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Show Opinion SOUTHERN UTAH STATE COLLEGE, CEDAR CITY ALCOHOL ABUSE IS SERIOUS, INDEED No one has really succeeded at keeping college-agstudents from the After so all, isnt drinking drinking alcohol, story goes. considered a rite of passage into adulthood? The Thunderbird believes that curbing alcohol abuse is not a Utopian dream, nor is it necessarily a requisite to maturity, as many might erroneously believe. The recent arrests of several SUSC students for alcohol-relateinfractions serves as a red flag that alcohol abuse is not confined to urban centers but can creep into smaller communities such as Cedar City. This is not to suggest that alcohol abuse has achieved epidemic proportions at SUSC, but the arrests are a malaise. We feel the surest cure for any sign of an problem is prevention. With the drinking age in all of the 50 states now being 21, colleges no longer face the dilemma of enforcing selective prohibition on college campuses. In Utah, the problem is not so prevalent, given the strong religious atmosphere. Nevertheless, in Cedar City alone, 988s alcohol related arrests for the underaged are up six percent from 1987 figures, and a recent survey shows that SUSC students has an alcohol problem. The almost cavalier attitude regarding teen alcoholism has for years masked the seriousness of the issue, equating heavy alcohol consumption as a stage soon outgrown. The stereotypical image of the alcoholic as dissolute and of low intellect applies only to a small percentage. The fact is, the majority of student alcoholics are usually high achievers both on the job and at school who turn to the bottle because they cannot meet their own expectations of achievement. Critics who insist that alcoholism is a weakness of the spirit as opposed to a physical illness should their priorities; assailing the person and not the disease serves only to compound the problem by furthering the lie of Having the insight to address the problem for what it is, we commend SUSC for the decision to implement a comprehensive drug and alcohol program, similar to the program recently established at Dixie College. However, in adopting the broader perspective of alcohol abuse, we also realize that this is not the entire answer. If we are going to create a drug- - and alcohol-fre- e generation of youth, the first step must begin with education at an early age. Programs aimed at reaching children as young as five years of age are educating these impressionable minds to the harms of alcohol long before they take their first drink. As future educators, leaders and parents, we must assure that these programs receive the federal and state funding they need. More importantly, we must set the example that alcohol consumption is not the normal way adults have fun. THE THUNDERBIRD XT C0UU) 'ARAf- THURSDAY, XT CUU e- MAY 4, 1989 PAGE 4 sHAKeSPovieAtf CoMeS. e d ever-growin- g 1 one-in-fiv- e The Thunderbird VOLUME 83, NUMBER 43 Editor Rachel Talbot Associate Editor Kathleen Midglcy Opinion Editor James Spainhower Photo Editor Cary Leavitt Copy Editor Carol Miller Arts & Leisure Editor Alix Larsen Sports &. Outdoors Editor Brent Richey On Campus Editor Megan Marshall Senior Staff Writers Heather Cox Jodi Reinard Production Manager Lynn Dennett Ad Manager Brenda Madden 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 tn any way with the College s department of communication. The views and opinions expressed m The Thunderbird arc 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; 5 p.m. Tuesdays for Thursday editions. The Thunderbird: editorial and advertising offices in SUSC Library 103. Mail at SUSC Box 9384, Cedar City, UT 84720. Phone (801) or Letters Reader urges a cerebral college diet TO THE EDITOR: The first year that I was at SUSC, a certain professor asked me why I was attending school. I replied that I was here to work on a degree so that I could procure a decent job and never have to slave to be a waitress again. The professor absorbed my answer benignly and intimated that perhaps I was attending school for reasons beyond my pragmatic immediacy. I continued blithely throughout my first year of school, reading works by Camus, Voltaire, Rousseau, and other innocuous graphographers. And then I hit the wall with such force as to lose all sense of equilibrium all sense period. I watched my house of sand slide out from under my feet. With nowhere to turn I put my nose up against that damn granite slab. I saw myself come with confused creature to dwell on this earths concrete acre. My phony, smug, golly-ge- e whiz Mrs. Cleaver apple pie facade was unraveling. How could I conquer that unscalable buttress pressing in all around me? The impossible was done I swallowed William Wordsworth, and William Blake, and Anne Sexton and Virginia Woolf. I bounced myself off of each and every author I read and began to realize that human existence and human experience ran deep and wide. The impossible was done. I was told that many women in their 30s the most god-awfu- face-to-fa- l, bit-by-b- find themselves and u undergraduates often lose their footing and go crazy. Perhaps. It may have to do with the unconscious will, or the discontent growing out of the status quo, or with an uneasiness growing inside ourselves that we placate for only so many years and then we e. Now smug and phony platitudes aside, the moral of this story reads something like this: answer no rhetorical questions put forth from kindly professors; purchase flight insurance, and then, hold your head high as you spiral wildly through space. Upon your safe landing, build a small rock house on a firm foundation, careful to choose each rock with prudence and wisdom. that Anne McCloskey Cinco de Mayo is muy importante TO THE EDITOR: Hola! Have you ever wondered what the phrase Cinco de Mayo means? If you havent, youll know now. Cinco de Mayo translated from Spanish means the fifth of May which is a National holiday for our neighboring country Mexico. r, On May fifth 1862, Mexican were victorious over the troops French forces that forcefully entered Mexico. There is a Mexican tradition to celebrate this momentous day by the historic event in a play form in which the whole town participates. The event lasts from early in the day until late that night. The colors red, green, and white are often worn on this day as a representation of the Mexican flag. I certainly hope that my friends here at SUSC to learn a little about Cinco de Mayo, you never know when it may come in handy, amigos. Tyler Brinkerhoff |