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COMMENTS OF THE DAY »
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
In response to Zac Smith’s Tuesday column about Autism Speaks.
Ray Martin, opinion editor dailyopinion@ou.edu • phone: 325-7630 • fax: 325-6051
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OUR VIEW
Easiest road might not be the best one Statistics show and officials confirm that student athletes are more likely to gravitate toward majors less likely to prepare them for success after college. Whatever the driving force behind the trend, this attitude isn’t something we think advisers, professors, administrators or coaches should help foster – especially not for athletes who are unlikely to play professional sports after graduation. See page one for more details. Many athletes who take what they think, or are told, are the easiest routes to a degree could be doing themselves a disservice in the long term because they didn’t choose a major path that had anything to do with their future aspirations. We aren’t saying student athletes should steer clear of sociology, human relations or any other degree because
I don’t think I’ve ever read an article that more eloquently and accurately describes the problem with Autism Speaks. Well done, Zac! As a member of the Autistic community, I thank you for your advocacy work. it is well known within the autistic community that Autism Speaks is aggressively funding research that would
enable them to identify and abort Autistic fetuses before they’re born. Given that over 90 percent of Down Syndrome fetuses are currently being aborted, it’s highly unlikely that a similar fate is not also being planned for Autistics. - CHASMATAZZ
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it might be easier and might cause difficulty when the student enters the job market. If they have a desire to do social work, then sociology might be perfect for them. But if they’re choosing the major because they think it would allow them to squeeze by with as little work as possible while playing sports, it’s problematic. Instead, student athletes should be encouraged to major in something they are interested in and something that is practical enough that it likely won’t leave them out on the street after college. We stated in an editorial earlier this year that those who wish to coach or enter the sports industry should have their own athletics degree program. Until that is established, athletes shouldn’t always be encouraged to take the easy route. It might lead to situations that aren’t so easy later in life.
STAFF COLUMN
Education might not be that progressive You know them. The coach who “teaches” the history class fourth hour. The wild-haired and constantlystressed English teacher who spends his or her time speaking about random unconnected topics. The heady and intellectual math teacher poring over his or her formulas, ready to confuse you to no end. And then there are the cool teachers, the ones JON who really understand you. MALONE They respect your opinion. They’re relevant. They’re tolerant. They want the world to be a better place. But what is their role in the schooling/educating process? Buzzwords are everywhere in the realm of public education. Under the guise of “relevance,” “tolerance” and “social justice,” teachers impart their views consistent with the norms of a semi-postmodern American society. John Dewey’s vision of education as personal experience with the world is trumpeted, promoting ideas of learning as coming
from within the person rather than externally. I know this well because I study it. The assumption is rampant in the educational system that external change and improvement will only come from an increased education and betterment of the system. Horace Mann, educational theorist and championed pioneer, once advocated to “Let [education] be expanded to its capabilities, let it be worked with the efficiency of which it is [able], and nine-tenths of the crimes in the penal code would become obsolete… property, life, and character [would be] held by a stronger tenure; all rational hopes respecting the future brightened.” Bright and hopeful words indeed. But those words were written in 1837, just as educational utopianism and the beginnings of German philosophical thought on the nature of humans were gaining ground in Europe. As the two merged, as educational “capabilities” expanded, the socialist thought of Karl Marx began to affect the political and educational turmoil of the turn of the 20th century. Discussing the effects in detail is beyond
my scope, but educationally, the lofty ideals of human achievement and creativity slowly gave way to the oppression of Marxist socialists such as V.I. Lenin and Joseph Stalin in Russia and Fascist Benito Mussolini in Italy. Idealism and creativity in education became swamped under a mass of death. With the historical difficulties of assuming the inherent positive creativity of humans, particularly expressed through the innovative weaponry pervasive in the century, one might expect some of this optimism to have slowed. And it has. There has been no realization of Dewey’s or Mann’s bright outlook on the future. And it certainly isn’t from a lack of trying. My classes are filled with intelligent and articulate students expressing along with the professors our collective frustration with the system. These students become the concerned teachers mentioned above. They listen, think and discuss world problems and moral issues. They are deeply concerned for the welfare of their students. I appreciate and applaud their efforts. But it’s not addressing the problem of human behavior. Expecting students to behave properly in
a general environment that is, sadly, often not conducive to learning is not good. I share the frustrations of my fellow students who must teach to a middle level, often leaving the struggling behind and the advanced dragging. I share the sentiment that reform and accountability must take place in the districts. But I don’t think the end result of education is perfecting society. If there is no basis for assertions of social justice, I’m not sure it should be dogmatized in the classroom. Without any kind of moral authority outside the individual, I’m not sure the school has the ability to dictate what is right or appropriate. I am certain as to where that authority lies for me as a Christian. But in a pluralistic classroom culture, I don’t know if we as teachers can say what is justice or rightness. We’ve made the bed of humanism in education. Can we live with it? Is the role of teachers one of rigid instruction in arbitrary rules for social welfare? The questions are begging to be asked, and I think as teachers we need to address and discuss them. Jon Malone is an English education graduate student.
STAFF COLUMN
In retrospect, choices shaped the entire college experience Throughout the past four years, I aced tests and bombed tests, built relationships and destroyed relationships, made money and lost money, and almost had my collarbone blown through the back of my shoulder-pads by Adrian Peterson. Upon reflection, I’ve concluded that life is about choices, and choices matter. College is an experiment in choices – good ones and the other kind. MATT Reasons for FELTY choosing to attend OU are as diverse as our student body. I chose OU so I could walk on the football team at linebacker. Then A.D. ran a counter during practice and I met him square in the hole. We were preparing to face Oregon in the Holiday Bowl. Finals had come and passed. Campus was silent except for the colliding bodies at the Everest practice facility.
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The impact sounded like mortar fire. A.D. bounced off and darted down the field. I was sure that my collarbone was in pieces. Thankfully, my collarbone remained and practice continued. I rode out football through the spring. After that, I re-focused my ambitions. As any athlete will tell you, playing a sport is like getting your arm perpetually twisted – you’ve got to know when to say “when.” College athletics separates you from the populous. After I chose to walk away, I felt like college started all over. OU was this make-believe world of overachievers, underachievers, parental dependents and instant gratification. College, I discovered, was unique. Where else could the decision to refrain from responsibility shape you just as profoundly as the decision to adhere to it? Papers, tests and presentations may be worth 20 percent of your grade. But try quantifying a night of carefree fun with your friends. How do you measure the creation and growth of relationships?
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Simply put, you can’t. At the end, the times you remember and the lessons you learned are with your friends. These lessons have no point values and never show up on a transcript. Laughter and memories, however, last much longer. Certain choices, I found, were non-negotiable. You cannot ever skip OU/Texas. Going to the OU/Texas game is like seeing “The Shawshank Redemption” for the first time – it stays with you. Dallas turns acquaintances to friends and friends to family. I accept that debauchery is not the preferred glue of relationships. But times like this transcend the mistake. They create something worth more than the cheap beer you share. College is also about ultimate truths – trends no campus can escape. Stoners will get stoned. Athletes will wear their free stuff. MIP’s will be thrown out like candy by bored cops. Frat guys will rock Sperry’s, the
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Polo Shirt and Crokies and get way too into intramurals. Sorority girls will bob around in Uggs and short shorts and listen to gangster rap. Dates will puke at date parties. Sex will be lied about. Receipts will be tabulated the next morning in utter contempt for outrageous spending. The Afflicted will roam. And “Poison” will be the place it all goes down (747’s affectionate Greek label). Consider ultimate truths and wild weekends carefully because grades, we all know, matter. Grades get you internships. Internships get you a job. A job gets you paid. Learning is secondary – a nice byproduct of the eventual goal. We chose to come to college to earn a degree and get paid. Balance the party and the Poison. Make choices and accept that you will not always choose correctly. Success is not what I or some magazine or the Dude Lebowski tells you it is. In the end, an impromptu Thursday night trip to Stillwater may bring you more success than extra study time for next week’s final. And, of course,
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vice-versa. Maybe I am too cynical. Surely we aren’t just greedy party animals sliced from the same Polo horse cookie-cutter. We are rational people who understand college is unlike any other period of our lives. For most of us, there is no mortgage, no boss and no kids. Never again will we have more time, less responsibility, student discounts and actual disposable income. Choose to embrace this fantasy of freedom that becomes less and less cool the older you get. I came to OU thinking the greatest thing that would happen to me would be sprinting across Owen Field on game-day. But, choices led me another direction. Choices will lead you another direction. And, if at the end of four years you realize the choices were worth it, than success was achieved. Then you can raise your arms in the air and, in the words of Johnny Drama, scream for all of Norman to hear: “VICTORY!” Matt Felty is a public administration senior.
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