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On democracy, wolves, and sheep by Betsy Simon James Bovard once said, "Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner." So when thinking about democracy in America, who is the sheep? The answer is me. Maybe not me directly, but a hefty amount of people like me; eighteen-to-twenty-nine yearolds with some education. And the wolves may as well be adults such as our parents, CEO's, politicians and other older people who make decisions about our country. But I don't have to be the sheep if I don't want to. If I could get more sheep to help me, I could turn this around and become the wolf, couldn't I? Yes. Yes I could. What most people don't realize is that people my age should have all the power when deciding the
ASK Cosmo
Dear Cosmo, What’s the big idea with the NCAA sanctions? It’s one thing to punish the wrongdoers. It’s another to punish the whole town, the whole team, the alumni, and the present and future players who weren’t even here when all this stuff happened. The Sandusky case was about child molesting, not football. What possible
future of America, but for some reason, my peers are content with watching the older generations make decisions about our future. This needs to change, because the decision-makers don't really care about our future, as it won’t directly affect them. We, young people of America, need to take charge. We need to bring about the change in America, and it all starts with checking a box. It’s hard to imagine 21 million of anything. The number is so large, and hard to visualize, but try. Try to imagine 21 million people. That is how many eligible people under the age of thirty are NOT voting. 21 million votes can change a whole lot. With the presidential election right around the corner, the need to get these people voting is greater than ever. As a volunteer for the Obama 2012 Campaign, I can report that the most
Campus and Culture from the Canine Perspective logic allows the NCAA to “vacate” legitimate Penn State victories during that era? The crimes were in no way related to the outcomes of the games! I see their decision as nothing but spiteful exercise of power and really just a ploy to take away Joe Paterno’s legitimate wins and unquestioned standing as the greatest football coach ever. Who’s in charge of the NCAA? What kind of penalties can we heap on them? What can we take away from them that they achieved in the last decade? Like the T-shirt says, “We are…Pissed Off!” Dear Snappy Dresser, Who knows what goes through the
sought-after demographic is 18-29 yearolds. Not only have I been told this 21 million times, I've used it to my advantage while convincing my friends and classmates that this is their opportunity to take hold of their rights and take part in democracy. When asked, a volunteer with the Obama campaign said that seeking out this demographic was the reason for starting the student organization Students for Barack Obama. Had the 18-29 demographic not been important, the Obama Headquarters in State College would never have approached Penn State students with the idea of a student-run organization. 18-29 year-olds have the power to change a lot about the future of our country. Political experts across party lines can at least agree on the fact that the participation of this age group changed the
Removing the wins from JoePa and the players who won the games is a chicken-shit addition of insult to injury. minds of people who sit in closed panels and decide the fates of others? We hope it’s fair, or at least understandable, or at the very least, they actually have the authority to make and enforce those decisions. Maybe it’s like the kid who beats up the lunch monitor on the morning bus, and then gets payback later in the day for some unrelated lunchroom crime. Maybe the lure of taking down somebody big was just too tempting. Maybe it’s like the rioting college student insisting to the police officers, “You can’t arrest me! I’m exercising my first amendment rights!” Sure, maybe there will be a reasonable discourse weighing the relative merits of expression and public safety, or maybe the police officer can say, “Oh, but I can.
September 2012
outcome of the 2008 election. This says a lot, considering 21 million were not even accounted for. Could you imagine how much more support Barack Obama would have had in '08 had those 21 million non-voters participated? In New Hampshire and Iowa, support from 18-29 year olds helped democrats win in the biggest caucuses. In these cases, this age group made all the difference. A lot of current issues affect the youngest voting generation directly. Since Obama took office in 2009, the country has seen 29 straight months of job growth. This is something especially important to me and my peers, considering the fact that we will be entering the “real world” sooner than we would care
see
Voting, pg. 35
Please turn around and place your hands on the hood of the car.” I believe that everyone adjudicating the case – the attorney general, the NCAA, the Penn State Board of Trustees – was paranoid that anything less than extremely severe would be considered a “slap on the wrist,” and they weren’t about to let the appearance of the “good ol’ boy network” have any chance of exerting itself … publicly. And one of the ways of accomplishing that PR tactic is to throw a couple of people under the bus. The reduction of football scholarships, the loss of bowl games and TV revenues, and even the extremely high (but payable) fine of $60 million to help fund assistance to sexual abuse victims had to be steep if they were to sting. That’s life in the big city. The university – not the football squad - signed the agreement that they’d follow NCAA guidelines for supervision and administrative oversight in return for legit-
see
Cosmo, pg. 33