The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 20, Ed. 1, Wednesday, October 28, 1992 Page: 2 of 6
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::: Michael O'Connor Editor in Chief
&:: Deana Hamby Managing News Editor
;i;:; Jennifer Reynolds Opinion Page Editor
:: Dr. Charlie Marler Faculty Adviser
::'.: Editorial Board
; J; 'Keith Alewine Brian Bolt John Carroll Xlaodong Fel Bobby Gorhbert
;!;; Deana Hamby Bernadotte Leo Michael O'Connor
:" '. Jennifer Reynolds Holly Snead Shorla Stephens
:;ho Optimist h a twlce-a-wook publication of the students of the Depart-
tnpht of Journalism and Mass Communication of Abilene Christian Uni-
versity and serves as a journalism laboratory for the department's stu-
. dents.
-Tjie unsigned editorials are the opinions of the students on the Optimist
Editorial Board and do not necessarily reflect tho policies or views of the
"tfrtfvarsltv.
u;-The signed columns cartoons and
.ortnoir creators ana ao not necessarily reiieci ine views or xne upumisi
'E'ditorial Board or tho unlvorsity administration.
Optional parking
Students should have the option of
purchasing parking permits that hang
from rearview mirrors.
Faculty and staff can use this type of
permit and many have found it useful.
.Many students share cars with other
family members and a moveable permit
would eliminate the need to get tempo-
rary stickers or multiple stickers. Also
many times other family members do
"nbtvant an ACU sticker on the front
America's educational system in
.different class from other nations
To the Editor: differing levels of quality.
In addition we arc a multi-cultured
: " I really get tired of people like Ross power a nation with significant minori-
Perot claiming that the United States ty groups to educate.
has.the worst schools in the industrial Yet we are usually compared with
world. nations that have a unitary system with
This wild generalization is flung out a national standard for education.
like a self-evident truth that needs no You can do that when you are small
careful documentation. and compact and have a relatively
. I .would like for people to start prov- homogeneous culture but it is much
. ing it. more difficult for us to do that.
' Set down the criteria for your com- So let us create a new category for
parison and then let's see if we really comparison: the federal multi-cultured
have the worst schools. superpower.
. Even if we arc behind nations like Now how does the United States
"Japan Sweden and Germany it is not compare with other nations in this cate-
entirely fair to compare us with them. gory?
We don't make small schools play in Rather well I would say since we
the same football conference as large might be the only nation in this cate-
'slhbols why do we compare our gory!
nation with nations that are strikingly Don't misunderstand me.
different? Our educational system can and
" ' ' How are we different? Well for should be improved.
"starters we are a large nation both in I just think we should be careful with
' territory and in population. our comparison in education and make
' ' ' We are a superpower not a regular sure we are comparing apples with
"power. apples and not with oranges.
Futhcrmore we are a federal govern-
ment which means that our school sys- A. J. Hoover
trn has 50 subdivisions that make for Professor of History
"The Optimist encourages reader response through letters to the editor but we
reserve the right to refuse to print letters that contain personal attack obscenity
defamation erroneous information or invasion of privacy.
The Optimist refuses to print letters that are not signed or letters that bear
::requests for the writer's anonymity.
We reserve the right to limit frequent writers and to edit letters for length or
'error. Letters sent to the Optimist should be limited to 350 words or less.
' Please address letters to "Optimist Editor" ACU Box 7892 or bring the letters to
Room 308 of the Don H. Morris Center.
Latest atheist trick attempts to remove Bible from school
'-The anti-religion army or at least
one of the soldiers has dropped to new
lows In its attempt to eliminate Christian
influence in the public schools.
.Gene Kasmar says the Bible appeals to
prurient interests which would make it
obscene and wants the Bible out of the
Broojdyn Center Minn. school districts
fjKasmar is an atheist and joins with
other atheists in protesting the Bible's use
in' public schools on the constitutional
grqund of separation of church and state
but he also has personal problems with
Scripture.
He says the Bible contains frequent ref-
erences to such appalling things as incest
child abuse nakedness and scatology
you-can look that last word up as I did
Scripture he claims has no historical
scientific literary or artistic value and
letters to the editor are the opinions
permits needed
windshield of the cars they arc driving.
The hanging permits would only be
valid on automobiles registered with the
Security Department. Students would
have to assume responsibility for this
easily removed permit and would have
to pay full price for a replacement.
This small change in policy would be
helpful to students and would coincide
with the university's policy of improved
service to customers.
should be offensive to the average adult.
What Kasmar is doing of course is
trying to suggest that an old Supreme
Court definition of obscenity applies to
the Bible. However he leaves out the part
where community standards are supposed
to apply.
I seriously hope he doesn't believe any
ofthathogwash.
Surely he knows better and is just try-
ing a new ploy to accomplish an old goal.
The Scripture does indeed contain tales
of humanity at it worst.
But no honest reader would get a sense
that the book approves of such under-
handed dealings certainly his or her
prurient interests would not be fulfilled.
You might say God was the first jour-
nalist recording accurately and fairly for
posterity the full range of human foibles.
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China experimenting with capitalism
These days I always hear good news
from China.
One of my buddies an electrical tech-
nician told me that in only three days he
made $5000 tax-free in the newly
opened stock market while his annual
salary is $500
Some of my former colleagues have
become chief representatives for foreign
companies in Shanghai after suffering a
period of joblessness because our news-
paper was closed by the Communist Party
n 1989.
Their annual take homc'rJdyis'at least pf
ten times that of their peers wb'fieing in
Chinese state-owned enterprises.
One of my best friends a copy editor
of a state-owned newspaper and once
very active during the pro-democracy
movement of 1989 rents a bookstore
and has made a fortune by selling books.
She has invited me to write something
about making money.
One novel about Chinese students
became successful in the United States
and is on the best-seller list.
I am considering pirating some of Ross
Perot's experiences to feed her demand.
Maybe you have noticed that all this
good news is closely related to money.
Truly making money is not simply a chit-
chat topic; it is an epidemic in China.
Government covers up
Did you know we picked up the tab for
a $3 million bash at Disney World for
state legislators?
Did you know $1 billion of your money
is earmarked to subsidize advertising of
American agricultural products overseas
- including Wrangler jeans McDonald's
and Campbell Soups?
Did you know an administrative assis-
tant for a congressman earns as much as
$102000?
Martin L. Gross has documented
enough examples of governmental waste
to infuriate the most even-tempered tax-
payer. His best-selling new book The Gov-
ernment Racket: Washington Waste from
A to Z available in the Brown library
details spendthrift practices that cut
across party lines and occur in both
Congress and the White House.
Arranged alphabetically by topics the
In
7 doubt his arguments
will sway any of the par-
onts or administrators
of his school district'
Michael
O'Connor
Life On 2 Wheels
And his editorial pronouncements arc
stronger than anything I have read in my
daily newspaper.
As for its historical literary scientific
and artistic values Kasmar must have
been asleep through much of his educa-
tion. Has he not seen at least in pictures
the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or
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TRICKS
'I doubt that today In
China few people who
understand what "trick'
le-down" economics
It seems" that cvcrVorie is attracted' by"
the glitter 'of gold. ""' '
Perhaps some of them have the ambi-
tion to run for president and becoming a
billionaire would be a short cut.
The Socialist ideal of public-spirited
altruism is already dead supplanted by a
"me first" attitude that fosters corruption
and rampant speculation.
Even the general secretary of the Com-
munist Youth League of China has seized
the opportunity to make some pretty big
bucks by teaching lessons on the ideal of
communism.
Obviously he is smart enough to
believe in money instead of communism.
I doubt that today in China few people
who understand what "trickle-down" '
economics means.
'Every taxpayer and
futurotaxpayors
needs to read The Gov-
ernment Racket '
Michelle
Morris
Political Scene
book includes under "Pork Barrel" what
Gross believes is "the most extensive
record of pork-barrel legislation ever
printed."
The author often quotes directly from
reports by oversight agencies such as the
General Accounting Office.
He reveals hundreds of wasteful exam-
ples and he generally offers practical
Michelangelo's David? Has he never
heard the stirring chords of Handel's
Messiah? Does he think Lincoln coined
the phrase about a house divided? Docs
he not know where Steinbeck got the title
for Grapes of Wrath!
Kasmar needs to read Carl Sagan's say-
ing that the Biblical account of creation is
absolutely accurate as he once did in on
article I read long ago
He needs to discover as Dr Bill Hum-
ble pointed out to me the other day that a
slab in Corinth bears the name of one of
the men Paul mentions. If Kasmar had
read the Bible with an unjaundiced eye
he would realize that it explains why the
Middle East stays in a constant state of
conflict.
He should go back and reread the book
of Esther one of the best suspense tales
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m Xiaodong
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A Different View
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Bobby OombtrV OptlmlM 1WJ
In the first eight months of this year ;
China's real gross national product grew-.
at a rate of 14 percent and industrial out-
put was up by more than 20 percent.
Since 1978 the country's real gross '
national product has grown by an average
of almost nine percent each year a rate
that doubles the size of the economy ' '
every eight years.
Meanwhile China is also the world's
19th-largest trading nation.
I don't think anvnne could he hannier '
v
than jl am even though I do not make a ' ''
jhnyinmisgoldrUsfj.'
as an economist ocicrminisi i ocneve
that China is marching on the right track'
toward a free market economy.
Those ruling communists in China '
think they have learned their lesson from
the Soviet Union. They dream that they t
can keep power if they are able to deliver
economic growth. They neglect the ener-1
gy of the free market
I agree with the comments of the .
Economist that "if the party does manage??
to modernize China at the end of the '
process it will no longer be recognizably
communist."
The day a free market economy pre
vails in China is the day I realize my
dream: to run an independent newspaper
1
in my motherland.
huge waste
savings solutions at the end of each brief .
chapter. '
For example Gross says the U.S.
House could stop all newsletter mailings
and save us $78 million a year.
Overall Gross recommends wc climi- j
nate the deficit by cutting $400 billion i
from the annual budget -a task that f'
appears much easier after reading his
book.
Every taxpayer and future taxpayers ;
needs to read The GovernmenrRacket.
The few money-related congressional
scandals that have been publicized barely I
skim the surface of the problem.
The $7.99 paperback reveals a danger ;
ous spending trend in Washington and Uje J
government. '
Maybe if enough of us become ' ;
informed we can find a way to keep ; j
more of our money where it belongs. '
in our pockets. ' ''
I've ever read or feel again the cadences 1
of the Psalms or recall the parable of the- I
prodigal a tightly constructed short story S
that set the standard for all would-be wrH-'
ers. I may be indulging in a bit of hyper- '
bole here but I would even suggest that
Kasmar's ability to communicate would '
be seriously hampered without the Bibli-" U
cal allusions that season day-to-day " ' '
speech. !
The very educational system he is try- !
ing to protect was at least in part created !
to enable people to read the Bibles he !
doesn't want today's children exposed to.' L
I doubt his arguments will sway any of
the parents or administrators of Ws school :
district. " :
Such Is the fate of those who as some?
one puce said build their foundations on
sand. !
A
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 20, Ed. 1, Wednesday, October 28, 1992, newspaper, October 28, 1992; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth92148/m1/2/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.