Newspapers / North Carolina Wesleyan University … / Nov. 12, 1993, edition 1 / Page 5
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NOVEMBER 12,1993 — THE DECREE — PAGE 5 Government misdefining 'poverty' . By KEN LEONARD The poverty figures have come 6ut, and as usual they present a dim picture of American society. K Despite years of programs meant to improve the equity of society, there is the dreaded re- f)ort that poverty has increased. Naturally, this has been blamed pn the Reagan and Bush policies. By “cutting” entitlement spend ing, they purportedly have caused this problem. Actually, the Cen sus Bureau caused it. In fact, the Census Bureau has the almost-magical ability to cre- Ste poverty among those who are fiot impoverished. They have a special and wondrous formula for doing so. First, you must base your pov erty figure on the annual income pf the family in question. Only count their current income, not what they have saved, what they 0wn, or any other assets they plight have available. Then, be sure to ignore any government spending on the fami- Censorship can’t resolve world’s woes (Continued from Page 5) york” as verbs. The word “facili tator.” The word “healthy” when it means “healthful.” 1 don’t care whether or not my food works out; 1 want to know whether or not it has any food value. Cars that talk to me. Cars that cost more than my house. " People who are cheerful in the aiomings. Those morning radio ^ shows in which two cheer ful, screaming voices tell me the end of an off-color joke and then invite the audience to call in for the answer. The people who call yi the for answer. Any additional TV networks or stations. Re-runs of Gilligan’s tsland and The Brandy Bunch. Football games which preempt ^}ie evening news. That weather guy on WRAL. Those prints of sailboats or Country scenes in motels. ► Ironing. Elvis impersonators (but let’s keep the Elvis sightings). Well, I could go on and on, but this would do for my first hundred days. I promise if you elect me Censorship Czar, I will make you just like me. Think about it. lies. If a family receives all of its income from the various welfare agencies, even if this adds up to an above-average family, then the recorded sum is nothing! Next, report that all incomes below half of the median income level are those in poverty. Be ab solutely certain that you carefully avoid figuring in the cost of liv ing in areas. If this figure is al lowed to influence the report, then you might lose some of your pre cious “poveity”-stricken families. Finally, release the report to the press without explaining it in full. A nice little press confer ence will do the job quite well. The reporters don’t want to be bothered with details like factual accuracy, and the cause here is such a fiiendly one that no one would actually challenge your numbers. As long as you claim that poverty has increased, you are on the politically correct side and can’t lose with the major me dia moguls. This is the method that the Bureau is forced to use in deter mining the poverty rate. It is ac tually possible to be in poverty while having a bank account with more than $1(X),(X)0. Most people would call that rich, but it’s close enough for government work. For example, the Bureau ig nores the entirety of the spending on food stamps, Medicaid, and public housing, and declares that these have no impact on living conditions. In all, the government spends almost $2(X) billion on so cial programs each year. The Cen sus counts less than $40 billion as income. To inteiject some semblance of reality to these discussions, I could point out that in 1989, 40 percent of those listed as poor by the Bureau owned their own homes. These weren’t little shacks, either. The average home owned by the poor is a three-bed room home with a garage and ei ther a porch or a patio. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Develop ment, more than one million of the “poor” own homes valued at more than $80,000. About 75,000 of these impoverished souls own homes valued at more than $300,000. Only eight percent of the poor live in homes that are over crowded, and in fact more than half of them live in homes with a rooms-to-occupants ratio of bet ter than two to one. The average poor person, according to the Heritage Foundation, has twice as much living space than the av erage Japanese middle class per son. Nutritional intake is identi cal to that of middle class figures for children raised in poverty, ac cording to the Agriculture Depart ment. The “explosion in poverty” is easily orchestrated by adjusting the figures used to calculate pov erty. This is exactly what the gov ernment has succeeded in doing. Many of the above facts were not cited, because their source proves the intent of the Census Bureau’s officials. The source of this in formation, which confirms that poverty is not the overriding cri sis which some politicians claim, is the Census Bureau. There are real poor in the United States, and some of them can even be helped. Deceit does not help them. An accurate count might help those who want to do something about the problem. In any case, it would replace hys terical allegations that 10 percent of the nation live in poverty with real facts. Compassion and con cern should not replace honesty in forming sound policy. Politi cally correct reports may help when it’s time to throw political dirt, but they do nothing for any one in need. Poefs skill with words impressive By CECILIA CASEY The second reading of the North Carolina Wesleyan College’s Visiting Writers Series started off with a tribute to Dr. Leverett T. Smith, who has made the series possible for many years. N.C. Wesleyan President, Dr. Leslie H. Gamer, presented a gift to Dr. Smith to show the college’s aj5)reciation of his work and de votion to the Visiting Writers Se ries. Smith was given an editor’s desk and ringing applause from the audience. “I don’t know how to say thank you, so I’ll just say thank you,” Smith responded. Dr. Chris La- Londe, who has taken over man agement of the series, then went on to introduce poet Robeirt Dana. Dana read “Horses,” “Starting Out For the Difficult World,” “Blue Run,” “Watching the Night Hark Dive,” “Post Cards From Tanzania,” and other poems from his book. Yes Everything. However, the highlight of Dana’s reading did not come firom his published works. His most impressive poem was one he had written only hours before the reading because the poem showed Dana’s ability to record his world in long, slow, and careful words. LaLonde and Dana were hav ing lunch and LaLonde asked whether Dana could write any where. Dana replied, “I didn’t used to be able to, but I can now.” The poem is entitled “In Acid Park North Carolina” and was dedicated to Valas and LaLcmde: “In the adjacent rooms of my motel/ their minds spinning rain bow colored as/ Valas Simpson’s windmills in Acid Parky where in the hours between midnight and dawn/ teenagers come with their drugs and beery vandals to a shrine to break, to pry loosey the bright blue gaze, to carry awayy wheels and bells, not so much to kiliy as to connect to those voices raging in the winds of sleep.” Robert Dana retired from teaching journalism and literature in the midwest and Cornell Col lege after having done so for 30 years. “I’m going to retire into my real life, writing, traveling, writ ing a few essays, and mosfly writ ing poems,” he said. Letters to the editor policy The Decree accepts only signed letters to the editors. Unsigned letters will not be printed. Letters need to be placed in the campus post ofHce and marked “Decree” or placed in the Decree office in the Spruill building. Letters must be received by Friday of the week prior to the next issue in order to be printed in that issue. The Decree reserves the right to edit or reject letters for grammar, libel, or good taste.
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Nov. 12, 1993, edition 1
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