Newspaper Page Text
George Bush: a smooth operator
Many of .us sat in front of
our television on February 27,
2001, and watched our selected
president, George Bush, ad
dressed a joint session of Con
gress. Idon’t know about you
but every time I see President
Bush it appears like I am
dreaming. Istillcan’t get used
to this guy being ourfi)resi
dent. It is like a bad dream.
Regardless of whether I want
tobelieveit or not George Bush
is our president, and he is do
ing a good job as a politician.
Heistellingthe folk what they
want to hear while he does
what he wants to do. He has
secured his base and he is do
ingjust enough to appear tobe
Budget surplus could fill technology gap
n today’s world technol
ogy and it’s applications
in businessis themost im
portant thing we should focus
on when it come to education
reform. The cost of computers
and their fast development and
integration into the workplace
has left a large segment of our
population behind. The high
cost of computer equipment
and software has also created
a gap between the lower and
the middle or upper classes.
This gap must be closed and
the only way to do it is by an
aggressive education policy
that focuses on computer lit
eracy at all ages and levels.
Just tenyears agothere were
still companies that produced
typewriters here in America.
Now therearenone. Computer
technology developed so fast
and unexpected that the pub- -
lic education system, small
business,andmost peoplehave
not been able to keep up with
it. Just like when the tele
phone, the light bulb, televi
sion, radio, and indoor plumb
ing were new inventions only
the wealthy enjoyed them.
Slowly after many years these
items, that most cannot imag
ine the world without, trick
led down to even the poorest
people in our country. These
inventions, like computers,
had many revolutionary ef
fects onindustry and business:
and helped lift many out of
poverty. I am sure that even
tually computers will trickle
down to every segment of our
society and that it will take
many years to do so. Isay that
intimesof suchunprecedented
Ashcroft
From page 6A
Neither did more than 200 liberal
groups of all sorts and, tellingly, 42
Democratic members of the U.S. Sen
ate. Their vote against John Ashcroft
was the largest tally against a presiden
tial Cabinet nominee since 1925.
The Washington Post last week edito
rialized that now attorney general
Ashcroft, who “affected” a “remarkable
transformation” into a moderate dur
ing his turbulent confirmation hear
ings, “bears a considerable burden to
demonstrate that he will be the attor
ney general of his testimony.”
Poverty industry
From page 6A |
to be in the position of having as our
only political option a party whose elec
toral strength rests on our poverty.
What must be done in the face of this
situation? Speaking as a Black leader,
my view is that Black America must
reposition itself politically. We must
break out of the control that the Demo
cratic party exerts over us and entirely
change how werelate politically to other
black )
inthec
By The Rev. Dr. .+
Ralph C. Watkins s,
reachingout toall Americans.
He is talking a good game!
When you read between the
lines what we find is that
George Bush’s plan still fa
vors the rich. In the words of
rapper, Flavor Flav and Pub
lic Enemy, “Don’t believe the
hype.” Bush’s plan under
mines prescription drug cov
erage and the reform of public
The W
s = X 8 :
O-piniop&)
58 |
By Brad Owens i
growthand prosperity that we
should not wait. We should
act now with an aggressive
computer education program
at all levels in our country.
Many people over the age of
fifty have a hard time under
standing the importance of
beinginternet savvy and com
puter literate. We must en
gage these people to learn the
skills that aremarketableand,
in most cases nowadays, all
but necessary to work effi
ciently in today’s business
world. Adult computer educa
tion must become a priority in
our country. To quote a pro
gressive southern governor,
Gov. Jack Stanton, “we must
make education a lifelong en
deavorin our country.” Smart
words from a smart man. In
the world of “e-commerce”
thereis an entirely new group
of rules and boundaries that
most older people do not un
derstand because they have
not had the opportunity to
learn. The time has come to
create that opportunity by
puttingmore moneyintoadult
education programsthat teach
computer science.
Computers are expensive
and only people at certain in
come levels can afford to own
one. Oneway toovercome that
problem is to spend more
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch was even
more specific.
“IfMr. Ashcroft livesup to his pledge,”
it stated, “he will not water down voting
rights enforcement. He will not veto
judicial candidates just because they
believe in abortion rights. He will tell
President George W. Bush that Con
gress’ partial birth abortion bill is un
constitutional. He will not dismantle
affirmative action and will appoint a
civil rights litigator to head the Civil
Rights Division.”
Will the new attorney general of the
United States pass judgment of the
pledges he gave during his confirmation
hearings? Will helive up to the measur
ing rod his own words have provided?
Hugh B. Price is president of the Na
tional Urban League.
constituencies.
Lenora B. Fulani has twice run for
president as an independent — making
history in 1988 by becoming the first
woman and first African American to
appear on the ballots of all 50 states.
She currently chairs the Committee for
a Unified Independent Party, the
country’s leading thinktank for inde
pendent politics. She can be reached at
800-288-3201 or at
fulanicolumn@cuip.org or by mail at
225 Broadway, Suite 2010, New York,
N.Y. 10007.
A Closer Look
education. He is continuing
to move us to a society that
favors the rich and penalizes
the poor. His tax plan goes
counter to the educational re
form he has touted. He says
hefavors publiceducation, but
heistryingtofind waystogive
greater fundingto private edu
cation. There are contradic
tionsbetween Bush’srhetoric
and his actions. On the one
hand he says he doesn’t want
to leave any child behind, but
then he proposes a tax plan
that favors the kids who are
already ahead. He says he
wants a tax plan that benefits
America, but the wealthiest
Americans get the bulk of the
money on better computers
for the public school system.
We must integrate computers
at all levels of our public
schools system. Our motto
should be “immunize then
computerize.” The earlier we
start our children to learning
how to use modern computers
the quicker we can close the
gap. We need to give tax cred
its to citizens that purchase
computers for theirhomesand
subsidize the purchase for
lower income families. We
could tie the purchases into
some form of mandatory
classes that teach the families
how to use and maintain their
(their indicates ownership)
computer. We must have low
or no cost access to internet
service providers for lower in
come families to compliment
and complete the
computer educa
tion process.
We could build
computer centers
in low income
neighborhoods
that could provide
free classes and
access to the
internet and mod
ern computers
with social work
ersand volunteers
to help people
learn. These cen
ters would be an
other plank in
building the
bridge over the
gapthat separates
us along techno
logical lines. If
knowledge is
rewards from the tax cut he
proposes. lam confused.
Which George Bush do we be
lieve®? Do we believe what he
says or do we'watch what he
does?
My Momma always told me,
“Actions speak louder than
words.” One thing about
President Bush is that heisa
smooth operator. He talks a
good game. The question is
which Bush doyou believe the
one you see, or the one hear?
Dr. Watkinsis a professorof
sociology at Augusta State
University and can be reached
at (706) 737-1735 or email:
rwatkins @aug.edu
power, thenimaginethe power
of the infinite amount of
knowledge that everyonecould
have access to through these
computer centers. Thesecould
become integral parts of our
public library and school sys
tems. They would augment
them by reinforcing the read
ing skills of the older people
andsupportingthe school cur
riculum for our children.
Ican foreseeatime when all
citizen of this great nation
posses the power of computer
and internet literacy. It will
sustain the economic viability
of our country and prepare us
to remain the world’s eco
nomic leader. While we can
afford to do it, we cannot af
ford to wait.
brad.owens@lycos.com
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AUGUSTA FOCUS
s '. f’hofo§ and
ound Off!: ==,
Do you think the mayor
should have more power
.K : ,; t’“'» :
Mr. Jean-Robert
Ductant
Sales Rep.
No,ldon’t think the mayor
needsmore power. The think
ing of the 10 commissioners
can give 10 different perspec
tives on any issue. There is
such a thing as too much
power. No.
1 P e
R
Mr. ILLW. McKinney
Extended Care
Coordinator
No. The mayor has power
and the charter is already set
up anyway. Also, more power
will not solve the problems we
have now. The mayor should
fosterabetter relationshipwith
the commission
MARCH 1, 2001
Mr. Tommie Mack
Sales Rep.
No, adefinitive NO, because
often a politician is elected
because he is popular and not
qualified. Hedoesnotneed a::y
more power; this could creaie
adictatorship. That isthere
son we have commissione:s
and counselsin placetohely in
the decision making.
) |
‘L 8T |
St .
2
| e § “23\\
Mr. Vincent McClain
Business Owner
Before we attempt to give
the mayor more power, v«
should finish the business «f
consolidating Augusta-Ric!
mond County. What would |«
do with more power? What =
hedoingwith thepowerhe 1«
already? No. i
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