearly been a part of many accidents caused by the excessive, exorbitant traffic that must travel those roads in order to get to Bloomington and Indianapolis. Any research will show an interstate will bring wealth and commerce into an area. And from the last statistics given of Greene County, we need that wealth and commerce. I have lived in Evansville for the vast majority of my 21 years, and it is ridiculous to say we need to refurbish Highways 41 and I-70. Why can't Evansville have a main interstate to its state capital? Why should it take nearly four hours to get to Indianapolis when it is only 150 miles away? And above all, why do we value a few buildings, a blade of grass, a random pond and many other things that can be replaced over lives that have been lost? I-69 would bring safety to a drive for the majority of Southern Indiana folks that is all too often far too dangerous to drive. Let I-69 alone, and let the area prosper.\nElissa Deusner\nSenior