Viewpoint
PAGE 4 • FRIDAY, SEPT. 20, 2013
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Wolfpack, help save the Gray Wolves! We pride ourselves on the successes of our sports teams, howling our approval and making the “wolf ” sign to cheer them to victory. Given how important wolves are to those of us who love NCSU, I was shocked to be apparently the only member of the Wolfpack Nation in Washington D.C. on Sept. 7 at the National Rally to Protect America’s Wolves. The Gray Wolves lost their federal protection under the Endangered Species Act in several states in 2011, and since then they have been
brutally hunted. No state agency can accurately determine how many wolves remain, but licenses to hunt, trap and snare are still being issued. Wolves have been lured out of protected areas and killed, pups are being burned or buried alive in their dens and packs are being destroyed at alarming rates. The decision to de-list wolves wasn’t made using sound science- it was forced as a rider onto a must-pass budget bill. Now the Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to remove the Gray Wolf from the ESA in the rest of the country, despite both
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overwhelming evidence that wolves are vital to maintaining healthy ecosystems and overwhelming public support to regain federal protections for them. The FWS is taking public comments about this proposal until Oct. 28 on www. regulations.gov. Wolfpack Nation, unless the only howls you want to hear are coming from a loudspeaker and the only wolves you want to see are statues on campus, you need to speak up for our nation’s wolves. Gina Longo, N.C. State alumna
Tony Hankerson Jr., senior in arts application
Americans, we are the most arrogant
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European parliament discusses NSA surveillance in Europe
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he Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs committee of the European Parliament met on the Sept. 5, 2013 in Brussels. The discussion wa s t it led the Inquiry of Electronic Ma ss Su rveillance of Naman EU Citizens. Muley Among Staff Columnist other journalists, Jacob Appelbaum, a prominent Internet activist and security expert, and Jacques Follorou, a journalist for Le Monde, were invited to the hearing. Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of The Guardian was also invited for a via video conference. All of them provided insights and findings about the topic of discussion. Le Monde is the French newspaper that led investigation into the French External Securities Agency’s mass spying on its citizens. The Guardian first published similar revelations about the National Security Agency’s surveillance program - PRISM based on the whistleblower Edward Snowden’s information. Jacob Appelbaum is an independent hacker and information security expert. He has worked with WikiLeaks and is a core member of The Onion Router project, also known as TOR, a free program designed to allow users to browse the Internet anonymously. In his first address to the European Parliament, he
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IN YOUR WORDS
eil Bush, brother of former President George W. Bush, wrote an opinion column for USA Today titled “America, we are the most exceptional.” In the column, Bush voiced his frustration toward Tyler Gobin the recent Staff Columnist statement of Russian President Vladimir Putin. “It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation,” Putin said. Bush said he disagrees with Putin and believes Americans can refer to themselves as exceptional, but in his column, he failed to understand what exceptional means. In Bush’s response to Putin’s statement he demonstrates the United States’ generosity and selflessness, but doesn’t seem to grasp the meaning of exceptional. Bush did an incredible job providing examples of our generosity toward other countries, which he believes is caused by our freedom. He disagreed with Putin directly. “It is emphatically not dangerous when freedomand peace-loving people think of themselves as exceptional,” Putin said. And after reading the bulk of his column, I would agree with Bush if his title said, “America, we are the
provided his insights into the are highly unethical. extent of surveillance mechAppelbaum also disclosed anisms the NSA is involved his personal experiences in, in the United States and with these agencies, which beyond. included unauthorized He mentioned the Foreign searches of his apartments, Intelligence Surveillance detainment at airports, deAc t’s A mend ments Ac t nial of access to lawyers and (FAA, 2008), Section 702 un- even the ability to use the der which the United States restroom. government has authority to “My partner woke up to electronically monitor For- find men with night vision eign Individuals. He also goggles watching her sleep mentioned technology giants in her own home,” Appellike Google, baum said. Facebook, He cited Yahoo and investigaothers who t ions by comply with various the NSA in news agenhaving sysc ie s l i k e t e m s pi gthe Washgybacked ington, the on their Guardian networks and his which allow own expesurveillance rience with Jacob Appelbaum, internet of ema i l s, WikiLeaks activist social netas sources works, for the insearch queries, etc. sights he provided to the Appelbaum also mentioned European Parliament. the Five Eyes program, better Appelbaum condemned known as the Echelon pro- President Barack Obama’s gram, as a nexus between the statement, “Don’t worry, intelligence agencies of five We don’t spy on Americountries including United cans” as insulting to all the Kingdom, New Zealand, members of the EU as that Canada, Australia and the meant everyone who is not U.S. an American was a fair canHe said that these agen- didate for surveillance. cies survey civilian Internet A general agreement on traffic and store it in various the seriousness of the isdegrees, ranging from meta- sue was reached. The LIBE data storage to actual data committee meets again on storage for up to three days. Sept. 24, 2013, and the proThese agencies then exchange ceedings will be streamed information about a hierar- on the Internet. chical basis. Appelbaum stated that these activities
“My partner woke up to find men with night vision goggles watching her sleep in her own home.”
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most generous,” but he seems to think generosity means exceptional. Merriam Webster defines exceptional as, not usual or not typical. So in context, Bush’s use is grammatically correct because we are not typical, but I doubt Bush had this meaning in mind. Throughout the article, Bush pushes for a more superior feel than an exceptional one and in his last sentence states, “That’s what makes us the kindest, the gentlest and – yes – the most exceptional nation on this earth.” If I were to pick the most exceptional nation on Earth, I might choose Laos or maybe Antarctica, because they seem to be t he most atypical to me, but it all depends what is classif ied as typical. This 1`is where I have a problem with Bush’s argument. We have to stop comparing other countries actions, cultures and lifestyles to our own. When you compare other cultures to your own, people have a tendency to see in black and white. Either the foreign culture is better than ours or worse than ours. To truly evaluate another culture without a standard to compare it to takes practice, but it allows you to gain incredible perspective. But the bulk of Bush’s mistake was when he inflated the American ego.
Fueling the fire only contributes to the American stereotype of selfishness and arrogance. Feel free to write an article describing our generosity, but leave the superlatives out. Who decided we are the best? LeBron James repeatedly called press conferences to talk about his greatness, but instead he consistently acknowledges his flaws. Usain Bolt is viewed as one of the most arrogant athletes of our time, and we are viewed as the most arrogant nation. Being arrogant in sports might give teams the competitive edge, but it often leads to teams not respecting their opponent s a nd losing. The U.S. i s f u l l of arrogance, and it’s disrespectful toward other cultures, and it also fails to acknowledge their importance. I am thankful to be a part of the U.S., but we are not the only nation, and we are not the best. Bush demonstrated our generosity well, but politicians like him create a lack of respect toward other cultures, which in today’s world is a shame. Never before has the world been so small and interconnected, so, don’t let our arrogance get in the way of learning about the great nations of this planet.
“Never before has the world been so small and interconnected...”
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“I don’t understand the game too much, so I’ll just occasionally check the score, and not watch the entire game.”
“Carter Finley, and its perhaps going to be one of the best games ever.” Brian Dawson junior, mechanical engineering
Alexandre Brernard international student, arts application
Where are you going to watch the game?
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EDITOR’S NOTE “I’ll watch it with my friends in the basement of Alexander hall.”
“I’ll watch it in a pub, since I did not get a ticket, the atmosphere will be as close as it gets to Carter Finley.”
BY SOHAM MUKERJEE
Paul Wallace sophomore, biomedical engineering
Austin Latham senior, psychology
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