University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, November 15, 1996 Page: 3 of 6
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0 ^Opinion
University Press • Friday, November 15,1996 • Page 3
University Press
Allen Pearson....................................Editor
Tonya Andris...........................Managing Editor
The opinions that appear in editorials are the official views of the
University Press student management as determined by the Student
Editorial Board. Opinions expressed elsewhere on this page are the
views of the writers only and are not necessarily those of the
University Press student management. Opinions are not necessarily
those of the university administration.
Editorial ■■
Four campuses need
to be reunited as one
If you thought that the Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield
fight was good, then be prepared for what is about to happen
among Lamar’s four campuses — Beaumont, LUIT, LUPA
and LU-O.
The faculty senate on the Beaumont campus has proposed
that LUIT, LUPA and LU-O be reunited with the Beaumont
campus and become satellites. The Beaumont Student
Government Association has agreed and backs the proposal.
This does not sit well with SGA representatives from the
other three campuses.
These representatives say that they like the way things are
and do not want a change.
On Wednesday, the SGA presidents from the LUIT, LUPA
and LU-O campuses held a press conference at Jefferson
County Airport to officially state that they were opposed to
their campuses becoming satellites of the Beaumont campus.
They stated that they thought their campuses were healthy and
well as they exist now. They also mentioned that enrollment at
LUIT, LUPA and LU-O is increasing, whereas the Beaumont
campus is slowly in decline.
Regardless of what was said at the press conference, people
in this area can look at the situation as it exists now and won-
der why in the world this area has four separate campuses
within a 25-mile radius — two that are across the street from
each other.
This separation does not make sense.
The duplication of services and administration in keeping
four separate campuses is a waste of state monies when the
four campuses could be brought back together as one unit.
All four campuses need to be reunited.
The sooner this situation is dealt with and settled, the bet-
ter off everyone in Southeast Texas will be.
Texans may have to
Inhale’ marijuana issue
Imagine waking up one day to find that newspaper and
television headlines read “Marijuana is legal in Texas for
medical purposes.”
This is something that has been on the minds of many
people for decades — many of those being medical profes-
sionals who feel that marijuana’s legality will help those ail-
ing from disorders such as glaucoma.
There are two states in the union, Arizona and California,
where marijuana is no longer considered an illegal drug if it
is needed for medical reasons.
On the other side of the fence are those within the law
enforcement community who want the drug to remain ille-
gal, citing that making marijuana legal for medical purposes
will only hurt a society that is already ailing from the effects
of drug abuse.
They are correct. Do we want one of the most abused
drugs legal? However, as the devil’s advocate, we also have
a high number of prescription drugs that are abused. Also,
we currently have the most abused legal drug, alcohol.
This debate is not only going on in Arizona and
California. Look out Lone Star State. Although in its early
stages, marijuana used for medical reasons could become
legal in Texas. Southwest Texas State in San Marcos is cur-
rently surveying people on the topic.
There is something that people should know about mari-
juana being legal. First of all, the law nowhere states that a
person will be able to use marijuana where ever and when-
ever they want to. There are rules that those who are pre-
scribed marijuana must follow. Most important is that it
must be prescribed by a doctor, just as with any other medi-
cine. Also, a person must be diagnosed with a condition that
requires the use of it.
The thought of marijuana being legal puts fear in many
people, but as long as it is used for the benefit of helping peo-
ple with an ailment, legalization would be a good idea.
University Press
Editor Allen Pearson
Managing Editor.............Tonya Andris
Copy Editor.................Laura Lee Scott
Features-
Editor .................Holly Simmons
Staff Writers-
Samantha McGuire, Kim Green,
Vita Gradney, Ginger Sjolander,
Todd Sonnier, Billie Dorman,
Patience McHenry,
Wayne Meza
Sports-
Editor...............Michael Thibodeaux
Bryce Darby, Brian van Staveren,
Owen Myrhe
Graphics-
Editor...........................Liv Lindberg,
Jason Parish, Stephanie Staudt,
Mark Nesmith
Photography —;-
Editor..............................Mark Smith
Ginger Gore, Amy Tribes
Advertising.......................Linda Barrett
John Almon, Aaron Russell
Letters to the editor policy
Individuals who wish to speak out on issues should send a letter
fewer than 400 words in length lo Letters to the Editor, P. O. Box
10055, LU Station, Beaumont 77710, or drop letters off at our
offices in 200 Setzer Student Center. The writer’s name, address,
phone number, and social security number must accompany each
letter. Letters received without this information cannot be printed.
Letters may be edited for length, grammar, style and possible libel.
Opinions expressed in letters are not necessarily those of the UP stu-
dent management. Letters by the same writer on the same subject
will not be published. Poetry, reprints, anonymous letters and reli-
gious debates will not be published.
6^6*)‘life
Texaco tapes saga
White men caught behaving badly once again
“Share the fantasy,” a memorable perfume ad
used to invite.
I, too, would like to invite you, dear reader, to
share a fantasy.
It is Texaco’s commitment to equal opportu-
nity.
“Our commitment to diversity is an inclusive
process, grounded in our core value of respect for
the individual and in our long-standing policies
of equal opportunity for all employees,” says the
company’s annual report for 1995.
Good words. But, now that you have heard
the dream, share the reality, as recorded secretly
by a participant in an all-white, all-male August
1994 meeting of top Texaco executives discussing
a discrimination lawsuit filed by black middle^
managers.
“It’s this diversity thing,” grumbles Robert W.
Ulrich, then treasurer of Texaco, Inc. “You know
how black jelly beans agree.”
“That’s funny,” says Richard Lundwall, then-
human resources assistant at the company. “All
the black jelly beans seem to be glued to the bot-
tom of the bag.”
Ridiculing the African-American celebration
of Kwanzaa, Ulrich says he plans to wear a
Viking hat for “National Odin Month” to cele-
brate his Norwegian heritage.
“I’m still having trouble with Hanukkah,” he
says, laughing. “Now we have Kwanzaa. These
(expletive deleted) niggers, they (expletive delet-
ed) all over us with this.”
The tape also records the men discussing their
alleged practice of keeping a sanitized version of
committee meeting minutes and a second, more
frank “restricted version” containing informa-
tion that could be harmful to their side in the law-
suit.
The plaintiffs have charged that Texaco prac-
ticed a dual evaluation system that persistently
OP Survey
Opinion
Clarence
Page
upgraded select white men and downgraded oth-
erwise qualified blacks and provided inadequate
safeguards against racial favoritism.
Ulrich suggests on the tape that there is “no
point to keeping the restricted version anymore.”
“We’re going to purge the (expletive deleted)
out of these books,” he says.
Another executive, J. David Keougji,
Texaco’s senior assistant treasurer, adds, “You
look and make sure it’s consistent to what we’ve
given them already for minutes.”
Right. No wonder all the black jelly beans get
left stuck on the bottom.
A popular television comedy this season is
called “Men Behaving Badly.” Perhaps we
should title these Texaco tapes: “White Men
Behaving Badly.”
The tape reveals men who are openly hostile
to the very notion of allowing blacks to join their
little club, so hostile they are willing to break the
law to preserve their privileged positions.
The tapes were recorded by Lundwall with a
recorder in his pocket for his personal use. He
turned whistle-blower after he recently was ter-
minated in a downsizing. After excerpts of the
tapes appeared in the New York Times, a feder-
al grand jury in Texaco’s corporate home town of
White Plains, N.Y., launched a criminal investi-
gation into possible destruction of evidence by
Texaco executives in the civil rights case.
Right on. To middle-class black folks like
myself, the Texaco tapes are to the issue of job
discrimination what the Rodney King tapes were
to police brutality. Why, we wonder, does it take
a tape recording to convince so many white peo-
ple that we’re not irrationally paranoid?
Peter I. Bijur, Texaco’s current chairman and
chief executive, decried the tapes and declared
himself “ashamed and outraged that such a thing
happened to our family.”
Like a lot of CEOs, Bijur calls his employees
a “family.” That’s a fine analogy, as long as you
remember how many families are dysfunctional.
In any case, Texaco’s corporate culture
appears to have rewarded some favored sons
more than others, regardless of qualifications.
That’s why, if America is going to live up to
the noble words expressed in Texaco’s corporate
diversity policy, we Americans need affirmative
action, not to give any group an unfair advantage
but merely to level the playing field.
It still needs leveling. If you don’t believe it,
just remember the Texaco tapes, recorded in
1994, the year of the angry white male.
Unfortunately, as happened with the King
tapes, I suspect the cloak of denial soon will set-
tle back over the heads of affirmative action
opponents. There will be those who will call the
Texaco tapes an isolated incident, just as there
were those who said Rodney King had it coming,
when he was pummeled repeatedly by four
police officers. That’s the fantasy.
Someday America can yet attain the dream
expressed by Martin Luther King Jr. and other
noble visionaries of a color-blind society. But,
first we must deal with a cruel, bitter reality, live
and on tape.
Clarence Page is a syndicated columnist with
the Chicago Tribune.
In Arizona and California, voters approved a law on Election Day that makes marijuana legal for
medical purposes. Currently, Southwest Texas State University is conducting a survey of Texas
residents on the issue. They want the same law to be put on a Texas ballot. How do you feel about
making marijuana legal for medical purposes?
“No, it should not be legalized. People will not just
use the drugs for medical purposes.”
(ps
Dimitrise Davis
Beaumont sophomore
tJH'
“Yes. It is good medication for bad nerves, irregular
heartbeats and hypertension.”
Ron Phillips
Beaumont sophomore
“I feel making marijuana legal for medical purposes
is a great idea, especially if it helps if the person gets rid
of their pains and illness. The only problem I have with
this idea is that people will tak§ advantage of the situa-
tion and abuse the privilege.”
Tong Huynh
Beaumont senior
‘If it helps, make it legal.’
Derril Vallery
Beaumont freshman
“I think it should be legal because it serves valid med-
ical purposes. It’s probably less harmful then other drugs
used to relieve pain.”
Mack Mitchell
Beaumont senior
“I believe it is a good idea because medical
research has found that marijuana has helped in cer-
tain diseases such as glaucoma.”
Matthew Ferguson
Lumberton sophomore
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Pearson, Allen. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, November 15, 1996, newspaper, November 15, 1996; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth500617/m1/3/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar University.