Page 2/The Battalion^Tuesday, June 11,1985
OPINION
Hollywood forgets
13 D's of Vietnam
April 30, 1975 —
Saigon is captured
by communist
forces.
June 11, 1985
— United States is
winning the Viet
nam war. The Ma
rines aren’t win
ning the war. The
Army, Air Force
or Navy aren’t
winning the war
Karl
Pallmeyer
THE CfcfcdbNiftNOna *
The Overhaul
qiWf.
either. No, they lost it 10 years ago. Now
we’ve found a more powerful force to
win in Vietnam — Hollywood.
There has been a rash of movies
about Vietnam: “Rambo, First Blood
II,” “Uncommon Valour,” “Missing In
Action,” “Missing In Action 2” and seve
ral others that don’t deserve mention.
Sylvester Stallone, Gene Hackman,
Chuck Norris and other armies of actors
are winning the war. These movies are
all the same: a few brave men travel to
Vietnam to rescue American prisoners
that are being held and tortured by the
Viet Cong. They all seem to glorify war.
I went to see “Rambo, First Blood II”
the other day and it scared the crap out
of me.
I remember watching a war movie on
television once when 1 was very young
and remarking that it must be great to
Fight for one’s country. I also remember
my father, a veteran of World War II,
telling me how he hoped I would never
have to. I was taught and brought up to
believe that war is not honorable or glo
rious; war is hell. While I was watching
“Rambo” I realized that many people
are not fortunate enough to have had a
father wise enough to tell his children
about certain facts of life and death.
The most horrible thing about “Ram
bo” is not on the screen but in the the
ater. In one scene Sylvester Stallone is
being chased through a village by a
group of Vietnamese and Russian sol
diers. Stallone begins shooting arrows
with explosive tips into the village and
into the bodies of his enemies. On the
screen a group of grass huts are en
gulfed in flames and a person, also en
gulfed in flames, rolls around on the
ground. In the theater a young boy,
about half my age, squeels with glee. On
the screen the pieces of a Vietnamese
soldier are blown throughout Creatioal
after being hit with one of Stallone’s ex
ploding arrows. In the theater a youn^l
man, about my age, laughs maniacally.
On the screen there are many, mam!
acts of violence. In the theater there an
many, many people of all ages actual!'
enjoying themselves. Outside the the
ater there are many, many more people
of all ages waiting to get in.
These people don’t seem to realizti
what war is. War is not special effects/
make-up, sound effects, musicani!
award-winning cinematography. Wart
not a bunch of actors who, oncethedi
rector yells “cut,” can get up and p
Fight another cinematic battle. War is
dying and destruction and disease anc
dirt and dismemberment and disability
and disappointment and disarray and
despair and disaster and discardandde
ception and death.
W'e left Vietnam ten years ago, and
ten years is a long time. I am only 211
years old, but I remember something
from the war. I remember Henn
Blood, the name on my sister’s P.O.W|
bracelet. I remember watching the tele/
vision and reading the newspapers with I
her, trying to Find out if Henry Blood
was coming home. I remember her re- ;
ceiving a letter from Henry Bloods’
widow, telling about his missionan
work in Vietnam, how he was captured;
in 1968 during the Tet off ensive, howl
he was treated in a Viet Cong prison:
camp and how he Finally died of starva-;
tion. I remember the Vietnam war ;
Some people are too young to remein !
ber. Some people choose not to remem-f
ber.
Stallone and several others are using
the movies, a powerful medium of edu
cation, to give a false impression of war, I
particularly the Vietnam war. The Viet
nam war has had a huge effect on!
America. Of the three million Ameri
cans who served in Vietnam about
58,000 lost their lives. At home anotherf/
war was fought; many lost their homes,
many lost their faith, many lost their
lives.
Our country learned a costly and
valuable lesson in Vietnam. We learned I
a lesson we should not f orget.
Karl Pallmeyer is a senior journalism |
major and a columnist for The Battal
ion.
A>
ing ;
chite
Tf
emp.
have
Be
Da
S
I
N
Life smells better
without the cigar
By ART BUCHWALD
Columnist for The Los Angeles Times Syndi
cate
When someone gives up smoking
he or she wants the w'hole world to
hear about it. I know you weren’t re
ady for this, dear reaaer, but I have
given up cigars. I am a born-again
nonsmoker — a confessed sinner
who can now walk into any crowded
room without stinking up the joint.
Don’t go away. I want to tell you
the story of my conversion. It doesn’t
do any good to stop smoking if no
one will listen to how you did it.
First, I have to give credit where
credit is due. I couldn’t have done it
alone. I got some help from that Big
Nonsmoker in the sky.
It all began six months ago when,
after lighting up one of the six or
seven cigars 1 smoked every day, I
suddenly heard loud coughing in the
heavens. Then a thundering voice
boomed, PUT OUT THAT DAM
NED CIGAR.’
I didn’t pay any attention because I
was sure lie wasn’t talking to me. Af
ter all, I had been smoking for over
40 years and He never raised any ob
jections before. So I continued for
another week. Then my chest started
to feel lousy and I became hoarse.
I looked up and said, “What’s
going onr
Tfie voice came down and said, T
THOUGHT I MADE MYSELF
CLEAR. WHAT KIND OF MES
SAGE DO I HAVE TO SEND YOU?’
“Okay,” I said. “I’m willing to deal.
Let’s just say I cut down to two or
three a day?’
H e would have none of it. ‘THE
NUMBER IS N ON-N EGOTI ABLE. ’
“How about one petit corona after
dinner?”
‘DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND
ENGLISH?’ the voice said. To make
His point He shoved a hot coal down
my throat and I started to gasp for
air.
Yes, He was responsible for my
’idn’t
quitting, but He didn’t give me that
much help once I gave it up.
After 1 went cold
went cold turkey I had to
face the prospect of earning a living.
I could smoke a cigar without writ
ing, but I couldn’t write without
smoking a cigar. In the beginning I
just stared at the paper. To get going
I tried typing exercises such as ff Now
is the time for all good men...for all
good men..for all good men...for all
f ood men to light up a Monte Cristo
lavana No. 3.”
My mind would work in curious
ways. I would want to write about the
MX missile system, and the only
thing that came out was “Puff the
Magic Dragon.” The song “Smoke
Gets In Your Eyes” droned in my
head, and the Marlboro Man kept
riding across my computer screen.
Finally, in desperation, I looked up
to the heavens and said, “How long
do vou expect me to keep this up?”
The voice came down, f TRY
CHEWING GUM.’
I was skeptical, but the First time I
shoved a stick of gum in my mouth it
worked. I found out if you have to
keep moving your jaws all the time,
you don’t miss having a wet stogie be
tween your lips.
Well, it’s been all uphill since then.
After my decompression period I dis
covered the beautiful world of non
smoking. My lungs are now getting
all the oxygen they so richly deserve
and my brain cells seem to be relieved
they don’t have to absorb soot from
morning until night.
What is even better is I am now a
member of that band of brothers and
sisters who can walk into a restaurant
or get on an airplane and say loudly
to trie hostess, “No smoking section,
please!”
I have to admit that like all born-
again nonsmokers I look down on
those who are still hooked. I don’t get
angry with them but I do something
worse. I bore them. I tell them my
story from beginning to end — how I
was once a seven-a-day Dunhill man,
but through the intervention of a
higher spirit became a six-pack
Doublemint gum fan. Then I warn
them that we nonsmokers not only
consider ourselves holier than they,
but believe we have a mission to ei
ther convert all smokers, or persecute
them until we drive the tobacco de
mons from their souls.
Everyone pays the price
for functional illiteracy
Ricky Telg
Guest Columnist
“Billy , please read
this sentence in your
reading book for the
class. ”
A request such as
this would seem com
monplace in elementary and junior high
schools around the country. This case,
however, is different.
“Billy” is not a child; he’s an adult.
But he can’t read. “Billy” is a member of
one of the fastest growing minorities in
the United States. He’s a “functional il
literate”.
Since 1957, the United States has
slipped from 14th in the world in liter
acy levels to 49th. This year, an esti
mated 2.3 million adults join the ranks
of 23 million other Americans who are
categorized as illiterate.
In many cases, the functional illiter
ate, one w'ho may know the alphabet
and small words but can’t read well
enough to read a book or write letters,
has found the waters of society’s “mains
tream” too rough to navigate in.
Jobs are difFicult to find because
reading and writing are prerequisites
for most places of employment. Even
everyday chores that most people take
for granted, such as Filling out a job ap
plication or reading the ingredients of a
recipe from a cookbook, become tedious
and frightening to those who cannot
read. One 40-year-old woman never
knew which public restroom to use until
she learned that “women” had more let
ters in it than “men.”
The rampant illiteracy rate is not only
hard on the individual, it’s also hard on
society. Studies have shown a correla
tion between illiteracy and both crime
and unemployment. In Texas, 88 per
cent of prison inmates and 63 percent of
welfare recipients do not have a high
school diploma.
Why does the illiteracy rate continue
to climb?
Television viewing has become the
leading form of entertainment in Amer
ica since the 1950s. This “intellectual ba
bysitter” has taken the place of reading
in many households. The television
brings news, sports, weather and impor
tant information into homes, thus mak
ing a newspaper unnecessary. Why read
it when you can see pictures of it and
hear it? Children have taken to the tele
vision as a second mother. Pre-school
age children watch an average of eight
to 10 hours of television a day. This glut
of television watching extends into their
adolescent and adult years. It doesn’t
leave much time for reading.
Parental and family influences also
contribute to the rise. Some parents al
low education to take a backseat to other
important activities, such as athletics,
band and drama. In Texas, partici
pation in high school football has been
stressed so intensively that boys sacrifice
their studies to be better players.
Perhaps the most startling factor in
the decline in literacy in the United
States is inadequate teaching. High
school graduates wishing to major in ed
ucation are averaging 391 on the verbal
portion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test
college entrance exam. That average is
33 points below the average of those en
tering all other fields.
Ross Perot, whose reforms for Texas
education were approved by the Legis
lature last year, has suggested that most
teachers’ colleges in Texas be closed be
cause they graduate functional illiter
ates who, in turn, teach others to be
functional illiterates.
A priority placed on quality education
would reverse this disturbing trend.
The debate continues over whether to
make teachers take competency tests.
The teachers don’t want to. Some feel it
is an insult to have to take an exam after
they have their college diploma, but the
exams need to be given.
If Perot’s assessment about the col
leges is anywhere near correct, how
many functional illiterates will be passed
to the next grade before it is noticed?
With the tests, those teachers who fail
could be “weeded out” of the system be
fore they could do damage to their stu
dents.
Former President John F. Kennedy
once said, “Our progress as a nation can
be no swifter than our progress in edu
cation . . . The human mind is our fun
damental resource.” But when that re
source is not used, everyone suffers.
The price of illiteracy is a cost paid by
everyone. More than $12 million are
spent annually in Texas for adult educa
tion. Those millions don’t include the
benefits received by illiterates on wel
fare, or the cost keeping someone who
can’t read in prison
Something must be done to squelch
the rise in illiteracy. Better quality edu
cation, competent teachers and a more
involved parent-child relationship are
just suggestions. But people will need to
take a stand against this potential men
ace. If not, how many more “Billys’will
there be?
PRi
TA
OU
cu
us:
PRI
• Ad
to 1
• No
• Lo\
1 0v<
1 Fre
kir
Ricky Telg is a junior journalism major.
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Kellie Dworaczyk, Editor
Kay Mallett, John Hallett, News Editors
Loren Steffy, Editorial Page Editor
Sarah Oates, City Editor
Travis Tingle, Sports Editor
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ip-hyr
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