EDITORIAL
NOMME
Fall out of the Gap and find your true self!
Everybody in Vests. Everybody in
Cords. Everybody in Leather. Do you
see a pattern developing here'? Hope
fully by now you know that I am talk
ing about the latest Gap commercials.
I any frightened of these advertise
ments, you should be too! Seeing the
ads for the first time wasn't a big deal.
New Gap ad, whatever. However, al
ter seeing it 487 times in one week. I
started thinking, "Who are these kids
and why should I dress like them?"
Each time a new ad came out I heard
more and more people talking about
them, "Have you seen the latest Gap
ad'?" Honestly, why should we care
about all the new and neat ways the
Gap is trying to suck our money out
of our pockets'? Or is that real IV what
they are trying to do'?
After the second and third new ads
came out is when I really started to
ponder the real meaning of these kids
Shooting Straight
by Bill Thompson
October 06. 199(4
Knight-Ridder Ne‘%,pitpers
Voters derive sonic definite henefits
when they elect a candidate \\ ho is not
a professional politician. For One thing,
a nonpolitician iceholder is prohahly
no worse than even niones to he a
crook, whereas a pro is odds-in.
Another ads antage of eleLtinL2
nonpoliticians is that thev niav not has
to hire pollsters to find out ‘‘. hat the\
think -- and may act sa\ \\ hat the\
think if the opportunity presents itself.
The major disad \ ant age. on the other
hand, is that an officeholder \5 110 has
not attended the Politicians' School of
Advanced Political Correctness is
Letters to the Editor:
Students speak out about team prayers, tolerance and bigotry
College life
what you're used to
In regards to pre \ ions letters ;thous
the "man - on campus who is giving
students a lot to talk about, "Who are
they to judge what another person
does with their life? - Not once did
society say that you must he the Sallie
sex throughout life. What does !nat
ter that someone wants to change the
way they look? Day in and day out.
everybody changes the way they look.
So what it
somebody de
cided to
change their
sex.. Why does
it bother Chris
tian Darling
and Ray
Morelli so
much that they
have to coin-
ment on it'?
Taken from a
psychologist
viewpoint: if
this person was
so insecure
about the way
he looked, he
would not he in
public places,
such as a col
lege for people
to look at him.
He knows
people comment on his appearance,
and even though some are regressing
back to the caveman ways. move on
from ridiculing him.
Are your lives that sad that in order
to feel good about yourself you
choose to make comments on the per
son who is different from yourself?
Last time I checked, no one is to judge
another. Who are you to judge? Are
you God'? If so, let me shake your
hand and congratulate you on being
ignorant. Why does it bother you
when you obviously don't talk to him?
Who has actually sat down and asked
this person his feelings about his
choice in life'?
singing to me. Was it really to sell me
clothes? At this point I don't believe
that anymore. I think the real reason
these ads are so appealing to our gen
eration is the fact that if you look be
hind the hypnotic singing you can see
the real message of conformity
screaming at you. To me, it wasn't
that blatant in the beginning, it sim
ply was just marketing. Now though,
the true message is undeniable. Be
like everybody else. The message is
even flashed for us on the screen. Ev
erybody in, Everybody in, Everybody
in...do you see it now?
This is why the ads are so fright
ening. They are subliminally trying
to get us to conform to the way that
they (the older generations) see us.
Think about it, how many times have
ou heard a person not of this gen
eration say, "All you kids are alike.
You are all hoodlums, pot-heads,
likely to express ()pinions that some --
many? -- people find offensive. Can we
say "Jesse Ventura," boys and girls'?
As the governor of Minnesota
v,restles with the latest round of con
tro ers . ), caused by his breathtaking
candor, residents of the Gopher State
ho didn't vote for him -- and prob
ahl some \xho did must he wonder
ing hov, Ventura got himself elected.
I he phrase "loose cannon" comes to
mind.
The furor involves a Ventura inter
\ ie‘\ ith Playboy magatine in which
the former Navy SEAL reportedly
ripped organised religion as "a sham
and a crutch for weak-minded people"
and also nihninited the seriousness of
the Na\ 's Tailhook scandal.
R's amating to tie that people al
ways say to practice what you preach,
yet in Ray Morelli's article he ex
presses that people have to accept
him. " transgender is not a race or an
ethnicity, or any ascribed
characteristic...it is out of concern for
the well being of that individual that
we recogni/e he has problems, and
needs our help." Has Ray Morelli
graduated
"Who are you
to judge? Are
you God? If so,
let me shake
your hand and
congratulate
you on being ig-
norant."
are you to
judge? Although, me doust think you
protest too much. Are you hiding
something?
If him being a transgender is dam
aging to society as a whole, then our
society would be done with. This man
is not the first to go through with this
process. We see this kind of stuff hap
pen on Jerry Springer and think that
we will never encounter "those
people". Welcome to college, babies,
you will encounter everything here
that you were sheltered from.
Jenna Mitchell
DUS
isn't
and received
a doctoral
psychology
degree•'
When I read
under his
name it said
DUS. How
can he tell us
These serious issues that he feels
these individuals should he resolving
are being resolved. It is not damag
ing to society in any way, or to the
person involved to admit that this per
son was born this way. It has been
medically proven that some people
are born with chromosomes that read
that someone
needs our
help? Get off
your high
horse Ray. If
he wanted
help, he
would seek
Is there really freedom of religion in America?
professional
help, not the
advice of an
idiot. As for
you, Christian
Darling, who
We are living in a sadly misguided
society. Here I am referring to the re
cent decision by the NCAA commis
sion to ban Team prayers. Now, I'm
not trying to be some holier-than-thou
bible thumper, but this ruling is, in my
view, unconstitutional.
I fully believe that, in the United
States, we are entitled to freedom of
religion. I am also fully against a per
son or organization forcing religion
upon an individual. I have witnessed
such instances, and they do not end
on a positive note for either the pusher
or the pushee.
However, I do not feel that team
prayer is a violation of anyone's free
dom of religion. The ruling should
prohibit mandatory team prayer, per
haps, but it should not penalize those
teams who wish to participate in a pre
game prayer. Those players who do
not wish to participate for whatever
reason could take the few extra min
freaks, whatever." I think that they everybody to he the same, Hitler. The
honestly see us as one big clump of most hated dictator in history had a
crazy kids who are willing to bury our similar idea to make everybody the
"...if you
hypnotic singing you can see the
real message of conformity
screaming at y 9U. "
true personalities to he like everybody
else. And now they are selling us
clothes like we are all mindless clones
willing to accept anything that we see
On the glowing box in front of us
These ads then made me think
about another person Who wanted
Ventura has been trying to explain his
comments, hut he refuses to apologi/e.
Jesse says he was just being Jesse,
Here's part of his explanation, as
quoted by the St. Paul Pioneer Press:
"When the career politician gets
asked a question, they'll give the an
swer they're supposed to. The)ll give
the answer that's politically correct....
I will give honest answers. not neces
sarily politically correct answers."
He has a point. There's no telling hose
many professional politicians might se
cretly he rooting him on: "Go. Jesse.
Tell it like it is, buddy."
But no pol in his or her right mind
would ever publicly admit to agreeing
with Ventura's views. For that matter,
few politicians would ever get within
Are you as tolerant as you perceive yourself to be?
While reading Ray Morelli's letter
to the editor in your recent edition I
was appalled at the things he said.
While thinking of what I was going
to say I spent a lot of time trying. to
figure out a way to avoid sounding
like an offended-psycho-leminaii-hi
sexual. This is not an attack on Mr.
Morelli, I am simply trying to point
out that many of his arguments seem
extremely flawed.
I give him credit for realising that
no one deserves to he ridiculed...this
is true. Morelli also says that every
one deserves respect as a human be
ing. I agree with that, too. 1 do not
believe that saying that this individual
(whom I do not know), and people in
the same situation are "troubled" is
respectful and positive in any way.
look behind the
same. He cleverly called it the Aryan
Race. People nosy call it Geneiation
X. Yuh, that's us. And the basic idea
is still the same. individuality. is had.
1, for one do not believe this.
Unfortunately, ‘vlicther ou want to
admit it or not, we are all, in one wa)
... In The Foot
shouting distance of the notion that it's
a good idea for public officials to en
gage in candid discourse -- on any is
sue, much less on sensiti‘e matters such
as religion and sexual harassment.
Politician' lark of candor, of course,
is one of the reasons inany votcrs haN. e
seemed so dray.n in recent years to can
didates who are percei‘ed as outsiders
-- who :UV perceived as iust plain folks.
Take Ross Perot -- please. Now hoe's
a man who is your average, every -
da . N., billionaire and who will speak his
mind at the drop of a hat. Perot, don't
forget, is the plain-spoken nonpol who
gave us the Ret orin Party -- which in
turn gave us Jesse Ventura.
The leading candidates for the Re
form Party's presidential nomination
xxxy, making them truly neither men is none or) ()Lir H don't
nor women. Or others that are hoe- like it, \ Irunt it. It rcdll\ t.
monally the wrong gender. Some that simple
directly hurting you or
someone you
about it really is none
of your business.
people just feel that they have been
horn in the wrong body.
1 do not understand how accepting
these people for who they are is dam
aging. "Tolerating and accepting
DOES NOT mean that you necessar
ily agree. There are many things that
I tolerate that I do not agree with.
something is not directly hurting you
or someone you care about, it really
utes to locus and get psyched up for
the game. They're not having religion
forced upon them: they're being in
vited to it, and they are always free to
decline. If a coach offers his players
the opportunity to partake in a "team
"What would they
they saw their constitution
being used to prevent young
athletes from publicly
pressing their faith?"
snack'', he's not force-feeding them, ers of the Constitution granted the
is he? people ()Nils nation the right to \\ )1 . -
Many of the early people who ship however they choose. What
"If something is not
OCTOBER 8, 1999, THE BEHREND BEACON, PAGE
or another. Colllill'lnillll. Think allol.ll
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university-wide reeogni/eil organi/a
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:all 1)0 ihis situation is the io-
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re! opon knov, it. the
I)le4e \\ ill he outlay.ed
in schook and cnts because
it nlenu~n„ ( lou can call me a
naryidealist .41 \\Jill It but I ha% e
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tilik IIL land t II tuct: It is orth
tio\\ that I tcahic that this. like so
muLlt intoinLmon that has been
led to thc merft . .in public lately. is
nothin more than a htma of empty
\+,k)h.k lost h 1 Id on to the shin
hopc !hit oinel)ol\ in a position of
art , hall PI( \‘ king.
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