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Monday, Novbmbek 8, aoto | The Red a Black
DmM KnM I Editor in Chief editor@randb.oom
Carey O'Neil | Managing Editor me@randb.com
Coartaty Hafcroak I Opinions Editor opinions@randb.com
Election money
fears overrated
Another column
about the election
may be worth less
than a commemorative
cup for this year’s football
season, but there was one
talking point that was
never settled.
I’m sure I heard a varia
tion of the line “there is
simply too much crooked
money going into this
election” more times than
the new Eminem song.
I have no doubt the
unions, corporations and a
thousand different politi
cal groups spent billions
influencing this year’s
midterms. I’m just not
convinced this spending is
as dark and ominous as
it’s made out to be.
First, is there really too
much money in politics?
Estimates are still hazy,
but early figures indicate
the cost of this election
will clock in around $4 bil
lion.
That sounds like quite
a bit of money.
Here’s another figure:
Americans spend about
S2O billion on ice cream
every year.
So, to put it another
way, we spend roughly
one-fifth on free elections
and the democratic pro
cess as we do on frozen
milk and sugar.
Personally, I’ll be keep
ing a closer watch on the
impact of dessert than on
that of Karl Rove.
Second, even if the
greedy corporations and
corrupt unions out-give
us, are they really stealing
the election, or are we giv
ing it to them?
How many of us actual
ly gave money to a cam
paign this year? Like femi
nists at a razor-blade sale,
demand was scarce.
Only 0.22 percent or
roughly the chance of find
ing an open table at
Boar’s Head on a Friday
night —of the population
donated more than S2OO
to a political campaign,
according to opensecrets.
org.
The modem campaign
costs money.
The reason your sena
tor needed to raise mil
lions of dollars was so he
could force you to pay
Mailbox
E-mail and letters from our readers
Outside interests
affect hunting
The recent debate
about deer hunting
ignores the fact that cur
rent policies ensure high
populations. Hunting is
big business, and there are
economic pressures to
keep the hunting “good.”
State game agencies,
university research pro
grams, private clubs and
certain businesses rely on
hunting revenue. These
interests overlap to sup
port policies like restric
tions on killing does
that keep the population
artificially high.
The costs of creating a
sportsman’s paradise are
externalized onto those
who live in the area. Policy
changes could easily
decrease the population
and curb car accidents.
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Do you have a problem with the
University?
Don’t forget to send in your anonymous
opinions to opinions@randb.com for
our Thursday “Soundbites” feature.
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attention and watch his
30-second ads.
No one can pull a
President McKinley any
more by running a cam
paign that consists of sit
ting on your front porch
all day.
If that was the case,
we’d have a lot more con
gressmen equipped with a
pair of Ray-Bans and a
beer belly.
Finally, dues all that
money really mean that
once you get a
Washington, D.C. ZIP code
you automatically become
corrupt?
Maybe I’ve been watch
ing too many black and
white movies, but I like to
believe our representa
tives’ voting decisions
don’t become tainted the
moment they accept
money from industry and
lobbyists.
Has your congressman
really been bought and
sold by big oil, or does he
just think the idea of mil
lions of windmills stretch
ing from coast to coast is
silly?
Is your senator really in
the pocket of the labor
unions, or does she just
believe that big corpora
tions pick on the working
man?
Several studies, includ
ing one by Freakonomics
authors Stephen Dubner
and Bteven Levitt, have
shown that it isn’t the
money that matters it’s
the candidate.
Appealing candidates
that can win are the same
candidates that appeal to
donors.
Bottom line, money will
and should always be a
concern in politics.
But the real focus
belongs on the candidates
—and trying as best as
possible to avoid picking
ones who dabbled in
witchcraft.
Scott McAfee is a
first-year law student
from Kennesaw
ecological destruction and
diseases such as the cur
rent lyme disease epidem
ic.
The next time someone
hits a deer, don’t think of
it only as a collision of
humans with nature.
Think of it rather as a
collision between the
interests of the few and
everyone else.
ROGER STAHL
Assoc, professor, Athens
Speech communfcetion
LETTERS POLICY
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Opinions
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Eacebook inspires anew invention
I have a confession to make I
don’t have a Facebook account.
Please don’t think less of me.
In our society, Facebook has
become the rule rather than the
exception. Abstainers like myself
are modem day outcasts, similar to
lepers.
When I admit my social inepti
tude to people, they often don’t
know what to think.
Facebook eschewal is met with a
combination of confusion and awe.
I’m jealous. Not of you Facebook
users, but of Facebook founder
Mark Zuckerberg.
Green is the color of my envy
and his money. Zuckerberg has an
estimated net worth of almost $7
billion.
Based on my extensive research
on his life (watching the film “The
Social Network” and browsing
Wikipedia), I conclude that I actu
ally have much in common with
Zuckerberg.
He dropped out of Harvard. I’m
about to graduate from Georgia.
He is a brilliant computer pro
grammer. I own a computer.
He has fame and fortune. I want
fame and fortune.
Internet giants like Facebook
and Google began in college dorms.
They give students like us hope
Republicans, do not forget your promises
On Tuesday, the
Republican Party
celebrated historic
gains.
We took control of the
House of Representatives
by a substantial margin.
Eleven Republican
governors were elected in
states held by
Democratic governors,
and 12 states kept or
elected another
Republican governor.
The OOP took control
of at least 19 state legisla
tures.
Six new Republican
senators were elected to
the U.S. Senate.
For the first time In
Georgia history, all
Constitutional offices
were won by Republicans.
Congressman-elect
Austin Scott beat four
term incumbent Rep. Jim
Marshall, D-Ga.
Oalns were made to
the Republican majority
In the Georgia State
House and State Benate.
The American people
wanted a change, and
they entrusted that
change to the Grand Old
Party.
However, despite our
victories, It is not yet time
for my fellow Republicans
to celebrate.
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Peden
In 2006, Speaker Nancy
Pelosi, D-Calif., danced
across the stage when
Democrats took control
of Congress.
In 2010, Rep. John
Boehner, R-Ohio, held a
subdued press confer
ence.
At one point, he shed
tears, honored that the
American people had
entrusted our party with
the duty of fixing
America.
The future speaker of
the House said, “We have
real work to do —and
this is not a time for cele
bration; not when one in
10 of our feUow citizens
are out of work, not when
we have burled our chil
dren under a mountain of
debt, not when our
Congress is held In such
low esteem ... for far too
long, Washington has
been doing what’s best
for Washington not
what’s best for America.
Tonight, that begins to
change.”
My party must remem-
Our Staff
P Robert
Carnes
that we might one day hit it big.
So, why am I not participating
in the Facebook phenomenon?
Because I want to avoid conven
tion. I enjoy being an exception to
the rule, if only because of the con
fusion it causes within the status
quo.
It also gives me free time to
think of the next Earth-shattering
idea.
I’ve realized that the only thing
separating me from instant notori
ety is that one great idea.
How’s this for brilliant: the
Time-Capsule Time-Machine.
Remember time capsules? Shoe
boxes full of newspaper clipping
and marbles that you buried in fifth
grade to be excavated at a later
date.
Except my time-capsule time
machines are buried in the present
day to be dug up in the past
through the magic of time travel.
This will show older civilizations
how advanced they can expect
their descendents to become.
ber one important point
the key thing for
Republicans to take away
from Tuesday’s election.
This midterm election,
while most certainly a
rejection of the
Democrats and their tax
and spend policies, was
by no means an embrace
ment of the Republican
Party.
Instead, it was a man
date from the American
people. Cut spending,
shrink government and
clean up your ethics,
Washington.
We the Republicans
must remember this.
We must use the con
servative principles that
make our party what it is
to accomplish this man
date.
Otherwise, the
American people will
once again toss us out on
the street.
As Rep. Boehner said,
“Our new mttfority will
serve as your voice in the
people's House."
And we must keep
that promise.
In 2006, Republicans
found out the hard way
what happens when you
Ignore the will of the peo
ple.
In 2010, Rep. Boehner
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Phone (706) 433-3002 | Fkx (706) 433-3088
opinions@randb.com j www.redandblack.oom
540 Baxter Street, Athens, Oa. 30005
Imagine Shakespeare reading
Harry Potter on a Kindle.
Picture Napoleon riding into
battle listening to The Rolling
Stones on his iPod.
Think of Beqjamin Franklin
interrupting the Constitutional
Convention with a loud cell phone
conversation with Socrates.
These historic figures lived in an
era before social networks and
search engines.
They were the engines of change
that shaped the world around
them.
In that same vein, I choose to
take advantage of technology,
instead of the other way around.
Instead of following others, I’d
prefer to forge my own path and
have people copy me.
Mark Zuckerberg did this and
my hat is off to him.
There is no denying the power
and the impact of Facebook. It has
altered our lives and defined our
generation.
In fact, I expect a similar
response when my time-capsule
time-machines hit the market.
They will arrive in stores two
weeks ago.
Robert Carnes is a senior from
Dunwoody majoring in newspapers
told Speaker Pelosi the
House of Representatives
was the people’s House,
and a majority that does
not listen to the will of
the people quickly finds
Itself in the minority.
Boehner has kept this
theme throughout his
time as the minority lead
er.
Let’s hope he keeps
that same mantra as the
speaker of the House.
If he does not, he will
quickly find out what
Speaker Pelosi and a line
of other people who have
sat in the speaker’s office
have discovered:
“Whenever any Form of
Government becomes
destructive [...], it is the
Right of the People to
alter or to abolish it, and
to institute new
Government, laying its
foundation on such prin
ciples and organizing its
powers in such form, as
to them shall seem most
likely to effect their
Safety and Happiness.”
Jared Peden it a
junior from HinetviUe
majoring in political
science and it the
Membership Director for
the University of Georgia
College Republicans
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