1997_11 The Daily Collegian November 1997

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THEDAILY
COLLEGIAN
Monday, November 10,1997
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5 Overweight
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14 Volcanic tow
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16 Meditate deeply
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18 Not moving
19 Prose rwratrye
20 HeW up
22 Guest
24 Cozy place
25 Danger
26 Calamity
X Wears away
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34 Musam priest
35 Irving
38 Related on
D Space nMaturekid
1 Stow, mi music 12 Jason's ship
3 Notary   . 13 Costly
4 Engttsri queen
1 Hosiery mishap
2 Representatve
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5 Makeover
5 Peruse again
B Handyman
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Belgium Mardi Gras.offers
wild alternative to tradition
Fermnmo suftix 25 Make ready
intend 28 Money of Iran
Barton and 27 Reflection
bosc 28 Broad sword
Office furniture 29 Basebajl slat
31 Chaaenper
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40 F
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Wart upon 47 Just a dab
Complete 49 Donkey
Greek letter 51 Pester
7 Short K
53 Engfsh streetcar  4? i
54 Sharpen '58 I
55 Hebrides is*        59 Bulb vegetable
58 Ripening factor     62 Inlet
Letter
By Doug Lansky
College Press Service
BINCHE. BELGIUM - If you.
have enough plastic necklaces from
Mardi Gras in New Orleans and are
tired of Rio de Janeiro's nearly-na¬
ked samba dancers, why not try
something really wild next Febru¬
ary and hook a room for Mardi Gras
in Belgium? Binche has been show¬
ering Mardi Gras crowds with or¬
anges for the past 300 years, mak¬
ing it one of Europe's most famous
(and vitamin-rich) festivals.
On my way to Binche (rhymes
with ranch), 35 miles south of Brus¬
sels, last season, I hopped off the
train in the German town of Co¬
logne for some pre-Mardi Gras rev-
cling. The Catholic center of north¬
ern Europe, Cologne has quite a
large party of it's own on Rose
Monday, the day before Fat Tues¬
day. There was a-big parade with
floats, including one featuring a gi¬
ant paper-mache Helmut Kohl, al¬
though one bystander assured me
this model was life-size.
Almost everyone I saw was in
costume but I'd have a tough time
telling you what characters they
were trying to be. Many ofthe rev¬
elers were cross-dressing. Some¬
one, for example, was wearing a
nun's habit with army fatigues.
Another was some kind of Chinese
space alien with a red wig. There
was even someone dressed as an
American football player, only he
was wearing his shoulder pads un¬
der a bowling shirt. Perhaps the
Germans have invented a new
sport.
I finally spotted some characters
I recognized - an entire troupe of
Smurfs ("Schloumps" in German).
How, I wondered, did Smurfs get
hooked up with this ancient relr-
gious festival?
"I don't know," said Dopey
Smurf, "we just want to party."
"Yeah." said another Dopey
Smurf.
"Rarty!" contributed a third.
Apparently, they were all Dopey. I
got on the train and pressed on to
Binche. V,
Binche has a population of
20,000, which reaches around
Please see BELGIUM, page 4.
Continued from page 2.
sire for a homeland of their own,
after experiencing centuries of per¬
secution cannot be equated with the
Nazis' conviction of racial superi¬
ority which generated a policy of
genocide. (Fish, 1993)
What Mr. Shockley and others,
who argue that affirmative action
is reverse racism, are forgetting is
that, whites once set themselves
apart from blacks and claimed
privileges for themselves while de¬
nying others. And, to'equatc the ef¬
forts to remedy that oppressive situ¬
ation with the actions that produced
the oppressive situation in the first
place is to, as George Bush put it.
"twist history."
Mr. Shockley's proposal of af¬
firmative action based on income,
although not new, is worthwhile.
This idea is endorsed by a variety
of people, including William Julius
Wilson, a Harvard sociologist.
" Many researchers point out that the
primary benefioiaries ofthe current
policy are white women and middle
class African-Americans. To help
the "truly disadvantaged," it would
make sense to implement a polity
based on socio-economic status.
And, Mr. Shockley correctly notes,
affirmative action will still benefit
many minorities who are dispropor¬
tionately represented among the
nation's poor.
It must be noted that this entire
. debate would be irrelevant if there
was widespread economic opportu¬
nity in America. However, recent
societal trends of
deindustrialization (economic shift
from manufacturing to service) and
globalization (intensifying global
competition), have affected the
types of economic opportunities
available.' Further, the self-serving
attitude of, "If I can't get mine, they
shouldn't get theirs either," has
dominated social discussion. Eco¬
nomic push has come to economic
shove - "to hell with the common
good; let's eliminate any program
which doesn't benefit me." NO!
Since we are members of a larger
society, it is important to recognize
that by caring for one another, ev¬
eryone benefits. Therefore, we
should strive to provide a support¬
ive framework to correct these in¬
justices.
Matthew A. Jendian, Robin
Huigen and Nancy Gutierrez
Instructors, department of so¬
ciology
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