Volume 137, Issue 4
| It's a private affair BY
MILES HARWELL In the mid-90's, Seattle Supersonic forward Shawn Kemp was one of the best power forwards in the NBA.Thundering dunks and dominant inside play were his trademarks. Along with teammate Gary "The Glove" Payton, Kemp led Seattle to the NBA Finals in 1996, where they were defeated by the Chicago Bulls. Despite the loss, Kemp remained a shining star in the league. In 2000, after being out of the spotlight for two years, Kemp re-emerged as a member of the Portland Trail-blazers. However, he was now several pounds overweight. The man who played his best game above the rim could hardly touch the backboard. He was clearly not the player he once was, hardly playing that season. Kemp's demise as a player came about for two reasons: A drug problem and seven paternity suits from six different mothers. When it comes to basketball players who have been named in paternity lawsuits, Kemp is not alone. According to an article posted by CNN/SI's Paul Crane in 1998, players such as Juwan Howard, Stephon Marbury, Jason Kidd and legend Larry Bird, along with many others have all been subject to paternity tests throughout their careers. With the distraction of this litigation and the negative media coverage it's easy to understand how one's performance at the workplace could be affected, especially when that workplace is the publicity-driven NBA. It's easy to lash out at athletes for reckless behavior, but what professional athletes do off-camera is their business. Walking away from responsibilities such as a human life is not a good example to set, but this has nothing to do with a person's athletic ability. True, there are many people who look up to athletes, including teenagers who will be influenced by what their heroes do on and off court. A teenager may hear about a player not taking responsibility a child, and think that's OK. No one can determine what a teenager will do, but if the paparazzi wouldn't overplay these events in the first place, the influence on teens wouldn't even be an issue. Athletes don't ask for this type of overexposure. Re-tired NBA All-Star Charles Barkley had a commercial in which he blatantly said, "I am not a role model." Most athletes ask for the opportunity to compete on a professional level, but the media should treat an athlete's legal issues as a private matter and leave them alone. Once again, you know you can take it to the bank if it came from the Mouth of Miles.
What do you think about a constitutional amendment against gay marriage?
Sir / Madam: I'm at a loss for what is going on in this country right now. The FCC is busy slapping Howard Stern with fines thanks to Janet Jackson's Superbowl stunt and the president wants to amend the Constitution to ban gay marriage. Meanwhile people are forgetting that we have let Afghanistan go to ruins, we've killed over 10,000 innocent people in Iraq, we continue to back an illegal and immoral wall being built in Palestine by Israel, Roe v. Wade is one vote from being overturned, and so on. It seems to me we are acting a lot like the countries we illegally attack for no reason. What happened to caring for your fellow man? Regards,
BY
JORGE PARADA "Gentlemen, start your engines!" said President Bush as he stood before a roaring crowd at the Day-tona International Speedway. Sporting a black Daytona 500 racing jacket, Bush made a tactical election year appearance before the 75 million strong "NASCAR Nation", most of them poor, white, conservative god fearing Christians. Now that he's declining in the polls, Bush will do anything for votes. And I do mean anything. He'll support a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage; he'll kiss more black babies if he has to, and he'll even kick it wit da "rednecks" in Daytona. If you think about it, what does a pampered Ivy League wimp have in common with a crowd of Jack Daniel's drinking roughnecks? Nothing. In a televised interview before the race Bush said, "One of the things about NASCAR fans is that they support the military." Bingo. Of course NASCAR fans support the military. Many have spouses or children on extended tours of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. Some of these soldiers are coming home disabled or in body bags ("transfer tubes," in Pentagon lingo). Bush is so desperate to court the wavering NASCAR vote" that the Republi-cans held a voter registration drive at the track. By the way, fellow taxpayers, y'all paid for Bush's pit stop in Daytona. In its infinite wisdom, the CIA created a new program: The Iraqi Rewards Program. The rewards program gives cash-money to anyone providing information on Weapons of Mass Destruc-tion, Iraqi guerillas, Ba'thists, and missing Coa-lition personnel. Since I am broke, I thought I would cash in and provide the last known whe-reabouts of Vice President Dick Cheney. Check this out: I'd like to report the last known whereabouts of Vice President Cheney. As of this message he was last seen in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum. I think he's hiding in the same hole with bin Laden. Please locate him, his family is worried he's hanging out with the wrong crowd. Thanks, Jorge.
So far, I've received no response. Got tips of your own? Go to http://www.cia.gov/cia/ english_rewards.htm He's running as an independent and has his hands full gathering signatures in all 50 states without the Green Party infrastructure. If he's not a threat to Democrats and doesn't have the same support structure he did in 2000, what's his candidacy about? Firstly, Nader's campaign highlights a problem facing many third parties in getting on the ballot. Secondly, Nader just might scare enough Demo-crats to the polls in Nov-ember. According to the Federal Election Com-mision, only 67.5 percent of registered voters turned out for the 2000 presidential elections. Look out for Nader to bring important issues into the presidential race. Nader will talk about universal health care, reforming the criminal justice system, breaking up media conglomerates and ending the war on drugs.
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