Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Lately, there has been a lot of discussion about gays in the military. What is the issue with having homosexuals in the military? Why are so many people objected to it? And what is this thing everyone keeps talking about, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?”
There is a history behind this act of discrimination. It started in the early 20th century when there was intolerance for African-Americans to fight in war, continuing back from the Civil War in 1861. Later on in history around the mid 1900’s this law was reversed and African-Americans were allowed to fight in war. In the 1980’s, the topic of homosexuals came up, and ideas started to become intense. The military made a policy that gays are not allowed to serve in the army. Several important military members came out publicly and announced their homosexuality and attempted to fight this law through the legal system. In 1980, when the government banned gays, there were approximately 17,000 men and women found to be gay in the armed forces. That means that about 20% of men and women in the military were not even allowed to defend their own country in the 1980’s.
How can a country ban human beings from defending their own country just because their hormones react in a different way than others? A country that demands a democracy, freedom of speech, and free rights will not even allow men and women to fight just because of their sexual orientation!? What does it matter what their private preferences are, or what they do when not on duty? There is no reason for this country to care about the personal life and the sexual life of a normal person who is asking no more than to help defend this country.
As said by an anonymous YULA student, “Gays should be allowed to fight, as long as they are doing what they are supposed to be doing while on duty.” Whether this person is correct or not, who says that a gay will misappropriate any more than any other heterosexual?
In 1993, Congress passed a law proposed by then President Bill Clinton stating that as long as it is not publicly announced, gays can fight in the military; this legislation is known as Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT).
According to DADT, in order for a gay to fight in the military, their homosexuality cannot become known publicly, and if it is, they are immediately forbidden from the army.
According to the Service Members Legal Defense Network’s website (http://www.sldn.org/pages/about-dadt), most people, in the military and around the country, do not mind there being gays either fighting alongside them or for them. For the few that do not want gays fighting with them, it is for reasons such as feeling uncomfortable showering next to a gay person, or if there is any need to huddle in a field for warmth. DADT is in a hot topic of conversation now. Democrats and Republicans have been voting, but have not been able to come up with a final verdict on repealing DADT or not.
There are many politicians that are in favor of repealing DADT, including Barack Obama who stated as a campaign promise, “I will end ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’” According to Barack Obama and many politicians, repealing DADT will give the right for gays to be open about their homosexuality in the military -- like it should have been all along! The repeal of DADT will finally end a long history of discrimination in the army that should never have started in the first place.

Technology in Baseball

When one thinks of a world nowadays, there is no way to avoid the omnipresent use of technology. It is nearly impossible to survive life without taking advantage of any of the common technological advances. Now one may think that a tradition or pastime should be done similarly to the way it originated, and have no synchronization with the modern use of technology today; others believe that it is crucial to connect “pastime” with “present” time and sync both worlds together. There is no difference in the world of sports, especially in baseball, America’s National Pastime. Some say that instant replay should not be used because it is just making a very long game even longer, and some say that it is not right to change a game that has been played for over 100 years. There are many instances in which the use of technology during the course of a baseball game is very beneficial. For instance, to replay whether the ball is fair or foul, whether the ball went over the wall for a homerun or not, or even to decide whether a player was fairly called out or not. Critics believe that since baseball is a tradition, the use of technology should be avoided. Instant replay is a crucial way to synchronize today’s game with yesterday’s game. As of August 27, 2008 Major League Baseball approved the use of instant replay, but it has been exclusively utilized for judging whether a fly ball cleared the outfield wall for a home run, or if the ball curved to the opposite side of the foul pole, all consisting of decisive home run calls. Now it may seem that baseball has progressed a lot by accepting these technological advances, but advancing on these advances would be extremely beneficial to the sport. Truthfully, using replay progressively cannot hurt, and it is a major savior for the game. For example, the very famous, very recent, near-perfect-game missed call. Had Jim Joyce been able to replay his call at first base and realize that he made a big mistake that will go down in baseball history as one of the biggest blown calls in history, he would not even be in this predicament, and Armando Galarraga would have a perfect game. In a basketball game, an official is able to use replay to enhance the game or review a shot, football is very proficient in its rules of replay, even hockey uses replay; it seems that baseball is the only major sport in which technology is not being used to the best of its ability. There are different sides to the argument as shown by two CBSSports.com columnists. Greg Doyel says, “Don’t mess with baseball’s perfect imperfection,” meaning that baseball is great the way it is consisting of human error involved with the calls; while Mike Freeman argues, “It’s time for baseball to wake up.” (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31751_162-20006824-10391697.html) The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim manager, Mike Scioscia, is among those opposed to the idea saying, “I think there’s too many plays that are close that could possibly be up for review, and I think it would become dysfunctional.” In a Sports Illustrated poll taken in September of 2008, 72% of baseball players were in favor of reviews exclusively for home runs, while players being asked about reviews on bases, only had 19% in favor. Baseball may be a game of tradition, but it is also a game of the present, which demands for the operation of technology. Once baseball syncs with today’s culture, just like football, limitations for instant replay can be discussed.