 |
|
| April 20, 2000 |
|
In
our words...
Napster is not a brand new sleeping pill The Debate about Howards Knob rages on Letters to the editor Stop bashing our puffy-letter shirts! Apps should be recognized Does the Justice System accomplish their goal In
Our Words...
Student Government Association ... This is a group on campus that represents the students, so more student involvement sounds good right? Well that is what The Appalachian thought too, but unfortunately for students here at Appalachian State, the SGA doesn’t think so. In the wake of the meeting and vote for the Section Three referendum Tuesday night, supporters and naysayers of the controversial amendment poured out of the Grandfather Mountain Ballroom in relief and disbelief. We side with the disbelievers on the issue. SGA could stand to have a wider breadth of representation in its decision-making, and Section Three is instrumental in the push for that wider voice. SGA does a great job on campus helping students out by passing legislation that would benefit the students, so adding more voices in this prestigious group would just make SGA better than what they already are. Section Three would allow student organizations to have a voice in any legislation undertaken by SGA, but it is apparent that the current senate will never give this proposition a consideration. If Section Three were to be implemented, there would be three equal 19-member sections that would comprise the senatorial body, consisting of on-campus, off-campus and club/organization groups. Ryan Bolick and Preston Powell have a revolutionary idea in mind. Their plan is to petition the student body to bring the proposed amendment back through for a second referendum chance. Their ability to succeed seems rather high, considering the majority of the ASU’s voting population supported the duo. Once the students here understand the possibilities this piece of legislation holds, we feel it will rumble back and with more than simply a few supporters. At this point, someone will be forced to take notice. Our hope is those people will be members of SGA senate. In looking at the big picture, we feel that Section Three’s potential positives outweigh its negatives. If implemented as policy, it would create a Senate that is more completely representative of the entire student body. How would this not benefit our university? Lets rethink this SGA, or maybe better
yet, lets have the students speak out on this issues and let us as a University
have the final vote on this ground breaking issue.
Napster
is not a brand new sleeping pill
What’s seven months old, created by a former college freshman and has turned the recording industry on its ear? No, it’s not a Britney Spears clone or anything that’s been synthesized from N’Sync; it is a tiny Internet program called Napster. You no longer have to hide the cell phone of a record label executive to strike fear into his heart or make him wet his pants, all you have to say is “Napster.” Any previous doubts I had about the validity of the MP3 sound format have been eliminated by this wonderful little program. Before Napster, finding MP3 on the web was a tedious and boring chore for the music enthusiast, now things are different. Napster (which can be found at www.napster.com) allows you to hunt down practically any song you can think of, whether it is the legendary work of John Coltrane or just some excrement by Limp Bizkit, and download it directly from someone else’s computer to yours for free. It’s instant gratification. Of course, this has the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), 18 major record labels and even big-time artists like Puff Daddy and Metallica up in arms. On top of that, due to Napster’s large college audience and a tendency to clog up university networks, nearly 70 universities have banned the use of Napster. I just pray we’re not next. Yes, I also have this evil program on my computer and I have reaped the benefits. Just in the last weekend, I have acquired over 70 previously attainable and unattainable songs. Who could pass up a classic rendition of “Gin and Juice” by Phish or “Rocket Man” by Me First and the Gimmie-Gimmies? Not me. Apparently Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich would prefer that I did pass up on such an opportunity. He claims that it is “sickening to know that our art is being traded like a commodity rather than the art that it is.” Art, eh? Lars, buddy, have you even heard half of your band’s music? Drummers... Our friend Lars feels that he is being robbed blind, that his music is being pirated and he actually isn’t wrong. Does that mean that I and countless others should feel sorry for him? Ummm...no. Are the lawsuits that have been placed against Napster by both the RIAA and Metallica entirely valid? Not really. You see, Napster doesn’t actually grant access to MP3s from it’s own server, but it does give you the ability to peek into another user’s hard drive and copy their MP3s. Napster also has a disclaimer on their server that states that while thousands of MP3s have been authorized for distribution by copyright owners, some may not have been authorized. That little disclaimer and the fact that they do not actually distribute MP3s themselves may actually help Napster out. However, if The Man chooses to wipe out Napster, there are dozens of similar programs available: Wrapster and Gnutella pose the same threat and even a Macintosh version called Macster will do the same thing Napster does now. Pandora’s box has been opened and the RIAA’s greatest fears about MP3s are now a reality. The recording industry is delaying the inevitable, MP3s will eventually be the premier format for music, even if Napster is squashed. The industry may have had a nice headrush after N’Sync made a recent sales record, but the Napster ice cream headache isn’t going to melt away. In the garden that is the Internet, no matter how many weeds you pull, they will always grow back. If you do pluck out a Napster, there will always be another ready to take its place. While Napster has been singled out as the problem by the RIAA, the music industry and Metallica, aren’t the real culprits the public? Isn’t it the public that is doing the pirating? Well, me mateys, ’tis easier to raid one ship than a load of others. It’s easier to take down one former college student’s operation than millions of college students who are blatantly violating copyright law. I actually don’t even blame college students, computer programmers or
the general public; we didn’t invent the Internet.
The
Debate about Howards Knob rages on
Last week I went to the Watauga County Courthouse for a special session of the Boone Town Council. The purpose of the meeting was for residents and landowners in Boone to plead for or against the proposed 90-day moratorium on development of land on Howard’s Knob. The people who were for the 90-day waiting period were ASU students from SAVE and Watauga County residents, including Watauga County Commission candidate Pat Wilke. The people on the opposing side were the landowners. Many of them belonged to the huge Eggers clan of Boone. Many of the speakers on this side didn’t even live in Boone. So it would seem that destruction of one of the most beautiful places in Boone wouldn’t even affect them. The people pleading against the moratorium all claimed to love the mountain landscape. Many of them said they had no plans to develop their land in such a way that would cause spoil to the wilderness of the mountain. What I want to know is this: if those people love the mountain so much, and came to the meeting with the purpose of speaking against the moratorium, what’s to prevent the same greed from selling the land to a developer with a huge bid for it? I am from Johnson City, Tennessee. Next to my hometown is the company town of Kingsport that is home to Eastman Chemical Company. For as long as I can remember I have driven by the plant. We’d all have to hold our breath as the fumes that emitted from the plant smelled like horse dung. If you go up to Roan Mountain and look in the direction of Kingsport, you can see a brownish-yellow layer of smog. Yet, if you ask anybody who lives in Kingsport about Eastman affecting their quality of life, they will be totally oblivious. Why, when their kids are suffering from allergies and require special medical treatment? When after rainy days the neighborhood smells like crap? Why do they ignore the pollution’s obvious effects? Simple: money. The people against the moratorium who can afford land on Howard’s Knob gave me the impression of being obstinate and arrogant well-monied people who want to be in control over their land rather than contribute to the greater good of keeping Boone a nice place to live. Isn’t this planet screwed up enough already? We, the next generation, have many environmental issues to contend with if we want to keep this planet liveable. These same people who claimed to love the natural beauty of the area were concerned about their property being “devalued” by the moratorium. One guy demanded to the council that he wanted them to give him a list of benefits of the moratorium. One compared development on Howard’s Knob to the development of the ASU Convocation Center, saying that “we all once lived where there was plants and trees.” The other side had facts and evidence from books to back up their side. Kyndra Boudoff did SAVE proud, in my opinion, of speaking for the club. One guy discussed living overseas and the negative effects of unrestrained development. Principles of economics tell us (as if we didn’t know already) that people are rational, self-interested beings who essentially make decisions based on their own greed. What I saw on Thursday night confirmed this principle. As proposed by one speaker, I agree
that the best solution is for Boone to buy the land they want to preserve.
Obviously these landowners are not going to agree to protect the wilderness
and natural beauty of Howard’s Knob without some sort of compensation.
Letters
to the Editor
Stop bashing our puffy-letter shirts! To The Editor: This is in response to the commentary by Ian Hutchinson entitled “Please don’t get your Greek puffy-lettered shirts in a wad.” I have sat back and listened to people bash Greeks for three years, and enough is enough! How do you know what went on during Lip Sync? It’s a Greek only activity, are you jealous and have nothing better to do than complain about something you are not able to be a part of? You bash Greeks, but answer this. When’s the last time you went to an elementary school and played basketball with kids, tutored another student or helped the elderly move? If I know independents like you know Greeks, I would say never. You made the comment we don’t have friends other than Greeks. Is this to assume that you don’t have any friends outside of those who work for the paper? All biases are based on the same principles; every individual in a social class has the same flaws and opinions. Does this make all southerners rednecks, all rich individuals snobs, intelligent individuals nerds and religious individuals Bible Thumpers? Think before you speak and focus on the positive. This is the only way to better yourself. Chris Meyers
To The Editor: I am a frequent reader of your newspaper and enjoy it very much. However, I am troubled by one thing in particular. This is the fact that every time you look at The Appalachian or any other newspaper you see topics about the bad things happening. It seems that the media headline crime and its effects before they even know what is going on. I look at the article about the Kappa Alpha fraternity and am disgusted. I am a Criminal Justice major and I feel that one or a group is innocent until proven guilty. These articles tarnished the names of KA and Sigma Nu and it is not right. Articles in the media do not give a person the benefit of the doubt. These articles however, do insult and hurt those whose names are on the line. A person only is worth his/her name. Once accusations are made true or non-true, reputations can be hurt. I know the gentlemen of KA and Sigma Nu and believe that they are good guys and of good character even after the accusations of misconduct was made. What I worry about are the many others that read the papers or watch TV and take what the media says is true before they even know the facts or the truth. Everyday, lies are made about people to hurt them. These lies, if given to the right people, can be blown up and made public. Think about yourself and if someone made a false accusation about you. This accusation was made public and you had no way of controlling the situation. You did nothing wrong but people do not believe you, yet they look at you and talk about you in ugly ways. It is then that you are ruined. Eventually a person will heal but that suffering, that stereotype, burns at a good person for a long time. The media does not care about these people. I like The Appalachian but I wonder if they even care if they hurt people or organizations. I hope next time you write about individuals or organizations you consider innocent until proven guilty. One day the accusations could be about you. Mike Shook
Does the Justice System accomplish their goal To The Editor: To the Editor: Does the United States Criminal Justice System accomplish the goals that were set up for it to accomplish? The United States Criminal Justice system was set up to protect the innocent from an oppressive government, specifically the English Monarchy. The criminal justice system is based on ideals such as “Innocent until proven guilty” and “It’s better to let guilty people go free than to punish innocent people.” Is this the way the criminal justice system is run today or does it follow another path? There are two types of models of criminal justice, the crime control model and the due process model. The due process model, what the United States Criminal Justice System was based on, is based on the preservation of justice at all cost “innocent until proven guilty” and ideals such as this. The other model is the crime control model, which is the way I believe the criminal justice system is leaning towards today. The crime control model is based on fighting crime at all costs even if it means violating citizen’s rights. Whether you’re talking about the due process model or the crime control model, there are three main goals of each. The first is to control crime, which is based on catching criminals after the crime has been committed. The second is to prevent crime or stop crime before is occurs. The last, and probably most important is to do justice. This last objective is what the writers of the constitution intended the criminal justice system to do, administer the laws of our country in a fair and unbiased manor. It is my opinion that the criminal justice system has gotten away from this ideal and gone more towards fighting crime at all costs. My question to the readers is simple, are you willing to give up some of your rights and freedoms so that the crime in our country and our communities will decrease? If you answered yes to this question, then you would be willing to sacrifice some of your rights, such as the protection from illegal search and seizure. On the other hand, if you answered no, then you are okay with the fact that criminals are let out on the street because evidence was obtained in an illegal manner or that a suspect was not read his Miranda rights. If you are of the same opinion as me, then you are wondering if there is a happy medium between both of these models, one that would help prevent crime and let the United States citizens keep their rights. Unfortunately there is no such happy medium. Our criminal justice system may be able to accomplish some aspects of both of these models, but there is no choice but to lean one way or the other. So are you as citizens of the United States happy with the criminal justice system leaning towards the crime control model and the relinquishing of some of your rights, or would you like to see the criminal justice system tilt back towards the due process model and possibly let criminals go free? This is a hard question to answer and to answer this you must put yourself in the shoes of the victim of a crime and in the shoes of a person who was arrested due to an illegal search and seizure. Danny Westphall
|
