SEPTEMBER 22, 2010
4
OPINIONS
BY THE NUMBERS
70
percentage of Americans who oppose the Park 51 mosque
$13.4 trillion
the current US national debt (growing by the second)
$150 million
amount of American aid sent to Pakistani flood victims
9.6%
the US rate of unemployment
1
the number of charges for which Rod Blagojevich was convicted
29
percentage of Americans who think the country is going in the right direction
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STAFF
DISCLAIMER Views and opinions published in the Charger Account reflect solely those of their authors. All unsigned editorials are the collective opinions of the editorial board. EDITORIAL STAFF Editors-in-Chief: Sue Kim, Alison Lee, Kairav Sinha, Janice Yip; Managing Editor: Annabel Liu; Copy Editor: Robert Huang SECTION EDITORS News: Sarah Kho, Mary Gong, Catherine Hsu; Opinions: Albert Wu, Wooju Kim; Feature; Alvin Tseng, Eileen Chen; Investigative Report: Ryan Chow, Leon Chen; Vi e w p o i n t : E m i l i e J e h n g ; Entertainment: Rachel Wagner, Edward Yang; Lifestyle: Christine Nham, Julia Montgomery; Sports: Jacquelyn Nguyen, Ankur Bhagat, Annie Lee; In Case You Missed It: Lauren Flores; Last Word: Alice Koh ART: Jessica Lee PHOTOGRAPHY: Lauren Flores ADVISOR: Kim Kelley-Lafranconi COMMUNITY CIRCULATION (LELAND BRIDGE): J.F. Lue
Should the Park 51 mosque be constructed?
By Tiffany Lee and Jeffrey Meng Staff Writers The Park 51 mosque in New York is the temporary name of the nation’s most controversial building. The reason behind the controversy is the fact that the Cordoba House will only be two blocks away from Ground Zero, the former grounds of the World Trade Center complex, which was destroyed on Sept. 11. The mosque is not, in fact, just a mosque, but rather a 100 million dollar, thirteen-story community center that happens to contain a mosque, replacing a building two blocks away that was damaged by the attacks. The center was intended as a sign of America’s resilience and its wealth of cultural diversity. Many who oppose the building of the mosque have issues with Feisal Abdul Rauf, who is the man in charge of the Cordoba Initiative, as the project is called. Rauf has been called a supporter of terrorism, hoping to force Islam upon the American people. If this was true, then actions would have already been made against the existing mosque that Rauf leads a dozen blocks from Ground Zero. In fact, Rauf’s mosque has been peacefully residing in Lower Manhattan for the past 27 years. The State Departments under both the Bush and Obama administrations sent Rauf to the Middle East as an American representative, explaining America to the Muslims of the Middle East. He has even given a lecture to an FBI seminar on USMuslim relations.
“I think that since it is private property and is not directly on the site, then there is nothing wrong with the location of the mosque. Also, there were Muslims who died in the Sept. 11 tragedy, and as obvious as it is, many people forget that not all Muslims are radical terrorists,” Sophomore Manali Souda said. One of the most basic rights for Americans is the freedom of religion, a fact that has been written in the Constitution for the past 223 years. This means that the government does not have the right to discriminate against certain religious groups. This also means that every citizen has the right to believe in their own religion. Having been such a foundational part of the United States, it should not be forsaken for such an incident. This reflects a growing belief in this country that all Muslims are terrorists, even though the Muslim radicals who attacked the World Trade Center represented only an extremely small group in the widespread religion of Islam. Often overlooked is the fact that among those who died on Sept. 11 nine years ago were innocent Muslim-Americans inside the World Trade Center. “I do not think it is fair to Muslims if they move the mosque. Not all members of the Muslim faith are fanatical radicals,” Junior Joe Lee said. Moving the mosque appears to be the only compromise. However, this is one case where a compromise is not the answer.
Blagojevich scandal highlights political corruption
By Julian Crown Staff Writer The recent Rob Blagojevich scandal brought to light the inherent corruption in politicians and has shown America just how much influence money and bribery have in politics today. On Dec. 9, 2008, Democrat Rod Blagojevich, former governor for the state of Illinois, was arrested on federal corruption charges. His charges included solicitation of bribery and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. The federal Justice Department’s complaint against Blagojevich argued that he had planned to implement “pay to play” schemes, or deals to give political favors in exchange for money. In court, Blagojevich was convicted of lying to investigators; however, the jury could not come to a unanimous decision on other issues and a mistrial was ordered. “Rod Blagojevich was definitely corrupt, but his trial only reflects the most blatant of corruption in politics today,” Junior Tristan Ma said. Corruption that is less obvious than Blagojevich’s is a definitive part of the American political machine. While they are not trying to buy themselves a seat in the Senate, corporations and their lobbyists have been buying influence in politics for many, many years.
The power of money in politics is surprisingly obvious. A study found that even though lobbyists cannot buy their own seats in congress, they can buy time with congressmen. Lobbyists representing the richest corporations have access to senior congressmen, while lobbyists representing special interest groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving are lucky just to talk to a freshman representative. In 2009, the Employee Free Choice Act was rejected by Congress, even though 73 percent of Americans supported the bill. The Chamber of Commerce, the largest representative for COURTESY OF cleveland.com big business in the country, had spent millions of dollars to convince senators to shut down the bill which would have hurt profits. When nearly three out of four Americans supports a piece of legislation and it is turned down by the congressmen elected to represent their wishes, something is very wrong with the system. “The corruption that has become a part of our ‘democratic’ process lies far deeper in the system than Blagojevich. It lies in the ability for companies to buy the votes of congressmen,” Senior Raymond Liu said.
WOOJU KIM
Peace talks, yet again All right ladies and gentlemen, here comes the encore for the umpteenth round of peace talks between Israel and Palestine. Give it up for Mahmoud Abbas; excuse me, I meant, give up. The problem with this new set of peace talks between the West Bank and Israel is that this is history repeating itself. Give peace a chance. They did. We did. It still isn’t here. Granted, I don’t have a solution. But if I did, then this column would be read by Congress, not students of the school, and I’d be receiving a call from the Nobel Prize organization offering me Jimmy Carter’s Peace Prize. Both Israel and Palestine had made attempts at peace, which have not been very successful. Hold on though, I’m not saying that peace is impossible, I just want it to be noted that it’s very unlikely at this point. No one is ready for peace. The only things that we’ll be seeing come out of the Middle East if we continue to look for permanent peace talks is more blood. These talks have rarely ever set anything in stone, and usually just breed more hatred, creating the classic loop of vengeance between two conflicting factions. By associating peace talks with
Another round of failed peace talks. a chance for permanent peace, people will start to lose feeling every time the talks don’t produce anything tangible. If we’re not supposed to bite off more than we can chew, then the speculation behind these peace talks should not amount to anything more than a new trade agreement. Real peace cannot be made during these times. The fact that the United States initiated these peace talks by pressuring Mahmoud Abbas into sitting down with Benjamin Netanyahu at the table doesn’t help matters at all. Real peace can only happen when both parties are willing to have it, making a third party mediator entirely irrelevant. A substantial number of the conflicts that arise from this part of the Middle East is engendered by the failed expectations that each peace talk has. People have a natural aversion to what they perceive as falsehood, which is all that these peace summits have been. The key step in showing people that they are advancing on the path of mutual accord is by changing the name of the so-called peace talks. Call it progressive conferences. Name them happy circles. But just like how adding Obama as a prefix to every single new policy the White House comes up with is out of fashion, the same goes for these peace talks.
QUOTEBOX: What is the most important issue facing the nation? “The ability of the Senate to compromise on economic stimulus packages and immigration policies.” – Senior Jordan Olmstead “[The] recession.” “Healthcare.” “Fox News.” “Public education.” “The oil spill and Iraq war.”
– Freshman Anushee Sondhi – Senior Alex Rose – Junior Ahon Sarkar – Senior Jake Neumann – Sophomore Sridevi Sheth
“Water polo [is not] the national sport.” “Religious tolerance.” “Glenn Beck.” “Immigration.” “Education.”
– Senior Dan Barta -Sophomore Bang Nguyen – Senior Adil Majid – Junior Ronak Ahir – Sophomore Steven Lin Compiled by Julian Crown Staff Writer