It appears Ron Shaich CEO of Panera Bread can’t afford to eat.

Well… he can’t afford to eat one of his own company’s sandwiches. That’s because the wealthy CEO only has $4.50 in his pocket to spend on food.

Ron is partaking in something called the SNAP Challenge to raise awareness of hunger in America in general and the US Government Food Stamps program in particular. Ron has volunteered to live for a week on a Food Stamp budget.

Food Stamps, aka SNAP or The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program  provides hungry Americans about $4 per day for food. That’s enough for a Big Mac, but you can forget about the fries and a coke.

Despite that modest amount, SNAP is under attack.

A bill recently passed this week  by the House proposes to cut $40 billion dollars from the food stamp program over the next ten years.

With the Department of Labor reporting the national unemployment rate at 7.3 % this past August, why are we making massive cuts to what the White House has called  ”one of our nation’s strongest defenses against hunger and poverty”?  

Critics of Food Stamps cite “abuse of the system” as a reason to cut it down to size. 

But should some Americans risk going hungry because someone else might be abusing the system?

What we have here is a classic example of the Free Rider Problem.

Think of it something like this…You’re in the food court at the mall after you’ve finished shopping and you’re hungry…

Your’re not sure wither you want the sesame chicken or a slice of pizza. But lucky for you, there are free samples. But there’s those guys in front of you who are eating an entire meal by walking around the food court eating every single tooth-pick skewered offering proffered.

Eventually the managers of the food vendors catch on and then guess what, no more free samples.

Now no one gets the benefit of a public good because a small group of people had taken more than their fair share … 

We call em free loaders, politicians and economists call em free riders. 

Some see the free loader/rider problem as a major flaw of SNAP, others say its extent is overblown.

But it does focus attention to a central question about SNAP: When does it stop being our collective responsibility to help those who can’t help them selves? 

If this bill does get passed by the Senate (which it probably won’t) Ron sure is gunna have to build a lot more Panera Cares Cafes. 

CSEE Professor Marie desJardins was one of three UMBC professors who spoke at a recent UMBC Provost’s luncheon and new faculty seminar on Great Teachers Talk about Teaching. She was joined by Professor James Grubb (History) and Manil Suri (Mathematics & Statistics), who also spoke at the seminar.

Dr. desJardins will also be talking on Diversity in CS Education and Research at a special Women in Data Science event hosted by the Data Innovation DC meetup group.  The group explores the “intersection of the data revolution and the art of creating value” and meets monthly in the DC area.

The event, which will also include presentations from two other women working in data science, is intended to demonstrate the impact of women technologists in the growing area of data analytics and encourage more participation by women. The meeting is free and open to the public (RSVP here) and will take place between 6:00pm and 8:30pm on Monday, September 23, 2013 at Cooley LLP (1299 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Suite 700, Washington, DC map)

Every week we feature a set of comics created exclusively for WDD.

The content revolves around web design, blogging and funny situations that we encounter in our daily lives as designers.

These great cartoons are created by Jerry King, an award-winning cartoonist who’s one of the most published, prolific and versatile cartoonists in the world today.

So for a few moments, take a break from your daily routine, have a laugh and enjoy these funny cartoons.

Feel free to leave your comments and suggestions below as well as any related stories of your own…

My name is U-r-l

The first flash

Bad but consistent

Can you relate to these situations? Please share your funny stories and comments below…

Korpo Sans (full font family) – only $24!