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Show 4 The Signpont - Monday, Jan. 23, 1989 Reagan will be remembered fwwiHAvewe hjn Bush gets off to 'promising' start By Scott Summerill Editor-in-Chief Now that Bush has officially taken office, it might be interesting to look at what Reagan has left for him. The Reagan administration has continually boasted about giving the United States the longest economic upswing in history. Of course, there isn't much talk about having doubled the national debt in the process. Ironically, after doubling the debt, he sent the cry to the people of the nation to stop living on credit cards. I think it would be nice if we could all go on the Nancy Reagan plan for dressing sharp and just borrow the clothes. Another of the wonderful legacies of the Reagan years is the low unemployment rate. I suppose as long as we are a nation that only eats at fast food restaurants and shops at convenience stores we'll be all right. What I don't understand is how we can continue to do it on the minimum wages that those same establishments, and most of the other 'jobs' created by Reaganomics, are paying. There is another possible answer for the decline of the unemployment rate. Knowing that most people don't get beyond the numbers reported in the papers and on the 10 o'clock news, the Reagan administration decided to change the way they tallied the employment figures. Prior to the change, the U.S. was separated into two groups for purposes of the employment census. First, there was the military, all of which were employed and, therefore, didn't need to be figured into the total. Second came the civilians. Not all of this group was, or is, employed, and that's where the figure came from. Reagan combined the military with the civilian populations and came up with a politically marvelous formula for appeasing a recession-weary public. Here's a simplistic example of how it works. Consider a nation with a population of 130, 30 of which are military. There are six unemployed people in our fictitious country. When you figure the percentage of unemployed the old way only counting the people in the civilian population you get a figure of six percent However, if we lump the entire population together to arrive at the figure remember that everyone in the military is drawing a salary and is , therefore, employed the number drops to 4.6 percent. Amazing isn't it? Let's move along to another area that may not be so impressive, but has a certain inconsistency I find interesting. Reagan was in favor, to say the least, of a strong military, and the defence budget proves it I won't go into the amount of attention, and money, given to improve and develop weapons, instead, I'm thinking of the soldiers. A strong military takes manpower. Indeed, todays military is bursting at the seams with able-bodied soldiers. What amazes me is how Reagan got them to enlist. He cut veterans benefits to the bone, slashed retirement and made it virtually impossible to gain rank. Perhaps it was all the benefits that could be attained working in the hamburger joints that prompted the increase in enlistment. Finally, Reagan gave the U.S. back the down-home justice system it knew in the early days of movies. He got rid of those liberal Supreme Court Justices that believed in equal rights and freedom of choice. Now the Reagan's can go home to their California , ranch and enjoy life, safe in the assurance the U.S. is y strong and healthy. Or is it? I have a feeling we will be cracking through the thin ice of Reagans America sooner than we think. But, I do believe in poetic justice. For as Ron walks through his barn full of horses, he'll have to watch his step too. By Ray Eldard Jr. Senior Reporter Last week a "new breeze" blew across the nation, and when it was through the Reagan era was over and his understudy stood at center stage. At three minutes after noon last Friday, George Herbert Walker Bush placed his left hand upon two Bibles a family bible and the same Bible George Washington rested his hand on 200 years ago and 35 words later became the 41st president of the United States. President Bush, acknowledging that the nation has "more will than wallet" said that "this is the age of the offered hand" and extended a symbolic hand of bipartisanship to the democrats. It was an address full of "new breezes" and symbolic hands long on inspiration, but short on solutions. Maybe that isn't all bad. Maybe inspiration is what we need. An inauguration is one of those special moments in this nation's history when the Constitution comes alive. A time when America can watch democracy in action via the transfer of power from one president to another and if a new president wants to spend that time extolling the greatness of America and her people, well, I think that's all right Saying there is a "new breeze" blowing, Bush called for a "new activism" by all Americans adding, "America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral purpose." "My friends we have work to do," said the president, who then went on to declare war on drugs, homelessness, the deficit and just about every other ill ailing the nation. It was a nice address. It made me proud to be an American and grateful to live in America. It was also nice to hear a man who ran such a rough, nasty campaign calling for a gentler, kinder nation. I hope that the George Bush who addressed the nation last Friday is the George Bush who will lead this country into the last decade of the twentieth century. He was a George Bush of compassion, conviction and compromise. A president who sees a hard road ahead, but one that leads to a promising future. I just can't help but wonder how promises of no taxes fit into a promising future filled with balanced budgets, an increased war on crime and increased help for the homeless. The president said that the "old solution, the old way, was to think that public money alone could end these problems. But we have learned that this is not so." If money won't solve the problem, what will? The president said that we have can do it by "looking at what we have and perhaps allocating it differently." He also said that we have "more will than wallet; but will is what we need." I have to admit that I'm a little skeptical about the whole theory. Will never paid my rent. But for now I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, because as I listened to my president speak last Friday, he did something no politician has done in a long time. He made me feel good about myself, my country, and my future. I just hope that the "new breeze blowing" is more than just hot air. The Signpost Editorial-Advertising-Production Winter Quarter, 1989 piTTie.WeteSute.;C be sent In: WSC j: Monday, Wednesday and Friday durmgfaU. wmter and spring p Ogden, Utah 84408-21 10. quartcrs.ar.donceaweekdtiringihesummercuarterbytheWSC . Editor-in-Chief ...; 626-7121 Department of Communication; K::p;;:;; Department 626-6359 The Signpost is distributed free of charge ar.d is available bypip subscription for J9 per quartergasp;-;;5::;;:E Department X0xX;.iWiMiM.e26W5XX piijTVw Signtost offices are located in the Union Buildkg in;;:j:; Departmentis;:;:,:;:?:? 626-7983 :? The Signpost Stall ' Editor-in-Chief Scott Summerill Managing Editor . v . ..... . . ....... . ....... 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