The Behrend College collegian. (Erie, Pa.) 1993-1998, October 10, 1996, Image 3

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    The election as extension of capitalistic
by Adam Levenstein
Collegia* Staff
The presidential campaigns in the
United States are in full swing. Already
the mud-slinging has begun; Republican
Bob Dole complains about Democrat
incumbent Bill Clinton, and Clinton
whines about Dole, usually the issues are
the same ("Clinton is soft on drags!"
"No, Dole is soft on drugs!").
What are the real issues behind the
elections? Of course, "common sense"
would dictate that the budget deficit, taxes,
and crime would be the main issues. This
is, after all, what is stressed in the media.
Both candidates seem to stress their stance
on the issues as well (reduce the deficit,
taxes, and crime).
Yet if you look at the situation from a
scientific point of view, the main issue
behind every presidential campaign has
been the same-profits.
This may sound ridiculous; after all,
what does the Presidency have to do with
profits? The United States is a capitalist
country; there can be no doubt about this.
As is the case in any capitalist country,
by John Rossomando
Collegian Staff
What sort of credibility on the issue of
drugs can we give an administration that
has abandoned the drag war until recently.
During Bill Clinton's first three years in
office the drag war fell from the top
priority it had been in the Reagan and
Bush White Houses. The new
Administration gutted the Office of the
Drag Czar as well as virtually every other
Federal Drag Enforcement Agency.
President Clinton was so worried about
the Drug epidemic that he slashed the
Drag Czar’s staff from 146 down to 25.
Even the Office of White House
Communications had more employees
than the Drag Czar.
John Walters former acting Director of
the Office of National Drug Policy
testified before Congress in October 1994
that the Clinton Administration planned to
cut 625 federal drag enforcement positions
from agencies ranging from the FBI to the
Coast Guard.
by Dan Ester
Guest Columnist
I was sitting in the Wintergreen Cafe
when I came to a very disturbing
realization. I was wiping the comer of my
mouth with one of those brown paper
Natural Napkins, when it became obVious
to me the napkin must be made from
100% recycled toilet paper. Of course I’m
joking (hopefully!), and I must commend
Food A Housing on their attempt to
protect the environment by using recycled
paper napkins (that are abrasive enough to
sand diamonds).
What I don’t understand is why must
student clubs and organizations order food
for on-campus events from Food A
Housing? Does it really matter if clubs
get their food from Pizza Hut (for half the
price) or from the Wintergreen Cafe (for
half the taste)? I guess it’s not that I mind
the food they serve, it’s the fact that I
practically need to take out a loan if I want
a meal that will satisfy more than a
pigeon!
If it weren’t for the very nice people that
work there, I’m sure I’d organize a global
boycott against Food A Housing and all
their affiliates. The staff is always
friendly, even when their boss has just
sent someone to the flogging chamber for
being 0.23 seconds late.
But now I’ve gone off on a tangent (no,
I don’t mean sin/cos, in case there are
math people reading this. Oops-l'm a
math person).
Speaking of math, I went to a Math
Club meeting on Tuesday, Oct 1. It was
a member drive picnic, and yes, I went for
Bee burgers and weenies (no, it wasn’t
really Bee-Math Club piud Food A
Housing $42,839.36 for the food. But it
was Bee for for me, and that's all that
matters!).
As I was saying, I went for the Bee
grub, aid I was quite nervous’ at first
What do people do in Math Club? Would
we sit around and see who has the biggest
calculator? Would we have manual
computation races?
I was very relieved to find that none of
those things occurred. Instead, I had a
great time talking with my Blends, and I
totally enjoyed the most expensive burgers
in the known universe. I tad such a gnat
time, in fact, that I signed up!
What will I do in the future as a Math
Club member? I really don’t have the
slightest clue.
I guess that was another tangent
The real purpose of this article is not to
promote Math Club or run Food A
there are two main classes; the working
class and the employing class. The
working class works and the employing
class makes money, or profit, from the
products or services of the workers.
The government of the United States is
a capitalist government. By this I mean
that the government is not a working-class
government; rather, it is a government
that is made up of and represents the
interests of the employing or "upper"
class.
Clinton’s failure to fight drugs
The Clinton Administration seemed
more content with spending money on
drag education than enforcing our nation's
drag laws. The Dallas Star-Tribune
reported in February 1993, "The White
House National Security Council has
dropped the drug war from one of three top
priorities to No. 29 on a list of 29."
Even members of the President's own
party were concerned with the
Administration's lack of an effective drag
policy. Rep. Charles Rangell (D-NY) was
quoted by the Washington Times, "I’ve
Dan Ester’s World
Housing into the ground (even though that
would be GREAT fun!), but instead, I’m
here to review the second of the
Mathematics Seminar Series which was
September 26. Dr. Pamela Botts of
Behrend College was the speaker, and the
topic was “Spatial Pattern, Habitat
Characteristics, and Temporal Changes in
Chironomid Assemblages in Wetlands on
Presque Isle.” It took nearly five minutes
to announce the topic!
Botts has been at Behrend for seven
semesters. She has a Ph.D. in Biology
which she earned at the University of S.
Florida.
Her current research involves very small
organisms (always a dangerous word to
attempt to say in public) and how they are
affected by the changes at Presque Isle.
Botts explained that, for this research, you
must find the right organism.
I wonder if the researchers have a
cigarette after they find the right
organism? And my question is, isn’t
ANY organism good? Isn’t the WRONG
organism better than NONE??
ANYWAY, these organisms look like
small flies and are called chironomid
midges. They are related to gnats and
mosquitoes, and Botts insists they don’t
bite (but I’m sure that's what all the
unsuspecting bugbite victims are told
before they’re lured into this sort of
research).
The chironomid midges must find an
alternative habitat if their present location
becomes unsuitable. I wonder how you
tell if the habitat is alternative? Is there
Opinio
The vast majority of the elected officials
are candidates either of the Democratic or
Republican parties; both of which have
loyalty towards those with the most
money. This includes the Presidency.
This drive for profits is far from
national. Every lime the United States
sends troops to foreign soil, every time
the U.S. government wishes to help
"develop" a "Third-World" country, profits
are at the heart of its efforts.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ronald
Brown, who was killed while flying with
a plane full of U.S. business
representatives, was in Yugoslavia for
precisely this purpose.
When looking at politics from this
perspective, neither of the two major
parties seem to be much different. Both
agree that building big business is good;
during Sunday's Presidential debate
Clinton boasted about the growth of
several car makers under his
administration.
Some might say that the growth of the
big companies benefits the working class,
because it creates more jobs. However, a
quick glance at the economic situation
been in Congress for over two decades, and
I have never, never, never seen a president
who cares less about that issue."
The saying goes that the apple does not
fall far from the tree. Several Clinton
staffers failed their background security
checks because they had used drugs within
the previous five years or more.
In the Bush or Reagan White Houses
any hint of previous drag abuse was not
even tolerated. For example when it came
to light that Douglas Ginsburg, a Reagan
appointee to the Supreme Court had
experimented with marijuana in the 1970's
all hell broke loose. The media had a field
day with it and Ginsburg's name was
withdrawn by the President.
The Director of White House
Administration, Patsy Thomasson told the
Washington Times, "Eleven White House
staffers are in a special drug testing
program because of concerns about recent
drag use." The Washington Times also
reported on April 4,1995, "Of about 1000
FBI background checks of White House
personnel, more than 500 revealed
new-age music playing? Are there people
wearing grundgy, pseudo wanna-bc hippie
clothing? Are there men dancing together
wearing leather chaps and a G-string while
It's Raining Men blares from the
speakers??
All jokes aside, Botts’ presentation was
quite enjoyable! She has a very refreshing
sense of humor, and I didn’t notice anyone
in the audience falling into a sedated
stupor. And this time, they didn’t run out
of free cookies (Mathematical Seduction).
Now, for those of you who would rather
shave yourself with a chain saw than
attend a mathematics/biology seminar,
you missed a good presentation!
Don’t miss the next in the series,
tentatively scheduled for Thursday,
October 10, 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the Reed
Lecture Hall. The guest speaker will be
Dr. Michael DiSanti of NASA,
Goddard Space Flight Center.
Free cookies will be served, so we can
all enjoy delicious cookies while Food A
Housing rapes us. Sorry, Food A
Housing, but no one needs to be an
Organismic Researcher to be able to afford
your food!
Dan Ester is a senior MTHBD major.
He is a member of the National Gold Key
Honor Society, president of Trigon, aid
now a member of the Math Club. Please
send comments or hate-email to
ddelo4@email.psu.edu.
Food & Housing, you DO have a sense
of humor, don’t you?!? 1 was just
kidding. HONEST!! Please don't spit in
my food!!!
I CANT
REACH IT
Thursday, October 10, 1996 The Hehrend College Collegian - Page .<
eliminates this fallacy. During the past
few years, corporate "downsizing," or the
reduction of the work force, has been
dominant in industry. Another glance at
the records shows that while the laying off
of lens of thousands of workers has taken
place, the capitalists have gotten richer!
The "official" unemployment rate for
the-United States is currently 5.1 percent,
down form 6 percent a few years ago.
Often a reduction in this rate is used as
"evidence" of economic achievement by
the government.
This figure, however, only applies to
those who have lost their jobs in the last
-six months; how nice. One can only
guess the total number of people who
don't have jobs in this country.
Another example would be Mexico. A
capitalist country, Mexico’s economy has
collapsed over the past five years. The
poverty there has become unthinkable.
Since the depression began, the number of
Forbes-rccogm.ed Mexican billionaires
has increased from one to eight.
When you get right down to it, the
working class and the employing class
have nothing in common.
derogatory information that would have
prevented the people from obtaining
security clearances at the FBI, Department
of Defense or CIA.. .The FBI found cases
of drug convictions."
The cavalier attitude of the highest
office in the land toward internal drag
abuse is extremely disturbing. How can
we afford to turn a blind eye on drug abuse
in the President's own backyard.
The Clinton administration's lack of
Drag enforcement has taken its toll in the
form of higher numbers of drug users.
The Department of Health and Human
Services released an alarming report
concerning the dramatic rise in the abuse
of illegal drugs that has coincided with the
Clinton Administration.
In 1992 the rate of drug use among
youth between the ages of 12-17 had fallen
to 5.3 percent, an all time low. By 1995
the rate had doubled to 10.9 percent, an
increase of 106 percent!
The report also indicated that usage of
marijuana had increased by more than
double from 1992. Cocaine usage leaped
"f T f
nton up on education
Cli
by Kevin Schoolcraft
Collegian Staff
Chalk one up for Clinton and thumbs
down on Dole. No, this is not some left
wing liberal propaganda, but it is what
many universities ate probably saying
after the new appropriation was signed by
President Clinton. The new appropriation
sets education as a main priority.
According to the New York Times, this
new bill gives education "$28.8 billion
total for programs, 3.6 billion more than
19%. That money includes 7.6 billion
for college aid, a $1.3 billion increase
from fiscal 1996. There is also an
appropriation of $262 million, or 40
percent more than last year's amount of
$lBB million, for bilingual and immigrant
education programs."
A question that has many college
Republicans asking is, would this bill
have passed if Dole were still the GOP
leado? According to Leon E. Panetta, the
White House Chief of Staff, "It is pretty
clear that when Bob Dole did leave, we
were able to make some very successful
efforts, working with the new leadership
on the Senate side as well as the House in
trying to get the welfare reform bill done,
get die Kennedy Kassenbaum done, and
now this large appropriations agreement
enacted along with immigration reform."
This new appropriation shows insight
to where we are moving with education in
ways
What docs this have to do with the
presidential campaign?
As 1 noted above, both major parties-as
well as a number of the "third" parties
(Libertarian, Reform, Grcen)-represent the
interests of the upper class. There are few
truly working-class parties.
One such party, the Socialist Workers
Party (SWP), is running candidates in
opposition to the big business parties of
war and racism.
James Harris, a mcatpacker from
Atlanta, is the SWP candidate for
President. He is joined by Laura Garza
who was a steelworker before becoming a
full-time staff writer for The Militant
newspaper.
The purpose of the SWP campaign is
not to get elected; the problem is bigger
than that. Instead, the solution lies in
trying to create a system based on human
need rather than corporate profit. This
requires a united, educated working class.
By campaigning for working class politics
and against capitalism, the SWP and the
Young Socialists hope to attract people to
socialism and to build the socialist
movement.
by an astounding 166 percent between
1994 and 1995 compared to a sharp decline
prior to 1994. The usage of hallucinogens
such as LSD and PCP, among young
Americans shot up by 54 percent between
1994 and 1995. There has never been an
Administration as tough on crime and
drugs as the current one. Keep up the good
work Bill!
The Clinton drug policy has been
entirely irresponsible and its results have
been disastrous.
The previous two Republican
Administrations had successfully curtailed
the percentage of Americans who actively
used drugs.
I do see some merit in Clinton's
emphasis on education and action to
discourage usage of illegal drugs, but this
alone will not succeed. In fact this strategy
has been an utter failure.
The President's election year conversion
to old style drug interdiction can only be
explained as pure politics. If the President
were truly committed to fighting the drug
continued page 4
LimPAl ISHAN
this country. This bill alone, not only
allows more minorities to obtain an
education, but it also insures the students
presently attending college, that they will
continue their educational careers.
The upcoming election will decided
which president will lead us into the next
century.
Therefore, it is up to us to be well
informed about issues that will affect our
lives, while at the same time ignoring the
manipulative political ploys of special
interest groups like Philip Morris, that
cloud our perception. It is up to us all, to
look at every television commercial,
magazine advertisement and newspaper
article with an objective and critical
analysis. If we fail to use such a method
in judgment of the information that we
receive, then we become nothing more
than savants marching to the beat of
someone else's drum.