Monday - July 28, 1997
The Battalion
losing the great American hero
M Cosby falls from pedestal of father figure, role model to ordinary ‘Joe’
By:
spa
perhaps the saddest day
-^in a child’s life is the
day he or she learns
lere is no Santa Claus. This
rush with reality forever
raliteals a bit of the idealism
/hich conies with child-
ood, making the world a lit-
eless magical.
Americans had an ugly
® rush with reality last week
ith the conclusion of the Au-
iimn Jackson extortion case,
ifhile a jury found Jackson
^ uilty of trying to extort $40 million
om entertainer Bill Cosby, facts re-
ealed in the case will sully Cosby’s rep-
tation as America’s preeminent dad.
This case is significant because it
pifies how the United States has lost
s heroes. The heroes who are con-
picuously absent from popular cul-
ureare not the sports stars who daz-
le Americans with their athletic
irowess, but men and women who
hallenge their fellow citizens to fol-
dwhigher ideals. This vacuum of
noral leadership robs Americans of
he ideals they need in order to re
peat one another — the ability to
ace themselves in the mirror.
Undoubtedly, Cosby is a national
lo reasure. No other modern public fig-
ire embodies family values quite like
lim. Through his hit television se-
ies, “The Cosby Show,” Cosby en-
ered American homes once a week
teach and entertain without being
ireachy or condescending. His show
lortrayed an ideal family, where
here were two parents who loved
heir children, and kids who were
obedient and respectful.
Through the show, Cosby taught
Americans that love and responsibili-
can allow a family to overcome
problems and raise healthy, happy
children. This was a message that
transcended the United States’ own
stumbling blocks along the lines of
race, class and religion.
In the extortion case, Jackson con-
Columnist
John Lemons
Electrical engineering
graduate student
tended that she is Cosby’s il
legitimate daughter.
During his testimony in
the trial, Cosby admitted
he had an affair with Jack
son’s mother in 1974. Cosby
said, however, he is not
Jackson’s father.
“I will be for you a father
figure,” Cosby said to Jackson,
“but I am not your father.”
Furthermore, Cosby tes
tified he paid Jackson’s
mother, Shawn Upshaw,
$100,000 over 20 years to keep the
extramarital affair a secret.
After the jury found Jackson guilty
of extortion on Friday, Cosby released
a statement through his lawyer.
“The Cosbys appreciate the efforts
of the prosecutors who rendered a
just verdict,” the statement said.
What remains to be seen, howev
er, is the verdict Americans will ren
der on Bill Cosby in the court of pub
lic opinion. While Cosby was the
victim in the trial, his image as fa
ther figure to this nation will suffer
in the aftermath.
The heroes of America’s past are
dead, dying or lost. Consider two
uniquely American heroes, Jimmy
Stewart and Billy Graham. Stewart
died earlier this month. For over 50
years, Stewart represented the values
that Americans have treasured most
within themselves.
When World War II came, Stewart
patriotically volunteered to defend
his country, and in his movie roles, he
consistently portrayed characters
who held fast to their good values in a
trying world.
Evangelist Billy Graham has been
inspiring Americans since the ’40s,
and he has held the ear of every
president since Dwight Eisenhower.
But the United States will soon lose
Graham, as he is struggling with
Parkinson’s disease.
The problem with a vacuum of
moral leadership is that Americans
lose respect for themselves
and their leaders. At one
point in time, Ameri
cans revered their
presidents as
paragons of hon
esty and integrity.
Those days, how
ever, are gone.
Consider Presi
dent Clinton and
the Paula Jones
sexual harassment
allegations. The
most disturbing
aspect of the case
is not whether the president proposi
tioned Jones in a hotel room, but that
most Americans consider Clinton ca
pable of those actions.
This country needs ideals, and it
could use a face to personify those
ideals. Nature, however, abhors a vac
uum. Thus, something will fill this
vacuum of moral leadership. Current
ly, the most likely candidate to fill that
vacuum is contempt — contempt that
is apparent in Americans’ cynicism
toward government and politicians.
Obviously, no one is infallible.
Americans who place their faith in
the actions of public figures are
bound to be disappointed
in these days when me
dia scrutiny is as in
tense and nosy as it
has ever been.
Maybe the country
would be better off
Graphic: Brad Graeber
if it did not know all of its
celebrities’ flaws.
In the meantime, Americans
will have to find their heroes
closer to home.
There are still heroes leading
quiet lives in America’s towns,
churches and schools. These are
people who, through their every
day situations, challenge others
to fulfill lives of high character.
Indeed, reality is a harsh
place and Americans need not
spend all of their time there. Af
ter all, if Americans, namely
young Americans, can believe
in Santa Claus, maybe they can
believe in heroes.
Yes Virginia, there is a Santa
Claus, and perhaps a few heroes
left, too.
k
Mail Call
UT comments spark
debate over mascots
I nmponse to CrisAngelini and Rob
™ 'hum's July 23 Mail Call:
How can someone who goes to
D he University of Texas and lives in
lustin honestly make any reference
i :o“civilized societies?” Any place
Jf such as Austin with that many
loliticians running ar ound free is
ibviously cormpt and immoral.
You tell Aggies to “get over it — it’s
list a damned dog! ” At least we hon-
irour dead—yes, even our mascot.
Utis is more than I can say for you t-
iips. At least Aggies don’t carve up
lur dead mascots and serve them at
he school cafeteria on surf-n-turf
% let alone send the bones to the
ocal glue factory for a profit.
And what would t-sips know
ibout war heroes? How can honor-
ng a dog be an insult to someone
dio lost a family member in armed
! e j onflict? My uncle was killed in
m 'earl Harbor. It makes me proud
that my school honors its mascot in
the same way my uncle was hon
ored after his death.
As for football teams, how can
anyone take you guys seriously
with a quarterback named James
Brown, not to mention those ugly,
burnt-orange, polyester clown
suits you call uniforms.
I hope the students who decide
to be brave and come back to Texas
A&M for this year’s game don’t think
that they can desecrate Kyle Field
the way others did two years ago.
That won’t be an option, because
we’re gonna Beat the Hell Outta t.u.
Todd C. Dixon
Class of’95
Ross M. Hinman
Class of’96
Kinesiology classes
should be optional
In response to Jay Ratcliff’s July
23 Mail Call:
I would like to thank Ratcliff for
correcting my erroneous state
ments about kinesiology classes
and their coaches. To all of our valu
able coaches, I apologize. But let me
give a valid argument against re
quired kinesiology classes.
Four kinesiology classes cost a
total of $288 if you include tuition,
the general use fee and the $16
physical education fee. A conserva
tive estimate for the amount of time
a kinesiology class takes is two
hours per week (actual class time
plus walking, driving, etc.).
Throughout four classes, this
comes out to 112 hours of your day
time college career. If you are a stu
dent worker like me who makes
about $5 an hour and needs all the
hours you can get, this comes out to
$560 you could have earned if kine
siology classes were not mandated.
So the total cost of four required
classes is at least $850 when you
factor in actual and opportunity
costs. This is a great deal of money
to me and most other college stu
dents. Mandatory kinesiology class
es make it harder for some students
to struggle through college without
huge debts piling up. But the
biggest waste is the amount of time
these classes take.
People who enjoy kinesiology
should have the option of taking
the classes, but I would rather
choose when and how I enrich
my life, whether I am working,
studying or utilizing my $50 Rec
Center fee. Kinesiology classes
are not some magical solution to
America’s health problems as
Ratcliff has implied.
And to people such as Ratcliff
who brand the word “idiot” on
someone else’s forehead after read
ing one letter: Lighten up. We are all
human beings, and we are all prone
to err from time to time. Just because
I was wrong doesn’t make me stupid.
Carl Roth
Class of’99
K&Iirtewb
I SUPPOSE WE SHOULD ISSUE
A STATENAENT SAVINS HOW
HAPPV WE ARE- CAPtAIN NEWT
Survived -me plank-walking.
Politics get in the way of
voting for qualified runners
T he Republicans’ “Contract with
America” must be a contract for
some rousing good old-fash
ioned entertainment.
Newt Gingrich is currently enjoying
the fruits of the old adage, “Failed
coups are good for the king,” while
Texas Rep. Richard Armey is quoting
Homer. Not the Greek writer, but the
one famous for a distinctive noise
made whenever things don’t seem to
go in his favor.
This entire situation should be a klaxon call
for American voters to take a serious look at
how parties seem to be replacing the constitu
tion as the supreme law of the land. Instead of
focusing on what’s best for the nation, the fo
cus is easily bent to examine which party
screwed up most recently.
Gingrich, who has been out of the limelight
since his little ethics violation, is obviously
taking a pretty good public relations spin with
this peasant uprising. Everywhere, whether it’s
on television or in the newspaper, Gingrich ap
pears to have a spring in his step, a smile on
his face and “balanced budget” and “tax cuts”
on his lips. Perhaps this quarrel inside the par
ty is going to get the Republican revolution
moving again.
But voters are numb to those terms. It’s been
a long time since the American people have
been treated with real honesty from the floor of
the House of Representatives. It’s going to take
more than sound bites and a smiling Newt to re
cover from this latest blow to the party.
The Grand Old Party — hardly a fitting name
for it anymore — has had trouble staying unified
since the collapse of communism. Without its
traditional adversary to target, the party has lost
its focus to the Democrats, who win on domes
tic issues by default. President Clinton’s waffling
early on in his administration showed that do
mestic issues are the preferred problem area of
Democratic administrations.
If Gingrich decides to oust Armey, this will
spell the final end for the Republican party.
Many may cheer its demise, but Gingrich is the
only one who can decide which way the pendu
lum will swing, if in any direction.
Dick Armey, was touting the same issues
Gingrich was on television this Sunday, possibly
in order to save his neck. Gingrich should tout
one maxim: "Keep your friends close, but keep
your enemies closer.”
A seasoned politician such as Gingrich
should be familiar with that strategy, but to put
it to use is a different story. To do this, he must
accomplish two things. First, he must get a vote
on the balanced budget this week, before Con
gress adjourns for the summer recess. And sec-
Columnist
Stephen Llano
Senior history major
ondly, he must make Armey and other
dissident Republicans look at the chair
as a focal point, not the seat of ultimate
power. Good luck. Every Representa
tive on the FJill thinks they should be
speaker, just like every senator thinks
that he or she should be president. The
American voters need convincing from
a higher source.
Carl Bernstein, the journalist fa
mous for the Watergate expose, wrote
an interesting column about a possible
solution to this partisan bickering in
our government.
In Sunday’s Houston Chronicle, Bernstein ad
vocates a non-partisan commission, headed up
by former presidents Ford, Carter and Bush, with
membership ranging from clergy to business
men and congress officials. Their mission would
be to report on what changes need to be made to
the electoral process to get things right again.
This sounds similar to another non-partisan
committee whose job was to examine and eval
uate what was wrong with the way our country
does things. That commission didn’t come up
with changes, but produced a whole new consti
tution. This radical shift in government left us
with a clear plan of how government was sup
posed to function. Alexander Hamilton sums up
the situation quite well.
“And it will rarely happen that advancement
of the public service will be the primary object
either of party victories or party negotiations,”
he said in Federalist Paper No. 76.
So it would seem that American voters should
disregard Gingrich and friends as being harmful
to the system and expunge parties all together. It
would be difficult, as corporate money is the
real steam behind the activities of any federally
elected official today. James Madison once said
that parties should not be disregarded.
“An extinction of parties,” Madison said, “nec
essarily implies either a universal alarm for the
public safety, or an absolute extinction of liberty.”
This founding father’s defense of the constitu
tion might seem a little dated after many Supreme
Court decisions that have shifted the focus away
from small, constitutional-minded government.
Perhaps Bernstein's solution wouldn’t be half bad
— but there already is a commission in place to
monitor Washington: the concerned and active
citizens need to make themselves heard.
The bottom line, as usual, is a compromise.
Voters always should keep an eye of suspicion
on both parties, and vote for the candidates
who will best represent their own views. When
voters get too wrapped up in voting straight
ticket, it allows silly coups to get attention
while the real problems our country faces are
overlooked and ignored.