Page 4
Death of a Friend
It never seems fair
Pete's Perspective
by Pete Weichlein
If there actually is a God, then
he must have lost all interest in
what's going on down here.
Either that, or he is a sick,
perverted, practical joker. If he
does exist, then I'm mad at him
for killing Brian.
I didn't know Brian that well.
I just knew him, everybody knew
him. He was a freshman in my
high school back in Jersey the
year I graduated. His father was
my economics teacher, the nicest
guy I've ever met. Brian was the
toughest kid in my school.
Everybody respected him, nobody
would screw with Brian.
Brian was a victim of the
degenerative disease known as
Muscular Dystrophy. I've never
seen him walk, few people have;
he spent the major portion of his
life in a wheelchair.
Usually I'm not one to spread
sob-stories, hoping for a few
tears here and there. Passion
among healthy people is so rare
these days. It's just so damn
unfair,
l''.,
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Letter To The Editor
Reader Asks Many Questions
Dear editor,
What is really being taught in
colleges? What is the purpose of
a humanities department? Is the
welfare problem discussed
. as
economics? So college graduates
care about a better world
realistically or are they
idealistically cold? . .
Are colleges providing a
sterile and unrealistic bias in
students that promotes hatred and
"educated ignorance?" Do colleges
provide good teachers, experts in
their fields, or is a survival of the
fittest philosophy promoted?
And, is it ONLY a matter of
survival of the fittest, or is it a
sadistic philosophy of taking a
• •
anion
You see the major problem
I'm having with Brian's death is
that he was beating his illness.
He couldn't walk. He was the
only kid out of over 700 students
who couldn't move his legs.
Pete's
Perspective
I would have given up. I
wouldn't have gone to that place
where I'm reminded every day that
I'm so different, that I'll never be
like the rest of the kids. I would
have gone to some special
school, where the rest of the
students face the same problems
and challenges. But not this guy.
I remember sitting in class,
hearing him coming down the
hall. His wheelchair was one of
those electric kinds, you could
hear the battery for miles away.
We would sit in class and we'd
hear the sound of that battery
getting louder and louder and then
Brian would whiz by the open
contd. on page 5
EVt 7 4 - 1
deranged "pleasure" in exploiting
the weaknesses of others?
If the planet consisted of only
god-like humans, would the
world be any better off? There
will always be needy people,
we're told, but the gap between
the needy and the greedy is too
wide.
Who would be the scape goats
of the idealistic generation, bred
through prejudice, if there were
no poor, no minorities, no low
IQ's? I believe they would have
the power and the drive to
ultimately destroy each other. Is
that survival?
Becki Salibrici
e rr
•VE ROB
George Bush Revisited
by Rob Prindle
"What has he done? What the heck has he
done. Rob, just tell me, what has he done since
he took office?"
Butch, I just don't know. You and I have been
good friends for a long time and honest, I would
tell you if I knew, but I just can't remember
anything.
"Yeah, that's just' what I'm talking about. I
think that America has post election amnesia or
something. He wanted to be the 'education
president'. He wanted to be 'Bush the
environmentalist', he wanted to be witness to 'a
thousand points of light' but what has he done?"
Well, first I should point out that it was
Bush's speech writer, a pretty little conservative
named Peggy Noonan, and not Bush himself who
started that thousand points of light garbage. She
took it from a novel by Thomas Wolfe. But
you're right, I have no Idea what happened to that
hyped-up hand-shaking, get out and kiss some
butt, kick some babies George that won so many
votes in the fall. I personally think that the man
is an over achiever. He is able to get up for the
elections, but that seems to be his only talent.
"Yeah, that's just what I'm
talking about.
America
amnesia -- , - or - -something. He wanted
to be the 'education president.'
He wanted to be 'Bush the
environmentalist,' he wanted to
be witness to 'a thousand points
of light' but what has he done?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, fine, great, good.
But you're not answering my question guy.
Come on. You were the one who wrote that
article. You remember the one just after the
election when you said that you had faith in the
new President. You said that he was probably a
good-guy once he took off his get-elected
conservatism. Didn't you say all that?"
Certainly. I said all that and I was sincere. I
just don't know what's happened since then. I
thought he showed sparks of life towards the end
of the election and I honestly thought that he
might be coming out of the eight year coma that
he was in as Vice President.
"Coma? He wasn't in a coma. It's worse than
a coma. People in comas are unconscious. This
guy wasn't in a coma, He plans his lethargy.
He's just plain lazy and mean. Look, all that oil
spilled in Alaska, the great unspoiled nature of
Alaska. Bush said.... Do you remember what that
slug said? He said that there was no cause to
involve government in the Exxon's private
business. Excuse me. Private? Ten trillion
gallons of crude oil spraying from a tanker in a
fragile ecosystem? Private?"
I see your point Butch, but Bush did
eventually send some troops, although they do
look funny trying to clean the shore lines with
those oil-absorbant paper towels. Rosie and her
quicker-picker-upper paper towels should be done
cleaning up after the Valdez in about 73 years if
all goes well. We are a powerful country and I
bet that if we had sent some real help, we could
have stopped a lot of the destruction.
"Yeah, that Bush, he is a real man of action.
The only things that come to mind when I think
of our new President are non-actions. He
wouldn't step in when the situation at Eastern
The Collegian Wednesday, March 12
I think that
post-election.
Rob Prindle
Airlines was about to blow. He constantly
promises that he won't agree to a minimum wage
increase. I just mentioned that he laughed and
giggled his way through the oil spill like some
thirteen year-old girl sitting in front of MTV
- watating- Bon Joii's:sPandex."
1-wOtty - alkfut yciti:Sometimes, Butch. What's
all this about spandex?
"Don't change the subject, Rob. I just mean
that the guy seems like a dork. I suppose that it's
not all his fault, though. He never really wanted
to be elected, I mean he did choose Junior Quayle
as his running mate. That guy Quayle .is
definitely lost. Do you know what he said about
the abortion rights rally in Washington last
Sunday? He said that it was nothing unusual for
Washington. I suppose that 300,000 people
march down the streets every Sunday. It's
probably some sort of freaking health trend."
I think that Quayle is shakey on his facts.
There were only 250,000 at the '63 civil rights
march and in '7l there was this anti-Viet Nam
rally that included about 300,000, but I suppose
that Quayle didn't have to worry much about that
one. But If Junior says that it was not unusual to
have hundreds of thousands of people marching
for women's right to control their own bodies,
who are we to argue with him.
"Rob, I just don't know. I'm sort of afraid that
this is all just a symptom. I'm afraid that the
President is just a reflection of the country. The
country that condemns religious fiction in
movies and elects a KKK chief. A country that
continuously calls for other countries to protect
the environment but then casually reacts to a
major oil spill by a huge oil company of its
own. A country that applauds big business and
rushes frantically to buy a copy of Fortune
magazine's 500 richest men. So few people own
so many things and people still love to look up
to them."
Sad but true, Butch.