| 'Huh?' Be in the know on current events
The results of Monday's Purple Poll proved to be very discouraging to some. One hundred students were asked, "Do you think President Clinton should send troops to East Timor?" Fourteen said, "Yes;" 36 said, "No;" and an alarming 50 said, "Huh?" Perhaps these students - who were quizzed as they ate in The Main or as they were on the way there - were thinking more about their empty stomachs than what was going on around the globe. Fair enough. But then again, maybe they need to open up a newspaper more often. In an attempt to help educate readers on current events, we're running a short quiz to test your knowledge. On Wednesday we'll run the answers. Good luck, and keep your eyes on your own paper. 1. Who is suspected of the recent bombings in Russia? A) Bosnians B) Islamic militants C) communists D) Southern Methodist University students 2. What is the cause of the war in East Timor? A) Independence of East Timor from Indonesia B) East Timor Muslims are upset because they lack representation in the country's parliament C) Its president refuses to resolve a labor dispute D) The wall between East and West Timor was recently torn down 3. What is the name of the hurricane about to hit Florida? A) Bertha B) Andrew C) Floyd D) Krusty the Clown 4. Which of the presidential candidates used to be a pro-basketball player? A) George "Dubya" Bush B) Al Gore C) Bill Bradley D) Michael R. Ferrari
Blame us for celebrity tragedies The unexpected plane crash that killed John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. remains the biggest story of this year. But the root of fascination did not originate this year or even in this decade. The Kennedys have been at the center of the spotlight in our society for most of this century. Way back in the 1960s, when this Kennedy thing first took prominence, The Rolling Stones asked the question, "Who killed the Kennedys?" The answer, according to lead singer Mick Jagger: "After all, it was you and me." I am, of course, quoting the Stones' Satan-based anthem: "Sympathy for the Devil," an all-too prophetic song Kennedy groupies have been trying to answer for ever since. A tragic saga, they say. But is it really all that bizarre? The Kennedys are celebrities, and celebrities become what they are by selling us an image. When we buy into it, they become larger than what they are in reality, and when they fall, they prove their humanity. Why is it, then, that when individual celebrities such as Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin fall, we smirk and roll our eyes, but when a Kennedy dies, it must be linked to some phantom curse? Maybe it's because somewhere along the lines they, like most famous people who fall, blurred the lines of their image with true reality. Somehow they bought their own self-promoted image of elite immortality, and then they conveyed it to us. Have we overlooked the possibility that many of the Kennedy members take stupid chances all the time and just get away with it on most occasions? We never hear about those stories, do we? And once again, we ask the question of why. Why would a family that has everything - wealth, fame, power and prestige - risk it all? Maybe to prove somehow, someway, that they really are invincible and even worthy of this image they created. Maybe - because of boredom or a lack of any more natural highs - the Kennedys are unconsciously trying to prove to themselves that "the emperor's new clothes" really do fit. In fairness, JFK Jr. might actually be the exception to this rule. Michael Kennedy, on the other hand, makes a much better example. He was killed in a skiing accident when he barreled head-first into a tree. But most people tend to forget that, just 15 minutes before his death, the ski patrol warned him against the dangers of playing catch football at such high speeds. This kind of behavior, most people agree, is just plain stupid, ignorant, arrogant and downright believable. I'm not denying the tragic element of this family. I'm merely suggesting that we as a nation created this idea of a bizarre curse, simply because we vicariously crave something more than the reality of the situation. Look at the truth. John F. Kennedy rode in an open car when he obviously had enemies. Bobby Kennedy walked through a crowded kitchen with only one body guard. Joseph Kennedy accepted a dangerous mission during World War II in which death was almost certain. People who think they are invincible often take stupid, unsafe risks because this is where the natural high comes. We see teenagers do this all the time, and they often pay the consequences. Why would the Kennedys be any different? And why wouldn't they succumb to the odds just like any other gambler? More importantly, why would we continue to believe it's caused by a curse? I'm certain this offends some people, but I just can't respect a Kennedy family that has no regard for its own human life. That little boy we all knew as "John-John" is gone now, but he isn't forgotten. He simply lives now in infamy because he is a Kennedy. A sad death? Yes. But bizarre? Not really. We know all who is to blame for this tragedy. After all, it was you and me. All the Kennedys did was place a stupid bet or two.
Tim Skaggs is a senior speech communication major from Fort Worth. He can be reached at (tsskaggs@delta.is.tcu.edu). Avoiding stereotypes should go beyond just race For those who know me, they know it is a rare occurrence for me to be rendered speechless. But sitting in my religion class last Tuesday afternoon, I must say that speechless I was. You know how you feel when you hear an offensive joke or when someone blatantly insults you, and you just stare with your mouth hanging open and a look on your face that says, "That comment really did not just come out of your mouth!" Well, that's what happened to me. Without going into all the gory details, let's just say that during a private conversation with one of my friends before class, an eavesdropper heard a small portion of our conversation about her father going dove hunting. Without asking what we were talking about, he asked, "Dove hunting. Are you talking about your little fraternity boyfriend?" At that moment, I was rendered speechless. First of all, I was slightly appalled by the fact he burst in on our conversation. But when his remark insinuated that a member of the Greek community had to be involved if we were talking about hunting, well, that riled me up. It is prejudice like this that shocks me. Most people find it highly important to be open-minded and politically correct when it comes to anything and anyone except the Greek community. As Americans, we try so hard to wipe out racism, sexism, ageism and any other "-ism" that places stereotypes on a collective group of people. Yet there seems to be no problem to make fraternity men and sorority women the butt of prejudiced, closed-minded remarks and jokes. I know Greeks aren't perfect. Neither is any other TCU student I know. I won't say the Greek system is without flaws, because it certainly does have them. But I would like to say that stereotyping members of fraternities and sororities is just like stereotyping any other group. Bertice Berry, last week's fraternity- and sorority-sponsored speaker, asked the audience to call out stereotypes for different kinds of people. Some of the responses from the audience were that black people are the best athletes, women can't drive, white people smell like dogs when they get wet and Greek people are rich and snotty. Well, I think everyone knows there are some black people who are uncoordinated, there are many very good women drivers and there are some pretty good-smelling wet white people. And for the record, I know many, many Greek members who are working their way through college and are actually quite nice. I know the Greek community and the Skiff have gotten together to work on strengthening our relationship, and I feel confident we are off to a great start. There shouldn't be hostility between any group on the TCU campus, but just like the Greeks and the Skiff, it is going to take a conscious effort on the part of every TCU student. Here is what I ask of you. Get to know people as people. Not by the color of their skin, their religion, their sex or the Greek letters they wear on their shirt. If we truly want this campus to be diverse, we have to stamp out stereotypes. All of them. And so I say to the eavesdropper in my religion class: I know some fraternity boys who don't go hunting. I know some that do. It has nothing to do with the organization you belong to. Besides, it was three years before I even thought about coming to TCU and joining a sorority that I shot my first turkey.
Kim Hinkle is an advertising and public relations major from Overland Park, Kansas. She can be reached at (parottthed@aol.com). Physically unfit should consider a morning jog There are crazy people in our midst. Oh, sure they look normal. You can't tell them apart from the run-of-the-mill Horned Frog. They go to our classes and even sleep in our rooms. They seem perfectly normal. But they are not normal. At about 6 a.m., when the rest of the world is sleeping peacefully, alarm clocks go off all around campus. Otherwise ordinary college students get out of bed and engage in a bizarre self-torture ritual: working out. That's right. Not only do they get up at that dark hour, they actually inflict pain on their bodies. They even go so far as to pretend they like it. With eyes bright and smiles wide they spout forth with such vile terms as "lifting weights," "aerobics" and "jogging." But do not be fooled. These are all just sugarcoated epithets for the truth: "slowly and painfully killing yourself." The problem with these "healthaholics" is they appear to be the same as the average student, with one fatal exception: They are extremely attractive. Not just nice-looking or pretty, but something almost hypnotic, making you lose any trace of conscious thought. This, of course, is rather dangerous. If a healthaholic invites you to participate in the ritualistic torture, it is almost impossible to save yourself. Your brain screams, "No! Away from me, minion of health hell!" But your mouth, totally independent of any rational thought, forms three words: "Sure. What time?" That's how I took up jogging. A healthaholic sucked me in with a pretty smile and innocent expression. I ate dinner with her in The Main and thought I had enough strength to resist. Fool that I am, I missed all of the warning signs: the half-eaten salad, the tennis shoes and the muscular legs (well, I noticed the legs, but that made it worse). So when she looked me right in the eye, flashed that dazzling smile, and asked, "Do you like to jog?" I did what any sane male would do: I lied. "Oh yeah. I jog all of the time." Somehow I said the words with a straight face. Had I stopped there things would have been fine. I would have impressed the girl and still retained my physical well-being. But no, the healthaholic's control over me was so complete that I kept talking. "We should go together sometime." NO, NO, NO! Those words did not actually come out of my mouth! Some sadistic demon of physical activity must have temporarily taken over my body. I never would have said that. The healthaholic saw this moment of weakness and pounced. "OK, how about tonight?" So that is how I found myself outside of Sherley Hall in running shorts and tennis shoes. Attempting to save what little dignity I still had, I began to stretch, as if that would prove that I was really athletic: "It's OK I'm a jogger." Finally, she appeared. But wait, it wasn't the healthaholic it was her roommate. I should have seen it coming. Rather than show me up the first night, she decided to pawn me off on her roommate for a couple of nights so she could assess my mad jogging skills from a distance. So we ran. And ran. When you run with a partner, the natural tendency is to want to talk to them. Humans, after all, are social creatures. Even the psychopathic jogging ones. So we talked, an intense and probing conversation that went something like this: HER: "You doing OK? I've never seen anyone turn that shade of purple before." ME: "(Huff) What? (pant) Oh, I'm (gasp) fine." But I survived. My desire to live was stronger than the healthaholic's power of pain. I even went again the next night and a couple of nights after that. It's not so bad. Actually, I'm kind of enjoying it. Maybe I can even lose the freshman 15. I was wrong to call the healthy people crazy, and I see that now. They have opened my eyes to a brighter future. I have to go now. Six a.m. comes awfully early in the morning.
John-Mark Day is a freshman religion major from St. Joseph, Mo. He can be reached at (jmday2@delta.is.tcu.edu). |
The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |