The J-TAC (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 165, No. 3, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 6, 2003 Page: 2 of 8
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Opinion
Pace 2
The J-TAC
February 6, 2003
Is there any good news in bad times
It seems as if every state uni-
versity, every state employee
and even every student is feel-
ing the budget cuts announced
last week by Gov. Rick Perry.
Wait, maybe I spoke too soon.
This is a time when Texas law-
makers are chasing down every
red penny they can find, but per-
haps they should start in Austin
with the governor's payroll.
According to an article in the Ft.
Worth Star-Telegram on Jan. 27,
the governor's office is paying a
private attorney $400 an hour to
defend its former chief of staff
against allegations of a potential
cover-up.
Mike McKinney, a doctor who
now. earns almost $400,000 a
year, as a University of Texas sys-
tem executive, was one of four
aides to Perry. However,
McKinney is the only one of the
four who is billing state taxpay-
ers for outside attorney fees.
The other three are either repre-
sented by state attorneys or by a
private lawyer not paid by the
state.
McKinney is the UT vice-chan-
cellor for health affairs. This job
comes with an ample $384,000
salary along with a car
allowance of $8,400.
Where is the 7 percent or
approximately $10 billion going
to come from? We have a few
ideas. How about Mckinney's
salary. Is it wise to hire private
attorneys when we are facing a
massive deficit. Is it wise to pay
niversity officials as much sa the
president of the United States?
On the homefront, we may
lose long time Tarleton employ-
ees. We might lose programs
that have enriched our student's
lives. But we would have a hard
time sleeping at night knowing
that we had cut a school's budg-
et so that we could keep paying
private lawyers and university
system executives astronomical
sums.
What is going on? Mr.
Governor, it appears you need a
lesson in finance or perhaps
managerial accounting. We just
took that class last semester, you
should come here, we have a
great program.
The J-TAC
Editor in Chief
Caleb Chapman
Managing Editor
Cason White
Sports Editor
Kelly Tippit
Photography Editor
Andy Duncan
Web Editor
Robert Benton
Paginator
Holly Warren
Advertising Manager
Rocky Miller
Crime Reporter
Dallas B. Sims
Director
Dr.Jacque Jebo
The J-TAC is published on Thursdays during
the fall and spring semesters with the exception
of University holidays and examination periods.
The J-TAC is located in Room 20 of the Barry B.
Thompson Student Center. Telephone; 254-968-
9056. Mailing address: Box T-0440, Stephenville,
TX 76401. Email: jtac@tarlecon.edu. Opinions
expressed in The J-TAC are those of the writer
and are not necessarily those of this university or
The Texas A&M System.
Editorial Policy
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Suggestions, comments or responses about
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Written permission must be granted for article
reprints.
Why
does the media
report only the
bad stuff? Of
course I'm
indicting
myself when I
say that, but
I'm prepared
to face the con-
sequences if I
can get this
point across.
I can't
go so far as to
say that the
media are all
bad, because there are some heart-warm-
ing stories that make the front page or
receive a two-minute segment. But when
was the last time we heard about a suc-
cessful NASA shuttle landing? When
was the last time we heard about a plane
Cason White
Senior, political science &
interdisciplinary business
that didn't crash into the side of a build-
ing? Why aren't those things, which are
pretty remarkable in their own right, in
big letters on the front page? Am I mak-
ing myself clear? Am I expecting too
much? Who made successful space mis-
sions commonplace and mass murder
appealing? I just don't understand why
we are so cynical all of the time.
The Dallas Morning News had an
entire section devoted to the shuttle
crash. Perhaps that was partially because
the event occurred over North Texas, but
mostly because it was a catastrophic
event and there was loss of human life
involved. There were 20 pages dedicated
to everything from the astronauts' home-
towns to a picture of the trail of debris
that the crash left over Texas, Louisiana
and parts of Oklahoma.
Why didn't we hear about the launch?
Why did I not know that there was an
Israeli astronaut aboard for the first time
until after he was dead? To me, that is a
compelling story. But apparently no one
else, or at least no one at NBC or the
Morning News, agrees with me.
Why isn't it late breaking news when
airport security workers find a bomb on a
plane and diffuse it? When was the last
time that we read about something like
that? Does it just never happen? Is every
terrorist attempt successful? Why do I
strongly doubt that?
Let me hear about the positive stuff.
Report some accomplishments, not just
failures. It's sad to me in a day and age
when the only way a space shuttle can
make the front page is if it crashes, or
becomes damaged as in Apollo 13.
We live in a negative society. And do
you know why? That is all that we ever
hear about. Plane crashes, people getting
shot, attempted assassinations, is there
nothing else that can be. run on "60
Minutes?" Why isn't a father who coach-
es his son's baseball team, volunteers at
the local soup kitchen every holiday and
voluntarily runs the YMCA after school
program the feature story on the nightly
news? Is it because there aren't any altru-
istic souls today? Again, why do I strong-
ly doubt that? Why can't all the hate,
death and destruction be sidelights?
I'm not saying that we don't need to
know what is going on around us. I'm
not suggesting that we should be naive
and closed off from the real world. But
we all need a little encouragement once
in a while.
Here is something to chew on. Perhaps
the media give us precisely what we
want. Ask yourself if you would rather
go to bed with warm fuzzies from a story
done on the local philanthropist or would
you just rather see the blood, guts and
gore that we usually get. Interesting the-
ory, I'm curious about the answer.
By Mathijs Blikkendaal
Freshman, biology/pre-medicine
Aerdenhout, The Netherlands
As a freshman international
student, I have been dealing
with new impressions. After one
semester at Tarleton (and in
America), undoubtedly, what
turned out to be the biggest cul-
tural difference between The
Netherlands (my home country)
and America (or at least Texas),
was how religion is integrated in
daily life.
Before I came to the tinited
States, I knew Texas was known
as an important part of the
"Bible Belt," but when I came to
Stephenville I felt that it must be
the heart of the "Bible Belt,'.'
Almost every person here lives
his or her life for God. I mean lit-
erally lives his or her life for
God. Their dedication to going
to church and their emphasis on
their personal relationship with
God is evident.
Because religion is such an
important part of daily life here,
it makes me think and talk about
it a lot more than I used to.
However, while at Tarleton, I
have had numerous experiences
that have totally surprised me
because there is definitely a
decided difference with The
Netherlands.
It all started out with a visit to
a church. Back home, I almost
never went to church. But a
friend of mine, who is also from
The Netherlands went to church
here once and advised me to try
it because of the difference with
a Dutch church service. I must
admit it was a good experience,
but there were some particular
differences that surprised me.
The first difference I noticed was
during Bible study prior to the
actual service. The faithful here
have a devotional attitude with
their relationship with God.
They believe God guides their
lives instead of living independ-
ently and making their own
decisions.
The long, very interesting
Bible study was followed by the
actual service. I had the "luck" to
attend communion. My experi-
ence was even better because the
pastor invited my friends for a
lunch at his home. It was won-
derful. It gave rise to a second
surprising situation. During that
lunch, the pastor and I got into a
conversation. He asked me
about the main religions of The
Netherlands and how people
approach them. Of course, he
wanted to know about my
church affiliation, I did not feel
intimidated, in fact, I felt com-
fortable with our conversation.
To me, he seemed knowledge-
able; he had a lot of common
sense and was informed about
current events. Most important-
ly, he had an abundance of
human compassion.
For that reason, I chose to tell
him the truth: that I actually
don't believe in God. I just went
to his church because I wanted
to see how it was in America. He
reacted with surprise. He is con-
vinced that his religion is the
only true religion above all oth-
ers - Jewish, Muslim, Hindu -
about which I knew far more
than he did.
"How can you believe in
another religion or even live
your life without God," he
asked. "Obviously, you are still
seeking God," he commented.
The arguments he used were all
based - in his opinion — on the
crystal-clear explanation of the
Bible for every part of life, so
there was no reason for any
doubt or confusion.
Above all, there was absolute-
ly no space for another religion
than the true religion: his reli-
gion. Instead of responding to
his statements, which surprised
me even more, I chose to tise a
bit of protocol and changed the
subject.
Another example, in which
someone used the Bible to justi-
fy their own religion and to
judge everything that is not jus-
tified by their interpretation of
the Bible, was a series of articles
in my college newspaper about
homosexuality. They tried to use
the Bibler' as a means to prove
that 'we actually shouldn't
accept homosexuality at all,
because somewhere in the Bible
they found something that
could be interpreted as a disap-
proval of homosexuality.
In my opinion (and the gener-
al opinion of the Dutch people)
these ideas are more hate and
fear than Christian. How in the
world can you use the Bible as a
means to prove such things? The
Bible is not nearly as old as the
two thousand years of
Christianity. Yet, it is still used to
explain and justify the events in
the world today. Furthermore
there is hardly any scientific
background. Its contents are
almost all subjective opinions
written down by people - with
or without God's help - who
couldn't have any idea how the
contemporary world should
conduct itself.
In my opinion, I just tried to
show, what I perceive the big
difference between America (or
at least Texas) and my home
country (The Netherlands) is. It
is absolutely not meant to pro-
voke. What I just wanted to a
make clear with the examples of
experiences is that most people
in The Netherlands accept and
respect each gther's choice of.
religion.' As good Christians '
everyone here should do that
too. Because: to pray or not to
pray, that is an individual ques-
tion.
The only answer:
We're not invincible
By Myriam Marquez
Orlando Sentinel
The nation woke up to one large streak of white split
into shimmering lights through the crisp Texas sky.
Then came the inevitable. Scorched earth lay testament
to the courage of Rick Husband, William McCool,
Michael Anderson, David Brown, Kalpana Chawla,
Laurel Clark and Israel's first astronaut, Ilan Ramon.
It was supposed to be a perfect landing in Florida.
Instead it became another day to mark a national catas-
trophe, another day in our lives that we'll remember by
where we were at the time we heard the horrible news.
Like the Challenger in 1986. Like The Reckoning of Sept.
11. And now Columbia.
All merged together Saturday to remind us that we
are fallible, that we are mortal, and that life post-9-11
makes us ever more vulnerable to the fear of the "what
if."
What if terrorism had played a role in this accident
just minutes before the Columbia was to land at the
Kennedy Space Center?
It was a knee-jerk question, but one not so far-fetched.
We had an Israeli astronaut on board Columbia. We
have a war against terror in which we're on the verge of
imposing regime change on Iraq's Saddam Hussein.
And Saddam makes no bones that he hates Israel's exis-
tence.
The second U.S. official NASA called after Columbia's
lights dimmed was Homeland Security Director Tom
Ridge. That's how things work now. Ridge is the coordi-
nator for domestic "incidents."
We know that a patch of insulation flew off upon
Columbia's takeoff and that might have damaged the
shuttle's left wing. "We can't discount that there might
be a connection," said Ron Dittemore, the program man-
ager at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
We know, too, that this mission with a rainbow of
Americans aboard was not as much a necessity - no pay-
loads were being delivered to the space station, for
instance - as it was a symbol of America's support for
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POINTLESS
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Israel's right to exist. In a patch of desert and up in the
heavens.
ble, as if the shuttle came with a lifetime guarantee.
Now a nation shaken by New York's burning towers
Ramon became a bright spot for many in these dark and the prospect of war in Iraq might wonder why we
days of the war on terror. But now we are left with the
realization that history does repeat itself in ways we
don't always understand.
An aging fleet of shuttles, tight federal budgets, the
future of space exploration - all were put into question
again - by Columbia's demise.
Seventeen years ago, when the Challenger blew up
before our very eyes upon takeoff, a shocked nation
asked how could that be? We thought ourselves invinci-
continue to sacrifice men and women in space - mothers
and fathers and daughters and sons.
We keep searching the heavens for the answer.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Myriam Marquez is an editorial page columnist for the
Orlando Sentinel. Readers may write to her at the Orlando
Sentinel, 633 North Orange Ave., Orlando, Fla. 32801, or by
e-mail at mmarquez@orlandosentinel.com.
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The J-TAC (Stephenville, Tex.), Vol. 165, No. 3, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 6, 2003, newspaper, February 6, 2003; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth142045/m1/2/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Tarleton State University.