Published since 1915 by the students
of Xavier University
Published since 1915 by the students
of Xavier University
— STAFF EDITORIAL —
There has been so much debate surrounding the topic of immigration in the United States over the past year that it seems almost redundant to be writing a staff editorial on the issue. However, the Newswire feels that there is still room for discourse on the matter as it seems that just like some of the words we use daily, we never really stop to think about what immigration means to us as students and individuals, and in particular, why there is such a growing concern over the matter at this point in time.
People have always been emigrating from one country to another for economic and political reasons, so why is there such a growing surge of discontent about immigrants?
According to Dr. Timothy White of Xavier’s Pre-Law Society, the issue of immigration has to be considered within two contexts. The first is economic: There is an increase in economic productivity; however, the overall job rate is not increasing. There is also a decline, both in Europe and in the U.S., of traditional factory labor and low class factory work. This is driving down wages, which suggests less income for the lower middle class worker.
The second point that he made was that the new realities of a post Sept. 11 world have changed the way we perceive the issue of immigration. In Europe, there have been multiple acts of terror (London and Madrid bombings), and there continue to be threats from radical Islam. White continued, “[Most] European countries don’t have a history of integrating minorities like the U.S. [For most Europeans] immigrants are not capable of fitting into their society.”
Dr. White referenced some remarks made by the author Sam Huntington, who noted that in the past most immigrants to the U.S. were of European decent. However, the new immigrants are mostly from Central and South America and Asia, all with their very different cultural practices and beliefs.
It seems to us at the Newswire that ‘xenophobia’ seems to be a growing trend all over the world. Xenophobia, which means having a fear of strangers or anything foreign, could mean that the hostilities in the world could be exacerbated even more if people begin to fear each other, just because some idea or cultural element seems foreign to them.
The Newswire holds the opinion that we, as students, need be cognizant of this issue and not simply brush it aside because it is an old debate. If the world population continues to hesitate when it comes to social issues such as famine, political strife and social poverty, then there will continue to be an increase in the number of people becoming immigrants, not just because they want to take over your region or country, but because they have a desire to survive.
In the Newswire’s estimation, immigration involves not only the movement of people over borders, but also the movement of ideas and beliefs. In a global community that is increasingly reliant on effective communication and understanding between cultures, the exchange of ideas and beliefs facilitated by immigration has never been more crucial.
Matt Finger
Op-Ed Editor
The other day, a man on my street tried to hang himself from a gas line in his basement. He failed, the gas line broke and my street was shut down for six hours.
It was in these eventful hours during the police tape and flashing lights that my neighbor spoke to us for the first time. He said, “A man can’t even kill himself around here,” and then vanished swiftly back into the depths of his Norwoodian hovel.
That got me thinking: Why is it that tragedy and distress seem to be the only things that bring people together?
I mean, sure, we assemble as one for sports events and church, but we gather for sports to hate the other team, and we go to church because we’re supposed to, not necessarily because that’s what we want. It is rare that we congregate, especially as strangers, in a situation of extreme joy.
Ponder this if you will; the major galvanizing forces in American history have been negatively charged events. Just to name a few: the Boston Massacre, the sinking of the U.S.S. Maine, Pearl Harbor, 9/11, the re-vamping of Facebook and the momentous closing of Soupie’s.
Muslims all around the world today, from every background and sect of Islam have united against a common enemy: the pope and his comments about Islam.
This is a spreading trend because, from my point of view, the only issues that most religions can unify on are ones against other groups and religions. But that’s another story.
I think it’s ridiculous that the only time we gather en masse is when we perceive calamity and misfortune.
Why can’t we bond as a society under the banner of indifference or in situations of happiness? Why won’t my neighbor talk to me when people aren’t dying and the SWAT team isn’t on our street? I mean, come on, I don’t bite.
Study groups are an example of tragedy that bring people together. You have a test: tragic. So, to combat this tragedy, you and your classmates congregate in a little room with tables and a chalkboard to devise a strategy to eliminate the evil test. So much hate!
Not convinced? OK, how about the Steelers? Everyone hates the Steelers. So, what do we do? We get together on Monday night and root for a team that is named after a cat that doesn’t even live in this country and whose team color is teal. If that’s not a Shakespearean tragedy, I don’t know what is.
How come we can’t all get together because we just had the most amazing Chipotle and we want everyone to know, or because we just read the most inspiring article in the Newswire and it’s our obligation as human beings to share?
Tragedy shouldn’t unite people. People should fuse rather, to end tragedy instead. Why wait until something bad happens for us to come together?
There is no reason for everyone to wait until that crazy Finger publishes another outrageous article to begin discussing things.
Tragic events are a bad reason to start talking and meeting. We’re in college, the greatest open forum known to man. Here, we can discuss anything we want (including the Catholic clergy), so why only use that power when the bad man comes?
The art of avoiding war in your dorm room
Pat Stevenson
Asst. Op-Ed Editor
It’s almost a month into the school year, so it is fairly likely that you have briefly entertained the idea of murdering your roommate at least once. As far as homicidal rages go, this is somewhat normal as you have spent a month sharing your (limited) living space with another person, and it is almost impossible to achieve complete harmony under these circumstances.
The most severe roommate drama occurs with first-year students who live in the same bedroom with someone who (in most cases) was a complete stranger four weeks ago.
The combination of factors such as the loss of one’s privacy, feeling as if one is being treated discourteously, having to be considerate of one’s roommates and the (strong) possibility that one may not care for the stranger who he/she has been assigned to cohabitate with in an 11’ x 19’ space can create a situation more volatile than the West Bank.
Inevitably, both roommates are going to do something ridiculous that directly affects the other roommate, an action I will call the “potential fission point.”
Two examples of potential fission points are someone having people over to drink on a Wednesday without asking their roommate, or someone being noisy at 4 a.m. the night before his/her roommate’s rhetoric midterm.
How roommates deal with this situation is a good indicator of how successful their pairing will be.
A potential fission point with my freshman roommate occurred when I became violently ill and ended up vomiting in my roommate’s backpack (the circumstances surrounding this event remain unclear). My roommate was obviously not pleased, but he was rational enough to realize that I was not the type of person who intentionally vomits on things as a means to destroy them.
The reason that my roommate and I were able to deal with such a situation was rooted in the emotions we had expressed to each other during our brief relationship.
In his highly acclaimed best seller Blink, author Malcolm Gladwell discusses a revolutionary form of relationship analysis developed by Dr. John Gottman, a psychologist at the University of Washington. Through a process that is too complex to delineate in this column, Gottman has concluded that the most destructive emotion a person can demonstrate toward another person is contempt.
According to Gottman, one who displays contempt toward another is attempting to put oneself on a higher level, which in turn communicates to the other person that he/she is inferior.
An example of contempt toward one’s roommate would be if a studious person treated his/her not-so-studious roommate in a way that made the not-so-studious roommate feel stupid. In doing this, the studious roommate is thinking, “If my roommate was as smart and as self-aware as me, he/she would realize that he/she should study more.” According to Gottman’s theory, a healthy and successful relationship cannot exist when one person possesses such a mindset.
A practical illustration of a contemptuous roommate relationship is an experience a friend of mine had during his first year at his university. My friend transferred to his current college before his sophomore year and ended up being assigned a roommate with whom he got along poorly. They quickly developed a good deal of mutual contempt for each other, but they managed to coexist for several months, albeit uncomfortably.
However, things degenerated rapidly whenever they had their potential fission point, which involved one of them punching the other in the head in an effort to impress a girl. Things got to the point where my friend wrote a piece entitled, “Is your roommate a douche bag?” and hastily moved into another dorm on the same day this column was published as the featured article on CollegeHumor.com.
The reason I share these anecdotes is to demonstrate that the surest way to doom a relationship with your roommate is to consider yourself superior to them. So if you find yourself thinking, “My roommate is a loser/moron,” try to adjust your mindset. Maintaining a positive relationship with the person who you leave alone with your toothbrush every day makes everything a lot easier.
Pat Stevenson
Asst. Op-Ed Editor
After reading several well-written editorials in which the authors made their points clearly and defended their opinions in a concise manner, I am sure that you, the reader, are now thirsting for a collection of disjointed, random and almost completely unsupported opinions. Luckily for you, I am all about catering to your demands.
Is anyone really legitimately surprised that Pope Benedict, a former member of the Hitler Youth, made inflammatory remarks regarding a major world religion?
Between the comments about Islam and his past affiliation with the Nazis, this guy doesn’t exactly have a glittering history in dealing with other faiths.
I can’t think of a more entertaining moment in recent sports history than watching Chad Johnson getting decimated by some person named Brian Russell in the Bengals-Browns game this past weekend. If Johnson had functional brain cells before the hit, they are probably all gone now.
Political pundits are discussing how new polls show that George W. Bush’s approval rating has increased to 44 percent. I don’t know whether Bush should be happy that his approval rating has risen or if he should be upset that over half the country disapproves of him as a president.
Thom Yorke’s solo album “Eraser” is the best CD that’s been released this year. That being said, Yorke needs to stop with his solo career and get to work on Radiohead’s next album immediately. You know there is a serious lack of quality music when the top song in America is anything performed by the former frontman of *NSYNC.
I read that ABC’s Dancing with the Stars drew 35 million viewers for its season premiere last week. Someone needs to explain to me how any television show involving Tucker Carlson has any mass appeal whatsoever.
I think people who photograph themselves are lame. Taking pictures of yourself by holding the camera out in front of you and aiming it at yourself is only slightly less narcissistic than if someone were to write a column that assumed people were even remotely interested in a collection of their largely inconsequential opinions.
The men’s basketball team should run the same offense the Phoenix Suns use. No team gets good looks from behind the arc like the Suns do, and we have shooters who would thrive in a system like that.
Finally, whoever said quality is more important than quantity obviously never had to write 400 words at the last minute in order to fill a gaping hole on page seven. That is all.
Matthew Finger 
Op-Ed Editor
Pat Stevenson
Asst. Op-Ed Editor
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