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The Clarion
Wednesday, December n, 1985
[Spying in the U.S.
Just What Is Going On Here?
by Kim Ormand
In the history of the United States there is no name of
any other public figurehead that is as spat upon as thatj
of Benedict Arnold. He was a trusted war general, a
traitor, a spy. His life has stood for blatant disregard of
the ideals supposedly held by the American people:
loyalty, honesty, and integrity. Yet let us not be naive in
thinking that spying is limited to the past. Since 1981,
thirty-four people have been accused of selling informa
tion about the United States to foreign countries. In just
the past four weeks, four citizens have been accused of
this activity. This has caused a new controversy concer
ning spies and just how much danger the U.S. is in.
Spying in this country is generally looked upon as the
ultimate crime against America as well as against the
very core of demwracy. Yet it is suspected that the
I United States has its own spies in the Soviet Union and
I other countries and satellites that monitor various ac-
jtivites. Thus it is all right for the U.S. to spy on other
countries to ensure our national security but it is not all
right for other countries to spy on us for it threatens our
national security. Can this not be viewed as hypocrisy?
Of course there still remains (hypocrisy aside) the
[problem of what to do with the spies once they are
caught. Some people suggest rational means such as
the severe punishment of the spies and the the investiga-
I tion of people with any security clearances. Others sug
gest more radical measures such as the selling of our
wheat to starving nations rather than the U.S.S.R. and
the limiting of technology to Israel to make that depen
dent state more sensitive to the principles and priorites
of the U.S. Even the Navy secretary John Lehman has
gone so far as to advocate the death penalty for con-
[victed spies.
Where will it all end? Perhaps this bothers me so
much for I am convinced that there is a lot of double talk
going on here. I realize that the government must be
concerned over the selling of our nation’s secrets and by
no means am I saying that spying is the ultimate career
I choice. It all boils down to public relations. How good
I does it look for the United States to have trusted govern-
jment officials convicted for spying? Not very good.
So what is my solution? I really don’t have one. I just
I wish that the government would make a sensible and
realistic decision concerning the issue. This decision, of
jcourse, should include the United States.
Staff Members
I Editor.. Ormand
Assistant Editor Bonnie Davis
Mr. Ken Chamlee
I Elizabeth Oliver, Anne-Marie Pressler, Michelle
I Martin, Kirsten Reed, Buck Rowlee, Heather Kivett
I Lora Sobotka, Chris Crowder, Ramona Carpio, David
I Mays.
*" are those «f the
to ril ■ , ■■''>«« 111'! "Pinions »(the col-
welcomes letters to the editor from the Brevard
I- address them to Kim Ormand Box 426.
Letters to the Editor
but what is the point of gossiping
and/or being judgmental?
Where is that going to lead?
It is going to lead to everyone
being afraid to talk to each other
becausf of what they’ve heard
about each other. It s gomg to
lead to the spreading of pointless
and even harmful rumors. It’s
going to lead to our concentrating
on all of the possible negative
things instead of the real, tangi-
We, positive things.
Why should it be our concern if
someone is gay or who someone
is dating? During my 1st year
here I was apalled and even upset
about all of the gossip on this
campus. I have found that the
most effective way to fight it is to
not participate in it and to let peo
ple know that it upsets you (if it
does, of course) when they start
gossiping.
I would like to make an appeal
to gossipers: If you can’t keep
yourself from gossiping, please
at least stop and listen to yourself
when you do. Then, ask yourself:
Why am I saying this?
Most Sincerely,
Carla Ulbrich
D^r Editor,
I Dear Editor,
Going to a small school in a
I town like Brevard gets a little
I dull at times. We get bored occa-
Isionally and a lot of the time all
I we have is each other. We can
I h^dle this in two wavs; We can
take advantage of each other’s
company and learn and grow
together or we can tear each
other down. I am upset at seeing
too much of the latter.
There is nothing wrong with be-
ing concerned about each other-
“You train dogs, you educate
people.”
I wish I could remember who it
was that made that statement.
An old poli-sci professor told that
to me and opened my eyes to why
I should take my Liberal Arts
education more seriously.
“Why do they teach us so many
I facts that we won’t ever use in
everyday life? Who cares if a-b
equals c if I’m not a Math major?
And who cares what William
Faulkner really meant in all
those bizarre books he wrote in
his career? And when will I ever
use those facts that I learn in
physics, history and religion?
What am I doing wasting my time
here when I could be out making
a living?
All I have to say to these ques
tions is: wake up and quit taking
your education at face value.
You aren’t here to memorize
facts, you’re here to exercise
your mind and develop the ability
to learn. “To learn to learn
quickly.”
When your English professor
asks you to write a paper on a
character in a novel, that pro
fessor isn t asking that you leave
the class only with the knowledge
of a particular book, he asks that
you learn to analyze. Later in life
you will be faced with many pro
blems and situations where there
will be no answer page in the
book to refer to, and no Cliff
Notes to cheat from. You will be
responsible for coming up with
the solution on your own. It is the
first giant step into adulthood.
What are athletics for, for that
matter? Just exercise for the
body? What do you really gain
from playing a varsity sport like
football, basketball, or soccer?
Athletes don’t just throw or kick a
ball around in a game. They
must learn dozens of set plays to
execute but must also develop the
.abi^ to change strategy and ex
IS
ecute alternatives in a split se
cond when the plays break down
or the situation is not what they
expected.
Life throws a lot of loops in the
plans and actions we all take and
an educated person has a far
greater chance of successfully
overcoming thes obstacles by us
ing the tools of an analytical mind
to solve them.
Don’t waste your education by
trying to see how much work you
can blow off and still get by. Use
this opportunity to the fullest.
You may never get another
chance again.
“The roots of education are bit
ter, but the fruit
sweet.’’-Aristotle
Sincerely,
Julie Johnson
Dear Editor,
Since no one has attempted to
argue with “A RlVView” by
Nancy Williams in the last issue
of the Clarion I’ll try to do so.
Nancy writes that “legally
school officials could do things
that would tamper with the
privledges of students such as
entering a student’s room with
little or no cause. But fortunately
that is not what Brevard College
does.” I’ll say that, unfortunate
ly, it is just what Brevard College
does, such as when officials make
room searches without warning,
without people being there, and
perhaps even during breaks.
The issue of room searching
without people being there
bothers even my non-American
sense of personal freedom and
privacy. Isn’t to enter a room
with little or no cause and without
the person’s presence a lack of
privacy? Sure, there are times
when you have to search for
stolen objects; but then search
only where you expect to find
these stolen objects. Otherwise,
we get too far away from con
stitutional rights; which the rest
of the American society is proud
of and tries to obey.
The room search policy is just
an example of the way that
responsibility is taken away from
students. Alcohol, visitation, and
the class attendance policy are
other other areas where the
students’ responsibilities are
limited. How can we expect kids
to grow up to be responsible
without allowing them to take
any kind of responsibilities? If
you talk baby-talk, your kid will
keep on talking baby-talk. I know
that Brevard College is not the
only institution forcing kids to re
main kids. Parents and politi
cians certainly do their share.
A famous American
philosopher/psychologist/sociol
ogist (probably John Dewey) ad
vocated the “learning by doing”
principle in the 1950’s. Maybe it
is time for us to follow this princi
ple also outside the classroom.
misunderstanding of one of the
quotes occurred. The comment
was made that some of the people
here are rude and that they treat
Mojdeh as if she is from another
planet. Mojdeh said that what
she meant by the comment was
that American people are rude to
each other but are really pretty
nice to her. After the release of
the paper, many rude and nasty
comments were made to Mojdeh.
I’d like to think that the com
ments were not the result of the
article for it certainly was not our
intent to cause Mojdeh any harm,
but the fact remains that harm
was done. I hope that Mojdeh will
forgive us for any trouble that the
article caused her and that she
will not allow this incident to
damper her spirits or her opinion
of Brevard College as a whole
Henning Brandt
Editor’s note
In the last issue of the Clarion
an article on international stu-
dent Mojdeh Bakit was run and a
The Scholarship Research In
stitute of Washington, D.C., an
organization specializing in
aiding students and parents in
their effort to locate funds for col
lege, is offering three $1,000
scholarships. This represents
their third annual offering. Ap
plicants must meet the following
minimum requirements. One
must be an undergraduate, a full
time student, and have a G.P.A.
of 2.0 or above.
I For an application and more in
formation, students should send a
self-addressed, stamped
envelope to: Scholarship
Research Institute, P.O. Box
50517, Washington, D.C. 20004
The deadline for applications is
December 16, 1985. Awardees
will be notified by January 30.
1986. Recipients will be chosen
based on their academic perfor
mance, leadership abihties, col
lege and community acitivites.
These awards are for the Spr
ing semester of the 1985-86
school year and may be used for
any expenses related directly or
indirectly to the pursuance of any
academic major at the
undergraduate level.
Peer PTessure;
Do’s and Don’ts
by Anne-Marie Pressler
The teenagers of today have a
long and hard road in front of
them. Sometimes selecting the
right road and making the right
turns can be a difficult task. For
tunately, most teens have friends
to turn to when in need of support
or advice. Many times the dilem
mas are solved and the outcomes
are good, but consulting one’s
peers can also be a real problem.
Peer pressure is a major pro
blem in today’s adolescent’s
lives. Teens are always being
told “to be your own person” and
not follow the crowd. It all
sounds so easy, but as many
teens know, it’s not always that
simple. Sometimes friends can
persuade friends into doing
things they don’t want to do, and
then they try to justify it as right
because evervone else is doing it.
cont. on page 3