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Opinion Parking procedure is questionable Jl,Y SHAWN DEMPSEY STAFF WRITER being towed away, only wheel locked and disabled in the parking lot forever? And if towed, where does the car go? Is it a nice place where a happy home ING ~u~~~t:; t!:!ii~;:k ":iiiR~; will be provided'! utilized for students V:ho receive several warni:;~h:~~:\: ~~i~~~::~;i;:~:;;; tow warnings. The tme for removal of Improperly parked? Does this mean the this apparatus which makes your vehicle vehicle is parked in the wrong area? inoperable is $20." Doesn't a wheel lock immobilize the This brings to mind several deep offending vehicle in the offending posi- and intriguing questions, such as, how tion? Could this possibly be defeating will this "be utilized for students'!" the purpose? Wouldn't it be more effective to utilize And how many of these locks are the wheel lock on students' vehicles there? Are there several, or just one? If rather than on students, as the quote there is just one, and it is being utilized suggests? If a student is utilizing the to disable a defenseless vehicle, does the wheel lock, is he able to move his ve- rest of the student body need to worry hide? For that matter, is he able to about being towed away? If there are ~;v::rt ~~~~n:~:t;,~v:, :e:s t~t~:~~ several of these contraptions, could this be a conspiracy? Is this the new punish- ment for the ever dreaded PARKING OVER THE LINE? improve class attendance? And how many warnings does it take to get towed away? If the tow warnings were enforced, wouldn't it seem unnecessary to use this apparatus" Has anyone actually seen a vehicle being towed? Is there no real danger of Isn't a car private property? Is it legal to do this to Americans? If it is legal. is the telephone number for Dial- A-Ride a part of this service? Will absences due to carjacking be excused? Movie Message is Befuddling BY JIM BALLMER STAFF WRJTER talk to a "shrink", some avoid the subject and over indulge themselves ~--------~ in their jobs (we are in a recession At the end of the politically be- fuddled movie "Falling Down", an exasperated Michael Douglas asks. "I'm the bad guy?" Well Michael, to the non-white male population, you quite possibly are. We are in the miili;t of an un- usual social upheaval. With the elec- tion of Bill Clinton, women and mi- norities have been included in more political offices than ever before. At the beginning of this century, women weren't allowed to vote. Now women make decisions at the White House and voice their opinions. Racial mi- norities have made equal strides. You'll rarely see a TV commercial that doesn't have a representative from every race on the globe. What does this trend mean for the white male'! Both sides aren't sure. Gun·-toting gang bangers, femi- nists, multi-culturalists, affirmative action employers, rap artists, and Japa- nese tycoons are just a few annoy- ances that menace the modern day white male. And they're all saying the same thing: we never told you how much we disliked you, until now. What is the white male doing in response to this heat? Some "fight back" and join the Aryan nation, some you know), some drink, and some go on a "find my manhood-self-discov- ery-malt bonding weekend", which comedian Denis Leary says is "an- other term for circle jerk as far as I'm concerned." Times aren't too bad though. As far as hard facts and statistics are con- cerned, white males are still enjoying the biggest pieces of pie on the graphs. Only 39.2 percent of the U.S. popu- lation is white male, yet they account for 82.5 percent of the Fortune 500 (people wonh at lea~t $265 million), 92 percent of state governors, 90 per- cent of major daily newspaper edi- tors, and 77 percent of Congress, to name a few. If the white male holds the posi- tion and the money, then why the anxiety? I think it comes from the fact that we're not sure where the "line" is anymore. In the time you took to read this article, people around the world were working to mold a better planet, work- ing to make a better future. Nobody is sure what the future of the white male is, but for the present, I think software editor Neil Froemming said it best of white males. "We still have the power, but nobody likes us." Students Speak What kind of concerns do you have about Gov. Engler eliminating the use of property tax to fund Michigan education? Alice Blasky " I wish Conni.eBinsficldthebcst of luck in her little project. I 1in- cere\y hope hat thi• will help the school. Butifitdoesn'twork,there better b.: a back up plan. " page 5 ~ POLEMIC Vol. 3 Issue 1 September 11, 1993 I According to The Splinter, ACC's daily newsletter, "A wheel Io,,ck· will be utilized for students who receive several tow warnings • • ~==Editor to the In the last issue (Spring '93) of THE POLEMIC, the Co-Editor , Ms. Konwinski, editorialized about minori- ties. In the editorial she purported to show that "Palestinians, Afro-Ameri- cans, Arabs, Jews and Atheists" are not minorities. On the contrary, she argued, "your brother and your dad" were the minorities. This opening salvo of this disjointed and distasteful dia- tribe indicates the racial, ethnic and religious insensitivity of the author since the assumption is that all the readers of this editorial (and their brothers and dads) were white, Christian Anglo-Sax- ons. Or is she suggesting that the Pal- estinian, Afro-i}merican, etc., students or instructors at Alpena Community College cannot read? Her second assumptiion is that the use of the term "minority" always re- fers to numbers. Most ofus have come to understand that a group is some- times referred to as minoritiy because they are less powerful than those who control them. Linguistic purists may bridle at such a use, but women, as one blatant example, are often referred to as a minority despite there numeri- cal superiority, because they have been exploited and underempowered through- out history. She then goes on to assert that it is the Palestinian, Afro-American, etc. who "join the service and when faced with war, decide it's against their reli- gion to fight". Would Ms. Konwinski care to place a wager? I would be will- ing to bet significant parts of my anatomy that the overwhelming major- ity of conscientious objectors in Ameri- can history have been white, and Chris- tian. I've never heard ofan athiestC.O., although I would assume that's possible. Her next assertions parrot the litany identified with white supremacy groups and other far right wackos. First, that the folks who "work for a living, struggle to keep going, etc." are Cau- casian Christians. Secondly, that "the poor, the disadvantaged, and the lazy" are Palestinians, Afro-Americans, Ar- abs, Jews, and Atheists. Stereotypes, generalizations and simply not corre- spondent to the facts. Her final "proof" is the breakdown of the entire world population, in which she numbers 58.4% Asians, 12.4% Eu- ropeans, 8.4% Soviets, 5.2% North Americans and .6% Australians and New Zealanders. She then says these figures show that those who are called "minorities" are really in the majority and vice versa. This is a specious argu- ment for at least the following reasons: 1.If we're talking about "whites", are not Soviets, Europeans, North Americans, and Australian/New Zealanders counted together? If so, they constitute 20.8%, the second largest block, and minor only to the Asians. Also, however, if they are, we would have to exclude Mongolian Soviets, Ab- original Australians, Native American North Americans, Afrikaaner Africans, Gypsy Europeans, Semitic Africans, Norma Reynolds " etc., etc., ad infinitum. 2.The previous paragraph should make it obvious that Ms. Konwinski's problem (excuse me, one of her many problems) with logical thought is that she has confused race with nationality and/or religion. Furthermore, if she is suggesting that the largest group (Asians) are a minority that is dredg- ing from the American welfare bowl in disproportionate numbers, I would sug- gest she check her statistics. In brief, (for which I'm already too long winded) the editorial was rac- ist, bigoted, and nationalistic. All of these, of course are permissable, if re- grettable, on the editorial pager. What is less excusable is the lack of logical and factual support for her positions, which indicate a neglected education at best. It certainly would not reflect well on our institution if other college stu- dents elsewhere suspect that the editor's opinions are shared by the general stu- dent body. Keith Titus Instructor Editor'scomment: Oneofthepur- poses of The Polemic is to open the avenues for free discussion. Thank you for your input. I'm looking forward to a job in theschoolsystcminabout5yc.ars .. iftheslJlteisn'tsurehowto fund education n the future, my chances of geuing a job will be decreased ~ POLEMIC STAFF Advisor . . . .... Sonya Titus ·copy Editor ...... Denine Konwinski Layout Editor .... Jen Goodburne " Jay Bushey " lfthispasses,thebestofluck,but I wonder where they will get the moneyforthcsehools. Eitherway, I feel that we will be IJlxed in anotherway,solctitbe " Photographer ..... Linda Simpson Cartoonist ......... Carol Burns ~ CONTRIBUTORS Shawn Dempsey Don Clute Jim Ballmer Kendra Jones Tina Jones Jenell LeFevre Melody Sharp Jeremy Williams Sarah Edwards Howard Buse Gary Pingel Scott Reed Matt Stema Don Filarski ~ Pot.EMC is published bi-monthly according to the semester schedule, and is distributed free of charge at the lounges and several other campus locations. Opinions expressed are specifically those of the writer. Questions, concerns and other input can be dropped off at ~ PoLEMc office in Besser Tech 110, or in our m£1ilbox in BTC. Mail correspondence to: J POLEMc, ALPENA COMMUNITY COLLEGE 666 JOH'-ISON STREET ALPENA, MICHIGAN 49707