The Rattler (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, December 2, 1988 Page: 3 of 8
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December 2, 1988
The Rattler
Page 3
COMMENTARY
12
I
SGA is an ineffective
forum for student concerns
Movie will help St. Mary’s
this
Fall.
area
Letters
Greek discount is a petty issue
Greeks are involved on campus
The Rattler
J
N2i
1
United States should stop the
spread of nuclear weapons
Aric
Garza
Steve Barron
Staff Writer
Gladys Chinea
Contributing Writer
unrepresentative and they do
nothing to change it.
weapons’ use where the super-
powers’ vital interest lie. The out-
come is unthinkable.
Staff
Columnist
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#8
:• i ij
_____________
WPLA.
There’s a strong rumour going
around that producers and direc-
tors of the “Back to the Future”
sequel, starring Michael J. Fox
are considering filming a few
good shots in the San Antonio
5 4
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it for a second: this entire letter
and all the complaining the SGA
and where ever else is all over one
measly dollar. Come on, where
else can someone go for $2 (if in-
dependent) and drink $.50
beverages and dance for hours.
Sorry, if,we are being so unfair!
If you still think it is a problem
then you have two options.
Either do not go to the function
or think about becoming Greek.
If you do not wish to be a Greek,
we still hope you can come to our
parties and have fun with us
because we will still be there.
Sincerely,
Timothy J. Ungashick
IGC President
A government should be
designed to be representative of
the people it governs, unfor-
tunately our SGA is not designed
to nor does it represent the
students of St. Mary’s Universi-
ty.
Our SGA was designed to
replicate the federal government
system. This is the only attribu-
tion that can be considered an ac-
complishment for the SGA. It
has a president, a congress made
up of a House and a Senate, and
of course like all good govern-
ments it is full of beaurocracy.
This is our government.
We have a house and a Senate
holding a total of 55 positions, 35
in the House and 20 in the senate.
Call me stupid but 55 people
representing over 3500 students is
a poor percentage. To be more
exact it is .015% which happens
to be the less than the recom-
mended daily allowance. But wait
the travesty marches on.
It takes as few as 11 people in
the senate and/or 18 in the house
to vote down a resolution. Com-
bined these people don’t even
make up 1 070 of our student
population. What does all this
mean, our SGA is ruled by a
minority not a majority. It is safe
to say that we the students are not
acurately represented in our
Government.
In response to all this the
leaders of our SGA display an at-
titude of “Yeah we know, so
what?” I guess this makes our
leaders an accessary to crime.
They know the system in which
they govern is wrong and
In defense of the SGA
however, it is as much our fault
as theirs, if not more. We the
students sit idly by and let this
mockery of a government exist.
We are all too lazy to get up ott
our fat butts and do something
about it. Even if some person
comes along that is willing to
make a change the best we have
to offer is a pat on the back for
good merit and our hopes. No
support is offered no enthusiasm
is shared.
We need to take action into our
own hands and stop being idle.
We need to start questioning our
officials. As long as we chose to
let others make decisions for us
then we will never get any thing
worthwhile done in our SGA.
more frequent because the Greek
population of St. Mary’s likes
this plan for obvious reasons. Se-
cond, why pick on just dis-
counted Greek prices? I heard no
one mention that they were upset
that it was cheaper to get into
some dances with a canned good
or with a toga. Just because it
seems that that is more available
to everyone does not mean that
the cheaper Greek prices is
wrong. Actually, being Greek is
available to everyone also. (Hint:
Rush starts the second week of
Spring Semester).
Finally, I am a little upset that
such a petty thing such as this is
causing such a stir. Think about
8
R
Mr- Fox will be working some
very long and rugged hours this
Autumn. During the day, he’ll be
shooting his normal “Family
Ties” episodes, and during the
evening, he’ll be characteristical-
ly creating a voice for the 1980’s
generation to be revealed in Part
II of.“Back to the Future”.
So, just what is it that attracts
some filmmakers to lovely San
Antonio? I’m sure the answer to
that question varies a great deal,
but one cannot deny our city’s
emerging powerful national im-
age. San Antonio is truly
futuristic in the sociological
sense, in that, it is a symbolic city
of peace where cultural richness
mesh in a spirit of human respect.
Indeed, a unique cross-ethnic and
cross-racial plateau is exercised in
our city. This single element has
accelerated the rate of local pro-
gress considerably. We are
the famous Delta House filled
with lights, cameras, and plenty
of action.
The one unchanging aspect of
environment is that it demands
optimal human organization and
courageous openness as much as
possible. It does not take greed or
total secrecy for an answer. The
Administration is like an educa-
tional parent-figure to students.
We learn from their actions and
inactions. The university has
shown the sincere desire to con-
tinue pursuing the Christian Mis-
sion by responding to the chang-
ing times.
Many influential persons in the
Administrative levels, especially
the Board of Trustees, have
demonstrated a willingness to
collaborate and dialogue with St.
Mary’s students. The certainty
appears enormous that students
will continue to respond to this .
appropriate display of political .
maturity.
Indeed, San Antonio and St.
Mary’s are moving into the .
future arm-in-arm and we will all 1
win together, movie or not.
" IFKNF2WIMNVM62NN
AND I LEARNED AU- ABOUT GEOGRAPHY RIGHT HERE N THE USA
honestly at pace with the times in
this respect. The atmospheric
feeling of cross-cultural unity
climaxes during Fiesta celebra-
tions and Texas Folklife
Festivities.
San Antonio is gradually
breaking out of its old image of
just being a place on the map
with the Alamo right in the center
of it. Thanks to Mayor Cisneros
and Red McCombs, San Antonio
has caught the national spotlight
in extraordinary ways on several
occasions the past year and a
half. From America’s only mayor
to meet with a Soviet leader ever,
to the acquisition of basketball’s
most illustrious coach, Larry
Brown, to the signing of basket-
ball’s college gem, David Robin-
son.
At least three movies have
done filming in different parts of
our city the past few years, in-
cluding one of Michael Anthony
Hall’s films which did some
shooting on our campus over a
year ago. So, the possibility of St.
Mary’s having some part in the
sequel to “Back to the Future” is
a very real one. I can already see
of the remainder of the student
body is that they don’t actually ;
have to become Greek in order to :
enjoy Greek benefits and good
times. But, there are a number of :
unseen benefits that the regular :
student is not aware of, for exam- :
pie: many important values are ;
learned as a result of interacting :
with people, acting in a responsi- •
ble role in order to achieve many ;
of the organizational goals and i
functions that each frater-
nity/sorority participates in, and :
the fact that it does not look bad
on your resume.
“So, why aren’t there more
Greeks on campus?” It seems to
me that it is a perfect way for so-
meone who is looking to get in-
volved to become a part of a
group which has an impact upon
university activities, social
gatherings, and campus life. The
friendship bonds that are created
while participating in a Greek
organization seem to be un-
breakable. So, I recommend to ;
anyone who is looking to become
involved and have a lot of fun do-
ing so, plan to join a fraternity / ■
sorority that best suits them.
Newly uncovered evidence
suggested that in addition to the
five established nuclear nations
(the U.S., the Soviet Union,
Great Britain, France, and
China), the nations of India,
Israel, South Africa, Pakistan,
Argentina, and Brazil now
possess the capability to
manufacture nuclear weapons.
Along with these budding nuclear
powers, experts believe that Iran,
Iraq, and Libya, are fervently
pursuing the nuclear otion as of
this writing. Perhaps the most
disturbing fact is that
Washington has showed very lit-
tle — if any — opposition to
these developments (especially in
the cases of Israel and Pakistan
where the U.S. has the most
leverage). U.S. officials contend
that not much can be done to
curb the alarming rise in nuclear
capabilities by other nations.
The escalation in the threat of
nuclear proliferation is clearly
out of the sphere of influence
that the major powers of the
world monopolized once upon a
time. It is only a matter of time
before some of the most unstable
It has been brought to my at-
tention that some students are w
upset and discouraged about
some recent on-campus events.
The problem stems from the fact
that at some recent “Pub-Nites,”
the admission price was cheaner
for Greeks than independents. I
do not see the problem for a
number of reasons. First of all, it
is not as though every dance is
organized in this manner but only
a couple of Greek-sponsored
events were done this way. Each
organization that throws a func-
tion is allowed to charge any ad-
mission they choose. To be
honest, the trend of cheaper
prices for Greeks may become
Upon arriving at St. Mary’s
University and finally getting my
schedule arranged just right, I
was prepared to start enjoying
college the way I always heard it
should be enjoyed. The first cou-
ple of class days seemed easy
enough, but walking through the
Quad, I noticed big groups of
people congregated together
seeming to have the time of their
lives. I was pretty curious and
was determined to investigate the
nature of these social gatherings.
Upon passing one group in
particular, I stopped and asked
one of the guys what was going
on, and he informed me that this
is what all the Greeks do between
classes. I then realized that each
group represented a different
Greek organization. I was at that
moment determined to find out
everything I could about Greek
life at St. Mary’s University.
I interviewed several different
Greeks and came up with an ex-
planation of Greek life and some
i
of the benefits that go along with
it. I found that the television
stereotype of Greek life is very
overstated. It is true that they
seem to have abundance of good
times, but there is a lot more to
being in a fraternity/sorority
than just “partying.” I was sur-
prised to find out that most or me
Greek organizations I spoke to
seemed to participate in a great
deal of social philanthropy, from
such things as benefiting the
Leukemia Society all the way to
serving food at the soup lines.
Also, most of the campus ac-
tivities are sponsored by Greek
organizations, even though the
Greek population comprises only
15 percent of the total student
population.
So then I asked, “Why aren’t
there more students parti-
cipating in Green organiza-
tions?" Many believe that the
publicity that Greek organiza-
tions were receiving concerning
hazing violations has led to the
myth that in order to be Greek, a
certain amount of hazing must
take place in order to pledge.
Also, Greeks feel that the opinion
“Would you tell me, please,
which way I ought to go from
here,? (said Alice).
“That depends a good deal on
where you want to get to,” said
the Cat.
“I don’t care much where —”
said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which
way you go,” said the Cat.
Lewis Caroll
Alice’s Adventures in
Wonderland
As the nuclear age continues to
evolve, the continuing spread of
nuclear weapons to additional
nations poses incalculable risks to
the world community. Many
believe that a nuclear confronta-
tion involving one of the emerg-
ing nuclear nations is most likely
to begin a nuclear holocaust. One
merely has to envision a scenario
in which two or more regional
powers (the Middle East or South
Asia for instance) opt for nuclear
regions of the world possess the
capability of annihilating each ■
other on whim. If you think that ;
the present day arms race with ’
the Soviet Union is scary, try a «
Kadafi or a Khoemini with the 3
power to inflict awesome damage a
declaring a “holy war” on the
U.S.
Since the end of the second
world war, the U.S. has commit-
ted itself to being a transnational
police force. However, the U.S.
has done little to stop the spread
of nuclear power as of late. The
hypocrisies of recent U.S. foreign
policies have brought upon other
nations the realization that the
nuclear option may be pursued :
by them as well. Some experts :
argue that it is contradictory for
the U.S. to militarize space and
tell other countries that they
can’t have the bomb in the same
breath.
If ever there were a time for the
U.S. to pull' the “international
police routine,” that time is cer-
tainly the present. Realistically I
can we afford to allow unstable
nations to possess nuclear
capabilities? Can the U.S. allow
other countries to initiate con-
frontations with adversaries with ;
the chance of them starting a
holocaust? You tell me.
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St. Mary's University (San Antonio, Tex.). The Rattler (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 74, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, December 2, 1988, newspaper, December 2, 1988; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1518637/m1/3/?rotate=90: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting St. Mary's University Louis J. Blume Library.