OP-ED
Week of October 22nd.
7
Take tbe l-’ower Back
Make YOUR Mark on Ngyembcr
Matt Stucke
Assistant Editor
“I see in the near
future a crisis approaching that
unnerves me and causes me to
tremble for the safety of my
country... corporations have
been enthroned and an era
of corruption in high places
will follow, and the money
and power of the country will
endeavor to prolong its reign
by working upon the prejudices
of the people until all wealth is
aggregated in a few hands and
the Republic is destroyed.”
- Abraham Lincoln, Nov.21,
1864 (letter to Col. William F.
Elkins)
Lincoln was right.
140 years after he wrote that
statement, our Republic
ha* been destroyed. The
government of the United States
of America no longer decides
what is best for its citizens when
it comes to trade and business.
Their hands are tied by multi
national, bie business interests.
The citizens of America have
become saturated with apathy
toward any of the larger
issues facing them. Issues like
the environment, corporate
globalization, poverty, human
rights, etc. all seem unimportant
in comparison to America’s
fevorite pastime: consumption.
I’d like to invite you to
take a 5 minute break from your
consumption and learn about
some of the injustices corroding
the freedom and integrity that
made our Republic so great:
Qul Mdia. k
centralizini. providing us with
a narrow stream of chosen ,
infarmation. The diversity in
medium (TV, Movies, Radio)
as Well as the diversity of
channels allows for the illusion
of diversity in information ■
content. Compfanies likfe
Viacom monopolize the media,
allowing them to paint the
public whatever piaure they
fancy, and pass it as reality.
f Among Viacom’s brands
are: CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon,
VH1, BET, Paramount
Pictures, Viacom Outdoor,
Inanity, UPN,; Spike TV, TV
Land, CMT, Comedy Central,
Showtime, Blockbuster, and
Simon 7 Schuster.
An unaware observer
may believe that these brands
each provide a different
mess£^e, but the message
remains the same: that which
supports Viacom is good and
that which doesn’t is bad.
The WTO (World Trade
Organization) is an enormotis
threat to the environment and
human rights around the world.
The WTO “is the only global
international organization
dealing with the rules of trade
between nations. Its main
function is to ensure that trade
flows as smoothly and freely as
possible.”
This governing body (a
panel of corporate attorneys)
functions over the 146 member
countries, applying sanctions
whenever it sees a violation
of “free trade.”^ The fear of
lOT^stant fin;s restricts the
power of governments over
citizens, giving ruling power to
the WTO.
Even human rights and
environmental protection take
a back seat to the protection of
free trade and consumerism.
Countries cannot rejea
genetically engineered food
or food caught in a way that
can be proven harmful to
endangered animals. Laws
put into place by Guatemala
to help reduce infant mortality
were overturned in the fece of
sanaions by the WTO. The
laws were aimed at countering
aggressive marketing by baby
food companies trying to
convince mothers that their
produas were superior to the
clinically proven healthier
breart milk. According to
WTO praaices, ' member
governments have lost the right
to protect public health and the
environment.
The World Bank and
IMF (International Monetary
Fund) are Undim money to
countries. especially Third
World, at a steep social and
2nd
aaron r. gatten
Staff Writer
If you are like me, then you
have waited these four years with such
anticipation that you can hardly control
yourself The chance to vote is one for
which I have been longing. This eleaion
is, in my mind, one of the most important
elections of our time. Now is our time to
make our mark.
When I was a senior in high school,
I had the honor to serve as president of
the Student Government Association. I
thought it would be educational to sponsor
a mock-eleaion at our school. With the
help of others, 1 established miniature
political parties, held voter registrations
and eventually the presidential eleaion.
Most of the students said that they where
glad they had the opportunity to vote. The
local newspaper covered the story, and, in
a sense, those students had an opportunity
to make their mark.
Since that eleaion, I have been
eager to aaually vote for president. I
have been waiting for my chance to make
my mark. Others like me, who here at
St Andrews Presbyterian College have
a strong sense of patriotism and civic
duty, are ready and eager to vote this
November 2'“*. Mica Nguyen and SPEAK
OLTT! registered people to vote recently.
Make sure if you are registered you go out
and vote. If you are not a citizen please
encourage your friends to vote.
This eleaion has high stakes. Please
don’t let the minority control the majority.
In the 2000 eleaion only 105,586,274
of 205,815,000 eligible voters voted for
president. Don’t let that happen again.
“Vote Dammit”, “declare yourself”, vote,
because it is your right and civic duty.
For more voter information fee! free to
visit: http://vyww.senate.gov or www.
amnestyUSa.Qrg or www.democrats.org
or WWW.johnkerrv.com or http://www.
whitehouse.gov/president or http://www.
michaelmoore.comorhttp://georgewbush.
com
cont’d from page 6
„ii.
on this campus, is an ALL-INCLUSIVE organization whose purpose is to BRIDGE
the GAP existing among the different groups who inhabit our unique community. In
doing so, BSU will eventually yield die HSU (Hiunan Students Union).
Want to be sure your
voice is heard? Join
Speak Out!
Contact Mica Nguyen
Jhf npittinn^ t>Yprei'ied in the Opinions-Editorials section of The Lance are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of The Lance staff or St. Andrews Presbyterian College.