The Whole Picture

Note: This blog was published in the Opinions Section of the Daily Iowan on June 12th, 2006

I hope that the Daily Iowan doesn't truly agree with the guest opinion taken from the Washington Post that was printed in Thursday's paper ("Katrina's Unlearned Lessons", Washington Post 6/7/06). Who ever authored that editorial decided to only look at a few facts out of thousands of pages of findings since the tragedies in the gulf coast. For some reason the authors want to pin all the blame on the Corps of Engineers, simply because they admitted fault. It is true that several of the most severe breaches were not caused by overtopping like the Corp originally thought, but by failure in structural integrity. But to blame that all on the Corp would be a gross misunderstanding of the big picture. On numerous occasions the Corps has attempted to get funding that would improve the strength of the canals and floodwalls in and around New Orleans, but when they did not receive as much as need (which has happened time and time again) the walls were simply made taller; not exactly improving upon strength. Before I would blame the Corps of Engineers I would blame the authors of the editorial, they are just has resposible for what happened in the Gulf Coast. Their opinions cleary show that the are a part of the taxpayers that have continually shot down efforts to restructure, redesign, and fortify the systems that help protect those areas, simply because the price tag was too large. How about now? Now that millions have been forced from their homes, now that towns have been washed off the map? There are things that must be learned from this experience that need to be applied to what we do in the future. Continuing to blame one party, or questioning their involvement, as we move further helps no one.

Take the blame, on two, ready...break

The recent public outcry about the $50,000 temporary exit has once again proven that the DOT is the offensive lineman on the football team of today’s society. The celebrities play quarterback, wide receiver, and running back; getting far more credit than deserved. The local police play linebacker, putting people in there place and letting them know about it. The government as a whole plays the coordinators, quietly orchestrating everything in attempt to just not get blamed. But the DOT does all that things they are expected to do, only being noted when they make an error in the publics eye; no credit, all blame. I look forward to my life as a civil engineer, eventually maybe with the DOT, receiving no credit when I do all the right things, and getting harassed if I fail at one thing.

Take a Good Look Around

We as a state need to take a look around and be aware that many of “our” problems affect so many more people than just those residing in this sate. The reports recently published have noted how filthy some of Iowa’s waters are. Yet, most people seem to forget that these waters flow through parts of Nebraska, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and many others. I could look up figures that show just how many people are in the end affected by our dirty waters, but that number doesn’t matter, what matters is the generations that follow. Its time that we become accountable for what we put in the water, because farmers in rural Iowa affect the inner city of New Orleans more that they know.

Note: This blog was posted online for the Des Moines Register Young Adult Board of Contributors May 4th, 2006

Now or Never

It seams as though the general public, the Daily Iowan (Not so wise to trust ethanol - 5/27/2006), and most politicians are all in consensus with the issue of renewable fuels: “Well that solution is just going to cost too much money, let’s wait till something better comes around.” This philosophy is the reason we have the problems in our world today. For the most part our parents and grandparents did their part to do nothing at all or only fix the immediate environmental impacts of everyday life. If we wait around for the technology to get better, we may dig a hole so deep we may never get out. This is a simple problem. The auto industry says they want ethanol to be more readily available before they will produce a greater number of flex-fuel vehicles. The fuel industry says it wants to see more flex-fuel cars on the market before it commits to ethanol. Both sides need to swallow their pride and take the hit to their pockets for the good of everyone. E-85 is no where near the solution to our pollution and oil dependence problems, but it’s a great step in the right direction. We as a population may suffer some costs as well in buying new flex-fuel vehicles that will in turn cost us more over time at the pump because of reduced mileage. Wake up people, if we live our life pinching every penny, our children and grandchildren are going to have some serious problems to deal with. I’m frankly disappointed with the Daily Iowan that it would take such a conservative stance to sit around and see what happens. Even if ethanol isn’t the answer, we need to push to find other RENEWABLE sources, and I would have thought the Daily Iowan could have been a little more positive; calling for the students of the University of Iowa, especially those in the College of Engineering and Biochemical Majors, to step forward and take on the challenge of solving this important problem. There is no time to wait around for what comes next, the time to act is now. Maybe ethanol is not what we need to act upon, but we need to try something…now.

Note: This blog was published in the Daily Iowan Letters to the Editor, May 1st, 2006.

Onlookers

I find it sad that David Morris has come to calling people “total assholes” for their bewilderment of what has happened to Iowa City. I can attest to being one of the people who walked the neighborhood around the Alpha Chi Omega house the day after the storm. I left my current apartment in Coralville to see the damage around my old apartment, simply because I can’t sit inside my place until the officials have given the all clear, that’s completely unnatural. I had to go see, and for my I had to see if there was any way I could help. I don’t think that Mr. Morris understands that, for those who didn’t go through the storms directly and have their homes destroyed, once to come upon the scene, you are in a completely different world. I guarantee that if you would have asked the couple staging the picture to help, they would have offered their help, yet you chose to sit back and whine about it later. Being one of the so called “gawkers”, you don’t know how to help once to see that. I was asked to help, and I pitched in no questions asked, and I am very glad I did. If Mr. Morris still needs help with any clean up projects my time and effort are willing and able. I have space at my apartment for any one you has been displaced. If Mr. Morris, Anomie House, or any one else needs help, please let me know, I would love to volunteer my time.

Note: This blog was published in the Daily Iowa Letters to the Editor on Wedensday, April 19th, 2006

Aftermath

As I met up with friends in Iowa City to survey the damage after last Thursday’s horrific storms I was overwhelmed with the surrealistic environment. Trees had been thrown like twigs; one house is perfectly in tact, while its neighbor is demolished. We walked near my old apartment to the Alpha Chi Omega house to see the damage first hand. Many citizens that had their homes ravaged by the storm have expressed that they were offended by the droves of people that simply gawked. I can admit to being one of those gawkers, but I would like to point out that I could not just sit with my hands tied on the other side of town and wait for the all-clear from officials. That’s unnatural for any human to stay inside after these kind of events, we all want to get out and see, and most want to help. Yet, when arriving at the scene there are no words to describe the feeling you get as you view the destruction and have no idea what to do next. Most people want to help but don’t know how. If residents wanted help, they should have asked. Fortunately for myself, I was asked to help and I am glad that I was able to pitch in, but there is still a lot to, and I wish I could help more. I can’t afford to donate money to the Red Cross (just like a great majority of my fellow students), and I don’t have any spare toiletries to spare, all I have is my time and effort, and I don’t know how to donate that. There may be ways out there for me to do that, but they haven’t been apparent, thus if they do exist the public needs to know about them. The Red Cross needs to set up some kind of way for people such as myself that want to help with their time and effort to get in contact with people that need help. There should be front page news bulletins that tell me where to go to but my name and phone number on a list provided to those in need. In the mean time I am still waiting for anyone who needs my time and effort.

Stance on Immigration

No one can argue that millions of people are breaking immigration laws in this country. It seems a little absurd that those millions seem to be fighting for rights that they don’t yet have. As much as I believe that these many people are here illegal and can not complain about any punishment they receive for doing so, there obviously needs to be change in the system. From the discussion in the media over the topic, it is apparent that many are not legal immigrants because it is too hard. The process is costly, takes a lot of time, and if you’re lost, no one cares. We need to embrace immigrants of all kinds. If they plan on staying here permanently, the process to become a citizen needs to be easier. If they want to spend a certain amount of time here to earn wages, then there needs to be a relatively simple system to allow for that. The approach should be to help, not to punish.

Immigration

The United States is considered by its citizens to be the greatest country in the world because of the principles and ideologies that America stands for. Yet conflict arises when enforcing our current laws infringes upon these principles and ideologies. When examining the issue of immigration, it can not be argued that thousands, if not millions are breaking immigration laws. Yet the problem at hand is that many believe that the laws are flawed and the “illegal aliens” are guilty of no crimes. America needs to decide, if the current laws hold true then action needs to be taken to prevent people from breaking the immigration laws, otherwise new laws need to be enacted to change the entire system.