page 8|
World Issues
Guns or Bread
by Tricia Forbes >
On February 6, a spokesman for
Bread for the World, a Christian
movement working to end hunger,
announced that the "Harvest of Peace"
Resolution was introduced in Congress.
The resolution, introduced by Senator
Hatfield of Oregon, Senator Dale
Bumpers of Arkansas, Representative
Matt McHugh of New York, and
Representative Silvio Conte, calls for
the United States to recognize the
significant changes taking place in
Eastern Europe and the improving
relations with the Soviet Union and to
redirect some of our nation's military
fimding towards ending world hunger.
Art Simon, president of Bread for the
World, claims that the Department of
Defense should reduce the billion
dollar contracts it has with.'over two
hundred colleges and universities in
America for military research and
development. The National Students
Campaign Against Hunger and
Homelessness immediately endorsed
the resolution.
"With the funding universities
received this year for the research and
development of weapons systems, our
nation could prevent millions of the
world's children from dying of hunger
and basic childhood diseases," said |
Simon in his statement.
The resolution also calls for the US to
reduce the amount of military
assistance and arms sales to developing
countries and to increase assistance to
these same nations to help them
overcome hunger and poverty,
promote human rights, and relieve their
debt burdens.
HARVEST OF PEACE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS reduced East - West tensions and renewed efforts for peace by
people in the Third World give the United States and other nations an
unprecedented opportunity to reverse the $1 trillion arms race and promote
peaceful development;
WHEREAS hunger victimizes about 20 million people in the United
States and 1 billion people worldwide; and
WHEREAS common security is based not only on legitimate defense
measures but also on all people having an opportunity to meet their basic
needs for food, shelter, health care, education and work with dignity; to
live in a safe and healthful environment; and to enjoy human rights,
including the right to participate in decisions affecting their lives: Now,
therefore be it resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), that:
A. It is the sense of the Congress that the United States should help
achieve common security by reducing the world's reliance on the military
and redirecting resources to peaceful efforts toward overconung hunger and
poverty and meeting basic human needs by:
1. Negotiating agreements with the Soviet Union for substantial and
verifiable reductions in overall military forces and spending, and
urging other nations to reduce their military forces and spending, with
the goal of halving worldwide military spending by the year 2(XX);
2. Reducing military assistance and arms sales to developing nations
and urging other nations to do likewise;
3. Encouraging peaceful settlement of conflicts through regional and
international negotiations;
4. Providing increased assistance to developing nations to overcome
hunger and poverty, to reduce debt burdens, to promote human rights
and people's participation in political decisions affecting them, to
ensure sustainable development, and to protect the environment;
5. Increasing support domestically for programs that address human
needs;
6. Helping defense industries and their employees convert to
productivity non-defense work; and
7. Reducing the federal deficit.
B. It is the further sense of the Congress that the United States should
make fostering common security, through the initiatives described in Section
arth Notes: Recycling
"The frog does not drink up the
pond in which he lives."
Native American Proverb
by Tricia Forbes
This column is the project of a new
club at Salem called Salem ECO
(Environmental Concerns
Organization). Every two weeks
we focus on a different
environmental issue, and we will
lave information on that issue
available to students in the
refectory. We will also sponsor
etter writing campaigns addressed
to Congress and manufacturing
companies to express concern about
our planet's growing environmental
jroblems. As today's students and
tomorrow's leaders, it is our
responsibility to be informed about
these issues so that we may take
well planned steps to stop the
deterioration of the Earth. We
will be placing boxes in every dorm
to collect glass, aluminum, plastic,
and newspaper to be recycled. Our
first issue of concern is recycling.
We invite every Salem student to
join, but even if you don't become a
member, there are still some
important things you can do to
make the earth a better place for
future generations.
It is time that we realize the
earth’s natural resources are
limited in supply; they won’t last
forever. We wastefully discard
many of these resources that could
be recycled and used again. We now
also face the problem of where to
put them when we're through;
we’re running out of space for our
garbage. According to the EPA,
every person in America produces
an average of 3.5 pounds of trash
daily. Our country's landfills are
dangerously approaching full
capacity, and studies predict that
over half of them will have to be
closed within the next ten years.
To alleviate this problem, we
must do two things. The first is to
practice source reduction, which
means to produce less trash to begin
with. Some small steps that will
help are writing on both sides ol
your notebook paper, buying a few
dishrags to replace paper towels,
and converting the endless supply
of memos you receive in you box
daily into scrap paper. When you
run to Phar-Mor for a few items, you
can use far fewer bags. Try taking a
cloth bag vdth you instead of using
paper or plastic. Although paper
bags are better than plastic
(littered plastic bags are
responsible for choking thousands
of animals a year) because they are
biodegradable, it makes no
difference once they reach a
landfill. Waste in landfills is not
exposed to the elements, so
conLonp. 9-Recycle
Easley Seeks Office
by Kara Hayes
Brunswick County District
Attorney, Mike Easley, one of the
candidates to run for Jesse Helms’
Senate seat in 1990, spoke at Wake
Forest University on February 15.
Easley won recognition as the sole
North Carolinian on USA Today's
December 27, 1989 honor roll of 50
Americans saluted for their
anti-drug efforts, titled "Winners:
Making a Difference in the Drug
War". Working to combat drug
trafficking and drug abuse is one of
Mr. Easley’s major concerns. The
drug problem should be combatted
by filling vacant federal
judgeships, educating all children
against drug abuse (as opposed to
the education of only 45%-50% of
children today), and increasing
rehabiliatation facilities. Easley,
founder of the first Rape and
Sexual Abuse conseling program to
be operated out of a District
woman’s right to choose an abortion
is a decision that "should be made
between a woman and her doctor -
not her Senator." In dealing with
the US deficit, Mr. Easley states
that the government must "get
away from gimmicks like Balanced
Budget amendments and the
Graham-Rudman Act" and get a
committment from everyone in
government starting with the
President, to work toward a
bi-partisan solution. Running a
clean campaign based on decency,
honesty and integrity is another of
Mike Easley’s goals.
"Mud-slinging" campaigns, in his
opinion are part of the reason
voters have stayed away from the
polls. He intends to confront the
issues that are of concern to the
average citizen. He stated that he
is a husband, father, and citizen
who cares about his state and
nation. Mike Easley wants people
to be able to say, "TTiis is a ^nator
T\nrv%