Online housing selection

By Thomas Gibbs

For many, housing selection week has come and gone, leaving impressions of the newest selection process both positive and negative to the students at UMass Dartmouth. The new concept of selecting rooms, roommates, and meal plans with only a computer and the Internet sounded like a fool-proof plan on paper, and for the most part, it was. However, with even the most brilliant of ideas come a fair number of first draft weaknesses that seem to focus on tormenting the students before they’re given a room. Whether it was the room they wanted or not, the undergraduates were dependent on timing, credits earned, and luck, to help them succeed in grabbing hold of the perfect room.

My experience with the online room selection was one that did not have the happy ending I was hoping for (a four room apartment in any of the Woodland Commons with three of my good friends), but in the end, allowed me to find a room that I was ok with being a part of. The reality of it was that I wasn’t the only one looking to have my dream dorm room come true; thousands and thousands of undergraduates wanted them, and I was just a water drop within a sea of students.

Awkwardly placed metaphors aside, I eventually found myself waiting in front of a computer along with my potential roommates. Five minutes to one o’clock, four minutes to one o’clock, three, two, one...liftoff! The selection officially begins, and within seconds one of my friends clicks himself toward the advanced search section of rooms for Willow. Fingers crossed, we eventually came upon...nothing. So on we ventured to Aspen, Birch, Evergreen, Hickory, and Ivy, and in the end, there was nothing found. All were chosen already, some taken control of by a large majority of women; others were made co-ed. Whatever the reason was, our apartment dreams were shattered, and we found ourselves choosing a triple room in Oak Glen, leaving the last friend to fend for himself with a random roommate down the hall from us. It wasn’t perfect at all, but what could we do? When the choices are slim, and five minutes are on the clock, sometimes the gut instinct will make the decisions instead of the brain.

So what does my sad story prove? It proves that a lottery number, no matter how appealing it may be at first, doesn’t exactly give much promise to students deserving of a room. In the years before, along with credits, a student’s g.p.a. gave him a better chance at having a better room. My transition from freshman to sophomore was, in my opinion, comfortable. Sure I had to manually jot down my name on a giant sheet of paper depicting rooms, and having to stand in line brought my patience to an all time high, but pointing and clicking without having to move from your chair is part of the 21st Century, and we might as well implicate room selection into that category, right? It IS a fool-proof plan after all.

John Kerry is a poor choice for Commencement 2007

By Lee Lukoff

What a poor choice for a commencement speaker. I’ve talked to graduating seniors and they are not excited about having John Kerry coming to speak at commencement. Howie Carr has a good nickname for Kerry, its called “live shot.” This nickname came to fruition because throughout the past 22 years it’s been documented that Kerry only makes appearances in Massachusetts when the cameras are rolling and when everyone is watching. He came down to New Bedford to support illegal immigrants, cameras rolling and now he’s coming to speak at commencement, once again another big camera type event. It’s pretty obvious Kerry only cares about advancing his own personal agenda in politics. Often Kerry’s agenda has included sharp rhetoric criticizing our military and the intelligence of our troops. He’s the cheerleader for the far-left wing of the Democratic Party and his record in the Senate shows he doesn’t seek compromise with any senator of a different party.

Instead of introducing legislation and coming up with new ideas to help Massachusetts more often than not you just get hot air from Kerry. Whether it’s belittling the US Military or beating a dead horse by attacking President Bush, this guy’s done everything from calling our troops stupid to accusing them of being war criminals. It wasn’t all too long ago he voted to send those same troops he now criticizes to Iraq. His senate record is porous if you look at the legislation he’s proposed. He often does little or nothing to solve the problems he criticizes President Bush for creating. See, it’s easy being a political pundit and criticizing everything the President does, but it’s hard to come up with good ideas to public policy problems that Americans want fixed in Washington. Since Kerry has come up with no good solutions, I don’t quite understand if he’ll give our graduating seniors any useful tips for making it in the real world when he delivers his commencement speech.

When John Kerry gives his commencement speech, there’s so many possible topics he could cover. Kerry usually makes a big deal about his education at Yale. In the last election he framed himself as an intellectual compared to Bush, who he tried to portray as a dumbass. The real truth happened to be that Bush actually got higher grades then Kerry who had many C’s and D’s on his transcript; so much for being an intellectual. He may start talking about his favorite baseball player, “Manny Ortiz”; if such a player existed I’m sure we’d all love him. Kerry isn’t exactly on good terms with Curt Schilling; Schilling was the lone Red Sox voice endorsing Bush in 2004. A while back a bunch of fans on WRKO tried to draft Schilling to run against Kerry for Senate in 2008 and a large majority of those polled said they’d vote for Curt, unfortunately Schilling backed down. His failure to grasp common Red Sox trivia pales in comparison to a serious illness Kerry suffers from called “foot in mouth disease.” This illness usually occurs when Kerry tries to talk about education. Everyone knows his famous education quote, “Education - if you make the most of it and you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well, if you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” Hopefully, he won’t make the same botched joke twice but it is common for foot in mouth disease to reoccur in patients who would benefit from zipping their lip.

My objection to Kerry coming to commencement is not based on his politics but on his poor service in the Senate on behalf of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Every time his face is shown on national television it’s an embarrassment to our state. Instead of coming down for a town hall meeting or to give a lecture, Kerry has to have the spotlight and the cameras on him; he routinely puts his ego before his constituents, evidence being that he ran for president in 2004, thought about in 2008, and in his mind considers himself a viable contender in 2012 if the Democrats lose in 2008. Whoever invited Kerry to UMD to speak must have known that this speech is politically advantageous for Kerry. Kerry’s speech comes at a time where his approval ratings in Massachusetts are at an all time low, I’m talking George W. Bush numbers. In Massachusetts, his approval ratings have sunk as low as 37%, being up for re-election in 2008 Kerry is going to need all of his 12.8 million dollars in his campaign war chest and some of Teresa’s ketchup money to fend off a possible threat from a well financed challenger.

While Massachusetts is an overwhelmingly Democratic state and very liberal it would have been better to have a commencement speaker that didn’t carry the overt baggage that John Kerry brings with him. Inviting a politician who cares about his constituents concerns like maybe Deval Patrick, Ted Kennedy or Barney Frank would have been a much better choice. If this invitation was extended for the reason I think it was, I can’t blame the administration for inviting Kerry. If the purpose of his invitation was to get some money from Kerry’s wife Teresa Heinz (who is, by the way, receiving an honorary degree), I can’t blame them. Unlike Heinz ketchup, which comes in 57 different varieties, money comes in one, and a big fat check in exchange for a commencement speech may not be a bad business decision for a University that is going through some growing pains. Maybe next year the administration will find someone who has a positive message that all students can learn from. This year’s decision to invite John Kerry to commencement was a mistake; Kerry doesn’t share the same values students at UMass Dartmouth hold to be important. His big ego, sharp insults and lack of concern for his constituents make us realize that maybe the administration could have done a better job in choosing a commencement speaker who shares the common values of our diverse student body.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR>

Digital art gallery

I don’t have much reason for hating the opinion of the student who erroneously claims that the digital gallery is a complete waste of money, but I really do hate it. Not only did this person make a gross miscalculation, but he or she did not even bother to research the actual price of the screens. The total cost of the system was, in fact, a mere $1,327.78. (How do I know? I asked.) A decent laptop would easily cost another thousand dollars. This “reporter” failed to take this into account, and furthermore, probably does not realize that the auditorium technical staff “resurrected” a dead computer. The school didn’t even buy a new computer, just the screens. Oh yes, they’ve spent so much money.

Additionally, the aforementioned person should have probably pointed out that schools that provide students with computers are not likely state schools. They’re probably private institutions charging $40,000+ per year. Although some state schools “provide” you with computers, it counts as a required fee and comes straight out of your own pocket. It’s a shame that his or her computer takes “six years to boot up.” Perhaps, if it worked faster, he or she could have e-mailed the technical staff an inquiry before producing an inaccurate statement.

Aubrey Ramsdell
UMass Tech Crew

SOUL SIGHTINGS

Different days of Sabbath, same core values

The month of May is finally here and it is a busy time for students as classes are ending, final papers are being written, and final exams will be beginning very soon. It’s unbelievable that the year is almost over, and this is the last article I will be writing for the year. At this busy time, it is also important to take some time to reflect on the semester and the past year, and to get some much-needed rest. We learn from the first chapter of the Bible, in Genesis, that God created the world in six days and then on the seventh day, the Sabbath day, He rested from his work. This ancient concept is still practiced by many people around the world.

Christians observe their Sabbath day on Sunday when they go to church; Muslims commemorate their Holy day on Friday; and Jews celebrate their Sabbath day at sundown on Friday evening until sundown Saturday evening. If we all practice this concept to rest one day of the week, we will all feel refreshed and we will be ready again to begin the work week with new energy and spirit. Tomorrow, May 4th, the Jewish people will be celebrating Shabbat Across America when most synagogues around the country will open their doors to anyone who wants to celebrate the Jewish Sabbath. Students on campus can join their fellow Jews in the Greater New Bedford Community at a Shabbat dinner at Tifereth Israel Synagogue at 6 p.m.

There is also an opportunity to celebrate Shabbat again on May 11 at the orthodox synagogue in town at which time Rabbi Barry Hartman will speak after the Shabbat dinner on the history of the New Bedford Jewish community. I encourage all Jewish students at UMass Dartmouth to come to these dinners, and to let me know as soon as possible if they would like to participate in a meaningful and restful Shabbat with fellow Jews in the area. I hope many students will join in the festivities to experience the true beauty and meaning of Shabbat.

I wish all UMD students the best of luck these last weeks of the semester and a wonderful, productive, and restful summer.

B’shalom,
Cindy Yoken

Gestures

By Sally Lee

The flags are half mast, and the pundits are divided. The President flew to the memorial service, with the First Lady at his side. They shook many hands, and expressed deepest sympathy, no doubt. The networks keep digging to tell all the stories, 32 stories cut short-not counting the killer’s. He packaged his up and sent it to the networks to play over, and over, and over again.

Tonight the Boston Red Sox sport the Virginia Tech logo on their Celtic green sleeves and caps worn in memory of the late Red Auerbach who smoked cigars and lived long. He is remembered for helping the Celtics achieve glory 11 glorious times.

The case for free banking

By Ben Tansey

Most people are aware of the basics of the current system of banking that we have in place. Joe Average takes his savings to Steve’s Bank, and gives it to them as a deposit. They credit his account with the amount of money he has given them. They then take the majority of that money, we’ll say 60% as an example, and loan it out to borrowers, charging an interest rate. If Joe should return to collect on his deposit before the bank collects on the loan, they will pay it out to him either through their takings from interest rates on other loans or from the accounts of other customers of the bank. This system is why economists say that savings and investment are so closely linked. Without savings, placed in the hands of fractional reserve banks, there could be no loans, and without loans, there could be no large scale investment.

This system does not work too badly (we’ll get to that later) in the absence of a federal bank and fiat currency. However, in our current system, it is an inherently inflationary process that serves to distort the structure of production and cause what economists call the business cycle.

Suppose that there is a sudden increase in the demand for loans in our current system. Banks, of course, oblige this desire for loans. However, since the supply of money has remained the same, they react by raising interest rates. Interest rates are, essentially, the price of borrowing money. So, of course, they obey the laws of supply and demand like any other price mechanism. However, the government has in place a price control on interest rates. It takes the form of the Federal Reserve, which will respond to rising interest rates through pumping money into the economy, in an attempt to keep rates at what the Fed has set as its target. The result of this is of course, inflation. Anytime the demand for loans is increased, money is simply taken out of thin air and placed into the economy by the Fed!

Like any policy that refuses to let markets clear, the Fed’s policy of trying to control the interest rate is misguided and has ill effects. By refusing to allow interest rates to function properly, and keeping them artificially low via the creation of new money, the fed encourages malinvestment. Investors who believe that interest rates will always be (relatively) low have much less reason to invest carefully. Why not take big risks? After all, you can always take out more loans, it’s not as if the price of loanable funds is liable to change just like the price of anything else in a market. Of course, eventually this malinvestment boils over, and the demand for loanable funds begins to skyrocket. Sometimes, the fed responds by bailing out banks (remember that they keep only a fraction of actual savings) through loaning them large amounts of money. The result is large scale inflation. Sometimes it chooses not to, believing it is best to stick to a tight money policy. The result is bank runs. With the federal reserve in charge, you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t!

So, clearly, this is a problem. It traps us in a constant state of boom-bust capitalism, the business cycle always nipping at our heels. Is there nothing we can do? There is an answer, however politically infeasible it seems currently. The answer is a complete end to government monopoly on the money supply. We should instead institute a system of free banking, whereby banks print and compete with their own notes.

Before discussing this, it is important to understand the nature of money, and what it really is. Everybody knows how a primitive, barter based economy works. If I have wheat, and I want meat, I take my wheat and I find someone who A.) Has meat in the quantity I want and B.) Wants wheat in the quantity I have. We can then trade. For obvious reasons, this gets very inconvenient very fast, especially when more complex trade enters the scenario. The result is that some good appears in the barter economy, which is widely traded enough, that it actually becomes the standard of trade itself. Everyone is confident that everyone else will be willing to accept it in trade. In the history of the west, and indeed of all advanced economies, this has near universally been gold. So let us assume that, in the absence of the dollar, gold becomes our standard of trade (though really it could be anything). Of course, just as nobody wants to lug all of their dollars around with them in cash, nobody wants to lug all of their gold around with them. That would be even more inconvenient!

So people pay to have the gold deposited in banks, and are issued receipts in the form of bank notes to use as trade. Now, obviously, banks are going to want to compete to have the best notes. After all, banks want to get the most deposits. The result will be that banks will try to minimize the risk a consumer takes by depositing with them of a run on the bank. This could either spell the end of fractional reserve banking altogether, and the creation of a separate market for loanable funds independent of banks. It could also mean that fractional reserve banking will continue, but, in the absence of a price control (Federal Reserve) interest rates will set themselves according to the actual demand for loanable funds. It will likely be some mix of the two, with some banks engaging in fractional reserve, but using other perks to get savers to deposit with them instead of with other banks. In any event, it is the end of inflation, and it minimizes the risk of bank runs (since investors will be much less likely to malinvest if they know that interest rates might change rapidly). Fractional reserve banking with a central bank structure is the cause of the business cycle and of boom-bust capitalism. Free banking is the cure.

THE BLURBOSPHERE - EDITOR'S SPECIAL FEATURE

Mitt Romney, John Kerry, the Pats and more

Pats flying in a new direction

Dan Shaughnessy finally wrote something good for The Boston Globe. Randy Moss, Dante Stallworth, and Brandon Meriweather (our safety from Miami University seen kicking opponents in a brawl) don’t fit the mold of the traditional New England Patriots. It’s a good point, but not a very relevant one. We have a romantic twinge with sports teams in New England. We like to win, but we like to be classy. The 2004 World Series team was a patchwork of a few stars, no more than any other time, and then great position players. Beating the present-day Murderer’s Row of the New York Yankees with a few less-talented, more-determined guys was almost as satisfying as the ring itself. The Patriots were following this mold as well. While NFL teams try to get the tallest receivers, the fastest backs, the hardest hitting defense, or the quarterback with the strongest arm, the Pats have won by developing team chemistry, discipline and perseverance. Now we are loading up on names and talent like the post-2004 Sox did. It doesn’t always lead to victory, but it may sell tickets and get television coverage. What’s important to you?

John Kerry as commencement speaker

The College Republicans aren’t happy, and maybe I’d like to see Ted Kennedy instead as well, but John Kerry isn’t too shabby for UMass Dartmouth. Deval Patrick was not available; he was already booked for the UMass Boston commencement, even though some were holding out hope due to Deval making UMass his de facto headquarters for the SouthCoast. Kerry has made some mistakes as pointed out in Lee’s article; the education quote was a little less than the “sad but true” moniker he was going for. If it took giving his wife an honorary degree, then so be it. Kerry won the nomination as the Democratic candidate for president in 2004, and only three years later he is keynoting my graduation; I feel pretty good about that. He also just published a book about environmentalism, which fits in nicely with our newly developed substructure as being the leaders of sustainability awareness and research in this part of the state. The fact that Kerry is speaking shows that UMass Dartmouth is growing in stature, importance and influence across the state with relation to other public and private schools.

The Bush family gets behind Romney

In the seemingly unnecessary Republican race (due to the money and media coverage of the Democratic race) for the presidential nomination, the dominoes are starting to fall and the stars are aligning. John McCain has become almost a liability for the party because of his fanaticism and narrow-minded views on the war, national security and spending; the same traits that has W. at the bottom of the approval ratings. Mitt Romney’s centrism is making him more attractive to fellow Republicans, and Bush’s brothers Jeb and Neil are getting their people and their money behind him. He might prove to be a very viable opponent for whoever comes out of the dogfight that the Democratic primaries will be. On that subject, I really hope someone like Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich or John Edwards can rise above the two-horse race of Barack and Hilary. It’s not over yet for either of them, but how soon it is over depends on the resolve of the other candidates.

Tufts University offers class on ‘Lost’

Next month will mark the end of the first semester that Tufts University has offered a class on the television show ‘Lost.’ All reports indicate that the class has been a success. They don’t just gossip about plot points and the attractiveness of certain actors and actresses, the class is devoted to the social and philosophical ideas the show plays with. Not having seen the show, I can’t elaborate on the details, but after reading a few articles and interviews I get the sense that they take it seriously, and the syllabus is strict in keeping the water cooler chat down and the classroom chat up. I wonder how that would play at UMass Dartmouth, and I also wonder if this is a trend that will continue. Television shows of the caliber of Lost, and other shows on FX and HBO are intended to be art, at least somehwhat. We have art history classes here where artwork is discussed and analyzed. Why not do that with TV shows? It would be a chance for modern culture to be analyzed in a meaningful manner, and be compared to past periods of history with their forms of art. I don’t see why you can’t get a semester out of The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, or 24. As an academic conservative, this is a radical change, if done right, I’d agree with.

Falling CD sales lead to phasing out of selection

I first read a story about this in the Wall Street Journal. The article talked about how the big chain stores like Wal-Mart and Target are reducing the amount of square-footage devoted to music sales because of lower demand of physical CDs. Something the industry is doing to fight the move towards online music sales are the increase in investment in album art. CD cases are becoming more complex, with more art, more liner notes, more special features and extra discs to provide an incentive over online sales. It makes sense, but one thing that’s reducing the selection but boosting the physcial cartridge is doing is limiting the access to older music. I became familiar with bands like Rush, the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Cat Stevens through actual filing through the CDs at local stores. I was willing to take a chance because of the used selections and the easy access. Sure someone interested in the Beatles can buy CDs through Amazon. The analysis and user reviews are an improvement over store selection; but how seriously experimental will music buying be if you have to go through online mediums, credit cards, shipping fees and time delays?