irsday • June 25,1998
The Battalion
PINION
Clourse, 3 Cloursc; JWg ^Kingdom for a (Qourse
iM students, faculty should respect the liberal arts department
Chris
Huffines
columnist
' ow is the ivinter of our
discontent." — Shake
speare, "Richard III."
[tisafair-
:j afe bet to
at Texas
■■Univer-
' ^ school
nded on
disci-
les of agri-
Ifure, me-
ink s and
: military,
I liberal
He a lit-
neglected.
far, no-
iypias complained.
IMwever, A&M now has de-
IR it wants to be a top-10 uni-
IRy. To do this, the University
Iphas decided it is necessary to
l;f pp the College of Liberal Arts
ardor to achieve this status,
rthe first time in the over-100
ar history of A&M, a true fine
spirogram is being founded.
Mnanipulative approach to
ucation is not something the
liv^rsity should be stooping to.
I"/ dote on his very absence." —
IheMerchant of Venice."
For many years now, the Uni-
rsity really has not needed a
liege for liberal arts. In fact, the
liversity really needs to not
ivea college for liberal arts. Af-
rall, a college of liberal arts
arks critical thinking.
Heaven forbid there be some
idal criticism of this fine, up
ending, completely balanced
^itution of higher learning. In
tradition-steeped atmos-
ye red-ass Ags are addicted
|liat kind of deviation into
ealm of free thinking would
be downright dangerous.
To the mentally-inbred, homo-
phobic, conservative collective
brain of Aggieland, free thinking,
and therefore a strong college of
liberal arts, is not something to
be desired.
"Use her well." — "Othello."
However, the University has
decided to brave the criticism and
strengthen the College of Liberal
Arts. I his is being done simply
because all the top-10 universities
have good liberal arts depart
ments, so Aggieland has to have
one, too. Keeping up with the
Joneses is being played out with
thousands of students and mil
lions of dollars. That's mature.
Of course, the faculty and staff
in liberal arts have jumped at the
chance. Who wouldn't? Who
would turn down the chance to
really make a difference in many
lives? Who would turn down
newer, better facilities and more
higher-caliber students? Who
would turn away millions of dol
lars? Only the heir to the throne of
the kingdom of idiots. There is no
shame in opportunism.
"We few, we happy few. We band
of brothers." — "Henry V."
The most ironic touch to this
little tragedy is that everyone is
using everyone else, all the while
smiling and exchanging hearty
handshakes. The College of Liber
al Arts is using the University's
short-sighted religious passion to
ward becoming a top-10 universi
ty to increase them and theirs.
The University is using the
College of Liberal Arts' desire to
finally expand to give the appear
ance of wanting to provide a
good education. As usual, the
students are getting the sharp
end of the sword.
The decision to expand the Col
lege of Liberal Arts or not should
be based on whether or not the
University needs its expansion to
improve the University, not to sat
isfy the institutional inferiority
complex of the University. To enter
into a program designed to nurture
the minds of students and certify
them to continue on into life with
less than pure motives is to risk
passing on that Machiavellian
mindset to the students.
Second-tiering students' edu
cations in favor of looking better
for a national poll is denying the
very existence of this university,
an institution of higher learning.
The University exists to educate
students; everything else should
be secondary. Over the years, this
has been forgotten in the politics
and grabs for power.
The ability to backstab and use
everyone around you may be quite
valuable at a departmental meet
ing, but in life, knowledge of a field
and how to successfully interact
with, not over the dead bodies of,
people is essential. Playing with
lives is not a good idea.
As Hamlet said, "The play's
the thing, wherein I'll catch the
conscience of the king." The king,
in this case, the administration, is
engaged in a very dangerous act.
Whether it falls apart around
their ears or not will be based
solely on whether the administra
tion is guilty of only using the
colleges for the University's im
age war, or if they honestly care
for the students' educational
well-being.
Chris Huffines is a junior
speech communications Major
Graphic By Quatro Oakley/The Battalion
Controversy concerning free
peaking decreases unity
Violence solves no problem,
racism often is mistaken
Len
Callaway
columnist
ver the past few of weeks the nation has been
exposed to repetitive commentary regarding
pro football's most effective defensive end,
,gie White.
ootball, however, has not
n the topic of remarks from
ryone ranging from Jesse
<son to Republican Congres-
lal leaders. The topic has
n the appropriateness of
'ite's remarks before the Wis-
isinState Legislature.
Apparently, White gave a
ech where he poked a little
at every racial group, in-
ding his own, and then tied
speech together with a posi-
e message. He had a little
nething to say about homosexuality as well.
The message since the speech, however, has been
ihing but negativity and a stifling posture from
who disagreed .
It seems as if the phenomenon of political corrertness
spun America into a state where it is unacceptable to
,e an issue or to make commentary on an issue for
r °f upsetting some person or group of persons. As a
ture we have spent so much time telling ourselves
t we were a mean, intolerant people in years past
t in effect, we have become mean and intolerant of
'se who dare to voice their opinions today.
This trend has got to stop.
. P°litical correctness is edging us toward a homo-
(i|j noous society where everyone is encouraged to
® Ve exact same beliefs, publicly at least. Ahh,
I'ty
Wiite is an ordained minister, family man and quite
'hably the best defensive end to have ever played the
116 of football. Based on these credentials he should
^American hero, but he's not — in the past few
T, m tle * 1as boon turned into an American villain.
Why?
Ifecause he dared to admit his true feelings on
e °I the issues that are prevalent today: Race, sex-
orientation, family values, etc.
e admitted that he saw some differences between
' r f i ces of the world, not differences that make one
fbetter or worse than another, just differences.
. e obmitted that he prefers women to men and
1 e frankly, he doesn't agree with or understand fath-
^other man as a sexual or romantic partner.
gh, so what? Most of us don't either.
“Pinions are like ... well, you know the saying.
le 0m °sexuals can't fathom having a member of
opposite sex as a sexual or romantic partner, and
P e °f one race usually can't fathom being anyone
than who they are.
gain -— so w bat?
oes that mean that we are all incapable of seeing
0 her person's point of view or that because there
are little differences between all of us that there can
never be any common ground?
A few years ago it was a regular occurrence to
have seen comedians make fun of people's differ
ences and things they don't understand, but no one
ever complained. Weren't these comedians just pro
fessing their personal opinions in a humorous way?
Sounds sort of like what White was trying to do.
White just went one step too far. He brought God
into the debate.
Of all of the arguments and all of the disagree
ments that are out there in Irrationality Land for peo
ple to disagree upon most can be handled peacefully,
until somebody starts telling us what God thinks
about this and what God thinks about that.
Each religion has its own idea of what its deity is
like and what that deity will stand for and what it
won't, but for some reason when folks start talking
about being intolerant of something their argument
is usually finished off by religious reasoning.
Pat Robertson and White seem to think we're in for
some trouble because we keep "shaking our fists in the
face of God" by tolerating homosexuality as a society.
I guess they want us to round up all of the homo
sexuals, drag them out in the street and throw them a
solid beating.
Trent Lott and Dick Army say that homosexuality is
like a medical condition or a disability that can be treated.
Well good for them. Congratulations, guys.
They have mastered the task of asserting their
opinion regardless of what people might think about
that opinion.
We don't have to agree with their opinion but at
least they have the intestinal fortitude to get out and
voice it.
Be an adult; say what's on your mind.
We have a television shows like "Politically Incor
rect" and "Dennis Miller Live" because it has become
such a nuance for someone to express an opinion
other than the safe and expected status quo guaran
teed not to upset anyone.
America needs to grow up a little bit and get used
to taking a punch again.
Political correctness has allowed a trend to devel
op that makes it wrong by public opinion for one to
assert any sort of personal opinion that makes a val
ue judgment about anyone or anything.
We all make value judgments about other people
everyday in the form of who our friends are and
what religion we subscribe to; it's just become wrong
to advocate your decision making criteria publicly.
If we don't toughen up a little bit and stop crying
every time someone shares an opinion there will proba
bly never be open and honest debate on the issues of the
day without someone getting persecuted in the process.
Although some of us agree with Reggie White and
some of us don't, he's got the right idea.
Len Callaway is a senior journalism major.
T hree weeks ago my skull
was fractured in four
places when I was assault
ed, presumably for being a
racist, at a concert in Albu
querque, N.M.
I'm not a racist, but l am a
stand-up comic. At the concert, I
was telling three of my friends a
joke I was working on, and in the
discussion that followed, I made
a stereo
Jeremy
Valdez
columnist
typical re
mark
about
Asian
men. It
just
popped
out. I did
not mean
it.
Twenty
minutes
later I
was ac
costed by an Asian guy and two
of his friends. I apologized sin
cerely for offending them and
offered everybody a beer for
their grief.
Instead of accepting my apol
ogy, the guy told me he was go
ing to bash my skull in, and then
proceeded to do it.
Since then I've struggled to
put what happened to me into a
larger context, to see if there
were any latent racist tendencies
inside of me.
But racists, generally speak
ing, do not apologize for their
racist statements, nor do they of
fer to buy their victims a beer.
In truth, the assault was prob
ably an act of random violence.
The guy might have risen that
morning wanting to hit some
body, and I just happened to
give him half an excuse.
But my experience, and far
more serious incidents like the
brutal murder of James Byrd Jr.
in Jasper, illustrate the failures of
political correctness in America.
In our rush to condemn a vo
cabulary of offensive words and
phrases, we have largely ig
nored their social context and
the sentiments of the people that
use them.
That's because it's much easi
er to attack the way people
speak than it is to examine and
correct the way they think. If the
true goal is racial justice, this
speech-correction is also far less
effective.
Mindless enforcement of a
speech code won't make anyone
any less prejudiced. Worse, it
creates a society where it is as
much a crime to offend someone
as it is to batter them.
For instance. New Mexico, re
alizing the shortcomings in its
law-enforcement and judicial
systems, has established a tax
payer-funded commission to pay
the medical and funeral expens
es of victims of violent crimes.
The "victim advocate" I
spoke to was sympathetic, but
said the commission might find
me financially responsible for
the attack because of my remark.
This "you-asked-for-it" men
tality is particularly frustrating
since as I was being loaded into
the ambulance, I was told the as
sailant had been caught but
would be cited with a misde
meanor and released.
Since I was wearing dark
glasses when I was attacked,
I've wondered if my attacker
ever paused to think that I might
also be Asian.
Truly the question is irrele
vant, because being a member of
a certain group doesn't grant
one greater license to tell jokes
or make stereotypical remarks.
A dumb Jewish joke told by a
gentile does not become witty
social commentary when deliv
ered by a Jew.
PC dogma dictates that jokes
and stereotypes dehumanize
people and must be eliminated
as roadblocks to social equality.
Meanwhile, PC disciples fall
all over themselves to label
everyone according to his or her
background, never seeing that
this obsession with taxonomy
must create more disparity than
most stupid jokes.
Perhaps the most oft-cited ex
ample of this goofiness comes
from the attempts made to name
the black community. The
newest non-offensive term,
"African-American," is definite
ly the clumsiest.
My personal favorite has and
will always be "colored person."
I realized this while listening to
Maya Angelou speak. The terms
"colored person" and "person of
color" spring forth from her
beautiful full lips with a dignity
that makes me wish I was 10
shades darker. Her understand
ing and appreciation of her cul
ture could make any dead word,
even "nigger," sound less a label
than a noble title.
Yet most every dictionary
identifies "colored" as offensive.
While we kill each other in the
streets, we tiptoe, giggle and
talk about how we don't use the
"n-word" and pat ourselves on
the back for making a difference.
It shouldn't matter what we
call anybody. It should only
matter how individuals are
treated. And where all but the
worst jokes and stereotypes are
concerned, we'd do well to re
member the phrase, "We're
laughing with you."
Not all whites are racist. Not
all blacks are criminals. Not all
Hispanics are lazy. Not all fat
people are jolly. Not all Asians
are hard-working and studious.
But here's a stereotype on it's
way up: Americans are vicious
thugs.
And 10 years of political cor
rectness has done nothing to fix
that. Three weeks ago while I
was complaining about a few
fractures and black and blood
ied eye I got for making a stupid
comment, a colored man who
did nothing other than try to
walk home was dismembered
by demons with a pickup truck
and a few miles of Texas road.
What did they call him? Nig
ger? Colored? African-Ameri
can?
Who cares? Which one of
those terms is harder than the
chains that bound him to a fend
er? Which one of them is softer
than sun-melted asphalt?
This culture of violence won't
be fixed by all of us learning a
new language or telling new
jokes. Our first step towards cor
recting the problem should be
more ambitious.
Jeremy Valdez is a chemical
engineering graduate student.