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WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM
Letter to the Editor: No
Easy Day pubhation
presents no easy
decisions
RESPONSE TO "FORMER NAVY SEAL'S
POOR DECISION MAY BRING LAWSUIT"
PUBLISHED IN ISSUE 3
BY JEREMY RINKER
Visiting Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies
Despite Haejin Song's description of former Navy
SEAL Matt Bissonette's decision to publish a first-hand
account of his part in the raid that killed Osama bin
Laden as "poor" (see the Sept. 14 Guilfordian, pg. 10 -
Vol. 99:Issue 4), I believe his decision shows courage and
should instead be praised. Though I have not read the
book, I believe that the act of publishing his personal
account should be lauded as exemplar of democratic
citizenship, instead of lambasted as 'anti-American' and
■'subversive.' While Ms. Song does not go this far in her
Guilfordian opinion article (9/14/12 Guilfordian), her
statements assume, along with much of the American
public discourse about Bissonette's publication of No
Easy Day, that national security somehow trumps all else
when it comes to putting competing ideas in the public
sphere. Such opinions underscore the extent to which
the 'securitization' of our life, world and worldview
has occurred in this country. Just as important as Dana
Priest's and William Arkin's acclaimed reporting on the
"hidden world" of "Top Secret America" (i.e. the U.S.
Government's growing security apparatus) in 2010 (see
Washington Post, July 19-21, 2010), the seemingly more
benign discursive forms of speech we use everyday
have just as critical a role to play in the security regime
we construct and maintain. In a truly deliberative
democratic state shouldn't a diversity of stories about
historical events be encouraged and discussed?
By stories, I do not mean what we commonly conceive
of stories as subjective accounts that do not provide
clarity or deepen understanding about critical historical
or political events. Instead, by stories I am talking
about humankind's primary means of meaning making.
Stories, as far from sirhply subjective — and therefore
meaningless — for making change, are instead tiie best
means to challenge the security state, and concomitant
'securitization' mindset, that we all now live in complex
relationship towards. As parts of wider discourse^
stories, or narratives, in the words of Francesca Polletta
"smuggle explanation into description, thus obscuring
the fact that what came before a particular develc^ment
may not be responsible for it" (Polletta, 2006,182)'. In the
case of Mr. Bissonette's account, don't the wide circulation
of narrative accounts help us to make-meaning out of
confusing events? Don't such authoritative accounts
help to control the tendency to jump to the conclusion
that there is one correct or 'true' account of a series of
events and thus to the unquestioning assumptions that
some 'True' account justifies our actions?
While interpretation can certainly be tricky, the
political opportunity space provided by alternative
accounts of what we might consider common storylines
allows for a collective and deliberative re-telling of our
national discourse. Like many who read this, I was
shocked at the outpouring of nationalism the night that
bin Laden was publicly pronounced dead by our leaders.
If we are to change our national discourse about terror
and the all-invasive need for security we must demand
alternative stories from which to fashion new meaning.
The publication of Mr. Bissonette's narrative account
adds one more account to our attempt at meaning
making, and one more account is better tiian none.
OPINION
Has the American dream became disabledP
BY BRYAN
DOOLEY
Senior Writer
In 1931, James Truslow Adams, a
popular historian, coined the phrase
"American dream" in his book "The
Epic of America." He defined America's
dream as a better,
richer and happier life
for all our citizens.
For Americans with
disabilities, however,
achieving this dream
is nearly impossible.
According to the
American Association
of People with
Disabilities, 78
percent of people with
disabilities remain
unemployed.
Title I of the
Americans with Disabilities Act and
the Vocational Rehabilitation program
exists to guarantee equal access to
employment for equally qualified
individuals. However, the programs
do not address the attitude of many
employers.
"The major drawback in almost every
employment-related program is that
the focus is not placed on educating the
employers," said Jim Whalen, executive
director of the Adaptables, a Center for
Independent Living in Winston-Salem.
"In today's era of technology and
workplace variety, it is truly employer
and co-worker attitudes that create the
'real' barriers."
In addition to workplace
inadequacies, the government's
position on disabilities is also out of
date.
As a Social Security Income recipient,
I know the program is designed to
help support people with disabilities in
times when they cannot work. But in
reality, people can only qualify for SSI
if they are impoverished.
For instance, when I get a job, I lose
all my government support, including
access to health care. These are
disincentives to work. I am not alone
in this difficult situation. Most people
with disabilities share this experience.
The New York Times reported the
example of Mr. Crelia, an SSI recipient
who wants to work. A recipient of $506
monthly from the SSI program, he is
allowed to earn $85 through work,
while also receiving some assistance
toward his rent and food expenses. If he
surpasses the $85, his check is reduced
by $1 for every $2 he earns.
If his income reaches $1,097 a month,
he will no longer be eligible for any cash
SSI benefits at all. So he must be poor,
or he must give up all government
support. Mr. Crelia is never permitted
to have more than $2,000 in the bank.
This restriction places the trappings of
a middle-class life — a car, a modest
home, a family — far out of reach.
So where is his American dream?
It makes no sense for Americans to
continue in this system.
"If you went to an employer and
said, 'We have a group of people who
are well trained, often pre-screened,
used to working collaboratively as well
as showing creativity in getting things
done — but you cannot hire any of
them,"' Whalen asked, "How do you
think employers would react? In short,
in a competitive marketplace we cannot
afford to discount any resource."
In many ways, I and many other
people with disabilities represent the
American dream.
I have been in some form of school
since the age of two, improving
myself through education. I have won
numerous scholarships over the course
of my academic career. I have earned a
chance to have a job and be a productive
member of American society."
However, the current system
prevents me from working and having
a savings account, things non-disabled
people do not have second thoughts
about. These two things are essential
elements of achieving the American
dream.
And everyone deserves the same
chance to achieve the American dream.
Error loading page: Internet too slow
BY NATAtlE
SUTTON
Staff Writer
We've all been there: relentlessly pressing the "refresh"
button on the computer screen, hoping that, this time, the
page will actually load, cursing yourself as the panic sets in
that your, assignment will be late because Moodle refuses
to open, or desperately trying to Google
something in order to do research for a
paper,.
It's no secret that the Guilford Internet
can be extremely aggravating for both
students and faculty.
"The Internet here is really inefficient for
me to get any work done in a good amount
of time because I'm constantly worrying
about how slow the Internet is and not
about what I'm writing," said senior Leia
Gaskin-Sadiku. "It's really frustrating."
Vyhen it was time for midterms this
semester, the Internet really took a turn for
the worse. The Moodle page wouldn't load at all and neither
would any other Guilford-related Web pages.
During one of the most pertinent times for a dependable
Internet, many students found that pages like Facebook
and Twitter would load, but they were unable to log onto
Moodle to download any needed material.
The Internet problems cause frustration amongst faculty
as well because they are often just as reliant on the Web as
students are.
"I'm a professor who uses technology as a crucial part
of my courses," said Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre
Studies Chad Phillips. "I have found it difficult to be
rigid with assignment deadlines when there are internet
connectivity problems and updates and outages to Moodle,
where it is not only unreliable, but the interface is often too
complicated for many non-traditional students."
Many times teachers are unable to efficiently use the
Internet in class, and it can be frustrating for everyone.
"The lack of good internet is disruptive in class because
teachers often try to pull up YouTube videos or links, and
it just takes forever," said senior Adelaide Ayers. "Some
students even come to my house off-campus during exam
times to do work because they're unable to do so on
campus.
It seems ridiculous that students would feel the need to
go off campus in order to do school work, yet many find
there is no other option if they want to be able to finish tasks
in a reasonable timeframe.
So who's really to blame for all the frustration?
Many people find it easy to blame IT&S and their office
is constantly flooded with complaints about internet issues,
but according to Ian Hulsey, level II support technician help
desk, solving internet inefficiency is one of their main goals,
and they work on improving the server constantly.
"It's one of our number one priorities to stabilize the
infrastructure of the campus network ... so that includes
everybody being able to get online, everybody being able
to get to what they need to get to, and to most of what they
want to get to," said Hulsey.
The unfortunate Internet shutdown during midterms was
completely out of IT&S' control.
"We have had some hardware issues in the past several
weeks that haven't been planned obviously," said Hulsey.
"It's definitely not something we're unaware of. We're super
aware of it because it keeps us from doing what we need to
do too."
While it is good to hear that IT&S is doing their best to
solve the issues. I'm still not convinced that we will see any
significant changes.
Unfortunately, every semester I've attended Guilford,
I've heard countless complaints about the internet and every
semester. I've heard countless promises for a better, faster
internet, yet I've still not seen any kind of improvement.
Maybe instead of dropping loads of money in trivial
areas, such as the construction of a fish tank in the Quakeria,
or yet another flat-screened TV in the Grill, Guilford should
work on providing a satisfactory Internet for its students
and faculty. Perhaps our resources should be going into
more essential realms of an educational enyironment.
Considering the fact that a dependable internet connection
is imperative in today's academic setting, I do hope that
Guilford will put fixing this issue at the top of its priority
list and actually generate some kind of improvement before
we all pull our hair out.