The_Rambler_1996-09_1996-10

              State University of New York at Farrnhgdale Volume 69 • Issue 13 • September - October Edi t ion^ [ ^ ^ (p
Budget Priorities Disturb Students
By Russell Hall
The federal government spent
$275 billion on defense in 1995, an
amount totaling 53 percent of the domes-tic
discretionary budget, compared to just
$37.5 billion allotted for education.
If a recent phone poll is any
indication, the young adults of America
are not pleased about this appropriation of
funds.
In July, the 20/20 Vision Educa-tion
Fund queried 500 random participants
aged 118 to 30 about what they deemed
the nation's most crucial issues and how
budget funds could be redistributed.
The poll results showed that
young adults considered improving
education (32 percent) and fighting crime
(28 percent) to be the two most vital
issues facing the country today. Only
three percent said maintaining a strong
national defense should be the top budget
priority.
Not surprisingly, 62 percent of
the respondents thought the $275 billion
spent on defense was too much. Robin
Caiola, co-director of 20/20 Vision,
agreed with the majority, noting that the
national defense is up $11 billion from the
previous year.
"We are spending more money
on defense now than Nixon did during the
Cold War." Caiola observed.
Promoting peace is one of the
America's Youth Say*
TTie mo/t important problem
facing the country is...
improving education 32%
fighting crime and drugs 28%
maintaining a strong national defense 3%
The Itatt important problem
facing the country is:
maintaining a strong national defense 39%
Washington Does
To balance the budget, it is...
•acctptabU to cut spending for:
Defense
tkU to cut spending fen
Education.
Social Security..
. 9 3%
. 8 5%
. 7 8%
When choosing between defense spending,
and spending on education:
cut defense and increase education 77%
.4%
keep both the same 18%
on national
,S. spent I
defense .
Discretionary Budget Authority by Functiont
• The House of Repre sptt
^ t e on a proposal to cut even $1 from the 1997
defense budget bUl.
• The Setute voted against a transfer of $1.3 billion
from defense to education.
' Since 1994. Congress has cut edueaticn by more than
Sl.l biUion, and has voted to cut an additional $1.8
billion.
> The House voted to add SI0.6 bUlion more than the
Penugon's request to the 1997 [>efense Budget.
1995: $275 billion spent on defense
O.C. My 19M. of 500 mtMr Ml »t4 4%). ISloMyunatd
main objectives of the nonprofit, grass-roots
group and its 30,000-plus members.
The group's name is derived from its
motto - 20 minutes each month, $20 a
year, a vision for a healthy planet.
Through the use of a toll-free
number, l-(888) CUT-PORK, 20/20
Vision members can access complete
voting records of their representatives. After
calling and receiving a monthly postcard, 20/
20 Vision members take action by writing or
calling Congress each month.
Included in the postcard are detailed
instructions on how to write a brief letter to
help sway a vote.
"We try to make it as easy as
possible for people to take action," Caiola
said. "We don't want to overwhelm them."
Some 65 percent of the groups
members are reported to by writing letters
every month. Caiola said it is difficult to
assess how much impact the 20/20 Vision
letters have had, but in the past six months
they have helped to halt Congressional effort;
to weaken safe drinking water standards and
urged President Clinton to support nuclear
testing bans.
Karen Register, the mother of a 2
year-old son and 20/20 Vision member since
1994, likes being informed about what is
going on in her home city of Los Angeles.
Register has made a commitment to writing
monthly, especially on environmental issues.
"I fmd myself wanting to be more
attentive as many child grows older," she
said. "Having a baby has really motivated me
to make a difference."
For more information about 20/20
Vision, call (800)689-1782 or (202)833-
2020; or access the group's website at:
www.20/20 vision .org.
Gangsta Rapper Tupac Shakur Dies of Multiple Gunshot Wounds
Tupac No More
By Elder Jacques Jr.
On Sept 13 thousands of
people throughout urban America
received the news that the often
controversial gangsta rapper Tupac
Shakur died of multiple gunshot
wounds to the chest. On the previ-ous
Saturday night, Sept. 7, Tupac
and Death Row Records mogul
Marion ":Suge" Knight were
victims of a drive-by shooting. The
incident happened in Las Vegas
after the Tyson/Seldon fight which
the two attended. Police investiga-tions
disclosed that a white Cadil-lac
pulled along side of Knight's
BMW and opened fire. Knight
suffered minor injuries; Tupac was
taken to a near-by hospital for
emergency treatment. Surgeons
removed his right lung later - on
that week, but his body could not
survive the trauma.
Many of the media world
believe that the incident was the
climatic point of an on-going
conflict between East Coast record
label Bad Boy Entertainment and
the West Coast's Death Row
Records, which supports such
names as Snoop Doggy Dog and
formerly supported Dr. Dre.
Interviews with Bad Boy's CEO.
Sean "Puffy" Combs and rapper
Notorious B.I.G. admit that the
East Coast-based company had
nothing to do with the murder of
Tupac.
But what lesson, if any,
does the death of Tupac teach us?
How should we react to the death
of a man who has lived his life
according to the music he sells?
Tupac was a known criminal, who
was out on bail pending an appeal
on a sex offense charge, and faced
a 120-day sentence for probation
violations. His music reflects the
violence of American street life,
and promotes the degradation of
women. Yet and we still buy his
records and many others like his.
Let's now take a step back
and look at the bigger picture.
What does this mean to American
society as a whole? To the enter-tainment
industry: it is time to
realize that with your enormous
power, comes an equal amount of
responsibility. Contrary to some
opinion the media does influence
the lives of the American people,
especially the children. What kind
of message are we sending to our
children when we say that violence
is bad, but people like Snoop
Doggy Dog and Tupac Shakur have
record breaking sales? To the Black
community: if we don't stand up
and take control of what is going on
in our communities, don't expect
anyone else to. No matter how he
lived or who he was, Tupac was
another Black man, on a list of
thousands, who died in senseless
violence. And we can only look to
ourselves to remedy this situation.
I do not believe that Tupac
deserved to die, but for someone,
anyone who lived a lifestyle such as
his, a violent death is almost always
the outcome.