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Obama and
Romney Deliver
Convention
Speeches in
Charlotte and
Tampa
Alexus Stout, staff writer
Republican presidential nominee
Mitt Romney and Republican vice
presidential nominee Paul Ryan both
spoke at the Republican National Con
vention in Tampa, Florida on Thurs
day, August 30, 2012 about their plan
to make America a better country. If
elected, they aim to improve the next
generation by giving the young op
portunity and giving the old security.
Romney cited statistics that 1 out of
eveiy 6 Americans is living in poverty
with an overall poverty rate of 15.8
percent to support his argument that
“in the richest country in the history
of the world, this Obama economy
has crushed the middle class.” Rom
ney ended his speech stating “a better
future begins on November 6th, 2012,”
promising to help American families, if
he is elected president.
Romney’s speech was not lauded by
fans or detractors, as illustrated by the
title of a New York Daily News article:
“Romney polls stagnant after GOP
confab, and his acceptance speech
rated worst since 1996.” In the article,
Johnathan Lemire reports that only
38% of listeners surveyed by the GOP
speeified that Romney’s speech was
good. While the GOP believed that
Romney’s speech was would help him
surpass President Barack Obama in
popularity, as of Monday, September
10, 2012 the Huffington Post Election
Dashboard polled Obama at 46.7%,
only one percent higher than Romney.
President Obama’s speech at the
Democratic National Convention in
Charlotte, NC on September 6 was
largely lauded as a success, although
it did not improve his standings in
polls (the Huffington Posts has him
at 46.7% since September 2). One of
Obama’s key arguments was that “on
every issue, the choice you face won’t
be just between two candidates or two
parties; it will be a choice between two
fundamentally different visions for the
future.” He argued that contrary to
Romney’s attacks, he wants to stabi
lize taxes for middle class citizens and
raise taxes for —cont on page 2
Closing image of the NRSC ad “President Obama’s First Ad of 2012”
Campaign Advertising: Who
can you trust?
News Analysis — Over the sum
mer presidential campaign ads have
increasingly flooded national media
outlets. According to The Washington
Post campaign spending tracker, $416
million has been spent on campaign
advertising and eighty percent of that
total has been used to produce ads
which portray the opposing candidate
in a negative light. With two months
to go until elections, OpenSecrets.org
reports that an estimated $2.5 billion
will have been spent on advertising this
presidential election season — if the
80% proportion continues, that’s $2
billion on negative ads. While modern
citizens are used to the distortion of
reality in contemporary media, in the
whirlwind of the election, voters often
find it difficult to sort fact from fiction.
A study by Vanderbilt University and
YouGov that found that 40% of Ameri
cans think negative ads are untruthful,
but the ads leave suspicious viewers
little recourse to decipher the facts and
determine the truth, leading observers
to wonder to what extent voters can
use campaign ads to make informed
decisions on election day.
Last spring the National
Republican Senatorial Committee
(NRSC) produced a satirical television
ad titled “President Obama’s First Ad
of 2012.” A voiceover begins, “Today,
we celebrate a president that brought
Americans together, [and we] celebrate
an end to our dependence on American
energy.” An image of a gas station sign
appears with all prices above $4.00 a
gallon, and Obama is quoted saying.
Monique Kreisman and Shea Pierson
“The oil you recently discovered off the
shores of Brazil—we want to be one of
your best customers.” The voiceover
continues, “Who consults with key de
cision makers...” Footage from the BP
oil spill is shown, and an interviewer
is heard asking, “The CEO of BP?”
Obama responds, “I have not spoken
to him directly.” The voiceover carries
on, “...to tackle the great challenges of
our generation.” Footage is shown of
Obama filling out an NCAA bracket.
The voiceover states," Devised a break
through method to honor his promise:”
Obama finishes the sentence, “To cut
the deficit by half by the end of my first
term in office” An image of the national
debt clock at $14 trillion is displayed.
The voiceover announces the method:
“Spend more.” Vice President Joe
Biden speaks, “We’ve got to go spend
money to keep from going bankrupt?
Yes.” The voiceover concludes, “Presi
dent Obama—four more years.” Here,
the ad concludes with an outrageously
satirical punch—Obama riding a uni
corn over a rainbow.
Are the claims made in this ad
exaggerated, or are they grounded in
reality? Republicans assert that Obama
has abandoned the effort to reduce de
pendence on foreign oil by spending a
large amount of money on Brazilian oil,
but during his term, oil imports have
decreased. An article from Whitehouse.
gov explains the statistics: “In 2010,
the United States imported less than
half of all oil consumed - a first in 13
years...In the last year alone, we have
cut net oil imports —cont on page 2
Food Waste
Expert Speaks
to IVIeredith
Community
Larissa Icard, staff writer
Jonathan Bloom, author of Ameri
can Wasteland, spoke to an eager
crowd of community members from
Raleigh and surrounding areas on
August 30 in Ledford Hall. The book
discusses the amount of food that
Americans waste, and Bloom reported
that inspiration for the work origi
nated when he began volunteering at
a charity organization in D.C. called
Central Kitchen and first learned about
the process of food recycling.
Inspired to beginning extensive
research on food production and waste
in the United States, Bloom found
that annually, Americans waste as
much as 40% of the food they intend
to consume amounting to around $100
billion of food wasted each year.
A prime culprit for food waste
in the increase in American portion
size. The large portions Americans
pile on their plates and then do not
consume are sent to waste landfills
after meals — a result Bloom deems
unethical. Bloom posed the question,
‘Why should I care where wasted food
is sent?’ and, to food recycling advo
cates like himself, he said the answer
is simple: Because the effects of food
wasting are harmful not only to the
economy, but the environment as well.
Food that is sent to landfills piles up
in large heaps, prohibiting the food
from decomposing properly. Lack of
air to the decaying of food; results in
an abundance of the greenhouse gas
methane which has negative elfects on
climate change.
Not only does landfill waste have
atmospheric effects, it also squanders
our natural resources. Bloom reported
that the amount of food wasted an
nually accounts for 4% of U.S. energy
consumption. Every year, the amount
of food-related oil wasted is seventy
times the oil lost in the devastating
April 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil
spill disaster.
More startling is that even with all
of this food wasted Americans today
are hungrier than ever before. Accord
ing to Bloom, nearly 15% of all Ameri
cans live in food insecure homes. If we
were to redistribute a mere 2% of the
food we waste, —cont on page 7
IN THIS ISSUE
State and Local: ACC Preview (page 2), NC Gubernatorial Race (page 3), SPARKcon (page 3)
Arts and Entertainment: Fall Film Preview (page 4), Ask Gigi (page 4), Review of Premium Rush (page 5), GirlTalk Exhibition (page 5)
Campus Life: Soccer Coverage (page 6), Meet Heidi LeCount (page 6)
Opinion: Laptop Policy, Campus Dining, PLEN