A14
NOVEMBER 13, 2013
RIGHT TOREMAIN
SILENT
Working for nothing by EDGAR THORTON
minimum wage increase. It found that teenage unemployment rose to 28.3% in 2011, more than double the 2007 low of 12.9%. It would not only affect the employees, it would affect their employers too. An independent analysis pegged the cost to McDonalds Corporation at $8.13 billion, which is $2.6 billion above last years profit. That money would have to come from either price increases in the goods and services minimum wage workers provide, or in a reduction in labor costs, aka jobs. Daniel Aaronson, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, uses a rough estimate that every 10 percent increase in the minimum wage adds about 1 percent to prices. Under that model most items on McDonald’s dollar menu would increase to roughly $1.10 (which is already happening, the price of the McDouble in increasing to $1.19). Although this doesn’t seem like it would have a strong impact, it would affect people of all economic statuses. A worker that is now getting paid over $15 would also be paying more
Art by Neil Harte
It is 2030, and you walk into a McDonalds. Instead of employees taking your order, there is just an iPad with a menu and a credit card reader. This image of the future may seem unrealistic, but it may not be so far off. Last July, fast food workers across the country said enough is enough, walked out on their employers, and joined thousands of others on the picket lines in support of a “living” wage of $15 dollars an hour. This is a noble idea, but these workers fail to realize that if the minimum wage was that high, they may not be earning anything at all. One restaurant industry group has run a full page ad in the New York Times depicting that scene of automated ordering and production. It that a baseless prediction or realistic possibility in the near future? “Doubling wages would definitely have an impact on the creation of new jobs,” Scott DeFife, Executive VP of the National Restaurant Association, said. “It would be especially harmful to young people.” However, a change in prices or jobs due to an increase in the minimum wage is hard to quantify before it happens. One study from the Employment Policies Institute said that the last increase in minimum wage, from $5.15 to $7.25, meant that 114,000 teens did not have jobs. Another study from economists David Macpherson and William Even detailed Rhode Island’s
for goods and services. President Obama, however, was more reasonable than the protesters. “No one who works full-time should have to live in poverty.” Obama said at the 2013 State of the Union speech, where he advocated raising minimum wage to $9.00 an hour. He however has changed his position and of November supports a raise to $10.10. “This proposal that addresses income inequality in a powerful way.” a spokesperson for Rep. Miller(D-CA). The problems with low wages and income inequality suggest deeper issues with our education and society. A one-times raise would not fix the problem. “Low wages for adults are a sign that something didn’t go right in terms of education and work experience,” economics professor George Bittlingmayer University of Kansas School of Business said. A better, but imperfect, solution would be to tie minimum wage to inflation. Using the consumer price index, the most accepted measure of inflation, the minimum wage in 2009 of $7.25 would equal $7.91 in today’s dollars, a far cry from the $9 or $15 dollar wages that are being suggested. If we as a society are poorly educating and training workers it does not matter how high the minimum wage is income inequality will remain. “We’re not addressing the cause,” Bittlingmayer said.
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“I’ve never been more in love with a 250 pound woman!” -Mr. Rogers watching Barefoot Contessa
“When somebody’s staring at their lap and moving their hand they are either texting or doing something I don’t want to know about.” -Mrs. Wilson “I’m going to ‘hook you up’ with a couple of partners... But not in the way you kids would say it.” -Mrs. Gibbens “I don’t even know the alphabet! A..B..then what?!” -Mrs. Green “I can’t help you. I’m on drugs.” -Mrs. Foreman after returning from the doctor
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OPINION
“They were in the corner snogging. I was afraid they couldn’t breathe!” -Sra. Hall
Confessions of a Pinterest addict by SYLVIA DEAN and ELENA FOSTER
Art by Neil Harte
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a place to go when you need a new wardrobe? A Halloween costume? Or even a first date idea? All of those things and more are found in one website. Not only has Pinterest taken social networking to the next level, it allows us to store ideas for immediate, as well as future, use. Surpassed only by Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest is the third most popular social networking site. However, they are very hard to compare. Pinterest, with 70 million users according to expandedramblings.com, is new and unique. Twitter was launched in 2006, and Facebook even earlier, in 2004. Pinterest was created in the early 2010, and by the following year was named one of the “50 Best Websites of 2011” by Time magazine. Facebook and Twitter are cen-
tered around interacting with other users. Even though Pinterest can be used to communicate with others, it’s mainly a closet for ideas, and takes idea-sharing to the next level. Recipes, wedding traditions, and inspirational quotes that in the past might have been passed within families from hand to hand are now shared quicker than ever before between friends, acquaintances, and even between total strangers. However, the easily accessible website can present certain issues as well. According to pinsforprofits.com, Pinterest users spend an average of about 90 minutes on the site per day, compared to an average 30 minutes spend on Twitter. Anybody who has used Pinterest know how addictive the site can be. Logging on in order to find a recipe for dinner can easily turn into a mar-
athon pinning session. All things considered, it’s probably better to fill your head with numerous creative ideas rather than just scrolling through an endless news feed about an ex’s life. It’s great to have a website so unique as this, and it literally has something for everyone. I have seen pins anywhere from “How to make your own knit slug hat” all to way to “How to make the perfect creme brulee.” In this day and age, it’s hard to come up with new, never before seen ideas on your own, and that’s why Pinterest is such a big deal. It is virtually a safety net for parties, dinners, or whatever you have going on. In the coming years, it’s possible that we will even start to see more and more websites mimicking Pinterest, giving a completely new name to social networking.