FORUM
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WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM
By Paddy Lehane
Staff Writer
The radical right-wing has been known to
engage in some pretty sketchy behavior, but
the recent character assassination attempt
aimed at a 12-year-old sick Maryland boy
and his family has gone leaps and bounds
over the line.
Much as with the swift boat slam of John
Kerry in 2004, the right wing conservative
machine has been able to divide and conquer
once again. By diverting attention away
from the issue of the State Children's Health
Insurance Program (SCRIP), the machine
has sent the helpful program down a road of
no return.
The pure and simple fact of the matter is
that there are ten million kids in this country
that should've gotten health insurance.
There are kids in this country that only go to
the doctor when an emergency room visit is
necessary.
There are parents in this country whose
biggest fear is a sick kid. They know a major
illness will bankrupt the family.
This smear campaign of a little boy
and his family, on behalf of the iiber-rich
insurance companies, makes me quite sick.
Sick enough to go to the doctor, but not sick
enough to go in without insurance.
SCHIP was the baby of the Democratic
Party, but had bipartisan support. It was
an irutiative they thought would be easily
passed.
Who in their right minds could argue
with giving sick kids the ability to get better?
Apparently President Bush and other neo-
cons. Who would've guessed?
nytimes.com
The Democrats in Congress fought to
revive the bill and changed their tactics by
putting a face to the health insurance debate.
This face was that of Graeme Frost, a 12-year-
old boy from Maryland, who suffered brain
injuries in a car wreck that he still requires
treatment for.
The Democrats brought Frost to
Washington to do their weekly radio address,
the official response to President Bush's.
Frost told of his plight, his need for
doctor's care, and the gift his family received
from being able to get insurance from the
state of Maryland.
The response from the right wing was
immediate and fierce. Instead on attacking
the system where sick kids can't get help, the
right-wingers attacked the credibility of the
family.
Michelle Malkin, a conservative blogger
and possible nutcase, did nothing short
of calling the boy and his family frauds. A
weeklong rampage of pointless information
ensued.
She cited a marriage announcement of
Frost's parents in the New York Times as a
sign of affluence. She also claimed, she and
she alone, that she was able to find cheap
health insurance in the area where the Frosts
live.
Republicans in the House and Senate were
quick to jump on this bandwagon claiming
that the family was indeed, rich and could
easily afford health insurance but wanted to
rip off the state.
All of the rumors surrounding the
affluence of the family were debunked, and
politicians, but not right-wing bloggers, then
backed off. But the damage was done.
It's a shame that ten million really sick
kids don't have the right, or as some are
saying, the luxury, to go to the doctor when
they're sick or to get surgery when they need
it. Their ticket to health is being locked up
in a bureaucratic closet somewhere in the
Capitol.
Room searches: nuisance or necessity
ByAlana Gibson
Staff Writer
Students look forward to breaks
as a chance to get out of the books
and say goodbye to Guilford for
a while. However, the week lead
ing up to breaks can be extremely
stressful, especially the last min
ute room preparations that have
us hiding candles and coffee pots,
and running to dumpsters.
To ensure that students comply
with health and safety measures.
Campus Life conducts inspections
during fall, winter, and spring
breaks. A few of these measures
include disposing of trash and
recycling, cleaning dishes, un
plugging appliances, and locking
rooms and windows.
During the break periods, col
lege personnel inspect each room
to ensure compliance with health
and safety standards as described
in the Student Handbook. Failure
to comply with these standards
results in confiscation of illegal
items, fines, and sometimes judi
cial charges.
Their requests seem tedious but
are actually quite reasonable. If
you leave trash to fester in a room
over the span of a break, all kinds
of pests will await your return.
It is important to turn off elec
trical appliances when they aren't
in use because voltage surges
could turn them on or cause short
circuits, especially since most of
us tend to overload our circuits
with too many plugs. By unplug
ging these appliances, we are also
conserving energy and saving
Guilford money.
I am sure that the Campus Life
staff can think of more enjoyable
ways to spend their breaks than in
specting the rooms of college stu
dents. However one of Guilford's
core values is community. Cam
pus Life's intent is not to be nosey,
but rather to ensure the safety and
well-being of our community.
"I think what's important to
keep in mind is that we don't con
duct checks to bust people, but for
the health and safety of the com
munity," said Susanna Young,
area coordinator for residence life
who helps conduct these room
checks. "Unfortunately we of
ten come across policy violations
that cannot be ignored because of
safety and liability issues. We try
to be transparent about our poli
cies, which Campus Life e-mails to
every residential student in break
notices."
Campus Life is only allowed to
fine open violations and they are
not permitted to search a room
without probable cause.
These inspections aren't an in
vasion of privacy. However, pre
paring for the inspections can be
very inconvenient, reaching be
hind desks and dressers to unplug
and then re-plug alarm clocks and
such. Most students who find fault
with the inspections have been
fined for decorative candles, or
other minor violations.
I suggest that in these situa
tions, you conceal candles or
decorative wine bottles since
Campus Life will write you up
even if the candle has never
been lit or the label has been
removed from the wine bottle
now used to hold artificial flow
ers.
With regards to being fined
for issues such as dirty dishes
or garbage, clean up after your
selves. Garbage and dirty dish
es left in the room attract bugs,
and deserve fines.
LaToya Thomas, a senior,
was fined last year when one
of her suitemates left dishes in
the sink during a break. Thomas
and her suitemates returned to
find moldy dishes and a sanita
tion fine.
"I was mad that I had to pay
because someone didn't take
care of their responsibilities,"
Thomas said, "but there was no
way for Campus Life to know
whose dishes they belonged to,
so we all got fined."
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