Newspaper Page Text
April, 1967
THE MAROON TIGER
Page 9
A BUS RIDE . . . Continued
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8-COLUMN 3)
102 years ago, would be an exaggeration,
but to say there will not be continued
progress in every town and hamlet of
America would be the height of pessi
mism. When it does become a reality,
throughout America, much of the credit
will have to go to a frail, attractive,
brown-skinned seamstress who one
day in the Fall of 1955 decided she would
no longer “go to the back of the bus.”
Mrs. Rosa Parks lives in Detroit, Michi
gan, today and is happily employed.
There is no bitterness, no rancor,
no shouting and backslapping with self
praise. This mild-mannered Christian
lady, Rosa Parks, is still active in De
troit’s Civil Rights program, and is
happy to have made a contribution to
America’s progress by refusing to go “To
The Back of the Bus.”
Guest Editorial
PRESENT DRAFT SYSTEM UNFAIR
by R. G. Elston
Ballstate News, lnd.
Ways to evade the draft dominate
the mind’s of most American males today.
One possible escape is student defer
ment. Many males would rather face the
competition and sweat of college grades
than draft induction.
Because the draft allows for such
student deferments, it discriminates
against those who lack the means, de
sire and ability to attend college. Col
lege students merit no more special
treatment than the regular American male
not enrolled in an institute of higher ed
ucation.
Granted, such a viewpoint will strike
hard and anger BSU men, for few males
desire to be war targets. Yet, if draft is
necessary to fill the quota, a more fair
method of recruitment is necessary. The
present system is highly discriminatory.
The National Commission on Se
lective Service told President Johnson
last week that draft laws should be revo
lutionized to provide a lottery.
One provision of this proposed lot
tery would call for the continuance of
student deferments but with the change
that college students after graduation
must go back into the lottery pool and
face the same draft exposure as those
males not continuing their education.
Hershey further reported that the draft
commission may eventually propose
gradual abolition of student deferments.
Even when college students are
exempted from the draft during their col
lege years, a further loophole exists after
graduation. The major escape is to hold
jobs considered essential by government,
such as teachers, agricultural workers,
some engineers and defense industry
personnel.
Illustrating such draft evasion, Yale
University President Kingman Brewster
recently spoke of the “endless cata
combs of formal education, where a man
may meander for years while eluding the
draft that catches his unlucky contempo
raries.” Brewster’s point merely empha
sizes the special privilege granted to
college students because their college
status is the result of a good environ
ment or family income. It is morally
wrong to place the burden of the draft
on those males of lower economic or edu
cation class.
One top student and president of
the governing board of the University of
Oregon, Henry Drummonds, said in refer
ence to the draft, “A human life is a
human life is a human life.” Drummonds
voluntarily gave up his own II-S status
and is now I-A,. facing induction soon.
One popular cry of many college
males is to defer them until they com
plete their degrees. Why do they rate
such exemptions. Their work or studies
can be interrupted just as easily as that
of the male employed at a factory, etc.
Each is attempting to establish sound
employment for a financial rewarding
career. Interruption of military service
for both college and non-college males
is unfortunate, but if draft is necessary,
then both must be treated equally.
Indeed, college males are a pamp
ered lot. Because of their status, they
are given priority over those males who
lack the means, desire or ability to at
tend college. Even after college gradua
tion, they are allowed to meander draft-
exempt. With hope, the new proposed
lottery system, if enacted, will curb such
discrimination. The present selective ser
vice system is unjust.
Drinking and the
College Student
by Marion Brown
The drinking of alcoholic beverages
is widespread in the colleges of today.
It influences the students of these col
leges to perform acts associated with
love, honor, and contentment. But even
more, it has prompted them to commit
acts associated with hate, jealousy, and
discontent. It would seem natural that
if a person were aware of the effects
of drinking, he would cease to make
himself subject to this element of mental
and physical destruction. But it has been
found that the majority of college stu
dents do not drink just for drinking’s
sake. Some drink to conform with the
crowd, others to achieve social success,
and still others to escape personal
pressures.
The college student who closely
observes the actions of his fellow stu
dents may soon discover that many of
them indulge in activities that bring out
the “man” in them, the drinking of al
coholic beverages being the main ac
tivity. He sees the lofty enjoyment ex
hibited by the bulk of the campus dwell
ers: the adjusting freshman, the initiated
sophomore, the established junior, and
the supreme senior. He soon adheres to
the oft heard maxim, “When in Rome,
do as the Romans do,” and begins his
“campaign” of conforming with the
crowd.
This observer soon formulates the
misconception that it is the duty of the
college student to drink. He arrives at
this conclusion by listening to the many
students who drink talk about weekend
sprees as if these drunken frolics were
a part of the college’s curriculum. The
fact that these drinking sprees are con
centrated mainly on weekends, except
on special occasions, makes them seem
somewhat routine, thus suggesting a
sense of duty to the beginning drinker.
This misconception of drinking in
college is sometimes so deeply imbed
ded in the mind of the student that he
becomes extremely indifferent to any
advice contrary to it. The chastisements
and lectures that he receives from teach
ers, friends, or other interested parties
get only as far as his ears, i.e., he
“listens” but does not “hear.” He has
no interest whatsoever in the fact that
the drinking of alcoholic beverages can
produce poor health, or that it can result
in making poor grades, or that it can
possibly lead to expulsion from school.
He <?nly believes that drinking is some
thing that will enhance his position as
a college man.
In addition to the desire to conform
with the general crowd, the college stu
dent finds it necessary to be a part of
a particular gang. When he has selected
a group of associates, he sometimes
learns that these companions are staunch
drinkers. With a little influencing from
them, he bends to their will and takes
on the habit. He soon finds that the more
he drinks and the more he enjoys him
self while drinking, the more his asso
ciates become attached to him. He then
concludes that drinking is a prime factor
in being “accepted” by the typical col
lege group.
With many aspects of social acti
vities associated with college life, a
student may find it hard to adjust to and
enjoy these activities because of social
ineptness. He may be too shy and, thus,
unable to communicate with others, es
pecially the opposite sex. He soon learns
that through drinking, he can achieve the
social success that he normally does not
possess. He begins by drinking at part
ies, where the association is most close
ly knit, and finds that socializing with
others is easier. He i§ able to begin and
hold conversations more effectively.
While dancing with a girl, his body is
more relaxed and thus his coordination
and rhythm are inclined to be more natu
ral than they would normally be.
As a result of this lively “per
sonality” that he develops, others may
begin to take interest in him and lead
him to think that it is his drinking that
impresses them. Although this is in
directly true, for drinking is the founda
tion for this newly aquired personality,
it could prove harmful to him if he were
to begin drinking in excess in order to
increase the interest of others, because
this could lead to alcoholism, which
would repel others rather than attract
them.
Any athletic contest can be thought
of as a special occasion on which the
college student finds drinking a pleasure
rather than a necessity. The mere fact
that there will be a football, baseball,
or basketball game, or a track or swim
ming meet immediately signifies that
drinking will be a part of his enjoyment
of the contest. He becomes more spirited
after a few drinks and is often the lead
ing cheerer of the crowd. He combines
spirited cheers with vigorous body move
ments and virtually “lets himself go.”
During this period of pronounced
elation, the college student pays little
or no attention to his personal appear
ance, his health, or his safety. He does
not think it important to put his shirt
tails into his trousers, or to tie his shoe
laces. He thinks it unnecessary to put
his coat on or to button his sweater
while watching a football game in late
November. He thinks it improbable that
as a result of his energetic movements,
he may slip and fall. He therefore pays
more attention to what is happening
around him. He welcomes the noise and
excitement of the game, which in turn
makes him more noisy and excited.
More closely associated with col
lege drinking are the many personal
pressures that the college student must
contend with each day. He finds that
while under the influence of alcoholic
beverages, his problems and anxieties
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