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Letters to the editor
Politics control everything
Dear Editor in Chief,
I'm sorry to hear that you are politically
illiterate. I was that way too. I hated
politics, I felt that government was just a
word and that politicians couldn't get
anything done and that their salaries were a
waste of money.
I didn't understand why we learned the
constitution made centuries ago by white
men. I didn't understand why the
government couldn't just print more
money to pay off the deficit. I didn't
understand why welfare wasn't reformed. I
didn't understand why we have two central
parties in Congress. I could go on
forever.
Dear Editor,
A response to Political Angst
When the founding fathers of this
country created our government, their
greatest challenge was to keep its ruling
body accessible to the everyday person.
Between the industrial revolution and our
country's technological advances in the
past 50 years, politicians who are
supposed to be the voice of the
government have put themselves on a
pedestal closing the government off to an
elite few. Although we live in the
greatest country in the world (and pay an
obscene amount of taxes to keep the
government running), the political system
has continually taken strides to displace
the average citizen and their role in the
government.
Party campaigns are built on a series of
half truths, changing opinions and flat out
lies. The diversification of this country
(since the government's inception) has
made it nearly impossible for a candidate
to build a campaign and stick to it. As a
result, the lay people in the United States
cannot keep up with the ever changing
stories and opinions. While the traveling
circus known as the United States
government and this year's 1996 campaign
trail is out on tour, the average men and
women in this country are forced to make
America is a democracy
Dear Editors of the Collegian,
I could not help noticing the article in
the last issue of the Collegian, Politically
Illiterate (and proudl. I was greatly
disturbed after reading this article, after all
I am an active member in the political
system that governs over this country, for
those who are unaware America is a
"democracy." I do not have enough space
to explain what a democracy is so I will
leave that for you to research. My first
comment would be in response to the
article's suggestion that only Young
Republicans participate in politics, I
would have to strongly disagree. I,
personally am a Democrat who
participates in local, state, and federal
politics. I am also an active member of
the Student Government. That is the
student organization that tries to perform
different activities that will benefit the
student body.
My second comment would have to be in
response to the idea that "a sweet little
'ole middle class Protestant white girl in
On political angst
Because of a general education
requirement, I took political science 001
and enjoyed it, and plan on taking more,
maybe even minoring in political science.
I watch CNN on occasion and I'm an
English major! I feel I can succeed as a
journalist, especially with a good
knowledge of politics.
I'm sorry you feel your "future does not
depend on [those] facts," because they do.
Politics is not just about Presidency and
Congress, it's everyday life, choosing a
college, a roommate, and even being editor
of a newspaper. If you think politics
don't affect you, you're wrong.
Are you saying you wouldn't care if
a living. Unable to participate in the daily
government hubbub, in most of our lives
the government has been reduced to a
nightcap on the evening, news. It is
during this evening nightcap that our
government has become nothing more
than a great source of infotainment.
Unfortunately, this is not what our
founding fathers had in mind and this is
not the reason that we pay millions of
dollars to keep this corrupt institution
running.
The government's demise over he past
century seems to go hand in hand with the
drop of political literacy in this country.
It is true that a bunch of college-aged kids
would rather be sitting around playing
with their portable Nintendo Gameboys,
but with all negative feedback floating
around the government like a black cloud,
what role would you want to play? There
is no encouragement to participate because
there are too many chefs in the kitchen.
There is no reason to pay attention to the
government because rarely do they get
anything accomplished.
In the past 125 years, the government
with all of its checks and balances has
become nearly as bad as our founding
fathers feared. While these "great" men
succeeded in keeping the power from an
elite few who could corrupt it, they instead
college does not make that big of a
difference in the entire political scheme."
Well your vote and participation does
matter, take for instance the 1994
Congressional Election in Connecticut's
Second District which was won by Sam
Gejdenson by a mere 21 votes. I think
Mr. Gcjdenson believes that every vote
counts. You may say who cares that is in
Connecticut, "I live in Pa. and attend a
state funded school." If that is your
attitude, well then, I have an answer to
that, take for instance Erie's own Phil
English, who by the way is up for
reelection, he won his campaign by 2%.
Do not forget that Mr. English is
supposed to make efforts at making Pa. a
better place, by bringing jobs to Pa.,
therefore creating more state tax money
which in turn effects your tuition. Now is
the idea of political awareness important
to your?
If you would like I could begin discussing
the international impact the
IGNORANCE could have on the future
Opinion
your rights were taken away or if you
couldn't get school loans, if schools was
segregated again, or even if you couldn't
have written the article in the first place.
I'm sorry, but if it weren't for politics, I
would be a slave.
I'm a strong minded middle class black
girl in college that will make a diffemnce
in this world and the political scheme. If
our generation has your attitude, we don't
have a future. I guess we'll just run
rampid without any laws and expect
someone else to take care of us.
I have never toured the White House,
but I will be in it someday.
Joneatra D. Henry
06 English
created an institution that is so large with
so political diversity, with the need for a
majority opinion before anything can get
passed, it has corrupted itself.
It is no wonder that you find yourself
politically illiterate with no regrets. You
are no different from what has rapidly
become a majority in this country. I
would imagine the short-term implications
are going to be pretty severe: many
brillantly gifted people who might be
considering a career in politics are
probably more apt to shy away rather than
cut through red tape for their entire careers.
Being the largest lull in American politics
since the signing of The Declaration of
Independence, it will be interesting to see
how our country looks back on the latter
part of American History in the 21st
century. Unfortunately at this time, with
our current political arrangements, this
future looks pretty bleak.
In 1989, Michael Stipe, the lead singer
of R.E.M., asked, "Should we talk about
the weather? Should we talk about the
government?" Six years later I'd have to
say, "The weather Michael, definitely the
weather!"
EJL
Baltimore, MD
of America. But I will not trouble you
with all that information, after all those
historical facts are worthless in some
Americans minds. My final point is that
if America is to have any say in the way
the world is run in the 21st century,
people better begin to develop a new
attitude, that idea of who cares is pure
stupidity. I am not trying to give a
lecture on the greatness of America, but
when citizens are given the ability to
express their opinion about the
government of their country and they
choose not to, I have a problem.
Sincerely,
Michael Zampetti
02 History
Thursday, March 21, 1996
The Behrend College
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Published weekly by the students
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at Erie The Behrend Coll = !e
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