Barrett in the Herald

Thursday's Western Herald features an article profiling Tom Barrett's run for County Commission. The article is straightforward and unbiased. You can leave a comment on the Herald site, if you want.

Barrett served two years in the military right out of high school and four years in the Michigan National Guard. He was stationed in South Korea with the military for a year and a half, then he was deployed to Guantanamo Bay from 2003 to 2004 with the National Guard.

"It was an eye-opening experience," Barrett said of his service. "An experience that I am very proud of, but not one that I would like to see again."

The last message of his campaign is to encourage people, mainly students, to get out and vote, he said."

People have died to secure our right to vote," he said. "It's sad to have half, or less than half, vote. It's too great of a right to pass up and not be involved in."

Barrett is up against two other candidates for the position of Fourth District County Commissioner. The election will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 7, and the voting for precincts four and five will be held at Arcadia Elementary School.

In the meantime, students can find Barrett all around campus and up and down the nearby neighborhoods in an effort promote his campaign and to encourage students to vote."

I'm working hard to get my name out and to get students involved," he said. "You can sit back and do nothing or you can participate and try to change something for the better."

For more information on Barrett's campaign trail, where or how to vote or any questions regarding the commission, contact Tom Barrett at: tom.barrett@wmich.edu or visit his Web site at: votetombarrett.com.

The day before, the Herald featured an article concerning campus politics. The article is not online; the Herald seems to be rather hit-or-miss in this regard.

They profile the College Republicans. The article is unbiased, but it has two errors. They misspell AJ's name, and misdate Pat Buchanan's speech (it was two years ago, not one).

The College Democrats have withered away to nothing, and are now inactive.

The College Greens have "moved their efforts exclusively into" Students Against Sweatshops, one of several affiliated groups that have existed for awhile. Their main goal is imposing a "living wage" on Western. Does this mean that they think that Western is a sweatshop? They refer specifically to CSM, a janitorial company Western contracts with.

But not to worry:

Because Western doesn't pay these employees directly, organizers say that getting CSM to raise their employees wages would not cost students more.

Do people really think this way? Sadly, they do.

Not to belabor the obvious, but where will the money come from to pay janitors more? Will it fall from the sky? If Western demands that CSM pay its employees more, they will raise the price that they charge to Western. That will cost students more.

The next thing you know, these people will want the government to run a coffee mug business.