The Clarion October 8, 1995 Page 2
Editorials
The Juice Is Loose...
Jon Ostendorff
Editor
I, like many other Americans,
watched the final verdict of the O.J.
Simpson Trial last Tuesday. I, like
many other Americans, also became
caught up in the excitement. I partici
pated in the circus and the carnival.
However, unlike many other Ameri
cans, I did not perceive this trial as a
racial issue or message. I am in disbe
lief over how the News media and the
American people have divided this into
a black or white opinion. Is the race
problem really this bad? Or has the
media coverage of the trial only infla
med and agitated the issue? I sincerely
hope it is the latter of the two.
There is evidence to support the
media coverage theory. It could be
argued that it all started with Time
Magazine’s fiasco of distorting O.J.’s
picture by darkening it. It has apparent
ly ended with the TV News choosing a
racial angle with their opinion poles.
Every pole I have seen is divided into
black and white opinion, saying that this
many blacks think O.J. is innocent and
this many whites think O.J. is guilty.
The live coverage of the people’s reac
tion to the verdict is even worse, with
groups of black people cheering and
white people in some state of mortal
shock! According to the media there is
not a black person who thinks O.J. is
guilty and not white person who be
lieves in the innocent verdict. This is
simply not true. These opinions are not
covered because they destroy the med
ia’s angle. This angle is intended to
captivate and interest their viewers.
Unfortimately, it does just that. Maybe
this is where the real problem lies.
This is 1995 America. This isn’t
the 50’s; this problem should have
ended long ago. (for some strange
reason I thought it did.) It’s time to
wake up and realize that this sort of
racial thinking is not only foolish and
ignorant, but it will also destroy our
country. Do not believe the News med-
ias’ biased and sensational angel that
every black person thinks differently
than whites. Do not believe Oprah
Winfrey’s opinion that most white
people think like Mark Furhman. Once
iJ
Letters To The Editor
Dear Editor
I would like to publicly thank the
students who work in the Math Lab for
the excellent work they are doing this
semester. A lot is asked of our student
tutors and Andro Abashidze, Erica
McIntosh, Jeff Stroud, and Greg DeSte-
fano have exceeded all expectations. If
you haven’t visited the Math Lab we
invite you to give us a try. We are
located in Room 110 of the Moore
Scinence Building and we are open
from 6:30 to 8:30 pm Monday night
and 6:30 to 8:30 pm on Wensday
evening. The Math Lab is for all of our
students, whether you need a lot of help
or a little. It is a good place to do your
homework-if you have a problem help
is available inunediately. We look
forward to seeing you there.
Sincerely,
Don Lander
Dear College Family:
I came to Brevard College in 1978
as the Men’s Soccer Coach, Women’s
Basketball Coach, Director of Student
Activities, Director of Green Residence
Hall, and Physical Education Instructor.
In the fall of 1980, I was named the
Dean of Student Affairs—a position in
which I served for 8 years. I was the
Athletic Director for a year before
becoming the Vice President for Institu
tional Advancement. I duue that history
as a v/ay to highlight my understanding
of students, diversity of experience, and
On Thursday evening, October 5,
1995, my family and I decided to have
a quick dinner at the college cafeteria.
The moment I walked into the lobby of
Myers Dining Hall, I knew it was going
to be a rowdy night. Three students
were arguing with the door monitor,
and the noise level was much higher
than normal. As soon as I walked up to
pick up my tray, I caught a glance of
flying food through the comer of my
eye. Next, a student stood up and
threw his entire plate on another stu
dent.
Later, my sons (ages 8 and 13 and
were raised on this campus) went to get
some frozen yogurt. They came back
to the table amazed at the level of pro
fanity being used by students. In fact,
they seemed somewhat frightened by the
entire situation.
It was an unbelievable evening—an
unacceptable evening. The behavior
displayed was early adolescent at best.
The faculty, staff, and even more so the
students should not tolerate this type of
activity. After all, the cafeteria is
designed to serve the COLLEGE com
munity. It distresses me greatly that I
must now worry whether or not I
should bring my family to the cafeteria
that I have enjoyed for 18 years.
RegretfiiUy,
Donald A. Scarborough, Ed.D.
Vice President for Institutional Advanc
ement
Privacy Is
Shelby Hepler
Asst. Editor
The days of community showers
are almost over at Brevard College. Or
are they? Students in Green Hall don’t
think so.
Before the freshmen entered
Brevard College this fall, they received
a newsletter from Brevard called "Tor
nado Trackings." In tiiis newsletter, it
ran an article that said the showers in
Green Hall were being separated from
the rest of the bathroom, and added
ventilation was being installed. These
new shower rooms were supposed to
have their own shower stalls for pri
vacy.
To the surprise of the freshmen
and returning sophomores, the bath
rooms on the first, second, and third
floor of Green Hall were the same as
last year. No changes, no curtains, no
shower stalls, and no added ventilation.
Though, the basement floor of Green
Hall had a brand new bathroom with all
the trimmings. Most of the students on
the rest of the floors in Green felt a
little cheated on the bathroom situation.
Freshmen Dwayne Eury felt at least we
could have had curtains.
Director of Housing, Steve Woo
dson was asked about the bathrooms
and said, 'Because of time and funds,
the rest of the bathrooms could not be
finished, although hopefully over Ch
ristmas break the rest of the renovations
could be completed".
these ideas are accepted, they become
truths. I sincerely hope that they are not
and do not become truths.
Some time Tuesday evening, after
all the yelling and excitement had died
down, it occurred to me that two people
have been brutally murdered and the
fate of one man’s life has been decided.
When I saw the pictures of the two
small Simpson children, I felt a great
guilt over the silly bet I made on the
fate of their father’s life. These are the
realities of this , and they are the reali
ties of domestic violence trials that take
place every day. This is the message
that we should receive from the Trial of
the Century. If this disgusting media
exploitation causes only one person to
realize this, then maybe, just maybe, it
was worth it.
An Issue
It seems that this is not the best
way to start the year with new students,
sharing a bathroom with a whole hall is
not that bad, but when you have to
share a huge walk in shower with ev
eryone, privacy comes into the situa
tion. When a hall has to put a time
limit on students showering, you have
to wonder how clean a person can get.
Maybe when the housing department
realized that funds and time were run
ning scarce, they could have held off on
the renovation of the basement bath
room and used those fimds to put cur
tains in the whole dorm. Then over
Christmas they could have renovated all
four floors.
One final plea to the Housing
Department, remember that some of us
are not as fortunate to have semi-private
baths and some of us are not even
fortunate to have private baths. The
private bathrooms are something that
students asked for, but when will we get
ri^^==========S=ss===
Letters are Welcome
Letters to the editor can be
deposited in tlie wliite Clarion
box on the wall in the lobby of
McLarty-Goodson or in the
Clarion office room 102. They
can also be given to Rhue
Miller in M.G. 110.