MARCH 3,1994 — THE DECREE — PAGE 5
Public shares blame for bad legislators
By PATRICK BRANNAN
I am a firm believer that the
people are to blame for the shape
of the country.
We, you and I, have the right
to vote do we not? Granted there
are many problems with the way
the system is set up that prevents
people from having a complete
true voice in elections, the Elec
toral College for example. Still
people are the ones that have the
right to vote.
The issue of term-limit laws,
laws which would limit the num
ber of terms a congress-person
could serve, has been a topic of
discussion recently. A few weeks
ago a federal court ruled a Wash
ington state term-limit law was
unconstitutional.
The problem with this is that
many other states, about 15 in all,
have similar laws modeled after
the Washington state law. So the
question remains as to where the
finally ruling will decide. The
group supporting the term-limit
law is ready to fight to the Su
preme Court.
The issue of term-limitations
is one that I follow with great
interest. Partly I support the idea
because I think that it would at
least guarantee the removal of leg
islators every so often. Yet, be
cause we have the right to vote
we also decide who will be our
legislator and therefore do not
need term-limit laws, which siq)-
port our laziness.
The major problem I have with
term-limit laws is that it will make
fewer people vote. The fact is that
not enough people vote now as it
is. While the factors for non-vot
ing vary, the fact is that if one is
truly concerned with America the
best way to do something about it
Overseas trip useful
(Continued from P^e 4)
barrier, I really try to think be
fore I speak to make sure what I
am saying is logical.
It has been said that the aver
age college student’s attention
span is eight minutes in the class
room. In France one must pay
complete attention and hang onto
every word for two full hours. As
a result, you find yourself a bet
ter listener.
Another beneficial aspect of
an education abroad is that one’s
acceptance level of various cul
tures and lifestyles increases. Eu
ropean lifestyle is a far cry from
the typical American lifestyle. I
had to put aside my American
customs to really appreciate Eu
ropean culture. Now I find my
self more appreciative of U.S. di
versity and its “melting pot” im
age.
A trip across the great Adan-
tic is also an excellent history les
son! Reading and looking at pic
tures is not the same as visiting
the actual places.
For example, I have seen some
{Hetty incredible historical sights
including: the Place de la
Concorde (the location where
Louis XVI was beheaded), L’arc
de Triumph (where French
Tnxqjs marched after WWU), Le
petit Arc de Carousel (where
N^lecHi’s tro(^ marched after
victorious battles), the 2,(XX)-year-
(dd coliseum and ruins of Rome,
Opinion
is to vote. We are one of a few
countries that has free elections,
not in cost but in the sense that
most people are able to vote if
they want.
The problem is that our soci
ety has developed a sense that
it’s not important to vote. The
majority of people just don’t care
about following the issues and
voting. With the birth of the in
formation highway and many
other new technologies it couldn’t
be easier to follow the issues and
possibly even vote.
Imagine if you could vote from
home through your telephone,
computer, or better yet your
television. Maybe Al Gore should
check out this part of the infor
mation highway. I’m sure the
technology could be developed if
it does not already exist.
People should care about
following the issues and partici
pating in the American system.
We are proud about our system.
Yet how can we truly be proud if
only half of our population par
ticipates in elections?
Another thing about our
legislatures, if crime and other is
sues are a major concern to the
people, why are the representa
tives wasting time, our time, de
ciding on pointless issues like the
state folk dance or something?
In my home state of Mary
land, that constant issue of what
the state sport should be is al
ways raised during the legislative
session. Currently the state sport
is jousting, yes that’s right, joust
ing. The debate continues be
tween the lacrosse and duckpin
bowling supporters to have the
state sport changed.
Now there are bills in the
works to make the diamondback
terrapin the state reptile and
square dancing the official folk
dance. If you ask me why don’t
we make solving the rising mur
der rate in Baltimore the official
state issue?
Flaws mar Education budget
Goethe’s house in Venice (writer
and poet). Chateau de Chilon (the
castle that Lord Byron wrote
about in Switzerland), Normandy
(the beach that American troops
landed on in WWII), the leaning
Tower of Pisa (a natural phenom
enon), and many famous churches
that are scattered throughout Italy
and France.
Not only have I learned about
these wonderful places, but their
images are imbedded into my
mind, and will never be forgot
ten.
As far as culture is concerned,
my mind is open to all horizons!
I saw my first opera in Paris, and
a live jazz jam session in Lyons,
France. Also, I saw a ballet in the
famous opera house in Paris, vis
ited the Van Gogh Museum in
Amsterdam, the Peggy
Guggenheim Museum in Venice,
the National Museum and the
Sistine Chapel in Rome, Italy, the
Henri Matisse Museum in Nice,
France and, of course, the Lou
vre in Paris.
It’s quite difficult to express
in words my experiences, or the
knowledge gained from my trip
abroad, but I can honestly say it
was the best adv»iture I have
ever expoienced. It is a feeling
that will stay with me the rest of
my life. Vive la Rcance!
Tara Schrdbor
(Former Wesleyan student
Tara Schreiber spent the 1993fill
semester at the Sorbome in Paris,
France.)
By SCOTT ROLFE
Will President Bill Clinton’s
new education budget affect
NCWC students? Do you receive
Pell Grant, (SSIG) State Student
Incentive Grants, Perkins Loans,
Work Study? If so, you may be
affected by Clinton’s changes.
Clinton’s fiscal year 1995 bud
get seeks an extra 4.5 percent for
student financial aid. The gain is
great, although we may be pay
ing for the increase somewhere
else. Some of the positive aspects
of the new budget include a $1(X)
increase in the maximum Pell
Grant, which is the first increase
in three years. If enacted by Con
gress the maximum grant will be
$2,4(X). This sounds good, but,
$2,4(X) is the same amount that
was given in 1992 before the Pell
Grants were cut. Are these
changes just a way to show some
Opinion
sort of increase in educational
funding while hiding the fact that
other viable programs are being
cut or eliminated?
The new budget also contains
$1(X) million more for college
Work Study, bringing the total
amount spent on Work Study to
$717 million. This sounds good
as well, until you find out that
State Student Incentive Grants
will be eliminated to pay for it.
Federal support for Perkins Loans
are also being cut in the new edu
cation budget. Is it all right to cut
other usefiil federal education pro
grams just for the sake of change?
I think not.
Although Education Secretary
Richard Riley called the budget
“a new plus for students and
educators,” I am not quite as sure
about the new budget. The Pell
Grant increase is not truly an in
crease, because we are now just
reaching an amount of aid tha^
was cut in 1992. Stephanie
Arellano, vice president of the
U.S. Student Association, said,
“It’s more of a restoration than a
new investment. The elimination
of the SSIG grant could have
negative effects for students, since
states use the money as an incen
tive to fund their own financial
aid program.”
Clinton’s Education Budget
may seem great, including many
increases in aid and support, but
the money for this support is com
ing from other programs that
many of us are now depending
on. You do have to give a little to
get a little. The question is where
do we take it from?
Caring reporter dies from AIDS
(Continued from P^e 4)
were controvarsial. He was a per
vert: he was a gay Uncle Tom.
To his credit, he had the guts to
keep on the story. San Francisco
began the debates about casual
sex and preventirai that changed
sexual behaviors. Shilts made safe
sex an issue. He saved lives.
But in that Kafkaesque irony
that I’ve been talking abcwt lately,
he had caught the vims himself,
before he began his writings (he
said {Kobably in 19S0). And now,
14 years later, it has killed him.
He was 42 years okL
Shilts discovered that he was
HTV positive on the day in 1987
when he turned in the manuscript
of Band. I can only imagine his
feelings. TTiose who have seen
AIDS-related deaths know what
they look like. To the healthy,
they are torifying; to the poten
tially ill, they must be devastat
ing. He could have turned inward;
he could have retired. But he
didn’t
He finished Conduct Unbe
coming, an account of the mili
tary purges of hc»nosexuals in the
1970’s and 1980’s just as jmeu-
monia was overtaking him in
1992. It was another well-writt^
and conscientiously documented
stwfy.
What Shilts was good at was
compiling facts to q>pose mere
opinion. He could make a
person’s story real and make the
reader hear the voices of real
people suffoing real pains. Like
the ^ilisted wcMnan whose chil-
drm were grilled by military in
vestigators during socoex jxactice.
Shilts is one of about 50,(XX)
Americans who will die this year
because AIDS has destroyed their
immune systems. Maybe he
wasn’t a great man. Maybe he
didn’t have any moie goodbocds
in him. But, damn, I wish be and
we had had the chance to find
out