University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, November 19, 2004 Page: 3 of 6
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.......................-......University Press ------
Editoria I
3
Friday,
November 19,2004
Drama made for Hollywood
Conservative reaction responsible for celebrities’ increasing voice
Steps can be taken
to improve Lamar
sports experience
The approach to winter has again
launched an increased interest in
Lamar athletics as the men’s and
women’s basketball teams have their
respective seasons underway. And for
the most part, the effects of students
coming together to cheer for Lamar are
positive for our campus.
But it won’t be long after the regu-
lar season begins next Tuesday that we
begin to see controversies that can
divide a fan base and turn a fun game
into a shouting match that none of us
enjoy. Officials, players and fans, how-
ever, can all take steps to make it a bet-
ter experience.
The human element of officiating
has impacted the game for decades. But
what often gets overlooked is the
human element of players and their
emotions. If an official makes a poor
call, he needs to accept that players will
be upset and have an emotional reac-
tion instead of quickly blowing a whis-
tle against players for a technical foul
or other disciplinary violations.
Officials should not penalize players
who aren’t perfect if they are imperfect
themselves.
Players, however, have a responsi-
bility to understand the position these
officials are in. There are only three
officials on a basketball court, and it’s
impossible for them to cover every
angle. As a result, there will be a few
calls they miss because they physically
could not be in the right place.
Players and coaches need to under-
stand these limitations before they take
the fun out of the game by constantly
complaining. If they don’t like it, they
should blame the system that allows so
few officials and not the men them-
selves.
Fans also must understand this and
adjust their reactions accordingly. What
official is going to want to help a team
if their fans are telling him how horri-
ble he is? That speaks poorly on behalf
of Lamar and helps to turn bias against
us. We do have a responsibility to let
officials know when they are wrong, but
we cannot overdo it and let it escalate
to personal insults that show poor
sportsmanship and can make other
people uncomfortable.
In the end, basketball is only a
game and the object is to win. But it
should be a place where students can
come together and have two hours of
fun, win or lose. From officials to play-
ers to the fans themselves, all of us
have things we can do to make this
great experience even better.
University Press
Editor Managing Editor
Mark Show Ben DuBose
The opinions that appear in editorials are
' the official views of the University Press stu-
dent management as determined by the UP
Student Editorial Board. Opinions expressed
1 elsewhere on this page are the views of the
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anonymous letters and religious debates will
not be published.
If you haven’t heard, Michael Moore is releas-
ing a sequel to his box office smash “Fahrenheit
9/11” titled “Fahrenheit 9/11 1/2” that should be
ready for release in two to three years.
Of course, the odds are that you probably
already knew this. Why? Because, yet again, the
conservatives are already rallying against Moore
and his supposed anti-American bias on talk radio
and internet message boards. Most say they want
him to go away because they don’t care what he
thinks.
The problem, however, is that these words
ring quite hollow when we hear the tone of their
voices and the anger in their message.
Conservatives might not have their vote influ-
enced by Moore, but their anger proves they care.
And as a result, the conservatives are primarily
responsible for Hollywood’s increasing voice.
While partisans label the media as liberal or
conservative, sensationalism is the one true bias
within the media as a whole. The media wants you
to buy their newspapers or give them ratings by
watching their newscasts. And how do they get
you to increase your reading and watching habits?
It all comes from two simple words.
Controversy sells.
We watched last year as conservatives who
rarely listened to country music suddenly became
experts who were appalled by comments from
Dixie Chicks’ lead singer Natalie Maines. They
flooded opinion forums on television, radio and
the internet to state their case for why the Chicks
were anti-American traitors for disliking
President Bush.
The direct reaction was a ban of the Chicks
Editor:
“Maybe the Republicans just have better val-
ues.” Those were the words printed in a letter to
the editor in the Nov. 12 UP. So I ask in return, is
prejudice a better value than equality?
Yes, I’m talking about gay marriage. Or, why
people seem to feel that I shouldn’t be allowed to
get married. None of my friends here seem to
have much of a problem with the fact that I’m gay.
But mention marriage, and one is liable to find
many heated opinions.
So why is gay marriage still being fought
over? Why do so many people seem so adamant
to not allow two consenting adults the right to get
married simply because they happen to be of the
same sex? I think the arguments against it are
ludicrous.
They claim it’s for tradition. However, it’s a
by ben DuBose
by some country radio stations, particularly in
conservative states. But the indirect reaction that
so few people seem to have gotten is that the con-
troversy landed the Dixie Chicks more publicity
than any album in their career. The media con-
stantly ran stories about them because the intensi-
ty of the conservative reaction indicated signifi-
cant interest.
And in some ways, it helped their careers. I
have talked to a few people who never listened to
the Dixie Chicks before those comments but
decided to see what they were about after they
were all over the news. Those people are now fans
of the group.
Many across so-called “middle America”
claimed to be thrilled in the days after this year’s
election because their vote took a stand against
the “Hollywood liberals” and “elitists.” What they
seem not to realize, however, is that they are giv-
ing Hollywood even more of a voice!
Those who admit that high-profile liberals
had an influence on their vote are giving enor-
mous power to the Hollywood industry. If you
would base a vote on something as important as a
presidential election in part because of the actions
of those in Hollywood, it makes it increasingly
obvious that you really care what they think. And
as a result, the media will broadcast their opinions
even more because you’re showing interest.
Michael Moore had many fans before the
controversy of his first movie hit the mainstream
media. But would the hundreds of millions of peo-
ple who saw the movie have all attended if Moore
didn’t receive free publicity from the controversy?
It’s not like it was a big-budget movie. Millions of
middle-of-the-road Americans didn’t know much
about it until the conservatives started the contro-
versy and, in turn, led to many people becoming
curious to what it was about.
In the end, we need to remember a simple
lesson. If you disagree with someone, ignore them.
It’s like the grade school bully who insults certain
kids. He doesn’t do it for the sake of insulting —-
he does it because of the reaction. And he stops
when the reactions cease because it gets boring.
The same philosophy applies to the media.
We have to realize that the media will play and
publicize anything that stirs a reaction. If you real-
ly want these Hollywood elitists to go away, stay
quiet and turn the other cheek. The media will
move on to something new once we prove we
don’t care.
But until then, the opinions of those in
Hollywood will be all over our evening news. And
in a perfect twist of irony those conservatives so
enraged by it are the very people responsible.
Reach this writer at
BAD0955@hal.lamar.edu
Columnist issues challenge to graduating seniors
The first few years of college
life always seems to be less of a
journey to earn a diploma and
more of a fast-paced lifestyle rarely
seen anywhere but on campuses.
During this time when students
are unable to pinpoint an exact
graduation date, ?ill they can do is
settle in the saddle of a syllabus-
structured setting and prepare for a
rocky trail of late night reading and
cramming until the day a student’s
adviser gives him or her an exact
date of commencement, granted
they pass all their classes.
Suddenly, the dreary task of
class after class has a purpose, and
all the social events we have
deprived ourselves of and good-
paying jobs that we could have had
but couldn’t take because our class
schedules wouldn’t allow us
becIWie a badge of discipline that
can be worn with pride on the
sleeve of sacrifice.
It is also at this point that a stu-
dent views colllege as less of a bur-
den and more of a provider of gifts:
A gift of knowledge that will allow
us to open our eyes to a deeper
understanding of the world; a gift of
preparation that will provide for us
a smooth transition into specialized
careers and higher-level jobs in the
work force; a gift that most
Americans will not have, but a gift
that we have worked diligently to
earn.
As graduating seniors, we
should demonstrate our gratuity by
giving a symbolic gift in return and
possibly start a new tradition for
future Lamar students to help
strengthen school pride.
It is to this institution of higher
learning that we owe a great deal of
Commentary ■
_A
by guiseppe Barranco
gratitude — the institution of
Lamar University, named for the
father of Texas education,
Mirabeau B. Lamar, that we should
thank for our prospective futures.
It is appropriate that a bust of
Lamar rests centered in the
Quadrangle, watching over the
many students socializing or pass-
ing by him on their way to classes.
The sculpture is to th peculiar,
just being a head mounted on a
granite pedestal as if to simply say
Mirabeau somehow lost his head.
Thanks to our philosophy class,
we realize the sculpture has a deep-
er symbolic meaning — that it is a
representation of mind, knowledge
and wisdom.
Just as Lamar is the namesake
of Lamar University, I propose that
the graduating class of fall 2004
begin a new tradition in honor of
him, providing for us a school of
higher learning that we will reap
many rewards from. And to those
of us who will cross our tassels to
the other side of our our caps on
Dec. 18, I issue this challenge to
you.
After filling in that last letter
block on your last final exam, bring
that No. 2 pencil to the center of the
Quadrangle and cast it to the
Mirabeau B. Lamar in appreciation.
Let this act of gratitude
become a standing tradition that
every graduating senior at Lamar
University will receive a chance to
do when he graduates.
May such an action blossom
into many other traditions that give
students more opportunities to feel
a real part of a community that has
its own traditions and to exemplify
school pride.
More than anything else, take
the gifts we have received from
Lamar University, apply them to
our future, and then, in turn, go out
into the world and make our mark
on it.
Reach this writer at
com_gpb@hal.lamar.edu
♦ letter to the editor How legitimate are Republican values?
prejudiced tradition that doesn’t offer equality —
no different than the tradition of not allowing
women to vote or segregating schools based on
race.
They claim that homosexuality is immoral.
But says who? A 2,000-year-old book? In a socie-
ty that promises a freedom of religion, and in
which there are so many different religions prac-
ticed, how can we justify using one religion’s
morals as a basis for a law?
They claim that it’s to protect family values.
So what, exactly, is this family value that people
claim to be so important yet so fragile that it’s so
easily threatened by same-sex marriage? I’ve
asked that very question of numerous people
against gay marriage, and not one has been able to
give me an answer.
They claim that it would lead to legalization
of polygamy, pedophilia and bestiality. But we’re
not talking about multiple people within one mar-
riage, nor animals nor children. We’re talking
about two consenting adult human beings who are
in love with each other.
If people want an example of what legalized
gay marriage will do, look at Denmark. They’ve
had gay marriage legal since 1989, and it has sig-
nificantly decreased the spread of STDs, the rate
of suicides, and infidelity among homosexuals.
In other words, same-sex marriages have
strengthened a culture — not diminished it. It’s
time that many people — regardless of their party
affiliation — step outside of their box and actual-
ly look at the world — and look at us homosexu-
als as equal people deserving equal rights.
George Gidley
Lamar student from Beaumont
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Show, Mark. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, November 19, 2004, newspaper, November 19, 2004; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth500717/m1/3/?q=music: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar University.