| Summary: | OPINIONS November 22 2002 www.cord.edu/dept/concord/opinions.htm Page 3 CONCORDIAN EDITORIAL The Concordian Editorial Board Abbi Telander Julia Jenson Anna Erickson Editor-in-Chief ' Managing Editor Opinions Editor A diverse Concordia College. Hmra . what does ISO has even put out their first-ever newsletter: that really mean? TTie definition of diverse according to Kaleidoscope. In it, they include their mission state- Mcrriam-Webster is "1. differing from one another and mem, in which they discuss their desire for cultural 2. composed of distinct or unlike elements or qualities." diversity at Concordia College. By this definition, we at Concordia are a diverse community. Each person here at Concordia differs from one another and definitely has unique qualities. But, in a demographic sense, some might disagree about the diversity of students on our campus. The International Students Organization (ISO) is working on changing this view and creating a more diverse Concordia. ISO, wiLh their motto "Different Colors, One People," has been especially busy this year. They have been promoting cultural diversity and their organization in general, and they are doing an excellent job. This week, the organization has been putting on the first-ever ISO Festival. The highlight of the week, Festival Night, is at 7 p.m. tonight in the Centrum and will con-sist of entertainment including culturally diverse music and dance numbers. --„, »*-., t * . The festival began Monday and has included a chapel service, a cricket tournament, an international communion service and a cross-cultural exhibition. The festival will wrap up with an international soccer tour-nament against NDSU and MSUM on Saturday. r" Their constitution states: "The purpose of the International Students Organization is to assist in the coordination and matriculation, social programming and orientation of international students at Concordia College. International Student Organization will serve as the mouthpiece of international students. This organ-ization will work to promote diversity and understand-ing among the members of the Concordia community/' The members of ISO welcome anyone who wants a more diverse Concordia to join, even American stu-dents. Their aim, according to their mission statement, is "to bring American and non-American students together in a sharing of cultures and traditions." It is a wonderful thing to witness this campus orga-nization's integrity and good intentions. Applaud ISO and their effort to make Concordia a more culturally diverse community. It is organizations like this that will change Concordia fox the better. photo tDQ How informed are you about the situation in Iraq? "I'm kind of ashamed about it, but not very much at all." -LuAnn Erickson '04 "I think that a couple of my professors have men-tioned it enough that I know enough." -Kristen Gauffin l06 "Pretty well-informed. We talk about it a lot in Political Science. With Professor Bath, we have to keep up with cur-rent events." -Jaime Peralez-Segura '05 "Not informed at all. I wish Concordia would talk about things not just at Concordia. I would like a world per-spective." -Alexis Lair *05 Letters to the Editor Tolerance and love help dedi-cation to mission statement Last week, Brandon Teachout commented on Bethany Holt's Nov. 1 column about implementing our mission statement, "dedicated to the Christian life," more effectively on our campus. Much of his response focused on humility, which is an amazing attribute of Christ. As Christians, we are called to be humble and to consider others better than ourselves, but in order to truly be humble to oth-ers, we must first be humble to God just as Christ does in Philippians 2:6-11. Being humble doesn't necessarily mean being tol-erant, because Jesus doesn't call us to be tolerant; He calls us to love others and "do everything in love" (1 Corinthians 16:14). Bob Hosteller, with Focus on the Family Plugged In, has this to say about tolerance and love: 'Tolerance says, 'You must approve of what I do, you must agree with me, and you must let me have my way/ Love responds, *I must do something harder; I will treat you respectfully even when your behavior offends me. I will tell you the truth because the truth will set you free. And I will plead with you to follow God's way, even if you get angry or say unkind things about me, because you are worth the risk.* Tolerance tries to be inoffensive; love takes risks. Tolerance glo-rifies divisions; love seeks unity. Tolerance costs nothing; love costs everything." This kind of love is the humility that Christ had for all people. He didn't just tolerate people, He loved them and wanted everyone to have a chance to hear God's message and become children of God. This love came from His father, because God is love and we love because God first loved us (1 John 4). Praise God for Bethany Holt's heart and for listen-ing to God to write the article that she did. My heart is right there with her because I want to see our cam-pus change for Jesus Christ and make His name known. We need to become more dedicated to our mission statement so when we leave this campus we can influence our world in a way that has eternal value. Allison Yohe '03 Let Saddam Hussein have his weapons? This may be far worse than a war at this point in time Curtiss Peterson The Concordian This week the advance team of United Nations weapons inspectors began their work in Iraq. Does this mean that the possibility of war has been averted? It certainly seems like Saddam Hussein is going to cooperate with the inspec-tors. He even agreed to random and unan-nounced inspections of sites all over Iraq. Whether this will be enough to prevent war has yet to be seen. Iraq still has some time to submit a list of their weapons of mass destruction to the inspectors. Bush warned on Wednesday that if Saddam lies on the list and the inspectors can prove it, then that will be grounds for invasion. The inspectors are also expected to immediately report anything that interferes with their inspections. If there is a war, it could be fought over a locked door that a stubborn official refuses to open. I hope that Bush and our government will not lose sight of our goals in fighting Iraq. Saddam has been a thorn in our side for almost twelve years, and it is easy to oversimplify the situation into a case of America-good, Iraq-bad. The rea-son behind sending weapons inspectors back into .the prospect of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is far more terrible than any war. Iraq should be that we are concerned that he will supply terrorists with nuclear, chemical or bio-logical weapons, or that he would use those weapons to attack Israel, Iran, Kuwait, or even Iraq's own Kurdish population. Saddam is known or suspected to have tested chemical weapons on Iraqi citizens in the past. But is the possession of weapons of mass destruction enough to justify the invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein? I believe that given Saddam's treatment of Kurds and other minorities within Iraq and the stormy rela-tions that Iraq has had with its neighbors, there is no way to justify Iraq developing and possessing weapons of mass destruction. The potential for human rights violations represented by such an arsenal in the hands of a man like Saddam can-not be ignored. Now that Iraq has accepted the inspectors, they need to be allowed to do their work, search-ing every inch of Iraq and removing any sign of weapons of mass destruction that they find. If the inspectors are not allowed to do this, then the only option that will remain for the United States and the United Nations will be to invade Iraq, for the prospect of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is far more terrible than any war. Winter is coming with its many hazards Here is a wonderful ode to everyone's favorite season Sonja Caswell The Concordian Winter: chapped lips, foggy glasses, wind bum. Car windows that are frosty on the inside. The sky is overcast from October until mid-April, the sun probably on vacation in Tahiti. All the doors of your car freeze shut, leaving you stranded without transportation until spring. Snowstorms show up the day everyone tries to go home for break. This is winter in Fargo. I am from a suburb of Minneapolis, where winter is cold but never reaches the level of misery it does here, where walking to class resem-bles an arctic adventure. If I were a little kid again, this whole winter deal would not be that bad. As a kid, being cold didn't matter, as the realities of frostbite were never really foremost in my mind when I charged out of the house into the snow. Blizzards were always welcome, too, because that usually meant that school would be cancelled. Now it means that class will go on, and I have to trek through the snow to get to it. I suppose winter is survivable if a few of the major hazards are avoided, the most treacherous of which are the icy sidewalks. One particular sidewalk, the one between Olin and Hvidsten, is the most dangerous, cpvered with a slick of black ice from late November until early April. If you're looking for some winter-related entertainment, just show up at this sidewalk for the dinner rush after the musicians are let out of rehearsal. That sidewalk sweeper machine causes trouble, too. You know, the one that clears off the light and fluffy snow from the sidewalks. What we don't see is that while it sweeps away snow, it also buffs the ice underneath until it is smooth, invisible and not just slippery-real- / suppose winter is survivable if a few of the major hazards are avoided. ly slippery. I'm sure we have all witnessed (or have been witnessed by) someone falling due to the evil plots of the sidewalk machine. But the sidewalks aren't the part of winter that I find the most horri-ble. It's the incapacitating cold that makes this weather really miser-able. It seems that no matter how many layers I'm wearing, nothing will protect against the chill of Fargo-Moorhead cold. I always feel like a marshmallow when I leave the house, kind of like that kid in A Christmas Story who has so many layers on that his arms pop up from his sides. I'll bet it isn't nearly as cold in that movie as it is here. Even though I might seem to complain, there are some parts of winter that are not so bad. While the snow is wet and usually accom-panied by frigid coldness, it still looks pretty in the trees or drifting across the highway. And sometimes it is fun to go out on Olin Hill and frolic in the piles of snow. The trick is to not wear too many layers - keep in mind the kid in A Christmas Story who gets pushed down in the snow and can't get up. DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in The Concordian are not necessarily those of the student body, faculty, staff or administration of Concordia College. The Concordian Editorial represents the opinion of The Concordian Editorial Board. Letters to the Editor can be sent to FPO 104 or e-mailed to concord@cord.edu. Please limit letter length to 250 words. The Concordian reserves the right to reject letters and edit for length.
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