Letters to the Editor

Red vs. Blue: One says everything is peachy; other says impeachCircle Editors,

In your February 10th issue, staff writer Igor Volsky published a piece entitled "State of Union by Presidential Pinocchio." After reading this article, I feel it is necessary to clear up some of the points that Mr. Volsky uses to express his dissatisfaction with President Bush.

Volsky points out that Mr. Bush is proposing a three year initiative to help keep young people out of gangs while at the same time cutting by 40 percent juvenile crime prevention programs. Although Volsky calls Mr. Bush a flip flopper in this case because of his cutting and then restoring funding, it is not true. In his State of the Union speech, Mr. Bush stated that he would cut funding to programs that are not effective and sponsor newer more effective programs.

According to the Justice Department, "the arrest rate for children ages 10 to 17 who committed violent crimes doubled from 1983 to 1992 - and could double again by 2010" (Donegan). If crime rates in juveniles doubled over this period and are continuing to rise, the president is only doing what he promised in cutting funding to ineffective programs and implementing newer more effective programs.

The article also attacks Bush's favorite saying, "we are fighting terrorists in Iraq, so we do not have to face them here at home." Volsky quotes the CIA think tank, who said that Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as a terrorist training ground. The obvious is true here, we are still fighting the terrorists and insurgents in Iraq to ensure that they do not take hold in Iraq. The forces of the United States military are fighting daily to create an Iraq that is free from the insurgents and terrorists that are being harbored there and to ensure that these terrorists are not able to take root and plan another attack on the United States.

Going back to domestic issues, Mr. Bush is still strongly pursuing his goal of better training for workers. He has committed "$1.5 billion in funding for a new high school initiative to help states hold high schools accountable for teaching all students and to provide effective and timely intervention for those students who are not learning at grade level ... increase funding for his Striving Readers program to $200 million annually, and will propose $269 million for the Mathematics and Science Partnership program".

Although Mr. Bush is not increasing funding to higher education he is making a commitment to America's children and improving their education. By making this early commitment the American education system will better prepare students and will graduate students who are truly competent enough to function in the business world. The American educational system has had many problems in recent years, lagging behind many foreign countries and by investing from the early stages American children will be more competitive for international jobs and positions.

As a final point Mr. Volsky's article brings up North Korea and the situation with their possession of nuclear arms. He calls the president's claim that we are working with the governments in Asia and Europe to remedy the situation a lie. " The American government and all of its representatives in Asia are working hard with the "six nation" coalition to find a suitable remedy for the situation. As Fox News pointed out in a February 10th article, "Bush has so far refused North Korea's request for one on one talks with the United States" (FoxNews.com). If Mr. Bush and his policy makers are refusing North Korea's attempts to talk one on one it would appear to most rational people that the United States is attempting to work with the other nations involved. Simply because we may not agree with some of those other nations ideas on how to remedy the situation does not mean that we are not attempting to work with them.

My response to Mr. Volsky is this, You call the president a Liar and say that Liar's get impeached. Well you are a journalist sir and you know what happens to journalists who do not check all of their facts or publish inaccurate statements? Their credibility drops to nothing and they damage not only themselves but also their news agency.

-Christopher Adamek

Sophomore

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Increasing size of Poughkeepsie's jail won't give youths something to do after school

Circle Editors,

Dutchess County is currently debating expanding the jail facilities in Poughkeepsie, a project that could run upwards of $60 million over the next few years, possibly more based on the example of problems being experienced now with Ulster County's jail expansion.

This comes on the heels of organizations such as the YWCA and Youth Resources Development Corporation closing their doors due to lack of state and federal funding. It also comes on the heels of President Bush's speech where he said, "we need to provide more alternatives than gangs, prison, or apathy."

The jail expansion will not address the problems experienced by the county such as overcrowding of the prison, nor will it actually make the community any safer. So long as valuable resources such as YWCA, YRDC, BOCES, and other programs that actually help the community are taken away then the jails will always stay full.

There are a number of alternatives to expanding the jail that Dutchess could pursue ranging from after school programs to funding housing for individuals transitioning back into the community. There are other options as well including streamlining the processing of prisoners which would allow prisoners to move in and out the jail at a higher speed and not tying up valuable space in the jail facility.

Our society relies on a punitive approach that attacks individuals for their deeds while simultaneously presenting no other options. If there are no resources for people to draw upon then they will inevitably be led towards crime and then there will never be enough beds in jail.