The Brand (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 75, No. 6, Ed. 1, Friday, March 11, 1988 Page: 2 of 6
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Use of mental capacities a lost art according
Do you ever think about the future7
I don't mean your future I mean the
future Do you ever think that we
have to run this country in about ten
a fifteen years because everyone
who runs it now will be dying off or
going into well-deserved retire-
ment? Maybe it won't be us directly but it
will be our immediate peers who
take over that responsibility To me
that is a very scary thought Not
because of the responsibility I have
no problem with that part It scares
me because I don't see a whole lot
of people among my peers who
are capable of running this country
or any country for that matter
Think about it Our generation is
one of alcoholics drug addicts and
cheaters And with morality in the
state it's in half of our generation will
die of AIDS before it hits thirty and
we'll be paying fa their medical
care until they do so
I hate to be so negative but I worry
about it If I attend a private universi-
ty in a state which is basically still
religious and circumstances are the
way they are here how much worse
can they be in the rest of the coun-
try? How many people you know are
alcoholics7 Multiply that across the
country for all the universities and
colleges frightening isn't it? Now
do the same thing for drug addicts
even more frightening.
You could say "Why should we
even worry about this7 How do you
know what will happen?" Well I
don't know for certain I can only
assume from what I have observed
and read I am from the west coast
and I know conditions are bad
there I go to school here and I know
conditions are bad here I visit the
east coast and talk to the students
there conditions are bad there too
What does this lead me to believe?
Conditions are bad everywhere I
am fairly sure that's sound reason-
ing Let's consider the cheating thing
since it's much easier to deal with
than the subject of chemical
dependency
I know a great percentage of the
students here don't really study for
GARFIELD by Jim Davis
f WELCOME ToH J THE WORLP'S M06"i"H
L -WHBTLINCr I STOPIP ANP BORING J
IfOR POLLARSJ- v i U GAME SHOW yh
The Brand staff:
Marcie Ginn editor
Patrick O'Donnell layout editor
Jimmy McCorkle sports editor
Tammy Mantooth advertising manager
Dana Irving advertising asst.business manager
Grace Wolfe advertising assistant
Tatia Rogers contributing writer
Leigh Ann Whiddon contributing writer
Misty Wilson contributing writer
Randy Armstrong faculty advisor
The Brand is o non-profit newspaper of Hordm-Simmons University published during the
long terms under the direction of the Department of Communication serving as a
laboratory project and a torum of student views Editorial opinions ore those o? the stu-
dent writers and do not necessarily reflect those of the university the faculty or the ad
ministration The Brand is a member of Sigma Delta Chi. Texas Intercollegiate Press
Association and the Southwest Journalism Congress
their tests-you know it. too Perhaps.
for clarity's sake I should define the
word study' It means reading
digesting and memorizing the tex-
tbook and your class notes Study'
does not mean memorizing other
people's old tests
It's partially the fault of the
teachers and partially the fault of
the students But do you really want
to have to get a job to support
yourself knowing barely anything
about the field in which you sup-
posedly studied7
Seriously now I don't want you
analyzing and treating my child if
you didn't learn any of your
psychology but rather memorized
the answers from old tests Do you
really want to be responsible for
messing my child up for life7 1 doubt
it I should hope not anyway. Think
of the lawsuits which could be in-
volved for one thing not to mention
anything about ethical and moral
responsibility.
I know a lot of people probably
hate me for saying all these things
but I get frustrated and someone
has to say them. I'm sure you've
heard your parents or someone
their age say our generation doesn't
think The older I get (week by week)
the more valid I believe the obser-
vation to be
Our generation doesn't think and
because of that our generation
doesn't learn much and it doesn't
know much I know I don't observe
many people thinking I hats very
bad because we are at school to
think and to learn How are you go-
ing to really know anything when
you get out of this environment
unless you think about it when you're
here?
Don't automatically take anyone's
word for anything I realize of
course that our teachers are here
as teachers because they know
about the subject. But if they deal in
theory at all there is room fa discus-
sion in any field
Again think about things If you
have an opinion on something ex-
press it If you have a question about
something ask it If you're wrong
fine At least you'll know what's
wrong and what's right and that's
the way you learn
I am assuming obviously that you
want to learn You re in an institution
of higher learning -a key word that
last one Someone is paying pretty
big bucks fa you to lodge here. I
hope you're getting something out
of it
I guess the reason I'm so concern-
ed is I really do not want to have to
support the rest of the world by the
time I get up there to the supporting
stage I would like to have to just
worry about myself and my family.
not about the billions of people who
are going to oe on welfare (if there
is such a thing by that time)
because they either can't get a job
a can't hold one
If you want reasons why I think like
this I'll give them I have worked very
hara all my life to be adept at things
I find are necessary for me to lead a
responsible and productive life I
was somewhat sheltered from the
wald m that I was always in class
with people who were taught to be
and who were the same way as I
Not that they were perfect Some
of them were on drugs and what
have you but they still had more of
a mind than a lot of other people
and they thought very hard about
everything
I came out of that situation under
the impression that most people or
at least a majaity or mem were like
that Whoops Shock Dismay
Revelation It wasn't true at all It
quickly became apparent to me
that my outlook on the world was in-
correct so I changed it And that's
when I started getting scared
What I'm discussing here is not
something reserved only for those of
supena intelligence.' I'm not put-
ting down people who are not
extra-smart not at all If you are in
the area of the so-called average'
(very relative term that) and you do
the best you can at what you do
you are far mae valuable than so-
meone who has mae of a capaci-
ty fa production and does nothing
I firmly believe that too In-
telligence is not really a huge quali-
fying factor in my opinion I know a
lot of people who are supposedly
'smart' but will never do a produc
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tive thing for themselves or for the
world in general-
it is a popular belief in our society
that you can do whatever you want
ana that s okay it won t hurt anyone
the world will keep gang This
directly applies to us in that students
have the attitude they don't have to
learn anything if they don t feel like
it. because someone else will learn
it and that someone will run the
world while they themselves kick
back They think they can just take
tests ana get out and do whatever
they want
That however is not true What
happens for instance if the people
who do bother to learn decide they '
don't want to suppat everyone else
and they also start doing whatever
they want?
If you have an entire society doing
whatever it wants fa its own per-
sonal satisfaction you have
basically anarchy That means no
society. I don't want to live in a
lonexistent society i want structure I
want safety And no I don't want a
totalitarian government (the solution
of Thomas Hobbes) I want to live in
this country with maybe a few im-
provements I want to be able to live
the same kind of relatively safe life
my parents lead and their parents
led. And I don't se that happening
I-hope I'm wrong I hope I'm just
being overly pessimistic But I don't
think I am In case you haven't
noticed our society isn't getting any
better In fact it's getting worse by
almost everyone's standards.
Check the crime rates Check the
education rates Check the attitude
of the people Check the deficit
And now there's supposed to be
another depression oh. great
Who's going to build the country up
again? I don't even want to think
about it. I'm too worried about us
running a country which I assume
will continue going under the power
of our parents until we get there to
takeover JOIO
But enough depressing stuff How
do I propose we change this? Think
Easy enough everyone knows how
Some just don t do H enough To
really learn you have to think about
everything Do you oppose the
PEANUTS by Charles
SORRY I AUS5EP THAT ONE
MANAGER ..MAYBE AW 6L0VE
ISN'T 0I6ENOU6H...
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to student
government m boutn Africa''' Why7
Because Peter Jennings said to'
Because your teacher said to7 What
is the situation m South Africa7 Do
you know7
Find out Think about it Whos
right7 Why are they right7 What
should be done about it7
Do you oppose prayer m school7
Why or why not7 What is the basic
issue involved7 Why do people take
the sides they do7 You don't care7
You should Some very basic liber
ties you take for granted every day
are involved on both sides
You can apply the same techni-
que thinking to your classes Pay at-
tention to what you're being taught
ask questions Think your way
through the concepts Don't just
make an appearance and
memorize the answers the night
before the test It all makes sense or
there wouldn't be a class covering it
(presumably--! think that's the
reasoning behind an education)
It's relevant to something
somewhere
If you believe you're never going
to use a lot of the information in your
life learn it anyway Some day your
child is going to ask you a question
and he s going to want an answer
you are going to feel stupid if you
can't answer it Trust me. I have a six-year-old
brother who asks very
enlightened questions
Think too. about this commentary.
Do you agree with me or do you
think it's a pile of trash7 Why or why
not7
So do you think about the future7 1
do. And I hope for the best Maybe
people will realise there is more to
life than just letting others do
everything for them and just fulfilling
the minimum requirements Maybe
they'll learn to stand up for
themselves at the risk of being
wrong Maybe we'll figure out how
to cope with the monumental pro-
blems we re going to have to face
later. Maybe. But. on the other hand
maybe not
Misty Wilson
M. Schulz
BIG ENOUGH?.'
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The Brand (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 75, No. 6, Ed. 1, Friday, March 11, 1988, newspaper, March 11, 1988; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth96457/m1/2/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hardin-Simmons University Library.