Where are all the “Save the Gulf” concerts? Where are the TV benefits with celebrities and musicians giving heartfelt speeches on the poor fisherman, wildlife, beaches, loss of income and sabotaged gulf economy? Why hasn’t Kanye West made an excited utterance claiming that President Obama doesn’t care about the gulf people? I find it rather strange that these people, sans Larry King, and our own government are quick to help Haiti and other countries, but sit on their butts for this one.

What’s that you say? “More than 200,000 people were killed, over 300,000 injured and 1.5 million are still homeless in Haiti. Yes, the oil spill is terrible, but comparing it to a disaster where human life was lost is disrespectful of the dead and suffering.”

Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely sensitive to loss of life and know that pain intimately. However, the bottom line is that our duty as American citizens  is to help Americans who are living and who are less fortunate. The BP oil spill’s effect on our environment has an immediate impact on the lives of the living. U.S. resources must be deployed in a way that not only sustains life, but also revives the environment and its people in a way that is consistent with the general American expectations of prosperity – the right to pursue it.

It is appalling that many of us are compelled to do nothing and, furthermore, there are some who remain clueless that an oil spill even exists. A catastrophe of this magnitude on American soil will have not only economic effects, but also sociological and ecological effects that are so far reaching, they cannot yet be quantified! A lackluster response from our government is to arguably deny citizens their right to pursue life and liberty.

To put this into context, as a country, we believe that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. SOUND FAMILIAR? These phrases are derived from the Declaration of Independence. Furthermore, the fundamental belief to American life was incorporated into the Bill of Rights via the 5th Amendment – no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

Basically, the less than adequate responses from both the federal and state governments are synonymous with denying our AMERICAN citizens their basic constitutional rights! Whether the crisis is an outcome of BP’s carelessness or an act of God like Hurricane Katrina, the government has a responsibility to its citizens.

Bradford Anderson, a law lecturer for Graduate Business Programs at the Orfalea College of Business at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, describes the situation best: “In the end, I envision that BP and the other entities responsible in the Gulf oil spill will pay for some of the cleanup costs and human damages. Meanwhile, natural habitats and harmed animals will recover little, because our legal system fails to adequately address long-term environmental injury. And all the money in the world cannot recreate a lost animal species.”

It’s sad that more of our citizens don’t see this issue as large as a natural disaster when the spill affects Americans on American soil and the effects will be much more devastating in the long run. Charity begins at home.

It has been a real pleasure to work with the District, SCAD Savannah’s publication, and The Connector for the past four years. When I first joined the District in the fall of 2006 while at the Savannah campus, I merely observed the process of working for a publication. When the spring quarter rolled around, I did a few photography assignments. At that time, The Connector was part of the District as a pull out section.

The following year, I packed my bags and moved to the Atlanta campus. When I first joined the Connector in the fall of 2007 as a staff photographer and writer, Therese Mushock, the editor-in-chief at the time, pulled The Connector out of the District and made it its own newspaper. While it seemed to be a bad idea to have the District and The Connector separated at first, it turned out to be a brilliant move. The Connector was finally able to break out of District’s shadow to form its own personality and adopt a fresh design. We were awarded First Place for Layout/Design Excellence from the Georgia Collegiate Press Association that very same year.

Being able to see the fruit of our labor displayed every Friday on the newspaper racks around campus was an awe-aspiring experience. It was like picking up a free painting to display on our wall because the covers were beautifully done.

Fast forward to the fall of 2008 when I was studying in Lacoste. That is when I received the news that we were going to stop the printing press and make the transition to an online publication. I quietly mourned the loss of being able to touch those stunning, lightweight works of art every week but soon got over it as I realized there were new innovations that we could approach with a web site that we could not do with the newspaper. Now, we were finally able to publish as many photos as our little hearts desired without worrying about how it would all fit on the page. The web site also made it possible to incorporate video and audio clips to augment our stories.

At the same time we moved to the online publication, we formed a quarterly magazine called SCAN so that we could still have at least one form to hold, smell, and touch every quarter. The days of launching the latest issues are the most exciting time for The Connector staff members. Seeing the readers’ reactions in person is just priceless.

Back at the Connector office, we continue to adorn our office with new awards. We just won several Region 3 Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards: Best Independent Online Student Publication, Non-Fiction Magazine Article, General News Photography. I couldn’t have been any more proud of the hard work our staff members put in the past four years. And those are just the latest in a string of 24 awards over the last three years!

Looking forward, I wish the new Connector staff the best of luck and I am confident The Connector and SCAN will continue to thrive.

Now, the word “economy” has literally taken part of our daily activities, and has consequently gained a whole new, and negative meaning. If things go bad, it’s because “of the economy.” If one wants to justify avoiding a commitment, it is because “the economy turned life harder.” The economy is this big beast we fear, and which covers our future with a smoky and dark haze.

For college students, the situation does not seem easy either. Many rely on student loans, which are more and more hard to find. Private loans, many of whom granted by institutions in deep financial crisis, have become even more restrictive recently. The Washington Post reports that “[a]t least a dozen firms have stopped issuing private loans, citing problems in the debt markets.”1 Giants like Wachovia – now acquired by Wells Fargo, have closed their student line, and even popular lenders such as Sallie Mae, are tightening their requirements.

Even for those who rely on federal loans, skies are not bright blue. Many federal lenders have reduced the availability of loans. For example, according to the Boston Globe, Citigroup Inc., and Sallie Mae2 have quit federal consolidation loans, which allow grouping of several different family loans.

Such crises represent a formidable obstacle students have to overcome in order to pursue a college degree. Here at SCAD-Atlanta, the situation is not different from the rest of the country, and many students face the possibility of not having money to support their college education just when a valuable diploma becomes even more necessary to succeed as a professional.

The Connector featured opinions and suggestions from students and staff at SCAD-Atlanta, directly — or indirectly — involved with the current crisis. It also showed what initiatives SCAD is sponsoring in order to relieve its students from their financial burden. We would also like to hear from you. Leave a comment, send us an e-mail or even knock on our office door! What you have to say might be of great importance in these times of crisis. Reality is hard, and solidarity has become even more necessary.

Most colleges and universities have health facilities that are easily accessible on campus and provide free examinations and basic care. At SCAD-Atlanta, however, we are missing such a facility, and are in
need of one. SCAD-Savannah has one such facility and provides cheap, immediate health care that is
convenient for students.

According to the school’s Web site, it says the Memorial Health Medical clinic treats students for a “variety of common ailments such as colds, earaches, asthma, sinus infections, minor gynecological
complaints and small abrasions.” So why don’t we have a health care department in Atlanta?

Not only does SCAD-Savannah have its own facility, but comparable institutions in Atlanta have free health care clinics for their students. Oglethorpe University, with a student population just over 1,000, has a clinic with its own licensed registered nurse, and also employs the services of an established local doctor who visits the clinic once a week. Agnes Scott, another private school of approximately 900 students, also has a similar facility on their campus.

Students at SCAD-Atlanta in need of immediate care have little choice but to go to Piedmont Hospital
a few blocks down from the school. The considerable inconvenience of Peachtree Street traffic for students with cars is one matter to take into account. But more seriously, students without their own transportation can be more than inconvenienced if they are too sick or hurt to transport themselves, car or no car.

Piedmont isn’t free either; students have to pay to get help just like at any other hospital. But that’s what a free clinic is all about: getting aid to students who are low on cash or will have difficulty getting access to help outside the SCAD-Atlanta campus.

The importance of this issue needs to be brought out, even if it may be readily obvious to some. This is different from complaining about better-tasting food in the Hub, or the inconsistent shuttle; the health and well-being of students is on the line here. It’s an extreme example, but it’s a point that still needs to be made. What happens when a student suffers serious bodily harm, or even (God forbid) that student dies when things could have been different had there been immediately accessible health services at school?

Yes, there are likely explanation and factors to consider. The foremost issue in any scenario like this is always money, and our situation is likely no exception. A free student medical clinic is costly, and currently there is no fee or charge in our tuition at SCAD-Atlanta to aid in financing such a program. On top of some kind of fee, more money will be required, and that money has to come from somewhere.
We assume finding the space is a problem too; but hasn’t that been a problem here for a while now? Rooms and space are a limited commodity at SCAD-Atlanta, and locating a good place for a clinic at the school won’t be easy. But we’d like to think if the administration can find room to relocate shopSCAD (not to criticize the store), they can find a place to establish a working clinic somewhere in the building too.

We at The Connector know the process is difficult, and these things take planning, lots of resources, and have a host of other legal issues involved to consider as well. But that shouldn’t discourage the administration and the student body from working together to try and get the ball rolling on this necessary project. The health of all the students is at stake here, and that’s far too important to go on without starting a real dialogue. We want to encourage the administration to talk with the students about forming a clinic at SCAD-Atlanta. Action needs to be taken.

But respect isn’t always as prevalent as it should be in the halls of SCAD-Atlanta. An aspect of respecting a person is respecting their right to property and ownership. Ask anyone who has been a victim of theft or robbery, and they will often tell you the hardest part of the ordeal is the inescapable feeling of violation that comes when you realize someone has been rummaging through your home or your car and has taken something valuable or precious. Thievery has, as of late, reared its filthy head at SCAD-Atlanta. This is simply atrocious, inexcusable and should cease immediately.

Pay no mind, for a moment, to the moral issue of it all. Instead, just ask yourself, is it worth stealing that iPod and being caught doing so by the security cameras? How will you explain to your parents that you were kicked out of SCAD for trying to steal something? What about all that money that’s now been wasted, with no degree to show for it?

And what will you tell employers when they ask about these blemishes on your record about police reports saying you were guilty of theft? Would you hire someone who had engaged in such activity? The consequences of being caught are often harsh and unforgiving; there is no escape from the stigma from being accurately labeled as a thief.

It’s even sadder when students’ artistic projects are stolen. Stealing other artists’ work shows a complete lack of respect for fellow peers. Just a few weeks ago, a student’s art project was stolen from right outside the Hub, and the culprit is likely facing expulsion. The victimized student said in casual conversation that he was sad to hear that someone might be expelled over something as foolish as theft. This kind of behavior is not a characteristic of SCAD students. We, as students at this institution, should strive for a higher standard and should display a level of maturity that exceeds this terrible behavior. Stealing is a crime, and criminals are justly punished.

We at The Connector know that it is not the prevailing character of students to steal, and that those who do abide by the law far outnumber those who disregard it and violate basic moral tenants. Nevertheless, a few bad apples will not stain the honest and distinguished reputation of this school. We know students here are capable of proving themselves mature, reasoned, educated, but most of all: respectable.

How would you react if someone decided to unlawfully take a project you had poured gallons of sweat and tears into creating? How betrayed and violated would you feel? Let’s put an end to stealing.