Learning the lingo

Although there are benefits to establishing an official language – it streamlines government business, facilitates assimilation and furthers a sense of national identity – the path is fraught with potential landmines.

Lawmakers must allow immigrants a transition period to learn the language, our history and customs. In addition, they should keep in place policies that cater to non-English speakers.

Although past generations of immigrants learned the language and assimilated into the culture, it took time.

Election boards should continue to distribute ballots in different languages in order to not disenfranchise recent immigrants, and government institutions ought to provide translators.

With a transition period in mind, lawmakers should craft immigration policies that recognize assimilation in a gradual process and be sensitive to the concerns of immigrants.

-University of Oklahoma’s Oklahoma Daily

Shield laws protect more than journalists

In a society that relies on an informed public in order to make democratic decisions, it is essential that the public have access to information. That information most often comes from the work of journalists.

And when officials refuse to provide information, journalists often depend on the help of anonymous sources. But the protection for anonymous sources has begun to erode as the government begins to subpoena journalists for notes, footage and the identities of unnamed sources. … Journalists have no federal protection from subpoenas or being found in contempt of court, meaning they can face jail time and fines to keep their word … .

Without unnamed sources, we might never have heard the stories of the Abu Ghraib prison or Watergate scandals. And without the protection of a federal shield law, we might not hear the other stories hidden from the public.

-University of Minnesota’s Minnesota Daily

Sailing ocean blue not enough for national holiday

The United States has a shameful, well-documented history of horrendous abuse of the American Indian population. Though the government has apologized for many of its mistakes, Columbus Day lingers like a bad odor. According to the U.S. General Services Administration, Columbus Day is celebrated because he “”initiated the lasting encounter between Europeans and the indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere.”” Columbus’s “”encounter”” led to the death and destruction of countless native people. The Library of Congress goes on to say that Americans mark the day with “”rest and relaxation.”” Perhaps we could better spend this holiday better educating future generations of the cruelty visited upon non-Europeans living in both North and South America during the era of rapid colonization.

The U.S. government should declare the second Monday of October (the day reserved for Columbus) Native American Education Day. This holiday would showcase our country’s effort to rectify the relocation and murder of native tribes throughout our history. Schools nationwide should spend that day discussing Columbus in an open forum while earnestly addressing the truths of his voyage – colonialism, domination, and how it shaped American history.

-University of Iowa’s Daily Iowan

Verizon in the wrong bringing politics into text messaging

Last week, Verizon Wireless declined a proposal from Naral Pro-Choice America, a group in support of abortion rights, that would make Verizon’s cellular waves a carrier for customer-requested pro-choice text messages. Verizon said in a statement it does not accept programs from groups that “”seek to promote an agenda or distribute content that, in its discretion, may be seen as controversial or unsavory.”” The way technology has developed, we receive information and it’s delivered right to our hands. It’s a frightening thought to imagine this technology turning into a vehicle only for what corporate America wants us to see. The purpose of new media, like blogging and other avenues of easy publishing, now available through cell phones, is for people to share ideas with one another without exclusive equipment.

This is a massive step toward global communication – a trait that we know breeds peace, education and understanding.

It would be a mistake to cut the wires at this point.

-Temple University’s Temple News