Noam Chomsky Must Be A Big Deal

While looking at the Tuesday edition of the Missourian, I found it interesting that one man, Noam Chomsky, would have two different articles written about his visit to Columbia, Missouri. This may sound dumb, like I have been living under a rock or something, but who exactly is Noam Chomsky? After reading Debrin Foxcroft's article about Chomsky's lecture at Ellis auditorium, I got the impression that Chomsky was some kind of linguistics expert, and that he studies languages. In the story on the front page of the Missourian, written by Sean Sposito, it says Chomsky is a professor and social activist, and that he gave a "Peace Perspectives Lecture" at the Missouri Theatre. It seems that he gave a speech talking about current political events in the United States. All in all, I was very confused. What exactly is Noam Chomsky an expert in?

I understand that he can be a very knowledgeable person on both subjects, and he most likely is. But the way the Missourian painted this man was confusing to me. Foxcroft's article on the back page says that Chomsky's "first love" is linguistics, yet he did a whole big speech on politics. A "biography box" on the front page says Chomsky is a linguistics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but that leaves me wondering why he is lecturing on politics. It says that he has controversial positions on the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy, but that doesn't really validate him as an expert in the field.

All in all the coverage of this man coming to Columbia seemed a little misleading. From the front page article I thought he was some sort of political scientist, from the article on the back page, I discover he is a linguistics professor. I think the Missourian could have done a better job of being more clear and explaining why this guys opinions on the War in Iraq and U.S. foreign policy are so important, and why I should listen to them. Because to me, it seems like he is simply a linguistics professor, and should stick to lecturing on that topic.

Publish Date: February 28 in the Missourian.

Ho-Hum, Winter Olympics Finish Up

The 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy are now over. The funny thing is that most people don't even know that. A lot of people might not know that the Olympics ever started. It seems to me that the Winter Olympics don't draw much talk or attention. The reasons behind this are probably the fact that most of the Olympic sports are events that most people can't relate to. In most events it doesn't even seem like there is much "competition." Bobsledding, the skeleton, downhill skiing, moguls, figure skating, even snowboarding, all those events occur with one person (or team in the case of the bobsled) competing at a time. Quite frankly, that is not the most interesting thing for people to watch, and therefore a lot of people don't tune in. And because of that, most people don't talk much about the Winter Games.

Compare this to the Summer Olympics, in which many people tune in. They have several events in which people are competing at the same time: all of the track events, all of the swimming events, basketball, and baseball too. The biggest events in the summer games are the swimming and track events, because you can actually see the people competing. They are fighting it out with the person next to them. It isn't like the Winter Games where one bobsled team goes down the shoot and then is off to the side when another team beats their time.

The only events the Winter Olympics have that involve this type of live, on-screen competition that I am talking about are the speed skating events, cross-country skiing, hockey, and curling. All of which I watched during the Olympics. I think that in order to improve the Winter Olympics, they need to institute more events where you can see the competition on the television screen. Really it wouldn't be that difficult for some events. Downhill skiing it seems like could be run with a couple of competitors in it, as well as many other skiing events. Bobsledding and skeleton would not work. Neither would half-pipe snowboarding, but in the case of snowboarding, many people watch that anyway. All in all the Winter Olympics needs to start copying a little bit off of its sister, the Summer Olympics.

Publish Date: February 27 in the Missourian.

Intrigued by His "Rep"

An article in the Thursday edition of The Missourian profiled Peter Gerard and his film "Just to Get a Rep." Gerard is a young filmmaker originally from Columbia, Missouri and his film is showing at the local True/False Film Festival. The film is a documentary about graffiti artists around the world. What was so interesting was how the story presented Gerard's work on the film. He began filming while he was still taking college classes, and paid for all the travel involved with his own money. It isn't like he was driving across town to get subjects for his film either. Gerard traveled to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Manchester, Rome, Venice, Paris, Milan, and Barcelona to film graffiti artists. He said that he had to force himself to stop filming these artists after he accumulated 60 hours of film.

Personally, I haven't seen the movie, and I don't know if I will make it out to True/False in order to see it, but the film does sound interested. Perhaps more interesting is Peter Gerard. He is only 25 years old, and it sounds like he has a very promising future in the film making business. It seems like he is focused on documentaries, the article said he made a 30 minute documentary about life in Columbia when he was still in high school, but maybe he will venture over into the fiction side of film eventually. The article said that he is trying to raise money in order to distribute "Just to Get a Rep" to a wider audience, and I hope that he can have success at the True/False film festival and bring the film to a theatre near you.

Publish Date: February 23 in the Missourian.

It Couldn't Be Said Better

I read the best newspaper article I have read in the Missourian all year. Drew Bruno wrote a story about the Missouri basketball team, and mostly their star player Thomas Gardner. He illustrated perfectly what has happened in a frustrating basketball season. He put into words exactly what Tiger fans have seen all year. A team that did want to win games. A team that tried their hardest. A team that had some success. A team that has suffered through a lot of recent failure. And now a team without its head coach. I feel for the players on the Missouri basketball team. The reason they came to Mizzou was because they liked Quin Snyder and what he had to offer as a person and as a basketball coach, with him now gone, it is easy to understand the players disappointment, and frustration. Nobody was predicting this sort of turmoil at the beginning of the season. Nobody expected Snyder to resign (or be forced out, whether inadvertently or not) while the season was still going on.
I know what a lot of fans say. They think that the players should perform regardless of what is happening with the coach. It isn't that simple. They are human beings, not basketball-playing machines. They have feelings. They have wants. They have needs. I think most players on the team want the season to end. They need for this debacle to be behind them. They need it to be over. They need for a new coach to come in so they can make their decision on whether or not they will be playing basketball at Missouri for the rest of their college careers. They need to move on, and in a few short games it looks like that will all be possible.

Publish Date: February 21 in the Missourian.

Animal Diseases Could Infect Humans

"You learn something new everyday." That is an old saying, that is probably used too often, but it is the truth for me on this day. I learned today that according to a group of researchers, 38 animal diseases could infect humans. I did not know that diseases could jump or mutate like that, and to me it is a frightening idea. On the occasions when I have thought of diseases, I have seldom thought of their origins in animals. I usually think that the disease is some kind of mutation or malfunction in one human body, and it grows from there.

The article says that there are 1,407 pathogens, which are viruses, bacteria, parasites, protozoa and fungi according to Mark Woolhouse of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Of those 1,407, a whopping 58 percent come from animals. This relates directly to the fear of a Bird Flu epidemic, scientists feel that the Bird Flu could emerge as a large-scale problem. This article didn't make me think so much of the bird flu (because of the press it has already gotten) but has made me think of the other possibilities that exist in animal diseases spreading to humans. It is the fear of the unknown that is the most powerful fear of them all.

Publish Date: February 20 in the Missourian.

Jeremy Bloom Fails to Medal

Jeremy Bloom, an Olympic Moguls skier failed to medal in the Winter Olympics in Torino. To me this is a sad story, because this past year Bloom gave up the possibility to play college football at the University of Colorado to pursue Olympic success. The NCAA forced Bloom to choose between the two sports when they said he could not accept endorsment deals from his ski career while playing football for Colorado. I always thought that Bloom would have success when he chose to go with the ski career, and it is tough to stomach as a spectator when something like this happens to an athlete. I have never been put in a situation like this one, but it must be killing Bloom to now be thinking of what could have been in his college football career. I don't know what is in store for Bloom after these Olympics, but I hope he has the opportunity to go back to the winter games in 2010, even though that seems like a long-shot at this point.

Publish Date: February 16 in the Missourian.

Open Meeting for Facebook Task Force

There is going to be an open meeting of the Facebook Task Force Thursday at Mizzou. It is going to be a discussion of what the task force is, and most likely a chance for students to ask questions of the task force. Ever since I first heard of the Facebook Task Force I have been intrigued by it. I am curious as to what the Task Force exactly is, and what the motivations behind it are. Students are concerned that they could get in trouble for photos of underage drinking that are linked to their profiles. The big question is, should the Task Force be allowed to do such a thing?

I think they should be able to do that, my reason being that I would hope the Task Force would pursue legal action if photos of a rape or murder were linked to the website, so why not underage drinking? If they don't, it's like saying that one crime is okay and another is not. The important part is not whether or not they pursue underage drinking and other criminal action through the Task Force, the important part is making their motives known. They currently claim that they are simply studying what Facebook is and are looking out for the students who have profiles on it. They want to study it so they can learn of any dangers and alert students to these dangers. That is fine, but if they want to start looking into student's behaviors and whether or not those behaviors are appropriate (as rumors around campus suggest), they need to make their motives known.

Publish Date: February 14 in the Missourian.

Snyder Resigns, Shakes Up Basketball Team

Over the weekend Missouri's Men's Basketball Coach Quin Snyder resigned. While I thought Snyder was a good coach, and should have been given the chance to rebuild the Tigers program, the athletic department felt differently. Apparently Snyder resigned after being told that he would not be coaching the Tigers next season. As much I as liked Snyder as a coach, this could help the Missouri programs salvage the current season. The team was able to snap a six-game losing streak in it's first game without Snyder, many players said that they were playing the game with their former coach in mind. Many players felt that the athletic department was trying to put an end to the Tigers season, write them off, so to speak. This has apparently "woken the team up" as they will try to make a miraculous run to post-season play.

5 regular season games remain for the Tigers and even winning those games will not put them in the NCAA tournament. In order to make it into the field of 65, they will need to make a run in the Big 12 tournament. The winner of this tournament automatically gets invited to the NCAA tournament, regardless of record. There are a couple of factors that could make it easier for the Tigers. Last year the Big 12 tournament did not conclude until after the selection committee had set the field of 65. This did not really matter because the two teams playing in the title game were going to the tournament regardless of what happened. If Missouri can somehow make it to the Big 12 Title game, there is a good chance they can make it to the NCAA tournament regardless of what the outcome of that game is. As far fetched as it may seem, Missouri still has a chance to make some noise this season, but the margin for error is down to nothing. They must win, and they must win now. Every game has turned into a playoff game, and the resignation of Quin Snyder might just be enough to motivate this team to do something special.

If they fall short, I can live with a birth in the NIT. The only requirement to make that postseason tournament, which the Tigers have been to the past 2 years, is to have a .500 or above record. Currently Missouri is 11-11 on the season. They would have to win 3 of their final 5 to secure a spot in the NIT.

Publish Date: February 13 in the Missourian.

Martz to Detroit

Mike Martz is going to be the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions. The former St. Louis Rams head coach accepted the job on Wednesday. This is the best thing to fix an underachieving Lions offense. The pieces of the puzzle seem to be in place in Detroit, the last 3 years they have selected a wide receiver in the first round of the NFL draft (Mike Williams, Roy Williams, and Charles Rogers), the year before those 3 they selected quaterback Joey Harrington, and in the second round a few years ago they took running back Kevin Jones. But the offense has continued to struggle and the Lions, who always look promising on paper, have yet to make the playoffs with these players in place. In fact, they have yet to compete for the playoffs.

Mike Martz seems like a good fit to me. He is one of the better offensive minds in the NFL, and has had a knack for developing quaterbacks (look at the years Kurt Warner and Marc Bulger had in his offense. Plus look at how well Ryan Fitzpatrick faired last year when Bulger was injured). Rams fans seemed to despise Martz, and I was never able to really understand why. I'll admit I haven't seen many Rams games, but I have noticed their record. Martz was 51-29 in the regular season and 54-33 overall, according to the Missourian's article on this event. As a fan of the Chicago Bears, a franchise that has struggled mightily in recent years, I would gladly have Martz as my head coach. And as a Bears fan, I am very scared of what he might be able to do with the Lions offense.

Publish Date: February 9 in the Missourian.

Perhaps I Spoke Too Soon

Last week I wrote about how Thomas Gardner was Missouri's star player and had been named to the mid-season list of 30 players for the John Wooden Award, and how he had earned this honor through his tremendous play. Well, I may have spoke to soon. Since that posting of mine Gardner has performed, how shall I put this, not well (I guess that is the nicest way to say it). When I had posted about him being named a finalist for the Wooden Award, Gardner was averaging 21.3 points per game, in the two games since then, Gardner has scored a total of 17 points, and is coming off a dismal 2 point showing against Texas Tech in which he was benched for the second half. The worst part about all of this is the fact that with Gardner struggling to get open the last two games, the Missouri offense has gone into a state of confusion. The other players have looked like a deer in the headlights when they can't find Gardner open, and have been turning the ball over at a ridiculous pace (16 first half turnovers against Texas Tech).

Tonight, the Tigers can put some of the negativity that has been surrounding their program behind them. The Tigers (10-10 overall, 3-6 in the Big 12) take on a Baylor program that has been in shambles since the murder of one of their players, Patrick Dennehy, by another team member, Carl Dotson. Dotson was convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison. This year, Baylor has a record of 1-7. The reason they have played so few games is that the NCAA imposed a punishment on them, not allowing them to play non-conference games this season. This punishment is stemming from actions that the program performed in trying to cover-up the murder. Missouri is suffering through a 5-game losing streak, and a game against the Big 12's worst team couldn't come at a better time. I am hoping that tonight's game can help Missouri, and Thomas Gardner, regain the confidence they had when the Big 12 season kicked off, and more specifically, the confidence they had in their win over Kansas. There are still enough games left on the schedule for Missouri to make some noise, and they still have a very outside chance at making the NCAA tournament, but they have to start winning, and soon. Tonight's game against Baylor can hopefully return the winning ways to the Missouri program, and launch them into an impressive run down the stretch.

Publish Date: February 7 in the Missourian

What to do Mizzou?

I read an article today in the Missourian discussing former Enron chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay's ties to the University of Missouri, and questions as to what the University should do with donations from Lay, if he is convicted of fraud and conspiracy charges he is facing in a Houston courtroom. Lay, who graduated from the University of Missouri with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1964 and received his master's degree from the school in 1965, had created an endowed economics chair as well as donating money to help with the construction of Cornell Hall, the business school.

The major issue is whether or not these gifts are tainted by the scandal that has occurred with the Enron company. The story gave both sides of the issue, one person, Keith Poole, who was the Kenneth L. Lay Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston from 2000 to 2005, (Lay had received his doctorate from the University of Houston in 1970), said that his attitude was to "take the money and run." Another person, Valerie Kaussen, who is an assistant professor of romance and literature at MU said, "I don't think we should stand for a white-collar crime being celebrated in the name of an endowed chair."

Personally, I think that the University should keep the money that was given to them. The story does a good job of pointing out that two of this countries greatest University donors, John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, had some questionable business practices of their own. Yes, I think it is terrible what the Enron company did to its employees, but I don't think that the money Lay gave to the University had anything to do with these practices. Regardless of my own opinion, if Kenneth Lay is found guilty of fraud and conspiracy charges in Houston, the University of Missouri is going to have a dilemma on their hands, and there isn't going to be a way to make everyone concerned with the issue happy.

Publish Date: February 6 in the Missourian

National Signing Day Lacks In-State Players for Mizzou

Thursday was national signing day for college football. Meaning that all high school seniors with Division I-A scholarships signed their official letters of intent to join whichever school they have decided to play football at in the fall. For the Missouri Tigers football team, it was not the greatest day. You won't hear any national publications touting the Tigers class as the best in the country; actually, I would be shocked if it cracked the top 50 on anybody's list. But with a football program like the one the Tigers have, that doesn't concern me that much. It is not like Mizzou is a Texas or USC or Florida program. At best they are a mediocre football team, which usually means that, at best, they are going to get mediocre recruits. Which is what I feel they did. The key for Mizzou football recruiting in not top name players, they need to make sure they get players that fit their system, that is how coaches with mediocre programs build their program into perennial contenders. For example, Urban Meyer's Utah team that went 12-0 a few seasons ago was not built on top-rated players (for example a Reggie Bush), but instead was built on a player that fir Meyer's spread option offense perfectly (quaterback Alex Smith).

Dugan Arnett wrote an article in the Missourian about how he felt that Mizzou's lack of in-state recruits was a problem for the Mizzou program. He notes that this year the Tigers landed only 5 in-state prospects, down from the 9 last year. I really don't see this as a problem, and actually look at it in a more positive light. The state of Missouri is not really known to be a football powerhouse, I can't remember the last time I saw a player from this state ranked in the top 10 by a national recruiting service. But some of the other states the Tigers have landed prospects from have much stronger traditions as far as turning out football players goes. The Tigers landed 9 recruits for the state of Texas, which is a well-known hotbed for talent. Football is a religion down there, and usually a player from Texas is a good one, they were also able to land 2 recruits from California, another pretty good football state, and 1 from the state of Florida, a definite powerhouse when it comes to high school football. I look at these recruits as an indication that Mizzou is improving their recruiting techniques by being able to land some out-of-state talent.

Publish Date: February 2 in the Missourian.

Bright Spot on a Struggling Team

The University of Missouri men's basketball team is struggling through a three-game losing streak, and it faces a tough opponent this Wednesday in the University of Texas, who is ranked 7th nationally in the Associated Press poll. But that hasn't been able to stop Missouri's star guard Thomas Gardner from putting together an impressive season. Gardner, who is only a junior, is leading the Big 12 conference and is tied for 17th nationally in scoring this year with a 21.3 points per game average. He has now gotten some recognition for his efforts; over the weekend Gardner was named one of 30 mid-season finalists for the John Wooden Player of the Year Award, which is given to the best player in the nation.

Will Gardner win the award? Most likely not, he would have to have an incredible performance over Missouri's last 9 games, and more importantly, the Tigers would have to win most of those. But to get recognized as a finalist is very nice for Gardner, and the Missouri program. The last player from the program to make this list was Missouri legend Kareem Rush in the 2001-02 season. For the Tigers to be successful the rest of this year and on into the future they need to capitalize on the success of Thomas Gardner. For the rest of this season they need him to play well to win games, and for the future they need to tell recruits about the success they can have in the program. Also, it wouldn't hurt if Thomas Gardner returned to Missouri for his senior season. That would give the Tigers the best chance at winning basketball games next season.

Publish Date: January 31, 2006 in the Missourian.