1996_03 The Daily Collegian March 1996

              THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Tuesday, March 12 1996
Opinion
Opinion Editor: Matthew Hart
Telephone: (209) 278-5732
Language stands as important bond in society
By Bridget Johnson
Special to the Collegian
If I was to ask what language is
most prevalently spoken in this
country, what would you say?
If I was to ask what language our
country was founded on and what
all of our national documents are
printed in, what would the answer
be?
English.
A lack of knowledge of English
in this valley appears not only to be
sanctioned, but almost catered to by
the increasing number of resources
available in English and Spanish.
Just take a leisurely drive
through South Fresno and you'll see
what I'm talking about. You'll see
bulletin boards and various other
signs in Spanish. Even the
Kentucky Fried Chicken commer¬
cials on television now have
Spanish subtitles.
Children are put at a
disadvantage in our society without
an encouraged working knowledge
of the English language.
Now, I realize that many im
migrants from other countries will
have a difficult time learning the
English language.
But in moving to a different
Commentary
country, you must assimilate
yourself to the language of the na¬
tion.
For example, if I moved to
France, I would have to learn to
speak French.
Not only out of necessity would
I learn it, but out of respect for the
French people.
It would not be right of me to
prance around speaking English,
getting angry at people for not
comprehending me and insist that
accommodations be made for my
lack of willingness to learn the
native language.
I admire and respect Hispanic
cultures. I myself have learned
conversational Spanish for my law
enforcement career. It is a
beautiful language.
My culture, the Irish culture, is
likewise a rich culture. And I know
a little Gaelic. But should I have a
right to go around speaking only
Gaelic simply to hold fast to my
ethnic tradition?
Immigrants must be given
proper incentive to learn the English
language and subsequently teach it
to their children.
For this purpose, I propose that
the state drivers license test be
administered only in English. If you
can't pass, no license.
This is not a mean-spirited
proposal, but one of common sense.
Can one who doesn't comprehend
English understand a traffic sign or
adequately communicate with the
police or other drivers?. No.
This is America. Diversity is
essential to our melting pot, but a
common bond connects our United
States. That bond is English.
Let's encourage all to learn
English not only for the good of the
establishment, but for the welfare
of our new citizens and resident
aliens.
Oceans must be preserved
to retain human habitat
-&~
By Andrea Meyer
Special to the Collegian
As I wake this morning, the
joyful lilt of a Meadow Lark
flows through the open doorway.
The breeze gently wafts through,
the trees and into the room, and
sunshine pours over the shadows
of night.
This experience is close to
heaven. Everything is beautiful,
in harmony, and precious:
What can lift a morning more
than the joys of springtime and
nature?
This joy is no elitist type of
experience. Everyone has felt
the lift of a beautiful sunny day
after a long rain or days of fog.
Our souls are uplifted by the
beauty. The beauty of trees.'wind,
sunshine, and birds is the
loveliness of the land, the human
habitat. Other natural beauties are
found in mountains, rivers, lakes,
and the sea.
For life and majesty, nothing
compares to the ocean.
L. J. Henderson, in "The Fit¬
ness of The Environment,"
explains this reverence for the
ocean as natural, considering
what it represents.
Commentary
"No philosopher's or poet's
fancy, no* myth of primitive people
has ever exaggerated the
importance, the usefulness and
above all the marvelous
beneficence of the ocean for the
community of living things."
This thought rings true for those
who have felt its majesty. And if this
is the case, why is Exxon-Valdez
still enjoying a hefty business?That
company's oil spill destroyed life in
the ocean near Alaska — destroyed
_the beauty/
iAXGtore, in "Earth in Balance,"
speaks of ".. .older American cit¬
ies mixing waste water with
drainage runoff when it rains
heavily. . . the rainwater and
sewage are then dumped, untreated
into creeks, rivers, and the ocean."
In an article from "Christian
Science Monitor" by Elizabeth
Levitan Spaid, the endangered
manatee, "who has been swimming
in Florida's waters for more than 45
million years," is facing poisoning
of its food supply.
* "Pollution from sewage and
pesticide runoff... is reducing and
destroying the fragile sea grasses
that manatees eat."
Francis Bacon, in "Novum
Organum," writes, "We cannot
command nature except by
obeying her." This is a viewpoint
of man to nature from 16th
century England. It differs not
greatly from that of ancient
Greece.
Rachel Carson writes in her
book, "The Sea around Us," 'To
the ancient Greeks the ocean was
an endless stream that flowed
forever around the border of the
world, ceaselessly turning upon
itself like a wheel, the end of the
earth, the beginning of heaven."
Homer represented the view of
his. culture with "A sea from
which birds travel not within a
year, so vast it is and fearful."
I hope that dumping sewage
into "the end of earth, the
beginning of heaven" is not the
symbol of our culture's respect.
The ocean is part of nature.
Nature is part of the earth. It is
our natural habitat. We do not
breath concrete, glass, or plastic.
On these substances we cannot
live. When nature is destroyed,
our breath, our life will go with
the trees, wind, sunshine, and
birds. Our soul, our essence, will
go with the sea.
-^¥
In Monday's Campus Issues column, Mindy Dewhirst, a
junior majoring in dietetics, was incorrectly identified as Angela
Butler. The quote however, did go with the name.
The Collegian apologizes for the error.
Daily Qh
JLLEGIAN
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