St. Ignatius's The Eye: Volume LXXIX Number II

With the Republicans and Democrats in fierce competition for the presidency, Ralph Nader is leading a serious third party campaign. Nader, the presidential candidate for the Green Party, and his running mate, Peter Camejo, both intend to address many issues if elected. One issue that interests the country is how he plans to deal with the war and occupation of Iraq. Nader opposed the invasion of Iraq in the first place and still does. He strongly believes that US troops should be pulled out of Iraq and replaced with a UN Peace Keeping Force and Humanitarian Assistance to stop US soldiers' casualties. His belief is that persistence in Iraq will only lead to more deaths and a drain in the US economy. Nader thinks that we should not spend time trying to control Iraq's economy when we can't even control our own.
Though Nader's solutions will affect everyone in the country, some will particularly affect the futures of Ignatian students. One such issue is that of jobs, since we all eventually search for an occupation in life. However, there is a growing fear that there will be no jobs for the young of society and that the unemployment rate will soar. Since January 2001, 2.7 million jobs have been lost, more than 75% of them being of high wage and high productivity. Nader believes that we can save and establish millions of new jobs by investing in local labor-intensive public works, producing a new renewable energy efficiency policy, and by funding education to its fullest. Another issue that Nader tackles concerning our future is education. Nader believes that stress on high-stakes standardized tests can have a negative impact upon schooling. He believes that these tests can result in excessive amounts of time devoted to confined test subjects, de-enrichment of the curriculum, equity and racial bias, and exhaustion of resources for testing. Nader wants federal law to show support for a school's teachers and students and not for tests and punishment. He also wishes for schools to blend civic courses with classes to give examples on how to use classroom skills in the real world. Nader is a man ready to effect serious change in our country.