Student Publications
University of Houston
151C Communications Bldg
Houston, TX 77204-4015
713.743.5350

©1991-2007
Student Publications,
All rights reserved.

Last modified:

Contact:
ktruitt@uh.edu

Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                Melissa Barrera              Chris Elliott               Zach Lee
                Christian Palmer             Blake Whitaker       Kristen Young

Report card drags feet into spring semesterBin Laden drops latest hit: F 

The CIA confirmed Thursday that a tape of Osama bin Laden that aired on Al-Jazeera is authentic. In the tape, bin Laden warns that his fighters are planning to strike targets in the United States, but offers a "long-term truce" with no stated conditions. Last time we checked, nothing has changed on this side -- America still supports Israel, is still in Iraq and still exporting Western culture across the globe. What kind of murderous zealot declares a holy war and then tries to call it off like it's some kind of pillow fight? And who would trust him, anyway? He could fear recent air strikes near his suspected hideout are signaling the beginning of the end, or the whole thing could be a ploy to garner support.

It's also important to consider that al-Qaida is much less centralized than it's often portrayed to be, and many terrorists would undoubtedly continue operations with no regard for the truce.

Random violence against homeless: F

Three incidents in Florida last week in which homeless people were attacked brought a disturbing trend to the nation's attention. Reports from several states tell of young men who have taken to randomly assaulting homeless individuals, with 386 reported attacks resulting in 156 deaths in the past six years, though most attacks go unreported. Most assailants are white males younger than 20. This isn't a matter of violent movies or video games -- there's clearly a troubling lack of any sense of human decency in teenagers who brutalize strangers simply because they can. Perhaps it's a primal sense of power that motivates them; it's certainly cowardice that pushes them to attack sleeping strangers. 

"My bad": A

Former FEMA head Michael Brown only took a few months to accept his share of the blame for the inadequate government response to Hurricane Katrina. The buck may not stop with Brownie, but give it several weeks and it may slow down marginally. 

Though Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin deserve scrutiny as well, it's likely Brown was the only one e-mailing his secretary back and forth about his latest clothing purchases and whining about going home as the hurricane approached.