A driver's license and declaration of citizenship will no longer cut it. Students crossing the border into Canada will now need either a photocopied birth certificate along with their identification, or a passport, according to The Buffalo News.
If a student goes to cross the border, but lacks a passport or birth certificate, will they be denied access? No. Officers will issue written warnings as a means to educate people, rather than punish. The officers don't care whether you listen or throw them under the seat, but repeat offenders may have their cars searched. The need for paperwork and the possibility of increased searches could hinder traffic, making trips to the Falls and Clifton Hill more difficult.
The written warnings foreshadow a universal tightening of border security. According to The Buffalo News, passport cards and enhanced driver licenses, available in the spring and summer, will cut down on the paperwork requirement, but at a cost to travelers.
Brushing off written tickets by both the issuers and the receivers cheapens Homeland Security's efforts. If they are serious about improving border security, some disciplinary action needs to be established for those who should know better, after the learning period is over. Laws need enforcement, and they need to be followed, so be aware.
Election 2008
Editor's Note: This editorial is a part of The Spectrum's ongoing coverage of the 2008 Presidential Campaign.
Not so long ago, it was common for Americans to ask themselves if their country was ready for a black or female leader. Looking at the state of the presidential election now, the question seems absurd.
More and more it seems that Democrats won't have a choice but to vote for a political pioneer; former US Sen. John Edwards is fading in the polls, again looking like a potential vice presidential candidate.
Whether it be Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, both junior US Senators, New York Democrats will simply have to choose which 'minority' they want to vote for.
Unfortunately, the national press has tarnished the campaigns of these two qualified candidates; at every turn, news correspondents will bring polls and platforms back to the race or gender of the respective candidates.
A large portion of the Jan. 3 Iowa Caucus news coverage was spent analyzing exit polls. One of the most important polls showed that Obama, not Clinton, had won a plurality of the female vote.
CNN, along with their competitive news networks, seemed stunned that more women hadn't voted for Clinton. That would be the same as saying that news networks were surprised that more white men had voted for Obama than the collective votes of US Sens. Joe Biden, Chris Dodd and Mike Gravel.
Americans are being forced down the pothole-covered road of choosing their candidate based on their physical idiosyncrasies. Women don't have to vote for a woman, and blacks don't have to vote for a black man. Voters shouldn't feel guilty for voting for the candidate they want, instead of the candidate that matches their gender or race.
Fifty years from now, the world will look back and marvel that the first viable female and black candidates for president campaigned in the same year. The candidate that won did so because they were more likable than the other, or they had a better platform than the other. But of all things, they shouldn't win because they're black or a woman.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
