page 2 Accent • March 2, 2009
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Our View
Staff Editorial
Sarah Neve
Editor-in-Chief
•
David Rodriguez
Assistant Editor
Jamie Carpenter
Campus Editor
•
Alma Hernandez
Photo/Web Editor
Jana Lelek
Layout Editor •
Chris Scott
Layout Intern
Death by Peanut
Another bill proposing tax reetextbooks has been led. Tis time orthe 2009 session. Tis is a great start inhelping college students weather a wors-ening economy and raising tuition cost.However, given the drastic changes in theexas Legislature, most notably a moremoderate Joe Strauss as speaker, and thecontrol and popularity Democrats areenjoying in Washington, it seems a littleanticlimactic.With everything that is wrong withhigher education unding in exas,and the promise o millions o dollarsor education coming in as part o thestimulus deal, one would think thatexas Democrats would use this chanceto really clean up the huge mess the lastew sessions made o education.Te textbook bill should be an easy enough bill to pass. Removing the tax ontextbooks has been proposed in the lasttwo sessions by Senator Judith Zarini.In 2007 it passed unanimously in theSenate, only to die in committee in the,then Craddick controlled, House. Tisbill has a real chance at passing this time,especially now that it has much less timeallotted or the tax ree sales than hasbeen asked or in the past.In the 2005 session equivalent o this bill, there was a proposed two tenday periods, one per semester, in whichstudents could buy books tax ree. Teprojected loss o state revenue or last ses-sion’s version o this bill was just under70 million, opponents worried that itwould hurt the state to lose that money,but students are just going to take themoney they save on textbooks and put itright back into the economy.So, while the tax ree textbook billis getting a lot o much deserved atten-tion and support, all the other educationreorm ideas that have been oatingaround or the last ew years are nowhereto be ound. For years these proposalswere seemingly on hold because therewas no way they would pass in sucha conservative legislature, a watereddown tax ree textbook bill was the bestanyone could hope or, but now, whentruly system changing laws have a chanceto pass, no one is stepped up to ask orthem.Tere has yet to be a bill led ortuition regulation, or one making nan-cial aid easier to obtain. No one is ght-ing to overturn the ridiculous six droprule, or help students get cheaper healthinsurance. I even one o these were topass into law, the tax on textbooks wouldseem like a small price to pay.
Tax ree textbooks leave studentswanting more change
Karissa Rodriquez
Staff Writer
Peanuts and peanut relatedproducts are a staple o theaverage American’s diet. It is very disturbing, thereore, tolearn that on Feb. 9, the exasDepartment o State HealthServices ordered PeanutCorporation o America torecall all products ever shippedrom its Plainview plant,according to a press releaseissued by the department.Te order was issued aerdead rodents, rodent excre-ment and bird eathers werediscovered in a crawl spaceabove a production areaduring an in-depth DSHSinspection.Te sickening details o theinner working o the exasplant have led me to wonder just how sae is the ood weeat?Congress asked the samequestion o the U.S. Food andDrug Administration (FDA) inthe hearings they held earlierthis month. Te answeredsurprised me: it was unknownto anybody.Laws and regulationscontrolling the inspection andobtaining o inormation rommany types o ood process-ing plants are very ineectiveor non-existent, Congressconcluded.Regulators didn’t evenknow the company’s Plainviewplant existed until the sal-monella outbreak began, theWashington Post reported.
Jamie Carpenter
Campus Editor
As most anyone who is incollege knows, school can bepretty stressul. Fortunately or us, someone invited springbreak.According to ripSmarter.com, spring break dates back to as ar as Ancient Greeks,when people began noticinga sense o restlessness duringthe spring. America did notpick up the spring break buguntil the First World War aerwitnessing Europeans heavily partying during this period.Te Great Depression put ahalt to our party-hardy waysand it never really picked upagain until the 60’s when itseemed like spring break neverended.Lately, though, it doesn’teel like it’s almost spring time.It’s hard to eel estive with thecurrent state o the economy.Te truth o the matter isthat many students can notaord to live the party liestylethis year regardless o whetheror not spring break is comingup. It always seems like stu-dents lack money or essentialslike rent, gas and groceries butseem to be able to aord tosmall luxuries.Now is not the time tosquander your money on abottle o Crown Royal or havea cup o Starbucks everyday and then wonder at the end o the month why you have nomoney.My suggestion to collegestudents everywhere, who arehaving a hard enough timegetting by as it is, nd ways toenjoy yoursel on spring break AFER being responsible.Make sure you have enoughmoney or rent. I not, maybeyou shouldn’t go to SixthStreet every night just becauseyou don’t have school orthe week. I you never haveenough money or gas, youshould ll up your gas tank assoon as you get paid.Tere is, however, oneessential activity that mustbe done during spring break:Sleeping. With class not in ses-sion, your time, the most valu-able asset you have anyways,is ree.Tere are no orty minutetrips early in the morningstuck in trac to get to school,no rushing to get homework done at the last minute and notests.So your time is reed up todo the more important thingslike sit on the couch and stareat a wall, daydream in yournice cozy bed or stay up latetalking to your riends on thephone without worrying abouthaving to get up early.Te ocus o spring break has oen been to party andparty hard at that. What aboutrelaxation, rejuvenation andrest? Maybe i we took advan-tage o the spring break to justchill, we would gain a greaterappreciation o what we haveand not eel the need to spendmoney we don’t have.I don’t understand how thatis even possible.Te salmonella outbreak isa result o ailed managementwithin the Peanut Corp. andailed regulation practices.More needs to be done in orderto prevent uture outbreaks.Laws relating to monitor-ing the ood supply should beenacted, and sucient undingneeds to be provided to agen-cies to enable them to providemeaningul monitoring.One proposal is the FoodSaety Modernization Act o 2009, sponsored by Rep. RosaDeLauro (D-C). Tis billwould create a strong FoodSaety Administration, ledby a presidentially-appointedadministrator.According to the Center orScience in the Public Interest,the administration wouldrequire requent, rigorousinspections o ood process-ing acilities here and abroad,provide mandatory recallauthority and tough enorce-ment penalties when corporatenegligence causes ood saety hazards.Over 600 people havebecome ill and nine have diedas a result o the salmonellaoutbreak.A ood saety administra-tion is a step in the right direc-tion, but until such a groupcan be created you shouldbe wary o anything you eatthat contains peanut-relatedproducts. In act, you should just avoid peanut productscompletely.As o Feb. 19 there arenearly 2,400 products thathave been recalled relatedto peanuts distributed by the Peanut Corporation o America, according to theFDA.
Sex-ed ignores modern issues
Devon Tincknell
Staff Writer
Tere were pamphlets,popcorn, and plenty o pro-phylactics to be had at theStudent Lie sponsored SexualResponsibility day on Feb. 10.As one o the rst generationsto become sexually active inthe 21st Century, we ace aradically dierent sexual land-scape than any o our ances-tors. Homosexuality, AIDS,oral sex, emale orgasms, inter-net porn, vibrators, and evencondoms would have shocked,conused, and horried ourpuritanical progenitors. Nowthe divorce rate has surpassed50 percent, and abstinence-only education has proved tobe not only ineective, butirresponsible. Young adults,no longer willing to wait, mustconsider what it means to leada sexually active, sexually sae, and sexually responsibleliestyle.Sex, like every other activ-ity adults engage in, involvesrisk assessment and risk management. Is climbing thismountain worth the risk o alling and dying? Is riding my bike worth the risk o gettingcreamed by a texting teenagerin an SUV? Is having sex withthis person worth the risk o contracting a disease or creat-ing a child?Be it mountain climb-ing, bike riding, or gettingbusy, once risk is minimizedthrough the use o propersaety gear the answer isoen, “Yes.” Te rst step toproper risk management isto be well inormed. ACC’sSexual Responsibility Day dida commendable job promotingawareness o the traditionalsexual hazards: disease, preg-nancy, and heartbreak. But wealready learned most o thatstu back when Salt-n-Pepatalked about sex in the early 90s.As we approach the close o the double zero decade, thereare some other sexual pitallspeople need to be made awareo. Decent sex-ed programsteach teenagers about syphi-lis and gonorrhea, but whowill teach our youth aboutthe dangers o digital media?How many celebrity sex tapesand MySpace photo aux pasdoes it take to understand thateverything lmed will eventu-ally end up on the Internet? AGoogle search or “ex girl-riend” immediately pops upa pornographic site devoted topublishing pictures and videoso unwitting amateurs engagedin the act.According to a recentsurvey 20 percent o teens say they’ve sent a nude picture o themselves over the Internet.Tanks to the rapid pro-lieration o web cams and video chatting, long distancerelationships are more unthan ever. Tis technology isrevolutionizing the way wecommunicate, but it is also adouble edged sword. A sexy video or a current boyriendcan quickly become embar-rassing evidence in the handso a bitter ex.Even unrecorded, today’scouples are engaging in allkinds o previously unheardo sexual practices. Asiderom investigating what theother orices have to oer,people are subverting gender,talking dirty, dressing up,and testing out all manner o
K a r e n K u h n • S t a f A r t i s t
sex toys. In order to navigatethese uncharted territoriessaely it is important to ollowthe penultimate principle o sexual responsibility, inormedconsent.Te only acceptable sexualacts are the ones that bothpartners agree upon andwillingly engage in. Whetherits heavy petting or heavy S&M, constant verbal com-munication is the best way tomake sure everyone involvedis okay with what’s happen-ing. Communication is notonly the most valuable tool inthe sae sex arsenal, it’s alsothe most un. Rather thanmerely rolling on the latex, it isimportant to talk to your loverabout their sexual past, eroticpreerences, and previouspartners beore beginning any bedroom magic. I making outis rst base, then explicit con- versation should be consideredstepping up to the plate.Te rst sexual revolu-tion began with birth controland ended abruptly with theAIDS epidemic. As we enterinto sexual revolution 2.0, it’simportant that our genera-tion learn rom the mistakeso the past and use the newtools we have to make the bestdecisions possible. So talk toyour partners, wear a condom,explore kinks consensually,and ladies, don’t orget todelete those dirty picturesbeore you break up with him.
R
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Sleeping off spring fever
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