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Weekend Edition April 5 | 2012 NEWSRECORD.ORG
CAPITOL CRITIC JASON
HOFFMAN
GOP race done, just admit it
It’s been real, and somewhat fun, but it’s time to end this. For far too long, Grand Old Party candidates Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul have clung to the fleeting glimmers of hope that they can pull off a miracle and get the party’s nomination in Tampa, Fla., come September. Mitt Romney, the current leader and soon-to-be Republican nominee to challenge President Barack Obama in November’s general election has all but mathematically wrapped up the nomination and, barring disaster, needs to focus on the national election. The issue at hand is that the already weak field of GOP candidates are spending their time tearing each other to pieces hoping to win the votes of fringe voters, giving Obama and his campaigners ammunition they really don’t need seven months out. Pundits in the Republican world believe Romney going through the paces with his rivals will add to his ability to beat the incumbent Obama, but I disagree. Their reasoning, sound in theory, is based on the 2008 Democratic Primary when then-Senator Obama faced off in a tenuous battle Senator Hillary Clinton. Although the campaign got ugly and was fiercely contested, Obama was still standing and easily routed John McCain in the general election. Unfortunately for Republican strategists, they fail to realize their man doesn’t have the momentum behind him Obama enjoyed in 2008. The battle for the GOP nomination has been about identity since its inception. Romney, viewed by the upstart Tea Party movement as an “establishment man” and, therefore, no better than Obama as far as leading the nation out of its current troubles — perceived or real. Santorum, the unlikely fringe contender, has risen to the spot of first loser in previous months following victories in several ChristianConservative states, but has failed to keep up with Romney and resembles a boxer awaiting the final bell so he can hit the showers. Gingrich, this election’s supposed “maverick” candidate, looked great out of the gate but is learning he can’t push the sun back up in the sky for one more stint inside the beltway. The former speaker of the House and most experienced player in the field fell short, but not due to a lack of funding, Gingrich was backed for most of the campaign by Winning our Future, the super Political Action Committee founded by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who reportedly spent $25 million thus far. Super PAC spending thus far in the GOP race has exceeded $100 million, highlighting another troubling factor in our modern political process — money seems to trump ideas and credentials. Is Romney really the best candidate to unseat Obama? Probably not, but in a time when Republicans will sell anything to displace the president, they will apparently take whoever they can get. To his credit, Romney did win swing states like Ohio and Florida, which have dictated the outcomes of two of the last three presidential races. Those victories came with an impressive price tag, however. Restore our Future, the super PAC behind Romney has spent $40 million so far, according to Federal Election Commission filings. This expensive popularity contest will conclude in November, and many predict it will easily eclipse the $1 billion spent on the race for the Oval Office in 2008. If the GOP hopes to ascend to executive power, it would be best served by getting the cannon fodder out of the way so Romney can start battling Obama. Otherwise, another paper tiger might be shredded by Obama. For more election coverage, check out newsrecord.org
OPINION SG pres: vote, get involved Bearcats ALAN HAGERTY AND MICHAEL LINGER Welcome to Spring quarter, arguably the best time of year at the University of Cincinnati. Besides the beautiful weather and blooming campus, student life is in full swing. LETTER TO Signature campus THE EDITOR events include the PAC Spring Concert, Sigma Sigma Carnival, MainStreet Stride and Commencement. Hopefully, you have noticed that now is campaign season for the annual Student Government Elections. From April 2-18, candidates are campaigning across campus by speaking at events and posting up on MainStreet. Voting will be live for three days on Blackboard from April 16 at 8 a.m. to April 18 at 5 p.m. Then, the election results will be publicly
announced at the conclusion of Student Government Senate on Wednesday, April 18. Following the elections, the new officers will be formally inaugurated by UC President Williams at the MainStreet Stride Friday, May 18. Now, I challenge you to make a difference and vote. Talk to your fellow students and candidates. Ask them about their platform and stance on key university and student issues. Then, come April 16-18 be sure to vote on Blackboard. Why vote do you ask? What has Student Government ever done for students? Then ask yourself — have you ever taken the Bearcat Transportation System, called Nightwalk, rented a bike from the Campus Recreation Center, reserved a ZipCar, attended a college career fair, joined a student organization, attended Relay for Life or completed an Individual Advising Plan for
Semester Conversion? Without question, Student Government has been directly involved with all these student events, services, initiatives and beyond. The candidates you vote for April 16-18 will be responsible for carrying forth these past accomplishments and successes. Moreover, they will bring many new ideas and initiatives to serve the student body. Personally speaking, serving you has been an unbelievable honor and duty during this past year. Michael and I have one final goal before leaving office on May 18. Simply put, we hope that the next band of elected officers does even better than we have. Remember to vote in the Student Government Elections April 16-18 on Blackboard. Alan Hagerty is the student body president and Michael Linger is the student body vice president.
GINGRICH SHIP NEAR THE DEPTHS OF THE POLITICAL OCEAN, LIMPING ON
DREW SHENEMAN | MCT CAMPUS
Free speech rating deceptive, overstated MARY CHITWOOD | TNR CONTRIBUTOR The Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) sued the University of Cincinnati for what it deems to be an unconstitutional free speech restriction. To be frank,YAL is suing because UC does not allow activists to move freely around campus or protest the at the spur of the moment. Instead, activists — protesters and petitioners — must remain in McMicken Commons or risk being escorted from campus or ticketed by police. Concurrent with this, UC ranked one of the 12 worst schools in America for free speech by The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). Though UC’s policy sounds unconstitutional, it deserves a fair look. First of all, what really is free speech? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as “speech that is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.” No geographic liberty or confinement is mentioned in the amendment, giving institutions like UC a bit of leeway as to the amount of property they grant to students for the use of free speech. What is an example of a university promoting free speech? FIRE selected the University of Virginia as one of seven schools that exemplify
what they believe the right to free speech should look like. Among other things, UVa’s computer use policy no longer prohibits vilification and that protected speech will not be subject to official discipline or investigation, according to FIRE. When this issue was first brought to my attention, my immediate reaction was to be affronted by the audacity of the school to oppress free speech. But as more information has been revealed, I see order, rather than suppression, to be the proper way to describe university policy. UC is not seeking to smother independent thoughts or beliefs, just maintaining a tricky balance between scholastics and politics — which often collide. Though I haven’t participated in any protests, I stand by constitutionally allotted freedom of speech. If I ever decide to join an activist group, I would certainly hope that I would have the freedom to express my views and opinions freely. The problem with FIRE’s accusation against UC is they are only looking at one venue of free speech. While the free speech zone might be a bit restrictive, flyers, sidewalk-chalk messages and informal discussions among friends or peers
are all freely allowed on campus. Some of the methods might not be as effective as formalized protesting or petitioning, but they clearly show university administration as being supportive of free speech. Free speech is a two-way street: You have your freedom, and I have mine. There’s a fine line between stating one’s opinion and infringing on another’s rights (aka harassment). So where does that put us? Let’s say that instead of the YAL suing the school, a band of radical preachers were — they just didn’t feel screaming at students from the sidelines allowed them to fully exercise their freedom of speech, and they wanted to walk all over the campus. This would not allow people on campus the freedom to avoid confrontation, should they want to do so. In turn, I would ask — where’s my freedom? Even though YAL may not be radical activists shouting obscenities in people’s faces, they would be confronting students unavoidably, if indeed the case turns out in their favor. And in the end, those radical preachers would end up having the same right as the YAL. I’m all for free speech — yours and mine.
Student paper responsible, at least in Clifton We here at The News Record enjoy a good joke as much as the next person. We’ve even gone so far as to print a few house ads in order to garner a good chuckle from our readers (If you haven’t already, check out orangecreep.com). But when we saw The Daily Free Press of Boston University’s April Fool’s Day issue, even we were put off. The Free Press, an independent student newspaper, published a mock issue titled “The Disney Free Press.” The issue included stories about a dwarf-filled fraternity sexually assaulting a girl described as the “fairest of them all” and Cinderella being caught in a prostitution ring. The backlash was immediate, with students and readers calling for the editor-in-chief’s resignation. BU’s Inter-Fraternity Council wrote a letter condemning the issue, adding that, “While meant solely in jest, [the issue] was in bad taste and could potentially have a very real, unfounded negative impact on Greek Life’s reputation.” Twitter exploded with angry retorts to the issue, including BU journalism student Brittney McNamara, who tweeted from
@Brittneymac15, “The @dailyfreepress continually perpetuates rape culture on campus. Do not pick it up. Ever. Even for the crossword.” The Free Press and its board of directors each issued apologies. The board asked for and received editor-in-chief Chelsea Diana’s resignation. The student newspaper issued a second apology. Clearly, the joke was in poor taste; no one is disputing that. Issues like rape, prostitution and drug abuse are no joking matter, especially on STAFF a platform that is supposed EDITORIAL to remain objective and present the truth to its audience. And the Free Press staff needed to take responsibility for its actions; they issued multiple apologies, and Diana took the fall, resigning the following day. Reactions to the Free Press’s response to the issue have been mixed, with some commenting the publication hasn’t done enough to make amends. Others say it wasn’t right for Diana to lose her position as editor-in-chief for a single
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mistake. The Boston Globe posted an editorial April 4 asserting that Diana shouldn’t have been pushed out. “When college athletes blunder during an important game, they may face the scorn of teammates, coaches, and fans,” it read. “But unless they seriously foul up on or off the field — by breaking the law, for instance — they aren’t kicked off the team. The same standard should apply to college students who participate in other activities, from drama club to student media.” From what we’ve seen, Diana did some solid work as editor-in-chief. To see that be forever marred now by one bad decision is sad. Like we said before, TNR is all about the jokes. Did we think about running a few gags for April Fool’s Day? Sure. Have we considered joke issues in the past? Definitely. But we didn’t, because it’s hard enough to make credible a student publication. We are students, and we are bound to make more than a few mistakes during our time here. But if we don’t do everything we can to show that we take our newspaper and ourselves seriously, we can’t expect anyone else to, either.
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