Last Thursday, Ohio University's Student Senate missed its big chance to respond constructively to students' concerns over the Gulf War. The Senate Armed Forces Support Act of 1991 suggested sending a statement of support to U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf. Nice idea, eh?
Unfortunately, the act suggested the students of OU also stand united in support of President Bush -a laughable idea to anyone who has ventured near College Green in the past two weeks.
So instead of whisking through a handful of nearly identical proposals on troop support, Senate wasted almost all of its allotted time debating the relative merits of George Bush. To the surprise of no one, the motion was defeated 28-5.
It would have been nice to send a letter of support to the soldiers in the Gulf. But for reasons unknown, motion sponsor Steve Wharton saw fit to derail his own bill with an attempt to play politics.
Senate hasn't done anything this pointless since it passed a motion condemning the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Senators took it upon themselves to write to the U.S. and British governments, urging swift punishment for those responsible. Alas, not even that stern command from the OU Student Senate could inspire the capture of the terrorists.
Similarly, the Gulf War may very well drag on for months and years, regardless of whether Senate supports Bush. The OU campus is the only place in the entire universe where the motions of the OU Student Senate make the slightest bit of difference -yet senators insist on squandering their time on tiresome political grandstanding.
Because they insisted on driving the pro-Bush issue into the ground, senators missed their chance to debate motions that might actually affect the campus.
The Support the Troops Rally and Respecting Opinions and Sentiments motions offered a chance to cool tensions that have been building between pro-and anti-war factions on campus. They suggested a joint rally to support the troops only -all politics aside. They also proposed joint cooperation for blood drives and future rallies.
Nice idea, eh? Maybe this week Senate will have time to talk about it.
From Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2001:
Hed: New ideas for better pranks
Politics might be the arena for the professionally immature, but the outgoing Clinton-Gore administration took high-school hijinks to new levels. More than a few surprises awaited President George W. Bush as he made the transition from Austin, Texas, to the White House. Rumors have surfaced of pranks ranging from W's missing from office keyboards to slashed telephone wires to obscene messages in the copy machines.
And though the Bush team has said it will catalog all damage, it will conduct no official investigation. The Bush team is looking past these petty tricks and is discreetly sweeping the incident under the carpet. Bush is setting the tone for four years of responsible bipartisan politics.
It is a shame Clinton's staff had to underscore the indiscretions of his presidency with such childish behavior.
Pranks by outgoing administrations are nothing new. They are a way for soon-to-be unemployed staff members to blow off steam. Even the Bush-Quayle team got in on the fun in 1993 and left campaign stickers on desks throughout the White House.
But the Clinton-Gore administration, it seems, went too far and succumbed to partisan bitterness.
Vandalism is not amusing, and taxpayers can bet that money for repairs will come out of their pockets.
Missing W keys might be funny and even clever. But snipped telephone wires and obscene photocopies are destructive and in poor taste.
But The Post has a sense of humor. We came up with some alternative pranks the Clinton-Gore team should have done.
-A federal ban on cigar smoking in the Oval Office.
-Bush's very own Hooked on Phonics workbook. Sound it out: Seb-lim-en-l. Subliminal.
-A supply of Dramamine for those nauseating international summits. Learn from your parents' mistakes.
-A case of sparkling grape juice. No drinking and driving.
-An invitation to join an elite club for reformed presidential drug users. Clinton understands that even world leaders need support groups.
-Valentine's Day cards made from Florida's uncounted ballots. Nothing says love like dimpled chad.
-Replace the White House Bibles with dictionaries and thesauruses.
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