Yet the president’s challenge to Republican leadership meant next to nothing in terms of actually generating bipartisan support for his partisan policies. Instead, he sought to launch a preemptive strike in the blame game already playing out to decide whom voters ultimately will hold responsible for Congress’s record in the November elections. With the near-universal healthcare plan, the cap-and-trade legislation aimed at fighting global warming, and other key initiatives now facing likely failure or at least significant reduction in scope, Democrats hope to blame Republicans for the lack of major legislation this year.

With all due respect, however, I believe President Obama has it all wrong. Rather than blaming Scott Brown and the Republicans for gridlock, we ought to thank them for at least temporarily slowing the political sausage-making machine. Regardless of Obamacare’s propriety, its legislative history has been embarrassing. From the Democratic negotiations with healthcare corporations hoping to making even more profit by getting in on the deal to the special treatment included for Louisiana and Nebraska to secure the votes of Senators Mary Landrieu and Ben Nelson, respectively, the appearance of corruption and insider deals marked every step in Obamacare’s progression from lofty campaign promise to the House and Senate bills. As for the president’s audacious campaign pledge to open healthcare negotiations up to the public, or at least the political junkies, by broadcasting the sessions on C-SPAN, the Democratic leaders now seem to believe that industry and union lobbyists and Democratic politicians represent our interests, so the people apparently don’t need to actually see the great ones at work.

Besides angering conservatives and many independents, the Democrats also disgusted and disappointed some genuine progressives, who watched their priorities, such as a separate floor vote on universal healthcare and a meaningful public option to compete with the corporate health plans, die in the negotiations. The corporations and Democratic political insiders, along with the Democratic leadership itself, have thus far succeeded in manipulating and defeating the people power movement of hope which gave the Democrats the presidency and the largest congressional majorities in decades. Likewise, the “Tea Party” movement, itself an angrier version of people power, may well sweep the Republicans into Congress this fall only to discover just how quickly the Republican power players manage to crush their anti-government dreams.

The healthcare reform process reveals the structural weaknesses of representative democracy, which remains what British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill called “the worst form of government except for all those other forms.” The voters arguably hold their representatives accountable in elections, but congresspersons rarely face serious reelection competition and can use their connections to raise significant amounts of money to fight off any legitimate challengers who emerge. Whether “conservative” George W. Bush or “liberal” Barack H. Obama sits in the Oval Office, and whether a Republican or Democrat holds the House Speaker’s gavel, the political realities remain the same. Most voters don’t have the time or interest to effectively organize, while the bureaucrats of Big Government and the lobbyists of Big Business and Big Labor have a much easier time making their voices heard. This fundamental collective action problem undermines democracy’s ability to represent the people and maintain limits on government power.

With the State’s machinery gridlocked through the 2012 elections, perhaps we can actually voluntarily work together to address our problems. President Obama and many of his Republican opponents operate on the simple premise, usually left unstated, that only the government can address major problems such as healthcare and so, despite the problems with special interests, we should rely on the government to fix healthcare, banking, the BCS, and anything other industries or activities important to us. By channeling our aspirations through the State’s system of control, we lose hope in our ability to meaningfully and concretely act on the status quo through our own consumption choices, boycotts, and voluntary organizations. The combination of political gridlock and voluntary action will not magically solve our problems, but it has to be better than waiting on our political would-be messiahs.

According to Wisconsin State Statute 967.02 (5) a law enforcement officer is anyone who “…by virtue of the person’s office or public employment is vested by the law with the duty to maintain public order or to make arrests for crimes while acting within the scope of the person’s authority.” Given that DPS officers and staffers are employed by Marquette University they fail to meet the most basic requirement of this position. As such, they cannot be termed law enforcement officers. As a result DPS officers do not have the authority to arrest people. They can, however, act upon citizen’s arrests, as can any other person. Through a series of Wisconsin Supreme Court Rulings, including Radloff v. National Food Stores and Waukesha v. Gorz, a series of crimes have been determined which allow for citizen’s arrest. According to both the “Spring 2005 City of Madison Legal Update” and a 2008 Memorandum from Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to the Brown County Sheriff’s Department, felonies and a handful of misdemeanors are cause for citizen’s arrest. The misdemeanors which are severe enough for one to be subject to citizen’s arrest are battery, fourth degree or greater sexual assault, endangering safety by use of a dangerous weapon, carrying a concealed weapon, and disorderly conduct. From this analysis one can see that DPS has absolutely no authority whatsoever to enforce the law, outside of that of citizen’s arrest power.

One need only to read the weekly DPS reports in order to discover reports of DPS officers exceeding their authority in order to “protect” Marquette students and “uphold” the law. While their intentions might be good, they still are beyond their legal authority. An example of this is the any one of dozens of instances of DPS officers detaining students on public property for underage possession of alcohol. While I am not advocating underage alcohol possession nor consumption, the fact still remains that DPS officers cannot detain these students. Stopping students in alleyways, searching them, and seizing the alcohol is well beyond the legal authority of DPS.

Another example of DPS exceeding its authority occurred on the night of Friday, September 11, 2009. A group of area residents were standing on a sidewalk between 17th and 18th streets along Kilbourn. The residents were approached by a DPS officer in a patrol car, who angrily ordered them to leave the sidewalk area near the alleyway. The residents then informed the officer that he did not have the legal authority to demand that they leave public areas. The officer then left his vehicle approached the residents, and again ordered them to leave the area. He then threatened to run over the residents with his patrol car. He then contacted his superiors, and informed them that he had encountered “uncooperative individuals.” The fact that he assumed that he had authority over people standing on a sidewalk shows the mentality of DPS. After contacting his superiors, two commanding officers and five other officers arrived in four separate patrol cars. The officers proceeded to surround the residents and interrogate them. The commanding officers eventually admitted that no in fact they did not have the authority to order residents to leave sidewalks, and that in addition they did not have the authority to threaten to run over residents.

While one can argue that this case is an extreme and does not represent the actions of the majority of DPS officers, the fact still remains that DPS officers do patrol the area and do in fact step beyond their legal authority, given that they have no legal jurisdiction and cannot act to enforce the law to any degree more than any MU student can. The extralegal actions of DPS are further shown through their use of cameras to monitor the campus area, which they claim are to enable them to respond to crimes. The problem with this is, however, that cameras, in all likelihood, do not meet the definition of presence in regards to the law. As such, DPS officers are not present during the commission of the crime, and cannot act to respond to it, given that one has to be present when a crime is committed in order for a citizen’s arrest to occur. I cannot, for example, watch a crime on live television and then go and arrest the person, much the same DPS cannot watch a crime being committed on its security cameras and then go and detain the person, for doing so would, in all likelihood, be the equivalent of illegal imprisonment, which is a Class H felony under Wisconsin State Statute 940.30.

Marquette’s DPS officers are just ordinary citizens with no special authority or privileges. They cannot do anything that you and I cannot do. I therefore urge all people who read this to openly resist the assault upon the rule of law which is represented by DPS officers acting as law enforcement officers. If they can do whatever they please in the name of the law, then we might as well hire Xe (formerly known as Blackwater) and DynCorp to protect us, because at least they have helicopters and assault rifles and could really protect us. We must remember the quote from Benjamin Franklin, “those who would sacrifice liberty for temporal security deserve neither liberty nor temporal security”, and fight against this assault on freedom and the law.

The tournament is set up in a bracket formation in which brackets of four teams play against each other for the chance to move on. For the men there were eleven brackets which automatically sent the best team into the single elimination tournament, while sending the five next best teams. The women had only eight brackets, and only the bracket winners were deemed worthy to move on.

The men’s team began the trip with a dominating 39 point victory over University of Indiana’s Air Force, and then beat the “Instant Thunder” of Virginia Polytechnic Institute (or, more commonly known as Virginia Tech) with a convincing 11 point victory. Finally, Marquette Navy men towered over Western Michigan with an impressive 75-25 victory which the sent the men’s team riding high into the playoffs. In the first round of the playoffs, the men lost 43-27 to rival Wisconsin-Madison’s Air Force ROTC team in one of the most physical games of the entire tournament. Senior Joe Beres’ expectation of the game did not match up with the result, “We sought retribution for our varsity team’s pre-season 73-62 loss over Wisconsin, but that didn’t quite pan out. Still, it was a fun and fulfilling experience.” What are you going to do now, Joe? “I’m going to Disneyworld.”

The Navy women on the other hand swiftly defeated opponents Michigan, Iowa State, and Illinois Institute of Technology. Then in the first round of the playoffs, the Navy women beat South Dakota State (a team that prevented their chances from going to the playoffs in 2009) by 18. In the championship round for the women, Marquette Navy lost a heartbreaker to previous tournament winner IUPUI. Despite the loss, captain DonnaJo Meyer said of her team, “We did a really good job improving from our first game to our last. We played a very athletic team [in the championship], but stayed calm and collected, and our three freshmen players [Courtney Martin, Aracely Macias, Nikkol Rajkovacz] really stepped up.” The number one seeded Navy women lost by 3 points, with a final score of 28-25.

Marquette Navy won seven of nine overall and outscored their opponents by over 120 points. Notable players included monster-rebounder Theodore Linn and finesse sharpshooter Michael Tomsic on the men’s side, and offensive powerhouse Courtney Martin and defense-penetrating DJ Meyer on the Women’s. This year’s teams brought home three trophies, two for division wins (men and women) and one for the women’s runner-up. To add to the success of this year’s Notre Dame tournament showing was the varsity team’s exciting 70-68 finish over UConn, Marquette’s third win against ranked opponents. Oh, and it was AT UConn.

Next year look for Marquette’s Navy teams to do even better, with only a total of three seniors graduating this May. At this rate, they might be able to get themselves a champion’s trophy.

Dr. Chris Miller of Marquette speaks at the Kapco Challenge kickoff event at the Bradley Center

At Marquette University we are challenged to “Be the Difference.” It’s a simple and bold statement that can have a profound impact on our campus and community. On January 27th Jim Kamarcik, president of Kapco Metal Stampings, took the initiative to allow students to be the difference and make an impact on our local Milwaukee community through the “Kapco Challenge.” Inspired by “Oprah’s Big Give” Kamarcik created the challenge so that we can be the difference.

The Kapco Challenge consists of teams from Concordia University, Wisconsin Lutheran College, & Marquette University. Each school has 5 teams and every team receives an initial $1000 for phase 1. Each group then creates a service project to give back. On February 15 each group will present to a board and the most deserving project from each school will enter phase 2.

While each group aspires to enter phase 2, it’s not about winning or losing, it’s about what we do for others. Please consider each group and what they will do for our local community this month—meet our Marquette difference makers. (Each first statement is the group’s Mission Statement)

Men Serving Others:“As a group of young men inspired by Jesuit ideals, we are called to be men working for others by immersing ourselves into the community we are serving,
empowering others to reach their own potential, and actively working to help close the gap of poverty and privilege in the Greater Milwaukee area.”

MSO is a group of male leaders on campus. Together they will work with Repairers of the Breach to create a Career Center to help their fellow man or woman get back on his or her feet. Additionally, MSO will provide workshops on resume writing & interview prep. They will accept any donations, but especially business clothes & usable computers. Please contact Phillip Hanson at mensleadership@gmail.com & visit http://menservingothers.weebly.com/

Kappa Sigma:“Founded on the noble principles of Fellowship, Scholarship, Leadership and Service, the Kappa Sigma Fraternity is dedicated to the promotion of the youth and their education at Pierce Elementary. It is our belief that a quality education is the way to a brighter future. With this in mind, we then have the duty to promote the best education possible, on every occasion, for every student at Pierce Elementary School.”

Men of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity believe in fostering education & are working with Pierce Elementary School. Pierce currently has a wired computer lab for years, but for never any computers or technology in the room. By working with students and various local businesses KS looks to raise funds and accept donations to help Pierce Elementary educate our future. KS will accept any technology donations (Computers, Software, Printers). Please contact Joey Kimes at jfkimes@gmail.com & visit http://tinyurl.com/Team283

Sober Party Kids:“We recognize that our world is in need of hope. Together we commit ourselves to opening our hearts to those around us. Our family stretches beyond the walls of our house–we are called to give shelter to our brothers and sisters on the streets, open our closets to our parents without clean clothing, share our tables with children lacking a meal, and empty our pockets to family members in need. We can change the world we live in, we can change the lives of those around us, and we can make this community a family. Through charity we can build a family of love.”

Sober Party Kids are a group of active & driven students. These driven students are actively working with Pathfinders Shelter on Project S.H.Y- Support Homeless Youth. SPK wants find a way to help these youth by promoting/creating a drop in center. Additionally SPK wants to raise awareness of the 400+ current homeless youth in Milwaukee. Please help them so that no youth has to live without a home. Please contact Stephen Moser at shymilwaukee@gmail.com

O-Staff: This energetic group is looking to help the community at large by working with either mental health issues or cancer. More details are to come soon. Please contact Dave Kruse at david.kruse@mu.edu

Burke Scholars:“In the spirit of Dick Burke, who transformed each of our lives, we seek to use the resources entrusted to us to create transformative, sustainable change in our community that will continue in perpetuity. Above all, we seek to serve the voiceless in our community, to see them as whole people and to use the gifts, resources and talents entrusted to us to bring about meaningful, empowering change.”

The Burke Scholars remarked that they are hoping to use their funds to help the community at large to create a sustainable change. More details are to come soon.

At the kickoff event for the Kapco Challenge Kamarcik quoted legendary coach John Wooden by saying “You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” As our Marquette student groups begin to serve those who cannot repay, may they remember Wooden’s quote, for he was one of the most remarkable men and winners in recent history. Like Wooden, we are all winners because of the generosity of Kapco, Kamarcik, and our fellow peers. Together lets join as a Marquette community and help each group by giving our time and what we have so that together we can “Be the Difference.”

African Americans students make up 6 percent of the student population at Marquette, less than half the percentage of African Americans that reside in the greater metropolitan community that surrounds campus. The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce reported in 2008 that African Americans comprise 16 percent of the city’s population.

Though students of color enroll each year at Marquette, their experiences have come with a variety of triumphs, tribulations and a unique perspective about what life at Milwaukee’s Catholic, Jesuit university has meant for them. For admissions, recruiting African Americans to come to Marquette is an intricate process. The admission staff targets students at both a local and state level. “The local level is the main target with the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) being the hot target,” Latrice Harris-Collins, admission counselor for Marquette’s Multicultural Community Outreach said. “With the Milwaukee schools being our main feeder schools they are selected based off academic rigor,” she said. “It’s not about throwing out t-shirts but getting them ready and telling them to put in the work now.” Besides informing students about the type of coursework needed, and Marquette’s average standardized test scores, the admissions office also aims to prepare students for the reality of a college workload.

“In admissions we work to create opportunities for students to get on cam¬pus and with current students we take them back as Marquette ambassadors to talk to high school students minus the sugar, they have more credibility than we do,” Harris-Collins said. Recruitment efforts in the local area has offered much success for the admissions office with more and more African American students applying. “Showing up in high schools has been most beneficial way for my Milwaukee feeder schools such as Rufus King and Riverside. I talk about application mistakes, quality essays, and making themselves a person over an ID number” said Harris-Collins. Although Harris-Collins said more students of color are applying, a 2009 MPS Research report showed that of the 13,257 students graduating between 2005-2007, only 121 MPS students (2 percent of them) enrolled at Marquette. In terms of recruitment publications and brochures, Collins-Harris said there is no specific one targeted at African American students. “We have a Multicultural Recruitment Committee; we get to give feedback about the publications. Though we have wonderful publications, we know they’re effective, sometimes appearance is everything; if they don’t look like students we’re recruiting, we make it clear,” said Harris-Collins. “Looking at the fall brochures I’ve seen students I recruit with more natural shots being included, we don’t create a separate publication.”

While more and more African Americans are coming to Marquette each year, the cost is still the biggest factor to their decision to attend. One particular program for students is the Equal Opportunity Program (EOP). Originally designed to assist black males, the program now assists students from a variety of nationalities. The EOP primarily focuses on helping finance the education of first generation college students. With 3.7 percent of students in EOP, Marquette is one of the only schools that can provide this type of program to offset costs, Marquette undergraduate admissions office reports. While the program is designed for multicultural students, the EOP does not turn students away based on race. “We never want our white or Asian students to feel they are not qualified because of their race,”said Collins-Harris. “If for example a student is white and fits the financial background EOP aims to help, than we encourage them to apply.”

Regardless of the lower enrollment numbers, African American students from the Milwaukee area and around the country still come to Marquette. However, attending Marquette has had it ups and downs. “For cultural sensitivity it can be quite annoying and frustrating to encounter ignorant and in¬sensitive individuals at an institution of higher learning,” Ewune Ewane, College of Arts and Sciences senior and Black Student Council president said. “It is also angering; one student after learning of my African ancestry, opted to greet me by saying “hakuna matata” from the Lion King.” Dealing with stereotypes has also been a unique experience for students. “On my dorm floor people often asked me to teach them to dance or thought I knew the lyrics to any rap song and after I got into a disagreement with my roommates everyone was scared of me,” Ewane said. Some African American students say they have been asked on occasion if they were on the basketball team. “Since I was tall people would automatically assume I was on the basket-ball team, but those things don’t phase me, as I know if it can happen here it can happen anywhere,” Anthony Nutting, a junior in the College of Communication said. “You have to represent yourself well; sometimes people might think I am not qualified to be here but I take it as a challenge, I like to prove people wrong, and I think I do a pretty good job of doing that.”

For many African American students they have experienced being one of few if not the only African American in their class. “In my English class I was the only black person in there and I remember sitting in the front with everyone staring at me,” said Sarah Bowen a sophomore in the College of Education. Bowen explained a similar experience in another class where she spoke up during a group presentation. “Afterwards people were telling me that I was such a good presenter, they seemed surprised. I took the compliment but are we not all supposed to be good presenters?”

Sometimes students have wondered about the amount of African Americans in their particular area of study. According to the 2009 Marquette Undergraduate Profile, 6.7 percent of the College of Arts and Sciences students are African American. “I don’t know anyone else in the chemistry department who is black,” said Maurice Sharpe a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. “It hasn’t played that much of a role in my experience so far, I went to Marquette University High School, I know what it’s like,” Sharpe said. “All I do is focus on getting my work done; everyone forms study groups but I have my own goals and make the most of things. I know that Marquette has problems with diversity but you can’t downplay the experience; I’m not sure if other colleges have the kind of equipment in the chemistry department that we do or professors that are world renowned.”

Despite an increase in the overall level of diversity at Marquette, some students feel that while the university is making an effort, more could be done on the students’ end. “While I don’t think the university has enough diversity I know they put in a conscious effort, and I feel like African Americans could meet them halfway,” said Ash¬ton Sago, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore. “The university knows what we look like but they don’t know what we like, we need to push harder by getting more people of color in office, as students we need to tell them what we want.” Students are also sympathetic to the fact that Marquette is not the easiest school to get into. “Diversity here could be better but I know people are doing a great effort to get more students of color to come here,” said College of Health Sciences senior Terrell Freeman. “It’s not like Marquette is the easiest school to get into, and its not a school that African Americans think they can get into or would want to go to. I visited campus three times on a tour and I wasn’t sold on the diversity, but I love what Marquette has to offer and since I’m from here I get to be closer to my relatives.”

Although the 105 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) around the country are a popular option for African American students, many said they feel a Marquette experience has given them a more realistic worldview.

“There are pros and cons to go¬ing to Marquette and an HBCU,” said Sago. “The fact is that there are six per-cent here and that the real world is not all black, our bosses, our colleagues, in the future may not always be black. I gave myself an extra push to come here so that I would not be afraid to face what the real world looks like.” While there are not many African Americans around campus students of color also feel that being at Marquette can be a mixture of pride and struggle. “Whenever times get bad I think about the people in my family that can’t read and our history of being slaves, and how there was a time we were banned from going to school,” Simone Smith, a sophomore in the College of Communication. “People fought so hard for me to go this school, I feel I should be taking advantage of this opportunity.”

Overall African Americans at Marquette emphasize that while a minority group on campus they simply want to be treated with a level of respect and open-mindedness. “I would like people to know that we are equal and we come in peace (I know I sound like an alien),” said College of Arts and Sciences senior Zach Grandberry. “It is already hard to live in a world where everything is not attainable, but for others they can achieve anything. I just want to be respected and treated as a person and not grouped or categorized because of my race and culture.”

It is not easy to answer that question, and it often makes us pause no matter if we were sprinting or walking along the path at that time. As we weigh the possibilities we have to remember that most of the time taking chances is not something that can just be multiplied out on a sheet of paper. In the game of life every move and turn is real–and everything after affects what happens next. Each turn becomes filled with emotion and anxiousness as we fill our minds with ideas or crazy possibilities. Each turn, of course, is also filled with a little hard work and faith. So why not take a chance? What is there to fear?

Are you afraid of failure or letting others down? Or perhaps are you afraid of being slightly embarrassed? That is perhaps the most intriguing, nerve-wracking and exciting part of the risks we take–the chance of choosing wrongly. That is why risk is part rational and part irrational. Or perhaps why it is confusing making our choices hard to make–especially confusing when our lives can seem to resemble answer ‘D’ on a test: “none of the above.” As we grow up we have to understand that taking chances is the hardest part, and that is why it is perfectly okay to be afraid. We need to be humbled by things, even if that means being humbled by the fear of failure. Nobody wants to fail, which makes trying that much harder; it makes maintaining the status quo that much easier. It is comfortable and familiar, but how long can we live and move on an ordinary path when we are all extraordinary people?

Perhaps at this point in your life you are not sure what chances you should be taking. Hey, we all are young and have a long way to go, and we have plenty of time to find out what turns are best for us each day. Remember, making turns does not always mean we have to make a u-turn; maybe your turn is just taking small steps along your path today. Maybe this is the point, along your path, between something new, or the maybe this is the point when something that seems old is about to get better. Maybe this is the point in your life between tears and smiles, and just maybe this is the chance to remember today is a great new day. Taking chances can be anything we do to make our path in life easier, better, more productive or even better for others. So take a chance, be nice to someone today you dislike,
share a passion with someone who needs a friend, take a nap to recover, go for a run and capture what you are missing and just be yourself.

And at end of the day as we lay our heads down to drift asleep, we are going to remember the chances we took, the humbling experience it was to move along our path that day, and all the good things still to come.

The Madoff scandal that has unfolded over the past months will forever be a pockmark on the finance profession; a stark reminder of the failures of human beings and government oversight. It is ridiculous that Madoff was able to run a fund founded as little on reality as Willy Wonka’s fictitious chocolate factory. The only person that can be entirely blamed for that scandal is Bernie Madoff, but there is certainly some culpability on the part of the SEC and other oversight organizations that somehow failed to uncover the largest fraud perpetrated in US history. Bernie Madoff’s scheme may be the largest fraud in the US to date, but, as it turns out, it is not the largest Ponzi scheme.  That dubious distinction belongs to Social Security.

By definition, a Ponzi scheme relies upon an inverted pyramid of investors. As the number of investors grows, their money is used to pay off the people below them in the pyramid. Social Security follows the same logic – money citizens are supposedly investing in their own future retirement is being used to pay the people lower in the pyramid – today’s retirees.  Therefore, this system will only work so long as the pyramid of population growth remains inverted; if it does not, it will collapse.  Well, the population of social security eligible people is now growing faster than the people paying into the system, and this enormous Ponzi – like scheme is teetering on the edge. In 2017, Social Security will reach the critical point at which the pyramid is no longer growing upside down.

Spending in Washington is out of control, and will require a comprehensive strategy to reclaim control over the national debt and the fate of the dollar. That article will be for another day but the point is Congress cannot spend the US into $2,000,000,000,000 deficits and expect social security to right itself.  The social security system requires that either people working pay more, that people retired take less, or that the government figures out a way to prevent both options from becoming necessities.

The Social Security tax taken from every paycheck in America is currently insufficient: there are too many retirees in the near future and there is no motivation to fix the problem – all of which spells a collapse of the sort to make Madoff look like a spitball in a hurricane.

A pragmatic approach to fix social security must come from both sides of the aisle in order to gain momentum to pass through Congress.  A combination of the following steps would help reduce the problem, although not fix it in its entirety:

Raise the Social Security age to 70 over the next four years, grandfathering those already receiving benefits or within a year of receiving benefits into the system at the current age cutoff of 66.  This will delay the influx of 78 million Baby Boomers who are nearing retirement and reduce the total benefits paid.

Currently Social Security is only deducted from the first $102,000 of income.  This limit should be done away with and Social Security should be assessed against total incomes.

Benefits should be cut 10% over the next decade – the US (and the AARP) cannot have Medicare, Social Security, 78 million retirees and not be willing to make some concessions.

Allow well-off retirees to defer benefits which would then be paid in full at a later date.

The Social Security trust fund, which is the primary mechanism to offset the short fall, should be invested along the guidelines recommended by proponents of privatizing social security in order to reduce costs and increase the return on investment – in three varyingly aggressive investment schemes designed to improve growth, mitigate market declines and diversify risk away.Both parties must stop dragging their feet at reform and drop ideas that are simply never going to get passed.  This includes the Personal Savings Account (privatization) idea, which ultimately will make Social Security pay more to those who need it less.

These steps draw on the good ideas of both parties, and passing any combination of the above would help fix the problem of having many millions of retirees counting on a Ponzi scheme for their retirement. It should also be noted that Social Security is a benefit, not a retirement plan; it is not meant to sustain retirees and Americans would do well to remember that.

Ultimately, it is up to Congress to, for once, make some tough decisions.  The problem is that no one seems to want to compromise.  The US cannot afford to be all things to all people; citizens looking for that level of government control may be interested in moving to China.  It would help if political parties could even come to an agreement on what a successful fix would look like, but every representative and interest group seems to have a different song and dance on the issue.  Imagine a Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory in which each Oompa Loompa was on its own program with a unique song.  It would be no way to run a Chocolate Factory and it’s no way to run a government. Bernie Madoff may have succeeded in running the biggest fraud in US history, but unless Congress finds a feasible song and dance to buy into, they will go down in history as the culprits behind the biggest Ponzi scheme.

On the surface it seems like a good idea. Violence fueled by hatred and carried out by private citizens destroys not only harmony between people in a society but also a sense of safety felt by all living within it, thereby disabling a government’s ability to seriously protect the people. If groups within society are merely going back and forth killing each other, we might as well not have a society at all.

However, this legislation is not about protecting the common good or the community. Barack Obama intends on forcing his ideas on morality upon everyone. It seems he does not mind the idea of having someone legislate morality so long as he agrees with  the one doing it.

If Obama was truly concerned about stopping crimes caused by hate, why didn’t he suggest laws to give special protection to anti-abortion protesters? They have been the victims of hate just like others who are covered under “hate crimes.” Two have been assaulted in the month of September, about a month before Obama signed the Defense Authorization Bill. One was Jim Puoillon, who was also killed, and another was a 69-year old man named Johnny Wallace. But Obama is not even remotely concerned with this issue. Considering how recent these two incidents have been, you have to wonder why he wouldn’t add these as “hate crimes.”

“Hate crimes” are merely a tool for politicians to favor one group in society over another and attack another. In this case, it is an attempt to vilify Christianity. He merely gives shape and form to the mainstream idea that unless Christians agree with liberal doctrines they are utterly crazy, violent, and mob-like. Obama’s signature endorses this theory.

The problem is not just with the expansion of “hate crimes,” but with “hate crimes” in general. Whereas laws failing to protect people from mobs bring about anarchy, laws granting people certain special protection based on how they are viewed in the White House will certainly destroy our republican form of government. Hate crimes starts the nation down the slippery slope of having groups in society jockey for political favors merely to ensure their own safety. If this is to be the way things work, we might as well scrap our Constitution and fold our government as it is. We would be no better than an autocracy without any checks or balances whatsoever, since nepotism and favoritism dependent upon the whims of the White House would govern our political system and ultimately our morality.

In today’s world of many faiths and creeds, believers should never actually take their religion seriously enough to try to convert others to it.  That, at least, has become the message of the politically correct international powers that be.

For many supposedly open-minded individuals, freedom of religion has been shrunk to freedom of worship.  In other words, believers should have the right to read their holy texts, observe their high festivals, and participate in their worship services.  Before going on, let me make clear that the battle even for this basic freedom of worship in the world has not been won yet, and it remains important.

Stopping at freedom of worship, though, ignores the freedoms of individuals to convert to another faith and try to convert others.  Unfortunately, many “tolerant” people don’t support the freedom to proselytize.  Proselytizing simply means actively working to convert others to your religion.  For example, the West often heralds Morocco as one of the most religiously tolerant Islamic states, which it certainly is.  However, Article 220 of the Moroccan penal code prescribes up to a six-month imprisonment for anyone who “employs incitements to shake the faith of a Muslim or to convert him to another religion.”  The Moroccan government continues to arrest foreigners suspected of proselytizing and bans all formal missionary activity.

In its best form, proselytizing marks a decisive turn to non-violence.  Throughout human history, plenty of religious leaders have advocated the use of force to spread their gospels, and wars of religion have killed countless people.  Although the proselytizers may use offensive or ineffective methods, such as haranguing passersby on the street, the important thing is that they are trying to persuade and are not brandishing guns and shipping people off to reeducation camps.  Any criticism of proselytizing should start with praise of its nonviolent nature.

Proselytizing is a cornerstone of our civil liberties, the intersection of free speech and freedom of religion.  A society where individuals are free to try to convert others to their beliefs is a society that respects open dialogue and freedom.  Proselytizing in many ways represents the ultimate in unpopular speech because it often involves people telling me my core beliefs about meaning and morality are wrong and that I need to adopt theirs.  In some ways, we are no freer than the most unpopular proselytizer, whether he is the Jehovah’s Witness knocking on our door or the driver of the Jesus-mobile rolling down Wisconsin Avenue.

Marquette University officially bans proselytizing in the official religious activities policy.  This policy provides defines proselytizing first as coercion and misrepresentation and then later as making converts to another religious affiliation or group and only reinforces the negative societal perception of proselytizing.  We can all agree with the administration’s decision that “no individual or organization can coerce or pressure others or misrepresent themselves,” but, with all due respect, that is not proselytizing.  That is simply coercion, and classifying it as proselytizing simply confuses things and makes it harder to have a rational discussion about proselytizing.

Marquette does not engage in proselytizing nor does it let any other group do so.  The college years compose some of the most dynamic years in many people’s lives when they confront life’s hard questions.  Campus Ministry, student religious organizations, and many professors work hard to bring religious concerns and perspectives into the campus dialogue.  Their activities have greatly impacted my life and challenged my Christian faith.  So, what is wrong with taking campus religious activity to the next level and allowing students to not just share their faith but seek to convert others?  Are we students so easily manipulated that we need the loving umbrella of our university to protect us from this apparently grave threat?

In a response to Dr. Christopher Wolfe’s 1988 criticism of the ban, Father David Haschka, then head of Campus Ministry, defended the ban as a decision by Marquette to forego Catholic proselytizing as trade-off to create an environment more friendly to non-Catholics.  He then added, “It seems to me totally unacceptable for non-Catholics to be confronted, on this campus, with deliberate efforts to persuade them away from their faith, whether such efforts are decent or not.”  As a non-denominational Christian considering which college to attend, I would have been attracted to any university confident enough to appropriately seek converts to its faith and allow other traditions to do the same.

For the administration to dismiss all proselytizing, even if done respectfully without coercion, as unacceptable reinforces the view that proselytizing is always inappropriate.  This contributes to the public opinion which allows oppressive governments to jail and punish people who want nothing more than to convert their neighbors.

Marquette University has a unique opportunity to defend proselytizing and contribute towards its legitimacy around the world.  As a private university, Marquette can legally ban proselytizing, but, as a Jesuit university named after one of history’s great proselytizers, we should hold ourselves to a higher standard.  As Dr. Wolfe proposed in 1988, the administration could ban coercive activities and lift the general ban.  Marquette could become the catalyst for a rethinking of proselytizing within higher education.  Although this is not always the operative question given his historical context, perhaps in this case we should look at our namesake’s disproportionately cerebral statue in front of Wehr Chemistry and ask ourselves, “What would Father Marquette do?”

Look around Marquette…in every classroom across campus there is crucifix, often with a plaque stating its country of origin. On November 3rd, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that crucifixes hanging within each classroom in Italy violated “the freedom of parents to educate their children according to their own convictions and of the religious freedom of the students” (CNS).

Unlike the United States in its origin, Italy has been a traditionally Catholic country from birth. Religion and faith are tied very closely to the cultural and historic identity of the Italian people. As is typically the circumstance with many morals-pertaining court cases, the case was brought as an exception to the norm, and now will be enforced upon all. In this particular scenario, the case was submitted by a Finnish-born Italian, who had been fighting for the removal of crucifixes from her sons’ school in Abano Terme (Italy) for almost eight years. In previous attempts to pass the case, Soile Lautsi, the above-mentioned mother, had taken it to Italian courts, where it was refused because of the engrained Catholic cultural identity on Italians. Hence, Lautsi then took the case to the European court located in Strasbourg, France.

In reaction, the Italian government says it will appeal the European court’s decision. Even Mariastella Gelmini, the minister of public education in Italy, believed that the crucifixes “[do] not mean adhesion to Catholicism, but is a symbol of our tradition” (CNS). She even went further, so as to say that “…removing [the symbols] would be to remove a part of ourselves” The Catholic bishops, however, suffered sorrow and grief at the ruling. The Italian Conference of Bishops expressed their disappointment in the following written statement: “It does not take into account the fact that in Italy the display of the crucifix in public places is in line with the recognition of the principles of the Catholicism as ‘part of the historical patrimony of the Italian people,’ as stated in the Vatican/Italy agreement of 1984” (CNN). The bishops also noted the significance of the crucifix is meant for all of humanity, not solely Catholics. The crucifix represents God’s love to every human person, the gift of his life for every member of the human race. Hence, it is a symbol that should be respected and revered by all, whatever the nationality, religion, or age; it is the universal symbol of love that transcends time and space. Must a mother really go to such an extent if she is, in fact, the “exception” in her desire for the removal of crucifixes from her children’s classrooms? Must she really make such a statement? In doing so, she has offended not only Our Lord, but all of Italy, including the wealthy and governmental rulers. As Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re concluded, “It is a God that teaches us to learn to love, to pay attention to each man…and to respect the others, even those who belong to a different culture or religion. How could someone not share such a symbol?”