2008 Woodie Awards
Letters to the editor
Issue date: 4/4/08 Section: Editorials
Boehner editorial skews principles of lawmaker
Your lead editorial from April 1 ("Boehner's anti-earmark sentiments hurt Miami") breathlessly chastises Republican leader, Rep. John Boehner (R-West Chester) for his opposition to congressional earmarks as if that opposition is something novel. The sub-headline on the front page ("With Boehner avoiding earmarks, area schools see decrease in monies") also presents a skewed version of reality-how could area schools see a decrease in monies which have not been earmarked by Boehner throughout his term? As Boehner's press secretary says in your front page article, "(he) has never requested and never accepted an earmark."
The word "never," defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as "not ever; on no occasion; at no time" suggests that what she meant is that since becoming a member of Congress, Boehner has on no occasion requested or accepted an earmark. Keep in mind that Boehner has served in the House of Representatives for nine terms, so The Student can congratulate itself for its fearless reporting on an issue that has been around for 17 years. Also, it should be noted that your statement that Boehner opposes earmarking "in support of" the president's call for fiscal responsibility is misleading. Boehner does not oppose earmarking because of the president's position on the issue, but because he genuinely disagrees with the practice.
It is not election year politicking, it is a principled stand taken because he believes it is a step toward boosting the government's fiscal health. Your criticism of Boehner for putting "impractical national decisions above the needs of his constituents" also falls flat. When the members of the House of Representatives take their oaths of office in the January of every odd-numbered year, they swear that they will "support and defend the Constitution of the United States," not that they will do whatever they can to drain the Federal Treasury for the good of their personal constituencies. Criticizing Boehner in this fashion is unfair and displays a lack of understanding of congressional representatives' duties.
Thad Boggs
First Vice Chairman
Miami University College Republicans
Boggstm@muohio.edu
Secular Students retract 'think' fish, promote event
Secular Students of Miami would like to address the topic of the "think" fish that was used at the beginning of the year to promote the club and has resulted in some long-lasting negative connotations. Our intent was not to offend anyone-quite the opposite, we intended to use a symbol commonly recognized and historically used that would grab people's attention. Unfortunately it grabbed people's negative attention. Many people that I have talked to-from Christians to Jews to atheists-saw the symbol as an attack on Christianity, and therefore, thought that the group was about attacking that religion.
The history of the fish symbol is rather involved, but I'll give a brief synopsis here, which will hopefully clear up some of the misconception. The fish was originally used by the pagans, as two crescent moons signifying a woman's cycle. Many pagan goddesses were manifested as fish or other creatures of the sea, so this became a common symbol for them. The Age of Pisces began at Jesus' birth and early Christians used the fish symbol before the cross became popular, and we see it again now as a popular symbol representing that faith. The symbol of the fish is even more widespread than this: in Hinduism, it is believed that a fish appeared as a physical manifestation of Vishnu to save mankind from the Great Flood. Another symbol we are all familiar with is the yin yang of Chinese Taoism, which is two fish-Yin and Yang-making the symbol. In Japan, the fish means well-being, happiness and freedom. In Buddhism, the fish represents living in a state of fearlessness, without danger of drowning in the sea of suffering and migrating from place to place freely and spontaneously. These are just a few examples and it's amazing what Google will turn up.
We figured that it would be acceptable-since the fish is, after all, a fish-to use it for our own context: that of science. In this case, the fish with appendages is a link between water dwelling fish and land mammals. There are examples of this in nature-the mudskipper is one-that live in the water but that can travel across land using limb-like appendages. The purpose of the "think" in the middle of the fish was to express the purpose of the group: to think critically about the world and our place in it. As you may have noticed, we decided that the fish symbol was too controversial and that it was giving our group a bad reputation so we discontinued its use.
The purposes of Secular Students of Miami are: to promote and practice a healthy skepticism in all things, including the open, rational and scientific examination of the universe and our place in it; to promote a humanistic morality based on reason and compassion for others, rather than on holy books or divine revelation; to foster tolerance and understanding for people of all faiths, including people of no faith, through education; to provide a community for atheists, agnostics, humanists and other secularists; and to advocate for the separation of church and state. A simple definition of "secular" is "not religious." More specifically, secularists reject belief in the supernatural, the divine authority of certain people or texts, etc. Secularists don't all agree on everything, and they may consider themselves atheists, agnostics, skeptics, deists, humanists, Jews, Unitarians or many others, but they all have secular worldviews. One may be secular in some aspects of their lives, such as politics, eating, and sleeping and religious in other aspects such as worship. Our group strives to increase awareness of these views and bring people together with common values.
On that note, Secular Students of Miami would like to invite you to Secular Awareness Week, April 7 through 11. We will be tabling at Shriver from noon to 2 p.m. everyday. Feel free to stop by and ask questions or have a discussion. The themes for the week are Monday-Religious Awareness, Tuesday-Skepticism, Wednesday-Humanism/Morality without god, Thursday-Separation of Church and State, and Friday-Current Events/Famous Atheists. Wednesday we will be hosting a movie on the history of atheism-with free pizza-at 7 p.m. in Culler 116, and Thursday we will be having a round table discussion at 6 p.m. in 102 Bachelor on the topic "Can we be good without god?" On Sunday, we are co-sponsoring the Day of Interfaith Youth Service at Miami: contact interfaithcircle@gmail.com to sign up for community service, free dinner and tee shirt, and an interfaith discussion. All are invited to all the events and we hope to see you there. Look for posters going up for further information on the events. Also join the www.Facebook.com event Secular Awareness Week for continual updates.
Christine Whalin
Events Coordinator
Secular Students of Miami
whalinrc@muohio.edu
Your lead editorial from April 1 ("Boehner's anti-earmark sentiments hurt Miami") breathlessly chastises Republican leader, Rep. John Boehner (R-West Chester) for his opposition to congressional earmarks as if that opposition is something novel. The sub-headline on the front page ("With Boehner avoiding earmarks, area schools see decrease in monies") also presents a skewed version of reality-how could area schools see a decrease in monies which have not been earmarked by Boehner throughout his term? As Boehner's press secretary says in your front page article, "(he) has never requested and never accepted an earmark."
The word "never," defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as "not ever; on no occasion; at no time" suggests that what she meant is that since becoming a member of Congress, Boehner has on no occasion requested or accepted an earmark. Keep in mind that Boehner has served in the House of Representatives for nine terms, so The Student can congratulate itself for its fearless reporting on an issue that has been around for 17 years. Also, it should be noted that your statement that Boehner opposes earmarking "in support of" the president's call for fiscal responsibility is misleading. Boehner does not oppose earmarking because of the president's position on the issue, but because he genuinely disagrees with the practice.
It is not election year politicking, it is a principled stand taken because he believes it is a step toward boosting the government's fiscal health. Your criticism of Boehner for putting "impractical national decisions above the needs of his constituents" also falls flat. When the members of the House of Representatives take their oaths of office in the January of every odd-numbered year, they swear that they will "support and defend the Constitution of the United States," not that they will do whatever they can to drain the Federal Treasury for the good of their personal constituencies. Criticizing Boehner in this fashion is unfair and displays a lack of understanding of congressional representatives' duties.
Thad Boggs
First Vice Chairman
Miami University College Republicans
Boggstm@muohio.edu
Secular Students retract 'think' fish, promote event
Secular Students of Miami would like to address the topic of the "think" fish that was used at the beginning of the year to promote the club and has resulted in some long-lasting negative connotations. Our intent was not to offend anyone-quite the opposite, we intended to use a symbol commonly recognized and historically used that would grab people's attention. Unfortunately it grabbed people's negative attention. Many people that I have talked to-from Christians to Jews to atheists-saw the symbol as an attack on Christianity, and therefore, thought that the group was about attacking that religion.
The history of the fish symbol is rather involved, but I'll give a brief synopsis here, which will hopefully clear up some of the misconception. The fish was originally used by the pagans, as two crescent moons signifying a woman's cycle. Many pagan goddesses were manifested as fish or other creatures of the sea, so this became a common symbol for them. The Age of Pisces began at Jesus' birth and early Christians used the fish symbol before the cross became popular, and we see it again now as a popular symbol representing that faith. The symbol of the fish is even more widespread than this: in Hinduism, it is believed that a fish appeared as a physical manifestation of Vishnu to save mankind from the Great Flood. Another symbol we are all familiar with is the yin yang of Chinese Taoism, which is two fish-Yin and Yang-making the symbol. In Japan, the fish means well-being, happiness and freedom. In Buddhism, the fish represents living in a state of fearlessness, without danger of drowning in the sea of suffering and migrating from place to place freely and spontaneously. These are just a few examples and it's amazing what Google will turn up.
We figured that it would be acceptable-since the fish is, after all, a fish-to use it for our own context: that of science. In this case, the fish with appendages is a link between water dwelling fish and land mammals. There are examples of this in nature-the mudskipper is one-that live in the water but that can travel across land using limb-like appendages. The purpose of the "think" in the middle of the fish was to express the purpose of the group: to think critically about the world and our place in it. As you may have noticed, we decided that the fish symbol was too controversial and that it was giving our group a bad reputation so we discontinued its use.
The purposes of Secular Students of Miami are: to promote and practice a healthy skepticism in all things, including the open, rational and scientific examination of the universe and our place in it; to promote a humanistic morality based on reason and compassion for others, rather than on holy books or divine revelation; to foster tolerance and understanding for people of all faiths, including people of no faith, through education; to provide a community for atheists, agnostics, humanists and other secularists; and to advocate for the separation of church and state. A simple definition of "secular" is "not religious." More specifically, secularists reject belief in the supernatural, the divine authority of certain people or texts, etc. Secularists don't all agree on everything, and they may consider themselves atheists, agnostics, skeptics, deists, humanists, Jews, Unitarians or many others, but they all have secular worldviews. One may be secular in some aspects of their lives, such as politics, eating, and sleeping and religious in other aspects such as worship. Our group strives to increase awareness of these views and bring people together with common values.
On that note, Secular Students of Miami would like to invite you to Secular Awareness Week, April 7 through 11. We will be tabling at Shriver from noon to 2 p.m. everyday. Feel free to stop by and ask questions or have a discussion. The themes for the week are Monday-Religious Awareness, Tuesday-Skepticism, Wednesday-Humanism/Morality without god, Thursday-Separation of Church and State, and Friday-Current Events/Famous Atheists. Wednesday we will be hosting a movie on the history of atheism-with free pizza-at 7 p.m. in Culler 116, and Thursday we will be having a round table discussion at 6 p.m. in 102 Bachelor on the topic "Can we be good without god?" On Sunday, we are co-sponsoring the Day of Interfaith Youth Service at Miami: contact interfaithcircle@gmail.com to sign up for community service, free dinner and tee shirt, and an interfaith discussion. All are invited to all the events and we hope to see you there. Look for posters going up for further information on the events. Also join the www.Facebook.com event Secular Awareness Week for continual updates.
Christine Whalin
Events Coordinator
Secular Students of Miami
whalinrc@muohio.edu
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Hank
posted 4/04/08 @ 2:23 PM EST
Good letter Mr. Boggs. The editorial board once again shows that the words Journalist and Integrity need not have any place in the Miami Student.
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