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Poage 3 '°L 3 Is'§ue 7 Feb. I.6, I.994c Job description for Phys. Ed. tutors : 1 Must be able to count 1, 2, 3, and 1, 2, 3, Lovers indulge forever on Valentine's Day BY MELODY SHARP and women would put their writer in a magazine of 1863 STAFF WRrrER names on slips of paper, put wrote, "Indeed, with the excep- them in a box and take turns tion of Christmas, there is no drawing them out. Then the festival throughout the world Do you feel like you've partners exchanged gifts as a which is invested with half the been slighted by Cupid? Did show of affection. Many rela- interest belonging to this cher- the thought of Valentine's Day tionships continued after the ishedanniversary." have you in a quandry as to what festival and ended in marriage. Valentines in the early to buy your lover? Do you think In 496 A.O. a churchman 1600s used to be hand painted Valentine's Day is really over tried to give the pagan holiday with lace and ribbons attached. rated? Christian meaning and changed The cost could average $10. Wellhangontoyourhearts the day to February 14, naming Today the celebration can and keep dodging those arrows the day St. Valentine's Day, but include the most expensive gifts because Valentine's Day has the sentimental meaning re- to the most frivolous ones. been around for many years and mained. Sweethearts exchange gifts, as probably will be for many more do children in schools, with a to come. In the 1700s men would casual acquaintance. Costs can As near as history can tell cast lots to draw a female's name range from $1 for a box of cards the big V-day started with an and then wear that name pinned to $10 for personalized ones. ancient Roman festival called 10 their sleeve, thus the old say- Gifts can range from hand Lupercalia which took place ev- ery February 15. The festival honored Juno, the Roman god- dess of women and marriage, and Pan, the god of nature. ing, "He wears his heart on his drawn cards to dozens of roses. sleeve." There would be a grand And the value of these gifts are ball in the homes of gentry to all appraised by the meaning of impress the ladies. Gloves were the giving. the usual gift given by the men. So, if Cupid left you feel- The Lupercalia festival dates back to before 496 A.D. During the festival young men Valentine's Day didn't ing out in the cold, worry not, catch on big in the U.S. until there is always next year and the time of the Civil War. A new sweethearts to be found. Dear Editor, I was quite dismayed to learn of an incident surrounding the recent campaign for Home· coming King & Queen. Craig Brown and Shawn Dempsey who were representing Phi Theta Kappa, had the campaign slo- gan, "Vote for Craig and Shawn, a vote that does not suck." Ap- parently there were a few faculty members offended by this slo- gan and Craig and Shawn were told that they needed to make a formal apology. As a compet· ing candidate representing Student Senate, I hope they de- cide not to make that apology. I was not offended by the campaign slogan, nor could I find a candidate that was · of- fended. As this is a student world, we need not take simple things so seriously. They used a phrase from a popular, though in my opinion tasteless television program. Does that make their use of this phrase in their campaign taste- less? Maybe yes, maybe no. I hope dear faculty member if you think it does, that you write to that television station to complain about it. Or do you realize that you have no authority over the TV station and they would sim- ply ignore you? If you think not, then maybe you understand the use of irony, satire and what Craig and Shawn were attempt- ing to do . If you do not understand a~ I believe, the use of irony and satire, then I would recommend attending the first function and not a faculty one, I semester of American Literature. find it ironic that some faculty Homecoming is an event members were offended. more representative of high First and foremost, it's just school rather than college. This a campaign slogan. With all the is seen in the amount of stu- other problems we as a people dents that vote, and even more face in this country and this so in the amount of students that Dear Editor of the Polemic, We presume that Alpena Community College considers it- self an enlightened institution; in one room we spin and in the other we push logs? (no pun intended.) therefore, could someone in au- We would like to suggest thority please explain the reason. removal. Oh, by the way - no actually attend the event. This year approximately 60 students attended. This can partially be explained by the weather, but it is mostly due I believe to the great amount of apathy found amongst the student body. There were 3 faculty members that complained, but only 2 faculty members attended the Homecom- ing dance. Neither one of them complained. I guess I might have more sympathy for the of- fended faculty members point of view, had they actually bothered to attend. Now, if you wish to talk about offensive, then let us talk about these offended faculty members not attending school functions. How about the fact that a few of the basketball play- ers stand outside of the lounge at Van Lare Hall and shout mother****** at each other. Why are you offended faculty members, not outraged by this? Is it because their intellectual claim to fame is that they can Thank you, Caroline E. Lechel Virginia (Ginny) Titus Paul C. Young and/or intent of the symbols un- to "setters" and •pointers,• P.S. We feel it necessary der the heading "women" and "Buck" and "Doe" or "skirts• to say we do have other con- ~men" on the restrooms in the and "trousers." cerns, i.e. AIDS, Van Lare Hall student lounge? Our suggestion is removal Bosnia-Herzegovina, earthquake If the logos are placed there to of symbols as no other male/ victims etc. We just think we're supply someone lacking English female restrooms on campus dis- all here to further our educa- skills, are we trying to tell them play them. tion. Slackers should shut-up BY SHAWN DEMPSEY NEWS EDITOR Does anyone remember Monday, Jan. 24? I do. That was the day I hung around school until 7:30 p.m. to cover the millage edu• cation forum. You know, the one Student Senate sponsored prima- rily for students. Well, here's the report; no one came. This really shouldn't be surprising considering the com- ments I heard from students while working the phone bank before the election. Out of the approximately 15 students I contacted, one knew about the up and coming election. Just one. Of course, the lack of par- ticipation and general unawareness don't matter be- cause the millage passed, but the forum attendance and phone re- sponses really say something about our student body. They say many students are ignorant and indifferent. It is, however, every person's right to be ignorant and indifferent. So I won't say you're col- lege students, use your heads; and I won't say you're adults, assume some responsibility. I also won't say it's your school, have a say in it; and I won't say they' re spending your money, tell them what you want. You don' t have to be in• terested or informed . You don't have to care, so I won't say these things. I am tired of hearing igno• ranee and seeing indifference, so next time you have a complaint, fix it or live with it, just don't whine to me about it. Youth reach.out, make a promise for tomorrow The Polemic Staff Adviser .... . .. Sonya Titus Layout Editor ... Jen Goodburne BY DENINE KONWINSKI COPY-EDITOR Last week five middle and high school state finalists in the VFW - sponsored Voice of De- mocracy essay contest presented veterans and members of the La- dies Auxiliary with their compositions. I was lucky enough to be oneofthe peopleon the receiving end of those essays. We were moved by the bared emotions before us. The students spoke of aspi- rations and dreams, goals and expectations, their hopes of the future. They spoke to us about what it means to them to be a part of a place called America. They spoke of what their responsibili- ties are as citizens and leaders. All had impressive goals - among them a prospective kin• dergarten teacher and a hopeful physician in a rural area. They don't see higher edu- cation as simply a means to improve themselves. They see it as a way to reach out to others in need of help. All have an impressive list of scholastic accomplishments. To me this is proof that their high personal goals are by no means (sometimes) make a twenty foot jump shot? There are many things to be offended by in this school, in No. I don't think paying for a parking privilege would solve the parking problem. - Pameula Plemmons Yes, I'd be willing to pay so I wouldn't have to walk so far, especially in this cold. - Doran Parker unattainable, but that much more realistic. Needless to say, I was im- pressed. It's refreshing to hear that kids today really do care, espe- cially in a country where for generations the U.S. has been at the mercy of ~the younger gen- eration." As the rest of the world seems to be crumbling, it's com- forting to know we have young people full of hope and energy backing us up. They aren't being dragged down into the dark path that too many teenagers take to today. Kids are speaking up and reaching out. More than ever we need to listen and reach out. A few weeks ago, television journalists brought us students in Washington, D.C. who presented Vice President Al Gore with an almost desperate plea for help . President Clinton was subject to the same plea a short while later. These high school students, as well as those that read us their essays, are proof. They want to Copy Editor ... Denine Konwinski Sports Edi tor .. Jeremy Williams News Editor .... Shawn Dempsey Cartoonist ........ Carol Burns Photographer ... Linda Simpson Contributors Jim Ballmer Scott Reed Melody Sharp Don Pilarski Gary Pingel Katie Dilks Angela Beaubien Kendra Jones Jenell LeFevre Kara Boomer Deb Haske The Polemic is puhlished hi-montliy, and is distributed free of charge. Opinions ex- pressed are strktly those of the wri ters. Questions. con- cerns. and other input can he droppi;:d off at The Polemic office in Besser Ttth 110, or in our mailbox in BTC Mail correspondence to: change themselves for the better, The Polemic they want to learn, and they want Alpena Colllllluuity College to make a difference. 666 Johnson Street peopl~~:~ :e:'~~~~te:f:g~any """'=~Al~pe~m~ ·~M~l~497~0~7="'/d this country, and in this world. member, don' t take yourselves Phi Theta Kappa's campaignslo- so seriously. Nobody else does. gan is not one of them. In the future dear offended faculty Jim Byrley Would you be willing to pay for parking privileges at VLHparking lot? No, it's alright as it is. - Audrey Papke Ye..~, l 'd he willing to pay as long as it wasn't too high of a price - Tom Soltysiak Yes, I'm not too lazy to walk, hut my only class is in VLH. - Deborah Larson