Newspaper Page Text
S’he biggest problem with campus food is a lack of competition.
Aramark has the entire campus. **
- Larry Peel, student
NEA actually does help the arts
By Timothy Reynolds
Guest Writer
treynol 1 @my.westga .edit
I read the article
that Jacob Lovell wrote
about the “corrupt” and
“worthless” government
agency of the National
Endowment for the Arts,
and something struck me;
No where was his opinion
supported by any sort of
fact, but rather his points
were supported by his own
opinion.
In the article, he
attempted to argue for the
abolishment of the NEA,
but by the end of the piece,
he failed to actually cite
any reason why. Every
great society in the history
of the world has supported
the artists of the nation in
someway. Ancient Rome
and Greece instituted the
arts into their religion and
their politics. From them,
we have plays, poetry,
histories, political theory
and philosophy that is
still relevant today. The
Italian City-States of the
Renaissancefully supported
the Arts, and from it we
have the master paintings,
sculptures and opera. Even
William Shakespeare was
operating under the state
sponsorship of the arts:
He was part of the Lord
Chamberlain’s Men, which
was not only a catchy name
for a theatre group but
because it was funded by
the Lord Chamberlain of
the Royal Court. Later, he
would have the esteemed
How much are we willing to pay to be lazy?
The View
From My Front Porch
With Larry L. Peel
larry@ioncinema.com
American’s are a lazy
bunch. We all know that.
We want everything now,
and we want it with as
little work as possible. 1
can accept that. Lots of
industries have made lots
of people their fortunes
because of it. We have
fast food restaurants,
convenience stores, and
movies by mail; the list
goes on. There has to
be a limit however. For
example, 1 am a major
fan of sweet iced tea. For
all you Yankees, that’s
when we put sugar in the
tea when we make it. It
happens to be a real state
law. No kidding. Anyway,
McDonald’s has it for
Speak up!
Surely the student body has something to complain about. The West
Georgian wants to hear your thoughts on anything and everything
happening on campus.
Send comments with title “Rant and Rave” to uwgpaper.westga.edu
honor of being part of
the King's Men, a group
directly funded by King
James I!
We have Hamlet because
of state-sponsorship, and it
was popular then as it is now
because the government
funded arts education. A
novel idea, isn’t it?
Now that you know
the history of Government
Funding for the Arts, let’s
go to brass tacks: Mr.
Lovell mentions once
that the NEA was started
by President Johnson in
1965, but does not remind
readers that it is from
that year to now that the
NEA has spent, not “over
4 billion” but, according
to the latest reports 3.9
billion, which by the way,
is not over 4 billion. In
42 years, the government
has spent on average $95
million towards the arts.
The citizens of this nation
spend more on make-up
than the government does
in supporting the arts. It is
also a fact that the annual
budget of the NEA peaked
in the mid-1980's at around
SIBO million and was
summarily slashed in half
for ten years. The NEA
only now has a budget
anywhere near to the old
standards, at about $l2O
million. This is a lot of
money and no one could
deny that... except maybe
the amount of money
that the US government
is spending on: social
security, welfare, military
expenditures, nation
a dollar for a large one.
Anywhere else would
cost nearly two bucks.
Have you ever noticed
too that you can get a
room temperature 2-liter
for half the price of one
from the cooler? Does
the Freon really cost that
much? We pay a buck for
a cooked hot dog and bun
at the convenience store
when a pack of dogs at the
Super Center is 68 cents
and buns are 75 cents a
pack. It’s because we are
in a hurry and don’t want
to deal with the prep.
The expense of
convenience extends here
to the UWG campus as
well. Here at the UCC,
building in Afghanistan and
Iraq, foreign oil, financial
commitments to the UN
and NATO and so forth. It
costs the tax-payers of the
US 64 cents a year to keep
the NEA fully-funded.
That’s less than what
80 Cent Frank asks for
whenever he sees you on
the Square. Compare that
to the amount of money
taken out of your paycheck
for Social Security, which
you will never see again,
FYI. The entire budget of
the NEA, even at its peak,
never represented more
than 1 % of the total amount
of donations to nonprofit
arts organizations. Finally,
for the $l2O million that
was given to the NEA. the
organization generated over
$37 billion in a single year,
nearly ten times what it has
spent total in 42 years?
Wasteful? He
neglected to mention any
of the “obscene works
of art” that the NEA has
funded. There have been
controversies in the past,
of note Karen Finley,
Tim Miller, John Fleck
and Holly Hughes. These
artists were denied grants
by the NEA, because of
the subject matter of their
pieces; including Karen
Finley’s walking around
naked, screaming “God
is dead!” and inserting
vegetables in her h<x)-haw.
These artists sued the NEA,
claiming censorship and
won in court. They were
See NEA page 4
where the grand and
glorious offices of your
humble narrator are
located, we have the food
court and the convenience
store. Either location will
sell you a 2()oz. water or
Coke for $1.27 including
tax, BUT if you walk just
past the post office to
the hall where the Excel
Center is, you will find
both a Coke machine and
a Dasani water machine;
both of these will sell
you the exact same soda
for a crisp clean dollar.
Including tax. Now, what
is it that causes the 20%
price hike? Is it that the
sodas Aramark sells are
colder? The machines
keep drinks at 340, I am
not sure the temp of the
Aramark coolers, but the
fact that they are exposed
to air makes me think
that they are not 340.
Aramark has employees
who will smile (usually)
as they take your money.
Opinion
Want to meet the Goo Goo Dolls?
The West Georgian can be your ticket to a backstage meet and
greet with the band before the performance on April 26th. How
you ask? Well, we were thinking you guys could work for it. How
about this:
Why do you want to meet the Goo Goo Dolls?
We think this could be interesting, so send in your reasons
to UWGPaper@westga.edu with "Goo Goo Dolls” as the title.
We'll print our favorite submissions in future issues and choose
a winner before the big show. So, let's hear it!
CAMPUS EVENTS
Friday, March 30
• Math Competition, Depfirtment of Mathematics, Boyd
Buildings, 10:10- 11:05 pm
Friday, March 30
• Heritage Ball (African Oasis) hosted by the Black Student
Alliance, WPA Center Off Campus, 7:30 pm. $5 for singles, $8 for
couples.
Thursday, April 5
• Blood drive. UCC. 9:30 am - 2:30 pm
Friday, April 6/7
• Women in the Wilderness back pack trip, contact SAC for
more info.
Ok, that’s probably it. The
expense of the payroll,
taxes, insurance, and all
the other costs of doing
business I suppose. 1 can
understand why they
want to make a profit.
Wait. Does that mean that
Coca-cola, Coffee Kart
(the supplier for the drink
machines), and auxiliary
services never make a
cent? 1 seriously doubt
it. So we have the base
profit from the sale at a
buck, then an additional
20%. Hmmm. Sounds
like we are being played
for fools. What about the
most recent “special” in
the food court? A turkey
burger and fries for about
$6. I’m sorry, but no
burger on a campus is
worth that much.
Speaking of being
played for fools, the Java
City location in the TLC
is literally right around
the corner from the Coke
machine that takes our
Wolf Bucks card. Again,
you can stand in line for
a cold bottle of Dasani
from Java City and pay
$1.27, or you can walk
around the corner and
get it for a dollar. Chic-
Fil-A seems to be about
the only competitively
priced option, with prices
that match the off campus
location. Then again Chic-
Fil-A isn't cheap anyway.
What brings on this
tirade of the financial sort
you may ask? Well, just
before the break I brought
my 8-year-old son to the
office with me. He was
thirsty, and is a major fan
of frozen drinks. Usually I
buy him a frozen Coke at
the Racetrac for 99 cents
and a bag of M&M Peanut
for about 50 cents. Here on
campus that day, the exact
same options cost me
over $3. I was appalled.
The biggest problem with
campus food is a lack of
competition. Aramark has
Delivery driver needed for local print
publication. One weekend per month.
Must have own transportation. Great
supplemental income!
770-456-4225
*
the entire campus. No one
can price war them. They
can charge whatever they
want, and as long as we
pay it, they will never
change. So lets change it.
There are dozens
of off campus options
around. Some of which
haveeven been spotlighted
in this newspaper. Grab
a carpool and head into
town, pack a lunch from
home, bring last nights
leftovers and use the
microwave in the Food
Court. Just be sure to
buy your drink from the
machine upstairs. Not only
will it help bring our own
costs down as students
(if enough people do it),
but also the profit earned
by the machines goes
to Auxiliary Services,
which means it stays on
campus.
As my parent’s
generation used to say,
“Let’s stick it to the man.”
Peace.