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E D I T O R I A L L Y

Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Issue 20

Vol. 119

I N D E P E N D E N T

S T U D E N T

Partly Cloudy 20% chance of rain HIGH LOW 50 34

The depraved bloodletting continues in “Bloodied Truths” PUBLISHED SINCE 1906

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BCPC hosts drama about social issues

Whitney Carter and Justin Huseman • The Daily Beacon

Caroline Snapp Staff Writer The Black Cultural Programming Committee (BCPC) hosted “Our Young Black Men are Dying and Nobody Seems to Care” on Monday at the UC Auditorium. Christopher Dillard, sophomore in political science and team leader and treasurer of BCPC, worked on planning. “What we do is basically the behind the scenes stuff like contacting people, getting vehicles reserved, and getting speakers here and that sort of thing,” Dillard said. “Our Young Black Men are Dying and Nobody Seems to Care” was Dillard’s first event as a team leader, and he was pleased with the result. “We’ve had a good turnout,” Dillard said. Kellie Wilson, sophomore communications pre-major, was also on the BCPC team that hosted the event.

“The Black Cultural Programming Committee’s mission is to bring cultural awareness to campus through events such as plays, orchestra and that sort of thing,” Wilson said. The event was performed by the Flow Theater, an act based out of New York. “They tour throughout the country and they perform scenes that depict black men in America,” Dillard said. According to the BCPC website, “The play is a series of vignettes addressing issues facing young black men in America. The topics are as relevant as today’s headlines and as real as walking through any inner-city neighborhood.” The Off-Broadway show aimed to be humorous, but still highlighted some important issues facing black men. “It’s based around the social issues of the black male and making it a little funny, but not too much where you can’t notice it’s a problem,” Wilson said.

Gay marriage ban unconstitutional The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — Supporters and opponents of California’s ban on same-sex marriage were anxiously awaiting a federal appeals court decision Tuesday on whether the voter-approved measure violates the civil rights of gay men and lesbians. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that considered the question plans to issue its long-awaited opinion 18 months after a trial judge struck down the ban following the first federal trial to examine if same-sex couples have a constitutional right to get married. The 9th Circuit does not typically give notice of its forthcoming rulings, and its decision to do so Monday reflects the intense interest in the case. Even if the panel upholds the lower court ruling, it could be a while before same-sex couples can resume marrying in the state. Proposition 8 backers plan to appeal to a larger 9th Circuit panel and then to the U.S. Supreme Court if they lose in the intermediate court. Marriages would likely stay on hold while that process plays out. The three-judge panel, consisting of judges appointed by presi-

dents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, heard arguments on the ban’s constitutional implications more than a year ago. But it put off a decision so it could seek guidance from the California Supreme Court on whether Proposition 8 sponsors had legal authority to challenge the trial court ruling after California’s attorney general and governor decided not to appeal it. The California court ruled in November that the state’s vigorous citizens’ initiative process grants official proponents of ballot measures the right to defend their measures in court if state officials refuse to do so. Further complicating the case was a move in April by lawyers for the coalition of conservative religious groups that put Proposition 8 on the ballot to have the trial court ruling struck down because the now-retired judge who issued it was in a long-term relationship with another man. Former Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker disclosed he was gay and had a partner of 10 years after he retired from the bench last year. Proposition 8 backers have argued that Walker’s relationship posed a potential conflict-of-interest and that he should have revealed it before he declared the measure unconstitutional in August 2010. See PROP 8 on Page 3

Tia Patron • The Daily Beacon

Members of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, nicknamed the Trocks, fight over roses as a part of their act after performing a portion of Swan Lake on Jan. 26. The all-male troupe creates the comedic style of dance by messing up on purpose and showing off their masculine side for roles traditionally reserved for women.

“This Off-Broadway hit is full of history, passion, and sheer drama that established the prominence of Chapmyn Spoken Word,” the BCPC stated. “This classic choreopoem is redesigned with music and staged in simple elegance. The content is as current as the evening and as disturbing as the issues it addresses.” The free event aimed to be a non-confrontational look at many current issues that face black men in America. Wilson was also very pleased with the result of the event. “We’re happy with the turnout because we didn’t know if we’d get that big of a turnout with a name like ‘people are dying,’” Wilson said. She also mentioned that the BCPC will be hosting more events in the future. “We have the Frederick Douglas Museum which is going on beginning the first of February and it’s an exhibit at the Black Cultural Center.”

Troops encouraged to support super PACs The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Reversing an earlier stand, President Barack Obama is now encouraging donors to give generously to the kind of political fundraising groups he once assailed as a “threat to democracy.” He had little choice, his campaign says, if he was to compete with bigmoney conservative groups that are sure to attack him this fall. Obama’s campaign is urging its top donors to support Priorities USA, a “super PAC” led by two former Obama aides that has struggled to compete with the tens of millions of dollars collected by Republican-backed outside groups. Campaign officials said Tuesday the president had signed off on the decision. The president is already facing criticism that he is compromising on principle and succumbing to Washington political rules he pledged to change. Yet in a plea to supporters, campaign manager Jim Messina said it would be unfair and unwise for the president’s re-election effort to live under one set of rules while the Republican presidential nominee benefits from a new supercharged campaign finance landscape. “We decided to do this because we can’t afford for the work you’re doing in your communities, and the grassroots donations you give to support it, to be destroyed by hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads,” Messina said. The Supreme Court opened the door to the “super” political action committees, stripping away some limits on campaign contributions in its 2010 decision in the Citizens United case, a ruling that Obama has spoken against. The new super PACs can’t coordinate directly with candidates or

their campaigns, but they have played a major role in the Republican primary contests by raising millions of dollars for negative advertising in early contests in Iowa, South Carolina and Florida. Messina said senior campaign officials, along with some White House officials and members of Obama’s Cabinet, would attend and speak at fundraising events for Priorities USA but would not directly ask for money. He said Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and first lady Michelle Obama would not be part of the effort and would remain focused on Obama's own reelection campaign. Republicans jeered Obama’s decision, and they weren’t alone. Supporters of more openness in government said the president had capitulated on his past calls to rein in the role of money in politics. Former Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., a longtime advocate for campaign finance limits, said the decision to support the super PAC would “gut a winning, progressive strategy. When Democrats play by Republican rules, people see our party as weak, and a false alternative to the power of rich individual and corporate interests that are increasingly dominating our government.” Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, said the notion that White House officials “are not soliciting money is laughable.” Republicans criticized the Obama campaign’s embrace of the outside groups, calling it a hypocritical shift by Obama after he criticized the influence of secret, special-interest money. Obama has previously referred to the money as a “threat to our democracy.” “Just another broken promise,” House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said of Obama’s decision. See SUPER PACS on Page 3


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