Opinion
The Battalion
Tuesday, October 18,1988
© /9Q© KftRU
NOT
JFK
DAN GlUAYUE’S FAMOUS FLORIDA VACATION
Time! Time! Time! See
what has become of me
It’s here!
It’s arrived with overwhelming force
and in such unfashionable short order.
If Newton and Einstein knew, they
would roll over in their graves and re
think their physics. The signs of it are
everywhere. Just take a walk through
campus and observe.
Students are walking around in a
glazed daze, as if they were stand-ins for
the actors in “Night of the Living Dead.”
Zombies, whose eyes feel like low-grade
sandpaper. Their contacts feel as if
they’ve been soaked in acid. No sleep,
no fun, no one cares. They’re going
somewhere. To a class. To take a test.
They have to hurry. Hell is half-over.
Suna
Purser
Columnist
they are attacked by dirty clothes wads.
They look at the mess and choose the
garments that are the least dirty. They
put them on. The clock melts. They use
the reversal method on underwear and
socks and ask themselves, “No one will
notice . . . will they?”
dents are sick. They have the cruel.
They share and share alike by giving it
to everyone they come in contact with.
They go to the “Quack Shack” and
watch the clock melt as they wait to see a
doctor. They need drugs so they can
make it through until the end . . . if they
can stay alive long enough to see the
doctor.
They haven’t taken showers in what
seems like a milennia. When the do, sys
tems go into shock. They run around in
the shower barely long enough to get
wet and call that clean. They have so
little time and the clock continues to
melt off of their arms and off the walls.
The students feel like they’ve been on
acid. Life is like an animated Salvadore
Dali painting, where clocks melt and
bodies contort. They’ve been up all
night, for days on end, until the semes
ter is just one big day and one big night.
Time is of the essence, time is running
out, time waits for no man, TIME,
TIME, TIME!
The minutes and months fuse to
gether: the semester is half over.
They’ve been up all night — reading pa
pers, writing papers, typing papers and
grading papers. They’ve been up all
night — reading text books, typing re
ports, working on projects, studying for
exams. They’re running out of time and
the clock won’t stop melting. They get to
bed late, if they get to bed at all. Then
they must get up early, if they ever went
to sleep.
The clock melts. They have no time
to eat balanced meals. For several rea
sons: they’ve been so busy with school
they forgot to pay the light bill — so, no
electricity for the stove. They’ve been so
busy with school, they haven’t had time
to wash dishes — so, the health depart
ment condemns their sink as a commu
nity health hazard. They’ve been so
busy with school, they haven’t had time
to buy paper plates and plastic forks —
so, they eat with their fingers like cave
men. They’ve been so busy with school,
they eat their meals straight out of the
can like a cat —Vienna sausages, pork-n-
beans, raviolis. The food of champions.
The food that makes them have dreams
that resemble animated Salvadore Dali
paintings.
They stand in life-threatening lines to
get their mid-terms. After hours of wait
ing, they get to the desk: “May I have
your i.d.?” They didn’t know they had
to have an i.d. to get their mid-terms
Suicide. After hours of waiting, they get
to the desk: “I’m sorry. The names be
ginning with ‘Sm’ are in the next line.’
Murder. They finally get their grades
murder the professors and then kill
themselves. And the clock is still melt-
ing.
They continue to stay up all night
The pressure is building with unrelent
ing force. Study for this test, write that
paper, give a report, meet those dead
lines. Hell is half over. They inject mas
sive quantities-^of coffee. They pop caf
feine pills. They gorge on candy until
they have sugar-induced nightmares
They tear their hair. They tear up their
papers, so they can one day tear up life
Hell is half over .
ues to melt.
the clock contin
And the late nights and early morn
ings are claiming the casualties. The stu-
They have no clean clothes to wear.
They have no time for laundry. They go
to the closet and open it. Immediately
Suna Purser is a journalism grad
uate, a graduate student in English and
columnist for The Battalion.
Mail Call
rison furlough program works
EDITOR:
The prison furlough program that George Bush loves to hate is used in J
the states in this country for one simple reason — it works!
The prison furlough program has been effective in reducing crimerecivin
50 percent. This means that repeat efime is cut in half in states that use the
urlough program.
What is the purpose in having punishment without reform? Whatjusticeis
there in sending an 18-year-old to jail for five to 10 years only to dump him by
on the streets with no preparation for dealing with society? Consider that heig
grown up in a prison cell isolated from the outside world with only otherconii
or role models. Is there any wonder that he should end up in jail again three
months later for an even more serious crime?
Hie furlough program helps t<> assimilate these people bac k into society lej lab
they are released. Of course, the progi am is not 100 pn i cm sua cssf'uland i'" 1
George Bush is quick to point out examples where it has failed. Butthefact ^
emains that a 50 percent reduction in repeat crimes is much better than theta
percent reduction vou have without this program. L ct
The furlough program isoneot the most of f <■( t i\c tools we haveeverhadrj
breaking the repetitive cycle of crime and George Bush is opposed toil,Perb
that is why most every major law enforcement organization in thecountnis IP
endorsing Michael Dukakis for president.
Michelle Touchet ’89
Democrats’ strategy screwy
jin
Thu
EDITOR:
In regard to Mike Thomas’ letter “Quayle.JFK, light years apart,”oneal
once again see the backward strategy of the Democrats. Why are you wasting®
comparing Quayle and Kennedy, Mike? Anyone who saw the debates could#
that Dan Quayle wasn’t tying to do this, he only wanted to show thathehasas
much political experience as Kennedy did.
Quit evoking the strategy of trying to get Mike Dukakis in the White Ha
talking about how great Lloyd Bentsen is.
If you want tocompareand contrast political experience there isnowayti
compare George Bush and Mike Dukakis. If you want a real brain leaserMik
why don’t you contrast and compare the vastly different issue positions of Dtiii
and Bentsen on abortion, medicare, defense and environmental concerns?!!
Democrats win, win >’s w »>rd counts more? Dukakis or Bentsen? Let’s just bojiti
doesn’t come to that.
Jeff Putnam ’89
Washington not the ACLU type
EDITOR:
In her letter on Oct. 10, Melanie Shouse voiced her support of the Amt: J
( i \ il Liberties Union .m< I -d w own u <■ n i s ( . f ar as to sa v that ()ui tnumlingnHsa
would undoubtedly have been card-carrying members of the ACLU...."
The ACLU, in the name of “constitutional rights,” supports the legalize
homosexual marriages, the adoption of children by homosexuals, andassettl
child pornography is a form of free expression. I he ACLU opposes the deal
penaltv and long-term sentences for convic ts of any kind h favors,howeverl
decriminalization of drug consumption. The list goes on.
Is this the America our founding fathers envisioned?
Let’s see: Mr. and Mr. Washington wake up in the morning,smokeajoicBb
send their adopted son to the studio to be raped on camera. Oh, whatac
No, Melanie, our founding fathei s would definitely not have supported ie n ^
ACLU, and neither should any Ann i k .m Ei-puMic .m <>i Democrat. ibi
In America, you can belong to any organization you (hoose. MichaelDuli 8 a
chooses to belong to the ACLU. He may not agree with all of its policies,but,«
of a feather do flock together. Would a Dukakis president') see ACLU
appointed as federal judges or into other high offices? Is that what the Aim; |
people want? The answer (and I hope the right one) will come on November! ush
icon
Re
Andy Keetch ’91
Listeners, revolt!
EDITOR:
1 am writing in response to Timm Doolen’s article on the “demise”ofr
roll. 1 totally agree with him that most of what we hear on Top 40 stations tot k--
complete junk. Ir
Before I came here, I was directly involved in the music business at thelulf 0111
fastest growing music centers—Nashville, Los Angeles, and New York. Infu
would venture to say there is more good music now than there ever was
1950s, ’60s and 70s. It’s just that most of it never emerges beyond studio teal
The problem is with the non-discriminating consumer. The reason we It
listen to unimaginative artists and their worthless remakes is because that'sv.
sells.
In the past, the artists determined the music they woidd write and the
consumer accepted it because he didn’t know any better. Now, we have move
the “market age” of music where the consumer is king. We have a barrageof
pseudo-musicians seeking instant fame and fortune by giving the consumen
he wants, a catchy melody line with a few simple lyrics, and the real musician^
to put their good music on the shelf and conform or face starvation.
How can we solve the problem? Discriminating consumers must make
themselves be heard! As we have seen with bad music, the power of the coffi® I
can be tremendous. Here are a couple of suggestions that could makeadttl
Don’t buy a worthless album by a worthless artist just because it has onegotxk
on it. Or call your radio station when that song you can’t stand is first release!
tell them you don’t ever want to hear it again.
If those of us who appreciate good music will band together and takeasi^
we can make a difference and usher in a new era of quality rock-and-roll.
Doug Pryor ’88
Fork
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Lydia Berzsenyi, Editor
Becky Weisenfels, Managing Editor
Anthony Wilson, Opinion Page Editor
Richard Williams, City Editor
D A Jensen,
Denise Thompson, News Editors
Hal Hammons, Sports Editor
Jay Janner, Art Director
Leslie Guy, Entertainment Editor
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BLOOM COUNTY by Berke Breath