Jones' unfortunate cancellation in UB's Distinguished Speaker Series was turned into a great opportunity to try to schedule Stephen Colbert again. The timing was impeccable, and the Office of Special Events was able to snare the extremely popular and hilarious speaker because of the opening on April 4th.
While it's unfortunate that the community will miss out on a speech from Jones, the Gradate Student Choice Speaker, the Series will try to schedule him for next year, according to The Reporter.
Political satirist Colbert will appeal to more students as the Undergraduate Student Choice Speaker, and also a greater number of community members. Could a two-day speech a la Al Gore be in order?
The Director of the Office of Special Events, William Regan, pointed out that Colbert is not replacing Jones and the similarity in dates is a coincidence.
While the entertainment Colbert provides is priceless, his speaker fee is listed as $100,000 or more on allamericanspeakers.com; Regan insists those figures may not be accurate.
Looking at the Jones speech, Regan said UB was able to schedule Jones for less than Syracuse University, who paid $32,200.
No doubt, Colbert cost more. But it seems that students are getting their way this year, no matter what the cost. Ain't nothing wrong with that.
Ready, set, hike
What did the Thruway Authority do when residents cried foul after their recent tax hike? Increase the tolls - again.
In a telephone interview, a representative at the E-Z Pass customer service center revealed that they were unaware of the raise. This uninformed person and others like them might be edged out of a job if more drivers pick up the E-Z Pass discount; E-Z Pass is not affected by the tolls increase, encouraging motorists to leave out the middleman in the booth.
A Buffalo News investigation into the Thruway Authority showed that a majority of toll fare goes to New York City. Buffalo, most likely, won't see much from this hike.
Since the money will go downstate and not to Buffalo, the Thruway Authority should look into redistributing funds to the surrounding Buffalo, Syracuse, and Rochester areas. There is more to New York than New York.
The frustrating truth of the matter is, there currently isn't anything that can be done...except get an E-Z Pass.
Election 2008
Editor's Note: This editorial is a part of The Spectrum's ongoing coverage of the 2008 Presidential Campaign.
Eight years after conducting a losing campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, John McCain is again in a similar position. He won the New Hampshire primary last week, just as he did during his 2000 campaign.
McCain, the 71-year-old senior US Senator of Arizona, is at least six years older than all the current presidential candidates, save US Representative of Texas Ron Paul and Former US Senator of Alaska Mike Gravel. If elected, McCain will break Ronald Reagan's record of being the oldest person to take the executive office.
McCain is known for his bipartisanship, a trait America needs now more than ever. However, McCain may struggle to win over right-wing voters during his campaign; former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has consistently smeared McCain as being soft on illegal aliens and government spending.
Nonetheless, McCain has defended his positions through and through. He has insisted, "I'm a conservative in every way."
In the eyes of conservatives, that is probably not true, though McCain has remained strong on defending Bush's troop surge and prolonged influence in Iraq - something that may come back to hurt him.
However, McCain may benefit from being less right-wing than most of his fellow candidates, such as Former US Senator of Tennessee Fred Thompson. America doesn't need another divisive leader.
With any luck, McCain the uniter can pull off victories with the help of students; his campaign was widely driven by students in 2000. However, Ron Paul is stealing some of McCain's thunder with young voters this time around.
Students should recognize that the radicalism of Paul and others isn't the answer. While Paul is arguably more fiscally conservative than McCain, the US is heading into a time of domestic and international reconciliation, for which McCain is better suited.
McCain has been criticized heavily for crossing the aisle and dealing with Democrats. In reality, he should be commended for bipartisanship; politicians work best when they work together.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
