1989_09 The Daily Collegian September 1989

              Page 2     Friday, September 1,1989
The Daily Collegian
O
piniono
He died for your dohations
Pig fat, progress
Rose, Garabedian both strike out
Supporters of all animals
Dear Editor:
I read the editorial in Tuesday's
edition of the Collegian arid was
appalled "by the writer's lack o'f
knowledge, inslghtand-compasslon. ,,
His answerio the statement. "We can't
just senselessly shoot animals for
fun." was, "Why not? Isn't that what
we've been doing for the last few
mlllenia?"
Using that argument, why don't we
let people continue to kill each tfther -
since that has also been going on
forever?
Furthermore, studies have shown
that children who abuse animals
have a much higher likelihood of
becoming violent ^criminals later on
in life.
You also make the statement that
animals routinely attack and kill
each other with no thought of their
actions, so why should man feel guilty
about it?
For your information, animals kill
for survival; not for the mere sport of
It. When was the last time you saw a
lion proudly displaying the head of an
antelope on the wall of his den? Or
throwing away his trash in his
garbage can made of an elephant's
foot?
Sorry, "but you lose the argument.
Humans don't need meat to survive.
Recent studies have also proven that
we would all be a lot healthier without
It. (Check out "Diet For A New
America" if you don't believe me.)
I'll leave you with a quote from
Gandhi. "The greatness of a nation
can be judged by the way its animals
are treated.''
Sincerely yours,
Caryn Machado
Blake Brown
(vegetarians and
,  supporters of all animals)
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
Editor inChief.....Michael S. Green Sports Editor.... Eric Bumey
Newi Editor. Alitt Loe Graphics Editor. Devin Swisher
Copy Editor. Debonh Loitnan Photo Editor .Trior Swift
Staff Writm; Cynthia RaW-. Suzanne M. Colby, Beth Corbo, Anutuii Hendiu,
Todd Hah, Johanna Munoz, Dime oitson. Jennifer Whiidcy.
SporUWrfren: dins Hnnamjlxnn Jones, Jennifer Konze, Dan Wilerboute.
Photographer!: Terry Pieracn, Stephen J. Pringlo.
Business Manager. Whit Ram bach
Advertising Manager. Missy Kara bun
Ad Production Manager... Darcy Knight
Advertising RepresenUtives: Rick Holes, George Hutchaon, Tony Martin, Shitlcy Mclnlosh-
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T. James Madison
' Yes. sir. Mr. Commissioner....no,
sir. 1 never sold my children at the
Nogales black market...■'Gambling:'
sir?...perish the thoughL.-when I
.stepped to the plate, mothers tossed
their babies from the stands; do you
understand this?. ..an 800-lb. blue.
marUn2.~why no. we only cut tt up
and covered the hotel room with its
entrails to boost morale, no. no.
satanic rituals were never involved,
why do you ask?...you know I would
never wish to compromise the
Integrity of the Came.
There Is a certain pathetic aspect to
the case Peter Edward Rose, a taint
that goes well beyond the public
humiliation of being banned for life
from the game he lived for. The
banishment Is understandable: we
can relate to it Inside a established
frame of reference. Willie Mays,
Mickey Mantle; these legends,
"banned for life" (and later reinstated)
from baseball for gambling
connections, we can forgive, forget;
Pete Rose, on the other hand, will be
treated like a leper and hooted at in
publicfor the rest of his life.
Pete Is a sad. confused figure these
days. Like the Rev. Al Sharpton. his
lies engulfed him. became him. Facts
became meaningless In the face of his
delirium. "1 am baseball." Rose must
have"thought, but in the end. baseball
crushed Pete Rose and kept on rolling
by, oblivious to the small, piteous
winnings of a baffled, ugly man.
No, this isn't the way to honor the
man. his accomplishments. We must
be professionals, strive to strike a
balance between chiding pity and
obsequious hero worship. Indeed, the
lead practically writes itself: Baseball
Commissioner A. Baftlett Clamatti
yesterday did what Jew major leagw?
pitchers were able to do to Pete Hose
during his glorious career; he reared
back, fired a fastball dead smack
down the ruddle and struckhimout.
No, $& will never do. This Is bad,
and unforgivably lazy. There is only
one way to deal with the story of Pete
Rose, and that is to coat yourself with
a fine layer of pig fat and Jump right
in. never mind the razor blades. Why
was Rose betting on baseball, much
worse his own Reds? When did Rose
become such a fiend? How was he able
to get away with it for so long? Who Is
responsible?
What does it mean? What sense can
we make of It, what moral lessons can
we pul! from the muck? That-all pigs
are fattened up for the killing and
eventually eaten, in the form of bacon
and sausage on breakfast plates' all
over this country, even on Bart
Glamattl's? —
There is an incompleteness to the
Rose story, that, and also a sense of
the inevitable, a feeling that.ties ao
many recent events together like ao
much Krazy Glue.
We are witnessing the fabric of Our
Society unraveling once again. What
Is it that makes Pete Rose and John
Garabedian shipmates on the same
rotting boat?
Perhaps It is the hunch that they
both will be forgotten in a month.
notes   In   the   margins   of  a   living
history textbook which we all read.
and some of us will write, every single
day that we exist.
Like Rose, John Garabedian is a
confused, angry man. His
experimental stone fruit trees ripped
from the ground of a small plot of
land In Clovis which no longer
belongs to him, Garabedian may now
be wondering what else the ClovTs
City Council will attempt to steal
from him in the name of the Common
Good.
. He will wake every rooming and
chack his house to make sure such
once-seemingly secure possessions as
his alarm clock and his golf clubs are
still there: his kitchen he will check
for his food and he will spend uneasy
nights sweating and raving and
complaining of small insects on the
Insldes of his eyelids.
This paranoid uncertainty will get
to many of us In the near future, as ife
wonder when the big bulldozers
marked "Clovis Unified School
District" will drive across our lawns
and into our living rooms.
Accounts in the local news media
seemed to contain a built-in mental
block. Why the land was condemned
to make way for the school was never
explained, and. again, how such and
action was Justifiable, legal and
correct seemed not worthy of
Journalistic investigation.
It is easy to Imagine the cheers ol
Fresnans on that day when the trees
came down. "Progress" had won.
"Progress" will always win. Those not
In favor Our Agenda will be smashed
andjailed and humiliated.
There's Just not enough room in
Clovis for a grove of trees. U Is far
more important, of course, to build
another Identical concrete education
factory, and to squash whatever
beauty happens to !fe in Its way, even
when Garabedian had offered an
empty lot across the street as an
alternative, free of charge.
There is no room In Clovis, and.
Indeed. Fresno, for the idea ol
preservation, the concept of nature.
Too much is riding on. this area's
coming term as "The Nation's
Locomotive." to let a bunch ol
sniveling whiners try to ruin it for us.
We are, of course. Interested in
"nature," dedicated to "scenery,"
obsessed with "pleasantness." even il
this means eliminating those feu
degenerates who won't play ball and
stop being unpleasant.
Yes, by God and Mike Eagles! Let's
play ball. We'll start by tearing up am
building more than 10 years old. and
while we're at It we'll tear'out Jims
Place and Old Clovis, and also thai
damned water tower. Yes, indeed, the
howls of protest we get when wc
Smash Jim's Place will be far
outweighed by the i sounds ol
destrucUon as the building tumbles
down on the besotted, behatted
hillbilly heads inside.
Ah. Christ, It really makes n<
sense. We build monuments only t'
experience the thrill of pleasure whei
we tear them down. We built Pete, Ros
only to watch him tumble. -
And one day, perhaps not far away,
we will all understand what it means
to be Pete Rose, selling signed bats and
gloves and baseball cards and every
unholy sort of gtmci-ack on late night
cable television, mere hours after his
personal execution.
Perhaps we'll even enjoy it.
Wall Kelly's