2 | September 22, 2010

Opinion The Rambler | www.therambler.org

Selfish stunts offensive to all Staff Editorial

Rachel Peel
“Peace-loving people from around the globe should
be proud of themselves for joining together to protest State funding for
an act that was morally corrupt.”
higher education
Staff writer
rlpeel@mail.txwes.edu

The American people

have spoken: we will not
stand for moral injustice in
our country.
On Sept. 11, 2010, Terry
Jones, the pastor of a small
Florida church, made the
tough decision to call off
the planned burning of the
Quran. The stunt was to
be held on 9/11 in remem-
brance of those Americans
lost nine years ago.
The events of 9/11 will
forever haunt my mind. Ev-
eryone will remember that
day and exactly what they
were doing when the two
towers were attacked.
I agree we need to honor
the lives lost in the attack,
but the pastor’s plan was not
an act of love, but of hate.
If Jones had fulfilled his
plan to burn the Quran, it
could have sent a negative
message to other religious
groups about Christians.
Just as some people posi-
tion al Qaida as the face of
Islam, the bad judgment of
Jones burning the Quran
would have painted Christi-
anity in the wrong light.
Burning any book is in-
tolerable, but to burn a holy
book would automatically
give countries harboring ill
will for America the upper
hand and give further justi-
fication for their disdain.
If this pastor had followed
through with his plan, we
would have witnessed a mo-
ment in American history
that we might one day re-
gret.
America would not be
known as the land of the
free and the home of the
brave, but the land of perse-
cution.
Battles have been fought
over religion since the dawn
of time. This act would have
been an act of terrorism on
Islam. We would then be no
better than al Qaida, an orga-
nization that threatens others
with its radical actions.
America was founded
on freedom of religion and
freedom of speech. Al-
though we have the right
to burn books, that does
not make the act morally
correct. We should uphold
the ideals and beliefs our
founding fathers set before
us years ago.
“Forgive us our tres-
passes as we forgive those
who trespass against us.”
These words are from the
Lord’s Prayer. Forgiveness
is a decision we sometimes
struggle to make, but if we
are to be forgiven, we must
first forgive those who have
hurt us.
Prayer is the path we
should take, not violence.
Has violence ever solved a
problem? I think not. As a
country, we should respect
the ideas and sacrifices of
those who have come be-
fore us. As a Christian, my
answer is to pray for those
who are lost, for those who
have sacrificed so much and
for our freedom.
Sept. 11 was one of the
darkest days in American
history, but we should not
judge those responsible,
for their punishment will
come when they meet their
maker. We should remem-
ber those of al Qaida in our
prayers.
The decision to call off the
burning of the Quran was a
smart move on Jones’ part.
Peace-loving people from
around the globe should
be proud of themselves for
joining together to protest
an act that was morally cor-
rupt.
This shows me that there
is still hope for the human
race, and that no matter our
differences of race or reli-
gion, our world will one day
embrace peace.
Although Islam is not my
religion of choice, I believe
they are peaceful people
who should have a right to
express their religious be-
liefs without fear of perse-
cution, just like the rest of
us.
must take priority
The recent report rank-
ing Texas Wesleyan as a
Tier I Regional Univer-
sity was good news for
our entire college com-
munity.
Sometimes it seems like
bad news is always in the
shadow of good news. In
this case the bad news is
that Texas legislators will
be faced with tough de-
cisions about state fund-
ing for higher education
when they meet in Janu-
ary.
The Texas Constitution
requires that the Legisla-
ture budget for no more
than the amount of rev-
enue that the comptroller
certifies will be available.
Gov. Rick Perry and his
staff have no choice but
to slash the budget, and
funding for Texas col-
leges will likely be one of
the cuts made.
Nearly every institu-
tion of higher learn-
up in fields such as sci-
ence, engineering and
even in medicine.
According to a study
by the American Asso-
ciation for the Advance-
ment of Science, only
17 percent of Ameri-
cans view U.S. scientific
achievements as the best
in the world. If America
is going to remain at the
top of the heap, our focus
has to be on quality edu-
cation at all levels. Fund-
ing for this important re-
search work has to come
from the government.
Public-funded insti-
tutions across the state
are already making cuts
and sacrifices due to
budget pressures. We do
not need to be reminded
that tuition has recently
increased at Wesleyan
as much as it has at any
state school.
When lawmakers come
together on Jan. 11 to

Attendance policy limits flexibility ing has seen enrollment

Jonathan Resendez
Editor-in-chief
jresendez@mail.txwes.edu
Prodigies, slackers and
students who have a life
outside of academia are po-
tential victims of an unfair
attendance policy that lurks
in the Wesleyan catalog.
According to the under-
graduate catalog, “When a
student has a number of un-
authorized absences equal
to the number of days the
class meets per week, the
student may be dropped
from the class roll by the in-
structor of the class.”
Technically, the rule
means that a student who
misses the second and sec-
ond to last day of a Tues-
day-Thursday class for un-
authorized reasons could
get dropped at the instruc-
tor’s discretion.
While most instructors
don’t possess the cold heart
required to exact such a
punishment in said scenar-
io—millions of other sce-
narios exist. The existence
of the rule is a bigger threat
than the punishment that
“This means students cannot cut class for music
or art festivals or a lazy day with the old lady, com-
mon occurrences for students of all ages, without
potential repercussions.”
accompanies it.
An unauthorized absence
is a failure to attend class
for reasons not involving
school sports, student gov-
ernment, student develop-
ment or fine arts.
This means students can-
not cut class for music or art
festivals or a lazy day with
the old lady, common oc-
currences for students of all
ages, without potential re-
percussions.
Even authorized, school-
related absences are lim-
ited to five for a Monday-
Wednesday-Friday class,
three for a Tuesday-Thurs-
day class and two for a class
or lab that meets once a
week.
Again, no instructor is go-
ing to drop a hyper-involved
student with an A average
who misses class because
he or she is out winning the
university awards.
The unfairness caused by
this scenario, however, is
the bigger issue. Students
thoroughly knowledgeable
on a subject shouldn’t have
to attend class for fear of a
strict rule likely aimed at
underachievers.
Likewise, the under-
achievers shouldn’t have
to fear losing credit hours
because they didn’t attend
a class as regularly as the
students who will someday
teach it.
If a student is guaranteed
an A or only wants a C, class
should be a choice—Wes-
leyan gets paid regardless.
Making good grades in
a class is still possible after
missing more than three
or five days. Even learning,
which is the point of col-
lege, is still possible pro-
vided a student reads and
comprehensively goes over
the material.
For many of us, basic
knowledge over a broad
range of subjects and su-
perior multitasking skills
make us contenders in the
job market. And proper time
management sometimes in-
volves acquiring knowledge
in ways besides listening to
a person talk for 50 minutes
and copying definitions out
of a textbook.
I’m not condoning skip-
ping class, and I have suf-
fered the repercussions of
truancy. And yes, most stu-
dents aren’t going to learn if
they don’t show up.
Still, the archaic rule can
give weight to some arbi-
trary disciplinary decisions.
numbers soar over the
past two years. If any-
thing is clear, it’s the
need for more state fund-
ing, not less.
As students attend-
ing a private school, we
shouldn’t need to worry
about such things. That
is not necessarily true.
Although state funding
has a smaller impact on
private schools, there is
an impact. Tuition Equal-
ization Grants are critical
to many students attend-
ing private schools.
As members of the
larger community of
North Texas, we should
be concerned about the
impact these cuts would
have on the University of
North Texas Health Sci-
ence Center as well as
other important research
institutions.
If Texas makes cuts in
funding for colleges and
universities, we all lose
momentum. The educa-
tion of our population
has never been more im-
portant than it is right
now.
The global economic
down-turn is uncovering
some embarrassing de-
tails about this country’s
standing among educat-
ed societies.
We are playing catch-
prepare the next budget,
they will face a shortfall
of more than $21 bil-
lion and a constitutional
mandate to balance the
budget without raising
taxes.
There is certainly fear
among educators that
funding for colleges is in
the cross-hairs.
This is not the time for
Texas to back off on its
financial commitment
to higher education. Re-
duced funding will al-
most certainly result in
tuition increases and an
overall reduction in the
quality of educational
programs across the
state.
The economic climate
in Texas, whether good
or bad, will impact the
quality of life for the Tex-
as Wesleyan community.
Funding for higher ed-
ucation is a key compo-
nent in making sure we
compete and succeed in
these challenging times.
We have an obligation
to make sure our law-
makers know how im-
portant this issue is to
Texans.
There has never been a
better time to send state
lawmakers a message
about the future of high-
er education in Texas.

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The editors reserve the right to edit all submis- Jeanette Martinez, Samuel Griffith, Rachel Daniel,
sions for space, grammar, clarity and style. sophomore kinesiology sophomore music junior exercise science
Letters to the editor may be subject to response “I don’t have an issue with “It’s a hard policy, and I don’t “They are enforcing it more
from editors and students on the opinion page. it, but some think class think it’s fair, but Im going to than they used to. Only the
should be optional.” be here every day anyway.” athletes get extra time off.”
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