CHATTERBOX

George W. Bush is going to war the same way he became president: using a corrupt process of power and bribery, going against the will of the majority, and in violation of the rule of law. Whether Dubya will be remembered by history as a war criminal may depend on how the war is conducted. If the US follows the usual approach of massive air bombardment in civilian areas, needlessly killing tens of thousands of innocent people, Bush will lose any pretense of acting on moral concerns for the welfare of Iraqis. It is a remote possibility that this will be a fairly bloodless war, given the fact that Iraq is not a threat to any nation. It is a remote possibility that only a few thousand Iraqis-say, the same number who died on Sept. 11-will be killed in order for Bush to prove his manliness by ignoring the world's opinion. We can only hope that Iraq will suffer only something as minor as the 9/11 terrorism. It probably will be much worse. But Iraq will not be the last country where Bush will kill for his political ambitions. If the search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, like the search for Osama bin Laden, fails completely, then the Bush Administration will need to find new targets of distraction for this "war on terrorism." Baby Wipes for War Bloomington-Normal residents, like the rest of the country, are sending magazines, books, food, toothbrushes, and baby wipes to soldiers in the Middle East. Of course, it's an enormous waste of money and time to deliver all this junk to soldiers (who right now are getting Valentine's Day cards), since they won't receive it until after the war is over, if they get it at all. The Pentagon can purchase and distribute stuff far more effectively than a bunch of people collecting junk to give to the Red Cross. And all this unwanted garbage will clog up the military mail system, making it harder for soldiers to get personal letters from loved ones. What, we spend $400 billion a year on the military and the Pentagon can't manage to buy them sunscreen and baby wipes? The reason for this "support our troops" crusade isn't shortages, it's propaganda. What better way to generate support for the war than to show all these Americans gathering things to give to our soldiers? What better way to get those annoying protesters out of the media than a heartwarming picture of people helping our military? Want to really help a soldier? Protest the war and try to stop it from happening. Worry about the Iraqi babies who will be wiped out, not the baby wipes.

Slantagraph Goes to War You would look in vain for critics of war in the March 17 Pantagraph on the eve of military action. The front-page feature (next to the "helping troops" nonsense addressed above) had this subhead: "Marine's call from Kuwait excites family." And yes, a phone call was the big local news of the day. The Pantagraph somehow managed to miss the 100 anti-war protestors who held a candlelight vigil in Normal the night before, along with many thousands of others around the world. Unlike its past incompetence in forgetting to report about millions of anti-war protestors last month, the Pantagraph did run an AP story mentioning a few small protests-next to a photo of a girl saying the pledge of allegiance in front of a "Support Our Troops" sign. The Pantagraph listed one of the ironic objectives of war given by Dick Cheney: "preserve the territorial integrity of nations in region." Of course, that's tough to do when you're invading a country. Now if the Pantagraph can preserve its journalistic integrity, we might read an occasional critic of war. But don't count on it.

The train wreck known as ISU athletics made the headlines last week as Athletic Director Perk Weisenburger fired men's basketball coach Tom Richardson-and surprised everyone by claiming that Richardson didn't have a multi-year contract, contrary to what Perk had told everyone in the past. A verbal contract can be just as binding as a written one-particularly when everybody had reported that Richardson's contract had been extended. In January 2003, Perk himself told the Pantagraph that Richardson had several years left on his contract. In this situation, where Richardson had a reasonable expectation of continuing employment, Perk cannot fire him without ISU paying the remainder of the contract-about $525,000. Perk called declining attendance "a big factor in the decision." Yet attendance revenue dropped nearly 25% from $58,159 per game in 1999-00 to $44,329 in 2000-01-during Richardson's most successful season at ISU that included an NIT appearance. Overall revenue has continued to decline every year of Richardson's coaching career, no matter whether the team won or lost. When that happens, it indicates that the problem isn't the coach, but the athletic director.

ISU's only hope to avoid a half-million-dollar payout is to fire Perk immediately and declare that he never had the authority to give Richardson a multi-year contract. (Better yet, ISU should avoid any litigation by hiring back Richardson-with a one-year contract.)

Firing Perk is justified by his misconduct in handling the Richardson "contract" and costing ISU thousands of dollars in legal expenses-and much more if Richardson wins a lawsuit-all during a time of massive budget cuts. The fact that Perk earns six-figure salary to run a money-losing program with numerous losing teams only adds to the need to dismiss him. Firing Perk is also necessary to recruit a new coach. How many coaches will want to come to a declining program run by an authoritarian AD who lies to his coaches, deceives the media, and fails to live up to his promises? To be sure, Richardson was a mediocre, overpaid coach, who couldn't organize his halfway-talented team and forgot to recruit a point guard for next year. On the other hand, Richardson was respected by his players, and had integrity in an age of NCAA scandals. Richardson's ludicrous promise that ISU would be at the "top" of the Missouri Valley Conference next year didn't exactly ring true. But ISU has a team with a solid shot at the NCAA tournament in 2005, if the players don't bolt away from this disaster. Don't let Perk get the credit for it. Dump him now.

The Murder of Rachel Corrie

I think that by now most of you have probably heard of the death of Rachel Corrie. Rachel was a great person. She was intelligent, artistic, creative. She had a great sense of humor, a love of life and was incredibly beautiful both inside and out.

During the past month that i have been here in Rafah i had formed a very strong personal friendship with her. What happened to her was a tragedy and a murder.

It was a complete waste of life. pointless and tragic.

Obviously what myself, Rachel and the other internationals have been doing here was incredibly risky. I have rarely gone through a day here without the fear that i would be struck by a stray bullet because the IDF shoots regularly and randomly throughout the city.

But i never expected that any of us would be killed by one of these slow plodding bulldozers. Rachel was standing in front of the house of a family which she had a close personal relationship with. She had spent several nights sleeping there and there had been one or another european or american staying there almost every night for the past three months.

Rachel was clearly visible to the bulldozer driver. There is no possibility that he did not see her. She was wearing an orange florescent vest. There were eight of us there in total. Four from the U.S. and four from Britain. There were two bulldozers and one tank. Our group was spread out because the bulldozers were attacking a large area which included three homes occupied by families.

Rachel stood her ground alone because she cared for that family and because she believed that she was right. The actions of the bulldozers in destroying those houses was and is illegal. As the bulldozer approached Rachel it began to push the ground up beneath her feet. She scrambled to stay on top of the rapidly growing mound of dirt. At one point she was quite high up, nearly on top of the blade. Close enough for the driver to look her in the eyes.

She then began to sink down becoming sucked into the mound of earth and beneath the dozer's blade. It did not stop or even slow down. It continued forward with its blade to the ground until it had driven over her completely. It then reversed with its blade still low and drove back over her. Throughout this exercise in horror the remaining seven of us were yelling and screaming, "stop" and running to the scene.

Rachel was lying on the ground contorted and partially buried. Her upper lip was lacerated and bleeding heavily. She said only one thing "I broke my back" After that she could not say her name or even speak. We held her and told her to relax.

I asked her to grip my hand and she did. Showing that she could hear us.

I asked her to breath with me and she did In, Out , in, out. We all told her that we loved her but we could see that she was deteriorating rapidly. Signs of internal bleeding in her cranium began to show themselves.

After about fifteen minutes the paramedics arrived and she was taken to the hospital.

Some people will say and are saying that what we have been doing here is exceedingly dangerous and foolish.

I agree.

Nothing would be worth more to me right now than to see Rachel alive again.

However, that doesn't change the fact that this was a murder.

The Israeli army committed the crime of murder while in the midst of committing the crime of illegal home demolition.

Rachel didn't commit any crime whatsoever.

The IDF has already attempted to spin this story by saying that she slipped in front of the bulldozer, and that there was heavy resistance shooting in the area, hence the need to behave aggressively. These things are untrue.

There are seven international eyewitnesses and pictures to confirm the truth.

Personally i am in a state of shock and grief. I have learned more than i ever wanted to know about what it feels like to be a Palestinian. Most of my friends here have professed a conviction to stay, and more people are coming to join us.

My main conviction now is to tell Rachel's story.

Beyond that i plan to leave this place soon (if i'm able to) because i don't think i can personally take any more.

All this on the eve of Iraq War II, coming soon to a propaganda machine near you.

Love, Dreg