EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:
Steven Asbury
MANAGING EDITOR:
Thom Schoenbom
NIGHT EDITOR:
Jennifer Schmitt
EDITORIAL EDITORS:
Ashley Bach & Brian Diamond
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Don’t bet on
Sociai Security
■ OUR
OPINION:
Personal
savings, not
Social Security,
is the key to
future stability
A
As hard as it may be to imagine, to
day’s college students will be to
morrow’s senior citizens. And as
senior citizens they are going to
need some source of income to support
themselves in their old age. Most college
students might be under the impression
that Social Security will be that source of
income. Most college students are wrong.
Despite the fact that the Social Security
program was originally designed during
the Great Depression to support the elder
ly after they retire, today’s generation has
little chance of getting much out of the
system they will be paying into their en
tire working lives. The fact of the matter is
Social Security is going broke,
and no one has
much of a plan on
how to save it.
The reason So
cial Security is
close to bankrupt
cy revolves
around the type of
system it is. Unlike
a personal retirement
plan where one invests
oney into savings and
pulls from it when he or
she retires, Social Security is a
cross-generational transfer payment.
This means the working generation
pays for the retired generation with a So
cial Security tax. Then, if all goes well,
when they retire, the next working gener
ation pays for them. While the plan
sounds good in theory, it is flawed in
practice.
There are several problems with the
current system that, if they don’t bank
rupt the system, will severely weaken it.
One problem is that because people to
day are living so much longer than
they used to, it costs more to support
them. When the retirement age was
set at 65 over 50 years ago, most peo
ple didn’t live that long. Now with
people living into their 90s, there
are too many retired people receiv
ing benefits compared with the
number of people putting money
into the system. This problem
will be even more severe
when the baby boomers start
retiring and there is sud
denly an increase in retired people receiv
ing Social Security checks. Unless the sys
tem is somehow fixed, most people agree
it will be completely bankrupt by around
2044.
That means tough luck to today’s col
lege students who will be lucky to see
much of the money they put into the sys
tem. Even if Social Security is saved, it is
likely that most people will see far less
money than the retired enjoy today. In
stead of relying primarily on Social Secu
rity, young people today will have to
come up with other sources of revenue to
support themselves in their old age. And
given how little most people are saving for
the future today, that could be bad news.
Thinking about saving for retirement
when one is young is a hard thing to do.
College students aren't always sure what
they’ll be doing next week, let alone 40
years from now. But as hard as it is to be
lieve, almost everyone will be elderly
eventually, and when they are, they’ll
need something to live off on.
Unfortunately, for many people saving
for retirement is a luxury they can’t afford.
When all of one’s income is going to pay
expenses like tuition, rent and food, there
isn’t much chance to save. However, even
putting aside a small amount of money
into a retirement fund now is a smart
move to ensure future security. Setting
aside a little money today could save a lot
of hardships tomorrow.
Instead of seeing Social Security as
something that will allow retired people
to maintain the same lifestyle they en
joyed when they were working, we should
view it more like a welfare program for the
elderly. If this happens people will start to
see Social Security as something that
keeps the elderly off the streets, not a re
placement for personal retirement sav
ings.
It may seem too early to think about re
tirement, but it isn’t. People who hope to
have the same type of lifestyle they enjoy
now should seriously consider some type
of savings program for their future. Count
ing on the government to do it with Social
Security is a mistake most people can’t af
ford to make.
This editorial represents the opinion of the
Emerald editorial board.
Entail
us
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LETTERS
Coverage applauded
Congratulations to you and the sports
staff for putting out an excellent insert on
women’s and men’s basketball [ODE, Jan.
9). After spending over 30 years in
women’s athletics it is such a breath of
fresh air to see the women treated with an
even hand in terms of coverage. 1 haven’t
read it all yet, but I will. Thanks so much
for all your efforts!
Peg Rees
Instructor Physical Education
Faculty insensitive
In mid-November, I had the unhappy
duty of calling my son home because of a
death in the family. Unfortunately, it was
near finals time. Not only did my son have
to deal with mourning the loss of a dear rel
ative, but he also had to endure the skepti
cism and mistrust of faculty members who,
upon his return to campus, wanted to
refuse to give him his exams or allow any
other concession.
The mix of a deep personal loss, travel
ing in a storm and the frustration of not be
ing able to concentrate on studies because
of grieving made for a pretty stressful No
vember and December.
1 understand that some students try to
avoid tests and research paper deadlines by
lying to their instructors, but I really be
lieve that “what goes around comes
around.” In the meantime, what do the stu
dents learn who have truly experienced a
loss? That there is no understanding, com
passion or empathy left in the world? That
those who are supposed to teach them
have no grasp of humanity?
I would suggest if the University wishes
to have alumni who contribute to its en
dowments and students who encourage
others to attend the University, they might
train the insensitive faculty among them to
— at the very least — treat students like
valued clients. They do provide the facul
ty’s livelihood, after all. Every one of my
son’s instructors knew why he had been
called away. How kind it would have been
to have one of them 1) believe him and ex
press sympathy and/or 2) anticipate his
need by having a backup exam ready.
There are, on a daily basis, so many op
portunities to show kindness. I’ve always
considered it one of the real goals of a tru
ly liberal education. I would like to believe
I am not alone in this belief. I strongly urge
that, for those for whom it is appropriate,
some training in reverence for life be pro
vided at the University.
M. Catherine Smith
University Parent
■ In the Jan. 21
story on the Skin
ner Butte cross,
Attorney Bill
Wheatley was
falsely quoted as
saying “This
should not be up
on the hill where
it can trouble
non-Christians in
the community.”
University Law
Professor James
Mooney actually
said this. The
mistake was due
to an editing er
ror. The Emerald
regrets the mis
take.
■ The Jan. 21 ar
ticle entitled "PFC
controls alloca
tion of incidental
fees” excluded
certain facts, pos
sibly misrepre
senting the role of
the ASUO Pro
grams Finance
Committee in the
incidental fee
process.
The PFC has a
total budget of
$2,319,228 for
the 1996-97
school year. The
entirety of this
budget is allocat
ed to ASUO pro
grams. However,
about 25 percent
of the PFC budget
was allocated to
programs directly
by students on
spring ballot
measures. There
fore, the finance
committee has no
direct control
over this portion
of its budget.
The PFC’s bud
get constitutes
about 41 percent
of each student's
$135.05 per term
incidental fee. The
remainder of each
student’s inciden- j
tal fee is allocated j
to the EMU and
Athletic Depart
ment by other
student govern
mental bodies
and to subsidized
student services
by past ballot
measures.
The Emerald
regrets any con
fusion the article
may have caused.