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Show Opinion SOUTHERN UTAH STATE COLLEGE, CEDAR CITY THE THUNDERBIRD MAY 8, 1989 MONDAY, PAGE 4 DONT FORGET MOM THIS MOTHERS DAY As young collegians walk out the front door of their home to improve themselves through higher education, they sometimes inadvertently slam the door shut on their parents. Understanding that the maintenance of family relationships of the student and that is integral to the emotional the nuclear family is the very foundation of society, The Thunderbird praises the efforts made by SUSC and the special committee chaired by Molly Mangelson for making the annual MotherDaughter Weekend a continuing reality. With the previous success this event has enjoyed in years past, we believe many of the young women attending this conference, held the weekend of Mothers Day, will be afforded the opportunity to share quality time with their mothers and strengthen family bonds, and, through the process, learn just how important mothers can be. Historically, this is just the latest attempt by civilization to honor motherhood. During Medieval times, England recognized the importance of mothers by giving birth to the tradition of to honor the fairest of Mothering Sunday, held in mid-lewell-bein- g nt citizens. More recently and closer to home, mothers were afforded special recognition on May 9, 1914, when President Woodrow Wilson, through a joint resolution with Congress, established the national holiday that we now know as Mothers Day. For the past four years, SUSC has sponsored the MotherDaughter Weekend making it an event worthy of its historical roots. Yet, the significance of hosting such an event has implications beyond bridging the generation gap between mother and daughter. In this age of surrogate communication via television, any human communication skills event promoting is a step in the right direction. Needless to say, many of societys ills could be remedied by simply applying the panacea of interaction. understanding through This event serves also to assuage the fears mothers may foster with having their daughters away from home and living on their own, many for the first time. Realistically, this event is designed to allow mothers and daughters to socialize an opportunity frequently neglected once children leave home. But the added plus derived from this celebration of kindred spirits is to allow mom to see firsthand that SUSC is an environment conducive to learning the right things about life. Most importantly, this event honors the one person in our lives that often goes neglected in our attempt to make a life for ourselves. So, as Mothers Day draws near, lets make it a point to honor the one who loves us the most, keeping in mind that without mother there would be no life for us to improve upon. one-on-o- T7 I Im sure that many of your readers chuckled to themselves as they read the articles in the May 4 issue of T he Thunderbird dealing with the alcohol and drug abuse problem in Cedar City. Perhaps many readers felt they were overreacting; believe me, they were not. In my hometown (population 6,500), parents told officials that they were overreacting when articles drawing the publics attention to the problem of drug and alcohol abuse appeared in the town newspaper. Within the next week, 10 students (seven high school students and three middle school students) were killed in an d automobile Two months later, another young man was killed when he crashed into a telephone pole after having too much to drink. Call it coincidence, call it what you like, but I know that th writers of the article and editorial are right. accident. The Thunderbird VOLUME 83, NUMBER 44 Editor Rachel Talbot Associate Editor Kathleen Midgley Opinion Editor James Spainhower Photo Editor Cary Leavitt Copy Editor Carol Miller Arts & Leisure Editor Alix Larsen Sports &. Outdoors Editor Brent Richey TO THE EDITOR: alcohol-relate- EePf! On Campus Editor Megan Marshall Senior Staff Writers Heather Cox Jodi Reinard Production Manager Lynn Dennett Ad Manager Brenda Madsen Ad Representative Michelle Jensen Faculty Adviser Larry Baker The Thunderbird is published each Monday and Thursday of the academic year by and for the student body of Southern Utah State College and is not affiliated in any way with the College's department of communication The views and opinions expressed in The Thunderbird are the opinions of the publications individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the institution, faculty, staff or student body in general. The unsigned editorial directly above is the opinion of The Thunderbird as a single entity Letters to the editor must be typed and include the name and phone number Only the name will be printed. Names will not be withheld under any circumstances and the editor reserves editing privileges. Letters must be submitted by noon Fridays for Monday editions, 5pm Tuesdays for Thursday editions. The Thunderbird editorial and advertising offices in SUSC Library 103. Mail at SUSC Box or 586 7750. 9384, Cedar City, UT 84720 Phone (801) is Getting high no laughing matter attended school in this town my whole life, so I knew practically everyone. I wasnt blind to what was going on in the halls. Not only was there alcohol abuse, but there was drug abuse as well. On one particular day, I observed at least four drug deals take place in the corridor and one in class. Parents who thought their children were being falsely accused received a big shock when just last week over 100 students were arrested for dealing or possessing drugs while in school. What went wrong they ask? Just as SUSC officials believe, education, or the lack of it, was part of the problem. But even as the necessary knowledge was provided, kids were still getting into trouble and dying of overdoses. Authorities are at their wits end wondering where they went wrong. Yet, I would ask them not to blame themselves for the tragedies happening in their home towns. Laws are broken, children die, and questions are asked as to whos at fault, but, Im not so sure that anyone has an answer. Society has tried all types of ways to prevent alcohol and drug abuse: education, scare tactics, statistics. What more can we do? really wish I had a crystal Id like to show substance abusers what their lives are going to look like in 20 years. All the excitement and thrills of drugs and alcohol will have long since worn off, no longer a big factor in their lives or at least thats what they I ball think. Of course, they will have something to remind them of the good times they had in their youth. Perhaps a child of theirs lying in a hospital bed fighting for its life because of birth defects all because they wanted to be cool. Quite frankly, I dont think even a glimpse into the future would solve the problem for most addicts. Tanya Cheff Angered student hurls a brickbat TO THE EDITOR: A letter appearing in the (May 4th issue) of The Thunderbird, Reader Urges A Cerebral Diet, was printed with my name affixed as said author. I never wrote a letter to the editor but wrote instead a piece that I thought might be used as an Access column. I was told after the piece was printed as a letter that my column was not terribly n and could not be used as a column. The decision was made instead to edit the piece heavily and run it as a letter. Im embarrassed to have had my well-writte- name signed to the largely abbreviated work, as if I would address such musings to the editor anyway; I would prefer honesty to any expediency and space-filler- s day. Anne McCloskey |