As if there isn’t enough bad news coming out of Iraq, two developments are making me wonder just how much longer the current situation will remain in place before we cry Uncle, or replace the Draught Horse with another kind of draft. First, desertions are at a 27-year high. While this is not that shocking, considering public opinion and the difficulty in Iraq, it does not sound all that well. Isn’t the Army already stretched too far?

Second, Defense Sec. Robert Gates has announced he will begin laying off employees if new war funding is not approved. Gates warned that he would direct the Army and Marines to develop plans to lay off employees and terminate contracts.

My first question is, “Can they do that?” The Army and Marines do not seem like organizations that can lay off their employees without negative consequences. I understand that almost any bureacracy can trim some fat, but how many people will they have to fire to make a dent? To finance just one day of operations, $200 million of payroll cuts would have to be made.

This might not matter, if Congress coughs up the requested amount of taxpayer money. Then again, that would only postpone this same problem, unless Iraq’s future starts looking rosy fast.

Either way, it looks like it is going to be a rough Christmas for Army recruits, recruiters, and staff.

I need a kid to hit.

Yesterday was College Day, which kindly let me avoid the $15 entry fee for the Franklin Istitute, the 180-year science educational facility near Logan Square. I hadn’t been there since I was a little tyke, ten or twelve, just about the age you really should be to go there.

Good God do I wish TFI was more Institute, even if it had its popular interactive portions, but I was all for seeing Identity, its newest exhibit. It was publicized as an exploration and explanation of the correlation between genetics, environment and our personal development, both physical and emotional. Pretty rad, man.

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I encountered on young man walking with beers in each hand as he chanted, “suck my ass, Temple.”

Well, I finally made it to a Temple football game, and what a game it was! Temple was facing the might Nitanny Lions from Penn State, led by their venerable coach, Joe Paterno. They are a strong team that has suffered some unfortunate losses this season. What better way than to boost morale than by sharpening the Lion’s claws against a weaker Temple Owls?

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As I wrote about in my column a few weeks ago, PennPraxis, the UPenn design team contracted to create a community-based redevelopment plan for the Delaware water front, will shortly be releasing its findings. The presentation will be held downtown at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Wednesday, November 14th. RSVP is required, here. Attendees are supposed to show up at 6:00 PM, but from what I’ve been told over 1,000 people have already registered, so you may want to show up early.

I can only reiterate what I’ve already said in my column. The central Philadelphia riverfront is a span of the city that is over half the size of Center City, and largely undeveloped. Furthermore, it is probably the largest span of undeveloped land that sits in proximity to our central commercial district. It is crucial to our future that we take advantage of this area, even if only because waterfront property routinely is the most valuable real estate. I encourage everyone who can to attend this survey and educate themselves about the potential our city has.

We’re more than halfway through the fall semester. In five weeks, classes will be over and the hair pulling and nail biting that are associated with finals will ensue. More importantly, students will be frantically trying to rearrange their rosters before the spring semester starts.

Anyone who’s registered for classes via OWLnet knows that creating the right schedule takes longer than ordering a sandwich at the SAC’s ‘On a Roll.’ But lately I’ve found that the scheduling problems are rooted more in the individual departments than in a busy Internet server.

My goal for spring semester was originally to have Fridays off. Three visits and five hours on OWLnet later, I had my roster, and my Fridays off… along with Wednesdays off and only one class Monday, leaving me with five classes in a row on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

This hellish routine is not a result of my Friday greediness. As I desperately scrolled through the list of journalism classes, my desire to have Fridays off gave way to my desire to sleep late and take lunch breaks. I began to search for any class that would have me.

However, every class I was interested in was not only scheduled on those two days, but at conflicting times. Turns out Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:10 to 11:30 a.m. is a popular time for journalism classes. Some classes meet on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, but how is anyone supposed to fit that into the typical MWF/TR schedule? I ended up settling for three journalism classes instead of four or five. As a result, I’ll spend my senior year taking classes I should have already taken.

My friends in other majors, particularly education, have had the same problem. For some reason, the further into your education you get, the harder it is create a balanced schedule. This seems backwards. Rosters should be more accommodating as students get deeper into their majors so the workload can be spread out.

Departments need to find a way to vary class times better so students don’t overextend themselves. Hectic schedules won’t help students learn any better or faster. In the meantime, you’ll find me in Annenberg Hall, stuffing my face between classes and praying that at least one of my classes ends early enough to squeeze in a bathroom break.

Late last Thursday morning, Officer Charles Cassidy of the Philadelphia Police Force was pronounced dead at Albert Einstein Medical Center, the second fallen police officer in as many years, and fifth to be shot in the line of duty this year. I won’t pretend that I know “Chuck”, as his family has asked that he be remembered, or that I had ever heard of him before he was senselessly murdered last week attempting to foil an armed robbery. Upon surprising a gunman who was attempting to hold up a donut shop in North Philadelphia, the robber fired one round at close range into Officer Cassidy’s skull, and fled the scene after taking the officer’s service weapon.

Officer Cassidy’s murderer escaped without a cent from the donut shop’s register, and is still at large.

I don’t know Chuck Cassidy. I know this: Chuck Cassidy selflessly gave up his life to protect the citizens of this city. I know this: Chuck Cassidy gave up all of the personal security we take for granted when he donned his police uniform and put himself in the line of fire to try to maintain order in our chaotic city. I know this: Chuck Cassidy and all the Philadelphia Police who serve as tirelessly as he did deserve more respect than I can give them with the feeble words in this column. They certainly don’t deserve the quick, pointless end that was served up to Chuck Cassidy by an unthinking, would-be stick-up kid.

The greatest horror of the wave of homicides in this city is precisely that: how utterly, completely and totally arbitrary each death is. There is no thought or necessity or justification, no grand drama that leads to a bitter death, like in a movie.
It is only the grim finality of the gun, in its absolute power to take life vested in the hands of those least able to wield that power responsibly. Kids that have never seen outside the walls of their neighborhood, disgruntled teens that have been failed by every institution they have ever known, usually starting with their own family; adults that never had anything in their life they really cared about, or never knew care. That is the greatest tragedy; that no one even cares enough to think about the effect their actions have on others, even in this most terminal of situations. Where is the antidote for total thoughtlessness? What is the cure for not caring?

I hope I have not provided an excuse for Officer Cassidy’s killer; as ethical as I try to be some dark part of me hopes in secret that he dies a long slow death. I hope I have not lionized every police; they must be subject to scrutiny like everyone else in a position of power. I don’t want to even use the word “hero” because I think it whitewashes the good and bad that makes every person who they are, that it removes all humanity from an individual and makes them something unknowable, almost of legend.

Chuck Cassidy was a man, who had faults and strengths, just as you and I do. But Chuck Cassidy was a brave man. He was the kind of man who lived each day of his life knowing that in a split second, a moment’s lapse in vigilance, he could be shot down, and yet he still put himself in front of a loaded gun, he risked his life. He did that for no other reason than because that was part of his duty in serving each and every Philadelphian regardless of who they are and he did that because sometimes, someone has to stand against violence.
In the horror of that great violence is something to marvel at. The marvel is that men like this exist and risk their lives for us. So remember Charles “Chuck” Cassidy as that, a man who did something truly miraculous. Let this overshadow the violence of his death. Remember the love he had for his community that was greater than his coward of a murderer, whose hate is completely unremarkable. Let the memory of his assailant fade into the total blackness of obscurity while Officer’s Cassidy’s love still shines bright.

A $153,000 bounty has been posted for any information leading to the arrest of Cassidy’s murderer. Newspapers yesterday revealed that the police have named John “Jordan” Lewis as the primary suspect in the officer’s slaying, pictured at right. He has tattoos on both hands reading “NP” and “HP”, and a distinctive limp. Anyone with knowledge of the suspect’s whereabouts should contact the Philadelphia Police Department at 215-683-8888.

Ronnie Polaneczky, in a column on philly.com, suggested that a legal and just trial and execution would be “too good,” for the shooter of Officer Cassidy, a Philadelphia policeman shot in the head during a robbery. She also suggested that a proper punishment might be putting the shooter into a room with Cassidy’s friends and family, and letting them have at it.

Really?

So, forget the law that Cassidy died trying to uphold? Forget any ideas about this being a free country? Forget innocent until proven guilty, due process, fair and speedy trials, public trials? This column is shamefully perpetuating mob mentality, not too mention dangerous. If we take Polaneczky at her word, which I’m sure we won’t, barbarism is just cause for barbarism in the other direction. This is exactly what is making the violence in Philadelphia so bad. Murder in response to murder, over and over again.

In that case, wouldn’t Polaneczky’s version of justice give cause to any friends and family of the shooter to come and attack, in whatever way they see fit, the suspect’s family?

The worst part about this is not that Polaneczky said, or thought, what she did. It is that those thoughts were printed in a newspaper, as if it were a viable and reasoned opinion. Angry rants may sell papers, and might be excused by claiming the author is simply saying what everyone else is thinking. But if you really want to contribute to public discourse, maybe you should try saying something everyone hasn’t thought of yet.

I understand the feeling of wanting to get revenge. And if John Lewis Jordan, a suspect identified by police, is convicted, he should be prosecuted and punished. But that doesn’t mean we should bypass precedents that may very well have never been set down before. There’s a reason the founders believed in due process and fair public trials. They, unlike most of us, knew what happened when these practices weren’t followed.

Many readers of our wonderful web properties may not realize that last week was Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week. Former Senator Richard Santorum was on campus to speak about the dangers of Islamo-Fascism and to promote the week of awareness. However, I regret to write that the dear former Senator’s efforts fell far short in terms of campus penetration. I feel it is my duty to continue to promote the message of Rick Santorum. That is why I am declaring next week, “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” Awareness Week. During the week, I will promote the idea that last week was, in fact, Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week. People need to know that a message was being put out during that time.

Last week’s Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week was meant to warn Temple students and young people from the surrounding communities about the dangers of getting caught up in Islamo-Fascism. These days, it is easier than ever. I think everyone has at least one acquaintance that is mixed up in the Islamo-Fascism, and peer pressure is a powerful tool of recruitment. During my undergraduate college days at Tulane University, I found myself at a number of parties where my friends began involving themselves in Islamo-Fascism. They would ask me if I was interested, but I would decline. It was not always easy. I was tempted, but I would always remember the slogan from the videos Mother had me watch as a child: reject Islamo-Fascism, it’s not a euphemism. Learn more about what Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week was promoting by talking your local college Republican.

In an assault on creativity and a reminder that their primary readership is made of the wealthy and unaware, Philly Magazine featured what could only be a joke for today’s poll.

Rick Santorum, the former Senator from Pennsylvania, spoke at the Student Center on Wednesday. The controversial politician, seen as a right-wing extremist by some, and a courageous defender of conservative values by others, was voted out of office in the 2006 elections.

I went to his speech. It was a charged atmosphere, to say the least. The room, filled to standing room only, didn’t take long to establish its feelings about the former Senator. As soon as he walked in, loud clapping erupted, along with boos. During his forty-five minute speech, though, the room remained calm. During the question-and-answer session, though, the divide re-emerged.

Some people praised him as saying what needed to be said, and other people derided him as a hypocrite.

The session went well for the most part, aside from some outbursts. One thing that did seem less than professional, though, were some of Santorum’s comments. In particular, a derisive comment about France struck me as counter-productive for a person trying to establish credibility for a cause that needs to convince many as to its validity.

The comment concerned France’s refusal to help turn back the Turkish empire in the 1680’s, after its army had been defeated in Vienna. Santorum said, “All of the European countries united against Muslim invasion except, guess who? France.”

Santorum, it was clear from the speech, is an intelligent man. There is no doubt that he knows that France’s refusal to fight had nothing to do with their much discussed cowardice and inability to fight, and everything to do with politicized religion and Louis XIV, the king of France at the time, and his ambitions for power.

The comment was greeted by chuckles from supporters, and that is probably why Santorum made it. But it challenges his credibility for anyone who hears it. And if Santorum really wants to raise awareness about Islamo-Fascism, he can’t afford to alienate people.