The long-sought North Campus health center has come a step closer to reality, with construction for an Ellicott-based office scheduled to begin at the end of May. This is a positive development for UB, but we are taking a "wait and see" approach to the news.
UB students, beginning in the Fall 2006 semester, will finally have access to medical care located directly on the North Campus. As a satellite branch of South Campus's Michael Hall, the new center will open in the Ellicott Complex, replacing a housing office in 123 Richmond Quad. The center will be open to all registered UB students, albeit on a limited appointment basis set up through Michael Hall.
Our concerns derive primarily from the temporary nature of the health center. The relatively small size of the center guarantees its obsolescence in the near future. UB President John B. Simpson's vision of the future entails upwards of 5,000 additional students being added to UB, so any new health center built should include an expanded population into the equation. The Ellicott health center clearly does not.
SA was pushing for a site located in the Student Union, which is more centrally located for the majority of North Campus students, and would have better served UB. A majority of students live and attend classes on the North Campus and a full service health center isn't too much to ask. The Ellicott health center is a temporary solution to a problem that isn't going away. UB students still deserve better.
False security
IraqOs descent into civil war shows U.S. is not in control
The latest round of violence engulfing Iraq only reaffirms what we've said in the past. The U.S. occupation of Iraq ensured civil war of this nature breaking out; the only question was when, not if, it would occur. With over 200 killed since the bombing of a religious Shiite shrine last week, it's apparent the time is now. Iraq is in a civil war.
But that's not what the White House and Pentagon are admitting. The Bush administration's National Security Advisor, Stephen Hadley, expressed optimism Sunday about Iraq's immediate prospects, claiming Iraqis have stared into the "abyss" and concluded violence isn't in their interests. The Pentagon is hoping "cooler heads will prevail" in the crises, and is letting it work itself out.
Hadley and the Pentagon are dead wrong. Baghdad is under martial law lockdown, yet sectarian violence continues, even increasing in some areas of Iraq. And the increased presence of militias battling throughout Iraq displays who's really in control, and it's not the United States. The news that Iraq's only combat-ready army brigades have been downgraded in their battle worthiness doesn't help security matters.
The truth is Iraq's majority Shiite faction, heavily influenced by the U.S. antagonist cleric al Sader, continues to move closer to Iran's fundamentalist leadership, and democracy will only reinforce the trend. The Sunni minority factions fighting will continue non-stop regardless of any government's formation
The spiraling death rate and increasing political context of the fighting, with Sunni vs. Shiite lines clearly drawn, complete Iraq's slide into civil war. The sooner Washington accepts this, the better off we'll be. Ignoring reality isn't helping anybody; the best way to get out of this mess is to admit what were facing.
