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(05/28/08 4:00am)
Last Friday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Sen. Hillary Clinton publicly made a controversial historical reference to the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. In response to the question from the Sioux Fall Argus Leader Editorial board probing her to drop out of the race, Clinton commented, "My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. You know I just, I don't understand it." I was outraged by her comment. First, Sen. Barack Obama is the first African-American candidate to make it this far, and there have already been concerns about a possible assassination if he was elected president. Furthermore, Obama is ahead by almost 200 delegates and only needs 56 more to secure the Democratic nomination. As I see it, Clinton is desperately trying to cling to hope that a set of unexpected events will occur and allow her to clinch the nomination. Within only a few short hours, Clinton's remarks were drawing attention in the media. According to thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com, many Americans were disgusted that Clinton said the word "assassination," just a few days before its anniversary. As a result, she decided to make a personal apology explaining the intent of her statement. "I was discussing the Democratic primary history and in the course of that discussion mentioned the campaigns of both my husband and Senator (Robert) Kennedy waged in California in June in 1992 and 1968 and I was referencing those to make the point that we have had nomination primary contests that go into June. That's a historic fact," said Clinton. If having a long primary is not unusual then why wouldn't she cite a long list of historical examples? Instead, she chose to only reference her husband's campaign and the sensitive assassination of an important public figure. Clinton continued her apology by saying, "The Kennedys have been much on my mind the last days because of Senator Kennedy (referring to his diagnosis of a brain tumor). I regret that if my referencing that moment of trauma for our entire nation, and in particular the Kennedy family, was in any way offensive. I certainly had no intention of that whatsoever." I think it is obvious that her remark was offensive and easily misconstrued because she thought it was necessary to make an apology to the press and the entire nation. In order to preserve unity in the Democratic Party, I feel that it is best for Clinton to drop out of the race. In exchange for conceding the Democratic primary, Clinton should be offered the vice president position on Obama's ticket. According to msnbc.com, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Clinton supporter, said that Obama should choose Clinton as his running mate. "I think as this race has emerged each one of them has garnered a different constituency and different states, and, therefore, when you put the two of them together it forms, I believe, the strongest ticket," said Feinstein to the Associated Press. t&c;LIANNE SIMEONE IS A SENIOR JOURNALISM AND SPEECH COMM. MAJOR AND STAFF WRITER FOR THE t&c.;
(05/01/08 4:00am)
Last week I drove past a BP gas station and noticed the outrageous price of $3.79 per gallon. It was alarming to see the harsh reality of gas prices actually climbing closer to $4.00 per gallon. According to ColumbusGasPrices.com, the average price of gas in Columbus is $3.49 per gallon and the national average is $3.59 per gallon.Due to the heated battle for the presidential race, I decided to examine the candidates' different plans to develop clean energy that will improve our environment and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Sen. John McCain offered the shortest amount of information about how to improve our environment. According to Johnmccain.com, McCain "has offered common sense approaches to limit carbon emissions by harnessing market forces that will bring advanced technologies, such as nuclear energy, to the market faster, reduce our dependence on foreign supplies of energy, and see to it that America leads in a way that ensures all nations do their rightful share." I was concerned when I read this passage because it did not explain how long it would take to implement the plan or how much it would cost. Furthermore, his only example for renewable energy was nuclear energy. This has gained a strong social stigma because many Americans feel that nuclear plants are hazardous. There is also the issue of developing a safe place to store the nuclear waste. The implementation of Yucca Mountain to store nuclear waste has been delayed for how many years? Clearly, McCain did not put my mind ease about our dependence on foreign oil. Next, I scanned Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign Web site and was a little more relieved to see a detailed plan to promote energy independence and address global warming. Clinton plans to implement a cap-and-trade program, increase fuel efficiency standards and create a Strategic Energy Fund to increase research and development. According to Hillaryclinton.com, "Recognizing that transportation accounts for 70 percent of U.S. oil consumption, Hillary would increase fuel efficiency standards to 55 miles per gallon by 2030, but would help automakers retool their production facilities through $20 billion in Green Vehicle Bonds." This plan sounds like an effective way to reduce our dependence on foreign oil but it will take a large amount of money and over 20 years to discontinue the current "gas guzzlers" that are currently driven by consumers.Lastly, I visited Sen. Barack Obama's campaign Web site and found the most comprehensive plan to reduce carbon emissions. Obama, like Clinton, also supports a cap-and-trade system. He plans to invest $150 billion over 10 years in clean energy, double energy research, require 25 percent of renewable electricity by 2025, increase renewable fuel standards, increase fuel economy standards and develop clean coal technology. According to Barackobama.com, "Obama will require 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels to be included in the fuel supply by 2022 and will increase that to at least 60 billion gallons of advanced biofuels like cellulosic ethanol by 2030."I believe that Obama has the best plan from among the candidates that includes multiple approaches to help reduce our dependence on foreign oil and improve our environment. t&c;LIANNE SIMEONE IS A SENIOR JOURNALISM AND SPEECH COMM. MAJOR AND STAFF WRITER FOR THE t&c.;
(02/14/08 5:00am)
Coming off a loss to Mount Union, the Cardinals used the career nights of sophomore guard Brian Pollock and junior center Sean Cross to defeat Baldwin-Wallace (B-W) 94-84.The first half was a close battle. The game was tied with 8:21 left when Pollock knocked down a pair of free throws to give Otterbein a 23-21 lead. Otterbein never trailed for the remainder of the game. "For the first time this year we have everyone fairly healthy and are still excited about playing," said head coach Dick Reynolds.Pollock poured in a career-high 28 points, scoring 14 in each half. Cross also had a career-high night. He did his work on the glass, pulling down 14 rebounds. Cross set the tone early in the game, getting ten of his boards in the first half. Senior guard Adam Wells poured in 28 points while shooting 60 percent behind the arch. "Being the only seniors, Ross and I try and play hard every time we step on the floor, and hopefully the younger kids take notice," said Wells. Senior guard Ross Banaszak chipped in a healthy 21 points. For the game, Otterbein shot 53 percent from the floor compared to Baldwin-Wallace's 45 percent. Otterbein converted 55 percent of its three-point field goal attempts. B-W could not match that, only shooting 29 percent from downtown. "Through all of our injuries, illness and adversity, the team has played hard all year," said Reynolds.This Saturday, the Cardinals will travel to Tiffin to take on the Student Princes of Heidelberg. Heidelberg boasts a record of 17-5 overall and 11-4 in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC). They are coming off an 84-72 win over John Carroll last night. The two teams last met on Jan. 12, when the Student Princes handed Otterbein an 82-72 home loss.Offensively, Heidelberg was led by seniors Andrew Lemmon and Brian Schmidt. The Student Princes shot 53 percent from the field and tallied 11 steals. Otterbein was able to outscore Heidelberg 44-37 in the second half but was unable to dig themselves out of the 15-point halftime deficit. Banaszak led the Cardinals offensively, scoring 19 points and hauling down eight rebounds. For the game, Otterbein shot 43 percent from the floor. The Cardinals turned the ball over 17 times and only had 16 assists for the game. The Cardinals will face the Student Princes with a 5-16 overall record and 4-10 in the OAC. "Heidelberg is a strong team and we have to combat their physical ability and shoot the ball very well," said Reynolds.
(01/31/08 5:00am)
The Otterbein men's basketball team is heading into the second round of Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play with mixed emotions. The Cardinals are coming off a pivotal league win against the John Carroll (JCU) Blue Streaks and a devasting one-point loss to Marietta yesterday.Otterbein had a record- breaking game against JCU, setting the single game three-point field goal record with 18, defeating the Blue Streaks 98-73. For the game, Otterbein shot 64 percent from the field and converted 60 percent from behind the arch. Senior guard Adam Wells said, "We didn't do anything different than we normally do. The ball just kept going in." Wells scored 27 points, including 11 of the team's first 16. He was able to connect on six out of his 10 three-point field goal attempts. The senior's performance against John Carroll earned him OAC Player of the Week.Senior guard Ross Banaszak chipped in 22 points, converting seven of his 11 attempts from the floor. Sophomore forward Cory Ratai scored 12 points and pulled down five rebounds. With the win over John Carroll, the team hopes to carry that momentum into their second half of OAC play. "I think the win gave us a little boost in morale," said Banaszak. "We proved to ourselves that if we put it all together like that, we can be competitive and beat teams the way we expected to at the start of the season."The Cardinals were favored to win in the game against Marietta, so the close overtime loss came as a big suprise. The Pioneers OAC record stands at 2-9, making them the lowest-ranked team in the OAC. This Saturday, Otterbein will head to Muskingum to take on the Fighting Muskies. Muskingum is entering the game with an 11-5 overall record and an OAC record of 6-4. The Fighting Muskies have won five of their last seven games. Offensively, the Fighting Muskies are led by 5'7" guard Brandon Todd. Todd is averaging nearly 14 points per game. Otterbein is entering the contest with an overall record of 4-14 and 3-8 in the OAC. The Cardinals are led offensively by Banaszak, averaging nearly 20 points per game. The teams last met on Dec. 8 at the Rike Center, where Muskingum earned the victory 74-55. This time around, the Cardinals hope to be healthy, which has been an issue this season."We have played hard all year, but have not had too many games in a row that everyone has been healthy," said head coach Dick Reynolds. In the last meeting between the two teams, Todd led Muskingum, scoring 16 points. Muskingum was able to jump out to a 17-point halftime lead. The Fighting Muskies were able to out-shoot Otterbein 56 percent to 39 percent, and four of the five starters were able to reach double figures for the game.Entering the second half of league play in the OAC, the Cardinals hope to improve on their atypical season."[We will] play each game at a time and hope to improve our conference standing," said Reynolds. The Cardinals look to use momentum from the second half of league play to enter the OAC tournament. "Our goals are to play well, finish the season strong and hopefully make a run in the conference tournament," said Banaszak.
(01/17/08 5:00am)
When the Wilmington Quakers and the Otterbein Cardinals took the floor, it was a battle between one of the top offensive scoring teams in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) against the top defensive team in the OAC.The Cardinals came into the game ranked third offensively, averaging 80 points a game.The Quakers lead the OAC defensively, only giving up an average of 65 points per game.Otterbein was only trailing 30 to 27 after the first half, but the Quakers were able to outscore the Cardinals 49 to 38 in the second to pull away with a 79-65 victory.The Quakers were led by sophomore Brandon Rogers.Rogers, a 6-foot-7 forward from Xenia, tallied a double-double scoring 20 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.Although Rogers was held to three points in the first half, he was able to explode and score 17 points in the second.Wilmington shot 48 percent from the floor and they were able to get to the free throw line 21 times, connecting on 19 of those opportunities.The Cardinals' offense was led by sophomore guard Brian Pollock.Pollock had four three-pointersand scored a team high of 18 points.Senior point-guard Ross Banaszak and senior guard Adam Wells chipped in 15 and 14 points respectively.Sophomore forward Cory Ratai led the Cardinals in rebounding, pulling down eight boards while also scoring 10 points.Otterbein was able to hit 41 percent of their shots from the field.The Cardinals were perfect from the free throw line but only managed 10 free throw attempts for the game.The Cardinals turned the ball over 10 times, compared to the Quakers' seven, but many of the Cardinals turnovers came at crucial parts of the game.Pollock said, "We made too many turnovers at the end...it cost us the game."One of only two seniors, Banaszak has consistently produced for the Cardinals.Offensively, Banaszak leads the OAC in scoring, netting 19.9 points per game. He also leads the OAC in free throw percentage,knocking down 83 percent of his attempts.Banaszak contributes with a rank of second in the OAC for 31 steals."Glad I am a senior with this group of guys," said Banaszak. "I hope we can get a few more wins."This Saturday the Cardinals travel to Capital to face the rival Crusaders. The Crusaders are currently ranked No. 16 in the nation, with a perfect 7-0 record in the OAC and 12-2 overall record.While not boasting quite the same record as Capital, Otterbein heads into Bexley with a league record of 2-6 and overall record 3-12.Although this year's record is not as good as it has been in the past, Otterbein fans still show their support at the games."Over the years, our attendance and student support, whether we have a good team or not so good team (record wise) has always been among the best in DIII," said Coach Reynolds."We have always appreciated that support, and the Capital game just adds a little excitement to the athletic contest."If you cannot make it to Bexleyon Saturday, the game will be broadcasted on Columbus Sports Network (CSN) at 8 p.m.