Erosion of family bringserosion of morals

Family – a household, parents and children, one’s spouse, descendants of a common ancestor, a tribe, lineage, a group of things with some common feature.
American – anyone who lives or who was born in any country of the Western Hemisphere, especially in the United States. Example, from Greenland to Tierra Del Fuego.
In the last few years, we’ve noticed a diminishment in families. Some of the causes are related to divorce, violence, and communication problems.
Children are being raised by nannies, toys, TV and even by a purple dinosaur while their parents try to juggle their work schedule and keeping an eye on their stocks.
The problem is that children are being left alone by themselves in this small but tough world.
They aren’t being left alone physically, but mentally, in their own fantasy worlds developing their own takes on the world that surrounds them. You could have someone watching them and taking care of them all day, but that alone won’t do it. Even animals take care of their young ones, teaching them how to survive.
And yes, the purple dinosaur is entertaining, and the toys are cool and, yes they have the same right to have fun as we do, but that won’t raise your kid nor teach him values, because they don’t have feelings. That’s why we are becoming less human every day, because we are not raising our kids with love or reality, because they don’t get to interact with real feelings.
For example, let’s say a kid has fun beating up Elmo, and he even tried to flush him down the toilet, but after all and all, Elmo still says “I love you,” or something else. In some way, that will teach something to the kid, his learning that whatever he does someone will still say “I love you.” Though it sounds stupid, think about it. That’s why we end up developing a cold hearts, and losing our contact with reality and nature.
We need to teach our children moral values, the real difference between doing good and doing bad. Teach children to care for their own being, as well as for the ones around them, even if they look different or speak in another language. If we don’t teach them these values at an early age, they will never learn them, and we need to remember that they are our future. Because when we get old, they are going to be the ones taking care of us and the ones that will be ruling our nations. If they grow up in the wrong path, then our future will be affected as well, because we won’t have “good” people around taking care of us and ruling our nations. We don’t need to be rocket scientists to understand this fact.
This is really important in a kid’s life, because statistics show that if a young kid had a troublesome childhood, he has a high risk of having a troublesome adulthood, too. People tend to blame this on drugs, the media and whatnot, but drugs have been around the world for years, and sadly, violence is in our blood (survival instinct), while the media is only showbiz.
On the other hand, moral values are in history, in books and in people’s mind, and we even pass them through generations. We don’t get them when we are born. We don’t get them by drinking milk or water. The only way that we could acquire them is through people, our family, from real breathing and living human beings. The closest relation, our parents (in most cases), should dedicate more of their time to their children, instead of spending their time and life working.
And here comes the part that we need to change. We need to change our working schedules, because corporations and the government itself are ruling our lives. And we need to show them these problems, because they only blame the media, drugs and us for not teaching our children the right thing to do; but, they are the ones taking t this precious time that we desperately need.
We need to express to them these problems and some solutions so that we could have a better future. Because of their exploiting and greedy actions, our future is in jeopardy, keeping parents away from their children when they most need them, causing our children to become future knuckle-heads, especially in the time that we are living in now.

Miguel F. Marquez is a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering.

Al-Arian issue has far-reaching impact

Despite being a student as far away as the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, like so many other Americans, particularly those concerned with academic freedom and upholding the fundamental principles of this country, I have been closely watching the case of Dr. Sami Al-Arian. The way I see it, President Genshaft has two options: Maintaining academic freedom or succumbing to outside pressures. Now, if she had made the former decision, then there may have been some national attention given to it, led by a group of racists. Let it be clear though that this would have been short-lived as the opponents of Sami Al-Arian are neo-conservatives who are getting their day in the sun as a result of the policies and program of misinformation propagated by the Attorney General that only serves to temporarily reinforce in people’s minds this racist association of all Arabs and Muslims with violence and extremism.
Clearly, our American values, which are being directly violated by the current policies of our Justice Department that are slowly but systematically being deemed unconstitutional by district courts around the country, will prevail. As a result, the airtime given to the racially-motivated attacks by neo-conservatives will be seen as such: racially-motivated. Ultimately, when the inevitable day comes when Arab- and Muslim Americans will be freed from the shackles of a society’s bigotry, Genshaft and USF would have been praised and remembered favorably.
Unfortunately, Genshaft chose the latter, contradicting principles of academic freedom and submitting to essentially racist cries by those who oppose the notion that, heck, Arabs and Muslims deserve the same treatment as non-Arabs/Muslims. The result: Even O’Reilly, who started this mess in the first place, has joined the civil rights groups and professor unions to criticize the decision, and true Americans who support true American values have mobilized. The long-lasting effect: For years to come, not only will the name Judy Genshaft be associated with the racist witch-hunt that is currently burning the foundations of this nation, but the entire reputation of the University of South Florida will come down with her. The fact that I, a student from Michigan who never really cared about USF, have been motivated to write this letter to The Oracle is proof enough.

Fadi Kiblawi is a senior at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor majoring in computer science.

Rude behavior will translate past college

I’m writing this letter in observation of the atrocious lack of respect, integrity and devotion in students at USF.
I probably speak on behalf of many students who agree, but for those who don’t, this letter is to you.
You know who you are. You come to class late. You leave cell phones on and sometimes answer them while a lecture is in session.
What are you? Doctors or stock brokers? Leave the phone at home or turn it off. You’re the one who sits in the back and gossips during lectures. It’s a class, not a salon, so just like your cell phones, stay home or turn your yap trap off.
I hate to be blunt but come on, you represent USF; not your USF decals on your car or the pretty USF T-shirt, but you. In a couple of years, you’ll be in the real world competing with people from Harvard, the University of Florida and thousands of other students from around the nation.
When you leave this university, your mind and soul will carry the reputation of USF to the work force around you.
Showing up late for a meeting could get you fired.
Talking on cell phones and gossiping in front of your boss will surely get you fired.
You’re going to college to learn; so are the students around you. Respect those students, and most of all, respect the professors who are trying to give you the key to the professional world.

Matthew Cooke is a senior majoring in marketing.