Blagojevich: Not the Real Problem!!!

When Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was recently arrested by the F.B.I., I thought it was a sign of progress in our government’s anti-corruption campaign. Finally, the government is really nailing someone who did something wrong. Unfortunately, a recent New York Times article has shown me that Blagojevich is really just the tip of the iceberg in terms of government officials involved with fraud and corruption. While people may see our governor’s arrest as a step forward, the truth is, we are focusing on the wrong person.

The real criminals in our country are the ones that haven’t been caught yet. According to the article, George Bush is the biggest example of a man who has greatly damaged our country, but is not being held accountable for his actions. He lied to his country about the reasons for invading Iraq, and he also failed to take action upon large corporations and banks that were making very risky, and ultimately catastrophic, business decisions. These huge blunders by the president were made even worse by Bush’s post-presidential interview, where he said that he was only a “passive witness to disastrous events.” He took no responsibility for his actions, and he is not getting in any trouble at all. Compared to Bush, Blagojevich looks like a shoplifter.

If George Bush had any help flushing our economy down the toilet, it was from the C.E.O.s and other executives at large companies and banks. These people, out of carelessness and greed, drove their corporations into millions upon billions of dollars in debt. The company owners said the debt was unanticipated, and that they didn’t know what bad shape their business was in until it was too late. But these greedy C.E.O.s had been warned for almost a decade that their risky business investments, called derivatives, would lead to financial collapse. As Warren Buffet said in 2003, “derivatives are financial weapons of mass destruction.” But the corrupt corporation leaders didn’t listen, and now our country is trillions of dollars in debt, and who is paying for the revitalization of the economy? The taxpayers. Although Blagojevich’s crimes were sleazy and corrupt, his crimes didn’t put our entire country into economic disrepair like the underhanded bank and corporation executives.

The government’s use of wiretapping surveillance on Blagojevich could be seen as progress in the fight against corrupt politicians. The governor was a greedy criminal, and he deserves to go to jail. But if you look at the big picture of our country’s welfare, Blagojevich is not the person the United States needs to go after. President Bush and the leaders of the banks and companies that drove us into an economic recession should be the targets of the technology used to convict our governor. America needs to take a step forward and start coming down hard on the people who cause the real problems in the country. When that happens, we will finally make progress.

American Colleges: Chill Out

The long, exhausting journey towards college is underway for juniors, and we all know that the pressure’s on. We had better step up to get the grades, test scores and extracurricular activities needed to get into a “good” school. We all know that applying to college is a laborious, time-consuming process, with applications, essays and college visits that there just isn’t time to fit in. But a recent New York Times article has a solution to the complicated, expensive process: going to college in Europe. Over the past decade, more and more American students are finding a refuge in some of the top Britsh and Scottish colleges.

These international universities have a few advantages over the top American schools. Colleges in Europe that are at the same level of prestige as the Ivy League schools are only a fraction of the tuition cost. Also, these transatlantic schools are much easier to get into than American colleges of the same stature. But one of the best things about the European colleges is the simplicity of applying. As Rebecca Gaukroger, a recruiter from Edinburgh University, says in the article: “The fluff is irrelevant.” The only things these colleges require is good grades and test scores. There are no 600-word essays or huge résumés required. It is a straightforward and realistic process in which a student doesn’t have to try to hide any weak areas he or she may have in school. As Gaukroger says, “It’s built into the U.K. system that students will have strengths and weaknesses, and if a student wants to study chemistry we don’t need to know if they’re good at history.”

So as I read about the simplicity and streamlined nature of getting into a European college versus an American school, I wonder if our colleges are really making progress by raising their standards and admissions requirements so high that it almost kills students to get in. Getting into college in the United States was a lot less complicated thirty years ago, but now kids have to write dozens of essays on random topics and take every course imaginable just to get an education. With college’s requirements raised so high in this country, is our education system progressing, or is it actually moving backwards? By forcing students to be perfect instead of just being themselves, American colleges have lost sight of the student’s needs and weaknesses, and the schools are only focusing on their own success.

Maybe college is one issue where the United States needs Europe’s guidance and example.