Cheering can serve as a distraction

First, I would like to congratulate the Bulls on a fantastic homecoming victory Friday. Double overtime at home is quickly becoming our briar patch. The fans have been great for the most part, but it was disturbing to hear so many people chanting “U-S-F” while the Bulls were on offense. You yell to distract the other team while they are driving, not our own team.

While the fans should be aware of this, the Jumbotron operators need to do their part and have a “Quiet!” or “Shh!” sign flashing to complement their “Let’s make some noise!” request. The players on the sidelines could make some quieting gestures as well.

In addition, it would be cool if everyone in the end zone would wear a green shirt over a yellow one, so when our opponent is trying a field goal, out come the yellow shirts, making the goal posts disappear into a sea of gold. Go Bulls!

Joseph Yanes is a junior majoring in electrical engineering

Speakers should be careful with words

Wednesday night, along with other students and faculty, I attended “Freedom at Stake” in the Marshall Center Ballroom. I learned of many things that have been happening since Sept. 11, 2001. I was astonished that some Muslim-Americans are still being detained for what the government refers to as a “reasonable amount of time.” Many of the points made during the night were well thought out and pertained to every American’s rights and how those rights are being threatened.

After three speakers, Ahmed Bedier, council on American-Islamic Relations Florida chapter, began his speech. He mentioned that since Sept. 11, Muslim-Americans were being subjected to racial and religious profiling, and generally being disliked based on their beliefs. After a strong argument, he started contradicting himself.

According to Bedier, Christians nationwide are embarking on what he refers to as a “Holy War” in the hopes that their savior Jesus Christ will once again return. He then proclaimed that Christianity as a whole is becoming a religion of hate. Bedier referred to a statement by John Ashcroft, who said that the members of any religion other than Christianity are going to hell.

From the words of Ashcroft, Bedier insists that Christians are against all other religions. Bedier is presenting himself as a hypocrite. He is lumping all Christians into the same category as Ashcroft. For Bedier to ask that people not judge him based on the actions of a few when he himself is incapable of doing the same, is ludicrous.

I agree that it is terrible that people are being stripped of their basic rights. Being made to sit in prison without being formally charged is something that I cannot even imagine. But it is virtually impossible to ask that profiling be stopped. One of the first things that a victim of a crime is asked is what the suspect looked like. Based on the given information, if someone fits the description, he or she is questioned.

Do I think that the government needs to find a more humanistic way of handling the mess that they’ve managed to create? Of course. But to ask the government to disregard the country’s safety and not be on the look out is extremely irresponsible.

For a man who has such good intentions with regard to his people’s safety, Bedier should try to practice what he preaches.

Brandi Becker is a junior majoring in mass communications