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Show DTYTF From the desk of Don Reid Letter to the absolutely have to. Second - The reason that faculty members get reserved parking stalls at the top of every parking lot is to give them close access for carrying teaching materials and to guarantee them a parking stall any time of the day. If they dont get to the classroom, you dont receive instruction. I dont condemn Mr. Car for his misinformed comments, but I do suggest tht most reasonable and prudent people understand (by of their own intelligence), that if a means is marked Reserved and they dont stall parking know who for, its not for them. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and a President of the United States, did clarify the meaning of separation of church and state by saying that there was a wall between them. The separation is not a fence and it is not a wire. It is a solid wall. The word state as used in the expression government - year-roun- d As Valentines Day approaches, thoughts turn to love and giving of presents to sweethearts, family, and friends. Christmas time is usually the time of year when we think of peace on earth and love for mankind. Yet, these thoughts should continue throughout the year and should be reinforced even more during the Valentines season. While wars, famine, and the bad economy are of others, no the excuses used for the one needs an excuse to be kind and to show compassion for other human beings. As the following poem points out, we are not the most understanding and benevolent creatures to ever inhabit the earth. staff Keep Religious Bigotry out of the Dixie Sum means IN February 11. 1983. Page Kindness needed Parking situation explained This is a simple explanation of the parking (This is free philosophy at Dixie College. information for the enlightenment of Mr. Car.) First - I have never demanded that any of my officers issue citations to EVERY violator in a given parking lot. To do so would obviously mean 24 hours presence, as vehicles enter and leave all day long. In addition, the purpose of citations is to get the attention of violators and thus, have it become a learning situation. It is hoped that by issuing one citation, ten violators will get the word. Actually, we are being more than fair - we try hard not to issue any more citations than we ST be it the Federal govern- ment, any state government, or any place, organization, institute, or group receiving money or being used in the domain of one of these governments or any gruP of these governments. The purpose of this letter is to point out two situations. 1) The people who write for the Dixie Sun normally would have the freedom to express any favoritism they may have toward any religion or theological thought. That would be the case if the Dixie Sun was a private publication and thus protected under the freedom of the press provision in the U.S. Constitution. While this is a right of private publications, the Dixie Sun does receive funds from Dixie College to assist in its publication. Dixie College, being a public state college now (although you might never guess this), thus does give public state money to this newspaper. As such it is bound to recognize and uphold this wall of separation of church and state which is a mandate of the U.S. Constitution. 2) The Dixie Sun has allowed its reporters to blatantly favor in print the reporters theological prejudice and thus use public money to help print such material which openly promotes the reporters favorite theology. This is wrong for three reasons : A) Public (state) money is used to aid in printing such religious favoritism. This is a demonstration of the willful demolition of the wall between church and state. B) Even if public tate) money was not used to assist in the printing of this publication, it is a de facto portion of this public tate) college. C) The reporters represent their theological concepts and ideas as fact and do not even attempt to separate fact from fiction or fact from opinion. While the Dixie Sun contains fact only on rare occasions and truly by accident, this is no excuse to label opinions and misinformation as fact. While the problems listed above are widespread there is one article which epitomises and contains all of them, to wit: the article entitled Ask Me Week Concludes which was inserted in this paper dated January 28, 1983. This article did contain some facts assuming that it reported quotes and names accurately. However, the suggestion to visit the recognized local purveyor of the reporters favorite religion was integrated into the article. In case the reader was not motivated to promote the reporters religion after reading other parts of the article, the plea goes out to do our part in the way it should be done. And in the event that anyone who may be reading the article has any doubts as to what should be done the author quotes a leader of the church who gives that person, as well as everyone else, his instructions. The wall between church and state is a mandate of the U.S. Constitution. Certainly all the Episcopalians, Jews, Lutherans, Catholics, Baptists, etcetera should not be required to allow the state to fund any promotion of any specific religion when their tax dollars provide these funds. A member of the staff of this publication told me that this college was once owned and operated by a religious sect. This was the staff members justification of the promotion of that sect. This excuse for violating the U.S. Constitution overlooks the fact that today this school is now operated by and receives funds from the public, that is, the state government. The fact that a majority of the students at this public college prefer the religion promoted, and that a number of the college faculty and administration also share this preference, was another justification offered. The excuse maker didnt seem to realize that no matter how many people associate with any theological thought or religion, the wall of separation is still required by the U.S. Constitution to be there. Suggesting to people that if they are not of the same sect they ought to go somewhere else is a clear indication of bigotry. Hearing this statement from a Dixie Sun staff member comes as no surprise but it does provide us with another example of the prejudice which drugs the mind of the maker of it. It is hoped that from this time forward the Dixie Sun will live up to its obligation to keep religious favoritism out of its pages. While there is nothing wrong with advertising an event or religious clubs meetings, this advertisement should be clearly labeled as an advertisement. An example of this can be seen in Readers Digest where many advertisements for products have the ad labeled as such. Many other periodicals do the same. Outgrow your bigotry and prejudices. Live up to your obligation of keeping tbe wall between church and state strong. It is possible that if you do the college administrators may even give it a try. Thus is theirs and your obligation. Gregg W Nordmeyer The Monkeys Three monkeys sat in a coconut tree Discussing things that were said to be. Said one to the others, Now listen you two, There are certain rumors that just cant be true. That man descended from our noble race. The very idea is a dire disgrace. No monkey ever deserted his wife, Starved his babies and ruined her life. And youve never known a mother monk To leave her babies with others to bunk Till they scarcely know who is their mother. And another thing youll never see Is a monk build a fence around a coconut tree, Letting the coconuts go to waste. Denying the other monkeys a taste. Why if I ever built a fence around this coconut tree, Starvation would force you to steal from me. And another thing a monk wont do Is go out at night and get on a stew. And take a gun, a club or a knife And take another monkey's life. Yes, mans descended, the onery cuss. But brother, he didnt descend from us. Author unknown Valentines Day is a time for giving thoughts of love to those we care about. So lets see just how many people we can care about and through our actions show them just how much we care. The Dixie Sun Editor-in-Chi- Editorial Editor News Editor Feature Editor Sports Editor Advertising Graphic Assistance Lisa Roberts Kathleen Drummond Cindy Penrod Anavon Wiltshire Tom Wittig Teresa Owen Lori Lewis Cathe Owens STAFF: Rick Crocker, Joe Hale, Valerie Johnson, Charles LaChance, Glade Walker and Roger Van Woodburn. The DIXIE SUN is published by the students of Dixie College. The opinions expressed in the SUN do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the staff or the advisor. Letters to the Editor should be submitted to LaVarr Webb in the Business Building or tq Lisa Roberts in the Trades and Industries Building. 3 |
