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Wednesday
October 5,
2005
English more than commas and grammar
MAD
with Jesse Bishop
1 recently got a long
overdue haircut and
while I was in the chair
the stylist and I began a
casual conversation. She
asked me, first, if I was
out of school for the day,
thinking I was a high
school student.
When I informed
her that I was a graduate
student who also teaches
at a college, she seemed
perplexed. She insisted
that I was not old enough
to be a teacher, much less
at a college.
Yet, there I am every
Monday and Wednesday
teaching my little heart
out. What struck me as
Roberts residents inspire
By Lacey Smith
Guest Opinion
middleblockerls@yahoo.com
As the rooms become vacant and the
evacuees move on to more permanent
housing, Roberts Hall has been a place
of refuge and an inspiration for those
affected by Hurricane Katrina. From
the outpouring of donations to the
hundreds of volunteers that have given
their time, the past month has served as
a redeeming factor of the compassion
and faith of humanity.
I first went to Roberts Hall as part
of my job at the
Communications
and Marketing
office. One of my
supervisors had to
meet up with the
Fox 5 news crew
so I tagged along.
The Roberts Hall I
remembered from
my freshman year
had transformed
into a different
building.
As I walked
in I passed a
man dressed
in a suit from
the department
of labor. The
walls were
decorated with
crayon drawings
and words of encouragement from
elementary students. The former
resident assistant office now served as
the headquarters for the shelter and an
address for the school’s post office was
displayed above it so evacuees could
receive mail.
Teachers from the local school
system were sitting at tables as parents
enrolled their children. One kid began
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Opinion
odd about the conversation
was when I mentioned my
subject: English. Her reply
was, “1 never was good
with commas.”
That’s fair enough,
but I’m not always that
good with them either. Yet,
to assume that English
is only about (or even
mainly about) commas is
just plain nuts.
And it points to the
very issue I brought up
several weeks ago: our
decrepit educational
system. Yes, I’m going
to harp on this one a bit
more.
If our students and
their parents think that
Staff photo
Lacey Smith sits with Sammy Jackson.
English is all about the
comma, we are in a
bad way in this nation.
English, as a subject, is
about language and the
various interpretations of
it. English majors study
novels, short-stories,
poems, non-fiction of all
varieties, films and even
music. Still, this list
leaves out the other signs
that we study.
The point is that we
do a lot more than edit
papers with red ink pens.
We do edit, of course,
but we also write, read
and discuss everything
from speeches to the
lyrics of an Eminem
song. English is about
the study of language,
not just grammar.
This brings up another
point: I’m reluctant, at
times, to mention what I
do because people assume
I’ll be correcting their
talking to me and said the bus would
pick him up for school the next day
right in front of the building.
I saw rooms filled to the brim with
clothing and a food pantry complete
with home cooked meals from local
churches and civic groups. Upstairs,
the former unadorned lobby was
now a kindergartener’s dream. The
television, stuffed animals. Easy Bake
oven and road course disguised as a
rug were enough to entertain even the
most imaginative child.
I watched the news crew interview
some of the evacuees and met a woman
faces of the evacuees.
They left the Gulf Coast with little
more than the clothes on their back, yet
their optimism was evident. I went into
another lobby where a man sat holding
his baby daughter. As she bounced around
with laughter, I couldn’t help but think
that she won’t be able to remember any
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Doug Vinson, Advisor
from the Carrollton
Housing Authority
who said four
familieshadalready
found houses in the
community.
A few days
later my supervisor
at work heard the
staff at Roberts
was requesting
juice boxes as an
alternative to the
soft drinks. With
close to 70 kids, I
could understand
why something
with less sugar was
needed. We took
over some juices
and magazines and
we were greeted
with the smiling
grammar and speech.
Read this column; I
am not perfect (far from it
actually) and I don’t care
how someone speaks, so
long as the communication
occurs. What blows my
mind is how readily people
assume that “English”
means I will be correcting
theirs. I guess my point in
all this is twofold.
One, I will not be
correcting your grammar
unless you’re in my class.
Two, if you like reading
and talking about books,
movies, music, cultural
signs, or anything really,
English might have more
to offer than you expected.
To assume that
all English majors are
grammar-demons is to
incorrectly assume. But
few people in America
understand what it is that
we do (and by “we” I’d
like to include history,
Rita proves Katrina
victims treated poorly
By Elbe Dunnigan
Guest Opinion
DunniganEN ® aol.com
It has been a month
since Hurricane Katrina
hit the gulf coast states
of Louisiana, Mississippi
and Alabama. It has been
almost a week since the
category five hurricane
that was downsized to a
tropical storm (Rita) hit
the gulf coast.
There were two
storms in which lives
were lost, children went
missing and tremendous
damage was done to
entire communities. There
were also two different
responses to these two
similar tragedies.
The victims of
Hurricane Katrina that
stayed in New Orleans
went through a massive
ordeal. They were left for
days without food, water,
medical supplies or usable
restroom facilities.
Why is that? It seems
that no one in the federal
government knew what
was truly going on. It was
sad to see how Homeland
Security Secretary
Michael Cheitoff was
on television stating that
President Bush and the
Federal Government had
everything under control.
He said that all of the
people in the Superdome
and the Convention Center
had food and water. ABC
Nightline’s Ted Kcppel
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establish
ment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances. ’’
- First Amendment, United States Constitution
anthropology, psychology,
sociology, art, art history
and theatre majors).
The humanities are
the most misrepresented
and misunderstood areas
of the academy, or at
least in the public’s eyes.
After four long years of
undergraduate work, my
parents came to graduation
and my father’s question
was, “What can you do?”
He posed this with the
sincere thought that I had
some greater plan in mind.
But I didn’t. In fact, when
I told him I was going
back to school he seemed
puzzled. Why would I
spend more time in school
when I could be making
money instead?
This is a common
assumption about a
college degree-that it
guarantees one a job. Well,
it doesn’t. Especially if a
student chooses to study
had to let him know that
that was not the case.
It took days to get the
victims out of Louisiana,
but before Rita had hit land
President Bush was touring
the area to make sure
everyone was prepared.
In the aftermath of
Katrina Bush’s approval
rate was 40 percent, the
lowest it has ever been.
In an AOL poll, 36 percent
of people polled thought
Bush’s handling of Rita
was excellent and 24
percent of people thought
he handled Rita poorly.
In that same poll, 56
percent of people thought
Bush’s handling of Katrina
was poor and 16 percent
of people thought his
handling of Katrina was
excellent. The issue that
no one was willing to
seriously talk about was
race and the impact it had
on the response to Katrina.
Hip-hop artist Kanye
West got heat and support
after he said, “President
Bush doesn’t care about
black people.” The
comment was aired on
NBC and MSNBC during a
live relief benefit concert.
West said what
most African-Americans
thought, agreed with or felt.
In an ABC-Washington
Post poll, when asked if
Bush “cares about black
people?” seven out of ten
blacks said “no.”
In an NPR poll two
thirds of black Americans
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style, content and length.
in the humanities.
But studying
art, literature, films
and behaviors can be
rewarding (not always
monetarily) careers. If we,
as a culture, stop viewing
education as a commodity
and start viewing it as a
lifelong process, we might
actually get somewhere.
I don’t presume to
know where that place
might be, but I do know
that asking questions
about all of the artifacts
around us can make us
better citizens. Education
isn’t about a degree; it’s
about learning from the
past and steering the
future-or so I’m told.
I guess I’m trying to
articulate that students
should choose a field that
is rewarding on some level
other than money. We’ve
commodified education
for far too long now.
thinks race played a part
in the delayed response
to Katrina. Two-tnirds
of whites think race did
not play a part in the
delayed response. Jesse
Jackson, a prominent
African-American leader
compared the aftermath of
Katrina to slavery.
Many saw the African-
American woman on CNN
who said “they are treating
us like we are in slavery
days; no water and no
food, we are not animals.”
The fact is African-
Americans, many of whom
are poor, were the hardest
hit by Katrina. Some say
race had no part in the
slow response, but class
did play a part. Race is a
sub-group of class.
If Katrina hit in a
prominently white suburb
it would not have taken a
day to get Americans what
they needed. The victims in
New Orleans were human
beings that deserved to be
treated with respect.
The horror that took
place in the Superdome
and the Convention Center
never had to happen.
After Katrina hit no more
innocent people had to
die. No children had to
be raped. Elderly people
didn’t have to go without
their medicine or oxygen.
Children did not have to
go missing.
These victims were
See MR page 8