The J-TAC (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 155, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 16, 1998 Page: 2 of 8
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Page 2
Texan Commentary
J-TAC
April 16,1998
Students need to get their heads outta their..
Yada jada, yada
At first, I thought you might hate me after
this column, but after a brief moment - so
brief all of Tarletpn's 6,000 or so students
could have counted the seconds without tak-
ing off their shoes -1 realized that you will
positively, absolutely not give a rat's but-
tocks about me, these words or my topic.
"Why?" you ask.
Because you don't care about anything.
The plain, cold, hard fact is that Tarleton
students don't care about Tarleton the uni-
versity. You don't care. You just walk
around with your head up your butt,
smelling your own roses. You wander aimlessly between classes
like a freakin' zombie. Yeah, that's right; I called you a zombie.
You' don't care. I could talk about your momma, and guess what, I
would probably get just one letter
from one of the same people who
always write in. Not that I don't
appreciate the letters, it's
just that I know
more than twenty
people have read
the J-TAC. You
are the most
apathetic bunch of people I
have ever come across.
But... I know... you just
don't care.
Not all students have their
heads up their butts. I
have noticed a few peo-
ple become involved with
Tarleton, but they proba-
bly number less than a
hundred. If we have 6,000
students here and; for the
sake of argument, let's say
that 100 students care about
Tarleton, then that equals two
percent. TWO PERCENT of
the Tarleton population cares.
Well, what do you know? Two percent. You just don't care. You
come here just to get your degree and leave. What a waste.
See, I can write that because you don't care. I don't have to
worry about receiving a ton of letters because either you can't
write or you don't care. On April 6, Student Government had to
stop discussing new business because it didn't have a quorum (In
case you didn't know, that's the number of people needed to have a
real meeting where things can officially be done). That's sad. What
makes that fact even sadder is that Tarleton is a nice university.
The faculty and administration seem to care about us. Together, we
could make this a great university. Unfortunately, we wind up back
at the same old trusty sentiment. You don't care.
I love Tarleton, and I know a lot of people hate Tim Harris' let-
ter, but this campus does have some problems. These minor prob-
lems could be fixed if students didn't have this "ain't caring about
Tarleton even if God himself put it in the Bible" attitude. I hear
students say, "Why care? We can't make a difference. They won't
quit raising fees. They won't fix the parking problem. They won't
make the dorms better." If Americans had that attitude back in
1776, we would still speak the Queen's English. "Why should we
fight? We won't win. They're bigger than us. They have a better
navy. We can't fix anything. They'll beat us. We suck."
Oh you'll come up with some dandy excuses, I'm sure. I com-
mute to Tarleton. I don't knowanyone. I go home on the week-
ends. I just want to graduate. My dog ate my compassion. My head
is stuck up my butt. I'm an idiot. The devil made me do it. Just
quit your whining, you crybabies. Stick that pacifier in your mouth
and leave Tarleton. Hell, I don't want you here. Leave. Get out of
here.
You wouldn't care if I spray painted every building orange. You
wouldn't care if Tarleton was made a nuclear waste dumping
ground (This place already looks like a trash dump with all the
cigarette butts and filth you toss down). You wouldn't care if
aliens took over Tarleton and made every person wear a stupid hat.
You wouldn't care if the administration raised fees by 50 bucks an
hour.
You wouldn't care. You would whine until your throat hurt, but
you wouldn't do anything about it. You would simply apply for
more financial aid, walk through the waste wearing your stupid hat
and enter those orange buildings. Oh sure, when you got to class
you might complain to the person sitting next to you that the hat
kinda hurts.
But... once again...
you don't care.
Last year, when the sci-
ence building stuff
came around,
you
cared a lit-
tle, but you still
were ho-hum
about that.
Can't you
get it?
Things
won't change unless
you change them. As
long as 98 per-
cent of
V
Tarleton
keeps digging
for its own gold,
this University will
never ever be what it
could be. This is the time
in your life that you should
care the most because you'll
be too old and tired later on.
I challenge you to prove me
wrong. Write me at the
J-TAC and tell me that you care, and I
don't want to hear from the hundred
or so leaders here at Tarleton; I want
to hear frorfi the zombies. But, I'm
sure I won't have to spend any time
reading because you don't care. You'll keep trudging through the
sludge, wearing that stupid hat that the aliens brought - simply
because you don't care. You never have, and you never will.
Rules need not apply; feelings are preferred Editorial
In today's
society of sterile
convenience, rubber
soles and cool
detachment it is easy
' to be introspective, -
and thereby lose sight
of the "bigger pic-
ture." Too many peo-
ple are out for number
one in this crazy dog-
eat-dog world. The
hard part is know-
ing when to take a
stand, when to put
your image on the line and care.
Seems like I'm just rambling on and preach-
ing; huh? Well, here's a good example of the
callousness I'm witnessing in the people around
me. On March 31, David Levy came to Tarleton
to speak to us, people who are going to college
to better themselves, the leaders of tomorrow.
You might say, "Who's David Levy? I didn't
hear anything about him coming!" Well... there
was an article in the J-TAC about him, explain-
ing how he was an astronomer, author and co-
discoverer of a comet; you remember the huge
comet that crashed into Jupiter and had the
world on the edge of its seat watching this
never before broadcasted event? Yeah, this was
the guy that discovered THAT comet.
But I forget, only a handful of you read the
J-TAC. No matter, I also heard that all sorts of
classes were offering extra credit to students
who went to see Levy. But only classes that
closely pertained to astronomy, like General
Business and Video Production.
Now, don't get me wrong; the turn out was-
n't that bad. I mean, at least Levy didn't hear
the sound of a lonely cricket giving a concert in
the auditorium when he walked on stage.
Instead, he heard the murmurs, giggles and cat-
calls of a student body that just didn't care. As
he began, the crowd went silent. Meaning, most
had fallen asleep or were busy finishing their
chemistry homework.
Now, this man is accustomed to speaking in
stadiums filled with thousands. He had prepared
videos, slide shows, music and poetry to ■■ :
accompany his speech. And what did he get in
response from us culturally learned individuals?
Nothing. No response. We were too busy with
our homework. Levy divulged some of his per-
sonal life and his heart for usj telling us of the
death of his father and his good friend, the man
he discovered his gleaming comet with. As he
brought his story to an end, he spoke in a love-
filled voice saying, "I wish you could have seen
this Dad."
My heart went out to him; I was filled with
his pride in his accomplishment and hurt at his
loss. As I rose to give this man a standing ova-
tion, I looked on with a smile as I saw my fel-
low students doing the same. But wait a minute,
they weren't clapping... they were getting their
books and they were... leaving. Levy was still
on stage, watching you file out of the auditori-
um, eager to get your programs stamped so that
you could get extra credit in your classes. And I
could almost hear him whisper, "what was the
point? These kids didn't hear anything I had to
say.and they didn't care." Dejected, he slowly
walked off the stage.
If David Levy ever gets a hold of this arti-
cle, for the record, I would like to say that I
cared. But then, I was just ashamed, feeling stu-
pid for being ashamed but caring enough that I
wasn't going to hide that fact.
I could just say, oh well, some people just
don't appreciate that sort of thing, who cares
what they think? I DO!!! If they weren't inter-
ested, they shouldn't have gone, extra credit be
damned. And I refuse to accept that someone
could have been listening wholeheartedly to
Levy's story and still not cared. Far better for
me to believe they didn't pay attention to a
Ml l iss.\
M\kshai i.
I'milmlia/t
Manager
word and were too
wrapped up in their
own little worlds to be
reached, because the
alternative scares me.
My:parents are tak-
ing a Death and Dying
class together at one of
the Houston
Community Colleges.
I think it's kinda icky,
like they're preparing
themselves for the
grave or something. OK, yeah sure Dad, open
your mouth, so I can pour the embalming fluid
in it. But they say a lot of young people are tak-
ing the class too.
It's mainly a lecture and discussion course,
and one day the teacher asked, "If you only had
24 hours to live, how would you spend the last
moments of your life?" The overall consensus
response (except for my parents, of course)
was, "I'd get really wasted, and then I'd piss in
a cop's mouth!" Now when I first heard this, I
laughed, because that's the answer I would have
expected them to say, and the idea is pretty
dang funny.
On closer investigation, I realized it wasn't
at all humorous. What if they weren't joking?
What if that was all they were living for? The
alternative is that they would have felt stupid
for saying what they really thought, because it
has become demeaning to openly discuss your
real feelings to show that you care.
I'm not asking for anyone to read this article
and say to themselves, "My God! How could I
have been so wrong? I'd better go join a chari-
table organization - quick!"
What I'mbasically saying is live your life
how you want to eat, drink, be merry, but
please, don't stop yourself from caring. Allow
yourself to view the world around you and take
part in it. ,
Voice your opinion - go vote
The J-TAC staff encourages each of you to vote for student body
representatives. The choices that we make or don't make today will be
with us for an entire year. Tarleton is OUR school! E?ich one of us has
'made an investment in TSU, and we all have a right to have our voices
heard. * <■
According to the 1997-1998 catalog, Tarleton averages about 6370/
students, but only 452 students voted for student body president in last
year's election. What is going on here? What kind of message are we
trying to get out by not voting?
That we don't care about campus issues? That we don't know the
people who are running for office and don't want to be responsible for
electing the wrong person? That student-government doesn't seem to
get things done anyway so why bother? That we are just too busy to
go vote?
Well, the truth of the matter is the majority of us are just being lazy.
Of course we care a little about some campus issues - especially when
they directly eifect us, like the rccent parking issues.
Though most of us may not know the candidates personally, a pic-
ture and a short biography of each candidate can be found in this issue
of the J-TAC.
For those who feel like the student government does not get much
accomplished, vote for a representative you think can get the job done.
It is up to us - the whole student body - to make the student govern-
ment work as it was intended to. After all, the sole purpose of having a
student government is to give the students a say in how Tarleton is run.
As far as being too busy goes, it only takes a few minutes to vote.
You just have to bubble in few circles. How much time does that take?
It is time that we become responsible and speak up. The best way
to do this is to go today and vote for the candidate whom you feel is
best qualified to serve us. Once officers are elected, we need to make
sure that they do their job. If we do those two things, Tarleton State
University will truly be a reflection of the students and not the admin-
istration.
There ture important issues going on around campus, and it is up to
us, the student body, to ensure that our voices tire heard. Wc can do
this by voting for candidates who share our concerns and who are dedi-
cated to representing each one of us.
The voting booths are located in front of the Humanities Building
and in the Student Development Center, and you can still vote until 4
p.m. Think about it. Read the candidate profiles, and most importantly
GO VOTE NOW! TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO VOTE!
x |
Letters to. . .
iff
Readers defend Tarleton in letters to editor
Dear Mr. Harris,
Don't let the door hit you on the way out. I am
sorry that you are so fed up with everything that you
felt it necessary to embarrass yourself and your
friends with the diatribe you recently spewed in the J-
TAC. However, you have a few things wrong.
Tarleton's Computer Information Systems program
was named the best program in the nation for 1997 by
the ICCP (the program that certifies computer profes-
sionals, like the CPA for accountants) because we
graduate more students with the ACP designation than
qny other university in the nation. Perhaps if you step
down out of your headtrip and actually attended a CIS
class at Tarleton, you might stand a chance in Silicon .
Valley.
As for your other complaints, if your letter was any
indication, you have some difficulty with the follow-
ing politeness rules. Don't blame Stephenville and its
residents for your bad manners. Respect others, and
they will respect you.
Darlenia Lloyd
Senior
CIS major
Letters to the editor continued on page 3
7
TAC
Managing Editor
Kisty Hoffman
Sports Editor
Chris McBride
Photographer
Sonya Whisenant
Editor-in-Chief
Justin Wayne Beam
Commentary Editor
Wade Miller
Photography Editor
Joe Prado
Web Editor
John Kerby
Advertising Manager
Cathryne Zacharias
Artist
Tim Harris
Production Managers
Charles Crittenden, Jr.
Melissa Marshall
Staff Writers
Robert Vaughan, Angela Brewer, Amy McDonald, Brian Botch, Jeff Doty,
Jeff Daskam, Kathryn Forst and Randy Jackson
Adviser
Rachel Cruthirds
Web Address • E-mail Address
http://www.larleton.edu/organizations/j-tac/ jtac@tarleton,edu
Letters to the Editor:
If you have any suggestions, comments or
responses about the J-TAC, Tarleton or world
events, you can either e-mail us at our e-mail
address or mail a letter to:
The J-TAC
Box T-tM-10
Stephenville, Texas 76462
Letters should contain a name, phone number
and student LD. number. However, the name
may be withheld by request if the previous *
information is given.
Letters must be received by 5 p.m. Monday.
The J-TAC reserves the right to edit letters for
content, style, length and grammar. The J-TAC
also reserves the right to refuse to print any
letter in poor taste.
The J-TAC is published on Thursdays during
tlie fall and spring semester with the exception
of university holidays and examination periods.
The editorials express the opinions of the
JrTAC staff. Other articles in the opinion
section do not necessarily express the views of
this university or this newspaper.
Content is copyrighted material of the J-TAC.
Written permission must be granted for article
reprints.
Non-profit organization, Bulk Rate
USPS No. 133, Stephenville, TX 76401.
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The J-TAC (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 155, No. 11, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 16, 1998, newspaper, April 16, 1998; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth141925/m1/2/: accessed May 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Tarleton State University.