VIEWPOINTS
A8
Eastern Hills Press
December 1, 2010
students, though we will never meet face-toface. We can jump into a dialogue with Socrates on the nature of justice through Plato’s Trevor Shunk “Republic,” or Ivan on Community engage the question of Press guest the existence of columnist God within “ B r o t h e r s Karamozov,” as easily as by walking down the street to the nearest used book store. The greatest thinkers are few and far between; but through the Great Books, these minds are our neighbors, and they can become our friends. What do these Great Books mean to you, or to me? There are so many things to do – why should one turn off one’s iPod or forgo the football game to waste time with old books? The answer is not far from why we grow up reading. We go to school to learn, and to think, and to know. We look back on the course of our education and see ourselves transform from one human being into another. We see the fruits of this maturation in our daily lives, and we are grateful. As much as our early education shaped us into who and what we are, it would be foolish to say that this education should have ended when we walked across the stage for our high school diploma. We have graduated from basic chemistry and civics, but what have we graduated to? There is much less talk of reading after our formal education finishes, and this is a sad thing. Education should never end, and our reading should only burgeon as we age. It is the essence of being human to know, and it is in Great Books, for the most part, that this knowing finds its most meaningful expression. If we cease to read, we have failed the best teachers who, from an early age, inspired us to become something more than what we were. And if we have failed our best teachers, we have failed ourselves. Trevor Shunk is a native of Loveland, and is studying political philosophy and American government at Claremont Graduate University in California.
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COLUMNS
Editor Eric Spangler | espangler@communitypress.com| 576-8251
Bound and determined to remember ‘Great Books’ There is much talk of reading books in the earliest years of our lives. We begin with the alphabet and children’s stories. We then move to novels and a variety of non-fiction – social studies, natural sciences and the like. As our reading abilities grow, and our interests expand, and our imaginations blossom, we may venture to histories or biographies or poetry, as we are so inclined. Books are natural for the young, and no one seems to question that reading and youth ought to go together. This is, of course, because reading and education go together. Books are at the heart of any good education, and everyone agrees that every human being deserves proper schooling. Everyone also knows that not just any books make for a good education. One would not say that a child should grow up only reading “Peanuts” or “Harry Potter,” as wonderful and insightful as these things may be. There is a certain kind of reading, a certain kind of book, which rises above the others. It possesses a certain quality or excellence that resonates with us. Though we may not be able to describe it, or understand it, we know it is there. It captivates us. We might call these special books the Great Books. They are great because they move us deeply. They are also great because they touch upon certain questions that affect all people at all times. They ask us to step outside of ourselves, outside of our particular circumstance and place and personality, and to consult the meaningful things, the permanent things, and the highest things. They take us to the heart of reality, or the “inner-truth” of things, as Augustine called it. These Great Books do not come often. Leo Strauss famously said that the greatest minds are the authors of the greatest books, and such men are extremely rare. We are not likely to meet any of them in a classroom. We are not likely to meet any of them anywhere. It is a piece of good luck if there is a single one alive in one’s time. Through the Great Books, we have access to the great minds that have preceded us. They can become our teachers, and we their
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EDITORIALS
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CH@TROOM
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CHATROOM Last week’s question
Are the increased airport security measures, such as full body scans and more aggressive pat downs, too invasive? Why or why not? “Obviously the complainers have never experienced a colonoscopy, PAP smear, prostate exam or mammography. I find it much more invasive when I have to sit next to someone on the airplane who weighs 350 pounds or feels the need to fill my lungs with their second-hand smoke in an outdoor public place. Life is full of unpleasant experiences. Get over it. Would you rather be sucked out the hole blown in the side of the plane? Having your body shredded to bits is very invasive.” F.S.D. “Too invasive? Are you kidding? I’m not getting on a plane with anyone who hasn’t been scanned or patted down. If you can’t endure some inconvenience and what you may think is an invasion of your ‘personal rights’ for the safety of everyone on a flight, then please just don’t fly. “TSA officials aren’t perverts looking for a quick thrill – they’re professionals doing an important job to keep us all safe from events like those leading up to the 9/11 tragedy. I can understand the pilots’ and flight attendants’ concerns over being exposed to whatever radiation levels are emitted by the scanners since they fly so often; however, I think a breathalyzer might be in order considering recent allegations of pilots flying drunk! ‘Nuff said.” M.M. “Yes, the airport security measures now used are too invasive and are also totally worthless. History will look back upon our airport security procedures, much the way we look back at the ‘duck and cover’ drills we used to practice to prepare for a nuclear attack from Russia.” J.J. “Absolutely. Travelers are being treated as if they were entering a maximum security prison – as prisoners. As a lawabiding citizen, I find it humiliating and degrading to be treated like a criminal just so that I can spend the weekend in Boston with friends. Both our right to privacy and to protection from unreasonable search are violated by these measures. Where is the probable cause? “And no, I do not believe these procedures are making me safer. Criminals will simply find a way to get around them.” E.S. “Yes they are too invasive. Ask yourself how many rights are you willing to let the government take away for the sake of ‘perceived
Next question If you could be any fictional character, whom would you be and why? Every week the Eastern Hills Journal asks readers a question they can reply to via e-mail. Send your answers to easternhills@communitypress.c om with Chatroom in the subject line. safety.’ We go through this nonsense as the price we pay for safe air travel. Really? I think 95 percent of these inspections are not needed. The profile of the airline attacker is narrow, concrete, uniquely definable and universally known. So why do we do it? To be politically correct so we can’t be accused of profiling. ‘Don’t tread on me’ or as it was stated recently; ‘Don’t touch my junk!’” K.S. “Are the new airport security measures a good or bad idea? What a tough question. All of this interest in security didn’t begin, of course, until terrorists began trying to cause chaos in the Western world in the ‘70s. We are being targeted by very determined, very patient and very clever people who hate us, and believe there is nothing wrong with dying themselves in order to cause us harm. This enemy will continue to devise more subtle ways to get at us, even as we try to tighten up our defenses against them. I’m glad it isn’t my responsibility to devise effective counter-terrorism measures, because even one slip would have terrible consequences. Unlike other ideological differences, this one doesn’t seem to be clearly demarcated between the left and the right. As for me, I wouldn’t care how thoroughly the security folks searched me, but I can understand why some people (especially women) would be offended. Some intelligent critics argue that we should be doing more profiling than we now do. They say that it is silly to search an infant, for example. Guess what? It isn’t unreasonable to think that these terrorists might plant explosives in the personal effects or body of an innocent baby, or an older person. Whatever works, they’ll try. I am reluctantly in favor of the security procedures, because I don’t see an effective alternative, and the price we pay (invasion of our personal space) is worth it if we can avert the tragedies these people want to inflict on us.” B.B “Your question misses the point that these searches are merely a symptom of a broader issue. “I hope my life will end of ‘natural causes,’ but every day it is threatened by drunk drivers and
gun owners (legal and illegal) to name but two. About every six weeks DUIs and guns kill the same number of people that died on 9/11. We accept this risk to our lives even though the math suggests they are far more likely to ‘get us’ than is a terrorist event. We don’t, for example, insist that everyone be breathalyzed before they are allowed to turn on their car ignition. “The problem with airport security is that is highly reactive. For each new threat the terrorists make, we install a new check. Eventually the total costs of the checks could close down the industry if we continue on the current path. “America is at its greatest when it balances risks and benefits. When wagons rolled west, some people died. When we went to the moon, some people died. In neither case did these deaths stop the activity. For the friends and families of those concerned, these deaths are sad, even tragic, but they are an essential part of an adventurous human condition. History suggests that when a nation falls back to defending what it has, rather than reaching out to gain more, it’s days are numbered (think Greece, Rome, European Empires of 17th 18th and 19th centuries). “We need a national debate on who we are as a nation. Older people will always be more protective and conservative as they have more to lose. Younger folks are more willing to risk for potential future reward. Somewhere in the middle there is a balance, but today we are far to skewed towards unattainable safety.” D.R. “No, if a TSA has the opinion that one person, no matter whom, is suspicious, then they get the full scan treatment. “Proper and thorough training is necessary so that nothing gets by them. At the same time they need to be quick and efficient, so that travel is not bottlenecked at boarding. “We have certain rights written in our constitution, but the safety and security of myself and all innocent people when traveling the friendly skies, trumps that. “Give me a full body scan, if deemed warranted, I have nothing to hide.” M.J.Y. “I haven’t experienced a full body scan yet, but I’ve talked with a few travelers who have and everyone has said it’s no big deal. However, I understand the concerns voiced by privacy groups and other organizations. To their point, further technology measures such as blurring views of sensitive body areas without compromising passenger safety and national security should be considered.” D.M.
OFFICIALS DIRECTORY Federal
U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt
Web sites: www.house.gov/schmidt
2nd District includes nearly all the northeastern and eastern Cincinnati communities. Local: Kenwood office – 8044 Montgomery Road, Room 540, Cincinnati, Ohio 45236; phone 791-0381 or 800-784-6366; fax 7911696. Portsmouth office – 601 Chillicothe St., Portsmouth, Ohio 45662; phone 740-3541440. In Washington, D.C.: 238 Cannon Building, Washington, D.C., 20515; phone 202-2253164; fax 202-225-1992. E-mail: jean@jeanschmidt.com
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown
Cleveland – 216-522-7272. Cincinnati – 425 Walnut St., room 2310, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-3915; phone 6841021, fax 684-1029. Washington, D.C.: C5 Russell Bldg., Washington, D.C., 20510; phone 202-224-2315; fax 202-224-6519. E-mail: senator@brown.senate.gov Web site: www.brown.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. George Voinovich
In Cincinnati, write: 36 E. Seventh St.,
Room 2615, Cincinnati, OH 45202; call 513684-3265; fax 513-684-3269. In Washington, D.C., write: 524 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., 20510; call 202-224-3353
State
State Rep. Alicia Reece
33rd District includes parts of Columbia Township, parts of Cincinnati, Deer Park, Silverton and parts of Sycamore Township. In Columbus: House of Representatives, 77 S. High St., 13th floor, Columbus, Ohio, 43215-6111; phone 614-466-1308; fax 614719-3587. E-mail: district33@ohr.state.oh.us
State Rep. Peter Stautberg
34th District includes most of eastern Hamilton County. In Columbus: House of Representatives, 77 S. High St., 11th floor, Columbus, Ohio, 43215-6111; phone 614-644-6886; fax: 614719-3588. E-mail: district34@ohr.state.oh.us
State Rep. Ron Maag
35th District includes parts of Columbia Township, Indian Hill, Loveland, Madeira, Mariemont, parts of Sycamore Township and Symmes Township in Hamilton County and
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Your Community Press newspaper serving Columbia Township, Columbia-Tusculum, Fairfax, Hyde Park, Madisonville, Mariemont, Mt.Lookout, Oakley, Terrace Park
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Eastern Hills Journal Editor . . . . .Eric Spangler espangler@communitypress.com . . . . . .576-8251
parts of Warren County. In Columbus: House of Representatives, 77 S. High St., 10th Floor, Columbus, Ohio, 43215-6111; phone 614-644-6023; fax 614719-3589. E-mail: district35@ohr.state.oh.us
State Sen. Shannon Jones
7th District includes most of eastern Hamilton County and all of Warren County. In Columbus: 1 Capitol Square, Statehouse, Columbus, Ohio 43215; 614-466-9737; via e-mail: sd07@senate.state.oh.us or by mail: State Sen. Shannon Jones, 1 Capitol Square, Statehouse, Columbus, Ohio 43215.
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Office hours: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday | See page A2 for additional contact information. 248-8600 | 394 Wards Corner Road, Loveland, Ohio 45140 |e-mail easternhills@communitypress.com | Web site: www.communitypress.com