University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 66, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, October 6, 1989 Page: 3 of 6
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October 6, 1989
Page 3
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UNIVERSITY PRESS FatT ( OllllllCllt
Band protest
of procedure
really trivial
-rtfe"Ti»
rycAioi-ye ts vtar/*
First name lost to office
Once again we have a
homecoming controversy
here at Lamar.
At Tuesday’s Student
Government Association
meeting, members of the
Lamar University band com-
plained that they had not
received applications for
homecoming king and queen
candidates before the filing
deadline.
The band members claimed
that they asked for the ap-
plications but were told
several times that the paper-
work wasn’t ready.
And now, get this, some
members of the band have
threatened to boycott all
homecoming activities.
“The band is very furious
with this, and we are going to
boycott all homecoming ac-
tivities,” said Mike Tucker,
president of Kappa Kappa Psi
band fraternity.
Another band member com-
plained, “We are the largest
organization on campus and
the four organizations that
represent the band feel that
we are not being supported
like the sports.”
There’s been a great deal of
talk lately about the raises
some of our administrators
have received.
Rarely has an issue been
so talked about and the
source of such indignation on
the part of what appears to be
a majority of both faculty and
students on campus.
The bottom line in the con-
troversy seems, not surpris-
ingly, to be the almighty
dollar. Take your pick, almost
anyone who wasn’t involved
in the raises has something
negative to say about the
amounts doled out.
Some complain about the
dollar figures themselves
while others complain about
their appropriateness — still
others have resigned
themselves to the theory that
such is the way of the world.
In defense of those who
received raises, it might be
said that the rest of us are
suffering from a “sour
grapes” mentality. Given the
almost inexplicable nature of
human behavior, and the
justification of the same, this
must be true to some extent,
To all this raging controver-
sy, we must say “Who
cares?”
Take a look at what is being
argued here — homecoming!
It’s not that big a deal.
In the past several years,
we’ve had a number of com-
plaints about the election pro-
cess from the Black Student
Association, which caused us
to create a Homecoming Task
Force.
Homecoming Task Force.
We repeat that for the em-
phasis on the absurdity.
While homecoming may be
regarded as a time for alumni
and students to share in the
glory of their college, it is not
the end of the world.
We would expect this kind
of cry-baby antics from high
school kids, but we are all
adults here, although this
latest homecoming controver-
sy causes us to question that.
There will be other
homecomings, and other
chances for everyone to be
king and queen, so please,
grow up.
Oh, and no serenading,
please.
even if it is a very small
minority.
in addition, it stands to
reason that a person should
expect to be paid for doing
his job, and paid well if perfor-
mance warrants. But the
nature of the business must
be addressed.
Lamar is here to educate
the people. Everyone from
kindergarten teachers to
holders of Ph.D’s will quickly
tell you education is not what
one goes into in order to
make exorbitant sums, of
money. It’s not impossible to
get rich in the business of
education, but the odds are
certainly stacked.
But working in education
gives another kind of wealth
which figures on a bankroll
cannot express: the reward of
touching lives and the
privilege of shaping minds.
On the absolute bottom
line, that is our job here at
Lamar. Let us hope the chan-
neling of funds will be con-
ducted fairly and with much
forethought by those we en-
trust with roles of leadership.
One question that begs to be
answered is whatever happened to
the president’s first name?
For those who don’t know what
I’m referring to, please look at any
newspaper’s account of the presi-
dent’s latest policy initiative.
Notice that the account refers to
“President Bush” and “Bush” but
there is no “George Bush.”
After consultation with the United
Press International Stylebook, I
found the reason for that.
A stylebook, by the way, is a stan-
dard set of spellings, uses and rules,
sort of like a dictionary, for
newspapers to use to keep everyone
from spelling things differently.
“The first name of a present or
former U.S. president usually is not
needed,” states the stylebook, “but
may be used in feature or personali-
ty stories. Use a first name if needed
to avoid confusing one with
another.”
There are many areas in which
simplification is useful in a
By Bonnie Doiron
UP columnist
You have to feel sorry for those
media guys who have to follow
George Herbert Walker (AKA Bush)
around and try to come up with
news, news, news, news. There, as
soon as a big bit comes along, they
take it apart - scene by scene.
Well, if you saw a guy on TV
demonstrating an assault weapon
and he seriously assured you that he
had bought it at the corner
drugstore, wouldn’t your news nose
start twitching?
So, here is George, on prime time
TV, seriously assuring you that he
got a bag of crack right across the
street from the White House. What a
traffic jam.
Makes you wonder how a smart
man like George can be so dumb.
Man and boy, everybody checked
that out, but, of course, there was
nothing to it. George just picked up
the phone and called the DEA (AKA
Drug Enforcement Administration)
Now that the U.S. Senate has over-
whelmingly approved a $9.4 billion
compromise plan for financing the
drug war declared earlier this
month by President Bush, we urge
the House of Representatives to act
quickly in giving its blessing to the
proposal.
There reportedly is concern
among some congressional aides
that some representatives are not
satisfied with the financing plan,
which calls for spending more than
$1 billion over what Mr. Bush recom-
mended.
Editor:
Concerning Alan Leger’s ad-
mirable letter to the editor in the
Sept. 29 issue of the University
Press, let me thank you for having
the guts to publish it.
As one Lamar University staff
member who “so on has worked, and
waited for the light/And went
without the meat, and cursed the
bread (or lack thereof),” I can well
attest to the “miniscule” wages Mr.
Leger alluded to.
Having just received my pay raise
newspaper. Trying to cut down on
words to get more news in the paper
is of tantamount importance.
But why cut out the president’s
first name?
The distinction is made since most
people should already know the
president’s name. But how many of
those people will remember the
president’s first name after not see-
ing it in print, or hearing it on radio
or TV, for four years ?
Indeed, in an age when some
American college students don’t
even know who Abraham Lincoln
was, it seems we would need to print
and they knew exactly what to do.
“Tell that teenage pusher he has to
move up closer to the White House.”
Poor little kid, he didn’t even know
where was the White House.
George is going to have to realize
that every time a leaf falls or a little
bird tells, there is a reporter up the
tree.
But George did not tell a lie.
I almost voted for George, but I
couldn’t face being a traitor. Too,
I’m lazy, so I just pulled the lever. I
knew George would win — not
because George is George, but
because Barbara is Barbara. You
can’t say anything mean about a
man who has the love of a beautiful
woman.
Lately, George’s man Baker, with
George’s permission, has been play-
ing “blink-the-eyes” with those Rus-
sians out in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Everything went swimmingly. So
they say. Wyoming put on a good
show, what with the Tetons and the
Clearly, the need to pass and enact
the anti-drug program is no less than
urgent.
The Senate plan would increase
federal spending for local law en-
forcement as well as for prevention
and treatment programs. It also
would give higher priority to
rehabilitation and education pro-
grams.
The financing plan would force
cuts of about four-tenths of 1 percent
in federal programs that involve
disbursement of discretionary
fluids. Reductions in the military
budget would be based on flexible
Letters to the Editor
(considerably less than 20 percent of
my salary; my gross salary not be-
ing near $18,000), my heart goes out
to those of my co-workers earning
even less.
Lamar administrators’ fallacious
opinions notwithstanding, they don’t
deserve such exorbitant raises.
While conscientious, hardworking,
dependable employees struggle to
get by on appallingly measly raises,
self-serving, hoity-toity individuals
get 20 percent raises?! ?
the president’s first name.
And then there is the spectre of
other “non-first namers.” Who is to
decide who gets his first name
dropped from stories? Does a
famous actor deserve such an
honor? Does a rock star deserve
such praise as to drop his, first
name?
It seems strange that we promote
equality under the law in our land,
but we do not practice it in our
newspapers.
Perhaps I should begin signing off
on my column with just my last
name. Murley. Has a nice single-
word ring to it, doesn’t it?
No, as I once heard a newspaper-
man say, no one is too famous or too
well-known to drop his first name
from the newspaper.
And that, friends, is the way it
goes here at the UP. So don’t be sur-
prised if you see President George
Herbert Walker Bush m’s first
name printed in this paper. We’re all
on equal ground in this printshop.
amorous mooses or is it meeces. I
hope that those straitlaced Russians
never find out what Teton means in
Indian-speak.
Anyway, George should
remember that Texas has a few
good holes and mountains, too.
It is infuriating what a straight
line good old George walks. Can you
really see George with a femme
fatale? But those media guys keep
trying. They thought it odd and of
some importance that when leaving
Maine recently, George boarded the
plane wearing one set of clothes and
got off the plane wearing another
set. Aha, what do we have here?
Nothing to this either. Every time
that George goes up to Ken-
nebunkport (a euphemism- for
heaven), he gets his shoes and pants
wet because he goes out to practice
that neat trick his predecessor
taught him:' Walking on water. He
hasn’t quite got the hang of it.
Give him time, folks.
guidelines. Programs that provide
benefits, such as Social Security,
would not be affected under the
Senate plan.
The senators also agreed on
another thing last week: that the
drug war is just beginning and it’s
not likely to be won with this initial
salvo. Similarly, nearly everyone
agrees the strategy has flaws — but
its is a first step. The consequences
of doing nothing are too horrible to
comtemplate.
Dallas Times-Herald. Oct. 1
So much for the American Dream.
Sounds like a nightmare to me.
If anyone needs to be “pardoned
for saying so,” it isn’t Mr. Leger; He
is merely speaking the truth. It is
high time fair, decent salaries are
made a top priority for faculty and
staff, administrators who don’t give
a damn about anyone but
themselves are gotten rid of, and we
get down to the business of a univer-
sity, namely providing an equitable,
quality education for our students.
Gary Castllle
Gray Library l
Reality is
hardly real
any longer
President George Bush, says he
sees nothing wrong with; staging a
drug buy just so he 90uld have a
fresh bag of crack cocaine to use as
a dramatic prop duripg a speech.
Maybe not, but the contrast with
his predecessor is obvious. Unlike
Ronald Reagan, who was thoroughly
comfortable with stagecraft, Bush
allows it to overwhelm his
statecraft.
Bush confirmed reports that he re-
quested the purchase of a bag of
crack cocaine near the White House
so that lie could show it off during his
nationally televised drug policy ad-
dress on Sept. 5. But he denied that
the incident tarnishes his credibility,
even though the Drug Enforcement
Administration admitted it had to
'coax the dealer from another loca-
tion to make the sale in Lafayette
Park, across from the White House.
“I think it was great,” Bush told
reporters. “I think it sent a message
that even across from the White
House it’s possible to sell drugs.”
True. But was that message so
much more important than the
unembellished truth? Isn’t it just as
illuminating that it is possible to buy
drugs a few blocks away from the
White House and that such sales oc-
cur so routinely that the DEA can
pick and choose which big fish to
reel in and which to throw back?
Maybe so. But the first rule of
salesmanship, as in journalism, is
keep it simple.
So, like the Wizard of Oz, the
President advised Americans to pay
attention to his larger-than-life
message, not to what was behind the
curtain of stage management. Un-
fortunately, that left him wide open
to charges by his political critics
that his drug war is more theater
than substance.
Poor George. He always did have
trouble with “the vision thing.”
A New York Times/CBS News poll
taken a couple of weeks later reveals
the public thoroughly approves of
the job he’s doing but more than half
doubt he will reduce the drug pro-
blem significantly. Could there be a
connection between this credibility
gap and Bush’s sloppy stagecraft?
Stagecraft has become an essen-
tial ingredient of statecraft in the
television age, an era in which the
lines between reality and fantasy on-
ly grow fuzzier. President Reagan
understood this and used his
Hollywood training to full advantage
in convincing us that, for example,
deficit spending will drive you to
bankruptcy as an individual but
somehow make us prosper as a na-
tion.
Why not? This is an age in which
reality and fantasy are routinely
blurred, and not just by politicians.
I don’t want to sound like a news
prude, but considering these and
other changes that add up to an ex-
plosion of old media styles, I am not
surprised to hear that a recent
Times Mirror poll turned up pro-
found confusion among the viewing
public over what is “news” and what
is “entertainment” on television
these days.'
Well, why not? Even FBI Director
William Sessions describes the
response to “America’s Most
Wanted,” a program that uses ac-
tors to re-enact heinous crimes and
publicize real fugitives, as nothing
short of fantastic.
But the mind reels when one
ponders where we. may be going
from here. The explosion of news
publications and programs on televi-
sion and cable has become so enor-
mous that one television news direc-
tor I know appropriately labels it
“newzak,” after the omnipresent
Muzak elevator musfC.
After a while, a phenomenon sets
in that I call the “Oprah Syndrome,”
after the inexplicable way many of
Winfrey’s guests clamor to reveal
personal secrets on her national talk
show that they would otherwise
hesitate to tell their own mothers in
confidence.
For example, some Washington
residents are said to have withheld
information on local drug crimes
from police, holding out instead f<ff a
chance to be on WTTG’s “CJty
Under Siege,” a weekday TV pro-
gram that focuses exclusively on the
city’s drug scourge and sometimes
outscores regular news shows in the
ratings.
No wonder President Bush sees
nothing wrong with funding the line
between fiction and reality. He’s just
following a national trend.
Editor......................
University Press
................Bryan Murley
Managing Editor............
....................Jay Casey
Entertainment Editor.......
................Karen Gilman
Sports Editor...............
................ . . David Smith
Copy Editor.................
..............Michelle Picard
Photo Editor................
..................Drew Loker
Photographer...............
.Brent Guidry, Gerald Villella
Wire Editor.................
....................Brad Wills
Senior Staff Wrtten.........
. .David Barras, Kevin Brown,
Maxsane Mitchell, Deidre Moore-Murley
Arte Reporter...............
...................Craig Clark
Aeet. Sports Editor..........
.............Dennis Meloncon
Sports Writer ...............
....................John Hock
Cartoonist...................
.............Seames O’Grady
Circulation Manager........
.................Nina Nguyen
Circulation Assistant........
................Teena Nguyen
Advertising Representative .
...................Drek Reese
Advertising Assistant........
......................LoanLe
Marketing/Advertising
Elaine Butler
Production Manager
Gloria Poet
Assistant to the Director of Student Publications
David Hooker
Director of Student Publications
Howard Perkins
Publisher
Student Publications Board
Joseph Havana ugh, Chairman
Salary increases
cause resentment
Media dogs Bush for news
Declaration of war is positive step
Salaries should be fairly placed
I
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Murley, Bryan. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 66, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, October 6, 1989, newspaper, October 6, 1989; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth500384/m1/3/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar University.