Hold the body armor, please

more than we appreciate the men and women who fight for us to have that freedom?

an hour long concert on a military base isn't enough.

needs to have that much money. There aren't enough days in a lifetime to be able to spend billions of dollars. Nobody needs to have the amount of stuff that billions of dollars can buy. It almost seems unfair for such a small group of people to have so much money, while so many live in poverty.

I understand that these people have worked hard for the money they earned, and they should enjoy the benefits of it, but it is also important to remember that the most is expected from the people who have the most.

Now some of these people on the list are using their money to help others. Bill Gates is doing work with AIDS in Africa. The Walton family, who are numbers 17-21 on the list for a combined worth of $78.9 billion, sponsor many programs to help the needy through their company WalMart.

You could also say that Bill Gates has a monopoly in the computer software market. WalMart is the most successful business in the world, but it doesn't provide its employees with a health insurance policy. Maybe they could take a portion of that $78 .9 billion net worth and use it to pay for the health insurance.

In the book 'The 2% Solution," Matt Miller proposes that we could fix the problems in this country for $220 billion a year. Miller states that "we could have a country where everyone bad health insurance, every full-time worker earned a living wage, every poor child had a great teacher in a fixed-up school, and "politicians spent their time with average Americans because they no longer has to grovel to wealthy donors."

$220 billion is only 11.8 percent of the $2.6 trillion that these 793 people are worth. I'm not saying that they should pay for the nation's or the world's problems, or that Miller's solutions are the best choice, but that does put it into perspective.

It's great to be successful and make money to provide for yourself and your loved ones, but it can get to a point where it's excessive. I would find it hard to go out and buy my sixth special edition, one-of-a-kind car when there are 13 million children who go hungry every day in the United States. I don't know how I would justify owning the same purse in all 40 colors when 2.8 billion people live on just $2 a day.

Go ahead, treat yourself to things, but remember that a life full of giving will be more fulfilling than a life full of getting.

AMANDA FINNEGAN ASST. MANAGING EDITOR AJF724@CABRINI.EDU

In Forbes's "The World's 50 Highest Paid Athletes" list for 2006, Tiger Woods topped of the list at number one. Including endorsement deals, prize money and appearance fees, Woods pulls in $80.3 million a year and never even has to break a sweat. For the blockbuster "Saving Private Ryan," Tom Hanks made $40 million for playing Captain John H. Miller. But how much does our real military make a year? The average salary for a private first class is less than .5 percent of Hank's salary for playing a solider. And that's just out of one movie.

So America, where are our priorities? Do we value a good actor or talented athlete

In 2004, Time Magazine gave their coveted "Person of the Year" award to the American solider and ever since then, support for the troops has dropped and the government has been making endless cuts on things our military desperately needs.

Military moms have to scramble to priority mail their sons bullet proof vests because the military no longer supplies body armor. While the government is trying to convince the public that it's the war protests that are bringing down the morale of the troops, could it be the pay and supply cuts that are the cause of low esteem in our service men and women?

While Brittney Spears is rumored to throw out every pair of underwear after she wears them, our military is struggling for the bare essentials. During his nine month tour of duty in Iraq, my cousin was forced to wear the same pair of underwear and socks for his whole stay because the military doesn't have enough funding to supply them. Sometimes sporting a little yellow ribbon on the red carpet or

A mere $20,000 a year for 14 hour days year round just doesn't seem like enough. It works out to a little less than $4 an hour for doing work that most Americans could not even fathom. For those who have children and spouses to support, this just doesn't cut it.

Some may argue that those who enlist know what they are getting themselves into, specifically in this turbulent ti.me, but no one can ever understand the devastation of Iraq until it is seen with ones own eyes.

Lately, it's hard to decipher who America's true heroes are. Instead of flocking to celebrities on the street, we should be flocking to our soldiers, giving thanks and telling them how much they inspire us everyday. Hitting a ball out of the park will never compare to fighting for the freedom of others and playing a solider in a movie will never compare to really being one. But maybe the paychecks should.