Obama awarded Prize early

By Nicholas Weiss

I voted for Barack Obama due to his fine oratory skills, his distinct juxtaposition to President Bush and his message of hope. Like most Americans, I am not terribly impressed by what the man has done yet, but more by what he could do. It seems that the Nobel Committee has done the same thing. And while I still have faith in the man, he has not yet done anything worthy of earning the Nobel Peace Prize.

According to CNN, President Obama was nominated for the prize just two weeks after his inauguration -- he probably still had an open contract with U-Haul. Since that time, he has proposed many fine ideas, but even acting as one of the most powerful people in the world, he has been unable to actually complete any of his tasks besides successfully buying a puppy. People argue that his award is justified because he has begun the process of closing Guantanamo Bay. He has disarmed nuclear warheads in Russia. Now, he's not Superman. He can't just do that, the heads of state are still in talks and all the warheads are still armed. He's also fixing the complex and messy situation in the Middle East; but it is still basically the same. And he is fighting for equality, but openly gay people are still not allowed in the armed forces and the health care push is going to have to run the gambit before it gets passed.

CNN reports that "it is a prize for aspiration rather than accomplishment." That is nice, but not what the Nobel Peace Prize is supposed to be about. I did a little research: Alfred Nobel willed that the award go to "the person who shall have done the most or best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." This does not, however, mean that they have to give an award out every year--they haven't for 19 of the years between now and 1901, when the award was instated -- or that in a down year someone can get an award easily for lack of a good candidate. The Nobel Foundation's laws state that "if none of the works under consideration is found to be of the importance indicatedâ?¦ the prize money shall be reservedâ?¦ (or) added to the Foundation's restricted funds."

It is all a matter of opinion, but President Obama has not yet done any works "of the importance indicated," and his award should have been respectfully reserved for when he actually accomplished something. I have a lot of sympathy for the man, as I am sure his job is one of the hardest in the world, and in light of this President Obama has become a symbol of hope and change -- are those words trademarked yet? But, to paraphrase Supreme Court Justice Scalia, even symbolism for so worthy a cause, cannot validate an otherwise unreasonable nomination.

Nicholas Weiss is a junior psychology and philosophy double major.