The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 77, No. 18, Ed. 1, Wednesday, October 26, 1988 Page: 2 of 6
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Optimist
Volume 77 Number 1B Page 2
Opinion
Wednesday October 26 198B
Old man
Do you ever wonder if any good peo-
ple are left in this world?
I do
Sometimes I question the willingness
of a person to help his fellow man
Maybe everyone does
Well just the other day I was out
shooting video footage for one of my
classes and I must admit it was getting
pretty dull
But then I turned onto this old road
and low and behold the perfect picture
appeared before me
I got out of the car set up my video
camera and began shooting scenes of an
oil derrick and an old tractor While I
Editor's Note
The Optmtst editorial board which
consists of the editor in chief the opi-
nion editor the features editor the
sports editor the Wednesday and Fri-
day edition editors the managing
news editor the A&E editor the
senior staff writer and the chief pho-
tographer considered endorsing a can-
didate in this year's presidential cam
Bush's extensive experience
makes him
Experience leadership qualities
and a strong sense of the essentials
needed to run this country effective-
ly make Vice President George Bush
the only logical choice for the
presidency this election year
Bush through his 21 years with
the government has served in sever-
al capacities that enable him to fully
understand the role of the presiden-
cy. He served two terms as a U S
Representative from Texas He
served on the Ways and Means
Committee and led the way for
ethics reform in the House
In his role as U S ambassador to
the United Nations Bush was
assigned to win support for the U S
policy of recognizing both the
Republic of China and Taiwan
Dukakis best candidate to deal
with massive federal deficit
Stagflation could return if our
next president does not take quick
action to break the cycle that already
has begun
Only Michael Dukakis appears
prepared to break the cycle of nsing
interest rates accelerated inflation
and stagnating economic activity
that our massive deficit has begun
Second-quarter inflation for 1988
was a brisk 5 percent almost double
of this tune last year a far cry
from the double-digit inflation of the
Carter years but the track takes us
to the same place
Our country's tight plant capacity
low unemployment and a cheap
dollar cause inflation To curb infla-
tion the Federal Reserve hiked in-
terest rates
Since Apnl the discount rate has
been pushed up a point and-a-
extends
was doing this an old man came out of
the house across the street
Because I wanted to be friendly I
waved to him and he waved back I
tried to continue filming but I had this
strange feeling someone was watching
me
I turned around and the old man said
"Are you taking pictures? If you are
you can take pictures of me and my
donkey "
I answered the old man and told him
I would be at his house as soon as I
picked up my camera and moved it.
Well it turns out I got some of the
best pictures I had ever hoped to get
paign
The board decided to endorse only if
three-quarters of the members agreed
to support a particular candidate
After discussing the two mam
presidential candidates' stands on the
issues the board deadlocked at six
supporting one candidate and four
supporting the other failing to meet
the three-quarters requirement
only logical choice
Bush organized the campaign before
Henry Kissinger visited Peking
Bush was chosen as chairman of
the Republican National Committee
in 1973 to help the GOP through
the storms of Watergate
He served as U S liaison officer to
China in 1974-75 for the purpose of
opemng doors and establishing con
tacts with the Chinese
During 1976-77 he served as CIA
director The work also taught him
the importance of the ability to make
tough decisions and act on them
For the past seven and a half years
Bush has been at the president's side
involving himself in many of the
crucial decisions of the presidency
He graduated with a degree in
economics from Yale University
and he has clear-cut ideas for the
economic future of this country He
opposes new taxes and supports a
cut in the capital gains tax rate to 15
percent to spur investment
He understands the negative state
of the federal deficit and supports a
constitutional amendment requiring
a balanced budget to help curb that
deficit
Concerning foreign policy Bush
has supported aid to the Freedom
Fighters in Nicaragua and Angola
He also supported the liberation of
Grenada and the bombing of Libya
as the nght response to state spon
sored terrorism
quarter and the prime rate up a
pomt-and three-quarters according
to the New Republic Government
borrowing already puts tremendous
pressure on interest rates Add to
that inflationary pressure and inter-
est rates almost inevitably will rise
Higher mterest rates dampen eco-
nomic growth and if they climb too
high rates can become a source of
higher inflation Another spurt of
inflation could prompt the Federal
Reserve to jack up interest rates fur-
ther. Then the stagflationary dynam-
ic would catch hold and strangle
prosperity.
Stagflation looms over us because
we have lived beyond our means for
too long Government borrowing
causes inflationary pressure because
it injects money into the economy
and it pushes up interest rates by in-
creasing the demand for borrowing
The way to escape the doom and
gloom of stagflation is to take a big
chunk out of our deficit quickly ex-
plained New Republic writer Robert
Kuttner "The administration offers
to guarantee a big reduction in the
deficit by a certain date in mid-1989
In return the Fed agrees to take its
foot off the money hose" he wrote
But Bush has shunned all the tools
of quick deficit reduction the only
thing that can pull us safely through
the economic storm on the horizon
He refuses to raise taxes He never
friendliness to stranger
nsi
Blake Dunnavent CflMf
BBBBil
This old man was so friendly It's
hard to even describe the amount of
trust this old man had in me and I had
met him only five seconds before
He stood wherever I told him to
stand and said what I asked him to say
When I said I was about to leave he
began asking questions about my life
The editorial board decided to pres-
ent an editorial in support of Vice
President George Bush and
Massachusetts Gov Michael
Dukakis Those supporting Bush
selected a member of the editorial
board to write m support of him and
the board's Dukakis supporters
selected a board member to write in
favor of him
He favors a strong defense
through nuclear aircraft carriers a
unilateral nuclear freeze the MX
and Midgetman missiles B-l and
Stealth bombers
Bush also favors continuing the
research development and deploy-
ment of the Strategic Defense Initia-
tive Concerning domestic issues Bush
strongly believes in family values
and the importance of the family
He believes in being tough on crim-
inals and protecting families
He supports tough mandatory
sentences opposes furloughs for
v convicted murderers and supports a
federal death penalty for drug
kingpins
He also favors a constitutional
amendment to allow voluntary
prayer in schools and opposes feder-
al gun registration and a federal
waiting period He also opposes
abortion except in the case of rape
incest or the life of the mother
These few issues give an idea of
the overall character of George
Bush
He understands the importance of
family He understands the impor-
tance of protection from foreign and
domestic enemies He understands
the economy And his expenence re-
assures that he is ready to step in
and take charge of the presidency
immediately
has offered support for Dukakis'
plan to clamp down on tax-cheaters
And the only spending cut in
defense spending he could come up
with was to scrap plans to build a
truck that represents about 1 per-
cent of the defense budget
Bush's deficit reduction plan in-
volves allowing long term growth
and bilateral defense spending cuts
with the Soviets to chip away at the
deficit But this solution never
would materialize because while
Bush is waiting the Federal Reserve
would clamp down on the deficit-
fueled inflation by hiking interest
rates and the stagflationary cycle
would begin
But Dukakis has shown the flex-
ibility necessary to take a quick bite
out of our deficit He supports
tougher tax policies that would pull
in additional revenues from would-
be tax evaders He said he would
scrap redundant nuclear weapons
programs And he has stated that a
small tax increase cannot be ruled
out as a last resort As governor of
Massachusetts Dukakis also has
demonstrated the brilliant problem-
solving and" coalition building skills
necessary to pull the Federal
Reserve and the Congress together
on such a bold venture
Michael Dukakis possesses the
tools to guide us safely through the
storm
When I finally packed up he asked
me to come back any time He said
"My home's your home "
Well this old man who had no idea I
was alive one minute was sorry to see
me leave the next
Hey I have to admit I was sorry to
leave him standing there without any
kind of thanks but a handshake Even if
I had offered him something I know he
wouldn't have taken it
To see this kind of trust and
friendliness in a total stranger is a very
good sign that people still care about
other people
What I mean is people nowadays are
Spanking not only alternative
To the Editor
In response to the column that ran in the Oct 12 issue titled "Discipline of Love
Best" I would like to offer another view for readers to examine
The topic of physical punishment is probably not the most appropriate topic that
could have been chosen for a university newspaper The maionty of students never
have been parents and are not equipped to actually decide what course of discipline
will be necessary when their young ones come along
How adults were reared as children does play an important part in how they treat
their children Rather than decide now how we are going to punish our children bas
ed on how we were reared let us all maintain an open mind to alternate ways of
disciplining children
According to Thelma Harms of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
two major ways of disciplining children exist
One way is the "love oriented discipline" which implies a bond of warmth between
adult and child and leads more rapidly to the development of a conscience
The second way is the "power assertive discipline" in which the adult uses a loud
threatening voice and spanking If the child's only reason for not doing something is
fear of punishment then after the punishment he may believe the wrongdoing has
been paid for and he is free in beginning again with a clean slate
Children who experience power oriented discipline seem to be more aggressive
toward other children
Since the ultimate goal of all discipline is self discipline we should seek positive
methods of leading our children rather than hitting even if it does mean securing a
lot more patience on our part
Too many parents who are unable to restrain themselves still exist and as a result
many unfortunate incidences of bodily injury to children occur
Those of us who soon will be teachers are in the process of learning ways to speak to
children and to control behavior without resorting to harshness and corporal punish
mem Why can't these methods be put to use in the home?
Yes the discipline of love works best!
Kaye Cromwell
Senior elementary education major
Abilene
Chapel should be more spiritual
To the Editor
There seems to be one consistent mistake made in Chapel the mixing of politics
sports and public relations with religion We call our daily assembly ' Chapel" with
the obvious implication that it is time devoted to God we believe so strongly in it that
attendance is required and checked by an elaborate electronic system
Chapels originally were constructed for private worship but what happens in our
"Chapel" is sometimes a far cry from that Allow me to cite some memorable exam
pies 1) a man speaks about himself and a friend of his who fought in Vietnam his
friend dies and somehow we end up with the American flag that flies in Moody Col
tseum 2) an administrator uses Jesus as an introduction for a basketball rally and the
team literally comes out and starts shooting 3) a preacher that few students know is
honored 4) we are treated to a series on politics which includes a plug lor a local
politician associated with ACU
See what I mean? Furthermore "Chapel" attendance is required for students
because it is seen as being an integral part of "educating for Christian service
throughout the world " Earlier this year we were even harangued for checking in and
not attending
I would propose that ACU in not a church but a private institution That it is nei
ther scriptural nor ethical for a parachurch organization to require ' Chapel" atten
dance particularly when we are then subjected to politics sports and public rela
tions gatherings and that if we want to make "Chapel" a spiritual experience it
should be optional and not usurped by non religious activities ACU's current Chapel
policy is not scriptural spiritual tenable or fair
Timothy B Howard
Senior Bible major
Huntington Beach Calif
The Optimist encourages
reader response in the form of let
ters to the editor however we
reserve the right to refuse letters
based on personal attack
obscenity defamation erroneous
information and invasion of
firlvacy We reserve the right to
imlt frequent writers and to edit
for length or error
Please address letters to Edi
tor ' and mail to ACU Box 8203
Abilene Texas 79699
too busy to stop and take the time to
talk much less help out a stranger
So the next time you see someone
standing around looking out of place or
in need of help you just remember that
old man
An old man who took a chance with a
young whippersnapper who could have
been packing a deadly weapon along
with his camera
An old man who helped a younger
man out by letting him come into his
life and home to get a few measly
minutes of film footage
And an old man who was happy to
have helped out a stranger
Optimist
KennehR Pybui Ed o nChel
Rebekah G bbs Wednesday Ed lion Ed 10
Tom C a g Friday Ed ion Ed lo
K si Buchart Manag ng News Ed o
C ndy Leeper Op n on Ed tor
Dawn T eat Sports Ed lor
Ju eFtipa ick Faa u etEd tor
Cody Moo a A&E Ed tor
Roy Cada Wri te Ch at Pho og aphe
Ju a St ge Wednesday Ass gnmants Ed tor
B ake Dunnavent Friday Ass gnmants Ed tor
KevnMashaUDesgnEd or
Jons hanWtt SeTTOf Staff Wrter
John Paul B ownlow S afi Photog apher
Wendy Ho nbakar Staff Photog apher
Te Wast Wednesday Copy Ed tor
Amanda Apple on Friday Copy Ed lor
G e Chen Schu u Assoc a a News Ed tor
ManBanks Assoc a e Sports Ed or
Or Cha les M Ma ler Adv ser
Donna Soulhe land Advert s ng Manage
EicMcM an Ad P oductron Manage
FrtzM er Ad Production Manager
ShaiaSma ng Ad Sees
Ho yHowad AdSaas
MkeAeKander C culationO ector
She i Wesle man C ais f d Ad Manager
Ch sophe Jennngs Ma ketplacasaesman
Th Opt met founded to 1912 Is puMiehed aeml-wMk
ly except during th summer vacations and f nal am na-
tions by students in th Journalism and Mass Communica
ton Department of Ab ten Christ an Unfv tatty Ab ln
tlon Th Opt m si is a charter member of th ACP Han of
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 77, No. 18, Ed. 1, Wednesday, October 26, 1988, newspaper, October 26, 1988; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101481/m1/2/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.