Page 2AThe Battalion/Tuesday, January 20, 1987
Opinion
The Battalion
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Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Loren Steffy, Editor
Marybeth Rohsner, Managing Editor
Mike Sullivan, Opinion Page Editor
Jens Koepke, City Editor
Jeanne Isenberg, Sue Krenek, News Editors
Homer Jacobs, Sports Editor
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A grim proposal
When it comes to military spending, President Reagan seems to
understand long-term investments. Spending billions on SDI now,
he tells us, will protect us from enemy missiles in the future.
Yet he fails to comprehend the significance of making a long
term investment in education. Helping students now may protect us
from a destruction far more agonizing than that from missiles. As we
cut education funds, we cut America’s ability to maintain its status as
a world power in the f uture.
The United States has prided itself on its “Yankee ingenuity,”
but the less money available to help foster that ingenuity, the less
there will be to deal with problems we may face in the future.
As an answer to the president’s reductions in education funding,
Secretary of Education William J. Bennett has proposed a new type
of student loan. The new loans would have a higher interest rate
than Guaranteed Student Loans, but the rate of repayment would be
based on the individual’s income after graduation.
This so-called income-contingent student loan policy may sound
virtuous, but it also may steer students away from lower-paying but
important careers, such as teaching, journalism and social work. Col
lege students’ desires no longer may be to pursue challenging ca
reers, but to get jobs that will enable them to repay their loans as
soon as possible.
The proposal also fails to account for changes in the job market.
If, for example, someone took out an income-contingent loan to get
a degree in petroleum engineering four years ago, the job market
looked bright. But the recent oil glut virtually has sealed that market
to newcomers.
We can’t continue to allow the costs of higher education to sky
rocket and then refuse to offer adequate assistance.
The new Reagan proposals would make college unafforadable
for lower-income families that may not be able to qualify for a loan
and, because of the proposed budget cuts, would be unable to re
ceive grants or scholarships.
Instead of thinking of college students as people seeking an edu
cation, Reagan should imagine students as miniature SDIs, which, if
invested in properly, will provide a great service for this country in
the future.
If the ballooning defense budget continues to suck the air out of
social and education programs, the country may find itself with Rea
gan’s much-vaunted Star Wars program and no one left who’s edu
cated enough to use it.
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Can the U.S. afford not to
finance higher education
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IBtr on h
I
what’s
asked
boy of
son
“Dad
SDI?”
Johnny, a
about 13.
“Well
that’s our coun
try’s salvation. It
protects us from
our enemies and
keeps us safe,” the
boy’s father re
plied.
“ H
work?’
Loren
Steffy
i t
“Oh, geez, son, I don’t know. I
learned a little about it college, but 1
don’t remember much. It has something
to do with lasers and mirrors and mag
ic.”
“Dad, what’s college?”
“Oh, nothing really. It was kind of
like school after high school, only it was
real expensive and nobody could afford
it.”
Don't just send prayers
Ora! needs your money
The latest antics
of Oral Roberts,
television pre
acher and faith
healer and conver
sant with God, in-
trigued me
greatly.
I’ve poked a
little fun at O.R.
through the years,
but when he re
cently told his tele-
Lewis
Grizzard
vision audience if he couldn’t raise $4.5
million by March for his World Out
reach Program, God was going to kill
him, or let him die, whichever it is that
God does, I had to know more about
this character.
You don’t go around saying God is
going to kill you if you don’t come up
with four-and-a-half big ones if you’re
not (1) totally crazy, (2) an incredible
put-on, or (3) somebody who will say ab
solutely anything to make a sale.
Cathy Milam turned out to be the res
ident expert on Oral Roberts in Tulsa,
where Roberts is headquartered with his
Oral Roberts University.
She is the medical writer for Tulsa
World, and, believe it or not, she also
has the Oral Roberts beat, what with the
medical center Roberts has built in the
city.
She explained that Roberts’ current
money drive is for financing schol
arships for each of the students cur
rently enrolled in his medical school.
“Last year, he began by saying if the
money didn’t come in, God was going to
‘call him home,’ ” said Cathy Milam.
“But as each week passed, he became
more and more explicit with his audi
ences. He is now begging for the money,
saying, ‘I don’t want to die.’ ”
Cathy Milam has been covering Rob
erts since 1980. I asked her bluntly,“Do
you think this guy really believes all this
stuff or does he simply know what will
get his audiences to fork over the cash?”
“I had the chance to interview his
mother once,” Cathy Milam answered.
“She told me that when her son was
born, she dedicated him to God.
“She said she told her son from the
day he was able to understand her that
he belonged to God and had been cho
sen by God.
“As I listened to her, I realized she
had so instilled this in her son, that he
really does believe he is on a special mis
sion from God. I think her son is a char
latan and just realized a good thing
when he saw it, however.”
I asked how the Tulsa community
looked at citizen Roberts. Was he an em
barrassment?
“In some ways, sure,” said the re
porter. “But you’ve got to realize the
economic impact he has had on this city.
He has brought a part of the city back
from some very hard times. There is no
way you can argue he hasn’t been good
for Tulsa.”
Good for Tulsa or not, I know what
Cathy Milam must go through to cover
the Oral Roberts beat. His followers —
and I speak from personal experience
— do not appreciate any negative re
marks concerning the Chosen One.
I’m “Satan’s Tool.” That’s the nicest
thing they’ve said about me.
“My prized possession,” said Cathy
Milam, “is a death threat written in
crayon.”
Copyright 1986, Cowles Syndicate
“Is sending me to junior high expen
sive?”
“No son. The government pays for
you to go to school because it’s impor
tant for a country to have educated peo
ple.”
“Then, why aren’t there any more
colleges? Why didn’t the government
pay for them, too?”
“Well, the government tried to help
out. For a while, students could get what
was known as scholarships — basically
gifts of money from the government.
But it got to be too expensive. The gov
ernment needed the money for protect
ing the nation, for things like SDI. The
people didn’t like it at First, but the ad
ministration at the time came up with a
slogan — ‘Better safe than smart.’ ”
“Couldn’t students who wanted to
keep on learning get a loan, like we did
for our house and car and home enter
tainment center?”
“The government used to provide
loans, even at lower interest rates than
the ones you’re talking about, but that
got to be expensive, too. There had to
be national priorities, son. The loan
programs changed. The government
made the switch by claiming that stu
dents defaulted at a high rate. Actually,
the student default rate was about the
same as it was for other types of loans,
but if the government says something,
you know, you don’t question it.”
“So how did you get to college, Dad?”
“Well, I got what was called an in
come-contingent loan. I paid back the
loan at regular interest rates, but only as
fast as 1 could afford to.”
“That sounds fair. But what could
college offer that a quality high school
couldn’t?”
“They were called careers. Now, most
careers are done by machines, but in
those days people did them, just like
they do jobs today. I wanted to be a tea
cher, you know. Back then people were
still teachers — we didn’t have the lec
turing machines. I thought it would be
wonderful to help kids learn, to grow, to
become responsible citizens. I thought
that if I did a good job, some of my stu-
betien
dents might actually
What an idealist I was.
Teachers didn’t make any
Like 1 said, there had tobef
\11(1 if 1 dec ided to go into it.
would have been about 50 years!’
paid off my loan. 1 didn’t wants
debt the rest of my life, so 1 re
nuclear physics. That tied me ini
tional priority. The DefenseD<
couldn’t wait to get its handi
And I’ve done well for myself
“Do you have any regrets ab
being a . . . what’d you call it?,
cher?”
“No. I was in one of the Iasi
classes. After
Aut
Yoi
urge ]
simph
Christ
He'll 1
liver t
this w
On
an an
riurn
rectio
Toi
Whitt
that, people stoppt about
suing careers and just concernci:
selves with jobs. 1 wouldn’t
anything to do. This way I f
moted. Nowall I have to do is sill
and authorize instruction progrJ
the assembly line computers.”
“Well, then you must have so®!
of how SDI works, if you author
construction and maintenance
gr;
“I just authorize them, son,hi
to Figure them out.”
“But Dad, if you don’t know til
works, who does?”
“No one, son. Oh, I guess
people still went to college and I
that sort of thing, someonekne*|
worked. I guess back then the'J
have machines to develop
people must have designed it.i
it doesn’t matter. It’s up there,ill
and that’s all that matters.”
“What if it breaks?”
“It can’t son, it’s infallible,
said so, and he never lied. Re®
the story of young Ronald Real*
the cherry tree?”
“Hey Dad?”
“Yes son.”
“Is it true that America usedd
world power? I mean bigger ill
Soviet Union or West Germany
|apan:
Loren Steffy is a journalism l
and editor for The Battalion.
Mail Call
Racism: alive and well
EDITOR:
Celebrating the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
resurrects a feeling of deep sadness in my heart. For if Dr. King
were alive today, he would surely be filled with mixed emotions
about the status of the black American. He would see black
astronauts in space shuttles, black teachers in classrooms, black
entertainers on television, black athletes on playing fields, and
black businessmen in office buildings.
Yet as many things change, many things sadly remain the
same. In too many cities and towns Dr. King would still see
segregated neighborhoods and schools with violent consequences
for those daring to venture across the borders. He would still hear
ugly racial language from the poorest of people to the richest of
people, and, ranging throughout the age spectrum, he would still
see gross discrimination throughout the working society.
He would still see great poverty and unemployment among the
black communities, and if he looked closely he might even see
another Rosa Parks struggling to keep her seat on the bus.
Prejudice is an ugly, unnatural disease which must be carefully
taught by those with misguided ideals. Unfortunately, this disease
still runs rampant throughout our society and is apparently
extremely difficult, if not impossible, to cure. Indeed, if Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, his observations could
only lead him to declare, “I still have a dream.”
Glenn Creamer
Department of Aerospace Engineering
Censored
EDITOR:
While I respect Paula Vogrin’s right to voice her opinion,:
has in her power the ultimate form of censorship. If she doesn' 1 ]
like hearing Moby use “obscene” words, then she should turn'
the radio. Nobody is forcing her to listen to these “obscene” woj
I hope she never hears the language used in certain movies or
songs. Maybe she just should not listen to any songs or see any
movies.
Pat Schulte ’90
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right toi
style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each, letter must be signti ^ l
include the classification, address and telephone number of the writer.
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