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Show opinion/ A4 MONDAY*NOVEMBER 21 '2005 faculty oorner Thoughts on Thanksgiving and Education Mathew Horn as interested in money as religious freedom. As we rush headlong toward the ThanksThese are a few of the mistakes; there are giving break (we will make it, I promise), many more. How did this story become young children are again being taught the so flawed? For one, it was a creation of a story of the Pilgrims. We all know some later time and meant to serve the needs of version of this story; it is part of the core that specific time, not to accurately repreknowledge you need to understand bill- sent the past. In the early days of the Civil boards, sitcoms and pop-culture refer- War when the Union was faring badly, ences in America. President Lincoln needed to dredge up Sadly, much of the story we all know all of the patriotism he could. He also is a lie, a fiction created to make people needed to quiet the discontent of a public believe in the destiny of America and starting to openly question the tactics of the moral uprightness of ourselves as a their president. Plymouth Rock, like most people. The Thanksgiving story has been other towns at the time (and still today), used for generations as a tool for others' kept an embellished version of their own purposes. Now it can work as an example history, intentionally leaving out parts that for my purposes: general education must did not make them look good. Their goal not be made into professional education. was not to teach the past, but to promote To show why, I need to start with the Pil- the present - in this case, promote coastal grims' story as told to kids. Massachusetts. It was these civic leaders The Mayflower set out from England who first created the Pilgrim story. in late autumn, filled with the Pilgrims So what is the point of this analysis? seeking a virgin land and hoping to start Is it surprising we find mistakes in hisa new life free from religious persecu- tory taught to young kids? Of course not; tion. A storm blew them off their course though, the fact that so many adults know to Virginia and they instead ended up only the incorrect version of this story at uninhabited Plymouth Rock in Mas- suggests we ought to pay a lot more atsachusetts. They barely survived a hard tention to what we teach young kids. winter, but emerged stronger in the spring There are lessons here in how history is with a democratic government. Squanto invented, and what simplifications in our (a local Native American) showed them history we find acceptable. There are leseffective farming techniques, and divine sons about the trustworthiness of generaprovidence led them to a bounteous fall tions of dead white males writing official harvest, which they graciously shared history, and how much of a difference has with their Native American friends. been made in the past few decades. But The single biggest mistake in this story these points are not the ones I want to is one most people don't see. America make here. was not a virgin continent, but instead Look at the mistakes in the story. Are recently and unexpectedly widowed. Eu- they just random factual mistakes, or do ropean sailors and fishermen who first they systematically work to disadvantage, interacted with Native Americans on marginalize, and reduce the significance the east coast spread fatal diseases (un- of one group or another? Certainly these knowingly) that whipped through native mistakes are not random. communities. Diaries of early white setIn a story promoted to become part of tlers speak of 95 percent mortality rates our collective consciousness (and obviamongst Native Americans, creating na- ously it has), the experience of one group tive villages where the living fled leaving (the whites) becomes central and the exthe dead unburied. periences of another (the Native AmeriAnother mistake in the story is that the cans) is reduced to supporting character. Mayflower was filled with the Pilgrims. In The characters in the story that we are truth, they made up only a third (roughly) supposed to identify with are clearly the of the people on that boat. The rest were whites, and not the Native Americans. various people headed for the tobacco The whites are active; they have agency. plantations of Jamestown colony in Vir- To the extent you feel a kinship with the ginia. Their writings show generally that white Pilgrims, you become a part of the they were coming to make a buck. There collective American experience. is some evidence the Pilgrims were just The Pilgrim story, as told, clearly has a Assistant Professor of Chemistry Mormon Cinema takes giant leap forward So, I saw a movie this past Saturday that still has me amazed. In all honesty, I haven't been so moved by a film since seeing Hotel Rwanda. Of course, the first reaction I've gotten when I say "Mormon movie" and "exceptional" in the same sentence is (without fail): "Really?" accompanied by a look of shock or disbelief. And, hey, who can blame them after a string of sorry movies like The Singles Ward, The Home Teachers and Sons of Provo. I was skeptical too. Richard Dutcher (the one who got Mormon cinema started in the first place with the revolutionary God's Army) has returned with a powerful, dark and beautiful sequel to his first film, called States of Grace. Although it's being described as God's Army 2, the movie actually features almost all new characters and is an entirely different story. It also moves about ten levels past the original God's Army (and any other Mormon film for that matter). A good sign that States of Grace is great art is that this isn't a film just for Mormons. This is a movie about real people with real struggles that aren't simplified, sugar coated or sentimentalized. The Mormon mission experience is depicted (for the first time that I've seen) in a way that does justice to its depth and complexity. Just as importantly, the movie authentically portrays and does justice to those of other faiths and walks of life. The movie is ultimately about what we have in common, not what makes one religion better than another. It is truly an inclusive film that should transcend culture and religion for those who watch with an open mind. One might say that the film has a "message," but that message isn't slammed over the audience's head. It doesn't come across as didactic or disguised propaganda. Also, the movie isn't fake which I'm sure will result in many people being offended. Heaven forbid that a filmmaker show what everybody (I hope) already knows: missionaries aren't perfect. They make mistakes like everyone else. Some get sent home. And this doesn't make them "evil" or "unworthy." It makes them human beings like us, like everyone. The movie is unabashedly Christian in showing that ALL PEOPLE are imperfect and in need of love, redemption and atonement. It's clear that Richard Dutcher has progressed as an artist. God's Army and Brigham City were both solid efforts, certainly nothing to be ashamed of. But States of Grace is a masterpiece. The script runs smoothly (despite running two hours in See VOCAL *A5 moral perspective. There are lessons in patriotism and democracy being taught to our children. The story, as told, is also about the favored position of America in the eyes of God. So the falsehoods in the telling of the story become moral failings, very specifically American moral failings. Thus this historical fraud has a large ethical aspect too, and it crosses all boundaries of profession, avocation and field. It is because of examples like this story that we have general education requirements. General education requirements exist not because we have this job or that profession, but instead because we live in this world with this history and we need to know what that means. It is about collectively addressing the obligations of us all. I write all this because there exists a tension at UVSC. We have a very clear professional mission - we prepare people for gainful employment, and we do it well. But we also prepare people for living in the world, and this is just as important. Students naturally want to find, and in some cases are advised to find, the general education courses most applicable to their major. Faculty and staff are drawn to create general education courses that appeal almost exclusively to students in their own department. Some faculty, departments and schools seek to modify existing general education courses to make them more field-specific. In other words, there is a strong pull towards removing the "general" from general education. But the pull must be resisted. Too much can fall through the cracks if our general education becomes professional education. If general education becomes specific to a major, how then do we address our needs as a society and our failings as a society? Business ethics and bioethics are clearly important to business people and biologists, but that does not make the rest of ethics useless to them, nor does it make business ethics useful exclusively to them? Our duties as citizens of our world do not change by profession. The general education courses we choose to take and choose to teach must not be dictated by the needs of the major. The world is too important for that. Idler/ to (he editor College Times misinforming the uninformed Is UVSC taken seriously? Dear Editor, Should a student from UVSC be embarrassed when someone asks if they go to BYU and they have to say, "No, I go to U V S C ? Is it the institution itself that lacks the prestige? or is it the students attending that lack the respect for the institution? In my opinion it is a little of both. There are a lot of things that UVSC offers that many universities can't offer. For example, UVSC has, on average, fewer students per classroom than most universities. This means that there can be more oneon-one teaching. Some may like the large classrooms where the professor will preach a sermon on Molecular Biology for an hour, and then dismiss class leaving you to figure it out on your own. By the end of the semester the professor might not even recognize your face if you tried to rob him. I do not like that style of teaching. The teaching I enjoy is smaller classrooms, a professor that knows and cares about their 30 students, and an atmosphere where I can feel comfortable asking questions. I have been very impressed by my professors because I believe they enjoy the process of learning and are excited when their students catch their vision. Many professors here at Utah Valley State College have given up university positions to come here to be part of something that is growing and becoming established as a fine institution with respectable majors. Schools are made up of professors, students and buildings. It can be what we make it, be it UVHS or someday UVSU. —Jon Crosby Dear Editor, I am just a humble student here at UVSC, trying my hardest to survive in today's busy and fastpaced world. We all know how it is to wake up day after day to the exact same day we had yesterday. However, today something new happened. The College times messed up. Big time! Ok, so you really didn't mess up big time, but you did mess up and I happened to be the one to notice it. While I enjoy your paper, I do not, however, enjoy being told the wrong dates, like the one you told me in the November 14, 2005 edition, volume XXXIVNO. XIV. Your newspaper printed the "Father of Mormon Cinema to speak at UVSC" article and you said that it would be held on Nov. 11 at 11:00am. Now I understand that mistakes happen. Typos and misprints are a daily issue with newspapers, except you printed that same date throughout the entire article. I'm not calling you an unfit editor or even a lazy editor, but what can I say, you did let this misprint slide. I hope my letter will inspire you to not let this type of "mistake" happen again in the great paper The College Times. I love this paper and simply wish to see a higher expectation of quality within it. Thank you for your time and for your hard work to inform us uninformed students! Sincerely, —John Knollin Haws III LETTERS TO THE EDITOR * E-Mail letters to uvscopinions@haimail.com * The NetXNcvs room is located on campus in SC220. * All letters become property of NetXNews and may be edited for content, specifically clarity, length or other concerns at the discretion of the Opinions Editor. * Letters between 50-250 words are encouraged and those letters marked by their succinctness arc more likely to be published. * Letters must be accompanied by full name, address, and phone number tor verification purposes (contact information will not be published). Occupation, title or major is optional. |