The Battalion • Page 5
Monday • July 10, 1995
PINION
New history standards ignore true American past
David
Taylor
A merican students are
dumb. No, don’t bother
denying it: We don’t
know what happened, where it
happened or how to find the ox
idation coefficient of hydrogen
in a vacuum.
The worst part about all this
is that Joe-Average Mongolian
apparently does know every
thing and is oh-so-willing to demonstrate this bril
liance at the expense of the poor, undereducated
American student.
In a blatant effort to overtake the Mongolian
hordes (or at least figure out who they were), our
government decided to define a set of standards for
math and science.
In 1989, the National Endowment for the Hu
manities, under Lynne Cheney, and the Depart
ment of Education, under Lamar Alexander, decid
ed America also needed a set of history standards.
Great idea. After all, we all wish we knew a
little more about our Founding Fathers and how
this country works. So the history department of
UCLA was detailed with the task of figuring out
what every student needs to know about Ameri
can history.
Unfortunately, it seems that our estimable col
leagues on the “left coast” decided they didn’t like
what has happened on this continent
over the past 300 years ... so they
changed it.
In the words of Prof. Gary Nash, co-di-
rector of the project, their “ goal was to
bring about nothing short of a new Ameri
can revolution in history education.”
Standards summary: America sucks.
To expand, if there is anything that
could make a student think less of the
United States, it’s in the standards ... repeated
ly. For example, the standards mention Sen.
Joseph McCarthy 19 times and the Ku Klux Klan
17 times.
On the other hand, George Washington is never
identified as the “Father of Our Country,” and
Abraham Lincoln, when he’s not being criticized,
gets but one mention of his Gettysburg Address.
Lincoln and Washington should consider them
selves lucky, however. Paul Revere, Daniel Web
ster, Henry Clay, Robert E. Lee, the Wright broth
ers, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison Al
bert Einstein and Jonas Salk (just to name a few)
are never even mentioned.
The first meeting of the Continental Congress
is not deemed important, but the founding of
both the Sierra Club and the National Organiza
tion of Women is vital to students’ ability to
grasp U.S. History.
This story only gets better. John D. Rocke
feller, the standards suggest, should have been
put on a “mock trial” where he is accused of,
“knowingly and willfully participating in unethi
cal and amoral business practices designed to
undermine traditions of fair open competition for
personal and private aggrandizement in direct
violation of the common welfare.”
Oh. You mean he made money? Shocking!
For comparison purposes, students are told to
examine the “architecture, skills, labor practices
and agriculture” of the Aztec Empire. Of course,
these “labor practices” included human sacrifices
on the steps of the temple — generally considered
illegal under present U.S. Law.
Opposition to these standards has come from all
sorts of sources.
“Never mind the industrial revolution, the tri
umph of American agriculture [or] the creation of
a tolerant, democratic state,” noted Sen. Kay Bai
ley Hutchinson. “This new version of history is one
long tail of predatory, greed-driven aggression.”
Lynne Cheney and Lamar Alexander both op
pose the standards. Alexander observed that the
standards “ended up presenting a warped view of
our nation’s past.” He urged President Clinton to
“condemn these standards and make sure these
standards are not promulgated or endorsed by the
federal government.”
The Senate, in a non-binding resolution, urged
the Department of Education to reject the stan
dards — the bill squeaked by the oh-so-close mar
gin of 99-0.
The standards, however, are part of President
Clinton’s pet-project “Goals 2000.” These stan
dards, if implemented, will probably result in the
“goal to have my kids in private school by 2000”
program by the majority of us.
Then there’s A1 Gore, our illustrious junior as
sistant president.
Last month the VP (and the P) were touring
Monticello — that would be Thomas Jefferson’s
home, for those already under the new history
standards.
During the tour, A1 Gore turned to the guide,
pointed at a number of busts along the wall, and
asked, “Who are they?”
The guide answered, “The Founding Fathers.”
Maybe there should be some minimum history
standards for those responsible for approving the
minimum history standards.
Fortunately, I am sure A1 Gore knows that hy
drogen won’t oxidize in a vacuum — there’s no oxy
gen in a vacuum, not to mention hydrogen.
Any native Mongolian could have told you that.
David Taylor is a senior
management major
The Battalion
Established in 1893
Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views
of the editorials board. They do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of other Battalion staff members, the
Texas A&M student body, regents, administration,
faculty or staff. Columns, guest columns, cartoons
and letters express the opinions of the authors.
Contact the opinion editor for information on
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Editorials Board
Jay Robbins
Editor in Chief
Rob Clark
Managing Editor
Sterling Hayman
Opinion Editor
Kyle Littlefield
Assistant Opinion Editor
Funds under fire
Helms showed irresponsibility with
his suggestion to cut AIDS funding.
North Carolina Sen. Jesse
Helms once again has abused
his position of influence and
guidance.
In a New York Times inter
view last week. Helms suggested
that the federal government re
duce funding for AIDS research.
Helms supported his position,
claiming that AIDS is “transmit
ted by people deliberately engag
ing in ‘unnatural’ acts.”
Such statements are classic
examples of members of Con
gress using their positions in the
media to peddle their personal
moral theories. Obviously Jesse
Helms does not realize he was
not elected as a moral guardian,
but as a protector of rights.
For people to have the
gumption to honestly say what
they are thinking is an ad
mirable trait. A person who
stands up for unpopular caus
es and is not afraid to suffer
alongside the suffering de
serves respect. However,
Helms’s actions were far from
admirable.
President Clinton denounced
Helms’s statements Friday at a
speaking engagement at
Georgetown University by say
ing, “The gay people who have
AIDS are still our sons, our
brothers, our cousins, our citi
zens. They’re Americans, too.”
But being homosexual or us
ing dirty needles to inject ille
gal drugs is not the issue.
AIDS is a disease that does
not discriminate, and funding
for treatment and research
should continue and should in
crease.
Helms’s statements must be
painful and astonishing to
those who have lost innocent
family, friends and loved ones
to AIDS.
Helms, who is well-known
for his outspokenness, once
again has crossed the line. The
fact that a U.S. senator is using
his power to promote miscon
ceptions shows much irrespon
sibility and poor judgment.
Helms perhaps should educate
himself on the deadly virus be
fore he tries to educate the
American public.
IMAMMMWMMMtMAAM
PTTS should better
plan construction
On June 26, the PTTS began
closing the student parking lot
adjacent to Zachry. This lot will
be virtually inaccessible to stu
dents through July 24, a period
of more than four weeks.
I purchased my parking per
mit for the summer believing
that I would have access to the
lot during the entire term. Only
after the term was well under
way were notices put up to the
contrary. These notices detail
our “substitute” lots as Kyle
Field and fish lot, both on the
other side of campus.
Mail
Call
This is not the first time the
PTTS has inconvenienced stu
dents. In ’93-’94, it decided to
repave the Northside student on-
campus lot adjacent to the dorms.
Their timing? The week after re
turning from Christmas break.
Why can’t PTTS learn to quit
inconveniencing students and
do lot construction during the
break periods?
There is Christmas break.
Spring break, and 2 summer
break periods in which they
could get their work done.
This construction is not treat
ing students fairly in any man
ner whatsoever.
Steve Riley
Class of ’95
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CHAI^IoNSHIPj
VHATRE You
V&oHHA Oof
Sensational scandals stir public interest
Chris
Stidvent
Columnist
I came to a mild
ly shocking con
clusion while I
was watching the
“Geraldo Rivera
Show,” on which
the editor of “Big
Butt” magazine
was trading dull-
witted barbs with
the amply- and aptly-designated
cover girl for “Juggs” magazine.
Most of our national media re
ally ain’t that great. And it real
ly doesn’t perceive the American
public as being all that intellec
tually capable.
Each week we are treated to
the newest shocking intrigue,
the latest scandal involving
celebrities from all fields of en
tertainment. They have usually
murdered, castrated, conspired
against, solicited or attacked
somebody. If there is a sexual
angle, the scandals are treated
as even more captivating.
The drama of the OJ Simpson
trial has been acted out continu
ously for our collective eyes over
the past six months. One can
watch hours upon endless hours
of it each and every day on CNN.
And in case somebody actual
ly had to be at work or school
during the day, there’s always
the analysis of the analysis of
the trial every night.
The latest celebrity to fall
under the baleful eye of the me
dia and its info-
journalistic feed
ing frenzy is, of
course, Hugh
Grant.
• For those of
you who reflex-
ively avoid tele
vision shows
such as “Hard
Copy,” “Inside Edition” and
“American Journal,” he is the ac
tor who was arrested last week
for soliciting a prostitute on Hol
lywood Boulevard.
Whether this story is news
worthy is obviously a secondary
consideration to the media. That
the American people will per
ceive the tale as fascinating is
the main criteria.
But wait, this sudden burst of
illuminating notoriety does not
have to be limited solely to the
rich and famous.
Those average folks who man
age to do something so heinous,
lewd, or odd as to place them
selves a notch above the daily
mire of violence that goes on in
this country can sometimes guar
antee themselves at least 15 min
utes of fame.
Who doesn’t remember Lore-
na Bobbitt, the knife-wielding
battered wife who chopped off
the penis of the husband whom
she accused of raping her? She
has assured herself of a spot in
the lexicon of every well-in
formed American, along with
such notables as Joey Buttafuoc-
co and the Menendez brothers.
All of these people are good
representatives of the common
man, with the exception being
that they managed to involve
themselves in situations involv
ing large amounts of sex and vio
lence. It was this sex and vio
lence, combined in just the right
manner, that catapulted them
into the minds of the nation for a
brief instant.
Are the American people re
ally this stupid? The average
American’s life is so devoid of
meaning that the only manner
in which they can be assured
that they are actually alive is
to live vicariously through the
tragic and exciting lives of fa
mous people.
This could be merely an erro
neous perception on the part of
the media. Do Americans really
consider the important news top
ics to be the ones that deal with
politics, religion, art, literature
and the law? Because these top
ics require some thinking and
will actually have a direct influ
ence on their lives.
Judging from the guests on
afternoon talk shows and the at
tention paid to Michael Jackson
and Priscilla Presley’s marriage,
it appears that the media has
the American people pegged just
right. Each week we flock to the
strange and the titillating, while
forgetting that next week we will
have forgotten who or what was
involved in these events.
Another distressing trend is
the slow seep of sensationalism
from the tabloids and info-jour
nalist shows into the more legiti
mate news institutions.
The major networks now run
features on topics that once were
considered unworthy of serious
news shows.
Hopefully, a sizeable percent
age of the populace still doesn’t
care who Tonya Harding is or
what she and her band of merry
men did to Nancy Kerrigan’s knee.
Hopefully, the muck will not
be covered so much by the junk
media that it infiltrates all cor
ners of the media and we forget
completely what it is: And what
it is is mindless junk
I would hate to see the Wall
Street Journal run a front page
story on John Bobbitt and his
porn movie acting career.
And it would kill me to see
the two girls from “Big Butt” and
“Juggs” on the “McLaughlin
Group,” debating with each oth
er the relative merits of their
various large body parts.
How would the poor host keep
any sort of order? And where the
hell would he sit?
Chris Stidvent is senior
philosophy major
The Battalion
Editorial Staff
Jay Robbins, Editor in Chief
Rob Clark, Managing Editor
Sterling Hayman, Opinion editor
GRETCHEN PERRENOT, City Editor
Jody Holley, Night News Editor
Stacy Stanton, night news editor
Michael Landauer, aggielife editor
Nick GeorgandiS, Sports Editor
Stew Milne, Photo Editor
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