Thumbs up: Military calls troops’ mental health priority
The highest-ranking member of the U.S. military called attention Tuesday to the lack of resources it has to assist soldiers facing mental health problems from their time at war. Last year, 133 soldiers committed suicide; already this year, 64 have killed themselves in the army alone. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Michael Mullen, vowed to work hard to direct more money to mental health services for soldiers to reduce the amount of combat stress soldiers face. Mullen referred to efforts by the general at Fort Hood in Texas which, despite having more than 52,000 soldiers assigned, had only seen one suicide, he said. “The general out there had essentially focused on relieving stress (and) not just attacking the suicide issue, and he’d done it very systematically,” Mullen said.
Thumbs down: Fundraising may have to cover ASUO deficits
The ASUO Executive notified the Senate this week of more deficits leftover from the fiscally conservative Dotters-Katz administration that may need to be covered from revenue from the Street Faire. While it’s good that the Kallaway administration is working to balance budgets early and with minimal transfers from elsewhere in the ASUO, it seems obvious that the outgoing executive should have addressed these shortfalls before leaving office. Mostly, the deficits came from beneficial activities, events such as concerts and guest speakers. But they reflect badly on the legacy of the outgoing executive. Hopefully the Kallaway administration will learn from the rocky financial handoffs of the last two years and make sure its house is clean before the new tenants move in.
Thumbs up: Oregon requiring restaurants to post nutrition information
A bill cleared the House Monday that would require 181 Oregon restaurants that have more than 15 outlets nationwide to list the amount of calories, fats, sodium and carbohydrates in each item on menus and drive-through displays. Restaurants that don’t comply will face a $1,000 fine. Senator Alan Bates, a physician and Democratic senator in Ashland, Ore., pointed out that most people can prevent weight gain by cutting merely 100 calories from their daily food intake, and that with this information made freely available, it’s easy for people to monitor just how many calories they consume. By providing consumers with enough information to decide whether they really want fries with that, the legislature has set a good example for the rest of the country’s struggle with unhealthy eating.
Thumbs down: U.S. mistakes in airstrike cause mass civilian deaths in Afghanistan
Military officials have now agreed that major errors were made in a number of bombings in west Afghanistan that killed multiple civilians. U.S. forces have rarely admitted making mistakes in air strikes in the Afghanistan theater, but officials agree that if certain rules had been followed the death toll from the May 4 bombing would have been significantly lower. U.S. forces face an extremely tough challenge trying to bomb Taliban forces in heavily populated areas, but that doesn’t validate the excessive number of civilian casualties that have occurred. Outside of the obvious moral issue, the continuous bombings of Afghanistan civilians contribute to the Taliban resistance by angering Afghans. The U.S. needs to take a much more cautious approach to make sure that civilian casualties in the future are limited.
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The week in thumbs
Daily Emerald
June 4, 2009
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