In 1944, a group was founded to reduce poverty. To educate girls. To eliminate corruption. To protect the environment. Those were and are the goals of the World Bank. But now, more than 1,000 people have been arrested while protesting the meetings of both the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. They went to Washington, D.C., to protest globalization, child labor, environmental damage, debt and other issues. Protesters say the World Bank's and IMF's debt repayments are making it hard to reduce poverty. That their devotion to the free-market model may contribute to child labor. That their deliberations tend to favor the interests of multinational companies. That their projects are done without regard to environmental consequences. The IMF offers countries emergency loans during times of financial crisis. Then the World Bank gives loans for development. While the two institutions maintain they are assisting countries by providing loans for resources, protesters insist they are helping the rich get richer while the poor get poorer. The World Bank and the IMF were founded by the governments of various countries in an attempt to help developing countries reach stability. But sometimes assistance is only offered because lenders are counting on financial benefits from the loans. These are complicated issues. Let's not try to thoughtlessly simplify them or quickly condemn either the protesters or the institutions. Now is the time to examine the World Bank's and IMF's strengths and deficiencies.
Music not the root of school evil Last month, a high school senior attending Sunnybrook Christian Academy in San Antonio was suspended for taking part in a rather shocking crime. Jason Trejo was not suspended for using drugs, drinking or even robbery. Instead, he committed a crime far more unimaginable: He went to a Backstreet Boys concert with his parents. The Academy, in supporting its decision, cited a pledge that its students must sign stating that, among other things, they will not listen to "inappropriate music." While it can be argued the Backstreet Boys represent a downward spiral in modern music, it is utterly ridiculous to call them inappropriate. When most normal people think of so-called "inappropriate music," they tend to think of bands like Marilyn Manson or Lords of Acid - music that one generally would not want his or her 6-year-old brother or sister hearing. However, considering that a significant majority of preteen girls are die-hard fans of the Backstreet Boys, it begs to question how in the world can Sunnybrook Christian Academy declare the group improper for a high school senior? It is obvious that rules are rules, and Trejo should have been well aware of the pledge he signed before going to the concert. However, Trejo most likely went to the concert with the idea that the school would never punish him for attending such bubble-gum-pop fair as the Backstreet Boys. Furthermore, and what is perhaps most troubling about this situation, Sunnybrook school officials have declined to comment on what music they consider a violation of their policy. Due to the suspension for his "heinous" crime, Trejo's parents have elected to remove him from the school and place him in a local public high school. However, in doing so, Trejo found himself one credit short of graduation because several of his classes at Sunnybrook did not transfer. Fortunately, he has been able to make a deal with his new high school and is taking a night class in addition to his regular course load. Nonetheless, it is outrageous to think this student is being punished for committing a crime that is no more deplorable than forgetting to turn off the light when leaving a room. While suspensions are a necessary part of high school discipline, they should only be issued in the most serious of cases. If Trejo had been caught smoking marijuana at the concert, a school suspension would be quite understandable. However, to have him go out with his family and simply have a good time listening to the music he enjoys, a suspension makes about as much sense as giving a screwdriver to a dolphin. In a time when family values seem to be such an important topic, it should be embarrassing for Sunnybrook Christian Academy to punish a student when he was spending such quality time with his family. Sure, many of my friends can strongly dispute whether or not listening to the Backstreet Boys' music can be consider quality time, but the heart of the matter is not strictly the Backstreet Boys. Instead, it is the fact that the Academy vaguely worded its pledge and has since neglected to further elaborate on it. The atmosphere the school officials have created with this incident basically places Sunnybrook's other students in the predicament of never listening to music again - at least while they are still attending school there. Even something as childish and harmless as "I Love To Sing With Barney" may very well turn out to be "inappropriate music," judging by the school's rash reactions. It is easy to understand that Sunnybrook wants its students to stray away from the wicked ways of the world, but the school must learn to be more realistic and understand that the Backstreet Boys are not the root of all that is evil. Now as far as Barney goes just kidding.
Robert Davis is a senior computer science major from Garland. He can be reached at (rddavis@delta.is.tcu.edu).
There it was in black and white in my hometown newspaper. It was spooky to see my own name in the obituary column. It was my name, but it was not me. Perhaps it just reminded me of my own mortality. Somewhere else in Pueblo, Colo., there is another family mourning the loss of a father, husband or brother. When my friends in Pueblo saw the obituary, they started calling one another. My wife's sorority sisters, trying to pin down the news, were on the phone to my mother. As if testing the waters of condolence, I received an e-mail from a business colleague that read: "Hey, friend! Is all OK with you?" The person who phoned to check on me was sobbing when I answered. It didn't occur to her that I would be there, and she sounded like she'd heard a ghost. "No, it's not me who died ... Yes, I'm OK except for a bad case of postnasal drip." The biggest victim of the misunderstanding was my mother. A friend woke her from a sound sleep at 7:30 a.m. to ask if it was HER David Becker who had died. It was all the worse for her because a close relative committed suicide last fall, and she was dreaming about him. The whole incident left my mother quite shaken. She finally had to write herself a note "MY DAVID IS STILL ALIVE." All the attention mildly amused me. I thought of a favorite poem I learned as a child: I wake up each morning And dust off my wits I pick up the paper And read the obits If my name is not present I know I am not dead So I eat a good breakfast And I go back to bed. I knew there was another David Becker in Colorado. In 1973, when Cynthia and I married in Pueblo, the other David Becker soon married. We made our first home in Chaffee County; so did they. We moved to Colorado Springs; so did the Beckers. We returned to Pueblo and, you guessed it, the other David Becker came too. I am studying now for the pastoral ministry. The other David Becker has been in the ministry for some time. We have never met, but our paths have crossed often. I remember the story of Alfred Nobel, a Swiss chemist and engineer who opened a factory to safely produce liquid nitroglycerin. He made a fortune producing explosives and detonators for the mining industry. In the late 19th century, Nobel's inventions revolutionized tunnel, road, railroad and canal building. Incendiary devices are important in the destruction business, and he had a corner on the market. In 1888, Nobel's brother Ludvig died while vacationing at Cannes, in the south of France. The next morning, the Paris newspaper carried the headline Le merchant de la mort est mort. ("The Merchant of Death is Dead.") The newspaper had run the obituary of the wrong Nobel brother. Alfred had the rare opportunity to read his own death notice. This incident changed his life. Nobel realized that his legacy was going to be as an inventor who assembled devices for destruction. When Alfred died in 1896, he left his enormous fortune to fund prizes to individuals who foster excellence in literature, chemistry and physics. He left his largest endowment to fund a prize for human beings who promote peace in the world. Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Teresa have won the Nobel Peace Prize. I got my 15 minutes of fame. It felt nice to have people worried about me. But on the day my obituary ran in the Colorado newspaper, tornadoes tore through downtown Fort Worth, where I am attending seminary. Perhaps God is trying to give me a message to slow down, enjoy life and look for ways to help others in need. My friend Lee sent an e-mail that read: "Sure glad Cindy's not a widow!" Me, too, Lee. Me, too!
David Becker is a Brite Divinity School graduate student from Pueblo, Colo. He can be reached at (evadgorf@aol.com).
"What's that you're building?" asked the TCU security officer. "It's a squatter's hut, simulating where people live in the borderlands," a student replied. "I thought so," the officer responded. "That's why I came over to take a look. You know, I was born in one of those huts." Globalization. It is the catchphrase of the moment. But what does it mean to you and to me? To demonstrate, students at Brite Divinity School have built a replica of the typical family dwelling seen ensconced around the new factories a few miles south of the border. "This is where the people live who make our tennis shoes," remarked Peter Jones, a key organizer of the protest. Not only our tennis shoes: Our cars, appliances, clothing and most everything that we use or consume in this country were, most likely, assembled under substandard working conditions by a person making less than a dollar an hour, and who lives in one of these huts. Often, whole families with several children will live together in a similar one-room, mud-floor shanty. Though everyone in the United States consumes products made by workers under these conditions, many of us apparently remain unaware of the desperation of their plight. Texas Gov. George W. Bush's incredulity upon learning of the hungry in Texas may be indicative of our own claimed naiveté. But while we feign ignorance, privileged U.S. corporations continue to uproot factories here in order to rebuild in nations unconcerned with employee compensation, or even health and safety. Not everyone is taking this lying down. This week, thousands of protesters are in the news as they demonstrate against systemic injustice perpetrated by the International Monetary Fund. The abuses and corruption of the IMF are one example of an extant anti-democratic structure that privileges the corporate elite, while keeping the majority of this world in poverty. Through this demonstration, some of the students at Brite Divinity School declare their solidarity with the workers of the world and the IMF protesters in Washington, as we lift up a specific injustice: the abuse and conditions of workers on the Texas/Mexico border. This situation was made tangible for us on a recent fact-finding mission to the borderlands. Our protest is an effort to share with the student body of TCU the horror of globalization run amok, seen not too far from here. Interested? Come see our hut on the south side of Brite or come to an informational meeting and power-point presentation at noon Thursday in Brite's Weatherly Hall.
Canaan Harris is a Brite Divinity School student from Athens, Ga. He can be reached at (canaanh@hotmail.com). |
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