THE TRIBUNE'S VIEW
Pot ordinance
By HENRY J. WATERS III, Publisher, Columbia Daily Tribune
To please law enforcement officials who were put off by the ordinance adopted by voters to ease penalties for marijuana possession, a needless compromise has been reached that almost certainly will be passed by the Columbia City Council.

OPEN COLUMN
‘High rollers’ are worried about money, not school
Editor, the Tribune: A view from the "low rollers."

OPEN COLUMN
Determination of when life begins holds contradictions
Editor, the Tribune: Two stories in the Jan. 25 edition of the Tribune illustrate the problems we face as a culture in trying to address life issues. 

OPEN COLUMN
Red-light camera idea needs a little tweeking
Editor, the Tribune: I am in favor of using cameras to catch and punish red-light runners, but there are several problems that should be addressed:

Few steps make sale of art OK
By RANDY COHEN
In my city high school, which specializes in the arts, some people leave amazingly good work behind after completing ceramics projects. My teacher allows us students to take any of these pieces we want and throws out the rest. I think this is a waste.

Union address reveals flawed presidency
By JULES WITCOVER
As all presidents do in their annual addresses to Congress, President George W. Bush dutifully declared the other night that "the state of our union is strong." But most of what he offered reflected the indisputable fact that the state of his presidency is not.

Nitpicking nominees
By PETER A. BROWN
With Samuel Alito now on the U.S. Supreme Court, it’s easy to predict that if another seat comes open before President George W. Bush leaves office, the ensuing confirmation battle will be one for the record books.

Bush pitches poor health plan
By DAVID MOBERG
President George W. Bush gave short shrift to health care in last week’s State of the Union speech. And what little he did propose would just make a bad situation worse.

Inaction won’t get job done
By JOHN C. BERSIA
In the face of gravely troubling situations in Iran and the Palestinian Authority, with time running short, the international community has a collective responsibility to act with dispatch and decisiveness.

Darfur demands urgent international action
Things aren’t improving in Sudan’s Darfur region. Kofi Annan, the U.N. secretary-general, is warning once again of a worsening tragedy in the villages and refugee camps in the region.

Bush reflects conflicted conservatism
By GEORGE WILL
When President George W. Bush addressed the nation last Tuesday night, he had two related problems - one political, the other conceptual. His political problem is that he has negligible support among Democrats and his support among independents has fallen sharply, so he must continue to govern with narrow victories secured by the cohesion of his conservative base. His conceptual problem is that although election results indicate that this is a somewhat conservative era, it is more rhetorically than operationally conservative.

STAY IN TOUCH
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