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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 2001)
ptembcr 6, i ion- Phursday, September 6, 2001 Page 7B retired 1 dropping RUBEN DELUNA • THE BATTALION Hey God > remember me? People have sacrificed spirituality for society A ll too often in today’s soci ety, spirituality is crowded out by commitments and activities, a point of neglect that has led our nation into a per petual spin down the toilet bowl of morality. As our society continues to be driven toward seeking financial success at all costs, spiritual guidance in the home has hit an all-time low. This neglect can be seen everywhere. A glance at late- night television programming reveals nothing but sexual situa tions, while evening news pro gramming revolves around the latest murders and rapes. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that during the last 40 years, violent crimes have risen to 3.5 times the 1960 rate, while rapes and assaults are up nearly 10 times since that time. Many blame our problems on explicit television programming and violent video games, but these are only symptoms of the larger problem. America’s ability to shut out indecent content has been lost. Choices are made based on the moral code that has been taught, and it is no coincidence that the family and societal values that America wants to reclaim are the same morals most religions are built on. As society puts religion further behind the pursuit of money, its morals have drifted accordingly. Unfortunately, this spiritual slump is not restricted to the working world. This trend has slipped into the life of the average college student who often finds it hard to manage their time. The decision to attend church on Sunday morning has become trivial, hindered by long hours at the office and sleepless nights of school work. Without the moral direction offered by the church, the aver age household becomes vulnera ble to many negative influences. Society has become too busy to police itself and is allowing the media to dictate the moral code. The average business person's schedule has become so full that he or she is no longer able to monitor what enters their house hold. Children are often left at home alone, too naive to turn off an explicit show. With no one home to guard their eyes. As our society continues to he driven toward seeking financial success at all costs, spiritual guidance in the home has hit an all- thne low. America’s youth are bombarded by shows like “Temptation Island” and “Jerry Springer” and left at the mercy of the TV net works for role models. Growing up in a home where these shows are regularly watched has left many young adults craving sensationalism. People have become too interest ed in shows focusing on sexuali ty and shock value, and are now unwilling to sacrifice just a little entertainment for the sake of moral decency. America is head ed towards a state of moral instability with little hope in sight. A new generation must repair the damage done by the morally lax policies currently in place. As soon-to-be leaders of the community, students must make the decision to develop their spiritual identity early, in order to make an impact in their own households. Unfortunately, in college the decision to maintain spirituality becomes tough. Between home work assignments, organization meetings and work schedules, students barely have the time to attend religious activities. The tendency to start strong and finish weak is a common one. Students often begin the year by attending religious gatherings, but become overwhelmed by school and quit going. “Each year we see a drop off rate of about 20 percent from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.” said Gregg Matte of Breakaway Ministries, which is a praise-and-worship ceremony held weekly in Reed Arena. Students often begin with the best of intentions only to be sidetracked by other commit ments. People must make the decision to set aside the time for religion or otherwise risk becoming another person with a full wallet and empty morals. These problems will not improve until people institute spirituality in their homes. The American lifestyle has become too busy for spiritual focus and is now paying the price by slowly destroying itself. Tim Dyll is senior electrical engineering major. TIM DYLL. MAIL CALL f\0\\ Rowan was wrong In j response to Rolando Garcia's Se/ f . 4 article: dicures on, ■ The Josh Rowan matter has generated a lot of discussion on the A&M campus. After reading the article on Monday in which Rowan was interviewed, I was dis gusted by his blatant attempt to defame other members and con tributors of his own organization, p He gave no evidence to back up his accusations, and then he defamed himself by allowing the letter from Tom Fitzhugh to be published in part. Before I move into the crux of this response, I would also like to point out that the alcohol issue is probably one of the lesser matters in this case. Alcohol has been deemed the central theme in this case because 1) that is all that Rowan has admitted to and 2) that was a main theme of Fjtzhugh's email. I believe the other matters - drugs and inappro priate sexual behavior - are proba bly more relevant. ! After many of Rowan’s com ments in the article on Monday, specifically his last ditch effort at bringing other MSC members down with him, and from knowl edge of past events, it is not incon ceivable that those charges are true as well. This leads to the real intent of the response. Many peo ple have complained that this mat ter should be made public. I disagree with this when look ing at it from the MSC’s perspec tive, and here’s why. People make mistakes. People change. The first statement means that people sometimes do stupid things, sometimes repeatedly until they are caught. No matter the circumstances, these people should be able to face the music with little publicity when possible. In this case, Rowan acted inappropriately on a trip to Italy. No one else besides the MSC and the other students and sponsors involved should have to know while a decision is made. This leads to the second state ment — people change. It would be a shame for someone to make a mistake and then be branded for it forever. When the person changes, he or she could never regain what was lost. In the case of student leaders, the MSC and the University is trying to protect students from just this sort of thing. Finally, there is the problem of teaching student leaders to be CARTOON OF THE DAY ■ of softw at{ iks student , website o' ition. to expaf' 1 irs Monday' only. E0E. TUe €> hmms responsible. Surely, by hiding these types of incidents and allow ing student leaders to continue serving the student body, A&M is not ttaining effective leaders who possess strong character and integrity. By making these inci dents public and forcing student leaders to take more responsibility, the likelihood of producing such leaders increases dramatically. I personally favor this latter approach to the forever. Ryan Riley Class of 2001 The tradition is lost In response to Sommer Bunco’s Sept 5th article. It should come as no surprise to anyone that there wa such a poor response to the request for ideas on 2002 Bonfire. When the committee’s were established they instituted a wall between those who passionately love the tradition of Bonfire and the MSC politicians. With the design committee chaired by Josh Rowan and out numbered by staff members 8 to 6, there are inherent flaws here and this is evident in the response. I have personally met the engineer and think he is a great choice. He wants all the input he can get and is very receptive however all input must go through the University’s head of the physical plant. If he is working for us and for our tradition why can we not sub mit ideas directly to him at a forum here on campus? There are many ideas out there that people are will ing to submit as well people who want to get involved. It is time to overhaul the Bonfire 2002 student leadership to include those who are passionate about it. When you allow unbiased and even student input the walls can be torn down and Bonfire can once again unify our campus. Joe Dyson Class of 2002 Small Town World President Bush visits small town America (U-WIRE) MADISON, Wis. — “It was cheesy, and he knew it.” That was the reply of my associate after taking pictures of President Bush sawing boards and laying tiles during a photo oppor tunity. The pseudo-carpentry took place dur ing a Labor Day rally at a carpenters’ union trading center in Kaukauna, Wis. The comment encapsulated my feelings about campaigns in general. 1 could not under stand how rallies, commercials, and cheesy photo-ops could be very effective. They cer tainly had no effect on me. I actually found these traditional campaign tools rather humor ous and the blatant pandering a bit embarrass ing. But then 1 remembered a realization I had just a few weeks earlier upon my return from a summer in Washington, D.C. After picking me up from the airport, my father was kind enough to take me out to eat at the nicest restaurant in my hometown. I soon realized that two months in Washington was enough to induce culture shock over the fact that a meal could cost only $15 (remember, this is the nicest restaurant in town!). Soon after being seated, I overheard a gen tleman at the next table ask what the price was for the “Catch of the Day.” I reflected that not only would I be too embarrassed to do the same in Washington, but also I would definite ly order “The Catch,” regardless of price. It would be mortifying to do otherwise, even if I was a poor college intern. Suddenly it hit me. A mere two months in Washington and I had already forgotten about small town America. Of course, I was not alone. Few, if anyone, in Washington remembers small town America. Small town America is awed and deeply appreciative when the leader of the free world takes the time to visit. In Kaukauna we wit nessed the president make an appearance in front of 1,700 union members, traditional Democrats, who cheered for nearly a minute and a half and chanted “George Bush” as he was introduced. Signs and billboards up and down the highway welcomed him to Green Bay. All listened atten tively to the president’s speech, and the intermit tent cheering suggested that the crowd agreed with a quite a bit of it, or at least they did now. Needless to say, our critique during the car ride home was not quite as kind. But once I took a step back and realized the position from which we were making our critique, I realized the speech was not for us, but for those carpenters who care infinitely more about the Green Bay Packers than they do about Washington politics. In fact, small town America usually notices Washington only when they are directly affected. And the number of issues that fall under this classification may be small, but the feelings pro voked are not. In short, while Washington is pragmatic, small town America is principled. For example, the congressman I interned for comes from a very pro-life district, and thus it is no surprise that he himself is pro-life — quite avidly so. But the reality is that he has no ehoice. I witnessed this by reading constituent letters during President Bush’s prolonged deliberation on stem-cell research. The vast majority equated stem-cell research with infanticide — an extreme position, regardless of your views on the issue. But such sentiment is widespread, leaving the congressman with no viable political option other than opposing the research (1 do not know his personal feelings on the issue). Similarly, those that support gun control often seem puzzled why they are unable to enact more legislation. The answer is that there are millions of pro-gun Americans who vote for politicians solely on their stance on guns. Polls may indicate that most Americans favor gun control, but polls do not reflect the intensity of those that favor guns. But the starkest difference between Washington and small town America is that while Washington sees money in millions and billions, small town America sees money in dollars and cents. For those in small town America, the “Catch of the Day” may just break the budget. In Washington, politicians fight for earmarked pork, and are concerned that they have not “gotten anything” for a major town in their district. This fundamental difference in the perception of money is the most compelling argument for local government and lower taxes. I thought I spent money liberally when I was in Washington — I can only imagine my behavior had the money not been my own. Small town America is impressed by the pres ident sawing a board. It is about time for Washington to understand the voting power and be impressed by the fiscal sanity of small town America. Ben Thompson is a writer for the Badger Herald at the University of Wisconsin. I I JM Jt *' *. * t. A l *; <r' h * e *>; 3 9: * B • (l '