Over the last 18 months, two earthquakes have struck island nations, wrecking Haiti last year and Japan just over a month ago. As a community, Lehigh is tied to both through students and alumni. However, there has been a distinct difference in the reaction of Lehigh’s administration to the two tragedies.
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In today’s ever-changing business world with more and more products being imported, how would you react if I said there was a product that was growable in America, safe, and industrially viable?

That product exists, and its name is industrial hemp. Americans import 1.8 million pounds of hemp yarn a year, simply because governmental regulation precludes the production of hemp. The laws restricting the production of hemp originate from the legislation that controls the production of Marijuana. Hemp is part of the same family of plants as Marijuana, but does not contain the amounts of THC, the active ingredient in Marijuana to create effects.

Hemp is incredibly American, as ”Both (George) Washington and (Thomas) Jefferson grew hemp and the Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.” “In addition to providing useful fibers, hemp seed also has high nutritional value, and the plant can be used to make biodegradable plastics, some fuels, and a variety of other things.”1

Legislative efforts to allow hemp production are barred by a 2009 Court of Appeals ruling that does not allow states to supercede Federal regualtions on the substance.2

With the midterm elections coming up tomorrow, everyone is expecting Republicans to gain seats in the House and the Senate, but no one is sure to what degree. Let’s take a look and see what we can expect.

In the Senate, Republicans seem to be a lock to pick up at least two seats: Indiana, Wisconsin. Additionally, none of the seats they currently hold are in any danger according to recent polling. That would bring the margin in the Senate to 57-43. However, seven of those democratic seats are up for re-election and are very close. Republicans look to be in good shape in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Illinois and Colorado with recent polling showing margins of 2-4% in favor of Republicans. Assuming that they take those, the margin will move to 53-47.

Three other close seats look as though they will be taken by the Democrats: West Virginia, Washington, and California. If current polling is accurate, these seats will stay Democratic. However, if the polling methods used have a hidden bias toward Democrats (polls face obvious difficulties determining who will actually vote. Do you count registered voters, “likely” voters or “really likely” voters?) such as underestimating Republican turnout, then one or more of these races could shift. On nothing more than a hunch, I’m going to say the Republicans do grab an upset in one of these states due to momentum, and predict a final Senate margin of 52 Democrats and 48 Republicans.

In the House, things are obviously tougher to look at, with 435 races going on across the country. Here, we will resort to data provided by www.RealClearPolitics.com. RealClearPolitics accumulates polling data and classifies races into five categories: Likely Dem, Leans Dem, Toss Up, Leans GOP, and Likely GOP. Currently, RealClearPolitics shows Republicans grabbing 224 seats, Democrats grabbing 168 seats, with 43 toss ups. It is interesting to note that of the 43 toss ups, 41 are currently held by Democrats. While Democrats are facing difficult circumstances nationally, House races are localized, and thus national tendencies can be overcome by individual candidates. Indeed, by most counts this has been a clear strategy for Democratic House candidates: focus on local issues and distance yourself from the Pelosi-Reid-Obama agenda. For that reason, we’ll assume the toss ups break to the democrats by a fairly large margin: about 2 to 1. This would give us a final House tally of 238 Republicans and 197 Democrats.

Obviously, the conclusion we can draw from this is that we are heading toward a divided government once more. To accomplish anything, Democrats and Republicans must get along. Will it happen? That’s a topic for another time.

http://www.vbs.tv/newsroom/jim-frederick-newsroom

A bizarre and tragic incident being described as one of the worst violent crimes of the Iraqi War is chronicled in a new book, Black Hearts, by Jim Frederick. The story follows the deployment of a platoon of soldiers in the so-called Triangle of Death in 2005-2006. The stress of being in the most violent area of a war zone during the worst period of the conflict drove many of these men to depression, substance abuse, and ultimately murder.

The human rights abuses that are mentioned in the interview in the link above are hard for many Americans to come to terms with. As a nation, we are tired of hearing bad news from the Middle East and after seven years of war, we are ready to forget the whole ugly business. However, the story of Pvt. Steven Green, and the other men of his platoon who were accused of raping a 14-year-old girl and murdering and then immolating her family, should not be forgotten. It is important to realize the destruction that comes with war, both to the psyches of soldiers and the lives of civilians.

Frederick’s book has been described by one reviewer as a mix between, “‘In Cold Blood’, ‘Black Hawk Down’, with a bit of ‘Apocalypse Now’.” A platoon’s harrowing fall into insanity and depravity is a fitting example of some of the darker and more realistic results of the Iraqi War.

This question has been asked for as long as our country has existed. It still doesn’t have a clear answer. The peculiar situation and amazing story of Mebrahtom Keflezighi highlights some of the particulars of this ongoing debate.

Meb, as he is better known, escaped war-torn Eritrea with his family at 12. The Keflezighis moved to California where Meb soon raised eyebrows as a standout track and field athlete. Specifically, he became one of the state’s best high school distance runners. He developed as an athlete under the tutelage of American coaches and lawfully obtained American citizenship. He spoke English fluently and was awarded a full sports scholarship to UCLA. He continued to excel and today he trains as a professional runner for Nike. His best time in the marathon (26.2 miles) is 2 hours 9 minutes and 15 second, which is 4:55/mile or a little over 12 mph.

His career, though marred at times by injury and disappointing performances, can objectively be considered one of the most brilliant by any American distance runner. He achieved a pinnacle of any athletic career in the Athens Olympic Marathon in 2004 when he won a silver medal, and in 2009 he won the New York City Marathon. Both of these milestones, so to speak, have not been accomplished by an American runner since 1976 and 1982, respectively.

Although it is inarguable that Meb is a naturalized American citizen, some in the sport of distance running claim that his accomplishments cannot be counted toward “true” American records, as he is originally from East Africa, an area of the world that has dominated the sport over the past 20-30 yeas. Supporters of Meb, who always proudly races in his USA singlet, claim that his nationality switch was done very differently than other runners, like Bernard Lagat, who became an American citizen later in life in order to advance their careers. Meb spent a good deal of his childhood in San Diego.

Should we penalize Meb with an asterisk just because American-born runners haven’t stepped up to the plate? If anything, Meb’s success should serve as a motivator for distance runners in the states to get back into competing on the international level. Two of the “homegrown” stars of American running today are Ryan Hall and Dathan Ritzenhein, although they shouldn’t be considered any more American than Mr. Keflezighi simply because their skin is white.

Hopefully we will have more native champions in every walk of life, not just athletics, who will be motivated by the great victories of Meb and other immigrants who so exemplify the spirit of what it means to be truly “American”. They bring greatness to this country, and we should emulate their tenacity and desire for success in order to do our part in keeping America number one.

A Wall Street Journal feature on Meb addressing this issue is linked below…

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704361504575552311611374060.html?mod=USHomePage_14

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39419543/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/39383369

Although this story is a few weeks old, it is still worthy of comment as its focus remains ever pertinent in all of our lives.

As many of you are surely now aware, a Rutgers university student, Tyler Clementi, recently killed himself by jumping off of the George Washington Bridge. He was driven to this after his roommate videotaped him in an intimate moment with another male and streamed it online. This tragedy hits home for more people than just the freshman student’s family and friends- their loss is of course immeasurable. Tyler’s death is just one more example of how modern American culture, while touting itself as a ‘accepting’, really hasn’t come to terms with its strained relationship with the homosexual community, which is one of the last major groups to still be stigmatized both in de facto and de jure scenarios.

The word ‘hatred’ is something that we as a culture generally try to avoid, as most Americans view modern society as more liberal in its approach toward accepting different groups than past generations were. However, it is the perfect description for how too many individuals today view homosexuality. It is a moral crime of our generation that disdain for those who choose to love whomever they wish, irrespective of gender, is so ubiquitous. It is also shameful to the laws that define this republic that legislatures have kept homosexuals in a second order of society by preventing them the right to marry. Human beings should be able to fairly commit themselves to whomever they wish, without scorn or prejudice. Hopefully the precedent of freedom of marriage set out in Loving vs. Virginia (1967), will help serve to define a new and just legal precedent for gays in this country.

The similarities between the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and the current struggle for gay rights is eerie. Many experts are confident though that the tide is changing. Cases like Loving vs. Virginia will hopefully come into play when gay marriage hits the Supreme Court. Also, the military appears to be close to disbanding its archaic “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy. These advancements will only help strengthen the position of gays in the this country. We can only hope that cultural and social stigma and perception will change for the better as well.

The Daily Show had a classic correspondent piece on Monday. Assif Mandvi takes a look at the hypocritical practices of the UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers Union) in Nevada. In a way that only the Daily Show can, the clip highlights a UFCW attempt to rally against Walmart for their “oppressive” labor policies. However, the focus soon shifts when Assif finds out that the picketers are temporary employees hired by the union and receiving minimum wage and no benefits to picket in 107 degree heat.

See the clip here:

While the Daily Show makes light of the situation, there are important issues at play. The hypocrisy of the union’s leadership shows how unions have evolved to become identical to the organizations they claim to fight, and brings up the question: “how do you protect the individual against more powerful entities in society?”

Liberals claim the answer to be two-fold: government regulations and unions. However, both fail for the same reason. In each case, there is a monopoly that gives either the government or the union power over the people due to the extreme cost imposed of searching for an alternate good. A public school teacher must be in a union. Should the union start to adopt policies that he or she doesn’t appreciate, the teacher must switch not just his or her job, but switch their field of expertise. Quite simply, it is infeasible.

Similarly, our government holds us so that we are reliant on its services. The only option otherwise is to leave the country, quite obviously an expensive maneuver. To leave requires liquidation of assets, access to another country, and a similar switch in jobs. As such, a government can create policies that are not popular. While voter recourse still exists, the expansion of the government bureaucracy here has left little that elected officials can do, while more and more of the laws on our books are enforced by lifetime bureaucrats who ultimately answer to no one.

Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the role of Corporations in this argument. Liberals love to blame the “Big Business” for all of societies woes. But corporations do not suffer from the aforementioned flaws that unions and government face. With few exceptions, corporations face competition both for sales and for employees. While competition doesn’t provide a complete protection for the individual, it is much easier to buy a different car, shop at a different store or work for a different company than it is to shed the burden of a union or a government which becomes oppressive.

Unfortunately the Supreme Court long ago threw away the one protection afforded to citizens against government when it discarded the 10th amendment, which would have created a competitive “free market” environment amongst the states. Ultimately, we need to look for new solutions to ensure that an individual can flourish in society. Concealed monopolies such as our government and unions certainly are not the answer.

Downsizing Ad

On Thursday, September 16th, the CATO Institute ran advertisements in the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal criticizing the President of failing to cut expenditures as promised, and outlining areas that should be cut. While some programs were beating the same war-drum that has been occurring for generations, there are some unique ideas presented:

Education Subsidies
Federal Worker Pay
Farm Subsidies
Energy Subsidies
Military Overreach
Government-Run Healthcare
Transportation Programs
Drug War
Housing Subsidies
Social Security

What areas do you feel deserve the ax?

It is sad that a country that claims to offer religious freedom would be so prejudicial in its application of that ideal. There is a serious disconnect in what many Americans see as a fair implementation of the First Amendment. Citizens of this country enjoy their freedoms and like to promote the benefit of those freedoms. But when it comes down to it, many of those same citizens don’t actually want to follow through on granting Constitutional rights to groups or individuals they find distasteful. This unfortunate phenomenon was made painfully clear this summer with the legally baseless and unfounded disparagement of the so called ‘Ground Zero Mosque’- which is actually two blocks away from Ground Zero in a restaurant district.
It has been said that it was in poor taste for an Islamic group to plan for the construction of a religious center near the site of terrorist attack orchestrated by Muslim radicals. That may be true, at least in the minds of some, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that they have the fundamental right to be there and to build whatever they wish there. Part of the difficultly of living in a functioning democratic state is that it can be hard sometimes to adhere to the principles that our Founding Father’s laid out for us. Justice Kennedy said it best in a concurring opinion in the brief for the Texas vs. Johnson flag burning case. “The hard fact is that sometime we must make decisions we do not like. We make them because they are right, right in the sense that the law and the Constitution, as we see them, compel the result.”
I have heard the argument that certain Muslim countries would not allow for Christian centers of worship to be built anywhere. This makes it even more important for us to show them that we do not hold ourselves to a similar standard, and we should not. Our victory is made in the point that we stand by what we preach, even in the faces of those that see it as a weakness.

It is the end of the semester, and once again Lehigh Dining has begun the process of extorting money from the student body. Instead of turning Water into Wine, Dining Services has begun turning Meal Plan meals into dust.

Lehigh University's Truck Sale

Take the 225 block meal plan, a favorite of Freshmen. It costs $2,230 and comes with 225 meals and $50 dining dollars. This breaks down to $2180, or $9.68 per meal. However, when using meal plan meals as cash equivalencies, a student is only given $4.25 credit. While this is understandable because both dining halls and other establishments overlap and as a result are inefficient, the loss of $5 in equity per meal is enormous, and is essentially plundering the pockets of unknowing freshmen. The exchange rate only worsens when one examines smaller meal plans, such as the 75 meal plan, which costs $12.67 per meal. The irony here is a Dinner at the dining hall costs only $12.25, meaning buying a meal plan includes a convenience charge of 42 cents.

However, the real issue is how the University handles unused meals; extorting students more than they already do.

Prices at the Lehigh University "Bulk Sale"

Turning to a case-study of Lehigh’s Dining Dilemma, A case of Gatorade is $43.99. (24 bottles, 20 oz.) A quick Google search reveals a case at Staploes for $25, and Warehouse retailer Sam’s Club sells a case for $15. Even adding in the $35 for a membership to Sam’s Club, it is still cheaper than buying from Dining Services.

Aquafina Water is even more egregious than Gatorade; $30.99 off the truck, and $4.88 at Sam’s Club.

While the examples go on and on, it is simply ridiculous to extort students by cashing in on their leftover dining dollars. If anything, students should be given cash back equal to half of the value of unused meals.