Online Chat
Burlington High School
March 13, 2001

Burlington_High: signed on at 11:53:23 AM.

Sen Leahy: Hi, good to be with you. As I do my own typing I hope you will excuse any typos. I actually do a better job as a Senator than as a typer.

Sen Leahy: Everyone there?

Burlington_High: Yes Here is MAureen Davison with a quesdtion

Sen Leahy: Go ahead Maureen

Burlington_High: Good afternoon senator...Given that the current tax proposal passes, what long term effect will it have on the Vermont economy?

Sen Leahy: THe Vermont economy would lose about $300 million in tax revenues under the current proposal. Most Vermonters would get little in the way of benefits - the money could be better spent in education. No one knows what the final version will look like.

Burlington_High: Question 2 How will the Vermont State Legislature make up the money lost under Presidents Bush's Tax cuts.

Sen Leahy: I have no idea what the Vemont legislature will do. I doubt they would raise the Vermont income tax and they may not be able to make up the difference.

Sen Leahy: Let me ask you a question. My youngest son went to Burlington High School and graduated from there. What would you change about the school if you could or would you change anything?

Burlington_High: I think the most important thing to change about Burlington High School would be communication between the administration and the students.  The administration leads blindly.

Burlington_High: They really don't tell us as much as they should.

Sen Leahy: What type of communication?

Burlington_High: For example, recently dogs were used to search lockers for drugs, not that this is a problem, but the administration told us that it was a training exercise.

Sen Leahy: Do you feel it was more than a training exercise?

Burlington_High: yes.

Sen Leahy: Did they find anything?

Burlington_High: yes, in one locker.  Cars were also searched.  Mostly, we felt that our intelligence was insulted.

Sen Leahy: ...what are some of your favorite subjects?

Burlington_High: Well...we are in the presence of our history teacher...Hisotry

Burlington_High: history

Burlington_High: Question 3:  Why do you think that President Bush has been given an easy road so far, by both the media and the Congress?

Sen Leahy: History is very important. Even in the Senate I find people who do not have a sense of history and thur make some very bad mistakes in governing.

Burlington_High: for example?

Sen Leahy: Most President's get a honeymoon period and he has gotten a substantial one. Some of the mistakes that President Clinton made while leaving have helped President Bush. Unfortunately the press has not asked detailed questions about what his real priorities are.

Sen Leahy: History - we often see it in foreign policy issues. For example we make a bad mistake by isolating Cuba the way we do. This has never worked in the past and won't in the future.

Burlington_High: What do you think Bush's priorities are?  And, what should they be?

Sen Leahy: President Bush really has not spelled out priorities other than a tax cut. He says he wants to improve education but little has been said how. Are there ways to substantially increase the salary of star teachers? are there ways to increase the study of math and science? what about using the internet for distant learning? these are just some of the issues I'd like to see addressed but he is just starting his term and we will see.

Burlington_High: On a different topic, a teen-age issue, what do you think about the clamp placed on Napster?

Sen Leahy: I have talked with Sean Fanning aboujt this. I hope something can be worked out with the publishers, artists, Napster etc. It is a fascinating way of moving music around but we all agree the artists deserve to be apid for theier work.

Sen Leahy: should be "paid for their work"

Burlington_High: To move on, do you think the amount that we spend on the military is necessary?

Sen Leahy: We will waste millions of dollars on star wars. We have seen the tragic errors that have occurred because we do not spend the amounts we should on training and readiness. It is time to stop building super weapons like the B-1 and Star Wars which we will never use, develop a smaller and more mobile and highly trained military.

Burlington_High: Do you have any questions for us?

Sen Leahy: What is the best thing you think you are getting from school? What do you enjoy the most and what prepares you the most for later years?

Burlington_High: At Burlington we are fortunate to have a diverse student body, both ethnically and socio-economically, giving us the chance to interact with people in a real world setting.

Sen Leahy: I agree with you and that is one of the things I like best about Burlington.

Burlington_High: People in here want to know what you think is the future of the Space Program, with recent setbacks in space exploration?

Sen Leahy: The space station will be completed in some form but i expect we will see more emphasis on unmanned exploration in the near term. NASA ran into a problem trying to do too many things at once and it hurt [remember the Mars probe] and I thinnk they will concentrate on a few things doing them better. There will always be a space program of some sort.

Sen Leahy: With that I am going to have to go back to the bill on the floor but enjoyed being with you. Give my best to Jim Donoghue - I have known him for a long time and he is a good friend. If you see me in Burlington this weekend please say hello.

Burlington_High: Thank you for your time, and your trading cards.  We have to return to other classes now.  We appreciated the chat.