Newspapers / North Carolina Wesleyan University … / Oct. 21, 1994, edition 1 / Page 5
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OCTOBER 21,1994 — THE DECREE — PAGE 5 Citizens losing faith in government By PATRICK BRANNAN “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” says the Declaration of Independence. Government gains its power from the people. This is true es- By ALAN P. FELTON I turned on the television last week and thought I was in the middle of a nightmare. It seemed that by some quirk of fate George Bush had become President again. Thankfully, I soon realized that the Texas weasel wasn’t back in power, it was only Bubba CHn- ton doing his best George Bush imitation. Yes, my fellow Americans, a new line has been drawn in the sands of the Middle East. America is once again sticking its middle finger in Saddam Hussien’s face and the mood in the region is get ting ugly. The question that remains is why are Americans so obsessed with Iraq and Kuwait? Is it be cause of the region’s oil? It should not be. If the United States lost all of its oil imports from Kuwait it could make up the difference pecially in America where we are blessed with the freedom of hav ing a freely elected govenmient both federally and on a local level. Yet the American people fail to exercise this great freedom we are blessed with. Why? It may be that the American experiment with our present structure of gov ernment has run out. " Opinim from the overflowing strategic oil reserve. Aside from that source, the world’s oil market is flooded and other oil exporting nations could continue to pump out all the black gold that we could ever need. Maybe, the United States is afraid that Iraq will end the reign of democracy in Kuwait. George Bush used that justification the last dme American soldiers faced off with Saddam. But guess what? Democracy has never existed in Kuwait and all that talk of popu lar elections being held for the Kuwaiti parliament was just that, talk. The emir still holds com plete power and women still can’t drive automobiles on the streets of Kuwait City. Wouldn’t ol’ Opinion Voter turnout is very low in America, the lowest of all coun tries that have free elections. Is it that people just don’t care any more or is it that the people real- Thomas Jefferson be proud! Bubba Clinton says that the United States cannot and should not be the policeman for the world and I do not believe that we are trying to be. Instead our inten tions are much more profane and vulgar. The United States is once again becoming an expansive and imperialistic world power. With the Soviet Union no longer around to check our hunger, America has become the bully of the new world order. However, imperialistic inten tions do not provide the complete answer for our actions in the Per sian Gulf. The United States is facing terrible problems on the home front. Crime, racism, the national debt, the homeless, and a host of other difficulties face Americans every day. Our politi cal leaders are paralyzed and un able to solve these challenges. With no light at the end of the tunnel, the slime of Washington use foreign affau^ to distract the American people. We are constantly faced with a barrage of good guy (United States) vs. bad guy (Haiti, Iraq, North Korea, and who knows who will be next) situations. These fab ricated foreign crises to do noth ing more than pump up the American people with patriotic fever and send us into the streets with glassy eyes and foaming mouths, drunk with blood lust against our newest ready made enemy. Meanwhile, American children still starve to death and hundreds lose their health insur ance each day. Bubba Clinton came to the White House with the intention of being a new kind of President. It is too bad that he is still read ing from the same script written by Bush and Reagan. Clinton sought to bring solutions to America’s problems. He failed and is now trying to save himself in the sands of Iraq. All Hail Bubba Clinton, the new Ameri can Caesar. ize the system has failed and therefore have no desire to vote in a system that has broken down? The federal government has grown to the point that it is inef ficient and wasteful. It may be time to call it quits and rebuild a new form of government. The federal government is so busy studying itself it can’t get any thing important done. During the 103rd Congress the Joint Com mittee on the Organization of Congress conducted a smdy that cost $695,000 for 36 hearings in volving 144 hours of testimony from 243 witness to offer recom mendations for a leaner, more ef ficient Congress (Hewsweek Oct. 17). This summer Congress spent weeks arguing over the amount of violence in the entertainment industry. The only reason they are going after music, movies, and television is because they can ac tually do something about the amount of violence in the enter- taiimient industry. The people we’ve sent to Washington know they can’t do anything to reduce the crime on the streets, at least nothing that would mean no rise in taxes. In stead they are going to tread on the First Amendment and attempt to regulate the amount of violence in movies and on television. The fact that the federal gov ernment has grown so big has left many important issues up to the state governments to solve. Maybe it is time for America to return to a form of government similar to that of the one after the By BETTY ANN WHISNANT What’s aU the fiiss about drink ing? Why shouldn’t college stu dents partake of a culturally ac ceptable substance that make them feel better like they “be long?” In America, drinking goes along with being good looking, being desirable, being physically fit, having fans, and making money. It’s all right there in the commercial. We don’t live in a commercial and the other things that go along with college drinking are down right ugly. • Nearly seven percent of col lege freshman dropouts are due to overuse of alcohol. • According to a 1988 survey, alcohol was included in 68 per cent of violent behavior, 52 per cent of physical injuries, and over 50 percent of rapes on campuses. • Of all students that have ever War for Independence. If the states had more power while the federal government became more of a foreign affairs department, our system of government may actually be able to deal with im portant issues. Thomas Jefferson argued this point almost 200 years ago. In 1798 he drafted the “Kentucky Resolutions.” Jefferson wrote that the federal government was granted, “certain definite pow ers,” while the states still had their right to self-government. The fact is that today the fed eral government in Washington is out of touch with the large part of American society. Yet they continue to force upon the loci government more and more fed eral regulation. The people in Washington don’t really know what is best for the entire coun try. They should let the states run their own business. People do control and hold the power in our present government system. Yet the problem remains that the federal government has become so big that the people’s voice is not heard. Only by a mas sive increase in voter turnout would anything change in the United States. Also if enough people start calling for a change in the system of government something may actually get done. It’s up to you and me. But at times it become necessary to face the facts and admit that a system has broken down. It may be get ting close to admitting that in America today. graduated or attended college, as many will die from alcohol re lated causes as will receive ad vanced degrees (masters or doc torates). Maybe students do need to know more about drinking than just what brand is for you. This is why the Psychology Club spon sors Alcohol Awareness Week at NCWC. This year it will blitz the campus with information about alcohol throughout the week of Oct. 19-21. The faculty have been asked to incorporate alcohol awareness into their classrooms. More information on alcohol treatment, legal issues, and effects will be at the Wellness fair. On Friday, Oct. 21 from 7 to 8 p.m. there will be an “Ounce of Prevention” party in the SAC. Cocktails, pizza, and tips from Janice Stump, RN on how to pre vent hangovers will be offered. Everyone is invited. Top Ten... Candidates for president of Wesleyan College 10. Richard Ratvitch — we can lock out the students. 9. Saddam Hussein — school for special terrorist train ing. 8. Bill Clinton — Foreign Affairs studies. 7. From Picket Fences Wambaugh — Dennis Wambaugh for the institutionally impaired. 6. Steven Spielberg — Forget the PAC, let’s build Juras sic Park. 5. George Bush — No new tuition increases. 4. O.J. Simpson — Community Service punishment. 3. David Letterman — I’ll be your president for $10 million 2. Ross Perot — I could endow the school in five sec onds. 1. Forrest Gump — Stupid is as stupid does. Clinton on way to evolving into new American Caesar Alcohol use hazardous
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Oct. 21, 1994, edition 1
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