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Dogmatism Not Always ^he Complex Act of Voting see why I say that it is imperative Bad By Amanda Garcia College News Co-editor In this day and age 1 feel that it is more difficult to stand up for what you believe in. If you have strong convic tions about anything it is easy to be labeled dogmatic. Religious people are considered to be dogmatic. NRA members are dogmatic. Professors are dogmatic. First of all I want to defend being dogmatic. It is not wrong to be dogmatic in your personal beliefs. Great scientific discoveries have come about through dogma tism. If the guy who discovered that the earth did not revolve around the sun decided that everyone else must be right, where would we be? He was dogmatic. He believed that he was right and everybody else was wrong. And what about Christopher Columbus? If he would not have been dogmatic in his belief that the earth was round and that he would not fall off if he sailed around the world, we would still be a very ignorant people. Dogmatism is not always a bad thing. Dogmatism has gotten a bad name through some dogmatic groups doing extreme things. Take for instance Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, the Klu Klux Klan, or the Heaven’s Gate cult. These are all examples of people acting out their dogmatic views in violent or irresponsible ways. They have been labeled as dogmatic and conse quently anyone who has a dogmatic view is put on the same level as them. A good illustration of my point can be found right here on Methodist College. Recently the men's fall baseball coach kicked off some of his starting players for using chewing tobacco. It is known by all players that chewing tobacco is not permitted. After traveling home from an away game a few players were chewing. They accidentally left the remains of their habit in a pop bottle on the van. The coach found the bottle and took action. The next practice they had he had the whole team running laps around the baseball diamond. The players who were responsible spoke up. The coach suspended them for the rest of the fall season for disobeying the rules. I have heard from several people that the coach overreacted. After all, the players he suspended were of his starting lineup. “What’s wrong with chewing?” they ask. I’ll tell you what is wrong with it—it is forbidden by the coach. Nothing more needs to be said about that. Rules are rules. What good are they if they are not, going to be enforced? When the players started playing for the team they knew of the rule. Who are they to be above the law? Did the coach overreact? I do not feel that he did. Quick and decisive action is needed when there is a problem. If he had not acted in the way he did there is a large probability that this problem would occur again in the future. Every player now knows that there is no gray area in the matter. Rules are rules and they will be followed. It is also a matter of respect. Respect for the coach and the team. By deliberately going against the rules set by the coach the players have disrespected the coach and his position. He is in a position of authority which demands respect. Without it the team will not function. The team can function without the players who were suspended, but to what level? They were starters. That means that they are an important key in the success of the team. By not respecting the rules they have let the team down. In defense of the players I must add that nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes. Some mistakes just cost us more than others. Nobody likes to be the one to be the example, but many lessons in life are learned in this fashion. It was a learning experience. Now the question to be answered is if they will take the lesson and act upon it. By Jen Colletti College News Co-Editor Adhering to such busy sched ules, many college students feel they don’t have time to follow the presi dential campaign and make an educated vote. I’ll bet that most of you aren’t even aware of the number of political parties and candidates involved with the 2000 election. 1 certainly wasn’t aware either until I researched and discovered there are a total of 10 third party candidates and over 50 independent candidates! I guess that’s the beauty of the Ameri can democracy - that just about anyone can run for president if they wish to. If you decide to save time by only following the election through the morning or evening news, you will be missing much of the picture. The media’s insistence on focusing almost entirely on the Republican-Demo cratic aspect of the election creates the illusion that there is nothing more to it than Bush and Gore. The truth is that there are many worthy candidates campaigning on the side stages. Of course, it is highly unlikely that any candidate who doesn’t campaign on the media’s main stage will ever win an election. This seems unfair and in fact a disgrace to what we like to call democracy. Is it really democracy if we are limited by awareness to only two candidates and two main parties? I suspect that if the media chose to give equal coverage to more presiden tial candidates, it would completely reshape the course and outcome of elections. So, with all these powers of deceit flying around out there, you can that we all take a little time to review our choices. Why? Because there is nothing more foolish than voting for a candidate you don't agree with! An uneducated vote is a wasted vote that undermines our democratic system by not accu rately representing your interests. If you are one of those people asking ‘Why vote at all?’, there are several reasons to be given. First of all, any amount of change requires action. That means even if your concerns are small, the first step towards getting what you want is casting a vote on Election Day. Second, by not voting you lose the right to complain about the govern ment. It’s hypocritical to complain about a presidency or a political system that you declined the opportunity to participate in! The third, and most important reason to vote, is that everyone has a passion. You may have to think long and hard, but if you’re a human being, you inevitably have personal interests and opinions. So what is it that you care about most? Once you decide, you may have to do some real investiga tive work to uncover who would best represent you. I recommend visiting www.cnn.eom/ELECTION/ 2000 to see where Bush and Gore stand on all the issues, or www.politicsl.eom/p2000.htm for information and further links for all the third party candidates. Won’t it make you feel good to know you are exercising one of your constitu tional rights to the best of your ability? HALL:m Photo by Jami Sheppard Don’t forget your costumes! She said: He said: She said: He said: She said: He said: She said: Conversations in Everyday Life Okay then. I won’t go. I never mid you shouldn 't go. I just said I'd miss you. I know, but it is the way you said it. If I go, I'll have a lousy time. I’ll be thinking all the time about how mad you will be when I see you again. And if you don't go, then you'll will be mad at me. Yeah, probably so' because you spend all the time you want doing anything you want. Then, I want to spend one evening with at the movies with my girlfriends and you pout. I don't know how you get this crazy stuff in your head! I am always thinking about how you will feel. If I go shoot baskets with the guys I worry about leaving you out. So, at least half the time, I tell the guys no and come back and hang out with you. I am considerate of you. And your response is to go off on me just because I’m disappointed that you want to go out with your girlfriends instead of me. Oh bov! You make me sound like such a creep! All because I want one evening with my friends. This is hopeless! If the girl in this conversation was your friend and she came to you for advice, what would you say? Think about your answer before you read on. When you know what you would say, see how your answer com pares to mine. This is what I would say: Communication in a relationship can be so difficult, when couples start to argue it is very common for them to argue over how much time each invests in the relationship. It is absolutely ordinary for a person to want time with people outside the relationship. And it is absolutely ordinary to feel lonely and left out when your partner is doing something fun with someone else. 1 can tell by what you told me about your conversation with your boyfriend that you are both caring and considerate of each other. You don’t want to go off and leave him feeling lonely. He doesn’t want to interfere with your evening out and often thinks how you will feel if he leaves you out. It really isn’t hopeless. All you probably need is some time to cool off and another attempt at communication a bit later. When you are both calm and feeling close, it might be a good idea to work out an agreement about time together and time apart. For example, my husband and I have a standing date on Friday nights. We both know that Friday night is sacred and nothing can be scheduled that will interfere with our date. Most other nights we try to have dinner together, but we are flexible. We have agreed that both of us have the right to set our own priorities. We have also agreed that we will speak up and tell the other when we are feeling left out and lonely. We have built a tradition of responding to the other’s feelings. Communication is the key. What seems to interfere most with good communication is the tendency to keep trying to communicate after emotions have risen and communication is impossible. Stop trying for a bit the minute you get frustrated. Cool off and think through what you need to ask for, then try again when the emotional climate is better. When you really care and you keep communicating, most things can be worked out. Darlene Hopkins, director of counseling and psychological services, is the author of Conversations in Everyday Life. All the situations used in this column are fictional and bear no relationship to real people or real events. If you would like to suggest a conversation for a future column, please send it to at MC Box 12032. If you would like a confidential reply to a letter, you may send it to Darlene Hopkins, Counseling Center, via campus mail. Monarch Messenger Staff Picks Top 10 Scariest Movies 10. Seven (Serial killer with a purpose. The justification is scary enough but the crime scenes will make your stomach chum.) 9. It (If you have ever been scared of clowns, here is the reason why.) Cemetery (Everyone needs a pet. Just make sure it isn’t a dead pet zombified.) 1 .House on Haunted Hill (Cold drafty homes, especially old ones reek of bumps in the night.) 6. Halloween (What a perfect title, for the perfect holiday with the perfect killer.) 5. The Sixth Sense (Could also be considered a thriller, yet some scenes are horror title worthy.) A.Psycho (Hitchcock’s masterpiece in original black and white still holds chills and thrills.) 3.American Psycho (Literary masterpiece brought murder and psychotic behavior to the big screen. Look at the details to get the full effect.) 2. The Shining (Nicholson, a snow storm, alcohol withdrawal, and some dead twins take this seventies classic to the top of our list. >licholson is a perfect psychopath.) 1. The Exorcist (Poor little Linda Blair. How can you forget this movie if you have ever seen it? You can’t!) Movies that were close, but not quite; The Blair Witch Project, The Omen, Creep Show, American Werewolf in London, Night of the Living Dead and Prophecy. Monarch Messenger Staff Picks Worst Scary Movies (Save your Money) 10. Leprechaun in the Hood (Leprechaun’s just do not make scary vil lains or killers. Must have something to do with Lucky Charms cereal. They’re always after me lucky charms! And so I will kill them. It does not work.) 9. Puppet Master (Puppets coming to kill you? Not even close. Little buddy Chucky did a much better job with the alive dolls routine. We still weren’t scared.) 8. House (Should have been labeled a comedy.) 7. Dr. Giggles (I did giggle, and laugh. Even fell off the couch laughing!) 6. Final Destina tion (Very, predicable with no redeeming value, minus the bus scene and that was pretty cool.) 5. Children of the Corn (Horror movie, we think not. Besides whatever happens to the dead body in the trunk? It should start to smell or something.) 4. Maximum Overdrive (Stephen King has done better. His record of machines turned to life did not score high with our staff. Anyone remember Christine? How about The Mangier?) 3. The Blob (X-Files is scarier than this movie. Get some Liquid Plumber and call it a day.) 2. The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (Killer Tomatoes? We are leaving this one alone.) 1. Any horror movie sequel past two. (For example//a//owen//20, Jason Takes Manhattan, Scream 3, Friday the 13th past two, ect. You should get the point and if you do not. We warned you to save your money!) Other really bad movies: Urban Legend, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Fog, It’s Alive, The Stuff, and John Carpenter’s Vampires. (S) M,
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