Is Giving Aid Always Necessary?

After Moammar Gadhafi stepped down on February 11th the United States military stepped in to give aid to the country. Is this a good move for the United States to help other countries all the time? Is this necessary? Dr. Smith, a business professor, shed some light on this subject.

Smith feels that the reason the military entered Lybia is “to somewhat level the playing field between the forces of the current regime, Gadhafi regime and what they perceive to be a need to the rebels I guess out there.” Regarding the question of whether entering Lybia was necessary; Smith may not be sure but has some idea. “I guess it’s necessary from the standpoint that if we want to promote the ideology of democracy being a good thing and if we see an opportunity, that’s a positive thing. […] I’m not sure why it’s necessary, can I justify why we’re there, probably.”

The idea of the military leaving Lybia is a long shot, but may be possible: “I believe in Lybia, not having men and women on the ground [troops having to go in to fight] at least is easier to exit out of it. I guess theoretically we could leave tomorrow. […] I’m not sure you’re going to get out there anytime soon as anybody else is going to get out of there.” Smith said.

The United States is a state that may need to stretch their helping hand: “Could we do more? We probably could be there more; we could probably give more humanitarian service via military. I think what the military might tell you, if I’m putting on their hat for a minute, we’re not real good at humanitarian services, it’s not what we’re trained to do. I think like any nation we pick and choose what’s important to us as well.” Smith replied.

Our military has aided many different times with many different countries, like Japan, World War II, and Kuwait. Smith gives his opinion on why we currently help other places and how we feel that we have to help: “Maybe we step in more for humanitarian things than in the past. I think we realized as a nation we can’t be [as] near as isolated as we want to be. [In] World War II we tried to be more isolated and realized we really couldn’t stop the work occurring around us.”

Smith feels that some countries need to solve their own problems on their own. Smith also feels that these problems, like civil wars for example, should be dealt with only the people in that area: “To me personally, when I think of civil wars, I’m not sure another nation should be in a civil war, it is between the people of that nation.” For example, the war between the North and the South may have had outside involvement but needed to work through their issue to figure out who they are.
The United States may gain a bad rap if they do not help: “I suppose we would get a reputation that we don’t appreciate and we’re isolationists again, selfish isolationists.”

Some students gave their opinion on this issue.
Here's Leon's view:




Here's Jack's view:



The United States military’s participation in places like Lybia may not be fully necessary but shows that we care.

Evan Greer and Born in A Cent Visit Albright

Thanks to ECO (Environmental Campus Outreach), Albright brought Evan Greer and Born In A Cent to campus on Friday April 8th. Students got to sit on the stage of the Campus Center Main Lounge, which let them see without having to deal with the hassle of being in the back row. This was a more toned-down performance, with only a snare drum (decorated with flames), a bass drum and an acoustic guitar. This type of performance also brought a smaller crowd, which worked well regarding seating arrangements.

Punk/ska/indie/folk band, Born In A Cent, were the first to perform. They reside from Brooklyn and Long Island, New York. Their song topics range from being a protester beyond school to not conforming to normal gender norms. They opened the show with “Underpaid."They then continued the show with “What Never Lasts.” Their third song, they explained, was about when a person is an activist in their community; they should not stop while they are in school but should continue after they are finished. Their forth song was about the battle between pride and shame. Born In A Cent, stuck in a new song, into their set that was about not being old enough to do certain things. The second to last song, "One of a Kind" was about not conforming to normal gender norms; they closed their show with "DIY." Aside from their performing side, this band has another, more literary side to them. Born In A Cent releases a magazine called a Zine, that has a collection of political pieces, poems, pictures and whatever else fans want to send them. To find more about this band, you can look at their blog: http://borninacent.blogspot.com/

Evan Greer, who is a riot folk singer from Boston, was next. His songs look at political/global issues. One of his songs, “¡Ya Basta!", which means enough already, talks about how he wants all the terrible things that are going on in the world that Greer wants to end. This song could be a little controversial since it looks at iffy topics. For example, in this song, the line: “they need us to be the cops who beat our comrades down” may be controversial because it looks at police brutality. However, his next song is not as politically charged as “Ya Basta!.” “Adderall Song” (a medication used to treat people with ADHD) is about how Greer grew up with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD. This song also talks about how children are put on certain medications at such a young age simply because of the drug companies.

His next song was about him being Transgendered and is called “Outside Looking In.” "Eco Anxiety", the title of Greer's next song, was attempted by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM (a book that tells psychologists how to diagnose and treat certain mental disorders) to be named a type of disorder where people worry too much about the environment. “When the Last iPod Dies” looks at life in a a post-apocalyptic age. His last two songs, he sang with Born In a Cent. “Their Eyes” looks at the intersectionality of many things like factory farms and prisons. The last song was written before Greer dropped out of school because he felt alone and isolated. The audience was encouraged to participate again by singing the line “All feel less alone.”

According to Meagan Birmingham, the president of ECO, this concert took a while to put together: “All semester long. It started during the week of allocations; we were looking into money and how to fund for it. We were grateful [that] SGA did pay for everything. Then it’s been a process in terms of booking, where we’re going to have it, which workshops to choose we had earlier, different things like that. I did really all the details up until last week and a little bit this week.”

Robert Roth, a freshman, enjoyed the show. “I really liked what they were singing about and I don’t know what my favorite song was.”

Alison Cobbler, a freshman and member of ECO, thought the show was great. “They were fabulous. All real cool and stuff.” Cobbler said.

Top left: Born in a Cent performing "What Never Lasts" Middle right: Evan Greer performing "!Ya Basta!” Bottom right: Born in A Cent performing: "What Never Lasts"