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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 1995)
VIEWPOINTS EOITORIALS. OPINIONS LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Ensena English, pero teach espanol,tambien ■ OUR OPINION Mandatory biiinquoi education for all Americans is overdue Si ustrd purtln Irrr rata wii inn • dr !< ", ,„,l lionrs dr personas quo huhliin rs/Hidol Drsafortu nadanirntr, ustrd rs parte dr mm minoria on Ins Kata dos l-nidus The debate surrounding bilingual education has boon both debated in feder al and state forums in recent years While people from all over the world immigrate to the United States for a "hot tor way of life," none has encountered more hostilttv and rejec tion than Mexican immigrants in California and the Southwest. According to a Mbi t Urban Institute study, one out of every six students in the California school system was born outside the t fnited States The tars Angeles school system educates 30.000 new immigrant chil dren each year, The majority of them emigrated from Mexico and Central Ameri can < ountries Thus, school systems on both coasts have been inun dated with non-hnglish speaking students that they must find a way to educate Some insist on teaching only Knglish, while others teach all subjects in tho stu dents' native language and teai h hnglish as a separate subject. Still others integrate the two t he problem with these* programs, however, is that they are delivering bilingual instruction only to Immigrants, bilingual instruction should become a part of public education front the first-grade level. Americ a is the only devoi oped nation that does not require proficiency in a for eign language. Unlike Euro poan countries, we have had the luxury of being big enough (geographically and economh ally) to isolate our selves from the sound of for eign tongues As we are reminded daily, however, (lie world is getting smaller, and we must be able to com municate in more than one language if we are to com pete and cooperate in the global village Mandatory Spanish instruction in public schools would solve the dilemma of what to "do" with non-English speaking children. Hoy en din. rsos nnlos estdn aislodos desde las demos porque e/ idiotna rs una barrt'ra By teaching all students Spanish, schools would teach Eng lish-speaking children empathy for the difficult process of learning a foreign language Critics of this idea argue that immigrants have always assimilated to America's values and its language. Mexir ans. they say. should be no different But separat ing Mexican < hildren from Amerit an children only emphasizes the us-and-them mentality that permeates our country. Across the troard bilingual education would actually act derate the assimilation process. Students would begin to realize that just because someone speaks a foreign language, it does not mean he or she is less intelligent or does not feel joy and sor row Sonias tma genic, and mandatory bilingual educa tion would allow us to pro pare the next generation for the world it will inherit. vogt-* 0*4* t n p«uCifcv?'*ef 3**y ftfcMflB* '■* r^f» f«*iSl* &-■• ■ sj the wrfte** >■<*«.' M ?»*».£#» *nej ifv<«St* ft* tag tf* tHKrrv t* ne Oregon C^is^f tmniw Pxifcteiftng Co t» *t sw Ukim**!* rf OnQpn < ^Jd«? 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CtttMftH Arf«trt*Mt 14*4143 £><>^an Da , Ever mg Ft da* October ,^7, 1<»S 2a Jv<v «.Cvm n* s*^w*r m£ RfVER WE SHARE Watch out — paranoia is bad for your health If is not enough to have a good mind The main thing is to use it well flrnc Descartes Why the hell is everyone so damned paranoid these days' You've got everything from people thinking that Bill Clinton is a homosexual, athe ist, commie-loving, french-fry munchin moron to the belief that an ad of a tattoo on some wom an s butt is going to im ite people to acts of vio lence You know something' Bill Clinton is all that (and more) and vos. every guy I talked to since seeing that ad felt an insatiable urge to go out and wreak havoc on the global female popu lation By the way. did I mention that God exists in your sub-utomii particles and that I’ve got Elvis ami Jimmy Holla m my freer *»r? I'vif also got a bridge* that I i.a» Mil I ya, real cheap Ladies and gentlemen, stop overthinking so damn much. It makes you look like a twit, and it cuts off the «in illation to your higher reasoning func tions in your noodle such as your (omntoti sense Now I'm not saying to just quit reason ing altogether or to become intellectually spineless OPINION ifonlthy dehalt* s good for you. Ii gt*!s the blood flowing and your dander up, Pn k a sub tec I, any subjet t Try sox. politic s or religion. Crfti really creative and try to combine all three. Get passionate about something Just don't tie stupid and interpolate something that really isn't there (yes. I've already made that mistake, big-time), by over-analyzing You'll seem para noid and there's no way anyone in their right mind will take you seriously. That's why they i-all them nuts. Or conspiracy freaks (Oliver Stone shot |.F.K ) What if you don't think enough? Well, take the "militias for example. These reactionary inbred jods who have family trees that don't branch are complete loony toons They go out in the woods, take on Bamhi with an M-16. then sit around and blame the /.iomst Operated Gov ernment" (what ever the hell that is) and the United Nations for all of their woes 1 would be extremely curious as to how many of these* quacks have actually given what they believe in any type of coherent thought Perhaps they would realize just how ridiculous some of their ideas are. Ignorance seems to breed fear It also seems to bn-ed ,i notion that .tli your problems are every one eise's fault. And where do these whackos get their opinions? Rush Limbaugh. the NKA, the tooth fairy who knows But if they were a 66 Healthy debate's good for you. It gets the blood flow my and your dander up Pick a subject, any subject. 99 little bit more educated I highly doubt they'd be so paranoid that everyone was out to get them. But if ignorant e breeds fear, then haughty intellei tualism breeds sheer ridiculousness It's almost funny how in probably the most educat ed part of the state, some of the most ridiculous things occur Political Correctness anyone? Who ever came up with this tripe should bo drawn and quartered. Remember grade school? No one gave a damn who you were or what color your skin was; except for girls, they nil had cooties. Most people still don't care. They've got more important things to worry about than pissing off some Norwegian by accidentally thinking that be'a X • • in (Ut white people all look tl ■ same ) In academia it gets even worse. I remember bearing a visiting professor give a talk on how m ■ ■ peart Antony ..mi t lleopatre not only was Antony in love with Cleopatra, hut with Enoharbus as well Some how she got it in her head that Shakespeare had subconsciously writ ten in this hidden love between the two men and that every scholar for the past 400 years had somehow managed to miss it Well maybe they missed because it was never there Oh. did 1 mention that l have a Ph.t). in English literature? People can get so over-concerned about the most stupid trivial issues that they lose sight of the larger picture. Just start enjoying life and stop being such a paranoid over-analyzing nin ny. Cut me reiterate once again Do not stop think ing, 1 have to say this again to prevent nitwits from sending editorial letters decrying that fact that I'm being anti-intellectual.' Our ability for higher reasoning is what makes life so damn fun But we have to use it properly and not abuse it (like I'm doing) with attempts to seem learned or erudite. Question what you find absurd If someone is being preposterous, let them know Their response w ill probably be something like well I never" and stomp off in a huff Then you’ll know you nailed it. So go forth and question the ludicrous, the inane, the corny; but most importantly, enjoy doing it. /esse / Hobrer Clancy, a senior majoring in bio chemistry, is a columnist for the Emerald
