PHOTOS BY PHILIPPE BUTEAU
Friday, September 12, 2008
Politics made plain, a gift from John McCain
BY HANNAH GILES
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
For all those self-reliant, independent persons who don’t look to government to fulfill their identity, but prefer to carve their own path in life, voting for Sen. John McCain this fall is crucial. He is a man who has been there and done that in regards to his service to this country, and America would be blessed to have him as its next president.
John McCain doesn’t have a background typical to most politicians. He wasn’t a political science major and his record can’t be described as “squeaky-clean.” He can be described as a: former Naval Aviator, Vietnam POW for five years, Captain in the Navy, Congressman, Senator and a man who dedicated his entire life to the service of his country. Rudy Guiliani, former Mayor of New York City, said John McCain is “serving a cause greater than self-interest and that cause is America.”
America needs a solid president who is capable of running this nation. The U.S. is in a war, and unless more terrorist attacks on the level of 9/11 are desired, it is probably best that this nation is lead by a man with adequate experience. McCain is Ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee, and the current successes in Iraq are a result of his vote for the troop surge. Not only did McCain vote for the insurgences but he was also the one who suggested this idea to President Bush when they were discussing the problems overseas. Thanks to John McCain’s well-reasoned initiative, we are seeing victory in Iraq, and the day draws closer when American troops will come home.
John McCain has an independent spirit that resonates with the American people. He stood up to the Vietnamese when they held him as a POW, he has stood up to his very own Republican party on several occasions and, as President of the United States, Americans may rest assured that John McCain will stand up for their safety and prosperity.
As noted, in McCain’s four terms serving in the U.S. Senate he has passed many notable pieces of legislation, which more often than not, found him reaching across party lines and working with Democrats. He partnered with Russell Feingold (D-WI) in creating the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, and also worked with Joe Lieberman (I-CT) in writing the legislations which created the 9/11 Commission. John McCain understands the importance of politicians working together to ensure the satisfaction of the American people.
“I’m not running for President to be somebody, but to do something; to do the hard but necessary things not the easy and needless things.” These words are a promise from John McCain, and based on his record, Americans can confidently expect him to fulfill every word. The man is quite figuratively driving the “Straight Talk Express,” and it is in the peoples best interest to jump aboard the McCain train as it leads America closer to national and international success.
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
For all those self-reliant, independent persons who don’t look to government to fulfill their identity, but prefer to carve their own path in life, voting for Sen. John McCain this fall is crucial. He is a man who has been there and done that in regards to his service to this country, and America would be blessed to have him as its next president.
John McCain doesn’t have a background typical to most politicians. He wasn’t a political science major and his record can’t be described as “squeaky-clean.” He can be described as a: former Naval Aviator, Vietnam POW for five years, Captain in the Navy, Congressman, Senator and a man who dedicated his entire life to the service of his country. Rudy Guiliani, former Mayor of New York City, said John McCain is “serving a cause greater than self-interest and that cause is America.”
America needs a solid president who is capable of running this nation. The U.S. is in a war, and unless more terrorist attacks on the level of 9/11 are desired, it is probably best that this nation is lead by a man with adequate experience. McCain is Ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee, and the current successes in Iraq are a result of his vote for the troop surge. Not only did McCain vote for the insurgences but he was also the one who suggested this idea to President Bush when they were discussing the problems overseas. Thanks to John McCain’s well-reasoned initiative, we are seeing victory in Iraq, and the day draws closer when American troops will come home.
John McCain has an independent spirit that resonates with the American people. He stood up to the Vietnamese when they held him as a POW, he has stood up to his very own Republican party on several occasions and, as President of the United States, Americans may rest assured that John McCain will stand up for their safety and prosperity.
As noted, in McCain’s four terms serving in the U.S. Senate he has passed many notable pieces of legislation, which more often than not, found him reaching across party lines and working with Democrats. He partnered with Russell Feingold (D-WI) in creating the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, and also worked with Joe Lieberman (I-CT) in writing the legislations which created the 9/11 Commission. John McCain understands the importance of politicians working together to ensure the satisfaction of the American people.
“I’m not running for President to be somebody, but to do something; to do the hard but necessary things not the easy and needless things.” These words are a promise from John McCain, and based on his record, Americans can confidently expect him to fulfill every word. The man is quite figuratively driving the “Straight Talk Express,” and it is in the peoples best interest to jump aboard the McCain train as it leads America closer to national and international success.
I Know What Maverick Does Not Mean
BY BRENDAN CONNOLLY
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
I'm not sure of the exact definition of maverick. Is it someone who doesn't kneel, or grovel, to peer pressure? Someone who enacts on what they say they will. Maybe, it's someone, whose sheer dedication to the principles and rights of freedom and happiness, imbued to us by men of action, that they stand out in history.
Even if they don't want to.
I've, and I imagine you have as well, heard John McCain call himself a maverick. The Original Maverick. Apparently, now, there are spin-offs, his running mate, Sarah Penal (R-AK), is the Alaskan Maverick. A soccer, I mean, hockey mom with an inherent driving force within her to shake things up. Maybe that's a maverick, someone who goes for the gusto, so to say, against the big guys.
The Establishment. That's what jugular John McCain, Maverick, will be sinking his canines into. Pork barrel spending and governmental programs will bleed out, and as he says, back into our pockets.
The Establishment. Fat Cats. Monocled blue-bloods. That's who John McCain, Maverick, is gunning for.
I find it slightly ironic, though, considering John McCain, Maverick, belongs to a rubber-stamping Republican party, who from 2000-2006 held the House of Representatives, the Senate, and that big easy chair John McCain, Maverick, has his hopes set on. Before 2000, Congress was controlled by the Republican Party that he, John McCain, Maverick, was and still is a part of for at least a decade prior.
That's like, sixteen years. For most of you, I imagine, that's a good portion of your life. To me, that sounds like the Establishment.
To be fair,
Some could call that a maverick. Perhaps a maverick is someone whose ideas could have them removed from their position. Maybe John McCain, Maverick, has been putting together some sort of revolutionary, but of course conservative, agenda.
John McCain, Maverick, wants to make the Bush Tax cuts permanent. Tax cuts that prompted 450 economists, including 10 Nobel Prize Laurents, to write a letter to President Bush not to sign them into law. The Congressional Budget Office, a federal agency, said it increased deficits by 60 billion dollars in 2003. They estimate, this year, that number has risen to 340 billion dollars.
John McCain, Maverick, wants to make the Alternative Minimum tax permanent. In 2006 the IRS's National Taxpayer Advocate said it was the single most serious problem with the tax code. The Congressional Budget Office, huh them again, said by 2010 one in five people will qualify, or have to pay, for this. This grows amongst married people and, in essence, punishes people for having children and living in higher taxing states( it removes the deductibility of state and local taxes).
John McCain, Maverick, would like to Reduce Corporate tax. You know he, John McCain, Maverick, plans on cutting taxes for large corporation. The same corporations who employ us, pay us, and then get their money back when we need, or want, to purchase just about anything.
John McCain, Maverick, would like to limit the availability of abortion rights. And only grant them in such cases as rape, incest, or if there is a risk for the mother.
John McCain, Maverick, wants to start drilling in the ANWR Province, the Outer Continental Shelf, and begin extraction, and development of oil shale, which currently resides, in most part, around Wyoming and Montana. I could only assume when John McCain, Maverick, included Theodore Roosevelt, the first president to set aside land for it's beauty and not it's profitable resources, in his "Our Party produced..." portion of his acceptance speech at the RNC, he could only assume that Teddy had set aside the land for him, John McCain, Maverick, to dig up.
to be honest, i find politics quite repugnant. But i also understand the desperate hope of someone who is looking for salvation. Looking for a shining example of stoic determination. Looking for a maverick.
But John McCain is a self-described maverick. He is marketed as such. As someone who constantly follows their own way. But a majority of his votes conflate with conservative and Christian fundamentalist views on values. In a democracy the majority rules.
John McCain, self-described Maverick, accepted the endorsement of the worst American President, so far. There are pictures of him and Bush hugging, a maverick embracing an aloof tyrant. And it's no secret John McCain, marketed Maverick, does not like President Bush. But we all understand the practice of greasing wheels. The same old song and dance, so we can get where we want to be.
Mavericks do not and should not.
Especially when Mr. Maverick spent 7 years in a prison camp, while their new buddy's father got them, that would Bush, in the champagne squad of the armed forces. And while Mr. Maverick was being tortured and interrogated, the man whose mantle he will inherit, Bush again, went AWOL.
A maverick would not shake this man's hand.
When you sacrifice your beliefs and principles for a gain or a desire, that's called selling out. That's kneeling and groveling, asking for more from a mud-coated boot heel.
I may or may not know the exact definition of maverick, but I know what the definition isn't.
$19 Million to Reduce Parking Shortage
BY EARLE SIMPSON
STAFF WRITER
In about 18 months time, the students, faculty and staff of the BC Central Campus will get a parking garage after years of suffering the inconveniences of parking space shortage and flooding.
“The garage will have approximately 1000 parking spaces, and the students will not pay anymore than they are currently paying,” announced Francisco Hoyos, BC Business Affairs Dean. The new garage is, in part, the solution to the age old problem of flooding in the campus’s parking areas. “It has been like that for over 30 years,” responded John Stancil, Central Campus former Dean of Business, in answer to how long has the problem been around.
But flooding is not the only problem faced by users of the parking lots. According to William Pennell, BC VP Facilities, in a letter to the President of the college, “the campus regularly has a shortage of parking spaces available during peak classroom hours.” In fact in an attempt to combat this shortage, during peak hours students regularly park on grass adjourning parking lots.
There are approximately 18,000 students on the Central Campus of BC but according to John Thornton, Central Campus Business Affairs Dean, “there are currently a total of 4380 parking spaces on Central Campus, 540 of which are overflow spaces organized in five lots.” The five overflow lots are a recent response to the shortfall but Thornton is mindful that the solution to the parking space shortage is far from being met. “Between now and October 6, we are hoping to create at least an additional overflow lot,” he added.
But the overflow lots are not expected to be a long term solution. “Approximately three weeks ago, the board approved the design/build contract and we will break ground for the project by the 3rd of October this year,” said Juan Raigosa, Construction Project Administrator. Following the ground breaking, the project will commence and run until March 2010 when it will be completed. “It’s about an 18-month completion process,” confirmed Hoyos.
The garage will be built at a cost of $19.2 million which will be funded by a board approve state bond issue. According to Pennell’s letter, the bond will be repaid with the use of the “transportation and access fees as well as Capital Investment Fees (CIF).” Hoyos said that the board has approved the bond and now it’s just a matter of “breaking grounds if everything goes well and we get our drainage permits.”
The garage will be located on the right of the College Avenue and south of the 30th Avenue entrance. Although the garage with its 1000 parking spaces will not solve the shortage nor the flooding problems, especially in the parking areas located on the east side of the campus, according to Pennell’s letter, it will “sit on land that is currently parking 136 cars, so the college will pick up a net additional 839 parking spaces with the construction of this new garage,” and that is expected to blunt the two problems but most of all, students will have the convenience of parking in the new facilities at the expense of the flood prone areas.
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