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About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2006)
6 October Student Opinion Matters Americans must reach out to help African problems u S ache H opkins Staff Reporter For many years the people of the continent of Africa have struggled, fought and suffered. Slavery, war, genocide and disease have ravaged a place that is a mystery to most. Africa is where the pharaohs ruled and humanity began, where the Nile flows at the cradle of civilization, and yet the world has forgotten it. Now it is the time for America to get involved. It is our moral responsibility to help those who cannot help themselves. Many are aware that there are problems in Africa, but few know the extent of the issues. The problems affect children, adults, the environment, the economy and animals. Africa is home to 80% of the world's children living with AIDS. Last year alone 2.3 million Africans ' died from the disease. That is the equivalent to the population of West Linn... 97 times over. AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease, but many in Africa receive the disease through unsterile needles used for vaccinations, or * are born with it because their parents had it. Malaria is another incredibly serious disease that is contracted through female mosquito bites. repayment than they spend Most medicines have on health care. African been ineffective or are too countries cannot afford to expensive for people to buy. Africans have tried to encourage J T Th e b ig g e s t p ro ble m the use of preventive is not the disease, or the strategies, such w a r, but our ignorance; as sleeping under the ignorance of those who mosquito nets, but many cannot afford can help. one. Malaria is more common in pregnant women take care of their people and children. In because they are constantly Africa, an adult dies paying off growing debt. of malaria The United States every 15 certainly has contributed seconds. to Africa's cause, more In the than most countries, but time it compared to the size of the takes you to problem, the size of our help say the word has been wholly inadequate. "malaria" ten The war in Iraq is currently children costing Americans about $2 contract billion a week. Whereas only the disease $2.4 billion was donated by and begin the U.S. for AIDS in a year. a usually Despite the apathy the fatal battle world has shown, some with it. are going beyond the call Africa's of duty to do what they problems go can. U2 rock star Bono has beyond disease and many taken Africa's problems countries are in a debt into his own hands and is cycle, they currently spend currently urging the Bush four times as much on debt administration to give three billion to fight AIDS. Bono was also a huge supporter of the Live 8 concerts that happened over the summer of 2005. Musicians gave free concerts around the world while three billion people watched on 182 television stations there, or at home, to raise awareness of the poverty around the world, particularly in Africa. The concerts took place just before the G8 summit, involving eight countries of world power, meeting over important global issues. The biggest problem is not the disease, or the war, but our ignorance; the ignorance of those who can help. The first thing Americans can do is to become educated on the issues. That way they can understand what they are doing to contribute to the problem and also what they can do to help solve them. We must remember that most of us in West Linn live privileged lives and we all need to stop and take the time to do what we can because it will make a difference. Electronic voting machines are laughably easy to hack u N athan F isher co-Editor-in-Chief Have you ever wondered how they count all the votes in the many elections for our government officials and laws? It may surprise you to hear that back in 2004 over one third of the country used electronic voting machines, most didn't even leave a paper trail. Maybe that doesn't scare you yet, but it should. The software used on these machines is closed source, which means only the people making money on them can see exactly how the software computes and handles votes. Any hacker can tell you that if w ki West Linn High School, 5464 West A Street, West Linn, OR 97068 (503) 673-7843 ‘ fax: (503)657-8710 • wlhs-amplifier@wlhs.wlwv.kl2.or.us The Amplifier is published approximately every four weeks by the West Linn High School Advanced Journalism class. Opinions expressed in commentaries and editorials represent only those of the writer, and are not necessarily the opinions of West Linn High School, its administration, faculty, staff, or student body. Editors-in-Chief .; lIlKoya Eliz#t - i Nathan Fisher JjJLauren Levine ' y *V 1 Business: Lauren Levine Photo Editor: Cole Fiala Section Editors News: Lauren Levine Forum: Sarah Chicoine Features: Roya Elizeh Entertainment: Mike Gorgone Technology: Nathan Fisher Staff Reporters Margaret Adams, John Campbell, Emmalie Cox, Hilii Ciavarelio, Christopher Erbin, Chris Garfield, Jacob Gianuzzi, Russell Hill, Sachie Hopkins, Nicole Hutchinson, Logan Kelly, Simon Kirch, Hillary Krippaehne, Calley Lathrop, Jaimie Lorenzini, Sydney MacNaughton, Ike McGin nis, Kelsey Schrader, Mary Scofield, Megan Stump, Kate Tolan, Lexi Welp Photographers Sarah Chicoine, Malta Chong, Cole Fiala, Chris Garfield, Nicole Hutchinson Adviser AnnBreyne it has software, it can be hacked. Think of Windows XP, one of the most used pieces of software in the world, which is still hacked all the time despite it being out for more than five years. These voting machines and their software certainly haven't been around that long, and yet many states are chomping at the bit to get them. Earlier this year the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University's law school released a report detailing the state of electronic voting. A excerpt from the report: A ll o f the m ost commonly purchased electronic voting systems have significant security and reliability vulnerabilities. All three system s are equally vulnerable to an attack involving the insertion of corrupt software or other software attack programs designed to take over a voting machine. Wireless components on voting machines are particularly vulnerable to attack. The report finds that machines with wireless components could be attacked by "virtually any member of the public with some knowledge of software and a simple device with wireless capabilities , such as a PDA." The report also makes several suggestions for improving the electronic voting process, but as it stands, it is far too insecure for mainstream use. Electronic voting scares me, and it should you, whether you are conservative, liberal, Republican, Democrat or Libertarian. We all vote and we should be able to trust that our vote counts. Many states are adopting electronic ballot machines despite evident security risks. Courtesy of internet
