10 The DePaulia.

November 8, 2010

Nation & World

Pain and oppression
Lt. Dan Choi shares his thoughts
on Don't Ask Don't Tell
By KATRINA KOPECK
I am gay.
These three words have changed
the life and career of West Point
Academy graduate, Iraq veteran
and Arabic linguist Lt. Dan Choi.
Choi, 28, spoke to a crowd of
DePaul students, faculty, and
neighbors on Oct. 25 about being
openly gay in the Army and the
repercussions of being honest.
Choi is among the 14,000 ser-
vicemen and women who have
been fired under the Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell policy that President
Obama has promised to repeal.
“When I fell in love for the first
time, that’s when I felt the pain of
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” Choi said.
Created in 1993, Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell (DADT) mandates the
discharge of openly gay, lesbian
and bisexual service members.
Under this law, a service member
can be discharged if they make
their sexual orientation known.
According to the Congressional
Research Service, a third party
can “out” a service member if he
does so under oath.
Choi came out on MSNBC’s
“The Rachel Maddow Show”
on March 19, 2009. The Army
then discharged him, as he was in
violation of DADT by making a
public announcement of his ho-
mosexuality. Here, Choi had two
choices: he could accept his ter-
mination and receive an “honor-
able discharge,” or fight it and re-
ceive a “dishonorable discharge.”
He chose to fight.
“If we want to have anything as
oppressed people, we should nev-
er wait,” said Choi. He said that
after Obama was elected, the gay
community was told to wait, and
that they were creating conflict.
“We didn’t start the conflict,”
Choi said. “The conflict is already
there when you cannot donate
blood, adopt children or get mar-
ried.”
One of the reasons DADT was
originally enacted was to ensure
“unit cohesion.” However an arti-
cle in The National Defense Uni-
versity Press, “The Joint Force
Quarterly” reads, “after a careful
examination, there is no scientific
evidence to support the claim that
unit cohesion will be negatively
affected if homosexuals serve
openly.”
“I don’t know what the hell unit
cohesion is,” Choi said. He said
some people believe the idea of
showering together could create
tension.
“Why are you afraid of gay peo-
ple in the shower? You just came
back from Iraq,” he said.
According to Servicemembers
Legal Defense Network, “The
younger generations, those who
fight America's 21st century wars,
largely don't care about whether
someone is gay or not — and they
do not link job performance with
sexual orientation.”
DePaul neighbors Jon Porter,
21, and Annie Salazar, 22, heard
about the event through Face-
book. Salazar said she came to the
event to be more involved in the
gay rights movement, and Porter
wanted to continue his involve-
ment.
“I’m very active in fighting for
equality for all,” Porter said. He
said he follows Choi in his media
presence, as Choi is “the face of
the gay rights movement right
now.”
Throughout his speech, Choi
encouraged his listeners to take
action in their lives and commu-
nities.
He said there are two types of
homophobic people: the loud ho-
mophobes who shroud words in
religion and television, and the si-
lent homophobes that are the by-
standers in fraternities and sports
teams that hear “that’s so gay”
and don’t say anything. Loud or
silent, the result is the same, Choi
said.
Choi said that everyone should
be active when they witness
seemingly innocent acts like this.
Freshman psychology student
Rebecca Matras said, “I will be
Photo courtesy of The Associated Press
“If you don’t think you’re living history, you need to wake
up,” said Dan Choi, an Iraq War veteran who was dis-
charged from the military in July because he announced
publicly that he was gay. Lt. Choi spoke at DePaul on Oct.
25.
definitely more vocal about my
opinions after hearing Lt. Choi
speak.”
During his speech, Choi had the
audience stand up and say “I am
somebody” over and over. He
said this was not for the people
who were saying it, but so some-
one else could hear them say it
and feel like they were somebody
too.
Last week’s midterm elections
proved challenging to gay-rights
activists like Choi. Congress lost
a few key supporters of gay mar-
riage and the GOP gained control
of the House of Representatives
with what Joe Solmonese, presi-
dent of the Human Rights Cam-
paign said is “a track record of
opposing gay-rights initiatives.”
Choi said he shows no loyalty
to any particular political party,
though gay-rights activists are
traditionally Democrat.
“I was born gay, I wasn’t born
Democrat,” Choi said.
An article in the Huffington Post
said that this anger at the lack of
progress in DADT has caused
some people who usually vote
Democrat to change or withhold
their vote.
“If you don’t think you’re liv-
ing history, you need to wake up,”
Choi said.
La
Presidenta
Ex-guerrillera se volvió
la primera mujer
presidente de Brasil
By RACHEL METEA,
Nation & World Editor
Una ex rebelde marxista que
fue encarcelada y torturada
durante la dictadura militar
de Brasil, Dilma Rousseff, se
convirtió en la primera mujer
en llegar a la presidencia en
la historia de Brasil el 1 de
Noviembre.
Su presidencia ha sido un
cambio desde que fue miem-
bro activo de un grupo armado
marxista.
Después de ser iniciada en
las políticas del marxismo,
Rousseff ayudó a construir
una de las tantas organizacio-
nes guerrilleras tratando de
derrocar al gobierno. Durante
este tiempo, Rousseff pasó tres
años en prisión.
Ahora, siendo una política
conservadora, Rousseff es la
primera mujer en ocupar el
cargo como presidenta en la
historia del país.
Rousseff, que obtuvo el 55
por ciento en comparación con
el 44 por ciento de su rival, se
comprometió a deshacerse de
la pobreza en Brasil y promov-
er la igualdad de género
“Sí, una mujer puede ser
presidente,” dijo poco después
de ser elegido presidente.
Rousseff habló en contra de
la lapidación efectuada en Irán
el miércoles diciendo que sería
"bárbaro" si una mujer en Irán
fuese ejecutada por adulterio.
En 2006, Ashtiani Sakineh
Mohammadi fue declarada
culpable de adulterio y con-
denada a muerte. En agosto,
Brasil ofreció proveer ayuda
a la mujer para salvarla. Irán
rechazó la oferta.
For a translation of this article,
go to depauliaonline.com

Political heat between the De-
Paul College Republicans and
Democrats arose on Oct. 28 when
they debated the Bush tax cuts,
HEATED the Arizona immigration law, and
Obama’s stimulus package.
George W. Bush only created
three million jobs with tax cuts.
Eric Tamerlani (DCD) took on
Arizona’s immigration enforce-
ment law, SB1070. He said it is in
violation of the Constitution and
According to Dunham, the contro-
versy over SB1070 is an issue of
local authorities not being able to
make their own decisions over the
matter. Durham asked, “Are you
in favor of enforcing America’s

CLASH The expansion of the Bush Tax

Cuts was debated by Kevin Crit-
will require U.S. citizens to show
documents of citizenship. After
laws or not?”
According to the Immigration

OF IDEAS
tenden, a DePaul College Repub-
lican (DCR) member, and Robert
Foley, the political director of De-
Paul College Democrats (DCD).
Crittenden, who was in favor of
Nation's controversies the expansion, said small busi-
nesses will decrease financially by
and concerns debated by 18 percent if the top two percent
DePaul Republicans and of the upper income bracket is
Democrats taxed. “Raising taxes now won’t
be a good idea for business,” Crit-
tenden said.
Foley did not agree. “The Bush
tax cuts should expire,” he said
By ROBERT CARFANG after claiming that they add to
the deficit. Foley argued that with
higher taxes, former President
Clinton created 22 million jobs
while former former President
saying that the law does not ap-
ply to Mexicans and that the prob-
lem is in Mexico, Tamerlani said,
“The drug cartels in Mexico are
the reason why Mexicans come to
America.”
However, while violence along
the border has significantly in-
creased in sight of the drug war,
data collected by the Pew Hispan-
ic Center revealed that illegal im-
migration has actually decreased
by 65 percent since President Fe-
lipe Calderón declared Mexico to
be in a drug war in 2004.
In favor of the law, Dan Dunham
(DCR) said the Arizona State Law
re-illustrates federal law that gives
local powers to local authorities.
Policy Center, SB1070 requires
state and local law enforcement
agencies to check the immigration
status of individuals it encounters
and makes it a state crime for non-
citizens to fail to carry proper im-
migration documentation.
Obama’s stimulus package was
debated by Brandon Weichert
(DCR) and David Ellis (DCD).
Ellis said the Recovery Act saved
millions of jobs and gave a lot of
money to Chicago public schools.
Weichert, on the other hand, said
“Spending more money that we
already spent is not working. If we
do not stop spending, we will be in
an economic hole.”

This Week in World News
7Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA — From
to Arkansas, New
Hampshire to Ohio, the electorate
turned over incumbents Tuesday
like a gardener turns over
earth. Republicans reaped an
impressive harvest nationwide,
but in some places their sweep
reversed balances of power where
Democratic roots run deep.
The GOP's reward: Governing a
fickle, angry electorate in a time of
busted state budgets and high anxi-
ety about jobs and joblessness. And
for voters in states that flipped from
Democratic to Republican control,
what they sought — change — is
definitely in store.
In Ohio and Wisconsin, high-
speed rail projects may be scuttled.
In Pennsylvania, privatization of the
state liquor stores is back on the ta-
ble. In the Democratic stronghold of
Minnesota, long-dormant GOP pro-
posals to establish racetrack gam-
bling, require a photo ID for voting
and amend the state Constitution to
ban gay marriage may find new life.
And everywhere, they promised to
focus on the economy.
"Wherever you were, the mantra
was jobs, jobs, jobs jobs," said Ran-
dall Miller, a politics professor at St.
Joseph's University in Philadelphia.
But "states don't really control
their economic destinies," he said,
so "Republicans might reap a whirl-
wind by not being able to do very
much themselves and fulfill expec-
tations which are contradictory."
6New Guinea
PORT MORESBY, Papua
— U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton on
Wednesday warned the people and
government of Papua New Guinea
that human rights conditions must
improve if the impoverished South
Pacific nation, awash in rape,
domestic violence and police
brutality, is to develop.
The first secretary of state to visit
the country in 12 years, Clinton
urged government officials in the
capital to embrace a robust anti-
corruption agenda amid concerns
that a windfall from a massive natural
gas find and vast mineral deposits
will fuel already widespread graft
and make matters worse, especially
for women and children.
Many fear revenue from mining
and a $15 billion Exxon Mobil gas
project could overwhelm the rural
country, populated by more than
800 indigenous tribes.
1Wednesday,
Ohio Gov.-elect John Kasich celebrates a victory during the Ohio Republican Party celebration,
Nov. 3, 2010, in Columbus, Ohio.
k tea party-backed candidates
j n
p l
5embarked
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve 3Al-Qaida's
on a historic intervention in bond markets
Wednesday, announcing the staggered purchase of
$600 billion in Treasury bonds through next June in
an effort to spur greater investment, risk-taking and
activity in the moribund U.S. economy.
The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee
concluded a two-day meeting with a statement that
outlined its aggressive new approach to lower long-
term lending rates across the economy. The Fed also
said it would reinvest earnings from previously pur-
chased debt, raising its total sum of coming action to
a range as high as $900 billion.
Such a big purchase of Treasury bonds by the cen-
tral bank has never been tried before.
4in Tokyo
TOKYO — Immediate protests were triggered
after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
visited Kunashiri Island on Monday, the island in the
Pacific Ocean claimed by both Russia and Japan.
Japan has warned the Russian president not to visit
any more disputed islands after a trip to one this
week.
After promising development for an island in the
southern Kurils on Monday, Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev said he planned to visit more of the islands
in the chain.
Nation & World. November 8, 2010. The DePaulia 11
2by anger
WASHINGTON — Spurred
over the recession and
closely contested races in several
large states, Americans voted in
higher numbers than in midterm
elections four years ago.
With more than 95 percent of
precincts reporting, election data
indicate that turnout Tuesday was
up in at least nine states, includ-
ing significant increases in Flori-
da, Minnesota and Texas. Turn-
out appeared to be down slightly
in several other states, including
Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Overall, turnout in the midterm
elections was projected at 42 per-
cent of registered voters, about
1.2 percentage points higher than
in 2006.
The total popular vote nation-
wide was expected to reach about
90 million people, 6.2 million more
than voted in 2006. About 131.1
million people voted in 2008.
Turnout is higher for a presiden-
tial election than for midterm con-
tests.
Curtis Gans, director of the Cen-
ter for the Study of the American
Electorate at American University,
said competitive races featuring
m drew high voter turnout in Florida,
South Carolina, Delaware and
other states, with mixed results.
Tea party favorite Marco Rubio
o won a Senate seat in Florida and
Nikki Haley was elected governor
in South Carolina, while Senate
hopeful Christine O'Donnell was
defeated in Delaware and Ken
Buck appeared headed for a nar-
row loss in a Colorado Senate
race.
BAGHDAD —
front group in
Iraq has threatened more
attacks on Christians after
a siege on a Baghdad
church left 58 people dead,
linking the warning to
claims that Egypt's Coptic
Church is holding women
captive for converting to
Islam.
The Islamic State of
Iraq, which has claimed
responsibility for Sunday's
assault on a Catholic
church during Mass in
downtown Baghdad, said
its deadline for Egypt's
Copts to release the
women had expired and
its fighters would attack
Christians wherever they
can be reached.
"We will open upon them
the doors of destruction
and rivers of blood," the
insurgent group said in a
statement posted late Tuesday on militant websites.
The Islamic State of Iraq is an umbrella group that includes al-Qaida in Iraq and
other allied Sunni insurgent factions.
It is unclear exactly what led the group to seize on the conversion disputes between
Egypt's Muslims and its minority Christians, although the issue has become a rallying
point for hard-line Islamists in Egypt.
In announcing its reasons for Sunday's attack, the group said it had given the Coptic
Church 48 hours to release the women it says had converted to Islam. The group
also demanded the release of al-Qaida-linked prisoners held in Iraq.
"All Christian centers, organizations and institutions, leaders and followers are
legitimate targets for the mujahedeen (holy warriors) wherever they can reach them,"
it said.
Compiled by Rachel Metea | Photos and news courtesy of The Associated Press