Jeremiah Bannister's Portfolio

2008 MISSION STATEMENT

2008-08-08T15:00:00.000-04:00

Expanding and sharpening my skills as a writer and public speaker are at the top of my to-do list this semester. My plan includes having a functional literacy of programs such as Photoshop, iMovie, and others relating to the editing of video and audio.

It is also my goal to better familiarize myself with the Associated Press Stylebook. I am making an effort to incorporate what I have learned from the stylebook into my Web logs and various other writings.

Lastly, I am working on fine-tuning my radio program. I am diversifying the content of the program by including a larger list of topics and expanding my guest list. The hope is that these moves will provide the kind of information and entertainment that would have a broader public appeal.

2008 SELF ASSESSMENT

2008-08-08T14:00:00.000-04:00

My two years at Olivet College have provided me with moments best described as good, bad and ugly. I presume that it is safe to say that this is a rather common assessment and that my experience may not be all that different from many other students. At any rate, regardless of whether an experience is good, bad, ugly or even a strange mixture of two or more, I have found reason to view them as experiences meant for my betterment, both as a student and as a man.

The "good" is relatively easy to point out. I have spent two years working towards establishing myself as a reliable source of news and commentary, both on campus and the Internet. My YouTube has come along quite well, and I am seeing an ever-increasing number of people interested in what I have to say on current events. I am regularly complimented on the visual aspects of my video production. This is particularly satisfying given the fact that I have dedicated vast amounts of time and energy into better choreographing the pictures to match the topics under discussion.

I have also put a decent amount of time into my Web site. I have spent years working with various blogs, attempting to determine which is best for me. In the past I have stuck with layouts that were full of color, catching the eye, but leaving much to ask in the way of space for text.

This trend changed with the advent of The Paleocrat Tribune. The decision was to keep it simple. It is black and white, allowing color pictures and videos to really stand out from the rest of the page. Best of all is the vast amount of room for text, links, categories, tags, and comments. All of this has created a site that is both stylish and professional.

The "bad" aspects of my time at Olivet are also easy to identify. This may be true on account of the fact that problems have trailed me every step of the way. Whether it is making it to class on time, turning projects in on their due date, or even making good on promises to do one thing or another for a teacher or a classmate.

As much as I may wish to pawn this off on my having to travel 30 minutes to school everyday, I would never dare use that same line of reasoning in attempt to justify tardiness to a place of vocation.

The "ugly" elements of my life as a student are certainly the hardest for me to face. These things may not be as numerous (Thank God!), but they are extremely important. I have found myself not taking my future as serious as I ought. Pursuing internships, jobs, and contacts has taken backseat to temporary satisfaction with the status quo. Where I should be working on a diverse selection of clips, I have ignored the need to work diligently on traditional news stories. Instead, I have willfully restricted myself to opinion columns and Web logs. As fun and as easy as these may be, it is not necessarily helping form me into a top-notch journalist. The basic, the most fundamental elements of the craft have fallen to the cutting room floor, and I can only hope that it will not come back to haunt me.

In conclusion, glancing over my shoulder at the two years I have spent at Olivet College has shown me a picture made up of events best described as good, bad, and ugly. While I do not believe it possible to fully eradicate the bad and the ugly, I must begin, and begin as soon as possible, to minimize those things that would fall within those two rather unfortunate categories.

2008 ORAL PRESENTATION

2008-08-08T13:00:00.003-04:00

Learning Outcomes demonstrated by this exhibit:

This is a video of my opening remarks at a panel discussion on embryonic stem cell research hosted by Michigan State University. My taking part in this forum allowed me to broaden my understanding of this particular controversy as well as to educate those in the audience as to the traditionally conservative and Catholic position.

___JTB___

This exhibit reflects my best work in the areas noted above.

___JTB___

This exhibit reflects a high degree of professionalism in general writing skill, grammar and organization.

NARRATIVE

This exhibit came about at the behest of a student organization at Michigan State University. Their goal was to present to the student body a well-rounded discussion concerning the issues surrounding embryonic stem-cell research. I was asked to represent the so-called Republican position. I was also the only student on the panel attending a college other than Michigan State University.

It was a pleasure and an honor to participate in the event. It took a lot of research, speech preparation, and working with others. I also had the chance to hear from those who disagreed with my position. All of this helped, albeit in a very small way, to show me that I am duty-bound to respect various positions at odds with my own, but also that I have a responsibility to educate others as to why I take the particular position that I do.

2008 RESUME

2008-08-08T12:30:00.006-04:00

Click image to enlarge

Click image to enlarge

2008: LECTURE & SYMPOSIUM

2008-08-08T12:15:00.006-04:00

Learning Outcomes demonstrated by this exhibit:

1. Cover the lecture concerning the economic hitman

2. I covered the event, wrote the story for the Echo and submitted it for Seminar.

The goal of this project was not only to cover the story for the Echo, but also to satisfy the requirement of my seminar assignment.

The lecture was a real eye-opener. I have been skeptical of Wall Street and corporations for many years now, but the stories he told were well beyond anything I had imagined.

Hearing him talk about what he had done, what continues to go on and what we can do was inspirational. It reinforced my internal commitment to bettering not only myself but also other people through my actions and my words.

___JTB___

This exhibit reflects my best work in the areas noted above.

___JTB___

This exhibit reflects a high degree of professionalism in general writing skill, grammar and organization.

ECONOMIC HITMAN ON CAMPUS
By Jeremiah Bannister
Originally printed in the Olivet Echo

“A good hit man has no conscience at all.” This famous quote from Pete “The Greek” Diopoulis in a 1976 interview on 60 Minutes was echoed by author and activist John Perkins during his Oct. 22 lecture at Olivet College. Perkins, author of the best selling “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man,” gave students a first-hand account of the Orwellian activities and Machiavellian characters he was associated with over the years. He also discussed what he believes must be done if citizens, both national and global, wish to overthrow the rich and powerful currently running the world as “the first global empire.”

According to Perkins, individuals are being trained by the rich and the powerful, a group he referred to as the “corporatocracy,” to identify Third World countries with rich natural resources. These resources, oil being amongst the most prized, are the envy of politicians and entrepreneurs alike. In hope of taking control of these sought after resources, Western nations would offer lopsided deals to host countries. These deals would typically be rejected by leaders not willing to have their resources taken from them in what they believed to be a grossly unfair trade agreement.

Enter the economic hit men. After being rejected by the host country, the corporate interests would commission men and women to work with international money lenders such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). They would coordinate with these banks to create tailored loans that would, at least in wording, play on the economic hardships and populist frustrations of the host nations. The principle focus of the loans would appear to seek little more than economic betterment of the nation with the sought after resources. In short, these loans were meant to be, as Don Vito would say in “The Godfather,” offers they could not refuse.

Perkins went on to admit that aside from the appearance of altruism, these loans were attempts to undermine the host nation’s initial refusal to allow the pillaging of their resources by the rich and powerful. These funds were strategically distributed to create little more than a crushing debt for the nation it was supposed to help. “We coordinated huge loans,” he said, “but they went to our corporations.”

This would inevitably leave the debtor countries unable to pay back the lenders. “The rich become rich on the backs of the poor,” he said, leaving the poor little choice but to succumb to the new demands of repayment. The lender, wishing to get the money back one way or another, offers new terms for repayment. These new terms are almost always identical to the initial demands of the unfair deal first advanced by Western interests, with the inclusion of new, more expansive demands.

In his concluding remarks, Perkins insisted that this reality and that these tactics could be overturned, but that the citizenry bears the brunt of responsibility as they are the core to the solution.

Seeing what he believes to be a modern movement much like populist movements that ignited the Agricultural outcry of the 19^th century as well as the call for humane labor conditions during the Industrial Revolution, Perkins considers civilization to be on the verge of what he referred to as the “Sustainable Revolution.” This paradigm shift is, in his estimation, driven by the ever-increasing demands of globalization and national interconnectivity. “We need to be globally minded,” he said, “we are citizens of one world.”

While granting the slow nature of incremental reform and social change, Perkins is confident that humanity will shake itself free of its adolescence and boldly move towards maturity. “We can move forward,” he said, “and we will.”

NARRATIVE

This exhibit was rather unique. I not only had the responsibility of attending a lecture about economic shenanigans (which just so happens to be a curious fascination of mine), but I was also under obligation by the Olivet Echo to write a story about the event.

With a laptop, a notepad, and a press pass, I was ready to go. The next hour and a half were spent attempting to pace with the speaker, knowing that my shorthand would be a handicap. At any rate, I did rather well, catching key facts and noteworthy quotes.

The actual article took only a few hours to write. This was the case on account of my difficulty with details. While Nichole Babcock told me that she wanted the story submitted for the upcoming edition of the paper, I was under the impression that I had much more time. Suffice it to say that it turned out being a last minute project, and one that I believe to have turned out very well.

2007 MISSION STATEMENT

2007-07-07T15:00:00.000-04:00

I have dedicated this semester to sharpening my skills as a writer, keeping up-to-date with current events and working with various forms of media. I will come away from this semester with a more crisp writing style, a more global literacy of major events and a good idea as to the direction media is heading in an age of globalization and convergence.

2007 SELF ASSESSMENT

2007-07-07T14:00:00.000-04:00

This semester has been difficult for me. It has also been very exciting. I had to learn for the first time many things that I thought I already knew and understood. I had to listen to various positions on an array of issues that I am morally and philosophically opposed to. I struggled with frequent illnesses, had my first root canal, my wife gave birth to our second child, and my family converted to Catholicism. To top it off, I still maintained my position on WOCR and my weekend program on Access Vision in Battle Creek.

Unfortunately, I had to make various cutbacks. I was forced to step back from working as a staff writer for the Echo as well as working with OCTV. As hard as these decisions were to make, they had to be made. As a man, a student, a husband and a father, I am not as free as most others to dedicate a large portion of my time to various activities, regardless of how much I would prefer otherwise.

When all was said and done, I came out scathed, but a better man. While it was difficult - and even hurt at time - it was a semester well worth the trouble.

Thank God for Olivet College. I'm not at all sure I could have managed to make it through anywhere else.

2007 ACADEMIC WRITING

2007-07-07T13:00:00.002-04:00

Learning Outcomes demonstrated by this exhibit:

1. Research
2. APA citation

This project was required for one of my political science classes. The topic had to be a relatively obscure law and the public policy process it went through.

I was able to learn more about the public policy process, the champions and advocates of various bills, and the difficulty (or ease) of getting a specific bill to pass given the stealth of the statesman or even the susceptibility of public opinion.

___JTB___

This exhibit reflects my best work in the areas noted above.

___JTB___

This exhibit reflects a high degree of professionalism in general writing skill, grammar and organizatio

FROM FREEDOM TO PROHIBITION

On the Unforeseen Consequences of the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914

By, Jeremiah Bannister

When first told that I was responsible for writing a twelve-page paper dealing with public policy, I figured that it would be in my best interest, for convenience sake, to deal with more recent public policies that were well known, controversial, and not lacking in accessible information. After considering the matter for a few days I decided that going this route was not the path I wanted to take. The last ten years of my life had been spent studying well known policies such as the New Deal, the Great Society, abortion laws, the Patriot ACT, and many others. Instead, I wanted research a relatively unknown public policy that, while being relatively obscure, had major ramifications on future public policy.

Little did I know that I would find myself researching a public policy enacted in 1914 which received virtually no discussion in the Congress and absolutely no mention whatsoever in the media. The more I read about this policy, the more I became aware that public policies can be as far reaching in their effect as they are subtle in their being put into place. This policy, in my estimation, has had massive consequences, both seen and unseen. I believe that this policy was the first step on a slippery slope that has resulted in (amongst many other things) an erosion of personal freedom, the creation of large and intrusive bureaucracies, an extremely dangerous black market, increased crime rates, and an overpopulated prison system. The public policy I am speaking of is the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act (HNTA) of 1914.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

In “America’s Longest War: Rethinking Our Tragic Crusade Against Drugs,” Steven Duke and Albert Gross argue that from the dawn of history to 1914 there were very few civil regulations on the use of drugs. These few experiments in prohibition and regulation (i.e. Asia’s tobacco prohibition in the early 17^th century) were short-lived. The authors refer to these years as the pre-prohibition epoch. The only regulations during this time were cultural norms, religious doctrines, and personally held beliefs pertaining to self-government and health.

Enter the industrial revolution. This posed Americans with many problems, not least of which was the diversity of foreign drugs coming into the country. Another factor brought on by this revolution was the breakdown of cultural norms due to the decentralization of the community. People began moving from the countryside to the city. This created an entirely new demographic which could not provide an adequate regularity concerning social and cultural norms.

ADVOCATES OFTEN MAKE FOR STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

The early 1900’s was a time of vast reform in America. America’s abolition of slavery half a century before instilled an optimistic fervor within many Americans that they could lobby the government to make reforms which they or their groups believed to be in the best interest of the republic. This was certainly not the first time in American history that we had seen the influence of special interest groups on the republic, but the advocates behind the NHTA were unique due to their being made up of a vast array of interests. Those lobbying for drug reform included foreign trade lobbyists, those in the field of medicine and psychiatry, and those who were part of what was know as the temperance movement. To make matters even more interesting is the fact that some advocates had interests which were not confined to just one of these three categories.

THE FOREIGN TRADE FACTOR

The early years of the 20^th century saw a growing interest in opening up otherwise closed foreign markets. At the top of the list was China. American involvement was made easy due to the Chinese having need of someone helping alleviate the burdensome opium problem that their nation faced. Doing this would show America to have a moral concern for their country, which would be advantageous towards potential trade and military alliances.

Mike Gray, author of “Drug Crazy: How We God Into This Mess & How We Can Get Out,” writes that this was meant to “pull the rug out from under the British, who had created the problem in the first place.” According to Gray, the British East India Company had been forcing China to purchase Indian opium in payment for Chinese silk and tea. Making a move such as this would effectually open up the doors to American access to Chinese markets while simultaneously slamming the door on British control of that market.

THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY FACTOR

The medical community was relatively small at the turn of the century. Cures for ailments were hard to come by, yet the need for this was certainly not in want. The market for people in need of medical assistance became a serious issue during and after the Industrial revolution. Not only were accidents and injuries becoming more common, but so was depression.

The problem facing the medical community was that the most doctors could normally do was to prescribe substances which simply made their patients “feel better” rather than actually curing the problem. Of course, the physicians could do the exact same thing. Technically the grocery store manager up the road could do the exact same thing as the physician and pharmacist. The reason for this was that drugs such as those containing opium were completely legal in the U.S., except for the few regulations placed on the drug trade in various states.

American pharmacists and physicians saw the increase in drug use and dependency as being favorable forces in pushing legislation regulating drug use. The medical community also took advantage of the fact that Britain had also passed something along these lines in 1868 with their Pharmacist and Poisons Act. Pushing for similar legislation in America would not only give the medical community a monopoly on the selling and distribution of drugs, but would also give way to medical and psychological categories of addiction and abuse. This would give the medical community unprecedented power over the “who, what, where, when, why, and how” of diagnosis, drug creation, and distribution.

THE TEMPERANCE FACTOR

During this time there was a very powerful religious movement known as the Temperance Movement. This movement was primarily made up of Methodists, Quakers, Baptists, and Congregationalists. Temperance advocates also had members from among the Pentecostals (i.e. Charles Grandison Finney), the Mormons, and the liberal neo-orthodox. Interestingly, many of these forces were also behind the abolition movement of the nineteenth century.

The years following the Industrial Revolution marked a change in the way Americans perceived the saloon. What once was a middle class meeting place had become in the eyes of many a den of robbers, thieves, drunks, prostitutes, and racial minorities. Some theorists also believe that this was used by Protestants to retain power over newly arriving Roman Catholic immigrants.

THE INTERNATION OPIUM CONVENTION

The U.S. State Department had been pushing for an international convention dealing with the opium issue and international trade. In 1909, the United States got their wish by holding the International Opium Convention in Shanghai. This convention is also known as the Hague Opium Convention due to it being signed at The Hague in Shanghai. On January 23, 1912, the treaty was signed by the United States, China, Italy, Great Britain, Japan, Persia, the Netherlands, Portugal, France, Siam, Germany, and Russia.

While the convention was not officially implemented by the United States until after the HNTA, we shall see that it played a major role in the rationale behind the move towards regulation. Part of the language agreed upon at the convention concluded that, “The contracting Powers shall use their endeavors to control, or to cause to be controlled, all persons manufacturing, importing, selling, distributing, and exporting morphine, cocaine, and their respective salts, as well as the buildings in which these persons carry such an industry or trade.”

The United States put the terms of the Convention in force domestically in the year 1915, within a year of the HNTA. In 1919 it was incorporated into the Treaty of Versailles, making it almost global in its jurisdiction. A revised version of the Convention was put into effect in 1928 and later superseded by the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 1961.

THE PROHIBITIONIST JUGGERNAUT

The United States had sent three delegates to the convention: The Episcopal bishop of the Philippines, a man from the American legation at Peking, and a certain Dr. Hamilton Wright. Dr. Wright would become a primary player in the crusade against narcotics. Wright would not only be considered an advocate, but a champion of the cause underlying the HNTA.

Wright was a graduate of McGill University, the one who famously (though incorrectly) identified beriberi as a bacterial infection, and most importantly the son-in-law of a very powerful Senator from Minnesota. With his notoriety and connections, he found it relatively easy to get a position in the U.S. State Department.

While with the State Department he worked on the opium crisis. He began traveling from city to city in order to see just how widespread the opium issue had become. In a March 12, 1911, edition of the New York Times he made the claim that opium use in the United States was not only bad, but was worse than China.

Mike Gray claims that this was nothing more than spin put out by a man on a crusade. He insists that the average addict at the turn of the century were middle-aged Southern women addicted to laudanum, an opium-alcohol mix, rather than the opium fiends described by Wright. He went on to say that vast amount of users were using it as medication for pain. Furthermore, Gray says that the evidence indicates that addiction had been on the decline after 1906 due to the Pure Food and Drug Act which required companies to label their product with active ingredients.

Either way, Wright won the day. Regardless of a British report indicating that opium addiction was no worse than alcoholism, Wright managed to get what he needed. He convinced the nations involved of what is now known as Resolution 5 which required all signatories to begin establishing regulations against opium, its derivatives, manufacturing, and sale. Having gained this victory, knowing the long-term ramifications of this resolution, he became what Gray described as a “one-man Washington pressure-group, pitching to Congress, threatening and cajoling foreign ambassadors, twisting arms, and drafting model narcotics laws for the people of the United States.”

Regardless of his success, he certainly had hurdles to overcome, most importantly was the need for a national police force. It did not take him long to realize how difficult this would be given the existence of the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In “The American Disease: Origins of Narcotics Control” David Musto quotes Wright as saying that getting his prohibitionist legislation through Congress was “a difficult business… [because] the Constitution is constantly getting in the way.”

It did not take long though before Wright saw a crack in the system. The Supreme Court had ruled in Fensenheld v. U.S. that the government had the right to regulate anything that it was taxing. So, as Gray writes, “By the winter of 1909, he [Wright] had drafted a model bill that would require anyone who dealt with drugs- doctors, druggists, manufacturers- to register, pay a license fee, and keep scrupulous records of transactions.” It was here, in Gray’s estimation, that government obtained a monopoly over drugs for the first time in human history. It was also here that Wright begins taking a spiral for the worse.

SECRETARY OF STATE & INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS

Then Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan had joined with Wright on the crusade against drugs. Bryan was a Presbyterian, a prohibitionist, a prominent leader in the Progressive Movement, and a three-time Democrat Presidential nominee. With a resume like this it would be hard to fathom that he is probably most known for his staunch opposition to Darwinism during the now-notorious Scopes “Monkey” Trial. Secretary of State Bryan supported the HNTA on the grounds that it would fulfill the agreement made at Shanghai.

The Secretary of State eventually ousted Wright after he smelled liquor on Wrights breathe one too many times. Turns out, while Wright was on a crusade against opium addiction, he was becoming an addict to rum. Wright never returned to his position. He later left for France to join the war effort as an ambulance driver. He died three years later from injuries incurred from a car accident.

LOSING THE BATTLE; WINNING THE WAR

While Wright may have lost his place at the head of the Prohibitionist table, his works continued to win the day. The Harrison Narcotics Tax Act, named after the Congressman who pushed it through the Congress, Francis Burton Harrison (D-NY), actually was written by Wright. The HNTA was approved on December 17, 1914, with little debate or discussion.

Congress thought that the bill was relatively harmless and that believed that it would only mandate everyone involved in the drug trade to purchase a license and keep a complete sales record. The little amount of debate that took place on the floor revolved around the moral issue, rather, it focused on the need to implement the Hague agreement. Evidence of how low-profile this bill was considered to be is the fact that the New York Times, America’s “paper of record,” did not even cover the passage of the bill.

CONSEQUENCES: UNEXPECTED v. UNINTENDED

The passage of this bill brought with it a series of unexpected consequences. The medical profession had backed the passage of this bill, knowing the power and profit it would give their profession, but had no clue as to what one single word in the Act would do. The word: Only. As Mike Gray points out, “Although the medical profession had largely been brought around in support of the act, they were in for a rude awakening. Hamilton Wright had installed a couple of land mines in the bill, and the trip wire was hidden in a clause that the doctors thought was supposed to protect them. There was one extra word in the sentence. A physician could prescribe narcotics ‘in the course of his professional practice only.’ The interpretation of this phrase was left to the Treasury Department, and to the revenue agents, who determined that giving dope to an addict was not ‘professional practice.’ It was simply feeding a bad habit- not only immoral, but now illegal.”

In fact, it appeared that even the Surgeon General of the United States was unaware of the consequences this little word would have. During a conversation he had with an elderly morphine addict, he said that the act was meant for no other reason than for gathering information. Little did he know that within a relatively short period of time, this revolutionary law would be the cause of disrupted families, increased theft, the creation of a black market, the destruction of careers, and an enormous anti-drug task force! The bill called for $150,000.00 to be appropriated annually for enforcement; by 1994, the cost of enforcement required that this much be paid out every three minutes.

FINALLY GETTING AROUND THE CONSTITUTION

Wright had been trying to overcome the Constitutional hurdle for many years. So when he drafted the HNTA he had learned a thing or two. He knew that it would have to be put together as a tax act if it were to have any legs. He had many setbacks but, as any good politician would do, he used these to his advantage. He worded it in such a way that it would pass muster with virtually no discussion. It appeared relatively innocent as it was shrouded with good intentions.

All of this aside, it did not take long before it was in the courts. In 1916, the Supreme Court heard the first case dealing with the new tax act. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., believed that the act was unconstitutional. The Court voted seven-to-two in favor of a doctor who had sold narcotic prescriptions to a drug addict. It was upon this verdict that other doctors, pharmacists, and drug addicts who had been convicted of crime under the tax act were let free.

Rufus King, in his book, “The Drug Hang-Up: America’s Fifty-Year Folly,” reports that the Narcotics Division used strong-arm tactics against those in the medical community in order to force them to comply with the least amount of public knowledge. One tactic they used was to indict people, 35,000 in two-years time, without bringing them to court. King argues that this would coerce the medical community to comply with the Narcotics Division interpretation of the act without a verdict or interpretation from the Court.

It was not long before the Treasury had found a case that would cause the Court, and public opinion, to side with them. In 1919, the Treasury found a man who had been selling narcotics for $0.50 to any and all comers without any examination or sales record. This was the slam-dunk case the Treasury had been hoping for. The Treasury prosecuted the man as if he were the run-of-the-mill pharmacist and called on the Court to adopt an understanding of the tax act that was more in line with their own. In Webb et al. v. U.S., the Holmes Court which formerly ruled against the Treasury now ruled in the Treasury’s favor.

THE ENFORCERS

Since 1914, federal drug enforcement agencies have gone through quite an evolution. What began in 1914 as the Bureau of Internal Revenue became known as the US Drug Enforcement Administration, or DEA, in 1973. The fifty-nine years between the two had witnessed a change in name, as well as moderate changes in responsibility, 8 times. The DEA began as a department within the Treasury. It later came under the mast of the Department of Health Education and Welfare, the Department of Justice, the Executive Office of the President, back to the Department of the Treasury, only to return back to the Department of Justice. The Department also works closely with U.S. Customs Service.

The annual cost of the DEA is staggering. The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) says that the federal government spent over $20,000,000,000.00 on the drug-war during fiscal year 2005. According to ONDCP, the federal government spends over $600 per second in their crusade against drugs. The DEA admits to a cost of operations at $2,415,000,000.00 for fiscal year 2006. They operate with 10,891 total employees, 5,320 of which are special agents.

Cities and States are also actively involved in the drug war. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, state and local governments around America spent over $30,000,000,000.00 in fiscal year 2001, and the cost has gone up every year since.

The DEA has created Mobile Enforcement Teams (MET) that work with local and state agencies in cracking down on drugs. The DEA boasts of having had 13 MET deployments in the State of Michigan since the inception of the program.

The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) is based upon trafficking trends. The districts currently included in Michigan HIDTA accounts for 60% of Michigan’s total population. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, “Currently, the following agencies participate in the Michigan HIDTA: Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, Bureau of Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Marshall Service, Michigan State Police, Detroit Police Department, Grand Rapids Police Department, Kalamazoo Police Department, Flint Police Department, Sheriff’s Departments from the nine HIDTA counties, Michigan National Guard, Michigan Office of Drug Control Policy and many other local law enforcement agencies.”

AMERICA’S LONGEST WAR

Since the passage of the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act we have seen an alarming amount of continued regulation. Here is a list of the most important acts and amendments in drug war history since 1914:

The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 affected marijuana in the same way as the HNTA had affected narcotics.
The Food and Drug Cosmetic Act of 1938 was radical in that it gave the FDA complete power over the drug issue. This gave them the power to define what a drug is, establish which are permitted for prescription, and safety requirements.
The Boggs Amendment to the HNTA (1951) established mandatory minimums for narcotic violations.
The Drug Abuse Control Amendments (DACA) of 1965 places severe restrictions on the use of amphetamines, LSD, barbiturates, etc.
The 1966 Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act allowed for rehabilitation as an alternative to jail time for those addicted to narcotics.
The Analogue (Designer Drug) Act of 1986 makes use of a substance with similar effects and structure to existing illicit drugs illegal. This was specifically damaging to MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy.

SOURCES

1. Ted Gottfried, Should Drugs Be Legalized?. Connecticut: Millbrook Press, 2000.

2. David Musto, The American Disease: Origins of Narcotics Control. New York: Yale University Press, 1973.

3. Mike Gray, Drug Crazy: How we got into this mess & how we can get out. New York: Random House, 1998.

4. Douglas Husak, Legalize This! The Case for Decriminalizing Drugs. New York: Verso, 2002.

5. Steven Duke and Albert Gross, America’s Longest War: Rethinking our tragic crusade against drugs. New York: Putnam, 1993.

6. http://www.druglibrary.org

7. http://www.drugsense.org

8. http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov

9. http://casacolumbia.org

10. http://www.usdoj.gov

11. http://www.leap.cc

12. http://www.drugwarfacts.org

NARRATIVE

This project was one of the more exciting, and interesting, assignments I have had to do. My choice of this particular public policy was on account of both its obscurity as well as the far reaching, and grossly overlooked, affect this particular policy has had on America and specifically the American legal system.

2007 RESUME

2007-07-07T12:30:00.000-04:00

122 East Prudence Lane

Battle Creek, MI 49017

Phone 269-317-1263

jbannister@olivetcollege.edu

Jeremiah Bannister

Objective	To host a weekend talk-show on 95.3 FM, WBCK.
Education	2006-current Olivet College Olivet, MI Major: Jourmalism Minor: Political Science Key Courses: · Writing and Rhetoric II · Basic Reporting · Introduction to Broadcast Journalism · Introduction to Communication · Introduction to Mass Communication · State and Local Government · American Foreign Policy · 2 semesters of Radio Practicum Experience: · I host the weekly Paleo Radio program on WOCR, 89.7 FM. This involves show prep, managing the board, taking callers, and writing material. · I Co-host the weekly television program, Bannister & Sutherby. I work with lighting, cameras, directing, editing, and compile the subject matter for each program. · I am a former staff writer for the Olivet’s campus newspaper, the Olivet Echo. I wrote articles and op-eds on a wide range of topics, I took pictures, and I interviewed many people.
Interests and activities	Reading, writing (includes blogging), politics, economics, religion, broadcast communication, debate (apologetics), public speaking, golf
Work experience	2006 Bannister and Sutherby TV Program Battle Creek, MI Co-Host · Research · I work with the editor, director, producer, and crew · I manage the TV show blog and email 2004 New Jersey League of American Families Trenton, NJ Top Aide to Lobbyist · Research · Coalition building · Worked with numerous lobby networks on Marriage Amendment
References	Fr. Robert Sirico, President of the Acton Institute Home: 269-385-9933 John Tomicki, Founder of NJ League of American Families Home: 215-739-3522 Mobile: 201-725-2154: Al Cavasin, former candidate for State Senate and owner of Great Northern Security Co. Mobile: 517-740-2887 Bob Sutherby, Nationwide Insurance and Co-Host of Bannister and Sutherby Mobile: 269-209-5959

2006 MISSION STATEMENT

2006-06-06T15:00:00.000-04:00

It is my goal to host a talk-radio program. Due to the merging of various forms of mass communication, I hope to get involved with as many media outlets as possible during my time at Olivet College. I plan to work for the Olivet Echo, WOCR 89.7 FM, as well as the newly formed OCTV. This will give me experience in various fields of mass communication and will provide me with a well-rounded understanding of what it takes to be involved in media.

2006 SELF ASSESSMENT

2006-06-06T14:00:00.000-04:00

I came into this class knowing that I had a lot to learn. I was well aware of the fact that I had much to learn from the Professor, but did not realize how much I would learn from interacting with my classmates. This semester I have met many people who have helped me better understand who I am as an individual as well as the goals I hope to achieve in life.

I also tried to take advantage of the fact that we had so many talented speakers speak to the class about their profession and what it took to get where they are today. I even had the chance to speak with a few of the guests outside of the classroom.

With this being said, I believe that I still have much to learn. I want to work more closely with those in leadership such as editors, layout-designers, and photographers. I also want to have someone help me with my use of commas, semi-colons, and paragraph structure.

Overall I believe that I have become a more informed student and have been given many tools by which to become a better man. I have a better understanding of journalism and a greater appreciation for those who have made it into the business. There’s so much that I have yet to learn and so many people I have yet to learn from.

2006 BEST WORK SAMPLE

2006-06-06T13:42:00.001-04:00

Learning Outcomes demonstrated by this exhibit:

1. Research the history of this matter
2. Watch the actual address to the nation
3. Take rigorous notes
4. Read differing viewpoints on the matter

This is an article submitted to the Echo pertaining to President Bush's speech concerning the "surge."

I had to study the key players who helped put together the president's agenda. More importantly, I had to look into the different proposals the president chose to let hit the cutting room floor. The names, the lobby groups, the money backers, and those who would benefit from the surge was worth a story in and of itself, but the project was simply to opine as to what the surge would or would not do.

___JTB___

This exhibit reflects my best work in the areas noted above.

___JTB___

This exhibit reflects a high degree of professionalism in general writing skill, grammar and organizatio

Operation Continue Doing the Wrong Thing
By Jeremiah Bannister
Ran as "Bush Contra Mundum" in the Olivet Echo

"Failure is when your best just isn’t good enough," or so says the demotivational calendar I bought my father for Christmas. While the maxim is meant to be a joke, I couldn’t help but to think that in a very strange way it summed up Bush’s tenure as commander in chief. Regardless of how hard he tries, it appears that his every effort results in a worsening of an already horrific situation.

Unfortunately, his “new direction” for the Iraq war is no exception. To be honest, prior to seeing his speech on Thursday, January 11, my hopes were at a 4-year-high. With the pounding the Republicans received from the Democrats in November, the overwhelming public disapproval of the war and the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group getting praises from both sides of the political aisle, I bet my chips that Bush would abandon the neoconservative mantra for a more political and diplomatic approach. Time magazine had the same enthusiasm, publishing a cover story entitled, “The Iraq Study Group says it’s time for an exit strategy. Why Bush will listen.” Even neocon flagships like the Weekly Standard and National Review were biting their nails over the possibility of Bush “backpedaling.”

Unfortunately, those predictions were dashed to pieces when Bush made it clear that he would continue flying with the war-hawks. The Kagan-Keane report, a plan concocted by the same cabal that got us into this infamous fiasco, was the game plan our president ended up embracing. With Baker-Hamilton’s 79 recommendations tossed to the side and Colin Powell’s recent criticisms disregarded, the president chose to call for tours to be lengthened, deployments to be stretched and recruiters to go hog-wild in hope of bolstering the floundering enlistment numbers. This, contrary to popular demand, was the new direction for our policy in Iraq.

Will the plan work? Not likely. It emphasizes a surge that, like its predecessors, will not resolve the problems in Iraq any more than a Band-Aid would stop the bleeding of an amputated leg. With over 3,000 American soldiers dead, 25,000 wounded, over 100,000 Iraqi civilians six-feet-deep and the cost of the war surpassing $400 billion dollars, it would appear the that only surge worth pursuing is one that would include soldiers coming home. Then again, Bush is about as fond of conventional wisdom as he is of reading the newspaper.

In the end, my father’s calendar hits the mark when it says, “Quitters never win, winners never quit, but those who never win and never quit are idiots.” Unfortunately, these folks often end up dictating our foreign policy.

NARRATIVE

I was assigned this story by then editor Eleni Metropulous. The objective was to listen to the president's speech, analyze what he had to say, and then give my two-cents worth. Easy enough.

I watched the program at my grandmother's home because I know I would have the peace and quiet needed for such an assignment. Prior to having left school I printed out a number of facts sheets, articles from those supporting and those opposing the surge, as well as the conditions on the ground that led to the president's decision.

Once the speech was over I went over all of the material two more times. I made sure to get as many facts straight as possible. Dot every "i" and cross every "t."

2006 RESUME

2006-06-06T13:23:00.000-04:00

122 East Prudence Lane

Battle Creek, MI 49017

Phone 269-317-1263

jbannister@olivetcollege.edu

Jeremiah Bannister

Objective

News Runner for the Battle Creek Enquirer

Education

1992-1996 Family Altar Christian School Battle Creek, MI

General Diploma

1997-1998 Christ for the Nations Dallas, TX

Major: Practical Theology

1999-1999 Christ for the Nations Vancouver, Canada

Major: Practical Theology

Experience:

· Worked with local charity on a weekly basis

2006-current Olivet College Olivet, MI

Major: Jourmalism

Minor: Political Science

Current Courses:

· Basic Reporting

· Writing and Rhetoric II

· Introduction to Broadcast Journalism

· State and Local Government

· Journalism Seminar

Experience:

· Staff writer for campus newspaper

· Host a weekly talk-radio program on WOCR, 89.7 FM

Interests and activities

Reading, writing (includes blogging), politics, economics, religion, broadcast communication, debate (apologetics), public speaking, golf

Work experience

1996-1996 WOLY AM 1500 Battle Creek, MI

Radio Host

§ Public relations

§ Sales

§ Wrote and created commercials

2004 New Jersey League of American Families Trenton, NJ

Top Aide to Lobbyist

· Research

· Coalition building

· Worked with numerous lobby networks on Marriage Amendment

2005 Temple Baptist Church Battle Creek, MI

Associate and Youth Pastor

· Research

· Public speaking

· Public relations

2006 Bannister and Sutherby TV Program Battle Creek, MI

Co-Host

· Research

· Public speaking

· Working with the editor, director, producer, and crew

· Managing the TV show blog and email

Volunteer experience

Al Cavasin for State Senate
David Horn for Congress
Local charities in Vancouver, British Columbia

References

John Tomicki, Founder of NJ League of American Families
Home: 215-739-3522 Mobile: 201-725-2154

Al Cavasin, former candidate for State Senate and owner of Great Northern Security Co.
Mobile: 517-740-2887

Bob Sutherby, Nationwide Insurance and Co-Host of Bannister and Sutherby
Mobile: 269-209-5959

Craig Dumont, Pastor of Okemos Christian Center
Home: 517-336-6523 Mobile: 517-927-9541

Summary of qualifications

· Currently a staff writer for the Olivet Echo

· Currently co-host a talk-show on local access TV

· Conducted interviews

· Studied religion, politics, and economics

· Very familiar with current local, state, national, international events

· Written extensively on social and economic issues

· Worked in public relations

· Written and created commercials for various groups/products

· Worked/volunteered for various political campaigns

· Done in-depth research on various issues