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THE NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIALS/LETTERS MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2012

THE NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED MONDAY OCTOBER 22, 2012

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ARTHUR OCHS SULZBERGER JF., Publisher The News Sections Founded in 1851 JILL ABRAMSON, Executive Editor DEAN BAQUET, Managing Editor ADOLPH S. OCHS JOHN M. GEDDES, Managing Editor Publisher 1896-1935 TOM BODKIN, Deputy Managing Editor WILLIAM E. SCHMIDT, Deputy Managing ARTHUR HAYS SULZBERGER Editor Publisher 1935-1961 ORVIL E. DREYFOOS Publisher 1961-1963 ARTHUR OCHS SULZBERGER Publisher 1963-1992

The Buisness Management

The New York Times Company ARTHUR OCHS SULZBERGER JR., Chairman, Chief Executive Officer MICHAEL GOLDEN, Vice Chairman JAMES M. FOLLO, Chief Financial Officer R. ANTHONY BENTEN, Senior V.P. ROBERT H. CHRISTIE, Senior V.P. MARC FRONS, Senior V.P., Chief Information Officer KENNETH A. RICHIERRI, Senior V.P., Chief Information officer LAURENA L. EMHOFF, V.P., Treasurer DIANE BRAYTON, Secretary

Joseph Kalicki Our Societys Declining Appreciation of Literature

One of the prescient issues I noticed from the time I was a child in elementary school was the declining interest in reading amongst my classmates. With the ever increasing availability of alternate forms of entertainment--and specifically with the internet becoming something that anyone could access and use to its full potential--I observed more and more kids opting to play their Nintendo 64 or Playstation instead of going outside or delving into a book. My elementary school routinely assigned summer reading--we would choose from a list of 40-50 novels deemed appropriate-- and various novels to read during the school year that accompanied our regular English class. However, these books were generally viewed as a laborious slag rather than a medium that could genuinely be entertaining. This isnt to say that I never shared this opinion. I can recall blowing through books, only attempting to garner the most basic understanding of the plot so that I could go read something that I actually was interested in. As I progressed through middle school, I noticed both myself and my classmates developing abilities to further treat our assigned books almost like a history text---skim, condense, what was the point, move on. If The Old Man and the Sea and Tom Sawyer would have had bold terms to indicate vocabulary words, we would have been grateful. By the time high school came around, my grade split into a few disparate categories--those who were in advanced classes would read difficult, Victorian literature (by assignment, mind you, not by choice) and those who were in the lower level classes would usually read poems or abridged excerpts of novels. Being the disengaged autodidact I had become by high school, I was usually in the lower of the two options. Our freshman year we worked our way through Oedipus Rex and Much Ado About Nothing, but after that it was mostly the snippets that we would be reading, rarely trying work novel reading into the mix as we shifted focus to research papers. We were often so swamped with reading that the concept of a student choosing to read outside of class would mean diverting our precious free time into an activity most people found boring. Once we had worked through all that was assigned for class, kids would much prefer to go online and spin their wheels doing absolutely nothing; playing video games, spending time with friends, etc. If people were reading, it rarely anything beyond the most entry level of pop culture phenomenons (Harry Potter, Twilight, etc.). I was happy people were reading at all, however I dont think these novels--often defended as reading for fun-- provide any worldview expansion or introduction to complex vocabulary that a diverse slew of books can provide. The assumption that more challenging novels couldnt be entertaining was a disappointing stance many people chose to take. I feel like a solution isnt far out of reach, and can be achieved using the very technology which is distracting this decade of students. After checking it out, I flipped to the check-out information in the back out of curiosity, only to see that it hadnt been checked out in 23 years. It is perplexing to think that several thousand kids had progressed through my K-12 school in this timespan and not once had the book been checked out. This turned out to be common among many other classic novels and nonfiction books. I wouldnt want to come across as elitist claiming that one cant be successful in life with having read some made up stories. That being said, it certainly doesnt hurt to have been exposed to different schools of thought, cultures, or anything that shakes up the status quo and instills the idea that the world is bigger than the town we grow up in. It certainly helps develop empathy when you can read Frederick Douglasss My Bondage and My Freedom, and become exposed to a first-person perspective of slavery. Obviously, other iconic books like The Diary of Anne Frank or any other precious encapsulations of history provide us 21st Century inhabitants a visual gateway into situations that are very different from our own time. They also give us a grander perspective on human struggle and the human condition. We need creativity and imagination to return to the classroom and encouraging consumption of a variety of media is the best way to meet that goal.

SCOTT H. HEEKIN-CANEDY, President, General Manager DENISE F. WARREN, Senior V.P., Chief Advertising Officer, General Manager, NYTimes.com YASMIN NAMINI, Senior V.P., Marketing and Circulation, General Manager, Reader Applications ALEXIS BURYK, Senior V.P., Advertising ROLAND A. CAPUTO, Senior V.P., Chief Financial Officer Assisting Managing Editors THOMAS K. CARLEY, Senior V.P., Planning RICHARD L. BERKE MICHELLE McNALLY TERRY L. HAYES, Senior V.P., Operations and Labor SUSAN CHIRA JIM ROBERTS GLEN KRAMON The Opinion Pages ANDREW ROSENTHAL, Editorial Page Editor TRISH HALL, Deputy Editorial Page Editor TAMMY TANG, Deputy Editorial Page Editor

Societys Narrow-Minded Views on Addiction

From a young age, children are taught to Just Say No to drugs. Nancy Reagans campaign coined the slogan, and the campaign helped create over 5,000 anti-drug clubs across the country in its first year. As of late, the country has spent 2.5 trillion dollars fighting what has become known as The War on Drugs. Alcoholics and drug-addicts are often utilized as examples for what an addictive lifestyle can lead to. With that being said, its interesting that little attention is given to those struggling with Audiophilia, or IAD. The former is a term used to describe an addiction to listening to music. The latter term stands for Internet Addiction Disorder. These are both valid addictions with negative consequences. Other addictions, such as food addiction and gambling addiction can require medical and mental treatment. With all of these addictions springing from normal, day-to-day habits, one would question why so much attention is given to Alcohol, Marijuana, Cocaine, and Ecstacy while virtually no publicity is given to these other more common and possibly just as harmful practices. There is no question that the terms drugs and addiction have become synonymous in our societys perceptions. As the medias coverage of celebrities rehab visits consumes our countrys obsession with glorification of drug abuse, a question is raised in regards to how peoples other addictions are rarely in the spotlight. Typically, those who are against drugs tend to focus on how dependency on the drug can lead to addiction, which can lead to a dangerous and harmful lifestyle. While this is generally true for those who abuse drugs, there are plenty of other habits people partake in that can be harmful. Activities such as listening to music, over-eating, watching television, and playing video games are all known to be addictive. However, blasting music in ones earphones on a daily basis can lead to hearing damage. Over-eating tends to lead to obesity, which is the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Also, much research has been done on the negative influences video games have on developing minds. The purpose of this article is not to downplay the results of anti-drug campaigning. However, with a society as addictive as we are, the association has left many other relevant threats and disorders in the dark. If there were a more general outlook regarding addiction and people were made knowledgeable about how detrimental their habits can become, these endeavors will likely yield more positive results. Furthermore, the misconception that only drugs and alcohol are addictive will be cleared up.

IPhone 5 Stirs Excitement and Controversey

TO THE EDITOR: I completely agreed with the idea that the iPhone 5 is lacking in originality, and the idea that it would be a waste of money to upgrade to it, when in reality it is not that much better than the iPhone 4, or iPhone 4s. She argued that the cameras may be somewhat better but only by a small fraction and the advertisement that it is 4G when in reality all cities have not upgraded to 4G and still run on 3G networks. The screen may be bigger and it may be somewhat lighter but that is just an easier way for them to break, like they werent easy enough to break in the first place. I believe Apple was under a lot of pressure to come up with some thing new, and better than the iPhone 4s when it didnt seem like they had enough time to do it. The release date kept getting pushed back and pushed back and the product that was finally presented to the public was not very impressive. Cortnie was spot on when calling apple out on the fact that their new product is not anything better than the phone that most people have now which is the iPhone 4, or iPhone 4s, and I believe a lot of people will agree with her. TO THE EDITOR: I was a fan Courtnie Schultzs OP-ED discussing the release of the iPhone 5 although unfortunately, Im not familiar with the aesthetic or performance elements of the various models of the iPhone because I have yet to own one. I thought she made a good argument about why the iPhone 5 was not necessarily worth it and did not live up to all the hype it generated. By reading this piece, I understand that it was expected to far surpass the iPhone4S and did not impress her because it lacked any noticeable change aside from being a tiny bit lighter. I agree with and understand her reasoning, she came off as very knowledgeable on the topic and made some very good points such as the port has changed, there is no increase in the megapixels of the camera, etc.. I also liked her use of rhetorical questions throughout the piece. BROOKE FARRIOR Tallahassee, Fl. Oct. 20, 2012

How College Guys Dont Really Measure Up

Within the last year, Florida State has started its own societal norms initiative to show how male students at the university challenge peoples perceptions on college men. The idea is mainly focused on party culturea culture often associated with sexual assault and rapeand the campaign provides the following survey statistics to support their claims: 88% of FSU men have gotten consent before sexual intimacy. 97% of FSU men would do something to help a woman if they Saw her being mistreated. 93% of FSU men would respect someone who intervened to prevent abuse or sexual assault. First off, the statistics in question are at best vague. How many times have they gotten consent? Who did they get consent from? As male students of the University, we cannot help but find these statistics, especially the first one, humiliating FSU has 32,201 students. Assuming around 50% of these students are men, and if these statistics are valid, roughly 1-3,000 men have failed to get consent for sexual intercourse in the last year. This means that around 2,000 of my classmates have essentially committed rape in the last year. Sorry, but were having trouble finding the bragging rights in these numbers. With rape being such a pertinent issue in our countrys society, one would think that more energy and money should be put into discouraging rape mentality, rather than defending male students reputation. With sex, porn, clubbing, and substances being large parts of both college and rape cultures, awareness is a clear must for college campuses.

ASHLEY CHRABOT Tallahassee, Fl. Oct. 20, 2012

Obamacare and the Current Healthcare System

TO THE EDITOR: I recently read the article you published about why Obamacare should be repealed. As someone who agrees with the spirit of this article, it often feels as though I am the only one that holds this viewpoint, and it is refreshing to hear that I am not alone. The argument was presented in an easy-to-follow manner and made some valid points. One thing that the author touched on that I really appreciated is that even though she is not a fan of Obamacare, she does recognize that there is room for change with the current health care system. When it comes to politics, it seems like everyone believes it to be black and white, when in reality there is a lot of grey areas. Just because a person doesnt support Obamacare doesnt mean that they dont support healthcare reform--they just dont support this health care reform. Thank you for publishing this article and letting a different perspective be heard. JOSEPH LESHO Tallahassee, Fl. Oct 20, 2012 TO THE EDITOR: Your article on Obamacare was both informative and intriguing. Although I enjoyed reading it, I just want to bring up a few points that I think should be mentioned. Firstly, considering the political and societal circumstances, dont you think that the ends justify the means? Granted there are many flaws in the bill, but how else do you expect they draft it given their constraints? Before a bill can be passed, as you surely know, all the bases have to be touched first. In this case, there is a tremendous amount of money involved, and therefore, the right people are going to have to remain financially satisfied for it to go through. Thats just the way it works. How exactly they worked it out behind closed doors I do not know. Im not saying Im a conspiracy theorist, but I do think that corruption that high up is, sadly, inevitable. Im not saying I fully support the bill either. Im just saying that it should be taken into consideration that many unfortunate people stand to gain something, and I think that may be worth some sacrifices. The real problem is military spending. We spend nearly five times as much as the next highest spending nation on military, which is China. Thats highway robbery. NATHANEL RUBIN Tallahassee, Fl. Oct 20, 2012

Apples iPad, the Barnes and Noble Nook, and Amazons Kindle are supremely popular and very reasonably priced items that provide the best options for reading in the 21st century beyond the archaic book which many students look on with disdain as it is the homework giver, the bound beast that they had to read 30 pages of every night. \We should rather be giving kids time during their school-day to read whatever they want, as long as theyre reading. Yes, schools are going through budgetary issues and schooldays are getting cut shorter and shorter, but encouraging young adults and children to explore new generes could be a potential fix to the slow death of interest in the STEM fields. If we view education as this rote knowledge seeking behemoth, our schools end up looking like an indoctrination factory as opposed to a place where people can learn critical reasoning skills and how to form their own opinions. It would benefit us all to move away from standardized testing and approach the classroom in a manner that can adapt to the kids, rather than force them to do things that children and young adults inherently wont want to do. Its worth noting that the introduction of concepts like reading for fun do often have to start at home, and parents must be aware enough to provide their kids with reading material at a young age. If it doesnt get introduced until they are shipped off to school, then it will certainly never be viewed as something beyond an assignment. I once recall going to check out a book in my schools library in 9th grade: Albert Camus The Stranger.

Anna Curtis A Fans Perspective: Triumph and controversy in the College Football Industry
As a child, I grew up knowing that I was going to be cheering for the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Due to my familys expectations, I knew that if I didnt end up being a diehard fan, I was in danger of being disowned, shunned, and/or killed. So naturally; I came of age and realized what an amazing basketball team UK had had for so many years. My father, whose alma mater is UK, was so proud when I really started to catch on to the craze. It was in my blood. I cried if they lost, I cried if they won. I was and am still a huge fan of the school and their program. Now the sports side of it is all good and fun, but the politics was a different story. Though I felt braver in discussing knowledge and statistics regarding the team, I started hitting some snags here and there, mainly due to others attitudes and ignorance. People were talking about things I just knew to be true: that most of the players on the Kentucky teams are accepted into the NBA at a very young age, usually only playing for Kentucky for their freshman year and going on to make millions by signing on a dotted line in a big city. I tossed it up as jealousy from fans of more underdeveloped basketball programs, but my interest started to grow in this particular arena of the Kentucky basketball discussion world. The anger across the sports country stemmed from the fact that so many smart people valued education so much that they thought, and continue to think that the Kentucky basketball program is encouraging a type of style that devalued education, and only celebrated money and successnot the school , coaches, program, game, or fans. At least that is what the argument highlighted. It comes down to an honest, subjective opinion. Though no one is technically right, I know, as a fan, that the fans of the famous basketball team--that just this past year won the National Championship-- feel that the way Kentucky runs their program is an effective and very positive thing for the university and for the state of Kentucky. The coaches at Kentucky have been known to catapult the individual players into a more successful life from where they started as freshman at only eighteen and nineteen years old. Student athletes, just like regular students, go to college to prepare themselves for their future employment and career. Historically, colleges have forced players to stay in school as if they were money slaves. The talents of so many students were being exploited to make the college money, disguised as a morale building element for the team. UK has demanded that their students perform well on the court and in the classroom. We no longer live in a time where if you were an athlete you got away with not doing any workthese programs are looked at very closely to ensure that the colleges still care about and uphold some ethical fiber. UKs basketball team last year performed identically with the Vanderbilt team, a school which is considered the Harvard of the South. Good coaches like University of Kentuckys current coach, John Calipari want his players to do well. He wants to prepare these students to play in the NBA because he believes that they are that good, and after being coached by him and having the fan base they have at the school, they believe they can do it too. It would be ridiculous to force a talented student athlete to stay through all four years of college. The risk that the player may get injured in the next two or three years is too much to handle when you know that a year ago they could have been drafted to a team in the NBA and automatically been making a couple million. The people who resent the one-and-done way dont understand the kind of pride that comes from truly talented young men being accepted into the big world. The latest star on the court--famous not only because of his incredible blocking skills, but also because of his uni-brow-- Anthony Davis, didnt only lead the team to win the NCAA National Championship. He was asked to be a part of the United States Olympic basketball team to play alongside Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant. The fact that Anthony Davis, who is only nineteen years old, was able to do these two incredible things in the same year says so much of him as a talented athlete but also as a student. Davis was the ultimate student. He listened to what his coaches told him, he respected authority, and he never showed off in a distasteful way. He retained his class, and therefore deserves any check they throw at him. I do not believe for any reason that a few more years in school would make him any more of a star. If anything, if made to stay in school, he would have had to decline on many offers that so far have propelled him into a life of success. There are many success stories of people who did not go to college or finish college. Why arent the whining people grinding these other people into the ground? People like celebrities, movie stars, even geniuses like Steve Jobs. Why is the four year college degree such a holy grail? If a great opportunity is waiting at the end of a student athletes freshman year, what cruel reason is there to sentence them to three more years of waiting? Whose benefit would that serve? The ultimate way to respect education is to assume that education has done its job. If in, one year, a student athlete shows that he is capable, allow him to skip the next three years and move on.

George Tapia How Preservation of Antiques Can Lead to Conservation of the Arts
Instruments, such as one of the many guitars musician Jimmi Hendrix played on, and an 18th century violin made by Stradivarius, are everyday being lost and in disrepair. They are at many times

The Internets Blurring of Lines

We shamelessly admit to following celebrities posts on both Twitter in Facebook. find ourselves getting excited about things such as a picture that Lady Gaga tweets of a new outfit, or an announcement made by Lea Micheles facebook in regards to the upcoming season of Glee. While these types of feelings regarding pop culture are shared by many, the entrance of Politics and business into the social networking spotlight has been enormous, and it seems as if politicians are structuring their campaigns the same way a music artist would promote an album. Who is to thank for this blurring of lines? The answer would of course be technology, primarily the internet. We live in a generation that is obsessed with documenting events. Recording any life event--from a broken toenail to a Wedding announcementis generally socially acceptable to publish on a site like Facebook. With this being said, there was no surprise that with the rise of social networking in the last few years, celebrities would take advantage of it to the fullest. And although it is surprising that the politicians have joined in, it does in many ways make sense. If an artist can market themselves to the point where they make millions in album sales, why cant a politician do the same to gain votes? A politician can indeed make themselves as beloved to the American public as a celebrity like Lady Gaga can, and the internet makes this endeavor much easier. President Obama is considered to be the first political candidate to utilize Facebook for election publicity. His twitter now reportedly has over 19 million followers. That alone is 19 million peoples attention that he has at his fingertips on a daily basis. With that free publicity made available on a daily basis to anyone who can gain the necessary popularity, we wonder how much more absorbed the country will become in public and cultural affairs; and can this possibly contribute to an information overload? An overload is an arguable outcome, though it seems that our societys technological mentality seems to develop with the technology it puts out. That being said, its no secret that technology has allowed us to have all the information one could perceivably need, and much dispute has been raised over whether or not this is a good thing. However the reality remains that technology is developing, and culture is rapidly following it. Rather than conform to prescriptivisms ideals regarding print newspapers and information availability, people would benefit from accepting that progression and evolution are unavoidable, and attempts to halt these efforts would be essentially futile.

Facebook and Society

TO THE EDITOR: I really enjoyed the piece that was published regarding the effects of Facebook on society. The author made great points, and I agree with just about everything that was written. To expand upon the authors point, I believe that children are the ones being harmed the most by our societys addiction to Facebook. Instead of climbing trees, riding bikes, and as the author suggested, throwing around a football, our children are all huddled over their electronic devices waiting for the next status update. Children learn by example, and I believe we all would benefit by following this articles example and stepping away from Facebook. When people talk about how bad Facebook has gotten, we tend to laugh it off, but as the article states, the problem is more serious than that. Thank you for allowing this authors message to be heard. JOSEPH LESHO Tallahassee, Fl. Oct. 20, 2012 TO THE EDITOR: I thoroughly enjoyed reading the OP-ED about Facebook and how it is slowly destroying our society and, especially, our social skills and the way we communicate with one another. This article touched on how it is convenient, and takes less effort to simply log into a website and see what your friends are up to rather than giving them a call or going over to their house. I agree with the author in the sense that Facebook is a bit too much insight into peoples lives and an invitation for negative habits such as analyzing and criticizing fellow Facebook-ers. I also think Facebook can be an outlet for jealousy. This article made me wonder where Facebook is taking us and how we can prevent it from consuming our lives and causing us to be inferior communicators. I liked the suggestions of how to better spend our time rather than going on Facebook for hours on end and actually pay attention to those around us. It makes me wonder if our society is capable of cutting back on social networking and if this phenomenon could possibly get much worse. BROOKE FARRIOR Tallahassee, Fl. Oct 20, 2012

unappreciated and cast aside in a society where technology and innovation takes precedence over celebrating the past. There are numerous reasons as to why the proper preservation of musical instruments is a necessity, and further, why they should be given to individuals of talent to be played. Primary examination of this article by you, the reader, may lead one to think that this is completely biased toward musicians and/or those interested in antiquated objects. As part of that may be true, it can be said that valuable instruments can be a prime example to modern makers of what instruments today should sound and look like. It is said, by scientists and musicians alike, that the instruments made by Antonio Stradivari are the finest-sounding examples of string instruments in existence today. Many attribute this to a rare type of wood used by Stradivari only available during the 18th century when these instruments were being made. Swiss researchers have recently succeeded at creating a specific type of fungi to help recreate the wood used by the legendary Luthier. The wood (only available from the years 1645 to 1715), is unique due to the temperatures staying cool year round. This results in a denser wood, but with more flexibility leading to increased resonance. In a sound test between a 1711 Stradivarius violin and a modern copy made with the simple fungi, the panel could not differentiate between the multi-million dollar Stradivari and its modern copy. It is common knowledge that wood, no matter how treated, eventually rots and disintegrates with age. The example of the 1711 violin copied by modern scientists just goes to show that by keeping an instrument of this age in playable and replicable condition and utilizing modern technology, we have the ability to recreate what was previously thought to be impossible. Generations after us now have the opportunity to hear what the very best of instruments from the 18th century sounded like, because of examples such as the Stradivari model used in testing. If this particular instrument had not been maintained from the time it was created by Stadivari, it probably would not have survived today, at least not in playable condition. Antiques in general represent eras where skill and beauty took precedence over mass production. This classic way of thinking and producing antique instruments, in addition to decorative and aesthetic purposes, play a functional role in todays modern society. Aside from having the ability to be played and listened to, the string instruments of the past can teach us about history and demonstrate the views, production methods, and knowledge of yesteryear. When famous rock musician Jimi Hendrix carried around a broom to imitate a guitar while in school, social workers told his parents that it would do Hendrix psychological damage to not have his own instrument. It was a little after that his fathers friend purchased Hendrix his very own guitar, shortly after the death of his mother. If this contribution had not been made, Hendrix probably would not have changed the face of rock (and popular music in general) as he had. Instruments such as Hendrix first guitar, teach us about significant influences of the past and how easily history could have changed, thus affecting certain aspects of our current society. Due to the current budget cuts resulting from our weakened economy, areas such as the funding of education and museums containing valuable works and artifacts are taking a huge hit. Besides, what good is it doing us when an instrument is sitting in a case, being browsed by people that mostly are not interested? It is common knowledge among musiciansthat a critical factor in keeping a string instrument--especially an old and valuable one-- in working condition, is that they need to be tuned and played rather than sitting, unused, and in an institution. It keeps the wood pliable and resonating, resulting in a consistent and beautiful sound. Antique string instruments, especially when part of a collection, would be best utilized talented musicians, who cannot afford to buy their own high-quality instruments. It allows the public to listen to these works of art and appreciate that 300 years ago, the instrument was made with a high standard of quality and playability in mind. Furthermore, it would probably make a lot more money for the arts from concert attendance. I personally enjoy going to concerts a lot more than paying to walk around in a musty-smelling museum, and I know numerous individuals, other than myself, who would agree. Being able to appreciate the sound of an antique instrument would exponentially increase the appreciation of such objects, thus contributing to better funding of the arts, music, education and research. I not only support the overall care and attention to antique instruments because I am a musician, nor because I am a fan of old items. This perceived necessity comes from the fact that art and music, along with education--and the research that comes with it-- are being neglected by numerous individuals throughout our society and government. These areas hold high value and importance within modern society not just for appreciative purposes, but because they have the potential to help us learn and thereby improve numerous aspects of the world as we know it.