Issue 3 by The Seminole Scribe

The Seminole Scribe

Vol. 23 No. 3

Seminole State College of Florida

Transcripts: Dangerous to your Identity?

March 22 - April 4, 2012

Peace, Love and Puppies

by Zachary Ely

ith graduation approaching, many students may be surprised to find out when they order transcripts that they are forced to give out their personal information online. This information includes Social Security numbers and credit card account numbers. The company that Seminole State College of Florida has outsourced for transcript ordering is the National Student Clearinghouse in Herndon, Va., outside of Washington D.C. “We outsourced transcript ordering in 2009 because it is more effective, more efficient and provides a better quality of service,” Frances Richardson, Coordinator of Enrollment Services and Registrar at Seminole State, said from her office on the Sanford/Lake Mary campus. With the explosion of identity theft cases in the last decade due to the Internet, parents and students have reason to be concerned with this change in ordering transcripts. In the past, students could request transcripts from Registration and pay with cash, check, credit card or money order. Now, many students find the $5 price of transcripts to be double or higher simply for not having a credit card. Students will have to buy a pre-paid credit card, like the Green Dot Card, which be purchased at convenience stores like 7-Eleven and costs $6.50. They will also have to put a $20 minimum balance onto the card prior to activation. Seminole State student Brandon Cely does not have a credit card and his father Santiago is financially responsible for his son’s college. “I do not like the idea of giving my son’s Social Security number or my credit card information online,” Mr. Cely said. “The school should accept money orders like before and forcing parents and students to buy a Continued on page 3

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Story and photos by Stephanie Alvarez

father and daughter walked into the Waterford Lakes Petland one evening. The daughter, immediately captivated by a baby Siberian Husky waggling it’s tail, cried out to her father.

confined wired cage that is at most six inches from the roof to the dog’s ears if the dog is standing on all fours, and two inches from both of the dog’s ends for width.

“Daddy, I want a puppy! I want that one!”

Jennifer Clegg, director of the animal operations for the Humane Society of the United States said puppy mill conditions include dogs and puppies with untreated medical issues and injuries.

The father then bought the dog and the three left the store. Yet, many new puppy owners may not be aware of the birthplace of that new bundle of joy. According to the Humane Society of the United States, investigations in 2003 found out that a majority of pet stores, whether small businesses or national corporations, buy their pets from puppy mills. The organization estimates that there are at least 10,000 puppy mills in the United States that sell two to four million puppies every year. These puppies are often sold to unsuspecting consumers through pet stores, over the Internet and through classified ads. Puppy millers, or licensed breeders, force animals to breed for profit. These animals live in unsanitary, unhealthy and uncomfortable conditions. Most puppy mill dogs are housed in shockingly poor conditions, and are usually kept in cages to be bred over and over for years. Sometimes, each dog is limited to a

“(This includes) failure to provide adequate veterinary care, failure to provide adequate shelter from the elements - dogs in cages outside in the freezing winters and hot summers, inadequate housing keeping too many dogs in a cage, or cages that are too small.” She also said conditions can be structurally unsound with wire flooring that can cause sores on the paws of the dogs and also causes the puppies to get their legs caught in it. “(There has been) accumulation of urine and feces, which causes a strong ammonia odor, failure to provide adequate lighting - keeping dogs in cages in a dark barn, rodent and insect infestations and failure to provide adequate food and water,” Ms. Clegg said. Investigative reports from the Humane Society revealed 2,000 dogs are a minimum amount of stock for an average puppy mill to carry. Continued on page 2

Falling Forward with Daylight Saving Time

by Jarred Paluzzi

f your sleeping schedule wasn’t already off track, then daylight saving time won’t be sure to fix that problem. That’s because every, spring, we lose an hour of our day. “I do think it’s pretty pointless,” Seminole State College student, Landen Angeline, said. On March 11, 2012 at 2 a.m. Sunday morning, everyone in the United States sprung forward one hour. Daylight Saving time begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November, giving us that extra sunlight during the summer to get out of

the house. Some say that daylight saving is too much of a hassle and does not create an energy policy or help save energy needed for the night hours. According to Michael Downing, author of Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time, daylight saving “does not reduce energy use.” “Congress loves daylight saving…” he wrote in an email message to the Scribe. “It doesn’t require us to use less energy.” The reasoning behind daylight saving time was to give Americans an extra hour of sunlight, believed to help get people out of the house

and getting them more involved with outdoor physical activities. In an interview with National Public Radio, Mr. Downing said that the problem with using daylight saving time as an energy-saver is, even though it pushes Americans out of the house, sending them to the ballpark or the mall, “they don’t walk there; they get into their cars,” he said. As a result, Mr. Downing said, daylight saving actually increases gasoline consumption. “Something the petroleum industry has known since 1930,” he said. Yet, Mr. Downing said some companies and businesses experience

positive gains. “People go out and spend money,” he told NPR. “This has been long tremendously effective spending policy. Retail stores love Daylight Saving.” Some students don’t see the value in the time change. Brendan Stallworth, a Seminole State College student worked Saturday March 10, 2012 until around midnight and had to be back at work the following morning at 5:30 a.m. on the day of daylight saving time. “I value my sleep and my time,” he said, “And I hate losing sleep time because I’m personally not gaining much from it.” §

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by Joshua Glener

Three out of four Seminole State College locations do not have active Gay Straight Alliance clubs on campus. despite “approximately forty Seminole State educators being trained to serve as advocates for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) Community,” according to Seminole State College’s Office of Diversity Initiatives and Engagement. “I think GSA has trouble getting awareness to other campuses simply because there haven’t been enough people willing or able to take a stand to spread the word and begin supporting a GSA club,” said Camille Kreider, Unity GSA Historian.

GSA is MIA on Campus Featured story of Seminole State College’s The Newsroom, says that the training employees went through was called Allies Advance, a two and a half hour workshop on issues of prejudice, homophobia and social justice. Becoming an “Ally” means those Seminole State educators will be equipped with the “skills and strategies for supporting those in need.” Well supported by involved

If not sold, these animals continue to live neglected, mistreated and abused lives often with not enough food to survive. “The supply of food is limited due to the thousands of animals they have to feed daily, most of the time an animal does not gain any form of nutrition for days,” Rebecca Aldworth, an animal rescuer of the Humane Society, said. These animals’ lives are constricted from any interaction with other animals and it is not uncommon for an animal bought from a store to have an odd behavior or unsocial personality, Ms. Aldworth said. Other factors, like health, can be a reason to why they are not fully content, she said. Although the animal can seem healthy when it’s first bought from the store, it has a high risk of carrying an illness or parasites.

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March 22, 2012

members and advisor Dr. Summers on the Sanford/Lake Mary campus, Unity GSA teaches students about diversity and informs those listening about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questionable

community. Knowing more support is necessary members continues to seek more involvement in campus

Although each state has anti-cruelty laws intended to prevent neglect and mistreatment of dogs, most large-scale breeding facilities continue to operate in ways that mock these laws. In many cases, dogs in puppy mills are kept in physically and emotionally damaging conditions under which an individual pet dog would never be allowed to suffer.

activities as well as raising the level of knowledge of the LGBTQ community for both students and faculty. The lack of development on other campuses seems not from a lack of effort from students in the club, responding in an email to the Scribe regarding where Unity GSA is most involved on campus saying “we hold meetings once a week and have many social activities planned. We are in close ties with SGA and HAS and sponsor some events through them. Sometimes we join events with GSA’s around other colleges such as UCF and Rollins. We also have information tables, one Tuesday Continued on page 5

substandard conditions and animal suffering, Ms. Aldworth. Because so few puppy mills invite customers onto their property to purchase dogs, it can be

Continued on page 7

“Anti-cruelty laws are seldom applied to puppy mills as long as the animals have the rudimentary basics of shelter, food and water,” Ms. Clegg said. “Puppy mill dogs are often treated as agricultural crops and not as pets”. Some local humane societies and governmental agencies will investigate conditions at puppy mills and intervene to rescue the animals if necessary. In many cases though, local authorities may not set foot on a puppy mill unless they have received a complaint from “a credible person” who has personally witnessed

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by Yngrid Lindores

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Start the Journey to Stop Kony

he recent Kony 2012 video reached the four corners of the web, through Tumblr, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook, bringing to light what, for the past two decades, had most of the public in the dark about Joseph Kony and his organization, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

the journey to stop the warlord Joseph Kony and the children.

All this changed in the beginning of March.

Look for more on Kony as the situation develops.

Johnnie Smith, a Seminole State student, said, “As long as people are aware of what’s going on then there’s always a chance of something happening.” §

YouTube channels especially have bombarded viewers with links to the video and comments like “Please Watch.” According to Jason Russell, creator of the video, the purpose is to make Joseph Kony famous by shining a light on the situation in Uganda. Although most agree and applaud Mr. Russell for making Kony a household name, many criticize his charity, the Invisible Children, for withholding money to the cause. In fact, Invisible Children received a two star rating on accountability from Charity Navigator, a website that rates charities. Invisible Children admitted that only 31 percent of its profits go toward helping the children. Thus, upsetting many including Dianna Peterson, a student at Seminole State using Tumblr and Facebook to publicize the video. “I think all the money should go to the cause,” she wrote in a Facebook message. Ms. Peterson also said people should research to find a charity that gives more to it’s cause.

Above: Francis Ochaya, who served 12 years with the rebels, including several as

a personal escort to Kony and his harem of child brides before escaping to Gulu in March, said he often heard Kony discussing the war-crimes case with his No. 2 man, Vincent Otti, September 30, 2006. “Both Otti and Kony said they won’t come out if the case is still there,” Ochaya said. “They don’t fear any punishment from the people. They only fear the court.” (Vanessa Vick/MCT)

Right:

Guinikpara Germaine was abducted in March 2008 from the Central African Republic and forced to be rebel leader Joseph Kony’s wife for the next three years before she managed to escape. (Alan Boswell/ MCT)

For instance, Children of Nations, a nonprofit charity, helps destitute children around the world, including children in Uganda. It received four stars in accountability and finance from the website Charity Navigator. “I think this is a great cause and we should try to do something to stop Kony, while helping those kids,” Patricia Blanco, a student at Seminole State, said. “Kony needs to be stopped.” Regardless of location, people have connected over the web to try and stop Kony and to help the children. “I think it’s pretty awesome people are coming together for this,” Ms. Peterson said. “I hope this will be the start of bigger things.” Meanwhile, Ms. Blanco focuses on helping the cause by spreading the message and raising awareness. “I’m going to print out flyers of Kony and put them up,” she said. Thanks to the Kony 2012 video, awareness is the first step in email us: theseminolescribe@gmail.com

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Green Dot card to order a transcript is totally ridiculous.” Mr. Cely said he wants to know where his information goes, what it is used for and who has access to it. A representative at the National Student Clearinghouse who only wanted to be identified as Sadia said, “Only the school has access to your personal information and it is used to prevent the transcripts from being sent to the wrong student.” She said the site is “totally secure.” “We do have the capability of viewing the order but the school has approved the site and agreed to work with us,” she said. Sadia said the National Student Clearinghouse website works with many schools all across the United States. §

What Are Your Thoughts About This Big Guy? >>>>> Dwight Howard

pictured in Miami on Sunday, March 18, 2012. (David

Santiago/El Nuevo Herald/MCT)

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THE SEMINOLE SCRIBE

a month, to let people know about GSA and to recruit new members. We even hold panels to educate students around campus. For instance we are sponsoring a Sexuality Workshop on April 10th.”

The Seminole Scribe is the student newspaper of Seminole State College of Florida

Faculty involvement by Ally members in sponsoring GSA clubs on other campuses has yet to be seen, even though according to the Newsroom, “trained allies are located on the Altamonte Springs and Oviedo Campus.”

EDITOR Zachary Ely STAFF REPORTERS Stephanie Alvarez Joshua Glener Justin Goodman Yngrid Lindores Jarred Paluzzi Ambar Wessin Faculty Adviser Jennifer Sheppard EDITORIAL POLICY Viewpoints expressed in columns and letters to the

March 22, 2012

(Unity Gsa Facebook photo)

where are the three other GSA clubs?

Seminole State College’s Office of Diversity and Initiatives and Engagement’s Diversity Council defines itself as “an environment of inclusion, where differences, life experiences and cultural backgrounds are respected and celebrated.” If the numbers accurately reflect the involvement,

Unity GSA Historian Camille Kreider said “I believe that despite our efforts a lot of students still do not know much about the LGBTQ community. However, we are reaching out to more and more students all the time.” §

editor are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Seminole Scribe or Seminole State College. Letters or columns can be emailed or dropped off at the office. Please limit letters to 500 words, and include phone number, name and area of study or affiliation. Letters will not be printed anonymously. We reserve the right to reject letters.

MISSION STATEMENT

We are a student-run newspaper that aims to construct a publication of professionalism. Through each individual staffer’s utmost potential, we write for the interest of the school and its student body to deliver a quality news and entertainment source that uphold traditional journalistic values.

PUBLIC FORUM

The Seminole Scribe is a “designated public forum.” Student editors have authority to make all content decisions without censorship or advance approval.

Dominque Patrice browsing books recently. Photo by Jarred Paluzzi

©2012 The Seminole Scribe. All rights reserved. All content is property of The Seminole Scribe and may not be reproduced or transmitted without consent. The Scribe is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press, Florida Community College Press Association and College Media Advisers Inc.

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Aaron Seamans left his family in Pennsylvania to pursue a career here as a nurse practitioner. He said he plans to be the first family member to graduate with a master’s degree. Shayna Klee working on her coil project. Photo by Jarred Paluzzi

“If you put your mind to something, anything can be done.” Photo by Jarred Paluzzi, Interview by Ambar Wessin

Send us photos of you and your friends on campus!

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Opinion

Kony 2012: Ignorance is Strength

n six days, the 30-minute Kony 2012 campaign video received more than 100 million online views and became the most viral video in history, experts said recently. Now, Joseph Kony is famous.

In the video, Joseph Kony of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is called a murderer, a kidnapper and a rapist who must be stopped, and by supporting and funding Invisible Children, a California-based activist group, viewers can achieve this goal.

Yet, despite the growing popularity of the movement - the video urges viewers to sign a pledge to bring Kony to justice in 2012 and to plaster posters of his face across the country on April 20, the campaign comes with criticism. “I think the Kony 2012 campaign is nothing but propaganda used to distract people from the reality of the situation,” said Seminole State College student Alex Sinkover. These criticisms have lead Invisible Children to acknowledge, later, that both the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, and the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF), two groups with which Invisible Children works, have been accused of similar atrocities.

Last December, the Social Science Research Council reported Ugandan soldiers “operated a prostitution ring, [and] raped and infected Congolese refugee girls” with HIV. The International Crisis Group also accused the UPDF of “plundering timber, gold and diamond[s]” from the Central African Republic (CAR), as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They’ve also been accused of the illegal sale of arms, providing young women with alcohol and involving minors in prostitution. The Observer newspaper reported a sixteenyear-old woman, who escaped from the LRA, was raped by a UPDF soldier and abused by others. Another woman was rescued from the LRA by the UPDF only to be gang raped by them later. The Human Rights Watch, an international non-governmental organization,

alleged the UPDF is guilty of torture.

Invisible Children claimed to not condone this behavior, but has demonstrated little, if anything, to stop it.

“From Sachs to Kristof to Invisible Children to TED, the fastest growth industry in the US is the White Savior Industrial Complex,” said Teju Cole, Nigerian-American novelist and photographer, regarding the typical whiteAmerican treatment of Africans and their plight. “The white savior supports brutal policies in the morning, founds charities in the afternoon and receives awards in the evening.”

IC did not discuss the historical relationship the United States has maintained with Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni, or Rwanda’s President, Paul Kagame, and, reported by journalist Keith Harmon Snow, how the group invaded Congo and plundered it relentlessly, leading to the deaths of more than seven million people, a conflict that has not ended, despite the fact they contrast images of Hitler and Kony in new media. Some Africans believe that the Ugandan force is exploiting the Kony’s Army as a pretext to maintain its presence. And, despite Museveni being found guilty by the International Court of Justice for war crimes, the International Criminal Court has not indicted him. Journalist Emma Mutaizibwa said CAR officials do not believe that the UPDF wants to stop the LRA, as that would end its financial assistance from the United States. UN reports claimed that approximately one-third of the UPDF is composed of former LRA members, some of which are most likely children. Ugandan President Museveni publicly stated that he supported the use of child soldiers, and that learning to fight by the age of four is “tradition.” Reports indicated child recruitment by the UPDF and other forces may be ongoing.

Another oversight is how the United States also recruits child soldiers. According to a 2008 American Civil Liberties Union report, Soldiers of Misfortune, “the U.S. military heavily recruits on high school campuses, targeting students for recruitment as early as possible and generally without limits on the age of students they contact.”

Invisible Children did not tell people that despite President Obama sending 100 troops to Uganda to aid the fight against the LRA, the president waived restrictions on the Child Soldier Prevention Act, making it possible to once again legally provide military funds to countries who recruit child soldiers, including Chad, Congo, Sudan and Yemen; countries with which Invisible Children works directly to allegedly combat the recruitment of child soldiers in the LRA. Despite this offering by President Obama, Invisible Children admitted that the LRA has not been in Uganda since 2006. The group does not mention there have been a number of the United States Africa Command soldiers (AFRICOM) in Uganda to assist with the UPDF for years.

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The journal Foreign Affairs reported, in 2008, that AFRICOM attempted to eliminate Kony and the LRA, but that the operation only “served mostly to kill efforts to keep beleaguered peace talks going.” In response to AFRICOM’s failed Operation Lightning Thunder, which IC supports but does not acknowledge, the LRA kidnapped hundreds and murdered close to 1,000 people. Attempts to capture Kony are routinely met with violent response. Foreign Affairs magazine also accused IC, among other organizations, of “manipulat[ing] facts for strategic purposes...” and that “They rarely refer to the Ugandan government atrocities or those of Sudan’s People’s Liberation Army.” This paints a picture of Uganda six or seven years ago, said Rosebell Kagumire, a Ugandan journalist. “That is totally not how it is today,” she said. The Prime Minister of Uganda, Amama Mbabazi, released a video critical of Invisible Children for misrepresentation of facts.

Invisible Children did not account for deaths of child LRA members who were killed by UPDF and SPLA soldiers on behalf of its own interventionist efforts. The Kony 2012 film ignored the actions of AFRICOM and implied that Kony exploits the peace talks as opportunities of attack.

Former child soldier of the LRA, Anwar Ricky Richard, said the activist group is not a peace building organization. “I do not think they have experience with peace building and conflict resolution methods,” he said. “I totally disagree with their approach of military action as a means to end this conflict.” In addition, IC may be illegally lobbying congress and President Obama. The IRS prohibits tax-exempt organizations from “influencing legislation,” though IC was directly involved in the passing of the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, a bill for “providing political, economic, military and intelligence support,” potentially opening the country to greater military intervention and exploitation, to which the region is opposed. Congress allocated millions of tax dollars for these projects, despite the depression at home. Western geopolitical interests exploits the Invisible Children agenda. The organization does not explicitly mention that the LRA has left Uganda in its film, only that it has spread. The region is rich in oil, and NATO expressed a desire to consolidate this and other resources under its authority, which includes removing President Omar al Bashir from power in North Sudan - the main reason the country was split in two - and preventing China from gaining a foothold in the region.

As Black Star News reported, “AFRICOM, the ultimate objective, would allow the U.S. to be able to counter resource-hungry China by having boots on the ground near the oil-rich northern part of Uganda, South Sudan, Congo’s region bordering Lake Albert, and the Central African Republic. The troops would also be near by in case a decision is made to support regime-change in Khartoum, Sudan.” And though the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Kony’s arrest in 2005, the United States is not a member of the ICC, and therefore has not ratified the ICC statute. Foreign Affairs also made clear that killing or arresting Kony will not end the violence.

“Until the underlying problem -- the region’s poor governance -- is adequately dealt with, there will be no sustainable peace,” the journal reported.

This poor governance manifested itself in massive protests in Uganda against inflation, unemployment and political corruption that are being brutally shut down by police. Protestors are labeled terrorists and threatened with the punishment of death while President Museveni spends more than a million dollars on his reelection inauguration, and more than $740

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extremely difficult for law enforcement to intervene, she said. In fact, the action of breeding is done for profit and not for the “quality” of the dog. The Humane Society investigated puppy mills across the nation and reported that profits from the sale of puppies goes to the puppy miller, not to nurturing the animals or enhancing the living conditions. Reports also revealed that money profited is used for breeding more puppies to sell. However, not all puppies get sold. “If time goes by and the puppy is not sold, puppy millers will lower the price until the puppy is sold,” Ms. Aldworth said. “If the first strategy does not work then they use the puppy in their breeding program to produce puppies, or they will get rid of the puppy by destroying it, dumping the puppy on the side of the road, give it away or dropping it off at an animal shelter.” Many protests against puppy mills occur annually, but protesting can only go so far. In order to stop puppy mills, local nonprofit organizations like Pet Rescue by Judy and Lots of Love Pets Rescue are helping the public become more aware of the problem. However, some people do not choose a rescue shelter when looking for a pet because they want a specific breed but pure breeds are constantly rescued from puppy mills or off the side of the street.

March 22, 2012 If considering a pet, take adoption into consideration first. Pet stores overly price animals from $1,500 to more than $5,000; that does not include medical, food or the optional neutering procedure. Unlike pet stores, rescue shelters price animals only to secure the needs of the individual pet. A vet technician and counselor at the Lots of Love Pet Rescue said the price of adoption will offset the medical bills of the dog. If the dog is all caught up with shots and is healthy, then that money goes into helping another animal’s medical bills. These rescue shelters also spade and neuter the animals when the body has matured. “The reason behind having the animals neutered is because they want to keep people from abandoning other pets when they become too much to handle,” Kelcie Steigmier, a student at the Oviedo campus and a volunteer at Pet Rescue by Judy, said. The most tragic stories, Ms. Clegg said, are the animals that never get sold and live their entire lives in puppy mills. “These animals never see the light of day and stay in a confined unsanitary space,” she said. “No love, no nurture or no sense of happiness to play on a field of grass.” §

remove Joseph Kony from power, they even refer to this as “the dream.” Like Foreign Affairs reported, this will not bring an end to the violence.

million on fighter jets, ignoring a struggling and starving population.

And, despite the Seminole State Invisible Children faculty adviser, Professor Vincent Intondi, warning against “pontificat[ing] as armchair activists,” writer Dinaw Mengetsu criticized IC for doing just that.

While the attention is directed at American officials, not enough is being done to focus on African leaders, said author Mafoya Dossoumon.

”Change has never come with a click, or a tweet; lives are not saved by bracelets,” she said.

“I urge you my African brothers and sisters, and friends of Africa to direct more energy towards holding our leaders accountable,” he said. “Our leaders have failed us!”

The Washington Post reported that Kony has abducted close to 66,000 children, and Foreign Policy magazine reported that more than 12,000 people have been murdered by the LRA over the past few decades. This paled in comparison to the half a million children killed by sanctions imposed on Iraq by the United States during the same period, the tens of thousands of civilians killed in the recent destruction of Libya, or the millions killed by Museveni’s American-sponsored genocide.

A picture circulated online depicting IC members posing holding weapons alongside SPLA soldiers. Leading IC member and video creator Jason Russell said the photo was a “joke” and that it is “ironic” because he hates guns. Ironic, though, it supports armed military intervention. The picture’s photographer, Glenna Gordon, said IC’s tactics are “emotionally manipulative” and ”irresponsible.”

“What makes IC want Kony to surrender and be arrested but not the same for anyone in America, where obvious criminals run free at the highest levels of government and business?” asked Seminole State student, James Gnaster.

In spite of being held in concentration camps by Museveni for the last two decades, where more than a thousand people die every week, Alcholi religious leaders, who have worked to further peace negotiations in Uganda, are completely opposed to military intervention.

Considering NATO’s action in Libya and Museveni’s own crimes, some continue to support military intervention, but not the arming the Ugandan people.

“I wonder how many people supporting Invisible Children can point out Uganda on a blank map of Africa,” said Seminole State student, Luke Braceland.

“This leaves the United Kingdom, the EU, USA and the UN with three simple choices: disarm Museveni; arm the opposition to protect innocent civilians; or become willing collaborators in genocide through inaction as they did in Rwanda in 1994,” said Sam Akaki, journalist for the Uganda Correspondent.

According to Charity Navigator, a ratings organization, Invisible Children received an overall score of a C, and less than one-third of IC’s total revenue is used for “direct services.” The rest is for travel, filming, compensation and more. IC spent about half a million less dollars in 2011 than in 2010, but want Kony 2012 to be its big year. For a nonprofit, it’s curious that Invisible Children’s leadership Ben Keesey, Jason Russell, and Laren Poole all earn up to $90,000 per year, a jump from fiscal year 2010. Their compensation costs are increasing, while their direct services expenditures are decreasing.

Even if the LRA is defeated, it changes little pertaining to Museveni’s oppression of the Ugandan people, nor the imperialist intentions of the west, worse by all accounts.

“It is a slap in the face to so many of us who want to rise from the ashes of our tumultuous past and the noose of benevolent, paternalistic, aid-driven development memes,” said TMS Ruge, a Ugandan social entrepreneur. “We, Africans, are sandwiched between our historically factual imperfections and well-intentioned, road-to-hell-building-do-gooders. It is a suffocating state of existence. To be properly heard, we must ride the coattails of [the] selfrighteous idiocy train. Even then, we have to fight for our voices to be respected.”

The effort to completely stop the LRA, though the army’s numbers have severely fallen, and put an end to regional violence, will take a much larger effort then merely making Joseph Kony “famous.” The group’s supported governments, armies and other organizations that are either involved in, or directly responsible for, rape, murder, illegal logging, burning homes, kidnapping and the recruitment of child soldiers.

Ugandan journalist Angelo Izama said the campaign lacks “scholarship” and “nuance.”

Map of Uganda with chronology of Uganda's rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army and it's leader Joseph Kony.

Experts said the campaign missed a huge opportunity to instill agency in Uganda’s civil society, to encourage citizens to act on their own behalf “We shouldn’t dare assume we know what’s best for them,” TMS Ruge said.

Amid the criticism, Jason Russell was detained by A former LRA abductee, Victor Ochen, said, “Raising police recently for drunkenly wandering the streets potentially false expectation[s] such as arresting of San Diego nude, vandalizing cars and allegedly (MCT 2011) Kony in 2012 will not rebuild the lives of the people masturbating in public. No charges have been filed. in northern Uganda…Rebuilding communities and rehabilitating victims is what we need…Restoration of communities devastated by Kony is a greater priority than catching or even killing him.” Alberto Gonzalez, board member of Seminole State’s Invisible Children club, did not respond to multiple requests for an interview. § The mission of Invisible Children is clear; it is not to end the LRA, it is to We love to hear from our readers!

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