Wednesday,
March 11, 1998
Canby HS: armed, on the defensive
BRAD ZIMMERMAN
Co-Editor-in-Chief
"ARMED AND READY TO
DEFEND."
Sounds like an Army or Marine
recruiting poster,
right? Normally,
one would think
so. But Canby
High School used
a military theme
on a fund-raising
poster this year to
It's unfor illustrate the fact
tunate that that they are de
a couple of fending the Pa-
cific-7 Conference
kids are
championship
going to
they shared with
read more
McMinnville last
into this
year.
poster than
The poster fea--
was
tured the basket
intended. ball team in mili
tary fatigues and
Brad
holding assault
Zimmerman rifles.
Co-Editor-in-
Now
some
Chief
Canby
High
School parents
have started pro-
testing. Twenty-five people signed
a letter to the Canby School Board
to complain that, rather than pro
moting the team, the poster pro
motes violence..
These days, the U.S. Army
doesn't necessarily represent a vio
lent force. Rather, it represents a
force that has been used to achieve
democracy throughout the world.
Kuwait and Bosnia come to mind.
However, I'm sure in the minds
of the concerned parents, Vietnam
or World War II comes to mind,
where the U.S. Army was used to
fight in extremely bloody wars.
In the traditional sense, the U.S.
Army and Marines symbolize ex
treme unity, precision and team
work. Arid that's exactly what
sports represents, too. Why
wouldn't a military theme be appro
priate?-
Nonetheless, I think it's folly to
read more into the poster other than
what's right in, front of students and
parents: basketball team dressed up,
raising money and motivating the team.
It's ironic that most high school stu
dents probably don't see anything
wrong with the poster.
Canby High junior Lori Komp said
she doesn't understand what the big
deal is. Most students, she said, aren't
reading anything into the poster.
Perhaps that's because the majority
of parents were alive during the Viet
nam conflict, and see the military as
something to fear rather than what
they represent today.
I think that if parents are truly
concerned about the poster sending
the wrong message to kids, they
ought to either trust their kids to not
draw anything from the poster —
simply that it's a fund-raising poster.
Or, if they think their kids are go
ing to draw some unhealthy conclu
sions, to simply sit down and talk
to their kids about it.
It's unfortunate that a couple of kids
are going to read more into this poster
than was intended. But it isn't the
team's fault — or the poster's — that
these kids are drawing the wrong con
clusions: it's a lack of parenting.
Instead of concerned parents writ
ing a letter to the school board, they
ought to just sit down with their kids
and ask them what they think about
the poster and try to correct any mis-
MIKE GARCIA
Copy Editor
gwe can’/
justtake it
■ for
granted
that chil
dren can
work out
the Sym
bolism in
their
heads.
Mike Garcia
Copy Editor
COUâARC-
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Alex Mahan
For us to dismiss the poster for
Canby High boys' basketball team,
we would have to purposely ignore
the larger issue behind the contro
versy—that of military force and its
purpose.
Naturally, those who oppose the
promotion understand that it was not
intended to be a wholesale endorse
ment of guns in the hands of teenag
ers. They’re aware of the symbolism.
But there are a few mixed messages
in there that could prove dangerous,
especially when combined with other
mixed messages we see every day in
the media.
I’ve always wondered why we’re
so quick to adopt the Armed
Forces—the U.S. Army in particu
lar—as symbols for America, like
apple pie and baseball. To the de
signers of the poster, armed force
represents all that is good about
America. But why?
The Army, its uniforms and its
weapons are part of our Defense De
partment. Their role is to defend
those who need help. That’s what’s
admirable about the Army.
But I differ with those who think
we’re entitled in any way to “flex
our military muscle,” We’re not in
d Z a OM
STRI?! '
the Dark Ages; we’re not a con
quering nation. To show another
government “what America is
made of,” by pummeling them
with troops and artillery, is to
misuse our armed forces.
We fight as a last resort. When
the Army is called into action, we
should be filled with regret that
human lives must be taken. We
shouldn’t be happy Americans,
saying, “We’re showing them
who’s boss.”
Canby High’s poster, as well as
many Armed Forces posters, feeds
off the wrong attitude. The athletes
are literally striking a pose, ready
to fire away. Which is okay when
you’re shooting a basketball. It’s
not the first thing that should en
ter your mind when you have a gun.
It seems obvious to us college
students that when the basketball
team is on a poster that says
“armed and ready to defend” at
the top, the metaphor should be
clear: it means they’re armed
with a good field-goal percentage
and ready to defend on the bas
ketball court. But when the team
is transformed into soldiers,
maybe that metaphor becomes a
little less clear to some people.
In an interview with the Orego-
nian, Canby superintendent
Stephen Miller said, “From my
standpoint, I respect the sensitiv
ity to violence. We have a policy
of no guns, and here we have a
picture of students holding guns.”
This quote isn’t necessarily
profound, but it still hits the nail
on the head.
To adults, this may seem like a
simple miscalculation, the out
come of which won’t affect any
one. But I think it can contribute
to a larger problem. With a steady
mental diet of images like these,
children can slowly but surely
form the opinion that deadly force
is good. We need to keep the idea
in their heads that deadly force is
a necessary evil.
We can’t just take it for granted
that children can work out the
symbolism in their heads. There’s
too much of a chance that one or
two of them won’t be able to.
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The place to eat on campus!
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Wednesday, March 11, 1998