The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 82, No. 26, Ed. 1, Friday, November 19, 1993 Page: 2 of 8
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Sharla Stephens Editor in Chief
Serene Goh Managing News Editor
Richard Stevens Opinion Page Edtor
Dr. Charlie Marler Faculty Adviser
Editorial Board
Serene Goh Kathy Colvctt Casey Matzkc Brian Shaw Mark Houston
John Carrjll Stephen Jacobs Richard Stevens
Marty Reves Sharla Stephens
The Optimist is a twice-a-weck publication of the students of the Department of Journal-
ism and Mass Communication of Abilene Christian University and serves as a journalism
laboratory for the department's students. - .
. The unsigned editorials arc the opinions of the students on the Optimist Editorial Board
'. and do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of the university. '
The signed columns cartoons and letters to the editor arc the opinions of their creators and
'. do not necessarily reflect the views of the Optimist Editorial Board or the university
administration.
Educrats abdicate
responsibility values
The education system in the United
I States is deteriorating and U.S. stu-
. -dents too often are left in the backwaters
of education.
I In his book The De-Valuing of Ameri-
ca former Secretary of Education
. William Bennett reported the following:
43 percent of high school seniors could
not place World War I in the half-century
in which it occurred. More than two-
thirds could not do the same for the Civil
War. One-third of high school students in
1986 did not know why the Declaration
of Independence was written.
k Sixty percent did not know that the
h Federalist Papers were written to encour
age ratification of the Constitution. Forty
percent did not know approximately
.when the Constitution was ratified. Only
60 percent could identify our system of
checks and balances among the branches
of government.
In 1989 National Geographic did a
survey of geography knowledge. Ameri-
cans aged 18-24 finished last among 10
countries including Mexico Bennett
wrote
Ted Uzzle editor of Sound dc Video
Contractor has written "The more tech-
nological our society becomes the more
important is a good liberal arts education.
One thing never changes. Professional
educators never quite get their stuff
.together." Uzzle chastised educators for
being more concerned with having the
right equipment than teaching students
what and how to write.
Bennett blamed much of the problem
on the values clarification programs of
the 1970s which prompted many educa-
tors to quit teaching the great literature of
Western Civilization. As a consequence
many students no longer learn what is
morally good and bad right and wrong
he said.
"Many of these education bureaucrats
or educrats have abdicated their respon-
sibilities. They should abdicate their
authority as well" Bennett wrote.
Uzzle agreed with him "You must
teach them they can change the world.
Teach them history so they'll know why.
Teach them math and languages so
they'll know how. ... Teach them.how to
work the great ideas of all time not just
how to work today's ephemeral mach-
ines" he wrote.
Bennett also pointed out that many of
these same educrats want to eliminate
any mention of God or anything favor-
able to Christianity from public schools.
We should not be surprised that our
education system is decaying under these
circumstances. We arc not teaching stu-
dents the knowledge they need nor arc
we allowing them access the Source of
knowledge.
Martin Luther once wrote "Any insti-
tution in which men are not increasingly
occupied with the Word of God must
become corrupt." This statement perfect-
ly describes our public school system.
i If k x ' J m
I V: I : CT !L m
S -i ' - ' ll lHJwl I a r ll Win J ua
Brian discovers revenue source
Message board could generate casfy
Dear Readers: A modest proposal on how
ACU can make more money without
having to raise tuition:
I made a wrong turn while returning from
the volleyball tournament in Denton Satur-
day and ended up going through Dallas to
get back to 1-20 instead of Fort Worth.
The one good thing about my detour was
that I was able to finish listening to my
hometown Baylor Bears finish a 38-14
trouncing of Rice. But that wasn't the rea-
son the trip was so enjoyable. The Baylor
football team's victory was assured by the
time I left the volleyball match but some-
thing interesting occurred in the fourth
quarter.
Most starters had retired for the evening
with the big lead but senior quarterback
J.J. Joe returned to the field. Sound suspi-
cious? It should. Before another play could
occur a message flashed on Floyd Casey
Stadium's electronic message board. The
message was from Joe asking his girlfriend
to marry him. He left the field without tak-
ing a snap.
Isn't that romantic? Joe has more nerve
than I would have had. Frank Fallon who
'But whv not kttttlt
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Brian
Shaw
Free Spirit
has been broadcasting Baylor football since
before the wheel was invented said he
never had seen anything like it.
I never have seen anything like it cither.
But will someone tell me why ACU didn't
think of that idea first?
Shotwcll Stadium doesn't have an elec-
tronic message board. Wc don't Own it so
wc probably would have to convince the
AISD to install one. I guess not many of the
other players who use Shotwcll would use a
message board to propose.
But why not install an electronic message
board in Moody Coliseum? It has new
scats and the floor is only three years old.
Why not replace the scoreboard too? We
might as well do it right. After all that old
scoreboard might fall doWn and ruin the
new floor.
Don't laugh. It happened to Charlotte
Coliseum in North Carolina .shortly bcforcfi
opened. Wc should protect our investment
in the floor by obtaining n new scoreboard.
Wouldn't that be a creative way to pro-
pose to someone? Or even to ask someone
out on a date? The less daring student
wouldn't even have to leave a name; rfie
board could display just the phone numbfr. t
The school could sell time as if the mes-
sage board was advertising space. The
board would pay for itself within a few
semesters and then the school could make
money from selling the messages. The
board could serve as an electronic personal
ads section to help students contact those
special people they've been eying.
You can come up with many crazy ideas
when you do strange things and my idea
actually might work. The best part is
because I will graduate in May no one can
accuse me of doing this for selfish rcals.v
Speeches raise concerns
To the Editor:
He who has an ear let him hear.
The speaker at Nov. 1 and 2's Daily
Assemblies has expressed a valid concern
that there has been too much disruptive
behavior in such assemblies. This is true.
However why have these disruptions
occurred? Is it because there arc some stu-
dents who are intrinsically bad i.e. heck-
Jers or is it because there is something
Cextrinsically wrong with a mandatory
pDaily Assembly service? Jesus said "He
who has an car let him hear."
Z The words He said were so important
bhat the people could not keep themselves
tJrom coming to hear him. Daily Assemble
.should be so.
What would happen if Daily Assembly
were made voluntary? First the atten-
dance would drop dramatically for proba-
bly a semester. Then Charles Trevathan
would do something to attract more stu-
dents not gimmicks like "Walk proud
; 'talk loud and draw a crowd" but serious
spiritually challenging assemblies before
our Lord. Then as such changes came
about attendance would regenerate to the
level it is now and the students would
want to be there. Heckling would not be
an issue.
If however there exists a mandatory
Daily Assembly clause in the original
charter for Abilene Christian University
then there should be some sort of Daily
Assembly syllabus sent to all students
required to attend Daily Assembly. There
should be no more than IS nonspirit
assemblies i.e. pep rallies.
The syllabus should list those dates.
That way those who arc serious about
having a spiritual experience can skip
assemblies that mar the general impression
of such assemblies. This I believe would
also curb some of the cynicism among the
students about Dally Assembly.
A main speaker for several days
expressed the opinion that the hecklers are
acting out of ignorance rather than rude-
ness; I would maintain that we are heck-
lers out of rudeness We are insulted by
being strongly urged to attend assemblies
some of which arc laughable displays and
strange mixtures of patriotism the Dallas
Cowboys and Christianity. Let he who has
an ear hear but if you must make him
hear make it worthwhile.
Aaron D. Burk '
Senior English major Knty
To the Editor:
I would like to comment on a remark
made by the speukcr in Daily Assembly
Nov. 8. While discussing adultery the
speaker referred to the woman involved as
a "sweet young thing." I don't disagree
with the points made by the speaker and
am in no way making excuses for adulter-
ous be"havior. However his choice of
words was derogatory and uncalled for
regardless of the woman's morals. Under
absolutely no circumstances is it accept-
able to refer to a woman as a "thing."
Amy Suzanne Todd
Senior English major Tempe Ariz.
gging out
Students to gorge during holiday
' The Optimist encourages reader response tlirough letters to the editor but wc reserve the right to refuse to print letters that contain per-
sonal attack obscenity defamation erroneous Information or invasion of privacy
The Optimist refuses to print any letters that do not include a signature or letters that bear requests for the writer's anonymity.
Wc reserve the right to limit frequent writers and edit letters when length or grammatical errors become a problem.
' Letters submitted to the Optimist should be limited to 330 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.
Gobble 'til you wobble. Isn't Thanks-
giving great? This wonderful holiday
is the only time our culture deems socially
acceptable to gorge on all the foods the
FDA says will kill you. Forget about
cholesterol calorics fat simply indulge.
Ah that glorious day. It begins with a
light breakfast complete with eggs bacon
biscuits and gravy and a sneak of that
pumpkin pic Mom made for the afternoon
feast.
After a few hours of watching the
monotonous Thanksgiving Day parades on
television and gagging at the festively arti-
ficial smiles and waves the kitchen starts
churning out delicious aromas.
At last the time comes. The table over-
flows with all the fixings. Juicy turkey and
dressing mashed potatoes drowning in but-
ter. The calories beckon.
All self-control aside we dig in up to our
elbows ignoring our mind's disapproval of
the greasy unhealthy consumption. Just as
odr stomachs are about to explode we
place our forks down wipe our mouths
with glee and attempt to draw breath into
our filled-to-the-brim bodies. The Thanks-
giving tradition has carried over into yet
another year.
While gorging may bring temporary sat-
isfaction the feelings we encounter after
our gluttonous adventures are not at all
pleasant. Obesity. Loss of self-control.
Guilt.
I don't know about you but I hate guilt
especially when it comes to overeating.
Each year after the feast I find myself
scolding my actions. I just spoiled my fair-
ly consistent year-round effort of self-control
in a mere 30 minutes and now feel as
big as a cow. Moo
'Let's Just kick
relax and wait
we can no longer
look down and
ouriMt'
unuL..
Sharla
Stephens
Free to Be
s
So I like many folks I'm sure
begin a vigorous dieting frenzy to shed the
unwanted calorics and fat A passionate
game of solitaire eliminates the cherry tod-
ding; a romp around the house to check rdr
snow cancels out the five-plus cookies.
And I figure by drinking water instead! of
cola during that fateful meal I saved my
body at least 100 calories. That must count
for something.
And so the denial and compensation n-
tinues until at last we have talked our my
through the guilt of gorging. Wc figure the
satisfaction wc received from the little
splurge was worth it and wasn't it?
Wouldn't life be dull if wc were cautiqus
every day of the year? Hadn't wc earned
that contentment we experienced sitting ft
the table with heaps of food on our plotesi
and gleaming forks in our hands?
Sure
This year as wc prepare our minds to
engage In our indulgence let's forget about
the guilt. .
Let's just kick back relax and woItjBHl
that Thanksgiving Day wjicn we cario
longer look down and see our feet.
Happy Thanksgiving.
h
.-
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 82, No. 26, Ed. 1, Friday, November 19, 1993, newspaper, November 19, 1993; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth92210/m1/2/: accessed April 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.