Pictured above: College freshman Nana Baffoe-Bonnie (left) and College junior Sean
Walker hold posters in front of College Hall yesterday as part of a
protest. The group gathered in response to controversial police actions
that have occurred over the past year on campus. Their sign says "Students Against Racial Profiling" [more]
FYI: Federal deficit, debt not the same. Q:What is the difference between the national debt and the national deficit? A: About $7 trillion. The national deficit, currently a record $413 billion, is the
difference between what the government takes in and what it spends each
budget year. The national debt, which looms at $7.4 trillion, is the
accumulation of all these year-by-year deficits and other money the
public owes. That's one big Visa bill. Like anything bought on credit,
the government must pay interest on these debts. This year, it spent
$322 billion in interest on the federal debt - the third largest
expense in the federal budget. Congress limits how much the government
can borrow, but in a bill passed last month, it raised the debt ceiling
from $7.34 trillion to $8.18 trillion - an $800 billion increase
necessary to keep the country running for the next year. [more]
