Newspaper Page Text
■THE WEST GEORGIAN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 1987
2
Opinion
The West Georgian
West Georgia College, Carrollton, Ga.
Chris Hays
Editor
Tray Baggarly Joe Callahan
Managing Editor News Editor
Beth Cannon Joe Camming
Ad Manager Advisor
Retiree says not
to work for gov’t
Dear Editor,
I have a Bachelor of Arts degree
from Columbia University and am
retired after having worked for
many years for the federal govern
ment’s Social Security administra
tion and Health Care Financing
administration. I very strongly
urge all college students not to
work for the United States govern
ment, because:
1. The wages and salaries of
federal government employees
are on the average almost 19 per
cent the pay that employees in
private enterprise receive for
essentially the same jobs. The
most pay that a federal govern
ment employee can receive is
$70,800 a year (very few of them
reach that or get anywhere near
it), which is very small compared
to the yearly salaries of many
private company executives which
are in the hundreds of thousands of
dollars and which in some cases
are in the millions of dollars.
2. Federal employees have to
pay a high percentage of the
premiums for their health and life
insurance, whereas many
employers in private enterprise
pay all such premiums for their
employees.
3. Federal employees have to
pay into Medicare’s Hospital Trust
Fund, and federal employees hired
on or after Jan. 1,1984 must pay in
to Social Security’s other trust
funds. This is in addition to paying
into the Civil Service Retirement
System. These mandatory
payments constitute just a sneaky
way by which the Reagan ad
ministration and its reactionary
allies in the Congress have taken
the money of federal government
employees to shore up Medicare
and Social Security. Federal
employees have their own health
insurance system and cannot bear
any additional expense for that.
Also, they had a simple, good
retirement system which recently
and stupidly has been changed into
a three-tiered complexity con
sisting of Social Security, an an
nuity, and a thrift savings plan.
4. The Reagan administration
has raised federal employees’ and
retirees’ health insurance
premiums to exorbitant levels and
cut their insurance coverage
drastically.
5. According to the Congres
sional Budget Office, federal
government employees receive
less vacation and holiday time
than do many people in private
enterprise.
6. The Congressional Budget Of
fice also states that employees of
the federal government receive
less sick time than do many
private enterprise employees.
7. Federal employees work a
40-hour week while many private
enterprise workers have work
weeks of less hours.
8. For many years federal
employees have paid seven per
cent of their total pay into a retire
ment fund. They have had to pay
into their fund far more than peo
ple covered by Social Security
have been required to pay into the
Social Security trust funds. The
overwhelming majority of private
enterprise retirement plans are
fully paid for by the employers
with no employee contributions re
quired, and private plans are pri/-
tected by a federal law, the Pen
sion Benefit guarantee Statute.
9. Federal government
employees do not receive
Christmas or any other bonuses, or
have profit sharing plans, stock
option plans, etc.
Beth Hartman... ..............JLtistmEMce
IMfiltC tterllll*.... . ..Sgorts Editor
Mark Griggs Assistant Sports Editor
Lorelie McAvoy
10. Federal employees are for
bidden to engage in politics. This is
a complete violation of their Con
stitutional rights of free expres
sion and association.
11. Federal government retirees
formerly received one percent of
their annuities (commonly called
pensions) added to the annuities at
the time of retirement and two cost
of living increases each year in
order to at least fractionally com
pensate them for the low pay that
they had been given while work
ing. Now they do not get the one
percent add-on, and they only
receive one cost of living increase
per year (and they have not
always received that during the
last few years).
12. Federal retirees have to pay
income tax on every cent of the an
nuities once they get back what
they paid into their annuity fund
(they have already paid income
tax on that).
13. In order to provide a sur
vivor’s annuity for his or her
spouse the average federal retiree
must accept about an eight per
cent reduction in his or her annuity
from its inception.
14. In the past college graduates
sought employment with the
federal government mainly
because of job security and retire
ment at a comparatively young
age on a good annuity. Recent
legislation has cut down federal
job security, job security has been
increased in the private sector by
law and recent court decisions,
and many private company pen
sion plans provide benefits
(including early retirement) that
are equal to or more generous than
those that are given by the Federal
Civil Service Retirement system.
J. Peter Grace, chairman of the
board of W.R. Grace and Cos.,
receives his full salary and fringe
benefits plus a pension of $357,500
per year. He is also chairman of
the commission which was suppos
ed to make recommendations to
eliminate waste in the federal
government (almost all of which is
due to enormous overcharging by
private enterprise defense con
tractors). That commission pro
duced the ridiculous Grace Com
mission Report, which, almost en
tirely, instead of revealing in
stances of waste, called for the
elimination of efficiently run pro
grams that do not suit the reac
tionary ideas of the commission.
Therefore, college graduates are
much better off working in private
enterprise with the chance of
becoming one of the $1,000,000 (or
more) a year corporation
presidents or a quarter of a million
a year vice president than working
in the federal goverment’s civil
service for cheapskate pay and se
cond rate fringe benefits.
If a college graduate cannot find
a good job in private enterprise
upon graduation, he/she would do
far better to work in a menial job
in private enterprise until such
time as he can obtain a position in
the private sector that is commen
surate with his education than take
a job with the United States
government while looking for a
good job with a private business.
Otherwise, he may ruin his future
by tainting himself with federal
employment, since it is looked
Ton with great disdain by the
business community and the
public in general. In fact, for a
number of years people have been
thought to have disgraced
themselves if they have worked for
the federal government.
Sincerely,
Frederick C. Stark, Jr.
Is football program worthy of price?
Every year it seems the Student Activities
budgetary process is pure theatre. The Student
Government, Faculty Senate and other
organizations and officials haggle over the
budget as most student organizations beg for
more funds they sometimes aren’t going to get.
Student groups not heard from all year come
out of the woodwork and attempt to justify why
they should get a bigger piece of the budgetary
pie.
And many involved in the process know
there is impending doom. For after the
preliminary budgets are released (not to men
tion the final product) and students see the
amount of Student Activities money doled out
to athletics, the campus erupts in outrage. It’s
as predictable as a last place finish for the
Atlanta Braves, because it’s always going to
happen as long as athletics, namely football,
receives such a large percentage of Student
Activities money.
Last year’s student reaction to the finalized
budget was quite memorable. Probably the
most visible display of outrage was the famous
“March on Mandeville” in which art students
mad over their budgetary allotment sauntered
up to Front Campus Dr. and demanded an au
dience with Dr. Bruce Lyon, vice president of
Student Services. They wondered —and right
ly so why football got so much from the
budget and the art department got so little.
After all, many said, this is a liberal arts
school. 4
And then there was the barrage of letters to
the paper and video editorials on “Campus
Close-Up” ripping those involved in planning
the budget for granting so much money to the
football team.
This year may be no different. Although
some members of the SGA have said they
would like to hack away at the football allot
ment, they simply aren’t empowered to draw
up the finalized budget. The SGA does submit a
budget proposal, but often it is drastically
altered by the Faculty Senate and ad
ministrators who draft the completed version.
It’s an interesting situation while you
New alternatives for Spring Break
Once again it is that time of the year, the
time that college students across the country
live for Spring Break.
In a little over a week West Georgia students
can leave behind English 101, Math 151,
Business Law, and Chemistry for the likes of
sunshine, beaches, and gallons of cold brew.
Around this campus it is easy to tell spring
break is just around the corner. The signs are
abundant; girls donning bikinis to prepare
their skin for the Florida sunshine, Love
Valley resembling an oceanless beach, and in
tramural softball teams practicing for the up
coming season.
I really couldn’t guess what percentage of
West Georgia’s student population will be ven
turing south for the break, but I’m sure it will
be more than just a few carloads. Sorry, Nick,
but come Thursday, March 26 your place will
not be rocking!
Most of the party animals will be going to the
traditional spots of Panama City, Daytona
Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Needless to say
those places will be packed with students from
the rest of the country as well. Just ask law en
forcement officials in those places what their
least favorite time of the year is.
While most people pack up their beer mugs
and bathing suits and head to the “hot-spots”,
there will be others who will opt for the quieter,
more relaxed atmospheres of such places as
Destin, Fort Walton, St. Augustine, Jackson
ville Beach, and Amelia Island. These places
Procrastination learned early in life
Every quarter just around this time, I feel
like I’ve had a vacation the whole quarter and
suddenly I’m slapped with tons of work. Well,
the quarter has not been a vacation and the
work was not suddenly slapped upon me, but I
do have more studying and writing to do than
anyone would think I could do just a week
before the quarter ends. I break out in cold
sweats and my heart also beats a lot faster
than usual around this time, but I’ve adjusted
to panicking. The truth is, I am slow, lazy, and
simply a procrastinator.
I’ve been trying to find the motive behind my
procrastination, and I think the blame lies with
my second grade teacher, Ms. Kleinhan. On
my first day of second grade, my father walk
ed me to school and showed me the exact spot
he wanted to meet me at 2:45 p.m., when
school was over. That afternoon I put my
tablet and pencil in my bookbag, and I inter
rupted Ms. Kleinhan’s teaching to ask her if it
was time to go home. She laughed and told me
that we had 15 more minutes left and that a bell
would ring to let me know when it was time. I
still don’t understand what was funny, because
for the first time in my life and the last, I was
really concerned with being prompt.
When the 2:45 dismissal bell rang I jumped
up eagerly in hopes that my father would be at
our designated meeting place. I was the only
kid up and on the way out the door. If waiting
The Staff
Jim BucholfcL ... Assistant Photo Editor
Terri Persiee. Assistant News Editor
David Gulledge. Business Manager
Kathy Matthews Office Manager
simply can’t win in Division II college football
without amply funding your program, WGC of
ficials can’t give the team the necessary
monetary support without generating animosi
ty within the student body (animosity further
compounded when the team doesn’t win).
The fact is that a winning football program
at WGC’s level is expensive; very expensive.
And with the possible addition of new drug
testing equipment next year, it doesn’t look to
be getting any cheaper.
If we’re going to have a winning program
here at West Georgia, we’re going have to pay
for it. The only way our team can compete with
others in the conference is if they begin mat
ching them in terms of the amount of scholar
sips given out and the amount of money fun
nelled into the program.
Since the cost of running a Division II foot
ball program continues to skyrocket and com
plaints from a vast number of students and
faculty about it are sure to continue, I think it
may soon be time for some kind of action.
Perhaps the SGA could hold an open forum to
decide if the student body wants a program
bad enough to pay the price for it. If not, the
administration, assuming it was receptive to
student viewpoint, could decide to eradicate
the program and divide the money among
other organizations, although it undoubtedly
wouldn’t be as simple as that.
Imagine what the debate team, Theatre
Company, art department, or any other
organization or department on campus you
7
may not be the so-called “places to go” for Spr
ing Break but there is still fun to be found.
Others will help our state’s economy and
venture to places like Sea Island, St. Simons,
and Savannah. The latter will be trying to
recover from a week of celebration surroun
ding St. Patrick’s Day. Sometimes I think the
only reason James Oglethorpe founded Savan
nah was so Georgians would have a place to
party. I love that town.
Finally, there are those who aren’t satisfied
with American shores and will hop a boat or
plane to the Bahamas, Virgin Isles, or Cancun.
While most students know where they are go
ing, there are some, like myself I must con
fess, that don’t have any specific plans.
I know the hotels are filled up, activities are
planned, but who cares? If I want I can take
that last final on Thursday, jump in the car and
be lounging on the beach by mid-afternoon!
Marche
Thompson
on the bell was not enough, Ms. Kleinhan stop
ped me with a big smile and told me I had to
wait for her to dismiss us. I nervously explain
ed my very special case to her and told her that
it was important that I be outside at 2:45. She
assured me that my father would be there. She
was right. Even though I was late (it seemed
like 30 minutes, but it was probably only
three), my good old dad was right there.
My procrastination is connected with my
slowness. But no one ever left me because I
was too slow. My mother often gets in her car
and drives around the house to make me think
she’s left me when I’m too slow, but never have
I actually been left behind because of my slow
pace. Often when I’m late for class the pro
fessor is late, so I’ve never considered my
slowness a tragedy.
Chris
Hays
Tray
Baggarly
can think of could do with a portion of the foot
ball money. Certainly most organizations and
departments supported by the Student Ac
tivities budget could use more funds.
The sacrifice, of*course, would be the foot
ball program. Imagine WGC without it. Some
may say it does nothing for the school, and
many critics insist college football programs
on the whole breed only scandal, corruption,
and disdain for academic ideals.
But football programs also carry with them
many positive attributes. They serve as
recruitment tools and give the school recogni
tion. For instance, West Georgia’s football
championship in 1982 literally served as a huge
public relations and recruiting tool, as
evidence by the large freshmen classes that
followed the next two years.
And a football program provides jobs,
scholarships, and an ideal medium for student
enthusiasm (although ours is somewhat lack
ing here) that no other program does quite as
well. The WGC program is special, for it does
not have the luxury of a booster club
designated solely to provide funds for it.
When the final Student Activities budget is
released with an inevitable huge portion given
to football, the temptation will arise (even in
our offices, I humbly admit) to curse the pro
gram for its wealth. But opulence is a
necessary evil of having a team that will win
and honor the school on the playing field.
It’s something to consider, especially when
the fur starts to fly after figures are released
revealing the huge majority of Student Ac
tivities money which the football program will
surely receive next year. Sure it hurts the
wallet and violates many students ideals of
fairness, but it’s the only way to have a respec
table program.
And should this monetary support be too
much to ask in the opinion of a student body
majority, maybe it’s time for change. Accor
ding to President Maurice Townsend at a re
cent Presidential Luncheon, movement
downward to Division 111 is out of the question
assasination of the program would be the on
ly viable solution.
That is what is known as a minimum plann
ing vacation. (That means you bypass the
hassles of planning and packing and get on
with the trip.)
Now for those who like the idea of the
minimum planning vacation, I have devised a
schedule:
Pack up some beer and a few pairs of
underwear and jump in the car.
Once you have driven south for four or five
hours you will reach the great state of Florida.
From there you can take your pick as to which
beach you hit first. (Notice I said first,
because you have no hotel room and you’ll
have to keep moving.)
I suggest you choose between the east coast
package or the panhandle package. Both are
great deals.
The panhandle offers Panama City and Fort
Walton both fun but more serene.
For more action, I suggest the east coast
deal. This includes stops in Daytona, Orlando
(if you like Disney World), and West Palm
Beach (if for some inexplicable reason you
want to see the Atlanta Braves).
You will end up in Fort Lauderdale and you
may not want to come home.
So, if you have no plans, don’t worry. Just
follow my simple travel arrangement and
you’ll be enjoying sun and suds!
One thing I forgot to mention: save the
drinking for when you are not driving we do
want you back for spring quarter.
Have a great break!
I grew up with Ms. Kleinhan’s theory of pro
crastination: Sit back and relax, because time
will stand still and the person waiting is going
to be there. Whatever happens, just take it
slow. That theory worked just fine for me until
I got to college. I had my prom dress made on
ly four days before the prom, I sent my first in
come tax form in on the very last day, I paid
my senior fees on the last day, and I studied for
exams the day I was to take them. This all
worked out fine with no sweat.
But here at West Georgia, with only four
days left in the quarter, I have three papers to
write. More than likely, I’ll take a break
tomorrow and then write a paper each day.
I really think I have an illness caused by my
long history of procrastination, because
sometimes I can’t seem to organize my
thoughts until the last minute. However, some
of my best work was done only minutes before
it was due.
When I’m excited about being on time and
meeting deadlines, I am not inspired, and
when I’m slow, people seem not to mind
waiting. Therefore, I was taught to function at
the pace and enthusiasm that I do now. I
wonder if my professors will understand the
circumstances ot my illness and give me good
grades?.
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