EDITORIAL
Welfare advances
into computer era
The Clinton administration hopes to usher America's
ailing welfare programs into the next century with the
introduction of a nationwide computerized benefit dis
bursement network. The plan will utilize existing bank
ing technology to deliver billions of dollars in benefit*
via a government-issued ATM card.
Developed under the auspices of Vice President Al
Gore, tho system, known as Electronic Bonefits Transfer,
will issue welfare benefits and food stamps through ATMs
and retail polnt-of-service outlets. Socinl security and vet
eran's benefits would eventually bo integrated into the
system.
The administration says the transfer system could even
tually distribute up to Sill billion a year nationwide.
The cost to expand the system over the next throe years
is estimated at $B3 million. Despite tho price tag. pro
ponents of tho new system say it could save ns much as
$195 million a year when fully implemented.
A first-year review of Maryland's transfer system
revealed a moderate decrease in overhead costs and a 42
percent decrease in fraud. Development of a national sys
tem prototype will begin later this year, with initial test
ing slated for nine Southern states. Tho administration
says standard transfer system services should be avail
able to all recipients by 1999.
The now computerized system will drastically roduco
rod tape and the burden on the already overwhelmed
social service agencies. Another benefit lays in the abil
ity to electronically audit individual wolfare benefits —
making the tracking of fraudulent claims easier to track,
document and eventually prosecute. This instantaneous
computer auditing ability will certainly wreak havoc
on those who abuse tho current system. After all, Mary
land's incidence of fraud dropped by almost half in just
one year under tho transfer system.
Tho real winners are legitimate welfare recipients. Many
do not possess bank accounts where funds can be direct
ly deposited. Check-cashing companies prey on these
individuals, ofton charging exorbitant fees to cash wel
fare checks.
Costs to taxpayers should also decreaso. The sheer vol
ume of paper generated in the federal and state welfare
programs is astronomical. Keeping the information dig
itized will save tons of paper and end the writing of tons
of thousands of welfare benefit checks each month.
But the system is not without pitfalls. Details have
yet to be provided on whether tho government will uti
lize existing, privately owned ATM outlets, or if separate,
welfare-specific automated machines will be furnished
at substantial cost to taxpayers. If the latter is the case,
tho projected $195 million In savings becomes a moot
point. Additionally, undercurrent law. consumers whose
ATM cards aro lost or stolen can ho reimbursed for all but
the first $50 if they report tho theft or loss within two
days. The Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Feb
ruary exempted transfer system cardholders from that
statute for three years. This leaves the system wide open
for the fraud it purports to curb.
Oregoti Daily
Emerald
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OPINION
Your education is up to you
LIA JtALClCCIA
I'll spare you the sentimental
retrospective. I'm t.orlain that
you'd like nothing less than
to read a self-indulgent trip
down memory lane regarding
my fun and wacky days os a
columnist at the Emerald. You
aren't interested in the fad that I
really do like men and that I'm
the only one in this office who
ever opens the windows.
Besides, there is too much to
say without reflecting on the
past Our present and our future
deserve attention
Kspet lally when it comes to
education. After three years at
this institution, I realize that
higher education is a frai tion of
what it could be, and we all are
suffering for it. You don't need a
fat tual rundown of Measure 5 or
gloomy statistics about literal \
rates in the U S to know that
our generation is getting the
educational shaft
We need more money in every
level of education and we need
it now1, hut guess what' We
aren't getting it any time soon
The odds are against us using
our university degrees for any
thing except material for intelli
gent bar chatter.
But the choice is ours whether
we are going to let those over
whelming odds stack against us
and force us into a humdrum
and complacent existence.
Wake up. Nobody is going to
make sure that you are educated
enough to survive m the world
hut yourself Nobody is going to
teach you what you need to
learn in order to he an intelli
gent and employed human
being Everyone is too busy Irv
ing to teach you what they think
you should know
If you aren't getting the edu
cation you want, if you are
Inired in school, if you think you
are wasting your money, it s
your fault. You are not alone,
hut it is still your fault. Your
mult lor letting people lake
away your dreams, your fault for
settling on a mediocre existence.
How dare they take thousands of
your dollars in order to provide
an environment conducive to
daydreaming in class? How dare
you let them?
Feminist theory teaches us
that underrepresented and
oppressed people must reclaim
their own education and loam
on their own about the cultures,
histories and theories that the
writers of textbooks don't think
we should know Magic teaches
us that if we conceive and visu
alise a thing with enough perse
verance. we will imagine that
thing into reality.
Now is the time for the strung
of heart to imagine our
reclaimed education into exis
tence and for the vigilant to
carefully guard that dream.
The world is changing. More
significant for us right now, the
country is changing. Whites and
men will have to compete with
people of color and women for
jobs more than ever before The
work force of tomorrow will
look and sound a lot different
than that of today, and it's up to
us to keep up In order to sur
vive, the students today will
have to share space with people
who not only are foreign, but are
also people with whom they
morally disagree
Universities have responded
with multiculturalism ns a way
to help everyone understand
each other. Hut for as many peo
ple that there are who toss
around the word "multicultural
ism.” there is a distinct theory
about what the word means and
how it will lie implemented into
education.
1 worry that at this school,
multiculturalism will be vet
another opportunity to discuss
negative stereotyping of under
represented people and nothing
more I worry that it will be an
exc use to concentrate on these
negative stereotypes and then to
lay blame on all the bad people
who perpetuate them I worry
that at this s< hool multicultural
ism will, instead of encouraging
understanding of different cul
tures, divide those cultures fur
ther.
It's a tricky thing to teach peo
ple how. people are thu same
ami also how people are differ
ent But in the realm of the
imagination, where the vigilant
soul wakes up and takes charge
of its own education, all of these
things are possible.
But it starts with a fundamen
tal change in the way that peo
ple receive education. Sure it
would be great if the way it was
given (large, boring lecture
classes, standard multiple
choice tests, very little teacher
student interaction) could
change, too But by the time that
happens it will be too late for
those of us in school now.
What if everyone in class
started asking the questions they
really wanted to ask hut wore
afraid to? It's hard to Ihi assertive
in a classroom, espec ially if the
instructor looks bored with your
feedback or if there is a general
air of complacency and apathy
in the room Imagine a world
where we all asked what we
wanted to and forced informa
tion-givers to he accountable for
what they spout. As of now, we
nod, take notes, memorize facts,
assuming that they are true
because someone behind a
lectern says them.
Imagine a world where we got
involved with our education
and challenged the assumptions
of that mind tiehlnd the lectern.
Where we brought our own
overlooked knowledge into the
class. Where we dare to sav
things that are not politically
correct and are challenged by
others who are offended by it
Where communication wins
over prejudice Where debate
wins over complacency. Where
critical thinking of what we are
taught rises victorious, and con
formity takes a hike.
1 will repeat for the last time
that you are the sole person in
i barge of your own education
Don't be too blind to the politics
that influence what goes on in
your classroom. Don't make the
mistake of letting your education
push you hack into a chair, tell
you what to think and then lull
you to sleep Rather, get into its
face, grab it hv the collar, shake
it roughly and growl, "teach me.''
After all. we’re paying for it
Ua Salcicaa is (nasi a colam
nisi far the Emerald.