T
February 28, 2007
Opinion
High Life Page 5
NIMBY supporters protest, stir up trouble
BYLEIAFORGAY
Co-Editor-in-Chief
Not In My Back Yard
(NIMBY) is a movement of
people who oppose the
building of structures in
their neighborhoods that
could hinder their safety,
upset traffic patterns, or in
fringe upon property value.
Such developments include
prisons, new^ road systems,
landfills, power plants, and
even apartment complexes.
In the past month, two fli
ers appeared in my mailbox
and one stranger ap
proached my door, all ask
ing me to protest the con
struction of townhouses and
adjoining two-car garages
on a street adjacent to my
own. Apparently, the need
for me to write letters, sign
petitions and atfend City
Council meetings in opposi
tion to the expansion is far
greater than the need for
others to have homes.
While every' person has
the right to support or object
to any issue, it seems odd
to me that NIMBY defenders
have nothing against the
developments they protest,
just their presence in the
neighborhoods of the
pr otesters themselves.
Of course, few people
have the nerve to (openly)
question the necessity of
landfills, county jails and
highways. In fact, most are
glad to have them. If living
near a soup kitchen is bad for
property value, then having
homeless people wandering
door to door asking for do
nations must be detrimental.
In all fairness, a home is
the most valuable invest
ment a person makes. Un
like cars, iPods, and other
material possessions, a home
rarely decreases in value, so
the owner almost always
makes a profit. However, it
is hardly just for one to use
landfills, drive on highways
and feel safe putting crimi
nals behind bars if he is not
willing to make some
sacrifice. As with many po
litical issues, the effective
ness of the NIMBY principle
relies mainly upon
socio-economic status.
In 1983, the city made a
proposal to build a waste dis
posal site in the predomi
nantly African-American
neighboi'hood. The National
Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People im
mediately filed a complaint,
claiming it was unfair to put
African-American's at risk
for health problems but not
whites. Of course, further
research indicated it was not
an issue of race, but one of
monetary resources.
Wealthy individuals have
the funds and time to protest,
hire lawyers, sway contrac
tors, and generally exert their
power and opinions. What
now occurs in my neighbor
hood is such an example.
Because the upper classes
can deter negative institu
tions in their own
neighborhoods, the govern
ment approves the construc
tion of such developments in
the poorer districts where
citizens cannot effectively
object. Also, when residents
reject every proposed loca
tion for a new garbage dump
or jail, they force the govern
ment to expand at the exist
ing facility or repave it and
start over. Once again, these
results affect the shoddier
neighborhoods, which were
located near' the site in the
first place.
Of course, the upper
classes are rarely known for
sincerely considering the
needs of others less fortu
nate. Politicians are happy
to visit schools on the
"wong side of the tracks,"
but they do not build waste
sites and homeless shelters
within their own neighbor
hoods rather than
those of the students. The af
fluent gladly create trash but
refuse to tolerate waste treat
ment or recycling centers
within close proximity to
their homes.
Some may argue under
the theory of social Darwin
ism that rich populations
have earned the right to do
what they want. Nonethe
less, the people who make
such arguments are the elite,
who have children but pay
nannies to change the
dirty diapers.
An ideal world would not
require prisons, homeless
shelters, or trash disposal
sites. NIMBY allows the up
per class to push sensitive
issues into other neighbor
hoods. Until all districts
reach a negotiation, the only
just solution is for every
household to create a per
sonal landfill in its own back
yard. Maybe that will
change the cry from "Not in
my backyard!" to "Not in our
backyard!" Until then, as
long as Lee Street hosts a re
cycling center, Irving Park
should sponsor w'eekly
barbecues for the homeless.
Duke lacrosse team
opens public’s eyes
to athletes’ faults
BYKATEMALEKOFF
Features Editor
With the rape charges recently
dropped against the members of the
Duke lacrosse team for the alleged
rape of a female at a party at the team
captain's house last spring, the gen
eral public seems to have dropped
the scandal altogether, forgetting that
there were other issues, such as un
derage drinking and hired strippers.
After hearing the alleged victim had
lied about lacrosse pkiyers raping
her, the public immediately felt re
morse for the young men who had
"been through so much" when they
had "done nothing wrong." While
rape is not an incident to be t^^ken
lightly, the public failed to notice the
bigger issue at hand: the lifestyfle of
many college athletes, particularly
males, is getting out of control.
.Athletes walk around like they
own the campus, in part because of
the way their fellow students, pro
fessors, or coaches treat them. Pro
fessors often allow the man who
scored the winning touchdown with
two seconds left in the gcime slide by
in classes, turning inflate work, if
they turn it in at all, or neglecting to
notice if the student-athlete fails to
show up for class. The same rule
does not apply to other students who
are not involved in sports, but are
busy with other extra-curriculars.
Students let their fellow classmates
walk around like they o wn the cam
pus, treating them like a star after
big games.
Partying by athletes is also becom
ing extreme. College students are
going to drink, but must it be every
night? What happens once it goes
past drinking and starts leading to
drugs? Date rape has become com
mon as well, with athletes using their
egos and reputations to take advan
tage of others at college. Duke's la
crosse team captains owned a house
off campus where not only their fel
low athletes, but other classmates,
partied regularly; disturbing many
neighbors, who tolerated it because
they were, (gasp!), the Duke lacrosse
team. This is in part due to America's
misguided culture, where sports and
movie stars are what the public fo
cuses on and w'orships, rather than
the people who actually try to make
a difference in the world. Someone
was supplying alcohol to underage
students, putting both the students
and themselves at risk.
Duke's lacrosse players could have
learned something from this incident
even though they were found not
guilty. They could have learned they
cannot get away with this type of
dangerous behavior. Athletes are
people children admire and idolize,
fl'hese children are being taught that
underage drinking and drugs, and
sexual har assment is acceptable, and
that it does not matter if students
barely scrape by with grades, because
as long as they are gcxrd athletes,
their lives will run smoothly.
We must realize there is more to
life than sports, and these athletes are
leading a destructive lifeshfle. In ten
years, it will not matter that they won
the championship game their sopho
more year of college. They are not
going to have the skills necessary to
survive in the real world if they did
not attend class. A diploma means
nothing if one does not know how
to do their job or even acquire one.
Athletes should not be able to coast
through college life anymore only
because they can run fast and know
how to shoot a free-throw. The
sooner these athletes and the rest of
the world wake up, the better.
\
Igsl
1 II
Snap Judgment:
Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?
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♦ *
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