The Ranger (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, February 16, 2001 Page: 8 of 8
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BACK TALK
San Antonio College ♦ www.theranger.org
8 ♦ Feb. 16, 2001
Editorials
Security
domination of nonhuman animals.
'♦
objects, chattel to be bought, sold, bred
in the Mexican rodeo is horse tripping.
ing horse. If he succeeds, the horse
Inc., a San Antonio animal rights group.
ing a broken leg or neck.
Fred Tabares
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Participation
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Master key is culprit
The Ranger, the student newspaper at San Antonio College, is
Letters Policy
Guest Viewpoints
«
Outside events
attract students
dent to the majority of 21st century
Americans, women have long been
The Ranger invites readers to
share views by writing letters to
the editor. Space limitations force
Loftin Student Center, e-mailed
to ranger@accd.edu or faxed to
? reason-
able conclusion that nonhuman ani-
Criminals seem to favor certain targets, and
schools are vulnerable because of the master key sys-
tem. I would imagine that they trade sets of master
alarm system.
My grandmother's house was more secure with
her skeleton key than anything behind the doors at
James P. McBride
Photography Coordinator
behave in a stressful or unnatural fash-
ion for human amusement.
The rodeo and its Mexican counter-
R
did not end until a civil war was
waged over its very existence.
During most of American history,
women 1 ' .....J
full citizenship, another tradition that
only ended through years and years of
struggle.
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The term "animal rights" is a bit
as nonhuman animals
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As animal rights philosopher Peter
Singer has stated, "It's not whether
j can think or whether they can
speak; it's whether they can suffer."
It is hard for this writer to under-
stand why all ethical humans do not
leave the rodeo or charreada arena and
J* OPEN H*-
ZL
OOOR POLICY
February time
to be thankful
for Africa's gifts
Guest viewpoint/
Janice Clayton
"Why do peo- tion or dominion of other humans,
pie protest the Why, then, should tradition be
considered second-class citizens, and previously withheld from them,
even today have not been accorded
totally equal rights under the law.
It is clear that tradition, in and of
itself, does not justify abuse, exploita-
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years ago, hu-
man beings were
bought, sold, bred, traded and forced
to work for their Caucasian "owners"
in America.
Slavery was, indeed, a tradition in
Because I have no control of who can help them-
selves to our equipment after hours, I am installing
an alarm system.
Although I cannot confirm it, I heard a rough fig-
ure of $700,000 district loss in one year.
If you have anything of value, I would suggest
’ , a pit bull or an
This event has recently been
deemed as cruelty to animals by the
attorney general of the state of Texas
T •• -
Carrie Hernandez, student activities spe-
cialist in the office of student life, wants
more participation in campus events.
Until students have access to these events,
or begin to seek out entertainment on cam-
pus, mat's not going to happen.
Numerous events in the Fiesta Room in
Loftin Student Center have poor attendance
because students don't notice events are
happening. Events held outdoors are highly
visible.
The number of amplified events per
semester is restricted to two, Hernandez
said, because of a few noise complaints.
They are the fall's Octoberfest and Funfest
on April 11.
We support her idea of having one out-
door event per month.
Different forms of entertainment can
bring everyone together to enjoy the sun-
shine, fresh air, good food, music and fun,
and those events do not have to include
loud music.
For instance, a man performing rope and
magic tricks required some audience partici-
pation at last week's Charro Breakfast, but
he was not loud enough to draw complaints.
Hernandez's idea of having nonamplified
entertainment outside once a month is a
great one and should be pursued.
Besides, some of the fees students pay go
directly for entertainment.
Having more events outside would make
them more accessible, thus allowing stu-
dents to get what they pay for.
"You have to leave home to
find home." This statement by
Ralph Ellison, the first African-
American novelist to win the
National Book award, came
into my mind as my husband,
Bert, and I landed at Charles
De Gaulle Airport in Paris.
Passengers on our flight
from Dallas merged into the
customs area with African pas-
sengers who recently had
arrived on a jet bearing the logo of Air Afrique. As
we stood waiting for the mandatory passport check,
we were surrounded by Africans. Some were
dressed in graceful, traditional attire, while others
were in that cool style that makes France one of the
world centers for fashion. As we heard the diverse
sounds of the dialects and languages of Africa,
blended with French, English, German, Chinese,
Japanese and Arabic, I thought, "Yes, you're right,
Mr. Ellison. We must leave home to find home." And
these words ring true for us as Americans, especial-
ly during African-American heritage month.
Alexander Crummell, a 19th-century American
Episcopal priest and the son of a West African, spent
16 years in Africa. His years away from the United
States caused his vision of "home" to sharpen. In
1860, he urged that "Free Colored Men of America"
look to Africa to cast off the "grave-clothes" of slav-
ery and find "self-respect."
Nearly 100 years later, another great African
American pastor, Dr. Martin Luther King, visited
India. To rest and recover from the trauma of an
assassination attempt, he "left home" only to find a
more profound vision as the leader of the civil rights
movement. "My Trip to the Land of Ghandi"
reminds us that, in India, King was able to renew his
commitment to "nonviolent resistance" as the most
"potent weapon available to oppressed people."
Another traveler, Colleen McElroy, who won the
American Book Award in 1985 for her book of poet-
ry, "Queen of the Ebony Isles," writes of her 1997
motorcycle trip through the Australian desert (at age
58). On her journey, she began to feel "the daughter
come home ... the evolution of me." Her sense of self
and of home were redefined, not in the country of
her birth, but with the aborigines of Australia.
But what about those of us who may never travel,
who may never leave home at all? Do Ellison's
memorable words apply, or are we doomed to a
weak and inadequate understanding?
I think Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison gives us
answers in her novel "Song of Solomon." Her char-
acter Pilate cannot leave home because of the cruel-
ty, poverty and discrimination of her small American
world. But like the ancient Africans of mythic times,
Pilate can leave home because she can fly. Her flight,
spiritual rather than physical, enables her in the
truest sense to find and understand home.
Pilate's flight should become ours, a voyage to
inner power that enables us to face the destructive
forces of life and to affirm acceptance, love and
empowerment. So this February, during Black
History Month and throughout the entire year, let us
say thank you, Mother Africa, for your nurture in
our first "home." Let us say thank you, powerful
African-American writers, as you provide us with
those visions of our best home, a home, a country,
and a world in which commitment to self-respect, to
positive social action and to the spiritual redefinition
of self will prevail. May you continue to remind us
of the necessary, ceaseless and profound act of leav-
ing and finding home.
Janice Clayton is an English professor at this college.
1HE
Ranger
Editor: Claire Andres
fflaoaang ElfitOh BrAw J. Moses
Features Editor: Mark Flatt
HCWS EdRCT: Josie Garcia
PtlOtOBrajJherS: Brook Freeman, Cynthia Esparza, Angel
Granados, Eric Lyle Kayne, J. Hamilton Osborne
Artist: Fred Tabares
Staff Writers: Julissa M. Herrera, Robert Miller. Melissa S.
O’Neill. Chris Perez, Andrea Zamora
CecalatiOR: Mario Mendoza
Web Administrator: Robert Amador
The Ranger, the student newspaper at San Antonio College, is
a laboratory project of the journalism classes in the Department of
Journalism-Photography, published Fridays except during summer,
holidays and examinations.
News contributions accepted by telephone (733-2880), by fax
(733-2868),by e-mail (fanger@accd.edu) or at the editoria! office
(Room 212 Loftin Student Center).
Advertising rates available upon request (733-2278).
The Ranger is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press
Association, the Associated Collegiate Press, the Texas Community
College Journalism Association and the Associated Press. © 2001 by
The Ranger staff, San Antonio College, 1300 San Pedro Ave., San
Antonio, TX 78212-4299. All rights reserved. No part of this publica-
tion may be reproduced without permission.
Long*term cost
of thefts high
Since the beginning of the fall semester,
property from this campus has been disap-
pearing at an alarming rate.
Computers from Moody Learning Center,
photography equipment from Loftin Student
Center, video equipment and a lap-top com-
puter from the nursing education building
have been stolen.
The value of these items totals more than
$20,000. While most of this money may be
recovered through insurance, other costs are
involved.
Equipment is used to support the educa-
tional mission of this campus. When it dis-
appears, everyone suffers.
Hours are spent filing insurance forms,
and rates for insurance rise. Time is spent
purchasing new equipment, and, most
importantly, in the interim, equipment is not
available for its intended use.
Security at this campus needs to be tight-
ened — now.
In none of the recent thefts was there any
sign of forced entry into the buildings in
which the crimes took place. In two
instances, the thefts occurred over a period
of time.
While the college cannot operate without
having workers, students and faculty able to
enter buildings during off-hours, it is clear
that access to buildings is not monitored to
the necessary degree.
Solutions are available. Systems in which
access codes are necessary to enter buildings
during certain hours exist. These systems
provide clear logs of who enters a building
when and can even document when people
leave.
Implementing such a system would be
expensive, but in the long run, the costs of
allowing thefts to continue will be much
greater.
Faculty, staff, students and
community members are wel-
come to contribute guest view-
points. Writers should focus on
campus or current events in a
critical, persuasive or interpreta-
tive style.
All viewpoints must be pub-
lished with a photo portrait of the
writer. Address inquiries to the
editor at 733-2879.
Journalism-Photography, San
Antonio College, 1300 San Pedro
Ave., San Antonio, TX, 78212-
4299.
Letters may be brought to the
the paper to limit letters to two newspaper office in Room 212 of
double-spaced, typewritten pages.
Letters will be edited for
spelling, grammar, libel and 733-2868. Letters must be signed
length. Editors reserve the right and must include the writer's
to deny publication of any letter. printed name, classification,
Letters should be mailed to major, Social Security number
The Ranger, Department of and telephone number.
Donald J. Barnes is the Southern field ■
representative for the Animal Protection
Institute, a national organization, and
starved, deprived of water, restrained crashes to the ground, often experienc- executive director of Voice for Animals
in close confinement or forced to ing a broken leg or neck. Inc., a San Antonio animal rights group.
Editor:
I would like to add to the information provided in
The Ranger about the burglary of the journalism-
photography department.
Knowing that our equipment can be sold at any
pawn shop, we have always done everything we
could to maintain the highest security of our inven-
tory.
We maintain an inventory more comprehensive
than required by the district. All of our equipment is
on inventory. The district requires only equipment
valued over $500 to be on inventory.
We shoot a photo ID and verify the name, address
and phone number of students before they are
allowed to check out any equipment.
The district police are provided this data with a
photograph of the student should they not return the set of San Antonio College master keys,
equipment. Because we are able to provide so much
information to the police, we usually get our equip-
ment back.
Engraving cameras will kill the warranties. We keys.
label each camera and record serial numbers. Our Another source confirmed my suspicion that fac-
ability to provide district police with a list of stolen ulty and staff are careless with their keys by loaning
equipment and serial numbers led to instant recov- them out to students and losing them.
ery of several items in pawn shops and to the indi-
vidual who sold them.
The photography program has always received
compliments from the district for thorough account-
ability and security of our inventory.
We have taken measures to lessen the chance of
unauthorized people entering the photographic area, you get a big chain and padlock,
The one thing that I have no control over is the mas-
ter key system. I understand that master keys must
exist, but they need to be more restricted.
After talking to several schools and security agen- the ACCD schools,
cies, I was told that an individual was picked up at a
local university with a set of their master keys and a
to the ground. The tail is even broken,
and it is not unusual that it is tom com-
creed, color and sex, many philoso- ered with grease and running fright- pletely from the steer. .
ig most of American history, ans are examining the criteria used to upon dragging them across the arena Singi
have been denied the rights of determine who has rights and who suffer from fear of noise and confusion they
does not.
Through such examination, many of
competition, but it took undercover
enduring misleading, as nonhuman animals young calves enjoy being roped rights activists to accomplish this
1 ' ‘J . around the neck, jerked off their feet change.
hi the eyes of the law, and indeed, in and slammed to the ground? Another popular event at the char-
• ’ The horse or steer trying to dislodge reada is "la cola." A steer is driven
human from his back is goaded into before the mounted charro who reach-
es down to grab the tail of the running
bovine.
He wraps the tail around his boot or
Guest viewpoint/Donald J, Barnes__________________
Cruelty an unnecessary tradition
and the unknown.
The charreada is perhaps even cru-
these criteria are found to be arbitrary eler than the rodeo. A traditional event
While equality of sex seems self-evi- and capricious, leading to the------- 1- 1 -' ’ ’ ‘ «
able conclusion that nonhurnan ani- A horse is driven full-speed around join in. the protest against all forms of
mals may be morally entitled to rights the perimeter of the arena. The charro cruelty.___
1 ....... ’ . (Mexican cowboy) attempts to lasso
At the very least, they are entitled to both front (or rear) legs of the gallop-
the right not to be abused, tortured, i
deigned appropriate by their human
owners.
In much the same way as American of
Even the young pigs or calves cov-
? Why, then, should tradition be res-
stock show and urrected as a justification for the abuse, -------- --------o-
rodeo?" asks the exploitation and dominance of other part, the charreada, epitomize human and is therefore not allowed m public
average citizen, sentient beings? domination of nonhuman animals. c
"1 can't think of a The term "animal rights" is a bit Can anyone seriously argue that video coverage of the event by ammal
more enduring misleading, as nonhuman animals young <
tradition in Am- have no legal rights. <
erica." 1
Less than 200 society at large, nonhuman animals are
_'_j____z J._____1_ , 1 a
and forced to work for any purpose his performance by flank straps that fit
tightly around his genitals. The steer
being forced to the ground by the pain
■ a twisted neck does not choose to leg and twists, trying to throw the steer
’ l society has evolved and continues to enter the bulldogging event.
the American South — a tradition that evolve toward equality between race, Even the young pigs or calves cov-
phers, theologians and other egalitari- ened before a group of youngsters bent
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San Antonio College. The Ranger (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, February 16, 2001, newspaper, February 16, 2001; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1352176/m1/8/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting San Antonio College.