The U.S. Air Force got itself into hot water by attempting to administer a medieval punishment of 9.5 years in prison for a 21st-century misdemeanor - adultery - and, in earnest, try to cashier 26-year-old Lt. Kelly Flinn into the dungeons. The American people just would not go for it, no matter what the medieval rules are. It was the epitome of incompetence to charge Flinn in a full court-martial for what was clearly a routine, in-house matter that required judicious administrative handling. The Air Force made her lie to protect herself from the crazed official and then, in a snowball, multiplied charges to include lying, disobeying an order and other sins.
The American people and their legislators, to their immense credit, were not deceived or amused and would not permit a witch-hunt inside the military. An old question was revived and posed in no uncertain terms: Where is the beef? Where is good judgment? Where is the ability to handle small, in-house matters in a sane, balanced and responsible manner?
There seems to be a critical shortage of cool heads in the U.S. Air Force, and yet we've got plenty of men and women with good judgment among the rest of us.
Fabian Vaksman
doctoral candidate, history
For the past decade, research on AIDS prevention has been particularly concerned with college youth, because of the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases among young people and the growing number of HIV and AIDS cases among students.
Several studies have concluded that, despite knowing specifically how HIV is transmitted and how to prevent that from happening, most heterosexual students have not changed their sexual behavior to avoid infection. Consequently, prevention programs on campus are not working, and students are still getting AIDS.
To help us understand why students do not apply their knowledge about AIDS to their sexual practices, we need to go to the source. In particular, because women are at a higher risk of contracting AIDS, we need to hear from female students about HIV/AIDS prevention and what they think will work.
If you are interested in participating in a study that examines students' knowledge concerning AIDS and sexual risk behaviors, please leave your name and number at (713) 743-9830. Only undergraduate, female students at the University of Houston are eligible to participate. This study is sponsored by the UH College of Education and has been reviewed by the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects.
By participating in the study, you will not only have a greater understanding of your own beliefs and practices of sexual behavior, but also an opportunity to provide useful information for researchers and program developers interested in developing HIV prevention programs that work.
Alison Wilson graduate student,
educational psychology
Let me see if I have this straight. Last year, an unprecedented 1.1 million people were granted U.S. citizenship. Out of these, it has been determined, after review, that 5,000 of them lied about their criminal histories on their applications. The INS wishes to strip these people of the citizenship they fraudulently obtained.
According to my calculations, that means 99.5% of the new citizens were judged to be worthy to legally pursue the American Dream.
Cougar Columnist Russell Contreras is outraged that less than one half of one percent of this gigantic batch of newly naturalized citizens may lose their citizenship, and calls this obviously racist.
What would it take to be rejected for citizenship if Contreras were in charge of the INS? I guess he would welcome every pedophile, murdering, drug dealing sociopath "just trying to be American."
Mitch Lawyer graduate
student, mathematics
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