The Ranger (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 61, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, November 21, 1986 Page: 10 of 12
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OPINION
November 21, 1986 / The Ranger / 1 0
s
9, several veterans
SRC must practice its role
l
1
A,
Logic course source of insanity
Advertising
Circulation
Four discuss
GOP move
Era
(CIO
on language
GOwRNAD
GOVERNOR
M® WHITE
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Arts & Leisure Editor
Sports Editor......
Photo Editor.......
Artist............
Photographers.....
memorials. The money these memorials cost could
have been used much more practically by pro-
viding professional care for veterans who still suf-
fer physically or mentally.
The government should be more concerned with
the welfare of the men and women who served
The Ranger, the student newspaper at San Antonio
College, is a laboratory project of the students in the -
Department of Journalism, 1300 San Pedro Ave., San
Antonio, Texas 78284. The Ranger is published Fridays
except during holidays and examination periods and once
during the first summer session.
News contributions will be accepted by telephone
(733-2875) or at the editorial office (Room 202 of Lof-
tin Student Center). Inquiries concerning circulation may
be made by telephone (733-2870). Advertising rates
available (733-2874) on request.
Staff Writers.............Cynthia Torres Conroy,
Michelle Leigh Long, Hank Milnes, Dawn Moderow,
Rebecca Rodriguez, Tricia Sierra, Sean Wallace, Bob
Welch
By Joe Vazquez
Staff Writer
(
i^‘
4
desperately for the phone number of
the smartest student in my class, on-
ly to realize I could not find the page
in my book where I had scribbled
the number.
I would return to the next class in
shame, knowing everyone could see
the word “illogical idiot” written
across my forehead.
Does the scenario sound familiar
to anyone?
Well, now I finally understand the
course and I only have 18 days to en-
joy it! Is that insane or what?
So, as I eat my fourth helping of
pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, I will
give thanks to the instructor who
suggested I enroll in the course. I en-
courage other students with a
similar experience to do the same.
Where is that white jacket? ®
Veterans still lack support
Campus veterans made a strong point when they improved health care for veterans.
Many San Antonians donated money to the Viet-
nam Memorial statue. Other communities
throughout the country have built similar
Psychology teachers
agree juvenile crimes
result of failed society
By Teresa Potter
News Editor
As the Thanksgiving holidays loom
closer, one may wonder what there
is to be thankful for.
For starters, students here can be
thankful for only 18 days left in the
fall semester.
I will give thanks for being able to
keep my sanity this semester. I
thought for sure I would be hauled
off in a white straight-jacket long
before Thanksgiving holidays.
It all started with a simple sugges-
tion by a respected instructor to
enroll in a logic course to help me
think clearly.
I figured I could use all the help I
could get on that topic, since I have
been accused of being “dingy.”
In the beginning, the class was
fairly easy and the logical concepts
were easy to understand.
However, by the fourth week, I
began to wonder if there was any
hope for my illogical mind, which
was beginning to feel like mush
whenever I opened my logic book.
W' J?
Should Texans support a recommenda-
tion from the Texas Republican Executive
Committee to amend the state constitution
to make English the official state language?
Four professors, Guillermo Campos, Ruth
Del Cueto, Mitchell Grossman and Dr. Carol
Swanson, expressed varying views concer-
ning the move the committee took last
weekend.
The move in Texas follows approval by
Californians to make English the official
language in the Sunshine state.
Campos, foreign languages chairman,
said the controversial proposal stems from
the cultural intolerance of the American
people.
“I think it has a lot to do with people just
simply feeling uncomfortable in the com-
pany of people who do not speak English.
We see them and we say, ‘Here I am in the
United States and these people are speak-
ing another language.’
“We have not been particularly tolerant
of other cultures. We expect them to learn
English and to conform to our values. This
leads to a lack of understanding.”
Campos said his main concern is the
negative manner in which the move was
taken.
“It is detrimental in promoting relations
between cultures. We’ve got to give these
people a chance.”
Swanson, coordinator of the English as a
second language program, thinks because
English is already the language of this coun-
try, these actions were unnecessary.
“There’s no dispute about the national
language. It is English. In fact, it is the
world language. Textbooks, journals and
publications throughout the world are in
English. This issue is, as Shakespeare said,
‘much ado about nothing.’ ”
Del Cueto, Spanish professor who teaches
in the English as a second language pro-
gram, said the issue is about more than just
languages: it is about politics with racial
overtones.
Del Cueto said the move is an attack on
the civil rights of the Hispanic voter.
“This is a deliberate move by the
Republican Party to remove a certain
population of voters from the voting public
by eliminating the bilingual ballot. It is a
step backward ... a continuing trend of a
return to values before civil rights.”
What is the role of Student Representative
Commissions?
According to its preamble in the charter, the pur
pose of SRC is to give a student voice to ad
ministrative policy where students are directly
affected.
SRC should do just that.
However, members of SRC this semester have
discussed defining items it could discuss in ex
ecutive session where no one except its members
and a few others would attend.
Mario Vazquez, SRC president, said in a letter to
the editor an executive session may be necessary
when the SRC discusses a matter such as sexual
harassment.
SRC should not handle matters that sensitive
The college has grievance procedures for students
That’s where issues such as sexual harassment or
complaints about a professor such as the one SRC
has discussed openly this semester belong.
Perhaps, SRC should assist students in follow
said veterans applauded the Vietnam Memorial
statue dedicated recently in San Antonio, but de-
nounced what the statue does not provide.
The statue does not stand for a country that
stood behind veterans who served in the Vietnam
conflict. Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s,
people knew the United States could have done
mare for these veterans, but many continued to
brush the unsightly issue under the rug. That at-
titude continues to exist.
After the dedication ceremony for the statue Nov. loyally in southeast Asia and less concerned with
> on this campus said the real pageantry which has come more than 15 years
issues include financial benefits for education and late. •
Two psychology professors here agreed
something is wrong with a society which
produces a 13-year-old boy who openly
commits murder and virtually gets away
without serving much time.
The professors, Dr. Dan Eubanks and
Robert Brown, said if children have no
parents, teachers or role models to teach
them appropriate behavior, they may seek
approval from their peers.
A 13-year-old murder suspect laughed at
Bexar County Juvenile Center authorities
Monday during a detention hearing.
The juvenile is accused of murdering Ed-
ward Perez, a 19-year-old-business ad-
ministration student here, as Perez walked
the sister of a friend to her home.
This has Bexar County residents and
leaders talking of proposing legislation re-
quiring stronger punishment for juveniles
who commit capital offenses.
Eubanks said the current system for
punishing juvenile offenders obviously
doesn’t work.
And Eubanks said no quick solutions to
the problem exist.
“A lot of our laws are based on an
agricultural model, and we are dealing on
urban systems.
“To quote the immortal Bob Dillon, ‘The
times they are a’changing.’
“We have to allow for and foster social
evolution lest we have a social revolution,”
Eubanks said.
Brown said, “The case is a reflection on
society in general. There appears to be more
of a breaking down of the family structure.
These young teenagers don’t have anyone
to look up to.”
Brown said he recently read a report by
a French psychologist stating France does
not experience as much juvenile delinquen-
cy as the United States.
“The report attributed it to sitting down
together to have family meals. Everyone has
to be there. It is almost an institution of
their society,” Brown said.
Texas has made no comprehensive
changes in the past 10 years in the laws
governing juvenile criminals.
Some lawmakers are saying they will pro-
pose lowering the age at which juveniles
who commit violent crimes can be tried as
adults.
Juveniles who commit violent crimes now
ing a grievance procedure. SRC should direct
students where to go if they have a problem in
stead of tackling the problem.
SRC, student government for this campus, can
benefit students. Getting student insurance
reinstated last semester is an example. Also, they
have helped with other student problems, and
they can continue to assist students and influence v
administrative decisions on procedures concern
ing students.
But, as its preamble states, the role of SRC is to
act as a liasion for students, not to interfere with
grievance procedures.
Speaking ot executive sessions raises another
point. What does SRC think it should perform that
should not be discussed in public?
SRC claims it has the power to call an executive
meeting because its constitution provides for such
However, such action would cast suspicion
over the entire motives of SRC members..
SRC should stick to its functions as outlined in
its charter and forget executive sessions.®
believes is a growing concern among
American people.
Pointing to Canada and Belgium as ex-
amples, Grossman said, “Bilingualism
hurts the unity of the country. Bilingual na-
tions result in segregated groups.”
Grossman said removing the bilingual
ballot as a result of this amendment will
not largely affect the voting process.
“Nobody who’s an intelligent voter can-
not read English. The opposition to this pro-
posal comes almost exclusively from those
who want to perpetuate a disunity in this
country’s politics for their own personal
and political gain.”®
can be tried as adults at 15.
Eubanks said solutions like curfews such
as those proposed for San Antonio will not
I solve the problem.
i “Will it stop the crime, or will it create a
’ more clever criminal?” Eubanks asked.
' Dropouts from the poorer school districts
are some of the most intelligent children,
Eubanks said.
Eubanks said the only way change can be
’ implemented is for every facet, every in-
1 stitution of society to contribute to a con-
certed multi-discipline approach.
“Intervention programs could be started
t with parents and very young children to
s create a strong pro-social background,”
Eubanks suggested.
Eubanks said the problems didn’t happen
overnight.
1 “Regular cooperation is needed by all
strata of American society from the federal
government to the local neighborhoods and
communities.
“It would have to be a modification of ex-
isting social institutions reaffirming ap-
propriate and inappropriate social
r behavior,” Eubanks said.
Eubanks explained changing social
i behavior through the ages.
“Impulsive acting out behavior is real
l primitive on the evolutionary scale.
i “As we evolved new brain mechanisms to
deal with environmental contingencies
; and for more effective adaptive behaviors,
delay of acting became more significant.
[ “The ability to inhibit impulsive
’ behaviors is more of a human
characteristic.
i “But under situations of severe stress
! combined with sudden environmental
changes, to meet the situation, humans
; have a tendency to revert back to more
primitive behavior,” Eubanks explained.
r Eubanks said appropriate behaviors are
; taught by parents in two ways.
“Overtly, they tell us what is appropriate
and covertly, we observe how they behave
i in stressful situations,” Eubanks
; continued. ,
Eubanks advocates stronger punishments
for juvenile violence.
: “From a laboratory psychological inter-
; pretation of behavior, punishment is effec-
tive in reducing the undesired behavior in
an individual only if it is presented very
; quickly after the undesired behavior.
; “The longer the time between the
behavior and the punishment, the less ef-
r fective it will be,” Eubanks said.®
Grossman, government professor and
faculty sponsor of the campus chapter of
College Republicans, explained the move
was political, but believes it was represen-
tative of the majority of the American
people.
“This movement is in reaction to recent
political leaders who, by advocating the
issue of bilingualism, are perpetuating
separatism giving them a political base that
they might not have had otherwise,”
Grossman explained.
Establishing English as the official
language, therefore, would do away with
separatism and the division that Grossman
III/',
si*
Ij
fe.
In class, the instructor would
make it sound so easy and I would
sit there thinking, “Yeah, yeah. Now
I get it.”
However, as soon as I would sit
down to do my homework, panic
would set in as the once familiar
lesson became an ominous, foreign
language.
Definitions and problems which
we,re once clear became
meaningless.
In a cold sweat, I would look at the
cover of the textbook, hoping
somehow I had picked up the wrong
book.
Unfortunately, there was the title
of my logic book staring at me.
In a final attempt to' make sense of
my assignment, I would search
TiiE Ranger
Editor..........................Rudy Arispe
Managing Editor...................Cathy Leigh
Design Editor...................Michael Fannin
News Editors.....................Tony Cantu,
Teresa Potter
...........La Deanne Cupp
.............Chris Perkins
...........Tricia Buchhorn
.............Daniel Rocha
..........Jesse Hornbuckle,
Bob Lancaster, Mark Magavern
......Mary Louise Almaraz,
Michael Arellano, Bobbie Butts
. . . David Potter, Daniel Ybarra
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San Antonio College. The Ranger (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 61, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, November 21, 1986, newspaper, November 21, 1986; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1350549/m1/10/?q=%22~1~1%22~1&rotate=90: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting San Antonio College.