University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 77, No. 27, Ed. 1 Friday, February 2, 2001 Page: 3 of 8
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Ufeditorial
University Press • Friday, February 2, 2001 • Page 3
University Press
Editor...................................................Joshua Cobb
Managing Editor....................................Tara Smith
* The opinions that appear in editorials are the official
views of the University Press student management as
determined by the UP Student Editorial Board. Opinions
'expressed elsewhere on this page are the views of the writ-
ers only and are not necessarily those of the University
Press student management. Student opinions are not nec-
essarily those of the university administration.
Editorial
Big screens,
big dreams
Film lovers don’t have to drive to the Austin
film festival to see a really great independent film
or fly to Hollywood to get inside tips on the film
industry.
' The Spindletop/Lamar University Film Festival,
now in its second year, delivers it all right here in
Beaumont.
This weekend, experienced filmmakers and tin-
seltown insiders, several with roots in the area, will
present seminars on film technique and show
screenings of their work for film students and cine-
ma buffs alike. Budding filmmakers from Lamar
and all over the country will compete and screen
their movies at a variety of venues on Saturday and
Sunday.
The two-day festival is an excellent showcase
for Lamar. As well as promoting its own film pro-
gram, the festival brings national recognition to the
school.
However, it does more than just give Lamar
publicity; it lets students become a part of the
action. Aspiring writers, directors and producers
can learn practical strategies to get their “Big
Break.”
» The coordinators of the festival and all the vol-
unteers are to be congratulated for their efforts. The
debut festival last year was a big success and this
-year’s promises to be even better.
All students at Lamar, not just those interested
in film production, should support the festival. Who
"knows, the next Steven Spielberg may be making
his debut here.
So do yourself a favor and attend at least one of
the many movies on offer this weekend.
Your support and encouragement could help
put someone’s dream onto the silver screen.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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a letter fewer than 400 words in length to Letters to the
Editor, P.O. Box 10055, LU Station, Beaumont
77710, or drop letters off at our offices in 200 Setzer
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will not be published. Poetry, reprints, anonymous let-
ters and religious debates will not be published.
University Press
©2001 University Press
News
Editor....................................................Joshua Cobb
Managing Editor.....................................Tara Smith
Copy Editors............Kuntal Kotnis, Patrina Bostic
Sports Editor...........................................R.J. Enard
Wire Editor........................................Daniel Chand
Staff Writers.................................Kasey A. Jordan,
Jenny Achilles, Shay Bayly,
Cortney Hall, Catherine Wright,
Blake Morgan, Pat Dennison,
Dennis Kutac, Kacey L. Jordan,
Christopher Williams, Jacob Hooker,
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Photography
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PERSONNEL
PERMHMENT
NICE TRY,
RraR-wr
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V0TEP0FF
THE
'03C&I
A great leap of faith, but don’t oversell it
WASHINGTON — It is intriguing
to try to follow President Bush’s reason-
ing, although sometimes you could get
whiplash from the U-turns.
For example, he’s getting a lot of
heat from critics who say his proposals to
fund religiously affiliated programs may
violate constitutional separations bet-
ween church and state. Bush argues that,
oh, no, the administration can install safe-
guards to make sure public money goes
only to the purpose that the government
intends.
Wasn’t that the argument that popu-
lation-control groups made when Bush
earlier objected to federal funds they were
receiving for their birth-control Work
overseas?
In his first executive order, Bush can-
celed federal funding to international
population control agencies if the agen-
cy’s idea of population control includes
abortions or even abortion counseling.
It did not matter to him that none of
the federal money was being used to pay
for abortions. It did not even matter to
him that federal law bans the use of fed-
eral money for abortions.
No, the mere fact that an agency is
engaged in any way with abortions or
abortion counseling is enough for Bush to
deny it federal funding, even for such
purposes as benign as providing safe con-
traceptives to village women in some
poor Third World country.
With this, Bush was expressing what
lawyers and policy makers call the
“money is fungible” argument. By this
logic, any money that goes to an agency
for one purpose frees up money that the
agency can spend elsewhere on other
purposes.
Unless, we now learn, that agency is
“faith-based,” which is the politically cor-
rect way to say “religiously affiliated” in
Washington these days. Now that Bush
wants to channel taxpayers’ funds to pro-
grams that he likes, he is saying that we
Commentary
Clarence Page
Tribune Media Syndicated
Columnist
have no reason to worry that federal
money might somehow slip over that con-
stitutional line between church and state.
The government “cannot fund and
will not fund religious activities,” Bush
said Tuesday. “But when people of reli-
gious faith provide social services, we will
not discriminate against them.”
Oh? Judging by Bush’s record, dis-
crimination “against” religious groups
should be the least of their worries.
For example, while Bush was gover-
nor of Texas, his state gave $8,000 to a
church-run jobs program that required
Bible study, according to a suit by the
American Jewish Congress and the Texas
Civil Rights Project.
The program, called the Jobs Part-
nership of Washington County, described
itself as teaching participants to “find
employment through a relationship with
Jesus Christ.” It bought Bibles for them,
and, in evaluation forms, a third of the
students said they had been pressured to
join a church or change their beliefs.
As he established a new White
House office for faith-based and commu-
nity groups, Bush also hinted that these
groups will receive preference.
“When we see social needs in
America,” he said, “my administration
will look first to faith-based programs
and community groups, which have
proven their power to save and change
lives.”
“Look first”? Does that mean faith-
based groups will receive some sort of
favorable consideration compared to sec-
ular groups?
That statement should make reli-
gious leaders wonder which faiths will
receive the favorable consideration and
which will not.
It also leads me to believe we are see-
ing only the beginning of yet another
stormy chapter in America’s endless
arguments over church and state separa-
tion.
Don’t get me wrong. I come not to
condemn Bush’s proposal but to praise it,
at least in principle.
I agree with him that we should not
ignore the amazing success that many
faith-based organizations have had in
helping the poorest of the poor to help
themselves.
I have seen some faith-based pro-
grams help prison inmates sober up, turn
their lives around and avoid returning to
jail. I have marveled at the success of
ministers like the Rev. Eugene Rivers,
who stood with Bush and other clergy at
the signing ceremony for the new initia-
tive. Rivers’ public-private partnership
helped drastically reduce youth murders
in Boston in the mid-1990s.
We can protect constitutional free-
doms without denying ourselves the
advantages of programs that work where
others have not. The Constitution has not
prevented federal funds from being used
to assist, for example, religiously affiliat-
ed hospitals, universities, day-care cen-
ters and housing programs. The Supreme
Court even has upheld federal aid to reli-
giously affiliated private schools in cer-
tain circumstances, such as helping stu-
dents with special needs.
The line between church and state is
not absolute, but it must be drawn fairly,
justly and without discrimination for or
against any particular faith. That’s not
easy. Neither are the problems faith-
based social service groups are trying to
solve. But, in both cases, the effort is
worth it, if we don’t create more prob-
lemythan we solve.
UProundup
Jan. 21
The Jordan Times, Amman, on President George W. Bush:
As the head of the world's only superpower George W. Bush
took over not only with a national agenda filled with challenges and
delicate decisions, but also a global agenda packed with urgent mea-
sures and responsibilities.
At home, he will first have to deliver on his promise to narrow divi-
sions and bring national reconciliation after the most disputed presi-
dential elections in America’s modem history and a bitter court battle
that has left many voters frustrated.
In foreign policy, many believe that the new administration will be
far less active than the previous one, although we wish that Bush will
maintain his predecessor’s personal involvement in the peace
processes in Ireland and the Middle East.
During his eight years in office, Clinton failed to reach a
Palestinian-lsraeli deal, but indeed went farther than any other presi-
dent in trying to reconcile Israel and the Palestinians. He was the first
American president to visit the Palestinians self-rule areas and to
speak of Palestinian statehood.
Let us hope that Bush will pick up from where Clinton left.
Jan. 30
The Guardian, London, on President Bush:
George Bush has been in effusive mood this past week, his first
in office, shaking hands, slapping backs and turning on the charm. His
sense of wonder at his White House surroundings would be almost
touching were it not as tacky as the redecorated Oval Office’s peach-
es-and-cream color scheme... Mr. Bush acts like a man who can
hardly believe his luck. An awful lot of American voters cannot believe
his luck, either.
As a painstaking Washington Post analysis of election records in
eight Florida counties has now established beyond reasonable doubt,
the state’s voters were disenfranchised last November in extraordi-
narily large numbers by inadequate, antiquated balloting machinery
from the Associated Press
and misleading procedures... It does not take a mathematical genius
to work out that the will of the Floridian (and thus the national) elec-
torate was thwarted, the outcome was an avoidable travesty, and it is
Mr. Gore who by right should be picking out drapes in the west wing.
Jan. 23
The Salt Lake Tribune, on President George W. Bush:
It is one thing to agree on the ideals of U.S. democracy; it is quite
another to find consensus on the policies that best carry them out. At
least President George W. Bush should get high marks for an inau-
gural address that reaffirmed the principles of the American civic reli-
gion in graceful phrases and set a high-minded tone for his adminis-
tration.
Bush must be mindful of the bitterly contested election that
brought him to power in spite of his loss of the popular vote to Al Gore.
So the new president’s opening sentence about the peaceful transfer
of power embodied in the oath-taking he had just completed carried
unusual resonance. The appeals to unity and inclusion that followed
could be considered self-serving in the political circumstances, but it
is important to hold these ideals up because they are necessary to the
functioning of a lawful, cMI society.
The body of the speech was an elaboration on four themes that
might be called the Four C’s: civility, courage, compassion and char-
acter....
The American people are ready and willing to take their new
president at his word, and hold him, his allies and his political oppo-
nents to this higher standard. But if politicians fail that test, reverting to
the useful but corrosive tactics of character assassination rather than
principled policy debate, the people will see through the hypocrisy and
judge the perpetrators accordingly, Bush included....
An inauguration is a civic ritual that transfers power and confers
legitimacy. Bush struck the right touchstones to the national ideals.
Now he must flesh out the meaning of his words in the messy real
world.
K
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Cobb, Joshua. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 77, No. 27, Ed. 1 Friday, February 2, 2001, newspaper, February 2, 2001; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth500822/m1/3/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar University.