The North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 62, No. 52, Ed. 1 Friday, December 1, 1978 Page: 2 of 8
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Editorial
Pssssst... There Was This Forum. . .
Wednesday was a busy day in the Union. Everything
happened at noon. There was a circus outside the
Lyceum, a dixieland band played in the courtyard, and
the Lyceum lobby hosted an open student forum.
What? An open student forum? What’s that?
That’s the exact reaction the forum received. Fewer
than 20 people were there, and only about five of them
were not members of the SA, which sponsored the
event.
Three speakers were there representing different
organizations and eager to answer questions—one
from the SA, another expounding on plans for legal
services for students and one from The Daily.
Chris Clark, SA director of internal affairs, had sent
160 letters last week to all organizations on campus tel-
ling them about the forum and encouraging them to at-
tend. He also posted signs this week on campus and in
the dorms. The Daily had a front page story the day
before the forum telling who would be speaking and
letting students know they would be able to ask ques-
tions.
The forum was meant to be informal, but with fewer
than 20 people listening, informality became irony.
There was an information table provided where
literature about the SA and the budget of the Student
Services Fee Committee could be obtained.
Commentary
The North Texas Daily
Page 2
Friday, December 1, 1978
Text Censors Can Classics
Book Brigade Rescues Young Minds
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words
will never hurt me.”
Or will they?
Apparently some people think so. The Texas Book
Commission, the great watchful eye of the Lone Star
State’s children, believes words are the tools of the
devil and can give our children ideas. Let's hope
something can give them ideas. After all, what’s educa-
tion all about anyway?
Recently, the commission banned “Catcher in the
Rye,” “Go Ask Alice,” “The Grapes of Wrath” and
“The Lottery” from the school systems. The
rationalization is that the material is too suggestive for
young, impressionable minds.
How in the world those narrow-minded people
Kim
Ernst
could nit-pick and find something wrong with grapes
I’ll never know. Maybe it’s the fact that grapes are the
stuff wine is made from, and they figure anyone under
18 is too young to learn about alcoholic beverages. It
sounds like a case of sour grapes to me.
Or what’s wrong with asking Alice a question? She
might have something important to say. Besides, what
could be wrong with a book whose main character has
the name of Alice? There’s "Alice in Wonderland,”
you know, and I defy anyone to find something wrong
with her. She was a teetotaler who was always going to
tea parties. And who could argue with the company
she kept? Some of her best friends were bunny rabbits.
What's wrong with that?
And "Catcher in the Rye;” I can't see anything
wrong with catching someone in the rye. It’s better
than catching someone in the raw. I’m sure even the
commission would concede to that.
But for the life of me, I can’t understand the com-
mission's justification for shelving “The Lottery.” The
story is about a small town with residents who gather
once a year to participate in a fatal drawing. The un-
lucky one, who draws the dotted slip, gets stoned to
death by the residents.
No one remembers how the custom got started.
Perhaps it began long ago as a blood sacrifice to the
gods in return for bountiful crops. But at any rate, one
person dies a bloody death for the betterment of the
community. So in “The Lottery,” a woman is chosen
to stand and watch as her friends, neighbors and even
children stone her to death.
One commission member rationalized the banning
of the story because “the theme is the stoning of a
mother by her children.”
Oh, come on. Even as a high school student, I
learned that the story implied more than that. Sure, the
woman's children followed suit and threw rocks like
the other residents, but that isn’t the core. They just do
things for the sake of doing them, like banning books.
No one really understands what the writer had in
mind. Perhaps she was talking about people who wear
their jeans rolled up because it’s a fad or people who
get up and go to church every Sunday because they feel
it's expected of them. But the story is more than just
the stoning of a mother by her offspring. It's a com-
mentary on humanity.
If the commission banned "The Lottery” for it’s
violent implications, then why not "Hansel and
Gretel”? Weren't those little dears responsible for
roasting an old lady in an oven until she was well-
done?
Or what about "Goldilocks and the Three Bears”?
I’m sure that story could put children on the wrong
track. After all, didn’t Goldilocks commit a criminal
act of breaking and entering when she went into the
bear's home uninvited? Wasn't she stealing when she
ate Baby Bear’s porridge? Couldn't it be considered an
act of vandalism when she broke Baby Bear's chair?
If the commission so desires, it can find something
bad in all literary works. Even the Bible contains a few
racy characters. What about Cain who slew Abel and
committed the first murder? That’s in the Bible and
is certainly a violent act.
Frankly, if the commission wants to see some
violence, about all it has to do is turn on the TV set,
and it will see plenty. There’s always Monday Night
Football for starters. Watching a bunch of men try to
break each other’s bones isn’t exactly like watching
someone play tick-tack-toe.
As of late, the commission has even talked of bann-
ing two dictionaries. Four-letter words, you know.
Surprisingly enough, dictionaries also contain five-,
six-, seven-, eight-, nine- and even 10-letter words.
So the commission thinks it is shielding the young
minds of Texas from sin and degradation, huh? Well,
they’re in for a rude awakening. Some of the commis-
sion people ought to try going into a school restroom
sometime and read the handwriting on the walls.
There, they’d get an education. Most of the children in
elementary school could probably teach the commis-
sion members a few words and then some.
But the commission is within its right to play censor,
I suppose. After all, everybody is entitled to have a few
rocks in their heads. The commission just seems to
have more than an average share.
But again, if the commission members want to con-
tinue to live in their glass houses, that’s fine. However,
they better learn how to duck. Someone may throw a
rock and shatter their illusions.
The North Texas Daily
62nd Year North Texas State University Denton. Texas
Printed by the North Texas State University Printing Office
W« nth*'r til ihp
HSSf K IcJteD
ALL-AMERIC AN and PACT M AKER
RIC K KELSEY, editor
GEORGE BELL,
business manager
Joanna Bostwick news editor
Peggy Hendricks news editor
Allan Cook, editorials
Sue Morrison, editorials
Lu Winding, entertainment editor
Carol Slewart entertainment editor
Kim Ernst, news assistant
Sara Jacobsmeyer news assistant
Martha Watts.
Nancy Marshall news assistant
Sheree Bradshaw news assistant
Bryan Peed sports editor
David Moore sports editor
John Harrison, photographer
Lee Latter photographer
Stephan Crothers photographer
Oave Qasmint, ad representative
ad repreeentatnre
The North Texas Daily, student newspaper ot North Texas State
University, is published daily, Tuesday through Friday, during the
long terms. September through May and weekly (every Thursday)
during the summer session, June through August except during
review and examination periods and school vacations.
LETTERS FROM READERS; The Dally welcomes letters Irom
readers, but reserves the right to edit Letters must be signed
Mail to Box 5297, NT Station
SUBSCRIPTION RATE—$10 annually or $5 per long semester
and $2 per summer
Represented by Communications & Advertising Services
to Students
Editorial statements ot The North Texas Daily and reader's letters
reflect the opinion ot the Individual writer and not necessarily that
of The Dally, its adviser or the North Texas State University Ad-
ministration
Box 5297 NT Station. Denton Texas 76203 Telephone 788 2353 or 7S8-2406
Southwestern Journalism Congress
PACEMAKER 6 TIMES
ALL-AMERICAN 65 TIMES
The most ironic thing about the poor attendance at
the forum (even after it had received such wide
publicity) is that the three main gripes students seem to
have about NT concern The Daily, the SA and the dis-
tribution of student service fees.
NT students are proving that they want to complain,
but they aren’t eager to find out the facts and do
something productive about what they think are
problem areas at NT.
Clark said after the “forum” was over that he plan-
ned to have another next semester, and he hoped not
so many things would be going on so that people
would attend.
If people were interested, they would be there to
hear about these organizations instead of just com-
plaining and not trying to iron out the problems. Stu-
dents seem to think these organizations owe them
something, but constructive progress is a two-way
street, and students should be willing to be informed
and contribute before airing negative views.
—SUE MORRISON
I'M GLf\D to e
SUCH A GREAT iTUDENTj
interest '
K.I).
*
A—*
SPEAKOUT
Student Association Provides Services
“Speakout” is a column contributed by persons who are connected with issues af-
fecting the NT community. The NT Daily must be informed as to content and view-
point before a column is contributed. The NT Daily retains the right to refuse to
print or to edit all material. “Speakout” reflects the opinion of the individual
writer and not necessarily that of The NT Daily or NT Daily staff.
By JUD MOORE, Special Writer
Editor’s Note: Jud Moore, Port Norris, N.J.,
graduate student, is president of the NT Student As-
sociation.
The Student Association had a good start this
semester compared to last year.
SA staff members have been working hard on
services that can benefit students a great deal. Its
officers are satisfied with the interest shown by NT
students toward the SA. The voter turnouts have
been heavy compared to previous years and have
nearly doubled from last year. This year, the SA
Assembly elections had the highest number of stu-
dents wanting to be elected for the assembly since
1957. SA is now providing more services than ever
for the benefit of NT students. The SA staff has
been creative in developing new services and is
helpful to all students who enter the SA office. All
staff members have been working hard trying to
eliminate problems students may have. The SA
representative assembly members serve on com-
mittees to help solve some of these concerns.
The SA is an active member of the Texas Stu-
dent Association and the American Student
Federation where we receive valuable information
on services that can be provided to NT students.
Compared to other major universities across the
state, NT Student Association ranks among the
top in making recommendations to the ad-
ministration and providing services to students so
that student life may be improved.
The SA has developed several new services for
students this semester. One of the new services is
the calendar-handbooks. More than 4,000 of these
handbooks have been distributed across campus
for students use. Information on most of the stu-
dent organizations and student services are in-
cluded in the book along with all SA, academic
and athletic events listed.
The SA has become the official lost-and-found
headquarters for non-valuables on campus. Items
such as clothing and text books are referred to the
SA office located on the fourth floor of the Union.
Another new service has been the Safety Service
Awareness Program. Our goal behind this service
is to promote safety awareness to NT students. A
fire and police officers demonstration was held in
the Union to promote our program. Safety
stickers for telephones have been distributed and
CPR training and fire inspections are in the plan-
ning stages.
Feedback
SA pushed for a high voter registration drive
this year and more than 300 students registered to
vote—a high record compared to past years. We
are also a campus source for information concern-
ing political events and races (national, state and
local) and campus organizations events.
Many students on our campus have performed
outstanding services for the university and some
have been recognized for outstanding accomplish-
ments as NT students. The SA wants to recognize
these students for their accomplishments by giving
them recognition in The Daily and sending them a
personalized letter of recognition. Who’s Who
Among Students at North Texas is a new service
of the SA.
As holiday time approaches, students are look-
ing for a ride back to their hometown to visit with
their families and friends. The new Share-A-Ride
program permits students possibly to share a ride
with a friend to a destination where they will spend
the holiday.
Other new services provided by the SA this
semester are a Denton Church Directory and a
Metroplex Day Care Center guide. SA is also in-
vestigating areas of service to NT handicapped
students.
Other services provided are the metro phones
(presently used by more than 600 students
monthly), a discount program in the spring
semester (advertising discounts offered by Denton
merchants), a book exchange, a roommate referral
service, legal rights and landlord-tenants informa-
tion service, an income tax service, a Meet Your
Administrator’s Day, a yearbook, metro carpool
registration, an apartment guide, Homecoming
Queen programming, the appointment of students
on the university-wide committee system, i'ne
coordination of the Student Service Fee Commit-
tee and representation ot students ideas and con-
cerns before the administration and faculty.
All students have the opportunity of par-
ticipating in the SA because they are already
members. Suggestions on changing campus policy
and the creation of new services can be voiced by
any student at SA Assembly meetings. Thirty-
eight students, two faculty members and one ad-
ministrator comprise the assembly that meets the
first and third Tuesday of every month.
Procedures for making proposals and information
about services can be obtained by visiting the SA
office on the fourth level of the Union from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday or by calling 788-2611,
extension 36 or 45.
Editorial Misuses Word 'Fascism’
Gerard R. Dobson
Chemistry Faculty
Words have meanings—and they also have connota-
tions. Thus fascism has a connotation of being as-
sociated with the right of the political spectrum. It also
has a specific meaning as far as ownership and control
of the means of production is concerned—private
ownership and government control.
Thus, contrary to the statement of Allan Cook in his
editorial, “The Religious Cult Phenomenon,” Tues-
day, the People’s Temple is not a “mini-fascist
organization.” Of the choices we have of totalitarian
systems, it probably comes closest to communism
(connotation, left wing), for control of the means of
production rested with the community as a whole.
Indeed, it was called a “commune.”
Why do I make this distinction? Because of the con-
notation of the word fascism. Everything about the
People’s Temple is leftist—both philosophically and
economically.
The North Texas Daily has a responsibility to be
precise both in the meaning and the connotation of the
words it employs in its columns.
Letter Policy
The North Texas Daily welcomes and will
print letters from readers. ALL letters must be
signed and must include the writer’s address
and telephone number. Because of limited
space, letters should not exceed 200 words. The
Daily retains the right to edit.
I
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Kelsey, Rick. The North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 62, No. 52, Ed. 1 Friday, December 1, 1978, newspaper, December 1, 1978; Denton, TX. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1002622/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.