Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 09, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 12, 1998 Page: 7 of 8
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Megaphone
November 12,1998
OPINIONS
7
Without an ROTC, SU will be unprepared for the apocalypse
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Alan Sudcrman
Megaphone Reporter
There's been a lot of talk recently about
where Southwestern is headed. Dr. O’Neill
and Dr. Selbin have both put forth some rather
interesting ideas on the subject of changing
SU. If I may, I would like to submit the fol-
lowing proposal for your reading pleasure
What’s wrong with this picture: A
young man walks out of his dorm, walks
across a picturesque, quiet campus and goes
to class.
What’s wrong is that this young man is
not marching to class. Why? Because South-
western, your school, doesn’t have an ROTC
program.
Here are some disturbing facts that
prove that we need an ROTC.
Fact: I don’t wish to alarm anyone, but
I have some very reliable information from
my brothers in arms in Michigan and Arkan-
sas. The United Nations is stockpiling mil-
lions of guns, thousands of tanks and helicop-
ters, in preparation
for a massive military
copp to take place on
January 1st, 2000.
The UN already has
its headquarters in
New York, it’s just a
matter of time before
they want the rest of
the country. By cre-
ating an ROTC pro-
gram here we would
have the training required to thwart any at-
tempt the UN made to take over our school.
Fact: America’s military is crumbling.
So far this year the United States Government
has spent only $219,555,441,095 on the mili-
tary, or about $8,117 per second. To me this
is unbelievable. I cannot fathom how our
“leaders” sleep at night knowing that some
sinister force, like Haiti, or Papua New
Guinea, could at any
moment send troops
to take over our land.
Rather than try and
Fight a governmental
system that is just a
puppet for the United
Nations, we need to
try and solve this
problem at home.
An ROTC pro-
gram is just what the
doctor ordered. In-
stead of churning out teacher after teacher,
SU could be training young military men that
would actually make a difference in
someone’s life.
Fact: The only guns on campus are
locked up in glass cases. I firmly believe that
the greatness of a man can be ascertained by
the number of guns he owns. And ladies and
gentlemen. Red McCombs is a great man.
That’s why he had the forethought to provide
us with weaponry. But our “leaders" thought
that the guns belonged as a display. No No
No, Guns aren’t meant to sit around, their sole
purpose is to shoot things
Fact: The bible specifically says that on
New Years day on the year two thousand. Ar-
mageddon will lake place. Are we training
our young men how to deal with war? No!
We are teaching young men how to think, or
how to feel, or love. Hogwash. When’s the
last time an army of thinkers won a war?
Never!
And finally, one last fact for you to di-
gest: the students here are so accustomed to
bad food that military food would taste good
to them.
Apathy is contagious; so is activism-take advantage of campus opportunities
Robin Crammer
Megaphone Reporter
Although opportunities for activism and
change are everywhere, only a few students take
advantage of them. Becoming an activist takes a
combination of many, small changes. Change hurts
People will choose to avoid pain, or discomfort
before chousing to seek pleasure. Mast people,
save a select few, avoid change, rather than pursu-
ing the more difficult, long-term reward of improv-
ing the environment in which they live. I believe
you get out of it what you put into it
Imagine our Southwestern campus as a snow
globe. For the sake of an example, imagine that
the Kappa Sigma raid was like the BigWorld reach-
ing out and shaking up our little bubble of security.
Imagine the students, administration, police, and
other staff disoriented, angry, and frustrated. Ru-
mors, facts, and issues are swilling around and get-
ting all mixed up. Students rise up and demand to
be heard.
But then something changes. People lose
direction. They lacked focus and definite steps for
action, fhc snow starts to settle in our hole South
western bubble and soon everything looks as it did
before our contact with the Big World. Now frus-
tration and resentment are festering below the sur-
face. They are waiting for the next opportunity to
explode again.
Of course we all know that the world goes
on outside the limits of our campus. But we take it
small pieces at a time.
I propose that we use that frustration and
resentment constructively. Instead of puffing up
and pointing fingers, take steps to become an ac-
tivist and start to enact change. It will be hard.
I believe that everyone feels that nagging
discomfort which arises from the idea (hat no mat-
ter how hard we try, some things will just never
change. It’s this frustration and anxiety that should
be devoted to activism. When they fester, they make
everyone seem like a victim. They appear in those
people who say “Why bother?’ Or ‘That’s not my
problem.” Or the ever-popular “So what?”
Activism means turning your position from
that of passivity to that of activity.
Apathy is contagious. Activism is too. As a
group, we have so much power to spin our wheels
with negative accusations, and wither under our
own “I’m the victim here” mind-set As a group,
we have so much power to enact positive change
and promote growth by taking advantage ol op-
portunities right here at Southwestern.
The first step it to become more informed.
Pay attention. Read the newspaper. Subscribe to
the Student Congress E-mail forum.
The next step is to try new activities. Take a
risk. So many things are happening and many of
them require student input The schedules for the
Faculty Biown Bag Luncheons (thanks for the re-
minder Patti) are in the Office of the Assistant Pro-
vost Attend a Task Force meeting. Feminist Vxces
holds regular meetings in the Coffee House and is
sponsoring a men's discussion panel on feminism
and how it relates to masculinity. Town Meetings
provide an excellent forum for your voice to be
heard. Bridge Builders will he having more cam-
pus-wide activities in the spring. Alpha Phi Omega
the service fraternity, does regular community ser-
vice all over the area
Activism is hard work. I do not want to make
it sound easy. Remember that change always hurts
even when it is for the better. The path towards
positive change is not always wide, clear, and
straight ahead. It is narmw, easily hltx:kcd by ob-
stacles, and sometimes seems like it’s going in
circles.
That is where determination comes in. Re-
member that you gel out of it what you put into it.
Activism is always more rewarding than passivity.
Activism first requires the acknowledgment
Chat change is in order. Next, it lakes acceptance of
the fact that we are the ones to enact that change
And finally, it takes action to begin (he change. The
last step is the hardest.
Tum away from the temporary solace of
apathy.
ARE YOU A MAN?
Join Doctors Kain, Selbin, Herbert, and
Lee Edwards in the SUB lounge next
Wednesday (Nov. IS) at 5:30 for an
i n form a 1 d is c u s sion o f m a s c u 1 i n i ty,
feminisms (and myths concerning them),
and how men relate to feminisms.
All students are welcome.
, i U X CZ M & -C. iC & Ji. .a* it- tJi £ ,
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Megaphone (Georgetown, Tex.), Vol. 93, No. 09, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 12, 1998, newspaper, November 12, 1998; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth634601/m1/7/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Southwestern University.