William Luther Pierce III, a bright man from Atlanta, attended Rice University and earned his degree in Physics. He then went to school in Boulder, for his doctorate in physics, and served as professor of physics at Oregon State University in the mid 1960s. Oh, and he is the author of the Turner Diaries, a novel that encourages the punishment of “race traitors” and ethnic cleansing. Not to mention that it also inspired Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber. Pierce was not only intelligent, but a member of the academic community.

These so called intelligent people are not just in the academic realm of intellectual society. David Duke, a graduate of Louisiana State University, was also the founder of the Louisiana Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. His views on race range from a return to segregation in the U.S., to Holocaust denial. The citizens of the great state of Louisiana actually elected this man into public office. He served in the Louisiana State legislature as a representative from 1990-1992.

My final and most shocking example is James Watson, the co-discoverer of the double helix structure of DNA and winner of the 1962 Nobel Prize. He was quoted by The Times of London in 2007 as saying people of African decent are not as intelligent as those of European decent. This is a man who attended the University of Chicago at the age of 15 and earned his doctorate degree from the University of Indiana by the age of 22. His accomplishments in the education world and in the scientific world are quite impressive. When finding out that he had these racists thoughts add feelings it was a surprise to the world that a man of such high intelligence can have such primitive views.

These are only a handful of examples of individuals whose minds, despite a high level of intelligence, harbor hateful and racist thoughts. I could have easily filled this page with examples, but it is clearly apparent that racism is not limited to those of low or limited intelligence. I encourage my follow classmates to open their minds to the possibility that the root causes of racism are far more varied and complex than many of us think.

When I got home, I Googled the term on my computer, and sure enough, there were many Web sites about this phenomenon. The one that caught my eye was selling a book called The 100-Mile Diet. Seeing that it was fairly cheap, and only 272 pages long, I ordered the book and was excited to read it. The book was written by two Canadian authors who wrote about their experiences while on the 100-Mile Diet. The diet required them to eat only food that is produced within 100 miles of their homes. This forced the two to take full advantage of small grocery stores and farmers markets. Sounds fairly simple, right? Not necessarily.

The two could only eat out at selective restaurants, and even then they had to double check with the management to make sure the food was locally produced. The authors lived in the Pacific Northwest, so that meant anything that would be considered warm climate crops, such as rice and sugar cane, were not in their diet. They were forced to can the extra produce they bought, so that they could use it during the winter months. These are only a few of the challenges that the two experienced in their diet.

What is even more important in this story is the impact that this book has had on the localtarian movement. The book was on the bestseller list for weeks and landed one of the authors with a show on the Canadian Food Network channel. This book came along at a great time for the American people, who have recently put more emphasis on local foods and information on where their food comes from. Another driving force in this localtarian movement is that the money spent locally stays in the community. Many shops on Main Street in Platteville have their shelves packed with foods that are produced locally. In addition to Main Street, the Platteville Farmers Market, held from 7 a.m. to noon, May to October in City Park, provides Grant County an option for local produce.

Going out to eat can also be a real challenge when trying to keep local foods in mind. All fast food must be eliminated and restaurants that are not locally based are also removed. Even local restaurants are a point of concern and you must ask the management about the food and where it was made.

You do not need to be as extreme as the couple who did the 100-Mile Diet to be a localtarian. All it takes is being mindful and vigilant about the products you buy and consume.

WWE formerly WWF from the late ‘90s had household names like The Rock, who is now a children’s movie star, and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin, who is now an action movie star. These two superstars and hundreds of their fellow professional wrestlers produced an era full of negative criticism. The media constantly told us that they were responsible for far too much of the violence in America’s youth. In addition to the physical violence, they also attacked the obscenity, homophobia and sexism that filled the dialog between wrestlers.

This period in WWE’s history is often referred to as the Attitude Era, and since 2008, it is a thing of the past. WWE switched from a show aimed at mature audiences to a family-friendly PG-rated format. The reason for this format change was to appeal to a larger audience and more advertisers. With a larger, younger audience, it opened a bigger door for selling advertising and merchandise, which was a great business strategy. In this new PG-rated format, the days of swearing, homophobic slurs or your favorite stars flipping the bird to someone are over. In fact, according to Nielsen Media Research, the format switch has been so successful that as of this year, 40 percent of WWE viewers are women and children.

However, even with all of these family-friendly improvements, there are still several areas that I cannot believe are not covered in the PG rating system. For instance, there is still a high degree of sexism allowed on a show that is now supposed to be family-friendly. Is a bra-and-panty match appropriate for children to watch? No, it is not appropriate. If WWE wants to do those activities on a show that is for mature audiences only then that is fine, but the fact that sexism is not covered in a PG rating system is disgraceful.

The women wrestlers in WWE are called “divas” and are described by the catch phrase “WWE divas are sexy, smart and powerful.” I wonder if we are supposed to be fooled by the fact that the words smart and powerful are also in that sentence? If this is a PG-rated show, why not act like it? The word sexy is simply too loaded of a term to be used to describe women wrestlers that are seen as a role models to teen and pre-teen girls. According to wwe.com, the women’s championship title has been around since 1956, and is the oldest championship title in the company. Women have had a historic and profound impact in professional wrestling. So if it wants to have a PG-rated format, the WWE needs to bring back the proud roots of women’s wrestling and stop with the degrading sexist undertones.

I am also amazed that WWE gets away with some of the songs used by the wrestlers. All wrestlers come out to a theme song when they enter the arena, and most of the songs fit the PG-rated format. But there are some that do not even come close. “Right time for me to get krunk” is one of the main lyrics in wrestler R-Truth’s introduction music. Krunk is a slang term for being intoxicated and is probably not something parents want their children singing at a live event or at home on the couch.

If WWE wants to market to a younger generation, that is perfectly fine. Wrestling is full of positive messages and inspiring role models. But to me, it seems irrational to push so hard a PG-rated format that still has too many unsavory messages for our children.

Markee’s impact and improvement to this campus will be seen and felt for generations to come. He oversaw the construction of the state of the art residence facility Southwest Hall. The new engineering hall makes an already elite engineering program even better. Most importantly, his crowning achievement, the extremely successful Tri-State Initiative allowed the campus to grow like it has never before. When other colleges were cutting enrollment because of budget cuts, Markee showed that a university can control its budget and still grow at the same time. Markee leaves some big shoes to fill, but Chancellor Shields is up for the challenge.

Starting his first full year at UW-P, Chancellor Dennis Shields has already made a positive impact on this campus. The time for interim positions is over, and the time to get work done and take care of business has started. Shields’ visibility to the campus and community is something that will help personalize the bond of the administration and the chancellor.

Using the small campus and small town attitude and atmosphere to his advantage, Shields is holding a question-and-answer session from 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, Sept. 28th in the Pioneer Involvement Center. I am very excited about this session because it gives students a chance to ask him any question they want and hear it right from him, not a secretary, not an e-mail, but the man himself. Another show of his visibility to the students is his softball game at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 25 and need to register before the game. I see these becoming great traditions that give UW-P students a great connection with their chancellor.

The Chancellor’s e-mail last week saying that we no longer can use the acronym “UWP” is a great idea. Yet, I hear people on campus knocking it and saying it is a silly rule and order. It is all about image, and it sets us apart from the other UW System Colleges and also makes us sound more professional. The new emblem change and the willingness to find a new mascot are other issues that have a profound impact on our school’s image, and Chancellor Shields understands that.

It has only been three weeks since we have had a new Chancellor in this academic year, but looking at Shields’ actions and dedication to change for the better, it is looking like we might be witnessing the beginnings of another great Chancellor at UW-P.

As my roommates and I enjoyed ourselves this weekend watching the parade, rocking out to some great live music and even getting some free caricatures done, we were wondering why there were not very many college students at these free and fun events. Granted that this was a community-based event at Legion Field and didn’t have any university involvement, but I see this as an opportunity passed over by UW-Platteville students.

Another great example was the 2nd Annual Potosi BrewFest held on August 28. This was a festival that featured great micro-brews from all across the state and local wine tasting and local cheeses. Two excellent bands were also featured at this event, and made it a really enjoyable afternoon when I went. Once again, I did not see as many college students as I would have expected to see at an event that has beer and live music. I would attribute this low turn out partially because it was held very early in the school year, but also because I don’t feel as if community based events target college students. In addition, it seems that as students we have mental blocks in thinking that we are solely going to school here and that we have no business in the community. When in fact quite the contrary is true, the people in the community would love to see college students be active and participate in events outside the university.

I don’t see the community and the campus being two separate groups that need to space themselves from one another. We are all residents of Southwest Wisconsin and need to keep in mind when there are great events in the town of Platteville and surrounding communities.

Going into my fifth year here at UW-Platteville, I have always remembered the old complaints about nothing to do in Platteville and that it is such a drag. I simply just see it as students not considering themselves a part of the Southwestern Wisconsin family and community. I see many ways on how this disconnection can be fixed and strengthened so that students start to see themselves included in this family. Events such as Dairy Days and the Potosi BrewFest are great examples. An upcoming chili cook off held by the Platteville Main Street Program Saturday, September 25 from 5 to 7 p.m. will be held in City Park. Teams will be able to enter the competition to see if their chili is the best, and musical entertainment will also be featured. I believe that this is the connection that will start to bridge the gap of disconnection that it seems has plagued the campus and community. And my friends, that is the bottom line.