Hey George W.:
Please
fill my tank
I sincerely hope that every graduate's family was
able to afford to attend last weekend's graduation ceremonies.
No, I don't mean the price of tickets or even the
cost of accommodations. I just hope that people were able to afford
transportation to the West Lafayette campus.
With the recently ridiculous gas prices in this
area (and around the nation for that matter), it might have just been
cheaper to fly to the graduation this year, even if you were only coming
from Terre Haute.
The same $10 I usually put in my car that traditionally
lasts an entire week is now being tripled as I fill 'er up three times
a week. I can barely afford to eat.
Sure the entire nation is facing the same tough
gas prices, especially in Los Angeles and Chicago, but it's the college
students that are taking it the hardest. At least for, the college students
that reside on "non-walking" campuses, similar to Purdue. It's not secret
that college students are poor. Ramen Noodles (five for a buck) used
to be a cheap and easy meal. Now the value of the mighty dollar has
changed and these noodle meals are reserved for special occasions, as
getting to and from class is more expensive than your engineering books.
I certainly believe that if this continues, more
and more Purdue students will realize the benefits of the free CityBus
shuttles that run all around campus.
But these shuttles are only a temporary solution,
especially for students that have to work part-time jobs and seemingly
live paycheck to paycheck just to be able to pay a few bills and put
a couple of gallons of gas in the car.
Now, on the heels of Bush's new War and Peace-sized
energy proposal, he offers suggestions for fixing the rising costs of
gasoline and how to avoid blackouts. He also makes threats that we are
all doomed if we don't accept his proposal as simply understand that
his way is the only way.
"Adopt my proposal or you will all die," or something
to that effect is what his energy proposal calls for. Yeah, and my mother
used to tell me that crossing my eyes would make them stay like that.
C'mon curious George, the majority of the working class population can
barely afford to get to work. Maybe if you find three co-workers to
carpool with, you might be able to afford a McDonald's cheeseburger.
Maybe the answers are in that 163-page proposal.
But, if they are, they are answers that will take place a long time
from now.
So Bush's solution to high gas prices and energy
blackouts is to have this country aggressively drill for more oil. If
we start drilling, we'll fix this problem, is what he says. Maybe, maybe
not. But the fact is, that plan does nothing to offer a relief to those
who need it right now. There is no immediate relief for those who really
need it.
By the time we see any signs of this proposal being
successful and helping lower energy costs, I'll already be riding the
bus.
Also found in the proposal are some tax break incentives
for purchasing alternative-fuel vehicles, such as solar powered cars.
Yep, those who are affected most by the rising cost of gasoline should
rush right out and purchase one of the most expensive cars on the market.
Nice try W.
Stating that what this country needs is a long-term
solution to avoid the "risks" and "dangers" of high energy costs in
the future is merely a way of putting off dealing with the issue at
hand. The people need some kind of short-term relief. I'm sorry he wasted
his time typing this long proposal for long-term solutions so that our
country doesn't rely on foreign crude oil, but come up with a plan that
accomplishes both a quick fix and a long-term solution.
We don't ask much; we just want to be able to drive
to work.
Some experts have predicted $2-per-gallon gasoline
over the summer is imminent.
Great, that's 10 packages of Ramen Noodles for
one gallon of regular.
Keith Thomas is a senior in the School of Liberal
Arts. He can be e-mailed at editor@purdueexponent.org.
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