| Voting Vex?
The question is now whether students will respond. SGA President Ben Alexander is optimistic about the new voting opportunity. "It will make the election process more accessible to students and increase voter turnout and student voting participation," he said. But when students were asked in the Purple Poll whether they would vote online in SGA elections, some students asked, "What is SGA?" That is pathetic. SGA has a responsibility to make itself visible on campus and it has done that. The SGA visibility on campus is strong with signs and e-mails announcing forums, speakers and opportunities for students to get involved. Students bear some responsibility for knowing what is going on. Although the SGA has now made voting easily accessible to all students, that does not mean students will vote. If students won't even update their address on FrogNet, will they log on to the SGA site and vote? SGA is to be commended for trying to make voting easier. Voting now will only take a few minutes and will allow commuter students to vote from home. Making voting easier doesn't necessarily mean that more students will place their ballots, however. If the low voter turnout is due to problems in making it to the Student Center during the voting times, then online voting will increase participation. We suspect that it isn't the voting times or places that are the problem but rather students not caring about what SGA is doing for them.
Focus on future, not on follicles In response to criticism from a significant (read: not from an entertainer) opinion, I will refrain this week from spiteful or vitriolic commentary. "Gee, Steve, if you are cutting out spite, you can't possibly have anything to say, seeing as how you are so cranky and bilious all the time!" Well, dear friend, I'll try to manage. You see, I am not entirely mean-spirited. In fact, this week I am speaking out for the oppressed! No, this isn't about dolphins or senior citizens or medicinal herb advocates. The causes I am supporting this week are the maligned pockets of the population who need to be recognized, respected and given hyphens to their ethnicity. Are you confused? Did you think you there couldn't possibly be any more oppressed and hyphenated interest groups? Read on, oh my brothers. I noticed a flier advertising TCU's new Leftist Student Union. I read this flier with interest, as an organized protest organization has been a longtime coming to TCU, especially if it is ever to realize its goal of becoming the "Berkeley of the South." The gist of the flier was the same feminist stuff I've read in Cosmopolitan and Judy Blume's books, but my eyes halted as I encountered the line about women being judged by how they look. "Gosh," I said, "Being judged by physical appearance really sucks!" Then it occurred to me that I have also experienced physically based judgments. You see, I am a Propecia-American - one who was cursed (or blessed) with the genetic predisposition for male-pattern baldness and excessive body hair. Though neither have actually happened to me yet, I suspect that the onset of middle-age may make my stock more apparent. Propecia-Americans, a subset of the Uglo-American stock, are oppressed by the rest of the beautiful, properly furred populace, which slings such slurs at us as, "Here comes that hairy bald guy," or "Hey, bald guy, shave your hairy back!" Yeah well, you've all been wrestling hairy bald guys for long enough. We are people, too, you know, and our beauty lies within, under all that hair, of course. I think it is cosmically unjust to have hair on one's back and shoulders but none on one's head; we didn't ask to be this way, so lay off! The other group I wish to champion is that of the Suve-Americans. Suve-Americans are those members of the populace who have the genetic predisposition to drive sport utility vehicles. Lately, Suve-Americans have been under fire for causing accidents, increasing pollution, eating up fossil fuels and destroying the classic aestheticism of Detroit-built automobiles. These allegations are exaggerated and based upon the mistakes of a few. For instance, if those of us who drive regular cars compassionately avoided Suve-Americans, then perhaps many accidents could be averted and fewer cellular calls interrupted. As for their poor mark in fuel economy, it is really not an issue for them. If they were born to drive these vehicles, then they can obviously afford the gas. Detractors should also stop hassling Suve-Americans on the environmental issue, because bovine flatulence is nearly as offensive to the ozone layer as SUV-exhaust. Finally, Suve-Americans have not killed Detroit classicism. The Big Three quit building attractive automobiles in the mid 1970s, around the time the muscle car died. Suve-Americans didn't ask to drive these cars, so lay off! We as a society need to be aware of other people's sensibilities and stop being so critical. Rather than tear each other down because of our foibles, follicles or Ford Expeditions, we should unite as one world and devote our energies to the real threat- the CIA/Nazi/Alien conspiracy of world domination.
Steve Steward is a senior political science major from Lodi, Calif. Any hate mail can be directed to him at (haoledubstyle@hotmail.com). Down with McDomination Friends and comrades, hear the call. Down with McDomination. Let it ring through the valleys. For years now, America has begun the systematic process of wiping out European traditions through commercial imperialism. Now in the French village of Millau, José Bové, a brave sheep farmer, has raised his hand in defiance, speaking out against a McDonald's in business there and against the high tariffs imposed on French foods like foie gras and Roquefort cheese. He has become a hero of sorts for the historically defiant French who don't want their villages turned into fast food lanes. Even the prime minister of France has come out saying McDonald's food isn't that good. What's next - Le Super Wal-Mart? Although the scene may be comical - a farmer tearing down the roof of a McDonald's under construction - the motivation is more than serious. In America we have already watered down our culture, and now we only have the rest of the world to infect. The sheep farmer's protests reflect the ideals of a people whose culture has been around much longer than ours and who don't feel the need for McDonald's or Starbucks or any other big company to prove progress. The truth is, Americans have a double standard. While we wish to export our culture, we don't want other cultures affecting the way we do business or how we conduct our leisure time. It's a fact that Americans work longer hours than any other industrialized nation on Earth. We find ourselves huddling in corners of offices 70 hours a week, so when we come home, the sun has already gone down and we are too tired to spend time with our families. As a result, we love fast food. Our pallets don't know the difference between foie gras and a Big Mac. I don't believe in cultural relativism. It's a sad day when all Americans have to offer to other countries are poorly made cars and Quarter Pounders. Culture is significant in that it defines not only who we are as an individuals but identifies us in a community that stands for certain ideals. If these ideals are compromised, then our culture is bound to weaken or eventually fall. Like the Romans, Americans believe that progress can only be made by building out instead of building up. Look at our cities, where people have moved further from the skyline in hopes of establishing better schools, drink better water and breathe better air. These places will also commercialize and become overrun with chain stores, strip malls and McDonald's. I admire Bové and the French people for taking a stand against this commercial imperialism. I am joining them in protest against McDonald's and a protest against the capitalists who mix business with cultural assimilation unknowingly. The French don't need our poorly made food. In fact, it's just the opposite. I'm going to the store the next chance I get to raise my fist and buy Foie Gras, however expensive it may be. I'm also officially boycotting McDonald's. Down with McDomination. I urge you to join me. After all, France helped us win our independence, and in return France receives fish fillet sandwiches and hormone-injected beef. It seems French culture is superior after all. Let's not interfere.
Matthew S. Colglazier is a freshman news-editorial journalism major from Fort Worth. He can be reached at (mscolglazier@delta.is.tcu.edu). Letters to the editor BSM 'reparative' speaker causes more harm than good This letter is being written to comment on Monday's program on the concept of reparative therapy sponsored by Baptist Student Ministry. The featured speaker, Randy Thomas, billed himself as a representative of the reparative therapy movement and as an "ex-gay" man. To this end, he spoke about his conversion from homosexuality to heterosexuality. As an openly gay alumni of TCU who attended the event Monday evening, this letter is our response. 1.) Thomas is totally non-representative of the national reparative therapy movement. On more than one occasion, he admitted his experience was subjective and that conversion may not be for everyone. This is a drastic deviation from the national position, which says, in essence, that not only can all homosexuals be cured, but that they all should be cured. This softer language is, I believe, simply a public relations stunt to make their intolerant position acceptable to the mainstream public. 2.) As the speaker readily admitted during the question-and-answer period, his position is less than consistent. Although he has obviously read the two or three isolated passages in the Old Testament that may be interpreted as sexual contact between men, Thomas conveniently disregards the multitude of other laws from the same books that are more inconvenient: laws regarding which animals may be eaten; laws regarding weaving of cloth, that it may be of only one kind and that tassels should be sewn on clothes; laws mandating that a woman who has just given birth must be isolated for a week from society and a month before she may return to church. If you accept that the Old Testament books of law are true, then you must follow all the laws and precepts, not just the ones that are convenient to you. 3.) Regardless of the words used, the underlying concept - that gay and lesbian individuals are sick, ill or defective (i.e. they can be cured) - fosters a climate which at best passively condones violence and discrimination against homosexuals and at worst actively advocates it. This last category includes the likes of Fred Phelps, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and presidential hopefuls Gary Bauer and Pat Buchanan to name a few. It is in this climate that Matthew Shephard was beaten and left to die: that Billy Jack Gather was murdered and his body burned and that here, in our fair city of Fort Worth, local bar owner and openly gay man Jerry Jones was robbed and beaten to death. Only when all people love each other without regard, respect their unique strengths and value their diversity will bigotry-based violence against any group of people become a thing of the past. Despite our obvious difference of opinion, we want to say thank you to BSM for providing a forum for this discussion and for making everyone feel welcome. We also want to give our most hearty congratulations to TCU Triangle and the Allies for standing up for gay and lesbian equality. Todd Camp Class of 1988 Jim Elder Class of 1996
Publication of 'artwork' treading on thin ice in light of shootings When I viewed the pictures on the front page of Sept. 28's Skiff, I was even more surprised that they were even considered art. In light of the recent shootings in Fort Worth and, earlier this year, in Colorado, I can't believe that anybody would consider these photos artwork. To publish them is treading on extremely thin ice as somebody, who was personally affected by these shootings, could be severely upset by them. Think of it like this: If a close family member was shot to death, would you want to pick up a newspaper and see these pictures? Since a TCU alumna lost her life in the church shootings, I consider the publishing of these photos a slap in the face of her family, her friends and the school community as a whole. Jason Mangham graduate student
Statement about stance of Southern Baptists ignorant without research I am appalled at the ignorant statements of the Skiff (Oct. 12) concerning the Baptist Student Ministry having their speaker on National Coming Out Day. No one infringed on the rights or protested those who chose to participate in Coming Out Day, and in no way did the BSM or any other Christian organization oppose their rights. If anything, those who protested the BSM's speaker imposed THEIR views on an organization that has the right to feature any speaker they choose on any given day. Also, as a proud Southern Baptist, I find it completely idiotic and unfounded to say we hold "arrogant views." Though we may not condone homosexuality, it is not Christian practice to hate or discriminate against someone because of his or her lifestyle. Only THEN "will we be free to learn in an environment open to divergent beliefs and opinions." Hilary Kennedy junior radio-TV-film major |
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