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GREENSBORO, NC
Living in London, Matt goes on Fall Break
Matt Gieger
Staff Writer
We in London have been
on our fall break this past
week, and for me it seemed to
be an appropriate time to take
stock of how people were
feeling about being in London
at our official halfway point, by
issuing an informal survey. I
want to make it clear that
there were no deep psycho
analytical questions or
Guantanamo Bay-like lock-
Voice your vote, consider Democrat Howard Dean
Dylan Grayson
Staff Writer
Civil rights, justice, the
economy - which presidential
candidate has the best policy
on these issues? I think it's
Democratic candidate
Howard Dean.
Dean became the governor
of Vermont in 1991. He added
sexual orientation and gender
identity to Vermont's hate
crimes statute, and in 2000 he
made Vermont the first state
to recognize same-sex
unions, giving gays and les
bians legal rights like rights of
inheritance, child custody,
and decision-making power
(giving couples access to hos
pital visits and health insur
ance).
"I signed a civil unions bill
... when only 35 percent of the
people in my state supported
Ups until I got the answers I
wanted. No, these questions
were purely superficial - I
asked people what they
missed the most about
America, and if they had any
interesting facts to share.
These facts did not necessar
ily have to be about London,
but most seemed to pertain to
experiences people have had
in London.
I want to preface the rest of
this column by saying that I
have had the pleasure of
being in London this semester
with an absolutely wonderful
bunch of people and the only
reason I have left anybody out
of this column is because
there was not just enough
space to include everybody.
So like the good little
researcher that I am, I gath
ered all the information and
read it all. As I began reading
the information, several things
struck me, but perhaps the
factoid that struck me the
most was that people missed
it," said Dean at a Sept. 25
debate at Pace University in
New York.
If elected, Dean plans to
expand same-sex couples'
rights nationally. For example,
he will allow federal employ
ees to list same-sex partners
as beneficiaries, and he will
work to ban workplace dis
crimination of gays and les
bians.
Dean also says he will
repeal parts of the Patriot Act
that undermine our constitu
tional rights. The Patriot Act
allows the government to con
duct surveillance and gather
intelligence to fight terrorism,
but many feel this needlessly
attacks civil liberties.
Dean proposes to create
one million jobs through a
SIOO billion Fund to Restore
America. He says this will aid
state and local governments
in creating jobs in the fields of
FORUM
the same things or same type
of things. For the record, no
one completed the sentence
"What I miss about America
the most is ..." with "family" or
"friends," but the question was
presented as being more
geared to superficial answers.
For example, seniors Doug
Robertson Christina
Middleton and junior
Mackenzie Parsio all wrote
that they miss Chick-Fil-A the
most of anything in America.
In fact, out of 23 different
answers, 15 of them related
to food somehow, with Chick-
Fil-A and peanut butter and
jelly as the most popular
answers. Sesame chicken got
one vote from senior Spencer
Witherspoon. We are expect
ing the chicken's concession
speech shortly.
But what about the other
eight people? Some people
put certain television shows
that they missed, but the two
that were the most interesting
were junior Ned Arenberg's
health, homeland security,
and education, and by build
ing and restoring schools and
roads. He also says he will
balance the budget, even if
that is unpopular. "It's not an
accident that in 1993 when
the House and Senate sup
ported balancing the budget,
that that kicked off this
tremendous time of prosperi
ty," he said May 17 at an
American Federation of State,
County, and Municipal
Employees debate in lowa.
Dean's economic record in
Vermont is a strong one - he
created 56,000 new jobs and
decreased the unemployment
rate from 6.9 percent to 3.7
percent. When he came into
office, Vermont had a S7O mil
lion deficit, but in 2001,
Vermont had a $lO million
surplus.
Other students at the col
lege favor Dean as well.
WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM
answer, "the concept of
affordability," and junior
Jarred Knight's response,
"alone time."
What I take from all of this
information is that the people
on this trip are expressing
something that is natural
when one moves out of the
places and is away from the
effects he or she is used to.
Leaving peanut butter may
not be that hard, but leaving
one's personal comfort zone
is.
I am not trying to make this
into a free plug for the
Semester Abroad program,
but it is really true that a per
son cannot appreciate anoth
er country without living there
for a certain period of time. I
learn things all the time that I
would never know if I just read
about London in books. Do
you know what junior
Rosamund Elizabeth Combs-
Bachmann misses most
about living in America? Not,
having black snot. That's
"Howard Dean is the only
candidate with the experi
ence, integrity, and vision to
be President," first-year
Adam Waxman said. "His
campaign will go down in his
tory as one that changed
American politics forever.
Dean's campaign is eclectic -
I think young people have a
real opportunity to become
leaders and help to really
shape the future of the coun
try."
However, why should you
care at all? Why should you
vote? To quote the song
"Freewill" by Canadian pro
gressive rock trio Rush, "If
you choose not to decide,
you still have made a choice."
Too few people aged 18 to 25
vote. According to the Center
for Information and Research
OCT 24, 2003
right: living in London gives
you black snot; thank you,
pollution!
Also, people tell you living in
any city is expensive, but
London is in a class of its
own. Every British pound is
equivalent to anywhere from
$1.60 to $1.78, so an average
pint of beer will run you £3
($5.30), a meal will run you
about £9 ($16.50) and a T
shirt at French Connection
United Kingdom (FCUK) will
run £2O ($35.50) At least in
New York a person can get a
slice of pizza and a drink for
about three dollars; here in
London, the best one could
hope for is not to get ripped
off too badly.
So that is just a little sam
pling of being in London from
everyone else on this trip and
me. What I have taken away
from this trip is that no matter
how different I expect things
to be, it is often more different
than I expected. Oh, and final
ly, to watch out for the cars -
they drive on the left here.
on Civic Learning and
Engagement, 42.4 percent of
18-to-25-year-olds vote, but a
whopping 70.3 percent of
people over age 25 vote -
and theirs are the voices that
will be heard if you don't cast
your ballot.
Dylan Grayson is a first
year.
www.baywindows.com
Dean delivers keynote address