This is the 92nd November since the end of the first ‘Great War’. What was originally known as Armistice Day has transformed into Veteran’s Day and although the name may have changed the sentiment is still alive. This is a day to honor those who have served in our nation’s armed forces. For nearly a century since the end of the First World War, our troops have been deployed all over the world and put their lives on the line for the sake of their country. Their sacrifice is truly noble and we should all take some time today to reflect on the millions who have served the Red, White and Blue.

Today, 92 years since the end of the war that was supposed to end all wars, we find ourselves embroiled in yet another conflict – one that has no clear end in sight. The conflicts that are currently raging in the Helmund highlands and the neighborhoods of Baghdad are again taking their toll on those who don the uniforms of the United States military. It is our sacred duty to only put our soldiers in harm’s way when it is absolutely necessary. The deployment of troops to the Middle East, and especially Iraq, was hastily done in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. The repercussions of war are always hard to conceptualize for civilians far from a foreign battlefield. The atmosphere that enveloped the country in 2003 was an understandable but not acceptable explanation for the invasion of Iraq. Thousands of Iraqi civilians and American soldiers have been killed in the years following, a high price indeed considering the shaky evidence that brought us there. Our commitment is now a certainty and we must see this battle to the end so as not to forsake and make vain the deaths that we have already endured. It seems that every generation must re-learn the cost of war despite the warnings from those who were “over there.”

The soldiers who came back from World War I were scarred, including those who were physically in one piece. They had seen the horrors of war and did not want the world, and their children, to ever have to experience them. So let us honor those who fought before us and heed what they tell. War is hell and it should never be approached lightly, no matter the circumstances.

This video provides a frightening glimpse into the current state of law enforcement’s accountability to citizens. Although we usually think of electronic surveillance in terms of being watched by “Big Brother”, this CATO Institute video argues that people should be aware of the potential that video has to prevent unfortunate and ugly run-ins with the law. It can protect your civil liberties. The current escalation of the drug wars has led to more and more home invasions and S.W.A.T raids, many of which are ineffective at preventing crime but do succeed to lessen the respect that citizens have for those who are meant to protect them, and vice-versa. Even in minor encounters with law enforcement, people are often intimidated into submissive positions at the whim of the officer, usually because they don’t know what they can and cannot do. This can lead to inaccurate rulings and unfair convictions. CATO’s experts encourage people to videotape these encounters, even when police try to prevent this by, incorrectly, stating it’s illegal. As a nation, we need to be aware of our rights when interacting with the police and one of the best ways to level the playing field is by employing video technology.

America has traditionally had an unusually negative fixation on criminals. We saw this phenomenon spike with Richard Nixon’s declaration of the “War on Drugs” and in the 1990s, when news broadcasts convinced us that gangs were literally going break down all of our front doors. This is not to say that criminals are not deserving of punishment and wariness, just that we as a nation must realize that not all criminals are death row inmates. They are people, people who have made mistakes that shouldn’t disqualify them from a life void of respect and equality.

One of the biggest flaws with modern America’s approach to the democratic model is in its handling of convicts and voting. Almost every state in the union has laws preventing felons from voting. Some states even keep ex-felons from voting. Only Maine and Vermont stand by their citizens’ inherent right to representation. When one considers the high percentage of incarcerated African Americans and Latinos, the repealing of voting rights can become an issue of disenfranchising ethnic minorities, which has the potential of perpetuating a vicious and repressive cycle. Revoking that right is a severe abuse of fundamental human rights and should only be considered for severe circumstances, such as treason.

Our legal system is increasingly concerned with punishing rather than rehabilitating. As a nation, we must strive for a system that is less punitive and more civil and democratic. The campaign on drugs doesn’t help in this process. Rather, it turns millions of ordinary Americans into criminals. Criminals are human beings, despite the acts they commit. Oftentimes it is easier for them to reconnect with that humanity, which can be severely inhibited in prison, if they are treated with the respect due to any person. By allowing criminals the right to vote, we let them to feel reconnected to society, which can only hasten the rehabilitative process.

There is also something wrong with the criminal statistics associated with our justice system. America locks up more people than any other nation on earth, with a prison population rate of 756 out of 100,000 according to the World Prison Population List. Either this means that we have a law-enforcement structure that is vastly superior to even authoritarian states, like China which also has a much larger population, or we are approaching justice is a skewed manner. The latter seems much more likely.

It is easier to lock people up rather than help them. We like to make ourselves feel safe by simply pooling all of the ‘undesirables’ of society in dehumanizing prison systems. It is easier to be vengeful than loving of one’s neighbor. Again, this is not a slight to those who have suffered at the hands of criminals. Everything that can be reasonably done to prevent and punish crimes should be done. It must be understood, though, that we are a community as well as a nation and we should be reticent to give up on another citizen, let alone permanently soil his reputation in the ‘Scarlet Letter’ fashion with which we approach justice today.

For further reading on this issue, I recommend checking out the links below. These respectively include an article on criminals voting, the World Prison Population List and an attachment from the CPIC on the ‘prison industrial complex’.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0226-05.htm

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/law/research/icps/downloads/wppl-8th_41.pdf

http://cpic.binghamton.edu/resisting.html

This interesting Thomas Friedman op-ed analyzes some of the issues America is facing in terms of international competition. With nations like India, Brazil and especially China rapidly growing into mature global economic and political powers, the United States must strive to remain competitive- lest we be left behind the power curve.

Mr. Friedman suggests that we learn from East Asia. He argues that if we approach their success objectively and try to incorporate the better aspects of their impressively efficient system, we will undoubtedly improve ourselves. The argument is also made that complacency in today’s day and age is a sure way to be reduced to a footnote of the history books.

Do you agree with Mr. Friedman? What do you think America must do to remain on top?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/22/opinion/22friedman.html

Time will tell whether or not this has potential to solve the world’s current environmental and economic issues with carbon-based fuel, but it is an interesting invention nonetheless. A true example of American ingenuity.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/07/new.jersey.tunnel.project/index.html?hpt=T1

Governor Christie recently shut down what would be the largest public works project to ever be undertaken in the United States. It was a plan for a railroad system to be built underneath the Hudson River and would cost at least $5 Billion. Christie, for all he is, at least has stuck to his guns when he promised NJ voters that he would not weigh them down with bills and expenses that cannot be repaid. We need more steadfast political nerve from more politicians in order to control the debt and refocus on what the country actually needs, not bridges and tunnels “to no where.”

In Lehigh’s Hawks Nest restaurant, there has been a noticeable shortage of utensils. Due to the proximity to the end of the semester, the Hawks Nest has not ordered more plastic-ware.

Two articles to stimulate your interest:

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/04/26/attention_whole_foods_shoppers

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703514404574588792834312898.html

Lehigh’s department of International Relations boasts more majors than almost any other in the College of Arts and Sciences – 130, according to its website.

That Lehigh has a separate department of International Relations, as opposed to one that is only accessible through the department of Political Science, has long been one of the CAS’s proudest distinctions.

However, all is not well in the back left corner offices in Maginnes. The department is losing its patriarch in Professor Rajan Menon, who holds a Bachelors and a Masters from Lehigh and has attracted countless students to the IR major with his masterful lecturing in his Intro to World Politics course.

Amid Menon’s departure, rumors, heretofore unreported by any campus media outlet, of IR’s imminent absorption into the Political Science department have students and professors alike ready to come to blows with Dean Ann Meltzer.

The IR department held its own town hall meeting last week for majors, which was off-limits to the press, but students left the meeting with a larger-than-ever sense of paranoia about the future of the department.

A resistance movement that was the product of that meeting has secured a sit-down with Dean Meltzer on March 2nd.

In a statement communicated to IR students through the department coordinator, Meltzer vehemently denied any plans to dissolve or merge the IR department. Her e-mail left little room for future equivocation, stating, “I am not aware of any proposal to do either.”

This directly contradicts off-the-record statements from faculty in the IR and Political Science departments, who insist that they’ve been approached with plans for some form of restructuring.

At this point, one of two outcomes is possible: The restructuring will proceed, revealing grave deception and a lack of transparency on the part of the administration. Alternatively, Dean Meltzer may already be backing off of this proposal after such a decisively negative reaction.

Either way, this is what college is all about: Professors and students standing up to administrative powers to protect academic excellence from the indiscriminate hatchet of cost-cutting and consolidation.

Anyone who’s critical of the role of tenure in higher education should take note of the crucial ability of professors to act as a check against wayward administrative priorities.

Stay tuned to The Patriot for additional coverage of this developing story.