Sportsmanship more important than ability

I am greatly appalled by the play of the women’s soccer team on Sept. 3 against Florida Atlantic. I went to the game because my friend plays soccer for FAU. I was planning on supporting both teams – that is, until I saw the disgusting behavior of Ebony Robinson, No. 2 for USF.

Ebony may be an awesome soccer player, but her sorry sportsmanship killed any respect one could have for her. Ebony provoked No. 8 for FAU by placing her arms underneath the girl and trying to pick her up! I was embarrassed to be wearing USF attire after her ridiculous showing. If you are going to act like that, go back to high school soccer or recreational soccer.

I was even more upset that coach Logan Fleck dismissed Ebony’s actions by saying in an Oracle article on Tuesday, “We slug each other all the time getting ready for play in the Big East.” Also, teammate Casey Garrett said in the same article, “We’re physical; we’re not going to let anyone walk over us.”

That’s fine, play rough and hard. But once you cross the line on a physical level, you lose out on fan respect. If the women’s soccer team believes in unsportsmanlike conduct to win, or in that case, tie, then this is one sports fan you won’t see cheering for the Bulls. What a disappointment this team was.

Christina Van Cleave is a senior majoring in English.

Wiretaps don’t keep America safe

Re: “Justifying wiretaps for security,” Erik Raymond, Sept. 6.

People are understandably afraid of terrorism, and people want to feel safe. Unfortunately, when the masses are afraid, they are willing to give up a lot in order to feel safe.

To assume Americans have been kept safe by something such as wiretapping is completely ludicrous.

Yes, I’m sure it can help gather some intelligence on terrorist activities, but do you think terrorists are dumb enough to use landlines to communicate with each other? I can’t see this wiretapping as being anything more than a false sense of security for people who support it.

There are plenty of ways the government could make this country safe. It could let the military become the police, with tanks patrolling our cities. It could round up all people of Middle Eastern descent in this country and put them in internment camps. It could burn the Constitution and laws that protect Americans’ rights (it would certainly make it easier to keep bad people off the streets and in prison). Sacrificing rights and principles for a feeling of security goes against everything this country is about.

You may feel safe with things like the so-called “airport security,” but I certainly don’t. Why? Because what needs to be done to make the skies completely safe just would not be something the public can stomach. You might feel safe because people are listening to your calls, but I believe terrorists are slightly more intelligent than the average kindergartner and realize making a phone call to bin Laden isn’t all that smart.

To quote Benjamin Franklin: “Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.”

Truer words could never be spoken.

Jonathan Tardif is a senior majoring in environmental policy.