The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, June 28, 1993, Image 5

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    Monday, June 28,1993
Opinion
The Battalion
Page 5
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From the Authors Several Smash Hits All Around the World,
Their Biggest Hit Ever!!!
The Battalion Editorial Board
Jason Loughman, editor in chief
Mark Evans, managing editor
Stephanie Pattillo, city editor Kyle Burnett, sports editor
Dave Thomas, night news editor Anas Ben-Musa, Aggielife editor
Mack Harrison, morning news editor Billy Moran, photo editor
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The on-going struggle between
the right to privacy and freedom of
information was the center of this
year's state legislative debate.
Many proposals that would have
4 fl dosed records or meetings to pro-
tect people's privacy were killed or
modified in the 1993 legislative ses
sion that ended May 31.
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Editorial
The right to know
Bills threaten open records la 1
ng struggle between voter registration lists dor
Among many measures intro
duced to seal off records from the
public was a bill that would have
made people's home addresses,
home telephone numbers and Social
Security numbers confidential un
der the Open Records Act.
The bill was killed after protests
that the measure would restrict ac
cess to voter registration lists and
tax rolls.
The future passage of bills like
this could come dangerously close
to setting off a trend of access-curb
ing bills in the Legislature. When
this kind of legislation is passed,
records are sealed off from the pub
lic and placed in the hands of the
government.
The question of how worthy our
government is of this trust must be
taken into account.
Many of the countries that control
voter registration lists don't have
fair elections. If the United States is
to continue to call itself a democra
cy, its people must not give sole
control of information to the gov
ernment.
For our governmental system of
checks and balances to work prop
erly, it is essential for citizens to
have access to much of the informa
tion the government and its politi
cians would like to have sole cus
tody of.
Proponents of legislation that
would cut off the public's right to
know cite the issue of privacy and
safety.
Although in many cases, these ar
guments to keep records closed are
legitimate. First Amendment free
doms are too fragile to allow the
government to tamper with the de
grees to which one can gain access
to information.
The government must trust its
citizens not to abuse their right to
information just as citizens, expect
the government to be honest.
Any further limitations on the
Open Records Act would hinder a
right which every American holds
dear, the right to free speech.
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Historically, universities required a
knowledge of Greek and Latin because
those were the languages of scholar
ship, and they were useful. The fact
that we no longer require mastery of
these languages reflects the societal
changes which made such mastery less
useful.
We are behind the times. If A&M
kept up with societal changes, business
majors would take classes in the legal
aspects of sexual harassment and EEO
programs. All graduates would be flu
ent in a language other than English.
For example, business majors would be
both proficient in Spanish and knowl
edgeable of the culture of Mexico. Pe
troleum engineers would be fluent in
Arabic and knowledgeable about the
Islamic culture. Electrical engineers
and computer scientists would be pro
ficient in Japanese culture and lan
guage.
Now, Liberal Arts is the college of
broad-based generalist education. That
it requires a paltry six hours of multi
cultural studies is exceptionally weak
given the multicultural nature of the
United States.
Face reality; cultures which we re
gard as similar are currently engaged
in war over cultural supremacy. Con
sider Bosnia, Kurdistan, Kashmir,
Cambodia, and Ireland. People in
these regions die over relatively minor
cultural differences. The strength of
the United Sates is our polyglot multi
cultural nature. We are so diverse that
we must get along or our nation will
not survive.
I consider it ridiculous to propose
that our students remain insulated
from societal realities. Hopefully the
multicultural classes will not be "pish
posh," to quote Professor Reynolds.
The cultures studied should be given a
realistic look, covering non-PC subjects
like black prejudice against Asians. I
believe that the six hours of multicul
tural studies by the college of Liberal
Arts is less than the least we can do,
but that it is an important first step.
Ed Everidge
Graduate student in Mathematics
Depression: is society to blame?
Gender roles may contribute to problem in women
Feeling blue.
We all have days that we would
rather have skipped over. Some are
better than others. But when the
blue episodes are too frequent or last
too long, they may be indicative of a
serious problem, namely depression.
Taking care of ourselves is so much
more than eating right; it is also
thinking right and not attaching neg
ative labels to ourselves (e.g. I'm fat.
I'm too thin. I'm inept). Thinking
right is especially important for
women since studies show that
women are twice as likely to suffer
from depression as men.
This is not to say that women are
afflicted with mental disorders more often than men.
When numerous types of mental disorders are scrutinized
men and women show similar rates of mental illness. What
differs between the two, then, is not disorder rates but
rather the patterns of disorders — women displaying pas
sive, internal symptoms and men afflicted by disorders
characterized by outward, anti-social behavior.
Depression is perhaps so pervasive among women be
cause of the roles allotted to women in society. As young
girls, women are taught that it is "feminine" to be submis
sive and place the feelings and well-being of others above
their own. It is inappropriate behavior for them to express
any type of negative feelings outwardly, particularly anger.
Young men, in turn, are taught that to act anything other
emotionally detached and aggressive is "unmanly." As a
result, they are much more assertive and tend to express
emotions such as anger more readily.
A woman's sense of self-worth is usually defined strictly
as part of a group and not as an individual. Self-worth is
therefore dependent upon the group's evaluation of her
performance. As a result, she may experience feelings of
individual helplessness and incompetence, believing that
she is incapable of completing a task without the help of
the group. Furthermore, an unyielding adherence to social
ly prescribed norms may condition women to define them
selves in terms of group norms, prohibiting any type of
outward expression by women. Instead, they are forced to
turn their anger inward. This increases a woman's nega
tive attitude and feelings toward herself, thereby making
her more susceptible to depression.
Depressives view life as a chore, often feeling no reason
to get out of bed or eat or even sleep well. They lose plea
sure in most if not all activities that they enjoyed before.
Women with children who suffer from depression may ne
glect these children, leaving them to fend for themselves.
Depending on the extent of the neglect, the children may be
removed from the home and placed with a relative or in
foster care.
Furthermore, teachers who suffer from severe depres
sion can obviously impede the learning process of their stu
dents to a great extent.
The double standards that children grow up with need
to be modified if this trend in depression is to stop. Little
girls need to be encouraged to express themselves as open
ly as little boys and be allowed to participate in social roles
and activities that promote individuality. For instance, al
lowing them to speak openly about their feelings without
fear of punishment or the loss of love or attention.
It is also important to recognize the symptoms of a de
pressive so as not to become a crutch for the woman. More
harm than help results when excuses are made and the de
pressive is allowed to continue in her present state. It is
most helpful to get her to a doctor.
Sometimes, just listening to a person can ease an episode
of depression. Talking about the problem may give the
person insight to a solution that they never considered be
fore.
Getting help for a depressed woman can make monu
mental changes in her life. She can again find pleasure in
activities and become an active member of community or
ganizations and local programs as well as productive par
ent and role model.
Jones is a senior psychology major
TRACY
JONES
Columnist
The problem with
multiculturalism
On June 9, the Liberal Arts Council
passed a six-hour multicultural re
quirement. This requirement mandates
that a student must take at least three
hours of American culture and may
take the other three hours in interna
tional culture. It is the intention of this
requirement to make students more
tolerant and less racist. This require
ment assumes, of course, that the stu
dent body is intolerant and racist and is
in need of proper socialization.
Of the 19 courses in American cul
ture presented to the council six are re
lated to women's studies and four are
related to African-American studies,
one is related to Latino studies and two
are related to Native American studies.
None of the courses are related to
Judaic studies, men's studies, or Asian-
American studies. In short, this re
quirement is not truly multicultural in
the sense that not all cultures are repre
sented.
The main problem with multicultur
alism is that, while its intentions are
noble and admirable, historically these
classes drift from their original intent
and become pulpits of liberal indoctri
nation. It becomes an opportunity for
liberal professors to trash all things
conservative and try to "enlighten" the
masses. While I agree that professors
have the right to interject some of their
own personal philosophy into a class.
these classes should not be required.
In my opinion,the Liberal Arts
Council has developed a solution to a
problem that does not exist. Despite
the rhetonc of some council members
Texas A&M is not a haven for racists.
To my knowledge A&M does not have
a problem with hate crimes, cross burn
ings or race riots. In fact, when College
Station was visited by the Ku Klux
Klan, students responded with Whoop-
stock Unityfest '93. Students of all
races creeds, colors, sexes and political
ideologies came together in a united
voice —"Just say no to racism."
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said that
he had a dream. A dream "that one
day on the red hills of Georgia the sons
of the former slaves and the sons of for
mer slave owners will be able to sit
down at the table of brotherhood."
Martin Luther King's dream is alive
and well on the campus of Texas A&M.
As an Aggie the only color I see is
the color maroon.
Jody L. Withers
Class of'95
God, not man must
judge homosexuals
Amen, Mr. Brobst !!! (Baptist Con
vention Blurs Homosexuality,
6/22/9?>). I understood the Bible to be
a guide. In my mind, the Bible gives
you guidelines to live by and the judg
ment of your life comes from God. The
Bible says homosexuality is wrong but
does not give human beings leave to be
judge, jury and executioner of people
who are homosexual.
The "Religious Wrong," as Mr. Brob
st so well defines them, seems to lose
sight of what Jesus' teachings were all
about. The amount of personal energy
that these people expend to persecute
others who do not "think" the way
they do amazes me! It seems they
spend their whole lives condemning
others and focusing on others lives in
the name of God when it is God who
says "Judge not, lest ye be judged!"
What would we ever do if the color
of the skin, the way a person's family
was composed and the way a person
showed love didn't matter!?
Wow, what a concept!
Cathy Ruedlinger
Class of'78
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