Social programs should be last to the slaughter
By Dave Holmes
Editor-In-Chief
Let’s say, by the hand of some unsmiling
fate, that an ordinary person such as you or
I got to be President of the United States.
Don’t ask how, just be the President. And
the first .thing that your all-knowing aide
tells you is that you have to cut the budget.
“What?” you say in dismay, “Are we
eating too much? Is Air Force One not fuel
efficient enough?” Your aide tells you that
he’s talking about the Federal Budget. You
know, spending and stuff like that.
You’re at a loss. After all, you’re new on
this job. All you have to go by is what your
predecessors have done. The last man at the
helm was...uh...an actor, but his name
doesn’t come readily to mind. What was he
thinking about while being informed by his
top aides?
Mr. Reagan (you knew it all along, right?)
had a set of priorities, which are usually
good to have a set of. Anyway, Reagan
thought that it was a good idea to be
“strong”. So, he decided to try and cut back
on anything that wasn’t a weapon.
“A dam isn’t a weapon,” he reasoned.
And he was right. So Mr. Reagan tried to
sell the Bonneville Power Administration,
and all of it’s complexities, to the private
sector. The only man who had the nerve
(and the eight billion dollars) was Ted
Turner, but he was only interested in huge
television corporations.
Selling things, reasoned Mr. Reagan, was
not the way to go. So he decided that those
awful welfare programs had to be gotten rid
of. After all, those college kids on federal
financial aid just spent all of that money on
buying records and beer and hot tubs.
And what about those old people on
Social Security? Hey, they just blew it all on
food and heat. And so what if it really was
their money, money they had paid into the
program for more than a few years? They’d
never miss it anyway.
And, oh, it had almost slipped his mind,
those weak-kneed vagrants that called
themselves “The Unemployed.” They can
get work. There are plenty of jobs. Like
McDonalds. If they put in an honest 22 hour
day over the grill they’d make plenty of
money. That means he could do away with
foodstamps, federally-funded relief pro­
grams, and all sorts of welfare programs.
But before your predecessor could get the
ball rolling (that was one of his problems)
and allot less to you and more to dispas­
sionate weaponry, his term was up. Even
though he had the nuclear capability to blow
the earth out of orbit 7 or 8 times, he just
couldn’t resist a few more toys. But this is
about you, not your predecessor.
So what are you going to do? Your aide is
waiting for a reply, your press secretary is
begging you for an “official word,” and the
people, the folks who you are ultimately ac­
countable to, are waiting, too. The concern­
ed ones have written you letters. Others lob­
by in congress. And remember, Mr. Presi­
dent, you have ALL of them, not just the
rich and militaristic ones, to think about. I
think if you keep that in mind, cutting the
budget won’t be too hard of a task.
News
Contract
conflicts
continued from page 1>
Beginning of winter term marks return of students to College campus.
Photo by Dan wheeler
Two ASG senators axed due to GPA
By Dave Holmes
Editor-In-Chief
Associated Student Govern­
ment President Daniel Hilts
maintained his ‘by-the-book’
policy of government by an­
nouncing the dismissal of two
ASG senators and the proba­
tion of three other ASG
members for violation of
academic requirements in a
Jan. 9 meeting.
Sen. James Hardy and Sen.
Shannon Roberts were releas­
ed from their duties by a
review committee after they
were found to have not met
the ASG Constitution’s re­
quirement of six completed
January 14, 1986
credit hours and/or a 2.0
grade point average. ASG Vice
President Shawn Watterburg,
Sen. Stefanie Weaver, and
Sen. Pattie Groombridge were
placed on probation by the
review committee which con­
sisted of Hilts, Director of
Student Activities Deborah
Baker, Counselor Vince Fit­
zgerald, and two unnamed
ASG senators.
ASG Advisor Paul Kyllo
said that Roberts was going to
resign since she was planning
to transfer to Lewis and Clark
College in Portland, but he
called Hardy’s removal “a
tragedy.
“He received the full award
for his (participation),” Kyllo
said of Hardy. “He was
released for solely academic
reasons.” Kyllo said that Har­
dy had been experiencing a
number of personal problems
in the last month and was
unable to maintain his usual
academic standard.
Hardy had appealed to the
review committee, but was
turned down.
The officers on probation
remain so for the rest of the
school year. They may not ap­
peal for probationary status
again this year, and according
to the constitution, will be
removed from office for any
further violation of the
academic standards.
“We went by the
By-Laws,” said Hilts of the
committee’s actions. Hilts,
who campaigned on a
‘government-above-the-table’
platform last year, was visibly
distressed by the committee’s
decision, but said that it had to
be done.
Kyllo, in reflection, said
that there wasn’t one ASG ac­
tivity this year that he could
remember that Hardy was not
involved in. “Jim was ex­
emplary,” Kyllo said, “a
senator’s senator.”
‘grievance money,’ Baker
said, “Well, yes. I suppose so.
It seemed to be a reasonable
compromise.”
Jacobs denied any wrong­
doing and said that he did
what he felt was necessary to
get the most he could out of
the money he had to work
with.
Kyllo, who questioned
Levin’s behavior in terms of
procedure, said, “I do not
believe Breck did that
(misrepresented the school).
He was misinterpreted,
maybe, but he wasn’t
fraudulent. Also, it was never
our intention to cancel him
(Levin).”
Kyllo said that Baker and
himself were looking into the
matter further, and that ac­
tion, if any is to be taken, will
come from Dean of Student
Services Jim Roberts. Kyllo
also said that the confusion
with Levin had resulted in
some positive things. Request
For Payment policies and the
current contract set-up are be­
ing reviewed to keep future
contract negotiations as
trouble-free as possible.
Future contracts will also be
reviewed and/or negotiated by
more than one person.
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