1993_02 Insight February 1993

              February 24,1993
Page 9
OL I TIC ALLY
CORRECT
m*K
RESIDENY
UMCOV.N   issues
THE   •eMArMciRfVrioi^ f--*D«*-A*xri©*»
- -     SEPTEMBER IX, 186Z
COHSTAHTlHOPtoU»-OSr<«
So, you think that you might
Mi
be P.C.? It could
your mother mig
be worse,
ht find out
George Constantinopoulos
The team of doctors huddled over the prostrate candidate. The anesthetist had already
gassed    'im.        Soon    Doktor    Karl
Mail Stop 10, CSU Fresno
Fresno, CA 93740 (209) 278-2892
McKee Fisk, Rm. 240
CALIFORNIA STATE
UNIVERSITY,FRESNO
Insight
Davin A. Hutchins
Managing Editor
Katharine Barrans
Graphles/Pkoto Editor
Eric Johnston
K.Amy Kaltman
George Constantinopoulos
Sports Editor	
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Michele D'Ambrosio
Lisa Driver
Shelley L. Willingham
Advertising Manager
Krista Helgeson
Advertising Production Managtr
Cindi Martinez
Assistant Editors
Andrew Forester
Mike Penner
Sandy Sirias
Debbie Speer
Jenny StefTens
Fernando Tejada
Kelly Jantzen
Tommy Mon real
Matt Soby
Thean Su
Diane Troha
George Constantinopoulos
Fernando Tejada
Insight welcomes all reader
letters and guest commentary.
Letters and commentary must
be signed by the author, and
may be edited for length. All
submissions will be published.
All unsigned editorials are the majority
opinion of the editorial board, and do
not represent the Department of
Journalism. CSUF adnunistration. or
the trustees of the California State
Urirvershy system.
Schopcnhauscnkrauzer, arrived with his vast
psychiatric knowledge and a precision surgical
tool.
"Ready Karl?," asked assistant surgeon
William S. Burroughs. "Ja," said
Schopenhausenkrauzer, removing the instrument from its case. He swung the sledgehammer upon the politician. "Raus mit der PC!,"
he cried in a valiant attempt to humanize Mr.
Political Viability.
PC. stands for "Politically Correct" which
has become an ugly monster that must be destroyed at once. President Bill Clinton fell into
the P.C. trap trying for a cabinet that "looks
more like America" America looks like hell,
that's why he was elected.
Unfortunately Clinton gallantly tried to appease feminists by nominating a female attorney general, but he kept crapping out when his
nominees tended to disqualify themselves when
"little things" popped up like violating a law of
the United States of America.
There should have been one woman attorney general candidate picked the first time,
Hillary Rodham Clinton. But Bill would have
risked looking like he played the favoritism part
by having to axe the White House nepotism
rule. Not politically correct
Political correctness is basically human sincerity and phonincss wrapped up into something both glorious and basal.
An admirable political correctness is allegiance to animals and the environment, something that I have subscribed to all my life. But
it is easy to be be incorrect while being correct.
Wc protest a nuclear power plant by driving in
cars with internal-combustion engines using
fossil fuels that spew out carbon into the ozone
with smoke from our veggie-burger barbecues.
Wc hold up protest signs made with toxic lead-
based paints and freshly-made postcrboard.
Wc march in front of vivLscctionists with
leather shoes. We protest companies sending
jobs out of the country while we wear cotton
Guest Commentary
underwear produced in Macao. We drink juice
that started as fruit picked by victimized, slave-
wage earning illegals. We take nature hikes
leaving granola bar wrappers for squirrels to
choke on.
There arc bumper-stickers on vehicles around
Fresno that say "Real Americans buy American." Keep in mind "real American" cars have
Japanese-made parts and assemblies. You only
need 70% to be "made in America." Oh yes,
"real American" companies fire real American
employees and send their jobs to really foreign
countries to circumvent real honest-io-good-
ness American unions.
Political correctness in itself is a good thing.
But extremists and agenda-seekers have made
it what will be a conservative rallying cry ofthe
'90s against liberals and the Democratic party,
jeopardizing Qin ton's hard-foughtpresidency.
The Republican Party went down to defeat
in the 1992 presidential election because they
did not have the basic P.C. essential for the life
of the party. A platform of homophobic, anti-
ecological, forgci-our-children, wcrcn't-ihe-
'80s great, us-against-them tirade decimated
the GOP.
Thoughtful and conscientious Republicans
disaffiliated themselves for a future election
where reasonable candidates would take the
place of Pat Robertson, a minister talking about
the Democrats lacking "Christian values, "
forgetting how he got a gal pregnant, then
married her and called her his wife.
It was the year of the politically correct
woman in California. This included "New
Democrat" death-pcnalty-advocaiing and
check-bouncing women. The "hands of government" had a new meaning as Senator Bob
Pack wood proved that misogyny exists happily
on Capitol Hill.
As for being politically correct, the Insight is
printed on recycled newsprint, which I promptly
throw in the trash or wad up and use to help sum
burning my raked leaves.
There's no 4.0 in real world
insatiable, flawless score.
What do all these things ever add up to?
No matter what figure wc strive for. it will
inevitably change as soon as we are close to
that defined perfection.
Junior and senior years in high school the
ideal figure was 1600 for a perfect SAT score.
Junior and senior years in college that
number got divided by 400 to make perfection
a 4.0.
Or is that 4.0 multiplied by 31 to equal die
mandatory 124 units for graduation?
Points earned divided by number of units
equals what?
Grading curves must have some standard
deviation.
If F(x)=f(x)-g(x). then F'(x)=f(x)-g'(x).
since the derivative of die difference must
equal overall GP.A.
Simplify the numbers.
Remember elementary school and the first
improper fraction that made no sense?
Did you really care then which numbers
were prime and which were real?
Follow the rule that when the numerator is
zero, regardless of the denominator die division will always equal zero.
So the points earned divided by the number
of units equals what?
A friend recently said that there's no place
in this world where two plus two equals 4.0.
Maybe he was right
Jenny Steffens
Who's going to figure out our G.P.A. after
graduation?
Is survival possible without those precious
numbers to strive for?
Ten or 20 years from now are you really
going to care if you got an A or B in the
capstone class you're currently enrolled in?
Most likely you won't even remember the
name of the course or the professor, nonetheless the grade you received.
Is graduating with a 2.9 versus a 3.4 going
to make that much difference in our future?
Maybe now it docs, but stand back and put life
in perspective. Now, don't these silly numbers seem completely blown out of proportion.
So why do these relatively unimportant
things weigh so heavily in a college lifestyle?
Letters of the alphabet apparently give us
meaning in our lives.
Check marks in professors' grade books
obviously verify our presence.
Overpriced textbooks naturally keep our
backs strong and shoulders regularly flexed.
Outlines obviously organize exposure to
diverse and broad material.
Syllabj offer exact preparation for each
and every week.
Scantrons and No. 2 pencils calculate an
o
Insight
pinion
Bigger brother
Crime is increasing like the
plague today; it seems as
though a new homicide is reported on the evening news
every 24 hours.
City officials want to stop
the increase in these events,
but they can not seem to get it
right.
Gang incidents are on the
rise, and the University Student Union has not been immune to them.
Fortunately, and thankfully,
the administration and police
have had the good sense to
begin limiting those admitted
into the USU.
It is now necessary to have a
current CSUF identification
card on hand, or be on the
roster of enrolled students to
get in the doors.
Hopefully, the patrons ofthe
USU will now be those entitled to the services- the students. Each of us pay a certain
amount every semester for the
right to have it available, and
we deserve a place to sit without worrying about getting
bludgeoned with a pool cue by
a youth who has barely passed
puberty.
The university has also
implemented a new schedule
at the USU, as well as an escort
program in conjunction with
the ROTC, so students can get
safely to their dorm or car without breaking mile-run records.
Recently, it has been observed that the police department is actively ticketing bicyclists who ride through the
Free Speech Area, a path already designated as a walk-
only zone. That is when you
can get through that tiny campus capillary.
Those involved should be
commended for their insight
into the problems of our campus.
To increase the level of
safety at CSUF, the administration should also consider
regular patrols through the library, perhaps in plain clothes,
to try and apprehend the fellow who has been fondling
young women while they are
napping.
Campus enforcement and
administration should also
consider disallowing drivers
from piloting their automobiles between the North and
South Gymnasiums, often
causing bottlenecks for bicycle
riders and pedestrians alike.
Drivers, even the delivery
trucks, should not be allowed
to park for extended periods of
time on the walkways inside
of the campus. This situation
often creates havoc for other
travellers.
The police should consider
getting out of their patrol cars,
leaving the 12-gauge behind,
and walk the campus like the
rest of us.
CSUF is a local landmark, a
place where people can come
to read, run, and learn. Thanks
to the efforts of the administration and the police department, perhaps we can do it
with a little less concern.
Jenny Steffens is anAssistant EditorforIsstom.
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