1994_09 The Daily Collegian September 1994

              Page 2
OPINION
Friday,
AS I SEE IT..
Tom Springer
There's beenalotof discussion in Washington DC, in
the media and around the country about thehealth care
crises racing the nation,
Ifs been asserted that that this is a great crises that
threatens our nation-While it's true that reforms neeci to
be enacted. This "crises/' thaf s punctuated by a
seemlingly endless parade of sob stories, is small in
 son to a number of other real crises that have
.. the nation during the past 22(Xyears.
first real crises that the nation faced was a little
skirmish known as the Revolutionary War—which the
colonists almost lost. The leaders of trie revohition, who
pledged their "sacred honor/' and the colonists who
participated in the war made great sacrifices. They
understood the seriousness of this crises and, as a result,
did what it took to win.
The second real crises to hit the nation was the Civil
War, whichneariy lentthenaticmmrwrl. That crises cost
the lives of over 600,000 American men and nearly 1
million civilians before it came to an end.
The third big crises to rock the nation was the great
Depression of the 1930s. Poverty and unemployment
were at their highest levels in the nation's history. Many
families nearly starved. It was truly a Great Depression
in more ways man one.
The fourth, and probably biggest crises to strike the
nation was World War II. Our nation struggled for its
very life againstthe designs ofl op,Hitier,andMussolini.
The United States won the war because of the sacrifices
of her people and their determination to pull together
against a common foe (so much for diversity;. The
people understood mat it was all or nothing that it was
all or nothing and rose to the challenge.
The people of this country have always risen to the
challenge of adversity because of the freedoms mat they
have enjoyed and held responsibly. Freedom requires a
price. Sometimes mat price is not having someone else
always "caring" for ones every need or want There's a
saying that speaks of a person 'pulling himself up by his
own boot straps/' in a tree society that is a situation that
comes to everyone sooner or later.
Stacked up against all of these other crises the "health
care crises" is not suchabig deal after all, it has just been
made to seem that way.
PHCflX
Ti
EDITOR IN CHIEF
TAGING EDITOR
PHOTO EDITOR
SPORTS EDITOR
&ING MANAGER
|MESS MANAGER
NEWS EDITOR
INMENT EDITOR
M. CRISTINA MEDINA
OLIVIA REYfl
BRYAN CHAN
ROBBIE MINE
RICHARD NIX fcj
BRADFORD W
STEPHEN WA
JOEROSATOJ
:. Casey Angle fth
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RITERS: Paulo Albuquerque.
David Chavez, Celeste Cox, Dennis Clabof
Hugo. Raina Jennings. Charlton Jordan,
Mitch Prince, Jeff Smith, Tim Springer.
RAPHERS Steve R. Fujimoto. Ken Kol
Zia Nizami.
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• PUBLISHED   BY  THE   ASSOCIATED   STUDENTS.   INC.*
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Iftirhadi,
—LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dear Editor,
The shelves of .your local
schools and libraries may be miss-
in g something — and you may
not even know ifs gone:
— "Forever" by Judy Blume:
Removed or res trected at several
school libraries because "It basi¬
cally is a sexual how-to-do book
for students...it puts idpas in their
heads."
— "Eye of the Needle," "The
Key to Rebecca," "Night Over
Wato,"ardomersbyKenFoUett
Banned for being "pomigraphic."
— Merriam-Webster's "Col¬
legiate Dictionary:" banned for
defining "obscene" words.
Banned Books Week— Cel¬
ebrating the Freedom Road,
takesplace September 24 - Octo¬
ber 1.
Ifs a great time to join your
local library and vbookstore on
calling attention to the dangersof
censorship, and to encourage
vigilance in defense of freedom
of thouyght and inquiry. And
vigilanceisnot too strong a word:
in each of the above cases, par
en ts and librarians had to come
together to fight their local boards
and local censors—whohadsuc-
ceeded in pressuring those boards
to ban the books in the first
place—to have the books re¬
turned to the shelves, unedited.
Sometimes they succeeded,
and sometimes they didn't Hard
to believe? Just look at some of
the other titles included on the
1993 list of "most challenged"
books: classics and award win¬
ners like "Bridge to Terabithia,"
by Katherine Pateison;" Adven-
turesof Huckleberry Finn," Mark
Twain; "I Know Why the Caged
Bind Sings," by Maya Angelou;
and titles that reflect a continuing
focus on witchcraft and satanism,
like Alvin Schwartz's "More
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark."
In fact, Alvin Schwart^and
Stephen King are tied for second
and third place as the most chal¬
lenged authors of 1993.
The censors are on the prowl,
and they are determined to dic¬
tate to you and your children
what you may and may not read.
Fueled by marching orders,
strategies, and detailed instruc¬
tions from well-funded national
pressure groups, the censors have
taken aim at their local places,
counting on the complacency and
inattention of their community,
they are winning.
If they don't win through for¬
mal challenges and procedures,
they sometime win through theft
and vandalism: more that once,
censors have checked out books.
And any librarian can tell you
their suspicions about the mo¬
tives behind instances of pages
torn out or defaced, magazines
stolen, and gaps in the collection
especially under "controversial"
subjects, from books reported
"lost"
As long as the censors are on
the prowl, the American Library
Association and its sister organi¬
zation, the Freedom to Read
Foundation, will continue to fight
the battle for everyone's right to
choose what they want to read.
The mission of libraries is to pro¬
vide information from participa¬
tion of those to whom the right to
read is precious — library users
and parents concerned about
educating their children to be
active participants in our free and
democratic society, able to choose
from a 'wide selection of ideas
andmake up their minds-rather
that having the censor do mat for
them.
What can you do to fight cen¬
sorship? Get involved! Attend
^our local school and library
board meetings-the censors do.
Run for a position on thoseboards
- the censors do. Express your
concem and your supporttoyour
local school and public librarians,
who are facing d own acensors on
behalf of your right to read every
day. Let them know they can call
on you to come forward and op¬
pose censorship.   .
Write to the American Library
Association's Office for Intellec¬
tual Freedom , 50 East Huron
Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60611, for
information on subscribing to the
Newsletter on Intellectual Free¬
dom (the source for the above
mentioned censorship incidents),
material for Banned Books Week,
including lists of books chal¬
lenged or banned, and more on
what you can do to fighfeensor-
ship.
Don't let the censors close the
books on you.       S
Candace D. Morgan
Kennel Bookstore
In a rush?
by
Kennel Bookstore
Find everything you'll need for a
successful semester in one
convenient location.
Mon.-Thurs.7:45 a.m.-7:15 p.m.
Fri 7:46 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Sat 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Sun.  closed 278-4062
.
.