Lamar University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 56, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, September 14, 1979 Page: 3 of 8
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UNIVERSITY PRESS September 14,1979*3
Teach-in/Conference/Ticke ts
—1 —
$1
This Learning World
Cut class:
Teach-in!
Readers’ Forum
Black exclusion ‘inexcusable ’
To the Editor:
Afro-American scholars as well as
laymen from the black community have
>een struggling since Emancipation to
lefine the role of the Negro in American
society and to establish the Negro’s con-
tributions to American culture. And in
Lamar University Press
Editor
Greg Hale
Managing Editor
Susan Marlow
Copy Editor
Ann Lavergne
News Editor
Frank Conde
. Sports Editor
recent decades, our attention.has been tur-
ned more toward Africa, the Mother Coun-
try, in search of cultural and ancestral
roots.
But despite all this effort on the part of
blacks and even some whites in our
society, the Conference on Ethnic
Cultures, scheduled for Saturday, spon-
sored jointly by Lamar’s Department of
English and Foreign Languages and the
Sabine Area Language Teachers’
Association, conspicuously lacks any
scheduled seminar on Black Culture,
African Culture, Afro-American Culture,
or the New-African Heritage, or whatever
term one wants to use.
Twelve to thirteen percent of the studen-
ts enrolled at Lamar University are black.
How many Czechoslovakians do we have
enrolled at Lamar, and how many of this
group reside in the Golden Triangle?
and Afro-Americans have and still do ad-
dress themselves to such universal themes
as the loss of paradise, the cause of death
and disease, and the origin of fire. Fur-
thermore, stories about animals, ad-
ventures with ogres, giants and cannibals
can be found in the myths and tales of
Africa and Afro-Americans (Neo-
Africans). There are even black analogues
to “Cinderella” and the “Goose that Laid
the Golden Egg,” not to mention myths
about the relations between men and gods,
between men and animals.
During my tenure at Lamar, I often have
defended this institution against claims by
black students that “we” are deliberately
slighted “around this place.” But, frankly,
I find our exclusion from a conference on
ethnic cultures, held on our very own cam-
pus, to be indefensible and inexcusable.
As nearby as Houston, at Texas
Southern University, is an entire Depart-
ment of African Studies. Could not one of
their faculty members have been invited
to speak during the conference?
At this point, I feel about the way the late
Jackie “Moms” Mabley felt In her joke
about why aren’t there any "colored
people” in the funny papers: “Dagwood
and Blondie,” says she, "don’t never have
no colored folks at they house”; and “Lil'
Orphan Annie, she don't have no colored
friends. And Dick Tracy, he ain’t never
’rested no colored person. We do crime
too!”
Kirkland C. Jones
Associate Professor of English
By
DR. RICHARD MEISLER
Here’s what it would be like.
About two-thirds of thd way through
every semester, classes would be canceled
for two days in colleges and high schools
all over the country.
Students and teachers, along with
millions of workers, householders and
professionals, would devote time to lear-
ning about one of the world’s serious
problems like energy supplies, racism,
food and population imbalance, pollution,
poverty and inflation.
Each school that canceled classes would
get a small government grant, based on
the size of its student body, to prepare
materials, rent films, pay speakers and
cover incidental expenses.
Employers and unions would be en-
couraged to arrange for reduced work
schedules to allow workers to join students
for the events at the schools. Radio and
television programs and 'newspaper,
magazine and book publishing schedules
would all be coordinated so as to provide
materials related to the problem being
studied.
It would be America’s bi-annual teach-
in.
The country would be turned into a
gigantic forum for learning about and
debating major world problems and their
solutions.
We have had scattered teach-ins about
the Vietnam War and South African
racism. We’ve had Food Days and Earth
Days.
Recently there have been teach-ins on
nuclear power. Oregon had a state-wide
conference on its future, using television
and newspapers to focus on critical issues.
This spring’s anti-nuclear demonstration
was inexpensively telecast live by satellite
without the participation of the major net-
works.
For years Ralph Nader has been saying
that schools have the research and in-
tellectual resources which, combined with
the energy of students who do not yet have
major vested interests, could make major
contributions to public debates.
Senator Bradley of New Jersy. has
proposed a national teach-in on energy.
Two prominent economists think we
need a national teach-in about the
economy.
We have enough experience to know that
it will work.
All we need to do now is put the pieces
together and create a major new
democratic tradition.
A government-sanctioned, loosely-
organized teach-in network offers many
advantages.
It would be highly decentralized. Studen-
ts and teachers at each school would con-
trol their own teach-in. There would be
plenty of room for creativity and emphasis
on local perspectives and problems.
All schools would have access to cen-
tralized resources from broadcasting,
periodicals and book publishing, but they
could also draw upon local expertise and
wisdom.
Schools and colleges are generally
timid, avoiding controversy and difficult
issues. Education suffers from terminal
blandness. The national teach-in would
constitute a mandate for controversy, for
the presentation of the various sides of dif-
ficult issues.
The educational establishment could
assume the role it should have had all
along as a leader of lively democratic
discussion. New life would be injected into
academic work. Semester-long courses on
a world problem could be built around the
teach-in. The students and instructors in
these courses could be the school’s plan-
ning committee for the teach-in.
Interesting things can happen at a teach-
in. As a young instructor at Antioch
College in the 1960s, I heard about the first
Vietnam teach-in at the University of
Michigan. I organized a two-day program
at Antioch, and the president of the college
canceled classes. We invited the State
Department to send a representative to
defend the American involvement in Viet-
nam. They sent a bright and eloquent
young man to argue in favor of the was.
His name was Daniel Ellsberg.
Congress could pass simple and inex-
pensive legislation establishing ’'a bi-
annual national teach-in. A mechanism for
choosing the topics would be established,
and there would be small incentives for in-
stitutions to participate.
We suggest that you write to your
senator and representative, and send a
copy of your letter to This Learning World,
1203 Gardner, Ann Arbor, Mich. 48104.
© 1979, Richard Meisler
Cynthia Shields
Sports Assistants
J Larry Going Manuel Moreno Jr.
Campus Editor
Bonnie Do iron
Entertainments Editor
Brett Thacker
Entertainments Assistants
j Becky Moss Don Rollins
■I Wire Editor
Renita Johnson
Business Manager
Beverly Hall
Advertising Manager
Jill Scoggins
Advertising Representative
Linda Kirkpatrick
Advertising Assistant
Shiela Shields
Graphics Editor
Dave Campbell
Graphics Assistant
Sherrie Booker
Composition
Curley Randall
Cartoonist
Kelly Asbury
Photo Editor
Cindy Dowies
. 7 Photographers
' Cathy Massey Jeff Milligan
Fernando Prado
Staff Writers
'Jerry Adams
-Lillie Catanzaro
-Kim Craft v
■Becky Gee
<Simona Giblin
Office Manager-
Tim Meece
Debbie Hammond
David Harrington
Jill Hathaway
Mike Kirkpatrick
Debi Simar
Graduate student defends LU carpooling
And why is it that the South Park In-
dependent School District can see the
value of hiring an individual to teach Ger-
man and Polish at Hebert High School,
where the student population is
predominantly black, and yet the sponsors
of this conference on ethnic cultures have
I not seen the relevance of black culture and
| black consciousness to their program.'
Of course, nearly every other ethnic
! group of any significance in this area has
! been included in the list of seminars, en-
; compassing, in addition to
1 Czechoslovakian, Cajun, Italian, Dutch,
| and Mexican-American.
It may interest the readers of this
. column to know that my courses in
“African Literature” and “Black
| American Writing” have been composed,
j semester after semester, of as many non-
black students as black students, and I am
' especially pleased this semester that the
enrollment in my course in the “Literature
| of Africa” is the largest ever—43 students
I reported to the first day’s class and the
, drop rate has been extremely low.
The conference’s exclusion of blacks and
their culture slights not only black studen-
ts and black faculty, but it also deprives
non-black students and non-black faculty
of an opportunity to learn that blacks are
not so different after all. For despite our
“colorful speech patterns," our “natural
rhythm and musical ability,” and our "in-
nate humor," our cultural efforts, even the
literary and artistic expression of native
Africans, employ themes and motifs
familiar to the Euro-American artistic
heritage.
Not only have blacks given to America
her most original art forms, the spiritual
and the blues, but the writings of Africans
To the Editor:
In response to Mr. Fairchild’s Incisive
letter of 9-7-79, the “big idea” of cordoning
off parking spaces in the hallowed parking
lot No. 7 was to induce students like him-
self to carpool.
We in the Social Data Center understand
that deserving seniors have worked hard
to earn their rightful spots in the senior
parking lot (which, I might add, is vir-
tually useless for seniors in colleges
located away from the center of campus).
However, coupled with this belief that
seniors may deserve certain privileges not
granted other students is a stronger belief
that carpooling is a necessary means by
which students can save.money that would
To the Editor:
There is a deceptive viewpoint
throughout Kim Craft’s letter to the editor
which appeared in the Sept. 7 University
Press. Let us re-examine the points made
by that writer concerning mandatory class
attendance.
First, admittedly, college students are
adults...for the most part. But we must not
forget that these college students are still
college students. And although an adult’s
“only true responsibility is to them-
selves,” college students have many other
important obligations.
Each student owes an often overlooked
otherwise be used for gasoline, an in-
creasingly expensive commodity.
Also, Mr. Fairchild might find that par-
ticipation in carpooling would be a means
for developing relationships with other
commuter students that simply will not be
made by riding to school alone.
If Mr. Fairchild were to ride with two
other commuters from Orange he could
realize a significant savings in fuel and
automobile upkeep costs. As an example,
if he drives sixty miles daily, five days a
week, he is using (based on an estimate of
15 mpg) 20 gallons of gasoline weekly.
Three students driving the same distan-
ce alone are using 60 gallons of gasoline
when only 20 need be used. If ride sharing
debt to society. We must not deceive our-
selves by thinking that our tuition and fees
fully finance this educational institution. It
is the responsibility of the administration
to implement vast public funds to their
maximum utilization. This makes at-
tendance an administrative topic. And
while non-attendance “cheats” a student
of the benefits of education, it similarly
cheats the society of the benefits of a wor-
thy investment.
As a second point, the writer admits of
were to be instituted, a significant
monetary and energy savings would ob-
tain.
Further, Mr. Fairchild’s portrayal of the
administration as spendthrifts is not based
in fact. The decision to set aside parking
spaces for carpoolers in lot No. 7 was ap-
proved by the student senate. Any com-
plaints should be lodged with the represen-
tative of his college, not the ad-
ministration.
Finally, because we ran registration for
the system through late registration, the
Data Center has not yet mailed out the lists
of potential ride sharers to those few
students subscribing to the computer-
assisted carpooling program. These lists
should reach the subscribers by the middle
“trying to prepare...for employment.”
What employer would overlook frequent
and unexplained work absences? In itself,
this thought should generate sufficient in-
centive to develop positive attendance
habits. Would an “adult” supersede the
requirements of his livelihood for
“avoidable” reasons?
This entertains the third major
weakness in the letter. The writer disap-
proved of the penalty for “(making) a
choice concerning my time.” There is
skillful misrepresentation in this
of this week (9-10 - 9-14), so there should be
an increased use of those spaces ap-
portioned to carpoolers.
Hopefully, the vacant spaces and wasted
personnel costs that Mr. Fairchild protests
will be put to greater use.
We are saddened to see Mr. Fairchild in-
convenienced, but still believe that
something must be done to encourage
students to share rides to school. Perhaps
Mr. Fairchild could induce two people to
ride with him from Orange so that he could
fill one of those empty spaces that upset
him so.
Charles Barrilleaux
Beaumont graduate student
statement. Only an unexcusable absence
would lead a fair instructor to penalize a
student. It is unfortunate that many in-
structors actually overlook any absences.
The most important aspect of a college
student’s life revolves around the
classroom. It is totally inappropriate for a
student to circumvent this concept for a
more immediate personal gain.
Douglas Farmer
Orange sophomore
Students deserve first shot at tickets
Writer re-examines mandatory class attendance
Typesetter#
Ingrid Faulk
Christy Post
Production Manager
Gloria Post
Director of
Student Publications
Howard Perkins
Publisher
Student Publications Board
George McLaughlin, chairman
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Opinions expressed in editorials and columns are those of the student management of the newspaper. These opinions
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Deadline tor the Friday issue is the preceding Wednesday. For larger news stories, publicity chairmen of organisations
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eompliahed.
To the Editor:
I would like to congratulate the SSCC for
the excellent speakers it brought to the LU
Ballroom, Sept. 5.
I’m sure I would have enjoyed the
speakers had I been able to hear them. I,
as well as several other LU students, were
unable to hear the Amityville speakers
because the lecture was sold out.
If LU students had comprised the
audience, I would have been ecstatic that
they were no longer showing their much-
talked-about apathy. I was informed,
however, that the majority of the audience
were non-students.
I realize that citizens pay taxes to sup-
port our university, but I also pay a
: student fee that entitles me to use univer-
sity facilities. I feel this right was denied
me by the SSCC.
The problem could have been prevented
by having advance ticket sales.
The SSCC should have realized that
many people would be interested in the
Amityville speakers considering the movie
concerning Amityville was a sell-out in
Beaumont.
I hope to see this problem corrected in
the future. |
Peggy S. Dow
Winnie senior
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Hale, Greg. Lamar University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 56, No. 4, Ed. 1 Friday, September 14, 1979, newspaper, September 14, 1979; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth500403/m1/3/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar University.