1992_03 Insight March 1992

              St. Pat's not about getting sloshed
By George Flynn
Special to Insight
The green beer will be flowing and folks will be
wearing silly green tokens of Ireland. Such is St
PaWdc'sDay.atimetogetsnocke'redai^
an ass of oneself, whether your name is Fiynn.OReflly—
orZufewskL
I'm not suggesting that the Irish all go to church March
17ardsoberiyghrethanksforStPatricto^
Emerald Isle to Christianity some 1,500 years ago, but it is
painful to see a national observance turned into an excuse
to get sloshed and act asinine.
Grimly, there is a statistical correlation between Irish
blood and akohoBsm. The sons and daughters of Erin,
among Caucasians, are more Ukeh/ to suffer and die from
the abuse of alcohol than any other group.
I am sorrcthirrg of an authority on 0^ being tJvato-
hoBc scsn of an aIcoholic father; I saw a sister die of the
disease and I watched a brother ruin an otixrwise promis-
ing military career with too manyhoursat the oificer'sdub
bar.
The pride of Ireland ought to be the poetic spirit of its
long-suffering people, not the ability to ou tdrink the rest of
the human race. As it's observed today, only the nation's
brewers and distillers should be celebrating the honored
saint
Other associations with SaintPa trick's Day are no more
cheerful The complaints by minorities of
underrepresen ta tion and discrimina tion remind me of my
fa ther*s stones of the terror struck in WASPish heartsatthe
arrival of the Irish in the United States.
Persecuted by the British for dinging to their Catholic
faith and their lands held by absentee British landtords,the
Irish endured 700 years of conquest occupation and dis-
crimlnation on their own island.
When it seemed history could deal no worse with
Ireland, an even greater disaster struck. The potato famine
of the mid-nineteenth-cenrury sent a million Irish to the
graveby starvation. Arotrsermillionarrfahalf weredriven
from the island by the ache of hunger.
Among those million and a half were my great grandparents, the Boiands and the Rynns. They arrived in New
York and were met with scorn, derision and distrust.
"Help Wanted, Irish Need Not Apply," was a sign
commonly seen in the Northeastem dues at (he turn of the
century. Thelrishc^theEastweretheCWrseseof theWest
They built the railroads.
Some historians have written that hatred of the Irish,
their potent poteen and their Catholic faith was obliquely
responsible for the greatest single social advance in the
United Sta tes— compulsory, free public education.
The anti-Catholic fervor of the regional Puritan stock
(national political parties were established to thwart the
Irish) held that if the Irish lads and lasses were forced to
attend school the exposure might hdp shake their loyalty
to their Catholic faith and its reigning pope.
The result was not one, but two great advances in
education for theUnitcd Sta tes: the national public schools
and the Catholic parochial school systems found in every
American dty.
Still, the pain of the Insh is not over. Name the single
Western nation where a sniping civil war has persisted for
some 70 years, with no end in sight
Ifs Belfast and the six northern Irish counties still under
British occupa tion.
The luck & the Irish isn't thdr wealth—ifs that they've
survived. So let's drink a toast togood old St. Pat, but hold
it at one drink.
And make mine ginger ale, please
Love and marriage:
Necessities of life?
By Kate Henry
X7**tyChJrshcfanw
JTwoo.an.Rve fee
want then ~ not necessary to a
.Rve feet talL petite, fulfilling life.
itypenned^hecame      So why did an intelligent at-
bttomy lite wheal was seven.Her tractive 21-year-old student from
BiBtMUKtowhsiUMy uilddlfname our campus km herself? Word is,
means, so it has been easy to re- she and her boyfriend split up on
inemberher. Valentine's Day.
Iafaotemembei Fairy because      Of course, mere must have
at 60 some years of age she was been other factors; there always
•tiUMngte.                          mmssmsmsmsmtwswrMmmsmmwsMmsmsmmm
Society pigeon-holed
Fatty CMshotav but she
rand mat
occu-
"Some women in this day
and age are tempted to say
they don't care about
marriage/'
wasamfastonaryand
was an acceptable o
pa tton for an "old maid-
in the TSOs.
Our attitudes haven't
changed as much as we
think in the yean since
then. Ob, some of us are
more liberal in our views of sex. are when someone chooses to
We have "tfte pill* and legalized leave without sayihggcodbye.But
aboilkivsowedorr'thavetoworry the breakup was menooned each
about Daddy getting out a shot- time I heard about her suicide,
gun and propefltag us down an I've been around enough
alstetopiomlseihir^toarnanwe women to know atost of ihejokes
may notion when we know that about what Jerks most men are.
dtherofus plans to keep those Men are usually insensitive braggarts wtth egos too fragile and big
liberated as we are to  allow any woman dose, al-
dor/tmake promises, do we? We though I have met one or two who
don't have any old maids, drher. an exceptions.
Women of the '90s are inde- Part of the curse God laid upon
peridentandaeli-sufntfentMar- Eve in die garden was: "Your de-
andmen are nice, if you sire shall be for your husband* Is
thatwhysomewomencan'tseemto
li ve without a man?
So what about all of the women
who may never marry — because
there are sUnpfyrjpferioughmento
go around? One of my friends says
mather husband died at birth. Another claims her husband's first
wife hasn't died yet These are at*-
tractive, outgoing, intelligent
women. They have fulfilling lives,
but-
There is that nagging "but" in
thdr lives. Bid, they aren'tmarried.
Some women in this day and age
are tempted to say they don't care
^^ about marriage They Just
^^ wantarelatjonship.Yetif
they are honest they want
a permanent relationship
where   they can rely on
their partner'sfaithfulness
so that they can make
plans for the future.'
Two dose friends of
mmm      mine recentiy separated
from their husbands. The
loving relationships they nurtured
for yeandism'tkeeppace with thdr
personal growth and iheir husbands no longer listened to them.
Thdr marriages not quite dissolved, they are already checking
outmenfwdwfrrsextrebiionships.
The/re em-hopeful that they will
CTronsemorewisdy the next time.
If ihey don'tdSooseroorewisdy
—if I don'torifyou don't find that
someone of mythkal proportions to
share our dreams—just remember
that a life full of wonder is ours ~
and we've only just begun to liveit
Insigb^
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Ifwcm wekx>rnesati letters,coirirri^
reserves the right to condense letters to the Edi tor for any reason
Anonymous letters to the Editor will not be considered.
Produdion Staff
Jenny Hamilton
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Staff Writers
Students of Journalism 100,
110 & 188
Wayne's World, Wayne's
World — we're not worthy
Piarty on Garth. Party on Wayne.
I saw Wayne's World Sunday, and I must confess, the movie helped me understand the meaning
of life.
Mike Myers fa a god. Darut Carvey is a god. They
are totally cool, righteous gods in unison. Somebody
please give me an unnecessary zoom.
But seriously...
Waitasec, screw seriousness.
If you're struggling from mid-semester crisis; if
you have just failed an exam; or if your stomach is
sore from campus food, go see Wayne's World.
Wayne's World, an already successful skit on
Saturday Night Live, made the transition to the big
screen in a big way.
Sure, the movie has its moments of stupidity. But
if you desire some jollies, this movie will fill the
order.
You see, sometimes our collegiate lives border on
insanity. We take 18 units, work 35 hours a week and
expect to maintain something dose to resembling a
social life.
We're wild! We college kids are the real Waynes
and Garths of the planet.
Somebody should do a movie about me. And you.
All of us. Party on.
There's a little of the Wayne-Garth Syndrome
screaming to get out of all us. Instead, our lives
become tedious, monotonous. We wake up, go to
that 8 a.m. nightmare called class, eat lunch, go to
another class, maybe go to the libary, study, go to
another class, go home, eat dinner, watch Cheers,
study, fall asleep and begin the academic assembly
line all over again.
Some of us are starving for something other than
filling in scantron bubbles. We crave a yellow brick
road and a wizard at the end of the path to solve all
our problems.
Wayne and Garth are modern day wizards. They
may not solve our problems, but at least we forget
them for about 90 minutes. Party on.
In Los Angeles, my buddies and I use a three-level
rating system for movies. If someone in the group
hasn't seen a particular flick, we'll describe it as. 1.)
Worth the seven bucks; 2.) Wait 'HI it comes to the
Alondra 6 ($1.75 admission); 3.) Rent it when it
comes out on video.
Paying full price for Wayne's World will be
, profitable. Of course, this fa coming from a guy who
went to a matinee.
If you wait'til you can rent this movie at the local
video store, your life will remain dull and dreary.
Hey, even Siskel and Ebert gave WW two thumbs up.
And those dudes are always groovy.
Most importantly, if you do not see this movie,
you won't understand hall way jibberish. WW is sure
to spark a new language at universities across the
country.
This movie will teach you such eloquent words as
"Shhhhhhhring!" I'm not quite sure if that's how that
word is spelled, but Mike Tyson might know.
In this campaign year, I think Myers and Carvey
should seriously consider a political career. We need
presidents like Wayne.
Garth would make an excellent VP. I'm not even
going to say Garth would be better than Dan Quayle.
That would be cliche and this article is too serious for
such routine language.
As unbelievable as it may seem, this artide is not
a movie review. And, as uncanny as this may sound,
I am not a movie critic.
However, 1 will tell youeverythingabout this flick
so you can go and see if I relayed the plot, dnema-
tography, charaders, and one-liners accurately. If
you want to be surprised, read no further.
Okay, the movie is about this dude Wayne and
buddy GartH They broadcast a cable TV program
from the basement of Wayne's parents house.
Well, they make it big. Wayne falls in love with a
beautiful woman who is a lead singer of a band.
Garth falls in love with a woman who has maybe half
a dozen words in the movie, none of them being
"Shhhhhhhwingr
Tragedy falls upon our heroes when a mean TV
producer dude fires Wayne, then Garth gets mad at
Wayne for bailing out on the show, then Wayne gets
dumped by his woman. This is very sad!
Well, I don't want to completely spoil this flick, so
I won't say how it ends. I will say the ending is
doubly deceiving.        __^-y
Like I said, this is one of the most important films
ever created. Weare truly not worthy for such a great
'masterpiece. Party on.
Letter to the Editor
297
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P"^         Comutatrva      Avaraoagrada
1                GPA               awafttod1990
Dear Editor,
In Yngve Solhaug's recent story on
grading (3-4-92), it was stated that CSUF
men had a CPA of 2.61 and that CSUF
women had a GPA of 2.83. Yet the average
of aU students at CSUF was 2.97. Is there
another gender out there that is pulling up
the average GPA? r      °  r
 John Johnston
Mr. Johnston is an associata profswsor of crvsl
anginaaring.
According to Mr. SoUtmug's article, tht chart
depicts two different meaiuremrnts.The two ban cm
thelefirepresentacomparismofmensandwornens
CPAi. The two ban on the right represent tcompari-
son of avenge grades at CSUF and at other CSUs
during 1990.
Since GPto art cumulative and reflect grade*