RE: [Leica] Re: calling on the LUG to do a good deed: leica scholarship

["B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>]

Not to be defensive - but MOST Americans do live reasonably well - in fact,
MOST Americans live extremely well when compared to "most" of the population
in many of the nation's of even Western Europe (And I am talking to economic
standards of living here, not debating 'spiritual poverty, yadah yadah
yadah' ;-). And, compared to the poor in the third world, the non-homeless
poor in America live very well. (Which is not an excuse or defense of the
inexcusable numbers of homeless and pathetically poor in the US - only an
observation regarding what we in the US call poverty and poverty in other
places).

But it really is tiring to have folks from other nations with, Lord knows,
their own poverty, racism, etc., arrive here and say, 'oh my God! Look at
those homeless people. I thought "Most" Americans lived relatively well,' as
though America's homeless made up "most" of our population.

B. D.



- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of Karina
Klaas
Sent: Sunday, April 28, 2002 2:38 AM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: calling on the LUG to do a good deed: leica
scholarship


Actually, I found the the extent of homelessness in San Francisco quite a
shock - I stayed in a hotel in Market Street and was quite shocked at what I
saw.  (Having just
flown out of South Africa on this particular trip, that says a lot in
itself).

That is not to say homelessness down not exist in Australia but having never
visited thte States before my preconceived notion of what to expect formed
on the basis of the  movies and TV watched, my impression, wrongly, was that
most Americans lived reasonably well.  I asked my friend, whom I was
visiting at the time where the "poorer" areas were - she lived in Santa
Monica, and she responded there weren't any - she must have had her head in
the sand because I caught a Greyhound (not like they are in the movies -
another shock in itself) to San Fran and started noticing these areas during
the drive on the way.

Karina

- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Matthew Powell" <mlpowell@directvinternet.com>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Sunday, April 28, 2002 2:06 PM
Subject: Re: [Leica] Re: calling on the LUG to do a good deed: leica
scholarship


>
> On Sunday, April 28, 2002, at 12:39 AM, Allan Wafkowski wrote:
>
> > What I said was the the fellow was going to pay about $28,000 a year.
> > That statement appears to be true in fact, does it not? You don't
> > remember me itemizing the numbers, do you? No, of course not. But this
> > is all beside the point. The point is that a young man paying $28,000 a
> > year to go to school, and owning (one assumes) a Leica camera is not
> > going to qualify for the LUG most needy student scholarship.
> No, that's the point. He's not "paying $28,000 a year to go to school."
>
> He's paying, assuming he's technically considered "out of state," about
> $12k/year "to go to school." The rest is living expenses which would be
> incurred whether he is or not.
>
> For instance, rent, insurance, car payment (necessary here in North
> Texas, where public transit doesn't exist) are about $12,000/year, and
> my tuition is a little under $4k. I'm not paying $16k "to go to school."
>
> I mean, we're really arguing semantics here, but saying the guy is
> paying that much to go to school is misleading.
>
> >  I can name three AIDS patients who can't afford their monthly
> > medication and who don't receive Medicaid. I know an old lady who eats
> > bread sandwiches (that's two slices of bread with nothing in between)
> > because she runs out of food at the end of each month. I know two
> > mentally ill brothers who live on $17,000 a year between them.
> As do most of us, or people in similar situations. The solution is not
> to take the frustration out on one man for going to Berkeley.  The
> solution, for these, is to work for nationalized healthcare, like the
> rest of the civilized world.
>
> > Before I piss myself off, let me ask you: Do you really think I want
> > "at least a $1,000" gathered for a student to go pester homeless people
> > in another country because the homeless people in California aren't
> > exotic enough?
> Actually, I'm quite in agreement with you that tackling the homeless
> situation here is a worth goal. I understand the plight of the homeless
> to have become quite dire in San Francisco, having been herded away from
> several public areas they used to inhabit. I also favor Stephen Gandy's
> idea, and will be donating whatever I can should it come through.
>
> But, being a full-time collge student and full-time server/bartender, I
> took issue with your characterization of the $28k being solely for
> "schooling."
>
> --
> To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html
>

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