Monday, March 3, 2008, Issue 9
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Former president visits Lubbock

by Caroline Basile, editor-in-chief

He may be the former president of the United States, but Bill Clinton’s political presence is still being felt as he recently made a stop in Lubbock on behalf of wife Hillary’s presidential campaign.

Clinton spoke to a crowd of more than 2,000 people on Feb. 16 at the Westerner Arena at Lubbock High School about issues his wife is taking on in her presidential bid. Before taking the stage, some who sat eagerly waiting to hear the 42nd president chanted "Hillary, Hillary, Hillary" in anticipation as the Dixie Chicks’ hit “Ready to Run” played on the loudspeaker.

Clinton, who served as president from 1993 until 2001, took the stage after being introduced by former Lubbock High teacher Marjorie Reynolds. Speaking for nearly an hour and 15 minutes, Clinton touched on issues such as the war in Iraq, heath care, education and the economy, making the political stances of his wife well known with the audience.

"You should be for her, because she's got the best solutions, and she's the best change-maker," Clinton said.

Clinton stated in his speech that he wanted to come to Lubbock while campaigning for several reasons, including that he wanted to see the high school of Buddy Holly and of Meg Thompson, who assisted him in editing his autobiography, "My Life.

Senator Hillary Clinton of New York and Illinois Senator Barack Obama are battling for the Democratic presidential nomination.  Both candidates are concentrating on the March 4 primaries in delegate-heavy states Texas and Ohio as they campaign.

Hundreds of audience members raised their hand when Clinton asked how many knew someone without health insurance. He went on to talk about Sen. Clinton's healthcare plans and offered details as to how her plan would provide coverage to the poorest residents at a low-income percentage.

Clinton was elected as governor of Arkansas in 1980. He ran for president in 1992, defeating the incumbent Republican George H. W. Bush and Independent Ross Perot. Clinton, the only president to be a Rhodes Scholar, served two terms in the Oval Office.

On the topic of the Iraq War, Clinton said his wife would have a plan of withdrawing troops within 60 days of taking office. Clinton added that Hillary would likely leave a small contingent of Special Forces in areas of northern Iraq as a defense in case al-Qaida returns in Iraq, as well as to provide stability between Turkey and the Kurds who live in northern Iraq.

Clinton also stated that his wife believes in developing renewable energy sources, especially wind energy in West Texas, as the best and quickest way to offer new jobs to Americans and bring economic development to rural areas of the nation.

"We've got to make every school, every public building and every building at the campus of Texas Tech as energy efficient as possible," Clinton said.
 Clinton added that his wife is the only candidate with a solution to the growing mortgage problem in the country.

"Her position is: Let them spend $30 billion now, (rather) than spend $300 billion cleaning up this mess," he said.

Clinton also noted in his speech that the Democratic nomination will be a historic one, with either the first woman or first African-American nominee.

"This is an interesting election here," Clinton said. "We're going to break the mold of politics in America, and we're going to win. Our party is going to nominate the first woman for president or the first African American for president."

During Clinton’s time in office, Janet Reno took over as the first female Attorney General and Ruth Bader-Ginsburg became the second female justice on the Supreme Court.
Clinton added that Hillary embraces the notion of equality and indiscriminately chosen leadership, and that in his eyes, she is best suited for the presidency.

"We are here without regard to our race, our religion, our gender or our age," Bill Clinton said. "We've got everybody here, believing that we're all one power. We all respect each other. We think our common humanity and our common community is most important. There is nothing we cannot do. That's Hillary's vision of America."

 

 

 

 

  

SPC to test emergency notification system

by Courtney Bullard, staff writer

After the tragedy of the Virginia Tech shootings, many colleges and universities are reviewing their own security methods.

South Plains College is in the process of setting up a new Emergency Notification System. The emergency system will allow the college to quickly communicate with students, faculty, and staff.  It will do this through phones, e-mail, and text messaging.  According to David Jones, vice president of academic affairs, the students will only be contacted in an emergency situation. This may include severe weather threats, natural disasters, and other human-related violent threats.

“We began to look at emergency systems over this past year as probably every university or college has,” said Jones. “Virginia Tech, without a doubt, has been a wakeup call for colleges and universities. Colleges and universities have relied on our telephones and e-mail mostly. Colleges and universities have experienced emergencies, but it hasn’t been to the forefront as it is now. These systems don’t come cheaply, so I think colleges, especially small colleges, have had to weigh the cost. Now with the advances in technology, it has become apparent that colleges and universities need to utilize these tools as well.”

           

According to Jones, the college will test the system on March 28. Students will receive a message through their current information. The message will explain that it is only a test, and it will give information about the system and direct them where to go to update their information.

This test will allow the college and students to know if their contact information is accurate. The program will produce a report that will show the number of phone numbers that are disconnected or if e-mail addresses are no longer set up.

“Students will be able to opt out of receiving messages or out of certain types of messages,” said Tim Winders, associate dean of information technology. “For example, if they don’t want to receive text messages, they could not put a number or opt out of it, and there will be an option to opt out of e-mail if you want to have your e-mail on file but you don’t want to receive notification by e-mail.”

Through the system, students will able to get nine messages.  Students will have the option to have six phone numbers, two e-mail addresses, and one text-message number.  They can give parents’ numbers or work phone if they so choose.

Currently, the system only has contact information that they have already received. Soon there will be a portal on MySPC where students will be able to update and add contact information.

In case of an emergency, first the appropriate personnel, such as law enforcement, medical aid and college staff, will handle the situation. Then the appropriate administrators will assess the situation and take action, which includes contacting students and staff.

The system, which is not hosted at SPC, will send out the messages to everyone. The system is not set up on this campus in case of power failures at the college.

“We are going to respond, resolve and then communicate,” said Jones.

 

Clinton speaks about mother's campaign run

by Caroline Basile, editor-in-chief

Chelsea Clinton, following in her father’s footsteps, recently visited Lubbock to gain support for her mother Hillary’s presidential bid.

She began the question-and-answer session, which was held Feb. 25 in the Student Union Building at Tech, by thanking the audience for a warm welcome and apologizing for having a sore throat.

"Forgive my voice," she began. "I've been working hard for my mom. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Clinton, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history from Stanford University and earned a master’s degree in international relations from University of Oxford, shared Hillary Clinton's plans as she answered questions from the audience, which consisted predominantly of Tech students and Lubbock residents.

When asked by an audience member how she sees her mother as an "agent of change, she responded positively about how her mother has been working in people's lives.

"I think my mom has been making positive change in peoples' lives for longer than I've been alive," she said. "I mean, I turn 28 (years old) in a couple of days, and before I was born, my mom worked for the Children's Defense Fund."

When asked about her father's role if her mother is elected president, she spoke proudly of how her father would serve.

"My father and mother have both talked about my father's role," Clinton said. "If God willing, and with Texas' help, she is our next president."

Clinton went on to say that her father as a former president is always ready to help where he is needed and gave an example of how as he was asked by current President George W. Bush to help with Katrina relief efforts with fellow former president George H. W. Bush. She also said that her father would "be honored to serve whoever the next president might be."

"My hope (is), as their daughter," Clinton said, "(that) I'm privileged to sit at the dinner table."

When asked about her mother's stance on the North American Free Trade Agreement and what she would do toward changing the United States' trading policy, Clinton said that her mother would place a moratorium on free-trade agreements.

"She is the first to propose a trade prosecutor so there is a high-level trade authority," Clinton said. "And the administration would be responsible for enforcing that trade agreement. Part of the reason that this is such a hot topic right now is not only that our trade agreements don't adequately reflect our values to protect us competitively, but even the ones we have haven't been vigorously enforced under this administration."

On the topic of foreign policy, Hillary Clinton's administration, Chelsea went on to say, would strive to reestablish America's image in the eyes of other nations through the adoption of international treaties, particularly the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and the Kyoto Protocol, which the Bush Administration did not ratify.

As far as making college more attainable and affordable to hopeful students, Clinton said her mother would revamp the educational system in several ways to benefit a broad range of students.
Chelsea Clinton stated that her mother would increase federal Pell Grants and ease the financial burdens of graduates who owe money to oppressive loan lenders. Additionally, Clinton said her mother would do two things to help change the higher-education system.
"One, make it more affordable and accessible for every American," she said, "and two, end the war on science."