2000
April 6, 2000
The Banner
Page 3
Perspectives
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lo something
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lentsis notan
Neither Vice President AI Gore
Governor George W. Bush will
be appearing on the UNCA cam
pus during their, current presiden
tial campaign. We are more likely
I snake ride a bicycle up and
down the stairs to the library than
ire to entice these candidates to
campus.
You may ask how I know this.
Every time I see these two men
appear in television news broad-
r in newspaper photographs,
they are in the company of infants
jr kindergarten and elementary
ichool children.
Certainly UNCA voting adults
re too tail and too old to fit into
this target group.
I keep asking myself one question;
'Why are they speaking to an audi
ence of little children who can’t
even vote?” Now I know.
Spin doctors who are working in
the campaigns are aware of the lack
of respect their candidates are re
ceiving from college students and
voting adults. They study the town
meetings in the Iowa and New
Hampshire primaries in order to
plan the stops for each candidate.
Gore seems to prefer the focus
group of little children, who ask no
questions. One particular event
makes this clear.
During a televised town meeting,
a woman asked Gore to tell her why
he does not speak out against the
immoral activities taking place in
side the Oval Office.
Suddenly, this woman reminded
the viewing audience that not all of
us appreciate the president’s pas
sions for using women. Nor do all
voters believe in his creation of very
big whoppers to conceal what should
remain covered in the work place.
Gore blushes as his mouth drops
open. He stumbles for words while
looking to the left, then to the right
for help. Finally, he tells her to
stand up so that he can look into
her eyes while he answers her ques-
Height and eye contact seem to be
a recurring problem for him when
campaigning.
While they stand eye to eye, this
N.H. woman receives a lecture de
livered by the candidate, along with
his wagging finger for emphasis.
Gore furrows his brow and drops
his voice, assuming his new aggres
sive public image.
Completely ducking her question.
Gore condemns her by saying that
she should be ashamed. He scolds
her by saying that she should sup
port her president just as he does.
He asks no questions and neither
should dumb voters.
Gore continues to use this lectur
ing style, but his preferred audi
ences are non-votingchildren. Chil
dren do not ask politically incorrect
questions. Consider this brilliant
strategy.
On March 21, the New York Times
published a picture of Gore dis
cussing his ideas on the 2000 Cen
sus with a class of three- and four-
year-old students in Manhattan.
One of the audience members pic
tured sucks his thumb while in
tently listening to the candidate,
who sits in a toddler chair facing his
audience.
The caption of the Times photo
graph read that while Gore dis
cussed his views on this point, the
children were drawing pictures of
their families. How sweet.
Then, there was the very contro
versial incident at a university in
South Carolina. Governor Bush
stepped into the clutches of the
opposition simply by being in the
wrong place. How was he to know
that the free speech police were
watching? He should stick to the
children-tested locations.
After giving his speech to the vot
ers on the campus of Bob Jones
University, Bush confessed his sin
of commission to a Roman Catho
lic priest in New York. He spoke to
the voters on this campus whose
founders do not appreciate the
Roman Catholic denomination.
The wrath ofthe unbelieving demo-
Letters to the Editor
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will likely lose
nferences. In
Double standards
of advertising
)ear Editor,
This is in response to the editor’s
:ommcnt to the letter written about
the drinking ads (March 30). If the
ids are not the expressed views of
The Banner, then what would be
the JT policy on a cigarette ad
being placed in the Banner?
It seems that the lady posed a
sound question and The Banner
dodged it with this “We don’t care
what the ads say. Someone is pay-
ng us to put them in, and who are
.ve to choose which ones should
itay and which ones should go?
attitude.
Face it. The Banner has a double
standard when it comes to alcohol
and tobacco as does the rest of this
nation. The lady has a point. Which
: destructive, alcohol or to
bacco? I think the majority of sound-
thinking people would agree that
alcohol is more destructive. Both
will kill, only one incites violence.
Maybe the university should be a
little less concerned about who is
smoking and focus on who is devel
oping addictions to ethanol in the
early stages of their life all in the
name of the college experience or
just leave them both alone. You
cannot choose to demonize one
and not the other.
Nate Peaty
Senior, chemistry
Distinguishing the
issues at hand
Dear Editor,
My heart sincerely goes out to
Jacqui Justice and all of those who
have experienced heartache and
hardships due to alcohol abuse.
However, I think the keyword here
is abuse. When will we escape this
notion of hasty generalizations as a
use for logical reasoning?
It is my understanding that publi
cations such as UNCA’s Banner
need advertisements as a means of
economical support. To my knowl
edge, The Banner has never con
doned alcohol use or abuse, and I
believe it is illogical to assume that
its printing of an advertisement list
ing alcoholic beverages portrays its
opinion that “it is cool to drink.”
While it may be the personal opin
ions of many readers that drinking
alcohol is bad, I believe it is impor
tant to mention that many law abid
ing people, including many re
spected students and staff at this
university, do consume alcoholic
beverages and have never, as a re
sult, driven drunk, destroyed a
marriage or family, or physically
abused a spouse or family member.
Alcohol can be used in moderation.
iports, it woulii
thy to stifle
w. Please sup
The Sannerwelcomes letters and comments re
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submit a letter via The Banner online or e-mail
banner@unca.edu.
cratic campaign strategists hits him
broadside.
Bush now limits his speaking
venue to the classrooms of kinder
garten through second grade.
With pencils and pads in hand.
Republican and Democratic spin
doctors carefully study these
squirming and yawning audiences
of little people. Yep, those debates
and stump speeches, geared to vot
ers, must pass this non-voting short
group first.
Bush now appears in pictures sit
ting beside computer kids, and we
imagine the conversation between
the two.
“Son, you are in the second grade
and you use computers a lot, what
do you think we should say about
the Internet traffic when I speak to
voters?” Or, “Kid, haveyou thought
about whether we should tax toys
bought online or not?”
There may be an outside chance
of enticing these two remaining
contenders to our campus. It will
take a smooth strategy and a lot of
humility on our part.
First, we will have to acknowledge
that we are not diverse. How many
people under the age of eight and
height of four feet are involved in
the life of this campus? We have big
problems. We are looking for di
versity in all the politically wrong
places.
A two-pronged plan may work.
We will have to act quickly. We can
take pictures with people walking
around campus on their knees.-
Thereby, we give an illusion of not
having any intelligence to ask ques
tions that a voting adult would
consider important.
Another plan would involve
quickly implementing the proposed
child care facilities for UNCA. A
hasty erection of a decent center
with a lot of colorful toys, sleeping'
mats, cribs, juice stations, and pot
ties built low to the floor will do. .
Add a wing to this center, housing
computer stations that are big-
enough for candidates to visualize (,
themselves in media appearances ,,
while talking with the three-year-,
old users. Next, we work up an
offer using photographs and a video^
of this. We then invite Gore and
Bush to appear on campus in ou^
bright, shiny, new little-peopl^'
building.
Gore and Bush just better hope-
that the oh-so-cute toddlers don’t-
wake up and revolt against the can-;’
didates’ use of child-labor tactics’;
for political purposes.
I think the major fallacy in J ustice’s
argument lies in the fact that she
presents the misguided notion that
everyone who enjoys the bargain of
a $1 beer or $2 mixed drink is
ultimately going to get behind the
wheel and kill someone or go home
and beat their spouse. Justice rules
out the concept of consuming alco
hol in moderation, and leaves us
with the irresponsible contention
that alcohol is to blame for
humanity’s sloppy judgement.
What happened to responsibility?
Why do we blame alcohol when
our spouse physically abuses us or a
family is unable to stay together?
When will we own up to our own
human weaknesses and come to the
realization that we as individuals
are accountable for our own ac
tions, that we are not just puppets
of this society?
Kristen Waldman
Sophomore, political science
Editorial Board
Emma Jones
Sarah Wilkins
Meghan Cummings
Krystel Lucas
Jason Graham
Lauren Deal
Matt Hunt
Zach Dill
Editor-in-Chief
News Editor
Features Editor
Sports Editor
Photo Editor
Copy Editor
Online Editor
Asst. Online Editor
Staff
Kay Alton, Lena Burns, Jennifer Crowl,
Walter Fyler, Anthony Greco, Davon Heath,
Kathryn Krouse, Susan McCord, Eric Porter,
Melissa Starnes, Alison Watson, Teshania Wiley
Managers
Rebecca Cook
Eric Porter
Business Manager
Circulation Manager
Kay Alton,Liam Bryan,
Matthew Rossi ^
Contributing Staff
Anais Adal, Justin Meckes
Mark West, faculty advisor
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