From The Editor
Haiti
This year seems to be getting off to a
good start. Everyone is excited about
the new school year and things it
brings. This year I hope that the news
paper will keep you up to date on all
the events going on around us. The
paper will feature such things as Let
ters to the Editor, movie and book
reviews and updates on the news of
the world. I hope that every student
here will take an interest in the paper.
If you have any comments, sugges
tions or opinions you’d like to share
just drop a letter to the editor. You’ll
find the box outside of room 405 in
Hayes Hall. No questions, comments
or concerns will be ignored and as
many letters as possible will be ad
dressed in each issue. I wish all of you
a wonderful and productive year here
at WCC.
Thank you
Editor-in-Chief,
Heather Earnhardt
'As Fit
As A Bull”
Theodore Roosevelt, born Oct. 27,
1858, became our 26th president
upon the death of William McKinley
(fatally wounded by an anarchist
assassin’s bullet). He finished out
McKinley’s term, won the presidency
in his own right in 1904, but was
defeated in 1908 by William Taft.
Then in 1912, Roosevelt ran again,
lost the Republican Party nomination,
became an independent, and ran as the
Bull Moose Party candidate.
While campaigning on Oct. 14,
1912, he too was the object of an
assassin’s bullet. Having dreamed that
McKinley’s ghost ordered Roosevelt’s
death, the would-be assassin fired at
point-blank range. But success would
not be his. Roosevelt had stuffed a
very long speech into his breast
pocket. Reportedly, the bullet went
through his vest, eyglass case and
speech paper, only cracking a rib.
Nor did the bullet even stop the
day’s campaign. Not one to miss any
publicity opportunity, Roosevelt an
nounced the assassination attempt to
the crowd. When some loudly pro
tested that he was faking, he showed
his bloody shirt, and yelled: "It takes
more than one bullet to kill a bull
moose.”
Splitting the Republican vote, how
ever, gave Woodrow Wilson a lands
lide victory. Roosevelt came in second
with 88 electoral votes, leaving his
political rival, Taft, with only 8.
Though Roosevelt did not regain
the presidency, his Bull Moose Party’s
platform had called for liberal reform,
a foreshadowing of Franklin Roose
velt's New Deal.
Tabitha Hamilton leams the ropes of
Sticking - what?’
On May 8, Clinton announced a
critical change in his Haiti policy. He
would discontinue the direct return of
the "raft people,” who were fleeing
from the brutal dictatorship of Gen
eral Raoul Cedras.
The policy turned out to be a disas
ter, Instead of the predicted two thou
sand Haitians a week, the Coast Guard
was rescuing between two and three
thousand a day.
On July 5, Clinton ordered eighteen
hundred Marines aboard the U.S.S.
WASP sent to the waters off the coast
of Haiti. The effect was not only to
give the military a foothold, but to
frighten Cedras into "blocking” any
Haitians from leaving by boat.
There are now around fourteen
thousand American troops waiting
for the go ahead from President Clin
ton. As many as twenty thousand U.S.
troops may be sent to Haiti if needed.
The whole of the Haitian military
consists of about seventy-seven hun
dred troops, including twelve hun
dred police. These men have little to
no training and not nearly enough
equipment.
On September 15, President Clin
ton addressed the nation, explaining
why he was on the verge of ordering a
Haitian invasion. Clinton also pub
licly warned Cedras and his Junta
"your time is up.”
After the President’s address, phone
calls were made to transport three
negotiators to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.
Among them: former President Jimmy
Carter, former Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell, and
Senate Armed Services Chairman Sam
Nunn. They were sent there to con
vince Commander Cedras, Chief of
Staff Philippe Biamby, and polic chief
Micheal Francois to step down from
power. Once there they were only
allowed to negotiate the "modalities”
of getting the three out of the country:
how many family members could be
taken with them, how large a plane
would they have, when it would take
off and where it would land. Cedras
and the other coup leaders would have
to surrender control by October 15,
1994 in order to stop a U.S. full scale
invasion. Even if a peaceful takeover is
accomplished there is still the Aris
tide’s credibility. Will he live up to his
responsibilities to his country. Aris
tide, a priest, preached strongly about
righteous justice and equality then
irresponsibility left his parishners to
contemplate on what to do next.
Clearly Aristide is not a man who
should be in charge of "ruling” a
country, but the options are slim. To
place an unfamiliar or unpopular offi
cial in charge could bring about even
more turmoil. Although highly intel
lectual and idealogical Aristide has no
previous political experience. He has
spoken of restoring democracy and
making sure that it takes root in the
next two years of his term. To speak of
restoring democracy to a country that
has never known it is a task that
remains to be seen.
If this attempt to reinstate President
Aristide fails so will President Clin
ton’s popularity. Will Aristide return
and just recreate the tragedy of Haiti?
Will this be another Somalia? Or
more importantly do we belong in
Haiti at all?
A few students expressed views on
this question....
"I don’t think we belong because
when we have problems no one comes
to our aid,” Julie.
"We have problems of our own to
solve before we start trying to solve
other countries problems,” Melinda.
"They were doing alright under the
last President, but we’ll have to leave
American troops there until after
Aristide is reinstated,” Joe.
"Haiti should be allowed to have its
own government policies. They
should handle their own political pro
blems,” Christy.
Ninety percent of students asked
don’t believe we belong in Haiti.
■John Vaught
Whiz Quiz
The VIPs of Halloween offer their
own brand of "riddle-some” humor
for young chuckling pleasure. You
probably don’t stand a ghost of a
chance being right, but guess at them
anyhow.
1. What does the myopic ghost
wear?
2. Why did the skeleton have to sit
down?
3. The ghost said what to its friend
as they got into the car?
4. Where does a vampire go to take
out a loan?
5. What did one ghost say to the
other ghost?
6. Why do witches ride on brooms?
7. What’s a literary spirit called?
8. While in England, what did the
vampire say to his mate?
9. One ghost ordered what for
dessert?
10. Why do vampires brush their
teeth?
11. What did the coach say to the
ghost lootball players at half time?
Earning Depends on Learning
A family of beribboned cats, un
doubtedly someone’s pets, found them
selves trapped in a warehouse contain
ing countless cans of cat food. But the
felines starved because none knew
how to operate a can opener.
A family of human beings also
found themselves trapped in a section
of the city containing countless cans
of delicious food. Though they knew
how to operate can openers, they were
trapped because nobody in that family
had a job; nobody had the funds with
which to buy the cans they wanted.
They, too, would have starved had not
a welfare agency supplied them with
food.
Of course, there is a vast difference
between the two families: Pet cats are
animals dependent on their masters
for life’s essentials. People, usually
intelligent, would rather be independ
ent, their own masters.
But citizens of every community
require that adults earn sufficient
money to buy their own food, can
openers included. Usually, each per
son’s self-respect demands that, too.
How meet such demands? How
earn the wherewithal?
A good starting point is a recogni
tion of this fact; To a great extent,
earning depends on learning.