(Submitted by Rachael Whaley)

Sometimes, reading the paper just makes me angry. Maryville College has implemented a College Newspaper Readership Program, which provides free newspapers (USA Today, the New York Times, and the Knoxville News Sentinel) to the campus community. Usually, on my way to class I pick up a New York Times and treat myself to a mid-morning break to catch up on what's happening in the world. Unfortunately for me, the NY Times is pretty popular around these parts, so if I don't get one early enough I am stuck with that symbol of industrialized and commercialized media: USA Today. In this morning's paper, the front page story was about Division I college football coaches and their outrageous salaries. Noteworthy, perhaps, enough for the front page of the sports section, or maybe just the front page of Meatheads Weekly. Buried as a sidebar, with barely an inch of space on the front page, was a headline about the soldier who finally confessed to gang raping a 14 year old Iraqi girl and murdering her family. This small, obviously unimportant headline was also fortunate enough to include Spc. James P. Barker's reasoning for committing this heinous crime with 3 other model American citizens: "I hated Iraqis, your honor."

Barker pleaded guilty and will testify against his fellow soldiers in exchange for escaping the death penalty- an option not open to his victim, her parents, or her 6-year-old sister.

I want to make it clear that I have nothing but respect for our soldiers who are trying to do their jobs honestly, as I have a sibling who is serving our country in the armed forces and I could not be more proud of her sacrifice. However, there is just something wrong with the state of the world when Americans perform these acts of terrorism (yes, even some Americans are terrorists) while trying to maintain an air of moral superiority. I don't know what makes me more upset- the fact that it happened, the reasoning behind it, or the fact that this story is not as interesting as what the football coach at UT Austin makes in a year.

Rachael Whaley
Maryville College (Maryville, TN)
NNPCW Coordinating Committee