Budget Imbalance Between Prisons, Education Hurts All Americans

*Iowa State Daily Opinion Column by me*

What would you say if I told you that it costs more per year to house a single inmate in prison than it does to send a young adult off to university? What if I then asked how you felt after realizing that more of your tax dollars go to a criminal than it will to your neighbor’s recent high school graduate?

It’s an unnerving feeling to witness that both are true on the state and federal level. When you realize just how large the gap is in my first question, it’s no wonder we have a rising prison population and failing school system.

According to the ISU Office of Student Financial Aid, in the 2011-12 school year, the average resident cost was $16,152 for tuition, room and board, books and supplies. The average cost across the nation varies but is similar to Iowa State’s numbers. The Federal Bureau of Prisons reports roughly $25,000 to 30,000 is spent annually per inmate, and that number continues to grow. Some states reach heights of $45,000 per jail bed, all paid for by the taxpayers.

Incarceration is only a Band-Aid to the problem of crime. The prison system takes criminals and separates them from society and arguably reforms them, though most inmates will make at least one return trip to prison once freed. Band-Aids don’t solve problems. An example would be that of illicit drugs. Banning drugs does not answer the question as to why people began doing drugs in the first place.

Currently, as of May 26 this year, the Federal Bureau of Prisons reports a total federal prison population of over 217,000 people, while 48.2 percent of those — 94,000 people — are in for nonviolent, drug-related charges, almost exclusively on possession. What if instead of a Band-Aid, we attacked the high prison population and poor education problem by finding the source? I think we can all agree that the way to improve education is to improve the system itself. But why can’t the same thing be said about crime, drug use, obesity and so on?

The intelligent way to solve crime would be to ask why the crime was committed in the first place, at its seed. I wholly believe that nearly all of our problems can be solved through education. The mind is our tool. We know that areas of high poverty also have higher crime rates. We also know that the more educated someone is, the less likely he/she will be impoverished. The better we educate someone, therefore, the less likely it will be for a crime to be committed.

The simplest and best long-term solution would be to pardon nearly half of our prison population — the 48.2 percent of nonviolent drug users. These offenders are victimless criminals. If they want to put chemicals in their body, let that be their choice. I think the War on Drugs has shown that that choice will always remain. Take all the money we used to keep those people cyclically locked up and apply it to our education system. How much good do you think this would do for us? I haven’t even brought up allocating more money from the national budget towards education.

There won’t be an immediately noticeable resolution, but the importance of doing this is paramount. Job security, a healthy personal life and education are almost required to keep citizens from getting into trouble. Once money is allocated into education, job security will improve, and crime can only decrease. There is still something to be said about a healthy personal life. Drug use will still exist, but intelligent citizens make generally more intelligent decisions, or rather, decisions that aren’t so self deprecating or illogical. So the problem would fix itself in due process.

Not only would crime rates fall, but education would improve without any additional cost to the taxpayer. And the benefits don’t just end there. Improved education would improve health. The obesity epidemic could steadily drop. Overall health would improve, the cost of health care would drop, and lives would be lengthened. People would make smarter monetary decision-making, thus the market would be more competitive. Not to mention a whole slew of other things, even things we could never foresee. All from reallocating some of our prison expenditure towards education.

Every inmate we keep in prison keeps a child (in some states three) from having the potential to go off to college or receive an education that would free them from a life of crime, bad health and low income, among other things. Effectively, we would grow two plants with one seed.

Direct Link: http://www.iowastatedaily.com/opinion/article_176f9f9e-bff7-11e1-a0e3-001a4bcf887a.html

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Sensory Overload with GASS Racing

Bridling at over 400 horsepower, smelling the gooey rubber as it pealed across the radiating asphalt, tasting the bitter 100+ octane fuel vapor in the air, blinking away the sweat rolling in my eyes as my vision ever narrowed, deafened, and feeling the weight of my innards being thrust out of place, my brain was processing information faster than if I were attacked by a lion… although, I could argue I was being attacked by a lion.

Suiting up!

Nearly one week before Memorial Day, I was in the passenger seat experiencing all of the above in one of GASS Racing‘s professional stock cars. GASS Racing School offers racing fans, or gearheads in general, the opportunity to either ride-along for an experience, all the way to a full day of racing lessons and entrance into an official stock car race broadcasted on GASS TV. I was there for a ride-along followed by watching the professionals do it from the hot pit. Soon, I plan on returning and actually race one of these beasts.

My initial reaction upon arriving to the Newton Iowa Speedway was that of sheer zeal. Pulling up to the immensely large oval speedway to find out it was actually short by speedway standards (7/8 mile), followed by the rumbling echo of highly tuned V8s jackhammering their way around the track. I was entering the pits as a car would thunder by on their qualifying lap at roughly 150 mph, disappear for a matter of seconds only leaving a trail of sound and sticky rubber behind, to reappear with an even more thunderous hurrah than it came with. Spin-outs were commonplace as racers pushed their cars to the limit of grip in an attempt to get as high of a pole position as possible once the official race commenced. I watched all of this in aw, at the same time itching at the eventuality that I would soon be in a first person narrative of the racecar, lack third person.

My number 20

Suiting up, I could hardly contain my excitement. The cars were all in the pits, lined up and ready to be released from the gate. I put on my fire suit provided by GASS Racing, my Nomex head sock, Nomex gloves, neck protector, and then finally my white racing helmet… initially with the visor up. I stood next to my black, number 20 car, waiting to be assisted into the window (there were no doors). A man with GASS began locking me into my 5 point harness, two at the shoulders, two near the legs, and one on the helmet… the word “move”, does not exist within the racecar, but it sure as hell does outside of it. This is when claustrophobia can easily creep in. Not to mention it was easily 100 degrees inside the car, sweat was dripping everywhere and it was impossible to wipe my brow, noxious fumes coupled with melting rubber was all that could be smelled, followed by the waiting anticipation of wanting to just “GO!”.

Immediately before given the green light

Given the go-ahead, my driver Paul turned on the engine, which was immediately deafening. The sensations were incredible, it was quite literally a sensory overload… a true symphony of science was at work. A mechanical machine melded with an organic man, simultaneously conspiring to get around this racetrack as fast as both will allow. You can tell from my first paragraph that no input was left unchecked. The true mastery of what happened when I was in that racecar could never be accurately expressed in words, let alone video or photography. A watched 10 minutes on the track was a mere 30 seconds internally… how’s that for relativity?

Full speed with me in the black car and my friend in the white car.

I do plan on going back, but next time I will be behind the wheel… I can’t even imagine the experience that will ensue once that cultivates. All I can do now is tell everyone and their nearest friend to get out and experience it themselves because nothing really compares, except for maybe being attacked by a lion.

 

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NASA SDO Ultra-High Definition Video of 2012 Venus Eclipse

This is one of the most thought provoking videos I have seen as a result of NASA and the Venus transit. Just being able to see and visualize this event in such detail, considering the enormity of all the numbers involved is truly inspiring. Have a watch if you haven’t seen this already.