Stepping out into the rain and looking at the fallen tree in your yard, you realize that you are over the hump. The heat is back on and your neighborhood and road is clear of debris. Overall you survived the October storm rather unscathed, but just because you never lost power or the generator is thrown back in the shed doesn't mean your job is done. Chances are someone in Buffalo had it worse, and that person still struggling through this week will need us to extend our hands and pick him or her back up.
Buying a Sabres cap, getting a subway pass and occasionally shopping on Elmwood doesn't mean you are truly a part of the Buffalo community. Students may feel they have the luxury to pick and choose what they want out of Buffalo, but we need to realize that if we want to be part of the community, then we are in it for the best and the worst. Being there for people during and after tragedy is a defining test for a community, and even though the National Guard has arrived, the relief effort needs every able body it can get.
Several organizations are arranging trips and forming groups to clean debris and assist residents in hard-hit areas. The past few days, students have been bombarded with e-mails asking for volunteers. See the front page for details.
Anyone that was here last weekend will look back on the unexpected early snowstorm for the snow-days and stunning tree damage, but through volunteering, we have the opportunity to truly make Buffalo's October surprise an experience to remember for so much more.
GOP implosion
Eyes are looking down on republicans going into the midterms
When November is looming in a big election year, someone is always playing damage control. Sometimes it is an individual trying to keep skeletons in the closet, and some years it's a group tangled in a conspiracy, but 2006 may just be the greatest year of scrambling politicians and political backtracking the American people will ever see.
With the war in Iraq, the Patriot Act or just an inarticulate speech, republicans are used to smoothing over a rough situation caused by the Bush administration. Yet, entering this year's elections, the GOP has faltered through the exclusively-congressional Foley scandal. For the first time in a while, republicans approaching an election period are fighting to save their image not because of Bush's doing, but because of faults in the legislature.
The Foley scandal, which has marched its marathon for weeks now, isn't showing signs of stopping. On Wednesday, the clergyman accused of abusing Foley as a child was identified, and now as this issue progresses, republican reputation is being dragged in the mud once again.
The political party is devouring itself from the inside, and it's a sad and sorry state that such a scandal has brought down qualified candidates now overshadowed by Foley. Democrats are using the Foley page scandal and the aftermath groveling in hundreds of races across the country. They're using this as a launching point to make GOP candidates seem drunk with power, and rather than allowing Foley to take responsibility, republicans as a whole are being characterized by this mishandled affair.
Box to run in the right stick of the top editorial:
How you can help
Volunteers at the Leadership Development Center are coordinating cleanup crews to work both days this weekend. Free food, transportation and a thank you gift will be provided. To sign up or for more information, e-mail lead.hrschoff@vpsa.buffalo.edu or dunning2@buffalo.edu by noon on Friday.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
