Newspaper Page Text
3 | THE MAROON TIGER
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2003
NEWS
OUR WORLD
PITTMAN'S INDEX
I.
Percentage of children under the age of five in Ethiopia who suffered from malnutrition in 2001: 47
II.
Percentage of total government expenditure on education in Guinea-Bissau in 2000: 4.8
III.
Amount of people who lived in Texas and California combined in 2001: 55,826,148
IV.
Amount of people who died in World War II (Sept 1939-Sept 1945): 55,000,000
V.
Average hourly earnings in the U.S. for the month of September in 2003: $15.45
VI.
Unemployment rate for the state of Georgia in August of 2003: 4.6%
VII.
Total world population as of October 21, 2003: 6,324,888,277
VIII.
Percentage of Americans who owned homes in 2002: 67.9
IX.
The year of the smallest gender pay gap in the UK: 2003
X.
Total external debt of Brazil in 2001: $226,362,000,000
Information compiled by Marcus Newman. See sources on page 5
Bolivian President ousted amid protests,
vice president assumes role until new election
Former Bolivian President Gonzalo S. de Lozada
M M. I’m not going to say that the
L problems of my
I government, or those of
Bolivia, are the fault of the United
States... But they could
have done a little more
to help us.
mieu
99
by Marcus Newman
marcus_newman@maroontiger.net
WORLD & LOCAL EDITOR
As a result of recent protest
against his economic policies,
Bolivian President Gonzalo
Sanchez de Lozada was forced
to step down from the post on
Friday October, 17. He will be
replaced by Vice-president
Carlos Mesa until new elections
can take place.
The recent protests were
sparked when Lozada
announced plans to export
Bolivian gas to a northern
Chilean port through a new
pipeline to be built by British and
Spanish firms. The move was
intended to spark economic
growth in the face of mounting
economic problems in the
region.
Lozada’s plan was not well
received by many citizens,
however, who argued that the
President’s plan would benefit
Chileans and other foreign
powers, including the United
States, more than it would
benefit Bolivians. Protest action
by coca growers and Andean
Indian escalated from isolated
demonstrations earlier this year
to violent protests in the last few
months. The capital, La Paz, and
many other cities have been cut
off from many essentials, such
as food and medicines.
Earlier this year, the
Bolivian president received
harsh disapproval from leftist
coca growers and Andean Indian
protestors regarding the
administration’s perceived
decision to eradicate the
country’s coca plantations in
light of the country’s increasing
economic problems. Coca, the
plant used to produce the
addictive drug, cocaine, is one
of the country’s main export
biggest industries.
After announcing his
departure, the former president
quickly fled to Miami, where
reporters were able to catch up
with him to get a closing
statement. Thanking the U.S.
government for its political
support, he said that he was
saddened by the fact that his
request for $150 million dollar
in aid was not heeded.
“I’m not going to say that
the problems of my
government, or those of
Bolivia, are the fault of the
United States,” he told
reporters. “But they could have
done a little more to help us.”
HOPE: Perdue proposes
to stiffen requirements,
officials plan to set
minimum SAT score
HOPE continued from page 1
number of candidates rising
significantly in the last decade,
the HOPE scholarship awards
are starting to outpace lottery
profits. In the last ten years, the
percentage of students eligible
for the scholarship has increased
from 47 percent in 1993 to 60
percent in 2003, leading some to
accuse teachers of inflating
grades, and prompting the
governor to propose that the
Georgia-funded scholarship be
dependent on standardized
exams.
African-American student
enrollment at Georgia colleges
and universities has increased
more than 30 percent since the
program’s inception. Many
critics believe that Perdue’s
proposed change would hurt
black student enrollment, since,
as a group, black students are
known for performing below
their white counterparts on these
exams. According to a
University of Georgia study, only
1,500blacks had a score of 1000
or better on the SAT in 2001 in
the state of Georgia Had the SAT
requirement been in place, most
of the students affected by this
requirement would be
minorities. Yet supporters of the
measure believe that the SAT
requirement will create an
incentive for students to perform
better on the exam.
Oddly enough, studies have
shown that fewer than 25 percent
of HOPE scholarship recipients
retain the award for the entire
four years of college. Also, only
one-fourth of students with SAT
scores lower than 1000 keep the
scholarship through their first
year of college. Governor Perdue
and many others believe that the
SAT is the best indicator of
success of freshman students,
and so must also be a criterion
for getting a HOPE scholarship.
The minimum SAT requirement
has yet to be set in stone, but if
the measure is passed, there is
sure to be much controversy
surrounding the issue, especially
from the black community.
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