The North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 59, Ed. 1 Tuesday, January 26, 1988 Page: 2 of 6
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Commentary
The North Texas Daily
Page 2
Tuesday, January 2t>, I'jfib
Editorials
Academic hazing
West Point overreacts
West Point Cadet John Edwards recently was dismissed
from the U.S. Military Academy for not enforcing a
hazing system called the “Fourth Class System."
although he earned a 3.59 grade point average that put
him in the top 5 percent of his class. The academy
overreacted—Edwards should not have been dismissed.
Edwards was dismissed, officially, because he received
two consecutive Fs in military development, a grade
received outside of classes and based on 12 so-called
“leadership dimensions." The requirements include
practicing verbal and psychological abuse on freshman
cadets. Edwards called it hazing and refused to do it.
Consequently, he received the failing grades and was
dismissed.
Surely there are other "leadership dimensions.”
Because Edwards refused to participate in a program he
said he suffered through and vowed not to support as an
upperclassman, the Army has deprived itself of an officer
who, as evidenced by his third-year grade point average,
would have been an asset.
Military life is very different from civilian life, and a
different set of rules applies. Orders must be carried out
promptly, efficiently and without question for the U.S.
armed forces to function at their optimum.
Therefore, any officer, and any cadet training to be
an officer, should be disciplined immediately for dis-
obeying an order. However, the punishment should be
meted out according to each individual offense.
Dismissal was far too harsh a penalty for Edwards’
action. Surely there are “leadership dimensions” that
do not include hazing. Edwards’ instructors had to know
that two consecutive Fs would be grounds for dismissing
him from the academy, yet those were the grades given
An alternative could have been found. Edwards could
have been assigned extra duties or paper work. He could
have been given a low, though not failing, grade. Instead,
he was dismissed without his knowledge and with no
opportunity to plead his case or to defend himself.
West Point trains and chooses men who will lead
America during military crises. Because of bureaucratic
indifference and an inelastic policy that gives no allowance
for extenuating circumstances, a promising young man
has been robbed of his chosen career and the American
military and people have lost a potential leader.
Free speech
Rules to gag clinics
President Reagan seems to have forgotten the First
Amendment in his zeal to stamp out abortion.
He needs to be reminded that abortion, like it or not,
is a legal procedure. He needs to be reminded that
discussion of legal actions is a right protected by the
First Amendment to the Constitution—the one he’s sworn
to uphold. He needs to remember, if he ever knew, that
discussion of most illegal acts is protected by that same
Constitution.
But instead, Reagan wants to eliminate counseling on
abortion at all federally-funded family planning clinics.
And he can do it. too. President Reagan is expected to
announce the rules and publish them in the Federal
Register this week. Once the laws are published in the
Register, they are effective immediately. The only way
the law can be blocked by a court is if the clinics challenge
it, which they are planning to do.
Despite a 1970 law prohibiting the use of federal funds
in programs where abortion is used as a method of family
planning, current policy states that clinics that arc financed
federally must provide counseling on all options including
abortion. These clinics must also refer women, when
they request it, to a doctor willing to perform the abortion.
The issue at hand is not whether abortion is right.
The issue is that government restriction of the flow of
information is unconstitutional
And when it comes to family planning, ignorance is
not bliss.
If the clinics provide counseling at all, part of the
counseling has to include information on abortion. Reagan
needs to remember that the same amendment that protects
his self-proclaimed superior morality also protects the
rights of others to disagree
Toy guns
Fakes should be illegal
What do you do about someone who threatens another
person using a toy gun? Right now. you get him on
false imprisonment and, if you think you can prove he
“stole” television time, you try for grand larceny, as
in the recent case involving consumer advocate David
Horowitz.
But the Dallas City Council has a better idea: make
it illegal to threateningly brandish a toy gun that looks
real. The misdemeanor would carry a maximum fine of
$500. The proposal goes up for discussion next month
before Dallas City Council’s Public Safety Committee.
The council would do well to adopt the proposal and
join the ranks of Detroit and Memphis. Los Angeles
has already created such a law. The state legislatures
of California, Georgia and Connecticut arc considering
such laws.
The logic of this comes from civil law. If someone
were to stage a kidnapping using a toy gun, the person
who was kidnapped would have ample recourse in civil
law based on mental anguish from believing his life was
in danger. So why not make it an offense against the
state to use a toy gun for coercion?
The ability of a gun to fire is irrelevant. Most criminals
do not want to shoot anyone, they just want to have
power over others. If a toy gun will give them this, it
makes a great legal loophole.
Some toy companies are trying to help, too. and deserve
praise for their efforts. Daisy Manufacturing Co. of
Rogers, Ark., markets real guns, air guns and toy guns.
The company's toy guns will now carry a permanent
orange stripe on the end of the barrel.
But some feel that this precaution will not be enough
because it will be easy to paint over the label. Then it
will again be the unwanted realistic toy gun.
Toy retailer Toys R Us no longer carries the toy guns.
But just taking the toys off the shelves is not enough.
Once legislation is passed, and strictly enforced, the
problem could be a thing of the past.
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Move to college prompts
consideration of values
When 1 left home for college, 1 won-
dered how I would adjust my life to fit
into what I considered to be a “mode
of Christianity.”
1 believe almost every college-bound
student has been faced with the pre-
dicament of fitting into a religious niche
at college. Values and beliefs that were
taught at home arc put to the test, and
decisions are made about things that
before had been accepted without ques-
tion.
I decided 1 would wait and determine
the amount of pressure I would be
under, and then either adapt to some
“mode of Christianity,” or have no
Christianity in my life at all.
The pressure was incredible. On my
initial trek through the University Union.
I was confronted with three people
requesting my presence at their religious
functions. I gracefully declined all three
offers, and made an exit. These en-
counters, and others like them, began
to undermine my confidence that I could
withstand the pressure.
1 cautiously began to admit my re-
ligious beliefs to my close friends. These
beliefs included a strange mixture of
Catholicism and a moderately open mind
to agnosticism.
The next day, someone asked me if
I believed in anything even remotely
resembling Christianity. Someone else
asked me where my parents went wrong.
Julie
Harrison
I knew I had made a mistake in telling
them my beliefs, and decided to try
another tactic. I questioned my friends
about their values and beliefs, compared
them to mine and found little difference.
The only difference I did find, and
do not understand, is using school as
an excuse for not attending church. How
many times have I heard, “I can’t go
to church tomorrow. I have too much
homework.” Give me a break. If I do
not attend church it’s because I have
overslept, had too much fun the night
before or was too lazy to get out of
bed. Usually the latter.
The decision whether to make excuses
to myself and my friends about my
religious practices was one that required
hours of thought. 1 wanted my friends
to know my feelings concerning my
religion and theirs. I knew they were
having the same questions and doubts
about their "mode of Christianity”
as I.
Some feeling of desperation seemed
to make me want to seize upon a belief
that was different from my own. Maybe
it was a feeling of disappointment at
myself because it was more difficult for
me at college to uphold my beliefs,
lacking the pressure of religion from
my parents.
To quell this feeling of desperation,
I decided to completely ignore the sub-
ject in public, and got myself into
trouble. One afternoon, to change the
subject from religion to something I
considered safe, I casually mentioned
to someone who had asked earlier that
I had a few books from high school
about witches. At dinner that evening,
two people accused me of putting a
curse on their broccoli.
More than ever, this made me realize
that no matter what my beliefs, there
would be someone who would disagree
with me. Everyone makes their own
assumptions about things they know
nothing or very little about. To me, this
is just an aspect of adjusting to college
life.
I knew that I was on my own and
needed to make a decision concerning
my “mode of Christianity." I knew
I wanted to keep the same beliefs and
just find a place for them in my life
and the lives of those around me. This
is something that can only be done from
the inside of a person. Because to me.
anything outside of a person is just that
The outside.
Baffling morning leads man to control his drinking
It began with a scream. Or was it a yell? No
telling, but when you wake up in a strange
room with another person’s clothes on you tend
to display your alarm in a very vocal way.
This wasn't unusual behavior for a weekend.
Actually it happens to me quite often, although
1 usually remember where the clothes come
from. I remember clothes well—where the outfit
came from, who it previously belonged to and
exactly why I was wearing it. It's the meagerly
important things—where I parked my truck,
what day it is and my name—that pose a
problem for me on mornings like these.
IN ANY CASE, the sun was shining and it
apperared to be a gorgeous day outside (pity I
was still inside trying to find my clothes).
Riiing! "Telephone,” I thought to myself.
Riiing! “Telephone, again,” I said to
myself, quietly.
Riiing! "Someone should answer that
phone," I said to nobody there.
Riiing! “Fine!" 1 declared, “I’ll answer
it!"
“Hello."
V-v ’
“Hey, Duncan, how’s it goin’?”
“I'm sorry, Duncan isn’t here.”
"Quit kidding Dune’, 1 know that’s you.”
(The feeling, overwhelming my tattered body
at this moment was similar to the feeling you get
when you know the name of a song playing on
the radio, but can’t think of it. Then suddenly,
your dreams are shattered at 2 a m. when it
comes to mind. A strange thing, the mind.)
“You’re right, I was kidding, but who is
this?” I remembered who / was, but that
doesn’t mean I recognized the person on the
other end of the line.
“Listen,” said the still-unknown voice on
the phone, “You may have had a rough one
last night, but I'd appreciate it if you would
bring back my clothes and remove your truck
from my fishpond.”
Now I remember where I parked my truck.
“I’ll be there in an hour to get you Bye,”
I said to the voice whose identity was still
trudging it’s way through the fog inside my
head.
I PUT THE PHONE back on the cradle
Pete
Haas
(since it made more sense than standing there
with it buzzing in my hand), and wandered
aimlessly into the next room. When one walks
through a strange house in another person’s
pajamas, one tends to be more cautious. But
not in my case. 1 fell face-first into a large
body of water.
When the initial shock wore off, I regained
my senses and stopped panicking. The water I
was bobbing in was not shark-infested, nor was
it cold or deep.
"Oh, of course, ” I reasoned, sarcastically.
"Everybody has an indoor pool."
1 continued wandering about the house,
exploring each room w ith a sort of lackadaisical
indiscretion. A sharp sound permeated the air.
Diiing-dong! "That must be the door,” I
mused.
All I had to do, was find the door.
Diiing-dong! "HOLD YOUR HORSES!”
1 yelled. “I’m coming!”
Rattle, rattle. An unfamiliar voice beckoned.
“How can 1 come in if the door is locked?”
FOLLOWING THE SOUND OF the
voice, I found the door and opened it. “I
said 'I’m coming,’ not ‘Come in,’ you bozo."
“You’re wet. Why are you wet?" my friend
Rob asked deftly (why is it people insist on
asking questions when the answer is obvious?).
"Glad to see you’re in grasp of the situation,
Rob. Now, where are my clothes?” I asked
angrily. The collection of water droplets below
me created little puddles in the entryway.
The clothes were in a duffel bag. I took them
into the bathroom. I dried myself off and put
on the clothes. By the time I had finished. Rob
had raided the refrigerator and was relaxing on
a sofa in what might be called a living room.
It was a spacious room. A large picture
window faced south overlooking the back lawn.
The stark whiteness of the room made me feel
as though I was a gnal standing inside a ping-
pong ball.
“So, bud, what did I do last night?” I
asked Rob, wondering if I really wanted to
know.
“YOU MEAN YOU don’t remember?”
“No, I remember everything. I just want
your point of view." The sarcasm stung “Of
course 1 don’t remember." (Some people claim
to be intelligent, but have a knack for proving
themselves wrong every time they open their
mouths.)
“Well, after the party, we followed a carload
of beautiful girls to this house. You were pretty
drunk already, but kept on drinking when we
got there. You started yelling and dancing on
the table, and generally acted obnoxious
Everyone was happy when you finally passed
out in the bedroom.”
“So you’re saying I really embarrassed
myself? 1 better apologize to everyone, and
control my drinking. Thanks for your help,
Rob."
Hie North Texas Daily
7\'.\
Denton, Texas
North Texas State University
Southwestern Journalism Conqress
BOB BORGWAT, editor
RICHARD AIKEN, advertising manager
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Borgwat, Bob. The North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 59, Ed. 1 Tuesday, January 26, 1988, newspaper, January 26, 1988; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth561084/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.