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Pdge 12 The Blue Banner September21,2000 Pews Leach dispels Congressional perspective Lauren Owens Staff Writer PHOTO BY JUSTIN MECKES Jerry Leach, president of the World Affairs Council of America, spoke on Sept. 16 conerning the United Na tions, Congress and the American people. Congress believes Americans have a lack of concern for involve ment in the United Nations (U.N.) when, in reality, they are very supportive, according to Jerry Leach, president of the World Affairs Council of America (WACA), in a discussion Sept. 16. “There is a very big gap in what people think about foreign affairs as compared to what Congress assumes people think,” said Leach. The basic point of the discussion was to inform people that issues like globalization, foreign aid and foreign affairs are not important to members of Congress and the presidential candidates, according to Leach. They are, however, very important to the American pub lic, and most governmental bod ies do not know this. “I felt like the discussion was informative,” said Mike Smith, a senior environmental studies ma jor. “I am concerned with envi ronmental issues like world trade, and 1 believe that the lack of con cern from Congress about foreign affairs contributes to global prob lems,” According to Leach, the foreign aid budget was cut by about 40 percent in the 1990s, because Con gress felt that the American people were not concerned with foreign affairs. The U.S. currently owes the U.N. $1.5 billion in unpaid dues. “There is a belief in Washington that American people want to be isolated in foreign affairs, but this belief is unfounded,” said Leach. “Americans support the U.N., and theysupport that U.N. dues should be paid.” According to Leach, the Ameri can people are in favor of coopera tion with foreign countries. They want to be active in foreign aid with the UN. A poll said “82 percent of Con gressional members believe that the American people feel nega tively towards the U.N. and for eign policy, and want a significant reduction in the U.S. role in the U.N.,”said Leach. “The poll said 7 5 percent of the American people actually believe in the U.N., and 85 percent of Americans want to strengthen U.S. involvement in the U.N.” Six national opinion polls show that only 10 percent of the Ameri can people oppose giving foreign aid. However, because of mon etary issues, polls and election losses, there has been a foreign policy gap in America, according to Leach. “Congress thinks that George Bush lost (in the 1992 election), because he was a foreign affairs president, (and) Congress believes that Americans do not want to carry the monetary burden for for eign affairs,” said Leach. “Finally, national opinion polls have led Congress astray.” These are false reasons, accord ing to Leach, because Bush lost since he did not have a positive domestic record. Americans want to stay in foreign affairs and share monetary burden with other coun tries. “National and local elections take place with foreign affairs in the background,” said Leach. “There are very few elections where for eign affairs are the dominant issue. Domestic issues clearly have pre eminence over foreign affairs in elections.” The members of Congress and the two main presidential candi dates do not see foreign affairs as an important issue in the elec tions, according to Leach. “I do not believe that there will be anything that can happen be tween now and Nov. 7 that will make foreign affairs more impor tant in the different races,” said Leach. WACA offered to sponsor a presi dential debate between Bush and Gore on foreign aid. Both candi dates declined, which proves that candidates are not concerned with global issues, according to Leach. “We think that presidential de bates would be important to (WACA’s) campaign,” said Leach. “We would like a national debate about foreign issues like globaliza tion, U.N. views and the compre hensive test ban treaty in Kosovo.” The issue of foreign aid is impor tant for environmentalists as well, according to Leach, since they see foreign issues like world trade and a free market as necessary to any gov ernment office race. According to Leach, the U.S for eign aid program offers some envi ronmental benefits. It has purchased agricultural materials from U.S farmers, and the program also funds Peace Corps volunteers, according to Leach. Funding the Peace Corps is im portant, because it has improved the understanding of different cul tures. Leach said he sees this expe rience as improving U.S. foreign aid for environmental protection work. Future WACA discussions will focus more on global trade issues, according to Sarah Ann Smith, di rector of WACA of WNC. “We hope to have more students attend the discussion groups,” said Smith. “The majority of the cur rent audiences at most of these dis cussions are retired people.” These discussions, according to Smith, will focus on globalization. Other discussions will debate the ways in which international trade laws will affect Americans. The Health Adventure at Pack Place will be hosting “An Evening with Sherlock Holmes” on Oct 13. Guests are encouraged to wear Victorian cos tumes. There will be live and silent auc tions, and a crime to solve involving the museum’s new exhibit, “Sherlock Holmes and The Clocktower Mystery.” Mystery tours will begin at 7 and 7:30 p.m., and the tickets are $75 per person. For more information, call (828) 254- 6373, ext. 300. If you’re buying overpackaged or throwaway products, you’re essentially buying trash. That means some of what’s on your shopping list wastes energy, wastes natural resources and even increases pollution. So the ne>4 lime you’re in the store, look for less packaging, and choose stuff that’s refillable and reusable. What’s in your cart could make a world of difference. For a free shopping guide, please call 1-8(X>2-RECyCLE. BUY SMART. WASTE LESS. www.environmentaldefense.org SAVE Wl O R Ef" e Students are needed to give their input for the enhancement portion of UNCA’s self study, an accreditation process that the university goes through every 10 years. A one-hour course is available, with late registration possible. For more information, e-mail slwilkin@buIldog.unca.edu. The American Red Cross is having a critical blood shortage. All eligible donors are encouraged to call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE to schedule an appointment to give blood. Some hospitals have been forced to postpone scheduled surgeries be cause of an inadequate blood supply. The Carolinas Blood Services Region of the Red Gross, which serves parts of N.C., has less than a day’s blood supply of types 0, A and B. The Blue Banner Weather Seven Day Forecast Local Almanac Last Week THURSDAY Rain / T-storms High: 76 Low: 61 FRIDAY Scattered T-storms High: 77 Low: 56 SATURDAY Rain / T-storms High: 74 Low: 62 SUNDAY Rain / T-storms High: 78 Low: 63 Day High Low Normals Preeip Wednesday 83 60 78/57 0.00" Thursday 84 63 77/56 Trace Friday 74 53 77/56 0.00" Saturday 67 46 77/56 0.00" Sunday 68 38 77/55 0.00" Monday 64 46 76/55 0.02" Tuesday 81 53 76/55 Trace Precipitation for the week 0.02" Normal precipitation for the week .... 0.91" Departure from normal for the week , , -0.89" Precipitation for the year 26.61" Normal precipitation for year to date . 35.56" Departure from normal for the year . . . -8,95" * Precipitation includes snow converted to rainfall MONDAY Scattered T-storms High: 70 Low: 59 TUESDAY Partly Cloudy High: 68 Low: 48 WEDNESDAY Partly Cloudy High: 72 Low: 47 North Carolina Recreational Forecast It looks like a soggy end of the week and weekend is on tap across the , state. A frontal boundary will slide into the Southeast and trigger numer ous showers and thunderstorms. The front will pull up stationary and create an unstable atmosphere as we head into the weekend. Factor in models projecting a disturbance in the Gulf to move into the Southeast and the recipe says to stay indoors. By the beginning of next week, a secondary front will sweep every thing out of the picture and bring cooler than normal temperatures with it. Highs will be in the 60s with cool lows in the 40s by the middle of next week. Sept. 21, 2000 Temps Last Week V Temps I.asi Wet Sun Mon Tue Weather Trivia Sun/Moon Chart This Week Should you open your mndows when a tornado warning is issued? ? New 9/27 1st Qtr 10/5 Dav Sunrise Sunset IVIoonrise Moonset Thu 7:18 a.m. 7:28 p.m. 12:22 a.m. 3:10 p.m. Fri 7:18 a.m. 7:26 p.m. 1:22 a.m. 4:09 p.m. Sat 7:19 a.m. 7:25 p.m. 2:26 a.m. 5:01 p.m. Sun 7:20 a.m. 7:24 p.m. 3:34 a.m. 5:47 p.m. Mon 7:21 a.m. 7:22 p.m. 4:43 a.m. 6:28 p.m. Tue 7:22 a.m. 7:21 p.m. 5:52 a.m. 7:06 p.m. Wed 7:22 a.m. 7:19 p.m. 6:59 a.m. 7:40 p.m. (W) Full 10/13 Lst Qtr 10/20 faccBamwBathBr. cam Eartti'a Lsadlng WaatSiar Piutfaii All forecasts, data, and graphics provided by accessweather.com. a registered trademark of Rossby Weather Services, Inc. © 2000. All rights reserved. National Weather Sumihary This Week . . , of Mexico will continue to be a hot spot for tropical activity t as models project two disturbances to move into the area. Residents / along the Gulf Coast will certainly have to keep an eye on the situation as we head into the weekend. A strong cold front will sweep from the western United States all the way to the Atlantic seaboard by next week. The system is going to dump the first snow of the season for many areas of the Rockies and then it will be a rainmaker in the East. Flooding will definitely be an issue in por tions of the Ohio River Valley states and the Northeast throughout the weekend. High pressure takes over behind the front and the country will be relatively serene by the middle of next week. To find out the ansvyer, log onto http://www.accessweather.com/theblue- hannerhtml to find today’s trivia answer and previous Weather Trivia answers. Weather History Sept. 21. 1988- High winds and locally heavy rains fell in the southwestern United States. Wind gusts of 86 mph were reported at Dell City, Texas, completely destroying an airport hangar Large hail was produced in east central Utah while snow blanketed some of the higher ele vations within the state. Sept. 21. 1989 - Hurricane Hugo slammed into the South Carolina coast at about 11 p.m. The storm was responsible ibr 13 deaths, 420 injuries and damage esti mates of eight billion dollars. Wind gusts as high as 138 mph were reported near Folly Beach, S.C. A storm surge of 20.2 feet was reported at Seewee Bay.
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