Josh Pacheco

It is becoming a brave new world in the realm of science. This month, the first human clone will be born in Italy, opening wide a debate that has been brewing for quite a while now. Is it ethical to clone human beings?

In March 1997, scientists crossed a line that they could never uncross by creating a lamb named Dolly, and since then, critics have been born around every corner, including this one.

When speaking about human cloning, the question is not so much whether we could, it is, whether we should. Would we be opening a real life Pandora’s box?  Introducing a new segment to society that would just create more internal strife? It is scary to think of what could become of our world if people who genetically engineer get out of hand.

It no longer takes the mind of Aldous Huxley to concoct novels about a new race of humans, one that is superior to the ones who currently inhabit earth.  Making the “perfect” person would be on the top of the list for any prospective parent wanting a clone baby. In time, it would be inevitable that we have a whole sub-culture of athletic geniuses that would add a different weave to an already tangled society.  This subject has no light implications. If accepted into society, nearly every aspect of the world of tomorrow would be greatly changed.

Fears of an inauspicious future are certainly adequate; however; what about the moral and ethical concerns of today?  When scientists cloned Dolly the lamb, it took them over 300 tries to come up with a successful attempt.  Why in the world would we want to subject human beings to the same trials? It is sickening to use humans as guinea pigs just for the name of scientific gain.

Human cloning is not only an ethical debate. In recent months, it has also turned political. Politicians in Washington are up in arms about what would be the correct answer should be. President Bush disagrees with genetic engineering, while congress killed a bill that would completely absolve any chance of cloning in the United States.

On a personal level, introducing a human clone into a family atmosphere would change the family structure, introducing a new role or a new family identity. People who have been adopted spend years trying to get over it.   Human cloning would be incomparable to adoption; children feeling ousted from their own family as well as from society would absolutely cause psychological trouble with the advent of cloning.

This topic will obviously be a heated debate and whatever your stance, the day is coming when we will see human clones.  It will be interesting to see the different ways people and societies react. Has science crossed the line?  Time will tell.

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Nick Bahl

Killing is never easy to accept.  I’m unable to do so.  Stephen Darwall wrote that mutual advantage leads enemies to participate as equals in economic transactions, dissolving insult and contempt, even if only for the purpose of exchange. If we are able to build economic relations with countries such as Iraq, is it possible that insult and contempt might be slowed or completely dissolved?

The Bush Administration is on the warpath. It would be impossible for someone to argue otherwise. National Security Advisor Condellezza Rice adheres to the Morgenthau school of foreign policy. Morgenthau believed, as European powers have for hundreds of years, that balance of power leads to peace. Or at least prohibits world destruction.  Balance of power means that there cannot be a power vacuum, superpower or dominant ideology.  In the Middle East there is certainly a power vacuum and ideologies vary little.

Next Monday, weapons inspectors from the United Nations are going to report on what they’ve found in Iraq.  We already know Iraq hasn’t disclosed everything in their report to the Security Council last December.  President Bush will lead a war on Iraq, with or without the United Nations, shortly after the inspectors report their findings. Our military is in place and will be ready within a week of the report.

War is inevitable. How is it possible to calculate the advantages and disadvantages of war beforehand?  I can’t say.  What I can say is: none of us on this campus are in the position to make those calculations. One day we may hope to be.  What does the world community gain from an American-led war with Iraq?  I cannot say for sure, but I believe that bringing stability to the Middle East will be beneficial in building  a goal for world peace.

There is a popular slogan that states: No blood for oil.  This sound reasonable.  Oil companies have huge American lobbies.  So does Israel. Who does American dirty work against their United Nations Charter monthly?

Contradictions are part of democratic politics, as is money.  Can oil play a peace-building role in the Middle East instead of just fulfilling American selfishness?  Will oil be a positive role-player since war is inevitable already?

We are living in a global economy.  States that have multinational companies increase yearly.  One of the biggest reasons for this is supply and demand.  Not in the traditional sense.  Today, there is an oversupply of cheap workers along with a shrinking demand for workers due to technological improvements.  Lexus has a plant that makes luxury cars with only 18 man hours per car!  Wherever there are workers willing to work for lower wages, companies flock there.  It’s business.  If a government offers tax, trade or other incentives, companies run there.  Governments want jobs and the technology transferred with those jobs.  Companies want to expand their market as well as their efficiency, and by moving plants to other countries, they achieve this. In the process, they gain market access to countries they wouldn’t have been able to access because of trade barriers.  Companies are looking for a profitable government and a new markets.  Asia is already filling quickly, so companies are looking elsewhere.

   Market potential in the Middle East is much more untapped by Western companies than their oil supply is.  I will be the first person to admit that oil companies will certainly get to work as soon as the Middle East is open to them.  They know that oil is there.  Other companies will follow.  Nation-building has never been a success and may never be.  Fundamentally it might be necessary for countries to progress on their own.  I cannot say.  I cansay that if the United States and the United Nations create a successful, when I say successful I don’t mean it has to be democratic, government in a nation markets will open up.  Quality of life goes up significantly for people in developing countries when multinational corporations come in with jobs.  Multinational corporations may be the best way to spread democracy.

They may not. That doesn’t matter.  Multinational corporations build a web of dependence between states and the people living inside their borders. China is a great example of a country that has seen a drastic quality of life increase and still remains ideologically opposite from much of the world.

Do you hear war drums beating between China and the West?  No.  Even the spy plane issue was resolved.  Why?  Because their economy is dependent upon ours as ours is increasingly becoming dependent on theirs.

Modern war is fueled by politicians. Politicians are fueled by corporations. Corporations are fueled by greed.  Greed through politicians and corporations fuels the world economy.  If the Middle East opens their markets, they will become part of the interdependent web of global economics.  Interdependence is the best determent of war.  Losing lives for such a cause is noble.  When we look back with 20/20 hindsight, hopefully we will be able to say that the killing wasn’t in vain.

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Jenni Grubbs

Every year of my life I have been to a little bitty town in Wyoming called Pinedale. There is a big lake with a forest service campground there, and every year my family has driven the 11 hours from Sterling or Denver to Pinedale. But it’s not just my immediate family.

When I say my family, I mean family from multiple states. I’m talking aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles and tons of cousins.

I have so many great memories from Pinedale and I know relatives of mine that I never would have had the chance to meet because of Pinedale. One of those relatives was my Great Aunt Ray from California, who recently died at 82.

I knew Aunt Ray as Uncle John’s wife; a lady who would always tell you a wonderful story about growing up during the war or cook something for you or have some little trinket to give you.

I remember sitting at the campfire listening to all of the stories my great aunts and uncles and grandparents had to tell.

My grandmother has 11 living brothers and sisters who have 9 living spouses, and many of them have gone to Pinedale over the years, but Aunt Ray and Uncle John kept coming every year until a couple years ago when Aunt Ray got sick with Alzheimer’s and cancer. It was never an easy trip for them, driving more than 1,100 miles from Palo Alto Cali. to the remote mountain location. Yet they were among the first of Grandma’s brothers and sisters to go to Pinedale and they kept going.

I remember Uncle John coming back every afternoon from fishing with Grandpa and the gang with a big old creel of fish, which Aunt Ray and the ladies would fry up for dinner. Nothing like truly-fresh-caught fish for dinner when you’re camping. Especially Aunt Ray’s. She was a wonderful cook.

I remember Aunt Ray reading my poetry when I was a teenager and gushing over even though it was pretty typical teenage poetry.

I remember when Aunt Ray tripped climbing out of her camper and had to be taken to the Pinedale clinic and how scared we all were.

I remember the bags of home-grown oregano that Aunt Ray would bring with her for the sisters-in-law and grandchildren. Those bags always made the teenage me snicker because they looked so much like a certain green illegal substance. We joked that our 70sish great aunt was growing dope.

I remember the stories about her childhood that would last for hours.

I remember her braving the frigid waters of Freemont Lake to come swimming with my siblings and me.

I remember her brightly colored caftans and flowered tops.

I remember her perfume, light and flowery.

I remember singing with her. She had the most beautiful voice and knew so many songs.

I remember Aunt Ray.

I’m 22 now and I thank God that I got the chance to get to know my gruff but lovable Uncle John and my sweet and generous Aunt Ray.

I have also gotten to know many of the other brothers and sisters and cousins because of family Christmas parties that my Grandma’s family has had nearly every year of my life.

Many of the 12 live here in Denver with their spouses and even more of their children and their children’s children live here as well. Practically all those that live in Denver come to the Christmas parties. I have umpteen cousins and it is always special when there is a wedding or family event because I know that I will know nearly everyone.

I was fortunate enough to get to go to California for the funeral, where I was able to share some of these memories with my relatives and Aunt Ray’s friends and family at the wake and rosary.

I took my grandmother and Great Aunt Mildred, the two oldest sisters in the group. All except for two of the brothers and sisters were there for Uncle John.

During the trip I observed how much they appreciate each other and I realized just how important family is for the soul. Family is everything. I only have two sisters and a brother and a dog.  Bur the dog is getting old; she’s 11. I only hope when we are in our 70s and 80s that Heidi, Beth, Nick and I are as close as Grandmas family is.

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Zilch or Jujitsu:  You Decide

Melissa K. Mcguire

Welcome to Mel’s Diner.  Pull up a chair, have a cup of joe and sit a spell.  I was wondering…

Which teacher did you like better when you were growing up?  Mrs. Zilch, the tyrant Social Studies teacher who punished everyone in class by taking away recess for a week when the class bully shot a spit wad at her, or Mr. Jujitsu, the very cool, shop class teacher who gave the class bully the option of standing in front of the class for ten minutes holding his arms straight out to his sides or an escort to the VP’s office for certain suspension…  Hmmmm, tough one, that.  I think I’m going to have to go the man with the plan. 

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution ratified in 1791 states:  “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”  That is what it says, verbatim.

We’ve been punished in this country, all of us, for something someone from another country did.  This is like Mrs. Zilch taking away our recess for the English class bully shooting a spit wad at her.  Neither you nor I can reasonably expect to board an airplane without being searched.  Their probable cause is our desire to travel.

Well, here we are, two hundred and twenty seven years later with our Constitutional right waived.  To paraphrase Ben Franklin, no one who is willing to waive his freedoms in the name of national security is worthy of freedoms.  Which is why, although it really irks me to give up this little pleasure of mine, I will not board an airplane until this ridiculously overblown, invasive, paranoid mandate for the search of every checked bag loaded on an airplane is lifted.  I will carry my nail clippers!

On the way home from a short visit in Southern California, the flight I had booked was cancelled.  I traded times, then, airlines. I was screened again, my bags were x-rayed, and then all passengers transferring flights from Frontier Airlines were required to submit to individual searches prior to boarding the plane.  The searching of my infants diaper just capped it for me.  I hate this because I like to fly.  But…

I don’t recall anyone issuing a warrant to search my person, papers or effects.  Unless I am gravely mistaken, transferring from one airline to another because of mechanical failure of a plane is not probable cause for a search.  Had I the money to stay, I would have refused the search and I told the guard just that.  His response rang an eerie echo of the past in my ears, “I’m just following orders ma’am.”  I was dumbstruck with horror at that one simple line.  Just following orders. 

Well, I would love to say all’s well that ends well and all that but the scenario has not yet played out.  In light of recent events, personal and otherwise, I think often about what I am willing to give up to be safe.  My answer: nothing.  There is no guarantee of safety.  My now avowed road trips in lieu of air travel are far more dangerous. I am still wearing glow in the dark clothing.  And I’m pissed that the bully and Mrs. Zilch have us all in detention.

Waiter!  More coffee here!

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The Gadfly
Brian P. Reed
Opinions Editor

–Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls.
––James Joyce
Ulysses

Have you ever wished after going to the bathroom:  i could have done better?

Chumsky whisking open heart well being peace-niks pray for hospitable nights  stay while irreverant hostiles hope and pray for their demise given a warlord for a leader and a lack of food and social unification for a piss-be-it sanctimonious rise for something they do not and will not have given his uncompromised focus of the death of that which opposes it and the quandry between his beliefs and what is right given countless F-16’s and -18’s and B-2’s surrounding what is right and what is wrong and the understanding that no one but no one understands the true idiocy of their methods and plans as we march steadfastly for peace the monger irrate plans retribution for actions atypical of another warlord prejudiced by penis envy and satiated beyond comparison for its greed and destined for failure if not but for its revered transcient apocryphal fulfullment of its destiny lying in wait from another attack when the ad hoc preachers vent a shallow vent or breath of faith against or as they would like it for the preservation of a happenstance becoming of life as it stands true in our hearts or will ill to fail the pure humanity of what could be given the fact that we are something beyond creatures understanding less it be told the importance of life and the poeisis of living lie decrepid and humiliated in our own excrement like a bad Dali painting with worms and bugs and crap painstakingly hoping but without titles that we want and the rest of us want things absurdly to be cheerio good and people to not be killed and things to progress and life to resume all knowing that these are impossible for if possible life itself would unbearable by merely being perfect so as to accept the bearable with the extrapolation of the truly evil from the semi-evil albeit the mini me will keep us on our toes so as to match the next twin duo of evil and backwards live that makes even the simpest obviation of the true sun seem meaningfully jolly worth addressing and destroying once again and reminiscent of an oh too cool poem by Eliot suggesting that the world ends not with bang but with a whimper.

p.s.  wherever you are, mr gant, did I not say in august:  THE RAIDERS ARE SUPER BOWL BOUND!

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