feursday • April 23, 1998
Opinion
ERSPECTIVES
other knows best
ising children stands as a noble pursuit, not easy way out
Ihe word
home-
I maker
■not mean
ker-of-cook-
^Td-
itchni-floor-
^■ber. This
abel is prepos-
Rusinour
lostlfeminist
A
Michelle
Voss
columnist
Yet mother-
id took on
ipty connotation thanks to the
■sophical poverty of the femi-
movement.
In fact, people often scoff at
|nen who chose to have children
f to work with their families,
id, it is just that, work.
•Raidng children is quite possi-
pie most important job on the
let - probably a close second to
lose guys who clean the windows
Tie space shuttle.
JJjather than telling women they
J options to pursue a doctorate,
run for political office or to raise
Tren, raising a family is
mbbed as backwards, demean-
^oppressive, a waste.
■waste? May it never be! Chil-
en are amazing creatures, albeit
By, whiny, and hyper, they are
ly precious gifts.
Along with children, good moth-
ire equally precious.
Sfou know, I find it rather offen-
[that our society has warped the
|dng of so many young women.
r e are even told by our peers
| there is something wrong with
[or wanting to have children,
ypical response: “Wliat? You’re
pege and you want to raise a
lily? [snickering, rolling of eyes]
I are you here?”
As a matter of fact, the women
who raised me were all college edu
cated women who chose to stay at
home with their children.
The resulting product is an in
telligent being who is functional in
society.
Well-rounded women with a var
ied interests, or even specializations,
in science, literature, technology, art,
nature, music, sports and, yes, cook
ing [gasp] are the perfect role models
for children.
Isn’t it about time we gave pos
terity more than just The Zone at
Kyle Field?
Indeed, a well-educated woman
can pass down her diverse knowledge
and wisdom to her family.
The result is more often than not a
well-adjusted child who can articu
late themselves better than the aver
age bear.
Moreover, the rampant hostility
towards motherhood in our culture
is a rather bizarre phenomena.
Considered holy, sacred, beauti
ful, and mysterious in other cul
tures, we seem to have devalued the
entire process of what is and should
be thought of as miraculous.
While this is not intended to be
an anti-abortion column, it should
be obvious to our culture that the
1.6 million abortions that happen
in our nation every year contribute
to an anti-nurturing environment.
Our nation has become violent
towards the womb, our advertising
neuters women of their hips and
breasts, in essence, of their repro
ductive powers.
Women seem to have fallen for this
nonsense. Instead of believing the
ability to have children is empower
ing, our culture encourages women to
think that their bodies are oppressive.
However one looks at it, it still re
mains an inescapable biological
fact: women’s bodies are made to
carry a child.
This does not mean every
woman will make a good mother.
Some women make great doctors
or great professors, great journalists
or great business-owners, mother
hood does not appeal to them.
But for the young women out
there who want to have a family and
raise their children themselves —
good for you.
Feminism means supporting
women everywhere. Therefore,
women who decide to be home
with their children have the sup
port of this feminist.
In fact, it is one of the most no
ble pursuits of our time for women
to be homemakers.
Why do I support homemakers?
Because my mother is one.
My mother ran her own interior
design business, volunteered at my
school, was politically active, made a
delectable pesto chicken over pasta
[with basil from her own garden]
and stitched my Halloween costume
— she is a homemaker.
She made time for both herself
and her family; otherwise she would
have gone bonkers, as she might say.
She’s not an ignorant, passive
mouse either.
She’s an independent, creative
mind with a college degree in sci
ence and home economics.
In all, she is a gorgeous woman
with brilliance, savvy and wit.
So, call your mom and let her
know there’s nothing like a good
mom.
Michelle Voss is a sophomore
English major.
TATE OF THE UNION
Educational programs must look at long term
aws, policies and
programs have the
Ubest chance at long
mi uccess when they
■designed with the sev-
Rigeneration in mind.
|tis, they must not only
Ik for us, they must
Tkfor our children and
children’s children,
y thinking as far
ad as the seventh gen-
|ion of our progeny,
fey-makers can make a
ing and conscientious addition to our soci-
framework. Nowhere is this forward-think-
gneeded more than in education.
Congress is slated to begin debate on Presi-
mt Clinton’s plan to reduce class sizes in the
ly grades by hiring 100,000 new teachers
'erthe next seven years. Additionally, the
a;dership of the two national teachers’ unions,
e National Education Association (NEA) and
eAmerican Federation ofTeachers (AFT) are
alizing a merger that has been in the works
(years.
[Although both of these events have the po-
tial to improve public education in the
tirtterm, neither shows evidence of seventh-
jneration thinking. Both Clinton and the
union leaders can and should shore up their
plans by including provisions that ensure long
term benefit.
Critics of Clinton’s plan are quick to point out
that the problem isn’t quantity of teachers, it’s
quality. Furthermore, the detractors cite studies
showing that lower class sizes don’t necessarily
translate into more classroom success.
The critics are correct on the former but mis
taken on the latter. Studies aside, anyone who
has been in front of or been a student in a class
room at any level knows there is greater teacher-
student contact as overall numbers decrease.
Granted, not all teachers and students will take
advantage of this opportunity for greater learn
ing, but it is at least possible.^
But the critics have a point in that current
teachers who don’t know their subject matter or
who are ineffective in the classroom are indica
tive of a quality problem. This is where seventh
generation thinking can help.
Clinton can answer the charges of his oppo
nents by modifying his current plan to include
provisions that would address the quality issue.
For example, some of the funding that Clinton is
intending for the new hires can be directed to
ward an assessment initiative to determine the
exact scope and nature of the quality problem.
The AFT-NEA merger raises similar issues.
Already, the two unions individually have not-
entirely-undeserved reputations for coddling in
effective teachers. Additionally, they have taken
flack for opposing equal access to education (by
poo-pooing vouchers) and open competition
(by resisting charter schools). It’s no wonder
that some fear this super-union will be twice as
large and twice as oppressive.
Each union has generally tried to emphasize
that it is committed to promoting quality in pub
lic schools. But given their records of unmitigat
ed self-interest, these proclamations seem little
more than lip-service.
However, it is not too late. The AFT and the
NEA can help assuage the fears about their mar
riage by simultaneously staking out a new politi
cal position that is more open to reform. This
position would involve some risk for the union,
as it would have to sacrifice some of the self-pro
tection that it has built up for itself over the
years.
Unfortunately, risk frequently surfaces when
policy-makers have the courage to seek some
thing other than short-term solutions to long
term problems. If Clinton and the unions are
willing to endure those risks, then they might end
up with results that not only look good to our
eyes, but also to those of the seventh generation.
Adam Collett is an educational
administration graduate student.
CAMPUS CONNECTION
A&M promises to
be a changed place
by the year 2028
A sk an “old Ag” what his college ex
perience was like and he will proba
bly tell you about morning reveille,
President Rudder and a two-deck Kyle
Field. Ask a recent grad what their college
years were like and you’ll hear about
jammed telephone registration, jack-
booted parking officers and an arm-
length fee statement.
Obviously, Texas A&M has undergone a
dramatic change over the past thirty years,
transforming from an agrarian military
school out in the middle of nowhere into a
overcrowded, top-heavy bureaucratic
Donny
Ferguson
columnist
school out in the middle of nowhere. But what does the future
hold for A&M?
One can only imagine what new and intriguing changes
A&M will go through in another 30 years.
Kyle Field has grown along with the University. Originally a
single-deck football field, the University added second and
third decks to accommodate the needs of tens of thousands of
new students and added “The Zone” to accommodate the need
for tens of thousands of new dollars.
By 2028, fans at Kyle Field can also enjoy a luxury box and
mixed drinks in The Third Row, The Track, The Overhang, The
Corner of the Second Deck and The Wobbly Bleacher on the
Seventh Row on the Student Side.
Not to be outdone, the now-30-year-old Reed Arena will be
razed and replaced with the All Sport Shaquille O’Neal Memori
al Arena (tragically killed by an errant free-throw attempt).
“The O” boasts 25-foot moving baskets and a 100-yard court
painted green with white yard lines to attract fans. Coach
Watkins, in his 70s, will seriously consider recruiting at MTV
Rock ‘n’ Jock events.
MSC OPAS will sponsor a Broadway version of “The Dukes of
Hazzard” in an effort to increase ticket sales. “They’re Just Good
OF Boys!" will end its run as the most successful musical in
OPAS history.
New A&M President, an elderly and unemployed Vanilla Ice,
promises to lower student fees and increase scholarship funds.
President Ice is soon removed by the Board of Regents after he
is spotted at the intersection of Texas and George Bush holding
a “Will Dance At Your Organization’s Function For Food” sign.
Further down the street, the George Bush Presidential Li
brary will share a jammed West Campus with the George W.
Bush Presidential Library, the Phil Gramm Presidential Library,
the R.C. Slocum Presidential Library and the Garry Mauro Presi
dential Library (elected president under the little-known Con
stitutional clause, “Once every 30 years, the individual States
shall appoint the least-effective state Official amongst them to
serve as President,” with Arkansas having done so thirty years
earlier.)
2028 will also be a year of turmoil and tragedy. Just like its
predecessor, the Soviet Union, A&M Administration will col
lapse under its own weight and campus-wide anarchy will pre
vail. The Department of Hypochondriac Eskimo Harpoon Fish
erman Services will prove too much for the over-burdened,
over-regulated Administration.
Sadly the Freshman Leaders of Tomorrow, We’ll Make You A
Leader, Aggie Leaders for the Future and 633 of the University’s
659 leadership groups will also collapse — ironically, from a
lack of leadership. Anarchy reigns as blue tags park in yellow
lots and Student Government sponsors an event without pass
ing out stickers or designing a T-shirt.
Parking congestion on the 149,000 student campus compels
Parking, Traffic and Transportation Services to junk their expen
sive new Jeep Cherokees for black helicopters.
Sadly, 25 students will be gunned down as they attempt to
park in front of the MSC. Eventually, the National Guard is
called in to control PTTS troops. All 300 Guardsmen are killed
and ticketed for failure to display parking tags.
Yes, A&M will change dramatically over the next thirty years.
After three decades of bickering and whining, A&M will get a
Department of Music, only to sadly learn it will be headed by
Ginger Spice.
But nonetheless, A&M will continue to survive change —
that is, until a careless genetic engineering student accidentally
releases the flying monkeys.
Donny Ferguson is a junior political science major.
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1 VIOLENT
MAIL CALL
Movie patrons fail test
of maturity, respect
The other night, I sat in a
movie theater full of racists and
bigots. I have always heard people
say how narrow minded and over
ly conservative this town is, and I
have defended it.
The display I saw makes me
ashamed to be called a peer of
these people. I was watching The
Object ofMyAjfection.
This movie is clearly advertised
as having a homosexual man as a
main character. I guess that was
overshadowed or perhaps ignored
by people wanting to see Jennifer
Aniston in a cutesy love story. Well
a word of warning to homopho
bics out there, when a movie is
about a gay man, it just might in
volve gay issues. I was surrounded
by people screaming and gasping
in shock and disgust when two
men kissed.
Don’t go see this movie if you are
as immature and intolerant as the
patrons around me were. I am not
saying people are not entitled to
their opinions, but those with some
degree of dignity and respect for
others can control themselves from
squealing and throwing their hands
over their face. The girl next to me
actually pulled her knees to her
chest and kicked her feet when she
thought a kiss might be coming.
As if the response to homosexu
ality wasn’t enough, people re
sponded just as violently to an in
ter-racial kiss at the end of the
movie. Reinforced by those around
them, people left the theater telling
the packed lobby to go home and
not see this terrible movie.
This was not a terrible movie.
This was a movie that dealt rather
conservatively with homosexuality
and briefly with an inter-racial re
lationship. The overwhelming
crowd response was one of racism
and bigotry.
I love Texas A&M, I am not a
two-percenter, I am not a gay
rights activist, and I am not for “re
verse discrimination.” I am a hu
man being who saw the worst this
town has to offer the other night.
I just hope that from now on the '
people who were so offended by
this romantic comedy will stay
home with their heads in the sand
and let their ignorance fester,
rather than show their true colors
in a place where others have to live.
Anonymous student
Class of’98 ■
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