The J-TAC (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 55, No. 10, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 6, 1974 Page: 2 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Tarleton State University.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Page 2
The J-TAC
Editorial pqge
Decline in reading
causing problems
"When in I lie course osf human events " So begins the
most honored of American hrstoiaaJ documents. I he
Declaration of Independence One might think that almost
<ilI Americans would he able to leeognize it, especially the
highly educated college students at JSU h\en so, m a
recent I SU tiesliman hnghsh class, out ol sixteen, none did
This is a perturbing srgn ol' our times, In an era of
t re me nd o lisI y increasing amounts of knowledge, a
geneiation ot Americans is becoming illiterate in a subtle
way A California high school graduate recently sued his
school district for giving him .1 diploma even though he was
barely literate Sadly, he lost.
1 he Scholastic Aptitude Test scoies among hopeful high
school seniors have been dropping continuously tor the past
ten yeais. What is causing the lack of knowledge which
appears to he gi owing 111 A menu today '
The number one cause is the decline of reading being
doiu today, especially among the young When 1 say
reading, I am relernng to books-hardbound, classical, and
valuable literature.
IVrhaps rf is the hurried fitcsfvks wfucli we Americans
are now living (hat causes us to read less Or ma\ be it is the
media which have replaced our need to lead to become
inlormed with radio and television Wheie we once had to
search out information about certain happenings wc can
now actually hear 01 see if all
Our educational system lias also fallen down on the |ob
High schools must by necessity giaduate large rmmbeis of
students each year with little care for how "educated" they
aie This is especially so m (he large metropolitan schools,
wheie there is little or no teacher-student communications
The Declaration of Independence, by '1 Jefferson, et al,
I he United States Constitution, by A Hamilton, J.
Madison, et al, The Holy Bible, by patriarchs and prophets.
The Wealth of Nations, hy Adame Smith, Das Kapital, by K
Marx, Profiles in Courage, by J Kennedy, The Prince, by
Machiavelh, The Republic, by Plato, Candide, by Voltaire,
and "Hamlet" by Shakespeare, are 10 examples of some
books and documents which every prospective college
student should read tor have read to him) before he or she
attempts to embark 011 a so-called "higher" education
Otherwise, we will become rn a tine sense a nation of
educated llliterates.-Bill Falkner.
Good turnout needed
November 6, 1974
Thanks to the efforts of
the Civic Seites Committee
and the Student Activities
Fund, I' a r I e t o n has
nationally known and
p o p 111 a r e n t e r t a 1 n m e n t
appearing on our campus
Poor student turnout
could stop efforts to get
lugh-class entertainment for
our student body It would
be a good idea if ISU
students would turn out ioi
Mi e W a j 1 o 11 I e n n 1 ngs
appeaiance and show then
appieciation foi the work tin
Civic Series Committee ami
othc rs have put out (or them
this semestei
I he future ol the Civic
Series and the SAP hanirs on
how well ISU students react
Dick Smith
Library
Purple Poo: for spirit's sake
to the activities scheduled tor
next Monday night.
by Da\id Williams
Occasional!} it seems that some people
do not appicaafe or understand Purple
Poo My friend, who we shall simply call
Pied (he said he was afraid of harassment),
is like that.
Just the othei day Fred was complaining
about the latest Poo poster. "Fve never
seen anything as absurd or irrelevant in all
my life," he said "And they're all like that
Fd rather read the graffiti in the Pizza
Place "
"Fred," I said, "you don't understand
Poo, I can see that. Fet me explain
something "
"What's there to explain9" he asked.
"It's a bunclia crap. They've only done one
thing I could ever agree with,"
"What's that '" I asked.
"They all had their pictures taken in the
toilet 111 one of the yearbooks Fitting, Fd
say, and symbolic, too "
"That's disgusting, Fied," / countered.
"Just sit down a minute and let me explain
something "
So bred sat down and I began to explain
the purpose ot Poo, which was easy, since
Poo's puipose is to give students a sense of
spirit about their school It's a unifying
type of thing, I told him The same is true
of the new drill team (they also entertain,
don't lorget) When the drill team gets out
there on the football field or basketball
court and does its number, you can just
feel the spirit. It surrounds you like a
concert crowd, and it's hard to get away
from, I said
'T don't hke concert crowds," Fred said
You can't convince some people It was
a waste of time to even try with Fred. He
sees symbols, like the toilet, and looks for
images and loreshadowings of an insane
world
Before leaving, he told me of one
instance of foreshadowing he had seen
while walking across the campus a few
weeks ago.
"A gentle rain was falling, the night was
dark and shadows were everywhere."
"Suddenly I came upon a Poo poster,
written side up. 1 read only enough to
recognise what it was," he said.
"Then there came upon me this strange
feeling-it's hard to explain.The rain came
harder, in torrents, the thunder crashed hke
cannons. That's when I sensed that Poo
would be a continuing factor in Tarleton
college life for many years to come."
Letters to the editor
The J-TAC
T1 > tllC edlloi
I'd like to rcpl\ In 1I11 lelk'i
written fasI week eoikemmg mil
tooth lit i o k h's ,lTfiTinli?
The letter slaieel llul Ins
altitude was thai ol .1 defeatist
and a pessimist All 1 van sa\ is
that tJit wnteis musi not know
the lo u h ve i \ u t II An\
statement ea!i be lmsuiuleisl t H hI
W lie [I lie said 'We' 1 mull I lose
but icl ic L'mnj.' In Ifv ' lie e\ is
ben if h<niest--v\ hk h is mure thin
main l u,k he's ale 1
He spnl e il the Hiniie, utmlit1
f miehi nil ()l I _1 f> al ihi UM1
I lie s ! il de'llls lllal e\ t.ik I 1st
week's letter must not have heen
there He talked about rebuilding
'lie ream "We have a young lejrii
tli.it will he even luider lo beat in
I wo or th re c \ cai s "
^ s Ioi l li e pari abon I
"iiin(r\<i/r<iri " k rs n,e i|K'
athlete to have nuiei motivation
No rii.itli I hove niotivati d a eoaeli
is il won I do lli_\ t'uud unless the
pljveis have "nod tllilude .
I fn pmiid lo h iw a eoai.li siu b
\\t Im\l Winning is impml ml
1HJI ifs Ilk l to (1 a \ e I , i ml 11 llul
saiLS I, mill li ibiml llie plaveis is
lie doe, about u nmirr;
H ii b ii i ( o in
The J-TAC, student newspaper of Tarleton State University, is
published by Tarleton State University on Wednesdays during the
regular tall and spring semesters with the exception of school holidays
and examination periods. Printer is the Stephenville Empire-Tribune,
Stephenville, Texas.
Second class postage paid at Stephenville, Texas.
News Editors .
Editorial Page Editor
Sports Editor
Business Manager . .
Advertising Layout, Photographer .
1 acuity Advisei
Bill Falkner, Jackie Robmeti
. . . David Williams,
Randy Frederick
, Paul Stuart
. . Bob Hill
lames Batts
Repoiteis Roger Fnlow, Beverly Ferrill, Randy Frederick, Susan
McNeel, Betsy Middleton, Karidy Re/, Brenda Stanford, David lunbu,
Denise Wilt, Bill Woods
REPRESENTED FOR NAUONAL ADVERTISING BY
National Educational Ad veil ismg Services, Inc.
560 Ee\inj;tmi Ave , New Yoik, NY I 00 i 7
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
The J-TAC (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 55, No. 10, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 6, 1974, newspaper, November 6, 1974; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth141300/m1/2/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Tarleton State University.