Letters to the editor

Students uninformed about Social Security

Several colleagues and I have been surveying student knowledge at JMU about the Social Security system, only to find disturbing results. We have now surveyed seven, mostly upper-level economics classes — about 250 students.

We posed that projections show the system paying more in benefits than collecting in revenues after 2018 and running out of accumulated assets in 2042, thereby becoming "bankrupt." We then asked for shows of hands in response to the following four possibilities regarding real benefit payments after inflation to retirees after such an outcome: a) zero, b) between zero and 50 percent of what current retirees receive, c) between 50 percent and 100 percent of what current retirees receive and d) more than 100 percent of what current retirees receive.

In one class everyone said a) zero. In five classes a majority said b) between zero and 50 percent. In one class a majority said c), between 50 percent and 100 percent. Among the roughly 250 students polled, not a single one said d), above 100 percent, the correct answer.

Future benefits are to rise with the growth of real wages, reaching a level in 2042 a bit over 160 percent of what the current retirees receive. If the system then goes "bankrupt," those benefits would suddenly decline by about 28 percent, leaving the benefits paid to retirees (today’s students soon thereafter) at around 120 percent of the level current retirees receive. If this is a crisis requiring drastic action now, then I am the Brooklyn Bridge.

J. Barkley Rosser, Jr.
economics professor

Abortion amoral, new ‘Holocaust’

I’m outraged there aren’t more "Christians" standing up for the unborn. Why does freedom of choice outweigh freedom of life? Since Roe v. Wade, over 45 million babies have died. This should be unacceptable. The sad fact remains that only 1 percent of all abortions are due to rape or incest; the rest are performed as a means of birth control, according to Alan Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of Planned Parenthood.

Our society has failed to consider that every life is sacred and deserving of dignity. Look at how we handle the unwanted: unborn children, death row inmates and the terminally ill. Death is an easy solution to getting rid of these people.

Abortion is not a woman’s issue — it’s a human issue. I often hear the argument, "You’re a guy, you don’t know what it’s like having a baby." While this is true, it’s also true for the mother aborting her child. She’ll never know what it’s like to hold this child in her arms. You don’t have to be a woman to know that abortion is wrong, just like you don’t have to be black to know that slavery was wrong or be Jewish to know that Nazi concentration camps were wrong. An immoral act is still wrong whether it affects you or not. There’s a new Holocaust occurring these days and it’s happening in the wombs of mothers who abort their children.

Ken Ong (’01)

Potty Mouth forced to adjust

In a recent issue of Potty Mouth, a newsletter distributed in bathrooms around campus and sponsored by the University Health Center, I wrote a blurb entitled "Don’t be a fool, wrap your tool" about free condoms at the University Health Center. Some people found the slogan to be offensive — apparently disregarding the message. At Potty Mouth, our mission is to present important health issues to the JMU student body. Being offended by a title — without considering its message — is a classic form of censorship and in this case has taken away our creative abilities.

Based on the origin of the complaint, and the rapidity at which it was answered, I am led to believe it came from member of the faculty or a high level administrator. The specific complaint was that the words in the title negatively affected JMU’s image. Pregnancy and STDs negatively affect our lives, and if "wrap your tool" helps get the word out, the administration has no right to step in.

This complaint has caused Potty Mouth to pull its issues from areas in which it will be seen primarily by faculty and administration. Furthermore, Potty Mouth has adopted the slogan "For Students, By Students," abandoning a community-wide approach. It is unfortunate that we have been forced to take this stand, but the old adage applies, "Out of sight, out of mind."

Amir Abyaneh
senior, biology
Potty Mouth writer