OPINIONS
OUR VIEW
ACORN’s lightened cash flow
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MCT CAMPUS
Page 4 • Wednesday, September 16, 2009 Editor • Alan Blinder letters@cw.ua.edu
{ YOUR VIEW } IS THE RECESSION OVER? “I think the worst is over. Where I work, at Loweʼs, itʼs picking up.” — Wade Farley, sophomore, astrophysics
“I think weʼre still in the middle of it. I havenʼt really seen much change.” —Laprecious Russell sophomore, investment banking
“Iʼd agree that the recession is over, technically, but I donʼt really think that means things are going to get better from our point of view for a while.” — Eric Carlson, senior, history
“I think weʼre getting a little bit better. Itʼs still not that great yet, but I think weʼll be getting there pretty quickly.” — Kelly Buckalew, freshman, telecommunications and film
EDITORIAL BOARD Amanda Peterson Editor Will Nevin Managing Editor Alan Blinder Opinions Editor
WE WELCOME YOUR OPINIONS Letters to the editor must be less than 300 words and guest columns less than 800. Send submissions to letters@ cw.ua.edu. Submissions must include the author’s name, year, major and daytime phone number. Phone numbers are for verification and will not be published. Students should also include their year in school and major. For more information, call 348-6144. The CW reserves the right to edit all submissions.
On Tuesday, the United States Senate voted to keep ACORN, the antipoverty group lambasted by conservatives during the 2008 election cycle, from receiving federal funding. Since In short: : The U.S. 1994, ACORN has Senate made the received $54 million right move in cutting taxpayer dollars. off federal funds to As the New York ACORN. Times reported, the bipartisan Senate vote (83-7) followed the Census Bureau’s announcement stating ACORN would not be asked to help in next year’s national roll call. The edicts from Washington come after numerous allegations of illegal activity by ACORN employees. ACORN said the alleged incidents were isolated. We doubt it. First, there was last fall’s scandal with its campaign to increase political participation. It was a noble undertaking until it came out that ACORN submitted fraudulent voter registration forms (out of the 1.3 million voter registration forms ACORN filed, election officials rejected 400,000 for fraud and administrative errors). More recently, a hidden camera video captured two ACORN employees advising a couple — conservative activists posing as a pimp and a prostitute — giving advice on how to receive federal housing funding. ACORN’s idea of advice is to promote money laundering, a felony according to the Treasury Department, punishable by up to 20 years behind bars. ACORN has questioned the video’s accuracy, but Fox News, which ran the video originally, said it verified the authenticity. And, regardless of views about Fox News, we are more inclined to take their word over ACORN’s. In this instance, Fox is the lesser of the two evils. The seven senators who voted to maintain funding for ACORN justified their vote by talking about the aims of the organizations. A spokesperson for Sen. Kristin Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who supported continued funding, defended the senator’s absurd vote by saying “thousands of New York families who are facing foreclosure depend on charitable organizations like ACORN for assistance.” Gillibrand’s office said she expects ACORN to rectify its problems through an internal investigation. This is a naïve perspective and a dangerous precedent to set. Supporting federal funding for an organization like ACORN, one that has endured many serious, proven allegations, is the equivalent for a political advocacy group of a bailout for Bernard Madoff’s firm. Common sense dictates that such an action should not happen. But Gillibrand and six others — including both senators from Illinois, a state with a less-thangleaming record on corruption — thought otherwise. Thankfully, 83 other lawmakers, in a rare moment of astuteness, decided it was a bad idea to give money to lawbreakers. Now that is a novel idea.
Leaders need to debate with respect, decorum By Avery Adcock Kanye West and Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., may have any number of differences, but in the last week they have proven they have one thing in common: Neither understands the meaning of respect. The difference between the outbursts is in the implications for the American people. West shocked the nation when he stepped on stage during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards, not to congratulate Swift, but to say Beyonce deserved the accolade more. But MTV is not the U.S. House of Representatives. Before watching President Barack Obama’s address to the American people on health care, I knew it would be a touchy subject. I did not, however, expect the outlandish behavior that ensued. As Obama explained his proposal for health care reform, Wilson yelled out, “You lie!” I could not believe what I had just heard. This was not the debate club, but the House of Representatives. This was not the high school president speaking at graduation, but the president of the United States addressing the nation. The forum resembled a playground when compared to Obama’s previous visit to Wakefield High School in Virginia. Those high school kids made the House look like a bunch of kindergartners.
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According to Section 370 of the House Rules Manual, members are explicitly prohibited from calling the president a “liar.” — Avery Adcock
Some ask if a representative has a right to voice his opinion. Not in that way. According to Section 370 of the House Rules Manual, members are explicitly prohibited from calling the president a “liar.” Some say this is not the first time opposing sides have criticized the president, which may be true, but he was never criticized in this fashion. This incident not only embarrassed Americans who hold our elected members to the highest standards of the law, but renewed worry in millions. It is no secret that health care reform is a source of heated debate at the moment. It is also no secret that members of both parties are challenging Obama’s policy objectives. But the way to solve the crisis of health care is not by publicly demeaning the president on a personal level. At a time like this, when the job market, housing market and overall future of our economy is in limbo, it is imperative for our lawmakers to set a good example. If Americans were not in panic mode concerning health care, I am sure they have changed their minds. If Wilson harbored such strong feelings about the president, he should have addressed
those issues privately. His written statement of apology, as opposed to one delivered in-person, illustrated his lack of care. The way in which our nation is going to solve this debacle is not by placing blame on others and giving into theories of the president’s “actual” plans. It is by sitting down and developing bipartisan communication. There will be differences in opinion, but the only way anything is going to get accomplished is if leaders stop losing their tempers. Any president, black or white, Republican or Democrat, would be plagued with a difficult task in the health care debate. Negotiations should be civil, and both the Senate and the House need to steer clear of remarks like Wilson’s. It is pretty unlikely that West will bash Obama, but the question is whom would you expect it more from: a rapper or a United States Representative? In the past, my answer would have been the first, but now it seems as though valuing your president’s thoughts is not important to some. Avery Adcock is a sophomore majoring in political science. Her column runs weekly on Wednesdays.
Please give peace a chance By Will Thomas As Americans, we have a lot of dates we like to celebrate. The Fourth of July is Independence Day, Dec. 25 is Christmas and even though it changes and is therefore always harder to remember, Thanksgiving is sometime in November. While all those days are of extreme importance and are fun because it gives us the ability to shoot off fireworks and eat lots of homecooked food, it seems as though we’ve missed an important holiday on our docket. Back in 1981, the United Nations signed a resolution designating one day a year to be called “International Peace Day,” and in 2002, the date was officially set as Sept. 21. The United Nations created this day to encourage all of humanity to stop and take a day to reflect on peace to find ways we as individuals and communities can take steps to make our world kinder, gentler and more compassionate. This day also was declared a day of ceasefire so that combatants around the world could stop their fighting to let aid groups enter war zones. This was back at a time when the United States wasn’t as hostile to the United Nations as we have been recently, so we signed with no reservations. Every other member state
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How can we foster peace within our own lives? It starts with reaching across the divides we believe separate us from other people. — Will Thomas
of the United Nations signed as well. Now, while we may not necessarily have the opportunity to cross the front lines of a battle to give aid to the many war torn regions of our world Monday, what we do have is the opportunity and ability to do is to foster peace within our own lives and the lives of our friends, as well as to raise awareness about peace building across the globe. How can we foster peace within our own lives? It starts with reaching across the divides we believe separate us from other people. Trust me, this is a hefty order for someone who writes on the opinions page of any publication. When we take time to talk to each other and find out why it is we do the things we do and what it is that we care about, we’re less prone to fight about things. Of course, we can disagree, but when we take the time to get into each other’s heads carefully and deliberately, we are much more apt to find ways to work together instead of continuing to disagree. When we respect each other’s human dignity, the benefits are
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obvious, and we are much less apt to wage conflict. How can we raise awareness about peace building across the globe? There are lots of grassroots organizations across the globe we can all contribute our time and energy. On the more local level, there are many groups on this campus and in the Tuscaloosa community dedicated to raising awareness about international issues and fostering cooperation, so I would suggest you seek out these groups on Monday. While world peace may seem like a big task to take on, if we all take steps individually and together towards peace in our own lives an communities, we can begin the process by being the exemplar individuals and communities that take steps towards a kinder, gentler world. So, this Monday, take the time to remember we have a new national holiday, and it’s time for our country, and for our world, to give peace a chance. Will Thomas is a senior majoring in economics and finance. His column runs biweekly on Wednesdays.
Our View is the consensus of the Crimson White’s editorial board.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Pre-med students should weigh in on health care By Ashley Ames and John Brown UWIRE
Amid all the voices chiming in on the health care debate, one group of people ought to have a unique perspective on the future implications of reform: premed students. As future doctors, should they be concerned about change, or should they embrace it? Most agree costs are ballooning out of control and that something needs to be done. However, just like the rest of the country, there is little agreement about how exactly to go about it. While many pre-med students don’t necessarily oppose reform, they are wary of sweeping changes. It is, after all, a costly career to pursue. Medical school tuition currently is the highest it’s ever been and is increasing rapidly. Since 1984, median tuition and fees have increased by 165 percent in private medical schools and by 312 percent in public medical schools. Some medicinally-focused students point out that doctors make a significant investment studying for many years and thus deserve to be paid well. Investing so much money in a career path that could potentially undergo changes just in time for a pre-med’s graduation from med school is unnerving. Many pre-med students expect decreased pay in a government-controlled health care system, although such expectations seldom seem to cause a change in career path. However, in a survey taken by Kaplan, 49 percent of students taking the MCAT cited money as a motivating factor in becoming a doctor, compared with 71 percent of law-student hopefuls taking the LSAT. So-called “tort reform” has been a major point of contention in the health care debate, with Republicans advocating caps on awards juries can hand out and limitations on the powerful lobby representing trial lawyers leaning hard on Democrats to crush that possibility. Overall, very few pre-med students feel that reform is a cause for a change in career — at least, as long as medical students were never in it for the money. Most medical students just hope to be able to live their own dream of practicing medicine — regardless of whatever type of medical system is in place.
Ashley Ames and John Brown are students at Indiana University.