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
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Editors-in-Chief
.;
lIlKoya Eliz#t
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i
Nathan Fisher
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' y *V 1
Business: Lauren Levine
Photo Editor: Cole Fiala
Section Editors
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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,
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MacNaughton, Ike McGin
nis, Kelsey Schrader, Mary
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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