North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 89, No. 59, Ed. 1 Tuesday, January 25, 2005 Page: 3 of 10
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Tuesday January 25, 2004
Commentary Editor
Cindy Brown
(940) 565-3574
ntdailyviews@yahoo.com
"If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to." Dorothy Parker
It took $11.9
million tax-
payer dollars
to keep Bush's
inauguration
terrorist-free.
OURVIEW
To Pres. Bush:
Priorities!
President George W. Bush ceremoniously
initiated the second wave of his presidency
with a whopping $40 million celebration.
This was, to date, the most expensive week of
presidential celebration in inaugural history
Bush sure has a heck of a lot to celebrate—
he's survived four years of terrorist attacks,
orange-level terrorist threat warnings,
economic decline and a war on two fronts.
He's faced criticism with the quiet strength
of a cowboy and sure
deserved to celebrate
like he was back down
on the ranch.
Being a wartime
president, Bush had to
watch out for his hide
and make sure no ter-
rorist protesters would
ruin his inaugural fes-
tivities. A 200-square-
block section of downtown Washington,
D.C. was blocked off and renovated for se-
curity purposes. Streetlights were removed
from their posts and manhole covers were
welded shut—all in the name of security. At
least 6,000 D.C. police and 7,000 U.S. troops
were on site to help out the Secret Service,
and $11.9 million of D.C/s Homeland Secu-
rity budget made sure the numerous balls,
concerts, galas and receptions were free of
pesky would-be terrorists.
To be sure, only the $11.9 million was tax-
payer money; the rest was paid for through
private donations, as every other inaugura-
tion has been in the past.
Taxpayers may balk at the costliness of this
inauguration and the fleecing of millions of
their dollars to protect party-goers, but their
faces should go red when that $40 million
of party money is compared to the skimpy
amount Bush originally pledged to tsunami
victims in Southeast Asia: a mere $15 million.
To put that amount in perspective, it's
costing $650 million to build the new Dallas
Cowboys stadium in Arlington!
Even though he's now pledged $300 million
in aid, Bush was obvi ously more concerned
about planning an over-the-top pasture party
than he was about cleaning up the thousands
of bodies and sheltering the millions of home-
less in the tsunami-plagued countries.
Y0URVIEW
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across the NT campus and community.
MM© MQ,
0LUMNISTS
Three days a week, the commentary section features work
by students, faculty and staff members with submissions cov-
ering a wide range of issues and opinions. Politics, religion,
humor, ethics, technology - all have their place on Page 3.
Submissions should abide by the newspaper's 'Letters and
Columns Policy/ located in the lower right-hand corner of the
Views page.
To submit a column, contact Commentary Editor Cindy
Brown at ntdailyviews@yahoo.com or at (940) 565-3574.
Is there any reason straight people should be allowed to get married?
Heteras take the sanctity out of marriage
My friends, it is time
that this nation finally
address a growing prob-
lem that has plagued us
for centuries.
The sanctity of
marriage, which is
more important than
freedom, democracy
and the Bill of Rights
combined times
three, is being threat-
ened by a sub-section
of our population
like never before.
Yes, my friends,
heterosexuals, or
"straight" people, must
be stopped before every
drop of sanc-
tity lias been
squeezed from
the sponge
of marriage.
This is why I
propose we
amend the First
Amendment
to exclude
straight people
from the insti-
tution of marriage.
Yes, this would be
the first constitution-
al amendment in the
history of the United
States to relieve the
population of a civil
Jeff Andrews
-editor in chief
right, and yes
there isn't
any real harm
in allowing
straight peo-
ple to marry.
But come on!
Straight peo-
ple have taken
everything
we hold dear,
mainly, mar-
riage sanctity. Straight
people in drunken
stupors are married in
Las Vegas after know-
ing each other for two
hours, only to divorce
the next day. In fact, the
divorce rate has sky-
rocketed in the last two
decades, robbing the
earth of a considerable
amount of sanctity.
If s also well-docu-
mented that straight
people carry a num-
ber of sexual diseases,
including gonorrhea,
herpes and genital
warts, which is why
I believe that straight
people should also
be quarantined with
males being castrated.
Even though sex is
vital to the past, present
and future existence of
the human race, the
Bible clearly states in
John DH-948Z that
sex is evil, and straight
people have been hav-
ing sex like no tomor-
row for the better part
of two millennia.
And besides, what
are they going to
want to marry next?
A dog?! A couch?!?
Pfff, stupid hetero
bastards.
Jeff Andrews is a journal-
ism senior from Waxahatchie.
He can be contacted at
guttix@yahoo.com.
Johnny Carson
"King of late night"
1925 - 2005
Is there only one answer to the origin of life?
Think for yourself about evolution
At the end of the famous
mockumentary "Spinal
Tap," Michael McKean
states, "I believe virtually
everything I read." The
brainwashing
effect of aca-
demia would
have you do the
same—beware!
If you do not
believe in the
theory of evolu-
tion, then you
become another
Elizabeth Proc-
tor—your fate
is a scarlet letter sewn
on your breast. Please re-
frain from being closed-
minded. Below I plead my
case.
The theory of evolu-
tion has loopholes, inad-
equacies and numerous
assumptions that make
no sense.
According to the the-
ory of evolution, earlier
life forms were struc-
turally simple and later
ones were structurally
joan avant
-guest columnist -
complex. However, ear-
lier fossils show that they
are just as complex as the
related later fossils.
For that fact, the classi-
fication system of
kingdom, phyla,
and classes which
were considered
"early" fossils, still
exist today. Con-
troversial crea-
tures such as the
Neanderthal and
the Cro-Magnon
Man, which were
considered "miss-
ing links," have been re-
studied by scientists to be
fully human as compared
to Pithecanthropus or Ra-
mapithecus, who were
fully ape.
There are also no ex-
amples of microevolu-
tion. Darwin's finches,
spotted moths and perti-
cill in-resistant bacteria
are non-evolutionary ad-
aptations because there
was no increase in genet-
ic complexity.
Without net genetic
complexity, evolution
cannot perpetuate itself.
Genetic recombination
and mutations do not
produce more complex
DNA or chromosomes.
There are also flaws in
radiometric dating be-
cause it is extremely rare
for a sample to be com-
pletely unharmed and
unchanged through ages
of exposure to the outside
world. With this informa-
tion, a scientist can only
make an assumption of
how old a sample is.
It is up to you to think
for yourself. You by no
means have to take my
word for it; conduct your
own research, and see
what you can find with
an open mind. It is never
too late to stick to a new
idea—after all, Darwin
himself renounced his
Joan is a graduate student from
Grand Prarie. She can be contacted
at joanavant2003@yahoo.com.
Are we being fleeced again?
Drug companies pick
consumers" pockets
kathryn mccaufey
- guest columnist-
There are rumors that Michael Moore
is targeting drug companies for his next
documentary.
Executives at these companies have
sent memos to employees telling them
to avoid any interaction with an "over-
weight, scruffy man in a baseball cap."
By now, we've all heard about the Vioxx /
Celebrex controversy. These pain-reliev-
ing drugs have been linked to increased
incidents of heart attacks and deaths. The
drug companies and the Food and Drugs
Administration have been accused of cov-
ering up negative studies, failing to com-
plete clinical trials and failing to protect
American consumers.
We've also heard how some Americans
have been filling their prescriptions in
other countries—most frequently Cana-
da—and Congress, alerted to the cause, is
now concerned about the safety of drugs
imported from our neighbor to the north.
But is that really where Congress' fo-
cus should be? Are Canadian drugs in-
herently less safe than ours?
As consumers, we should be asking if
Congress is concerned about our safety
and if so, then why doesn't it focus on if
pharmaceutical companies are properly
testing medications? Why not ensure that
the FDA is fulfilling its role by enforcing
its regulations and overseeing these com-
panies? And why are Americans paying
many times more than the consumers in
other countries for medications?
We have been told we pay more be-
cause of high costs involved in research
and development. In her book, "The
Truth About Drug Companies," Dr.
Marica Angelí, a former editor in chief
of the New England Journal of Medi-
cine, analyzes legislation that enables
this industry to use taxpayer money to
finance drug research.
About 20 years ago, U.S. legislation
was passed that allowed universities
to patent discoveries that were funded
by the National Institute of Health, also
supported by taxpayer dollars.
Once universities were able to patent
these products, they could license them
to private industry. All pharmaceutical
companies had to do was pay for the li-
censes after most of the costs had already
been funded by taxpayers. They then
could turn around and overcharge these
same taxpayers. To add insult to injury,
these higher prices have been attributed
to research and development costs!
Pharmaceutical companies say it costs
$802 million to develop a new drug. But
this cost, according to Angelí, is incred-
ibly inflated.
Michael Moore's fans and detractors
tend to be equally passionate about the
filmmaker's work, but if his prying re-
sults in a closer look at one of the most
profitable industries in this country, it
can't be all that bad for consumers.
Kathryn McCauley is director of Student Legal Services
at NT. She can be contacted at kmccauley@unt.edu.
North Texas Daily-
The Editorial Board meets weekly to decide the topic and stance of OurView:
JEFF ANDREWS EDITOR IN CHIEF
CINDY BROWN COMMENTARY EDITOR
CHRISTINE STANLEY MANAGING EDITOR
PAUL KNIGHT MANAGING EDITOR
DAVID MINTON PHOTO EDITOR
MICHAEL WALTER COPY EDITOR
LAURA JEANES DESIGN EDITOR
LINDSAY WILPS BEAT EDITOR
CLARISA RAMIREZ LIFE EDITOR
ZACHARY LEWIS SPORTS EDITOR
To Our Readers:
The North Texas Daily does not necessarily endorse,
back or believe the philosophy of the writers on this
page. The content of the editorial is decided by the
Editorial Board and written by the Commentary Editor.
The content of the columns is strictly the opinion of
the writers and in no way reflects the beliefs of the
newspaper.
Letters & Columns Policy:
The North Texas Daily welcomes guest columns and letters to the editor. Columns should be between
275 and 325 words long; letters are limited to 50 to 75 words. Submissions must be typed, and should
include the author's name, classification, e-mail address and daytime phone number. The Daily will not
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for grammar, style, length and libel, but a writer's meaning will not be changed.
Deliver submissions to GAB 117, fax to (940) 565-3573, e-mailed to the Commentary Editor at
ntdailyviews@yahoo.com or mailed to P.O. Box 311460, Denton, TX 76203.
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North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 89, No. 59, Ed. 1 Tuesday, January 25, 2005, newspaper, January 25, 2005; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth145177/m1/3/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.