| Public speaking On Jan. 25, seven former varsity soccer players and some other Haltom High School students clapped after each goal Paschal High School soccer players scored during a match between the two teams. Four of those students were removed from the National Honor Society's honor board after the act, which one student said was intended to "protest (Haltom High's) coaching situation and the administration's lack of action." To the student's explanation, Birdville school district spokesman Mark Thomas said, "He has the right to speak, and we all know that. But the committee decided that the platform he chose was inappropriate . " But what message do administrators send when they tell students they are allowed to protest, but don't provide that platform? It would be easy for TCU administrators to disregard this local anecdote as irrelevant, claiming students have the right to protest and citing as an example last semester's protest against the Baptist Student Ministry's decision to bring a "reformed homosexual" to campus on National Coming Out Day. But let's consider the University of Texas: Administrators designate several campus areas for public demonstrations, the most commonly used one located on the "west mall." An administrative assistant at UT said this area is reserved almost every day of the week, and amplified sound is allowed from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Although UT is a public institution and TCU is not, students here still have the right to express their opinions. Maybe it's time we all consider providing a forum for that open dialogue..
Game show invented on campus It is a well-known fact that the game "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire?" was invented by TCU. We have been playing it in Fort Worth for more than 100 years. TCU thought up the game long before the Fox Television network was even in business. It is just a shame that the university did not apply for a patent on the contest. The multimillionaire game begins at Frog Camp when first-year students get an opportunity to look each other over. It continues during Howdy Week when everyone checks out who is new on campus. The multimillionaire game continues for four years. An individual is close to winning the game by the time senioritis sets it. If not, there is clear desperation to settle for someone who has only the potential to earn a million bucks or to register for graduate school. Most young single people on campus are perpetually playing the multimillionaire game. In the Rickel Building, any evening after 7 p.m., there is a parade of gentlemen who mount the back row of treadmills in the aerobics room. They check out which girls are ahead of them on the front rows riding exercise machines. Few of these gentlemen stay for more than five minutes because their hearts do not race from the exercise nor anyone they see in the room. We are a fine Southern university where rich young men come to discover rich young women and, perhaps, enter the perpetual state of marital bliss. There is a story going around campus about a couple who was introduced to each other in the lobby of the Student Center. The gentleman had been told that the woman was independently wealthy. They courted, married and lived happily in a nice house near campus. Years later, he finds out that his spouse is independent and healthy. It was too late because they had bills to pay, kids to send through college and a mortgage on a home with Texas-size property taxes. A little bit of hearing loss causes a heap of trouble. How do marriages turn out if someone marries for money? Perhaps, not too bad. Money solves a multitude of problems in a new marriage. Psychologists estimate that fights over money are the No. 1 problem faced by newlyweds. Perhaps much more thought should go into selecting the perfect mate. Couples need to evaluate how well their families get along. Can a person get along with the spouse's parents? I saw a bumper sticker on University Drive that said, "If Marriage is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have In-laws." Our cultures shape how we view life. It helps for two people to share similar goals and aspirations. Being a multimillionaire only solves one problem. Many other major issues exist. Have you attended a basketball or football game and seen alumni couples screaming at their wild little kids? The daughter is dressed up in a miniature TCU cheerleaders' outfit fussing over having to sit still. The little boy has a TCU jersey with No. 5 on it, fantasizing that he is a short, skinny LaDanian Tomlinson. He is screaming and crying because he is hungry and not interested in the game. All the money in Texas cannot make up for being a good parent. Little kids do not play the multimillionaire game very well if they are not nurtured and loved. Raising kids in a materialistic society is a real important issue when one is courting and looking for a permanent roommate of the opposite sex. It is a little offensive to think that the television show "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire?" was such a big ratings hit. It shows the dregs of interest Americans have in entertainment values. I may be only one of seven people in America who did not see the show live. The other six live in the backwoods of Appalachia. I am sure that Darva Conger, the big winner on the TV show, would rather have been home watching someone else get her 15 minutes of fame. It is a lot more productive to play "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire?" in the Student Center instead of making a lifelong commitment. Then an individual can go home, study for the big exam and come back to play another day.
David Becker is a graduate student at Brite Divinity School from Pueblo, Colo. He can be reached at (evadgorf@aol.com). Increased military spending needed to ensure future success After class last Thursday, I came to the realization that a growing number of Americans care little about a military that gives them so much. Comments like, "We don't need a military; the Cold War's over," and "War is not an end to war," completely demean the fighting men and women of this country. The Cold War is over primarily because former President Ronald Reagan outspent the former Soviet Union to the point of bankruptcy with regard to national defense. The result was that the once-great Red fear dissipated, and we were left with the strongest military force in the world. We reaped the benefits of this buildup as evidenced by our victory during the Gulf War in the early 1990s. Sadly, though, most Americans have been left with the idea that we are still as powerful as we were back then. The truth is that the American military could not run as big of a campaign as we did during the Gulf War. We have been downsized to the point that every branch of the service is in dire need of personnel. This downsizing can be partly attributed to the fact that ignorant Americans and even more ignorant Congressmen have become content with our superiority to the point that they felt military cutbacks would be acceptable. These cutbacks have had a detrimental effect on our national defense. Fortunately, many foreign countries still perceive the United States as being the biggest kid on the block. However, based on our current size and budget, if our military was to be tested again in a large-scale campaign, it would be quite a depressing eye-opener. Nearly all Americans currently in college have never known what it means to fight to protect our country, let alone experience a situation where the outcome of a war determines national survival. When I watch old newsreel footage during World War II and see how Americans united for a common cause, it really makes me feel proud. Nonetheless, when I think of how most Americans today feel more inspired to sit at home and watch MTV than support their country, it truly sickens me. Since there is no longer a single great threat to our country, Americans have forgotten the fact that we consistently need a strong and viable military force. Capt. Jose Aleman, the TCU Air Force ROTC admissions officer, said, "If you recall when ancient Greece was the center of the world, much like the United States is now, everyone thought that because they were such great intellectuals that they did not need defenses. However, when Persia attempted to invade them, the intellectuals quickly realized the need for standing military force." As terrible as it sounds, I almost sometimes wish that Americans would engage in another great war. I believe it would teach those who have never had patriotism a valuable lesson. There is a difference between buying something with your own money versus mommy and daddy's funds. I believe that learning the true meaning of freedom by standing up on your own and fighting for your country is very different from having someone else do it for you. As part of human nature, we sometimes tend to forget the ultimate sacrifices that numerous men and women made to ensure that we could sit at home and watch MTV without the threat of attack. As Americans, we need to stand up and honor those who have come before us and demand a more powerful military from our nation's leaders. Granted, with such a booming economy, it is difficult to attract men and women to serve the United States in a job that pays so little and asks for so much. On the other hand, we should all urge Congress to increase military pay to more appropriate rates, in addition to creating a larger military budget. After all, how can we expect the United States to stay the greatest nation in the world if we do not have the best means to protect it?
Robert Davis is a senior computer science major from Garland, Texas. He can be reached at (rddavis@delta.is.tcu.edu). Letter to the editor Student's statements should be supported by evidence It was hard to miss the irony on the Skiff's March 3 opinion page. Matthew Colglazier whimsically advises, "Make bold statements, and then don't back them up." And just across the page in the Letters sections, Chris Dobson takes his advice, telling us, "One might think that at a Christian university like ours, Christians would understand that Jesus Christ was black." Chris doesn't share how he arrived at this amazing 2,000-year-old intelligence, but it's a startling revelation in the absence of direct historical evidence such as eyewitness descriptions. Based on Jesus' geographic and ethnic origin (Palestinian Jew), it seems far more likely he was swarthy-skinned - technically, neither black nor white. But the unvarnished truth is, we don't really know. No living person knows what Jesus looked like. In Christian theology, Jesus represents a spiritual appeal from God to all humanity. But given the very human foible of ignoring eternal meanings to focus on temporary superficialities like skin color, concealing Jesus' appearance from subsequent generations is probably one of the wiser decisions God ever made.
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