In Our Words... 
Note to prospectives: ASU is the place to be  

This weekend marks one of the more important events annually hosted by Appalachian State University: Prospective Student Weekend. 
This is our time to shine.  It’s the time of year for Appalachian to do it’s best to attract and retain the best and brightest freshman class it can.  

What makes Appalachian the premier university in North Carolina?  The list is overwhelming.  We have compiled some of our favorite points. 

In recent years, ASU has consistently ranked highly among some of the most prestigious colleges in the country in various publications including U.S. News & World Report. 

ASU is one of the most affordable schools in the system;  an A-1 university for less than you might expect. 

Athletics are another impressive and entertaining feature of Appalachian.  Several of our teams are powerhouses in the Southern Conference.  The football team and the men’s basketball team won the Southern Conference Championship this season.  The basketball team even competed in NCAA Tournament. 

Academically, Appalachian is making great strides as well.  ASU has the highest percentage of doctoral level faculty in the UNC system, making our professors second to none.  They are highly qualified and invested in their students. 

Our campus is moderately sized, creating a small-school atmosphere while supporting about 12,000 students. 

The love of Appalachian and the desire to make it the best university it can be is apparent throughout the campus, from the chancellor to the students. 

Chancellor Francis T. Borkowski; two words: thumbs up! 

Appalachian students are among the brightest, friendliest and most dedicated anywhere.  The atmosphere of the mountains and the people make this a university people are proud to be affiliated with and one that students want to attend. 

  It is our hope that all prospective families feel welcome and eager to become a part of the Appalachian Family. 
 

Please don't get your Greek puffy-lettered shirt in a wad 
Ian Hutchinson 

From the dawn of time, there have always been people that have been suspicious of exclusive groups. And since that time, those elite groups have been very sensitive. 

After the discovery of fire, countless cavemen started to clamor for the next big thing, “Fire pretty, but we want more.” 

Later, early cavefolk witnessed the creation of glass when lightning struck some sand. After witnessing this creation, Togmug Edison then pondered, “Hrrrmmm ... Fire pretty, glass smooth, how we put both in same place?” The answer exploded in the distance as a volcano erupted. Togmug and his friends reached into the still-warm, moldable glass and fashioned the first glass containers. Togmug and company then looked to the volcano and with much grunting. Togmug said, “Liquid fire pretty, we make lava lamps!” 

Needless to say, countless cavemen’s hands were lost in the attempt to create the first lava lamp and all evidence of the first glass containers was destroyed. 

Much later, however, someone developed the wheel. However, the wheel creator wouldn’t just let you have a wheel, you had to be evaluated to see if you were worthy of having a wheel. You had to do things like scrub the wheel creator’s cave with an old loincloth or run into a saber-toothed tiger’s cave and live to tell about it. If you were found worthy, you had to shell out 100 clams to become part of the Wheelies. 

It was the first fraternity. After a while, many Wheelies became influential leaders. Many Wheelies did good things and there were a few bad seeds, and that reflected poorly on all the Wheelies. The good seeds would harp endlessly on their good deeds in their own defense and the other cavefolk would roll their eyes and furrow their incredibly furrowed eyebrows. 

Cavefolk outside of the Wheelies would mutter, “They buy friend with clams, so me no like them.” While this belief was not totally accurate, the Wheelies did pay their way into an exclusive social group. It didn’t guarantee them any friends, just the wheel and some new people to talk to. 

Much later, Moses came along,  led the Jews out of Egypt and then became spokesman for the NRA. Also during this period of time, Greek civilization somehow got associated with the fraternity. While I don’t really know how this association came to be, I do know that many college Greeks enjoy professional wrestling, just not the naked kind their loosely-associated predecessors did. Not unlike their philosophical predecessors, they think, “I rush, therefore I am.” 

While society and technology have advanced further and we all now have lava lamps and access to wheels, these exclusive groups continue exist and the general population has remained suspicious of them. Nobody looks at Moses the same way, I can tell you that much. Nobody thought he would be packing heat. 

Burning bushes, maybe, even a cane that parts seas and transforms into a snake; but the man is strapped now. No wonder he wandered alone in the desert for so long... 

Ahem. 

Unsurprisingly, today the exclusive groups are still quite sensitive and often defensive of their own. 

Meanwhile, the rest of us furrow our brows and roll our eyes. 

And while I do agree that many fraternities do good things and are very generous to charity, there is one terror they annually unleash upon on Appalachian State and the world. 

No, it’s not Greek Week, it’s the Greek Week Lip Sync Contest. 

It’s bad enough that RSA also unleashes this terror on us annually, but the Greek community constantly boast themselves as leaders. Sadly, nothing screams “follower” like lip synching to the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Kid Rock, Korn and Limp Bizkit. It just yells, “I buy everything MTV wants me to! I love you Carson Daly!!!” 

I can appreciate it on a minor level if it’s for a good cause, but lip syncs are a sanity-sucking black hole. Like their distant cousin, karaoke, lip syncs require no talent, massive doses of alcohol and a complete loss of dignity. Disagree? Just ask Posh Spice about her career. 

After years of social evolution, our Greeks have reduced themselves to this. What would their loosely-associated, philosophical ancestors think? What would the Wheelies think? What would Togmug Edison think? 

“Hrrrrmmmm ... sorority girl hair shiny, fire pretty, what if we if put both in same place?” 

Never mind... 

Look, let’s just cut a deal ... I’ll never write about fraternities again if you just lip sync some U2 or Billie Holiday next year, sound fair? OK, good, I’m glad we agree. That way, the lip sync will have some more class and it won’t be as embarrassing as usual. Heck, in addition to the designated drivers, maybe we can throw in some designated singers next time. 

Now, on to the next big thing... 
 

Reconceptualize Racism, please! 
Zaneta Wood 

Racism is a hot topic and has been since the beginning of time.  It is discussed by the oppressed, the oppressors, and by people who do not know what they are talking about. 

I cannot say that I know what I am talking about, but I have gained a different perspective through a course called Gender, Race and Class, taught in the Department of Anthropology. 

One of my main points is that racism has been in history since the beginning of time.  Much of today’s racism is based on racism of the past.  This refers to institutionalized racism.  

Racism is defined as the notion that one’s own ethnic origin is superior to another’s ethnic origin. 

This applies to the racism of whites against blacks, blacks against whites, and so on. 

There are different types of racism.  Overt racism is purposeful subordination such as slavery and Jim Crow laws of segregation. 

But these two oppressions are not the only racism that has occurred in American history.  

Japanese Americans were forced to sell their businesses and move into secluded camps during World War II.  

Chinese immigrants searching for work in America were assigned the construction of the transcontinental railroad, where they lived in harsh and oppressive conditions.  

Mexican Americans were fired from jobs so returning soldiers would have work.  

Racism is not just a black/white issue.  It involves any ethnic group withheld from rights that all other Americans have.  These rights include voting, education accessibility, class systems and job eligibility.  

Other forms of racism take shape through other institutions in America like the baseball industry.  You probably do not realize how insulting the “tomahawk chop” or warpaint is, and referring to teams by their names of  Redskins. Stores sell “squaw skirts,” thinking that the term defines the design or fabric, when actually, “squaw” is a word meaning female genitalia. White settlers called the American Indian women this. 

In this case, American Indians are being oppressed when most fail to realize that American Indians deserve as much respect as any other ethnic group.  

Certain races are also discriminated against in accusations of crimes.  Statistics show that 70 percent of the American population arrested for drug use or possession is black.  But only 13 percent of American drug users are actually blacks. 

American history began with founders fleeing from religious persecution but only came to America to discriminate against American Indians and import Africans for their convenience.  Manifest destiny is what it is called; the opinion of whites that had the right to control all of America when it was founded. 

This manifest destiny later takes the form of slavery, immigration laws, segregation laws, and today, in which oppressed groups of the past are striving to constantly remind everyone of the their past troubles.  

Racism is historical; the past cannot be changed and unfortunately, because racism is still strong, the problem will never be solved. 

Toxic wastes are still dumped in minority group areas and these minorities live in these areas because of stratifying class systems determined by income, which directly affects education access and then affects job eligibility which then affects the education of generations to come. 

It is an endless cycle of oppression.  

Class reproduction, offspring forced to undertake the jobs and income level of their parents, will always exist.  This will only make the classes more stratified. 

Minorities amassing and fighting for civil rights, merely trying to live their lives to the fullest, only increase their stratification from the rest of American citizens.  This will never end. 

The only solution is to reformulate the class system of America and that would have to get the involvement of all American citizens. 

All we can do is strive through the racism, the oppression, the financial struggle as the economy inflates, the limited sources of education and the excess poverty and famine. 

We all agree that this entire world is screwed up, not just the United States.  And what is really sad is that people all over the world view America as the land of opportunity and come here to escape the persecution of their own lands. 

Yet, America is just as bad.  
 

Letters to the Editor 
Witch burning is not an issue here 
Unsolicited e-mail: does it ever end 

Witch burning is not an issue here 

To The Editor: 

 I would like to respond to the opinion concerning the issue of prayer in school (Volume 74, Number 42.) Firstly, his opening statement is fascist. Although quick to claim “witch burning” syndrome, I find it hard to believe that the most widespread religion in this country is “always under attack, having to fight to preserve everything they believe in.” By definition, being in a representative government, they run the country. 

The commentary’s complaint against the controversy surrounding school prayer is a valid one. If students wish to pray in school, there is no reason they should not be allowed to. The issue is whether it should be mandated by the schools. If schools require prayer, that is violation of the separation of church and state. However, the commentary misses the point. 

In fact, the commentary has little to do with the actual issue of prayer in schools. It reads as an indictment of the government’s handling of church versus state. However, it makes several mistakes. 

First, there is the suit brought against the school district concerning the possible Christian proselytizing. Seeing as the suit was brought to the court by Christians (yes, Catholics and Mormons are Christians), it seems the issue is not anti-Christian. Why the article pointed out the specific denominations of the plaintiffs I am unsure about, seeing as its primary beef seems to be with religious discrimination. 

The commentary also states that organized prayer in public schools has been banned since 1962. If, as the writer states, that they were praying at a football game, how is that possible, seeing as it has been banned for 38 years? 

The issue of creationism versus evolution is then once more dredged  up. Frankly, I think the article should complain about that being a controversy, too. Evolution is a theory, just like Christian creationism is a theory. Since evolution is the scientific theory, it makes sense to teach it in a science class. However, if you want to make sure all theories of the creation of the world are taught, I would also like to see the Hindu creationist theory, the Taoist creation theory, the Pagan creation theory, etc. taught in schools.  As theories, they are all valid until proven wrong. 

Should a student feel that learning about evolution is against his or her beliefs, they should be accommodated. However, this does not mean throwing out what is currently the most reliable theory of creation. Rather, they should be exempted from that particular exam and study time, preferably with some proof from their religious institution stating that they have studied their religious theory. Education is about education, after all. 

I will not comment on the barely veiled implication that the removal of prayer from schools has resulted in an increase in social problems except to state that there is no evidence that prayer was the force keeping them down. 

Inevitably, the reason it seems that people are “anti-Christian” is that, due to historical and doctrinal factors, Christianity is very non-pluralistic. Either you are part of the solution or part of the problem. I personally believe this is what Jesus would have wanted, nor do I believe it is the way it has to be. Christianity’s challenge in the modern world is just that: can it handle the possibility of not being the exclusive religion of the world? Although the dilemma faces many religions, Christianity is the largest religion in the United States, and is the one that will effect the most people. 

As for prayer in schools, the simple fact is that it was always there and will always be there. There will never be a time when students are ready for exams. 

Michael Warsop 
Sophomore 
 

Unsolicited e-mail: does it ever end 

To The Editor: 

I want to say for the record that it is sad that our Student Computing services has given out our e-mails for the unsolicited advertisement of local businesses. On Thursday, April 6, 2000, I received an e-mail from University Courtyard Apartments, offering all of their extremely posh accommodations for the following year. 

I personally think that the town is overcrowded as it is, with people like you and me, trying to obtain an education and finding a place to stay while we do so. It honestly offends me that I would be sent this e-mail. 

I am in college, not on vacation, and it is my opinion that we as a student body should probably think more along those lines. A little bit of comfort is nice, but this town is overcrowded enough as it is, and it doesn’t need any more luxurious living to entice more people here. We need more energy efficient housing, more practical living and no swimming pool warm enough for only three weeks of a year in Boone weather. 

Isn’t it time we all got a little more practical and realize that all that excess is unnecessary? My biggest disappointment is that the university apparently gave away my e-mail address. It is bad enough to get unsolicited mail in my post office box, but that is more expected. When is the university going to solve the problem of invading privacy through e-mail? 

Cassie Robinson 
Sophomore 
cr28738@appstate.edu 

P.S.  The only redeeming thing about this ridiculous apartment complex is that it is handicap accessible. 
 
 
 

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