The Telescope 53.12

Streak ends

Tuu-or-war

Comets lose to Cuyamaca after six straight wins.

~It's

time for Elian Gonzalez to go home.

Opinion, page S

Sports, page S

~'

Monday,. Feb. 7,. 2000

Volunte 53,. Nuntber 12

Palontar College- San Marcos,. Calif.

Students push for more library hours

;Freshmen say they skated through high school

Tom Chambers Editor in Clue[

~

Christine Tatum

Palomar College's library will be open for two extra hours a day during finals week if members of the Associated Student Government get their way.

In the middle of last October, ASG senator Shalina Mahendra collected more than 160 signatures on petitions asking the library to be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.

"We had to have at least 30 signatures on the petition," Mahendra said. "I gathered more than 100 on the first petition."

The biggest roadblock to extending the hours is funding, Mahendra said.

It will cost about $800 to extend the hours for one week, according to Dr. George Mozes, director of the library. That does not include the first floor computer lab, he said.

"It would cost a couple hundred more dollars to extend the hours of the lab," Mozes said.

When the petitions were first pre-

College Press

CHICAGO - This year's college freshmen said they spent their last year of high school strolling in late for class and dodging homework -- and still managed to maintain an A average.

Don't be too impressed, say researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles, whose annual survey of college first-years is designed to show how students' attitudes and goals change over time. The resulting study, released this week and now in its 34th year, is conducted by UCLA's Higher Education Institute and based on responses from 261,217 students at 462 two and four-year institutions.

Students' answers reflect their last year of high school and their expectations of college.

1 The rigors of college study must have been a shocker to many firstyears. who reported what researchers called more 11 disengagement" from academics than ever. A record 40 percent of students reported frequently feeling bored in class, up from 38 percent last year and from a low of 26 percent in 1985. A whopping 63 percent of students, the most ever, also said they showed up late for class frequently or occasionally, compared with 49 percent in 1966.

Signs of the students' disinterest in academics showed in their study habits, too. Thirty-two percent of freshmen said they spent six or more hours a week studying or doing homework during their last year of high school -- down from 44 percent of students when the question first was asked. Forty percent of students said they studied !Jess than three hours a week, and 17 percent said they studied less than one hour a week.

Despite their aversion to studying, many students reported they managed to hold on to an A average in high school. A record 34 percent of students said they 'scored the top grade, compared with an all-time low of 13 percent in 1969. Conversely, only 12 percent of last year's high school seniors said they earned a C, down from a record high of 33 percent in 1969.

So, what's up with the good grades? Two words, researchers said: "grade inflation. 11 In other words, giving students higher grades for average work.

And for many students, schoolwork is focused very much on the basics. Researchers found that more students are taking remedial courses than ever -- particularly in mathematics and foreign languages (13 percent and 5 percent respectively). Overall, 18 percent of firstyear college students took a remedial course in high school, up from a low of 12 percent in 1982.

"Although these percentages are relatively small, they represent hundreds of thousands of students nationwide, thus emphasizing the need for colleges and universities to accommodate growi numbers of students who may u..: academically under-prepared," the report states.

sented, Mozes tried to get funding to extend the hours.

"We could not secure the monies to keep the library open," Mozes said. "It's not on the budget- we are strictly budgeted."

Mozes said the library has an annual budget of $1.5 million, $200,000 of which is used for materials (books, journals, videos, etc.).

At that point, it was too late to get the money from ASG, Mahendra said.

"It was two weeks before finals - there was no way we could do it," she said. "It takes at least three weeks to get money approved through ASG." Mahendra now feels the money should not come from the ASG budget, but from somewhere else at the college.

"Why should the students have to pay more money to keep the library open so they can study?" Mahendra said.

Mozes said the library hours will remain the same until a source of funds is found.

"Until we find a way to pay for it, we can't do it," he said. "It's just not budgeted."

Witches use campus to gain meeting attendance Nancy Seuschek Se>m Colburn I The Telescope

The new security tower is in parking lot 12, but can be moved to other lots.

Security tower •

arr1ves on campus Tom Chambers Editor in Chief

Students parking in lot 12 will find company in the air. A new security tower, that raises 20 feet with hydraulics, has been placed in the lot to help campus police fight crime.

"If you're a burglar trying to take a stereo out of a car, you'll think twice with the tower there," said Tom Plotts, Chief of the Palomar College Police Department.

A campus police officer will be stationed in the tower and connected by radio to officers on the ground.

"It's the same as having four additional officers on foot in the lot," Plotts said.

The $35,000 tower was purchased last fall, and arrived on campus during the winter break.

It is air conditioned, fitted with halogen lights, can run on solar power or gas, and can be hitched to a truck to move it around campus.

Palomar first heard about the towers from Cerritos College in Norwalk, which already has three of the towers.

With the towers, Cerritos has decreased vehicle thefts and bmglaries by 80 percent, Plotts said.

"We (at Palomar) have had no vehicle burglaries since we've

Tom

Ch~mbers

I The Telescope

Looking out of the tower toward the campus shows how much the officers can see from inside. had the tower," said Bruce Bishop, director of student activities.

Plotts said the college will test the tower in different parking lots to see where it is the most effective.

"At this point, we're experimenting with it," he said. "If we purchase another one or move it, it will probably go in lot 9."

Palomar College Police Field Supervisor Gerard Perez said the tower has already been handy.

He was in the tower during the

first week of classes when two women started to put fliers on cars.

"I poked my head out the window and shouted to them," he said. "They turned around and didn't see me at first, then they looked up."

He told the women they needed to get permission to put fliers on cars.

The tower was purchased with funds from a grant the college received from the conservation corps.

Staff Writer

A pagan priest and priestess strolled the Palomar campus last semester and tacked brightly colored fliers to the bulletin boards.

The posters were invitations to an open discussion group called Circle by the Sea, which meets Friday nights in Vista.

Dylan Pendragon and his partner Freewo/man (the slash is to signify both male and female aspects of herself) are working professionals in their 40s. Pendragon has a Ph.D. in philosophy. They don't use their real names when discussing witchcraft publicly because they say they would be fired from their jobs for their beliefs. They have attracted Palomar students in the past with fliers, and do not consider it recruitment.

"We don ' t proselytize," said Freewo/man, who wears several long, symbolic necklaces with her conservative blouse. "It's against our fundamental beliefs." She said they simply seek like-minded people to talk with about spiritual issues.

Pcndragon wears a metal pentagram on a chain. "Sometimes new people turn up around Halloween," he said. "They're usually disap-

pointed."

"They're expecting some ~ort of cross between a seance and a black mass," Freewo/man said. "We're pretty norn1al."

According to several Web sites and a pamphlet written by Freewo/man, witches are practitioners of a nature-based belief system .

They may perform rituals according to the turning of the seasons or the phases of the moon. Most witches believe in God, but also in different expressions of God, such as the Goddess and other deities. They believe in cosmic justice, or karma, as well as in reincarnation and do not believe in the concept of sin.

They believe people are capable of performing magic through the use of natural psychic power. A magical spell is a series of steps to direct the will to a desired end.

Energy is drawn from the Earth, concentrated, and sent out to the world.

Freewo/man's pamphlet says the roots of witchcraft precede recorded history, involving ritual and ceremony to achieve harmony with the Earth and various gods. Some old traditions were lost when indigenous religions met with militant Christianity, and were forced under-

see WITCHES, page 3

\Nhere vve transfer The number of Palomar students who transferred UC system and the CSU system. to the • ..0 ()o.

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624

Source: Palomar College Institutional Research & Planning

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The Telescope •

NeW'S

Monday, Feb. 7, 2000

WITCHES: Meetings attract students Continued from page 1 ground.

At a recent meeting, nine people ··athered in a rented Vista church </ room, and sat in a circle on plastic chairs. The cabinets were painted in a child's hand with bright trees, clouds and blue sky. There was coffee, herbal iced tea and four kinds of cookies on a tray. Freewo/man led a discussion about the history and ~.hilosophy of paganism.

Technically, a pagan is someone who is not a Christian, Muslim, or Jew. Eric Vickoren, 21, came with his mother, his wife, Wendy, and their 2-week-old daughter. He attended Palomar in 1996, and works as a nsh courier for Camp Pendleton.

"My mom got me into it," he said.

"I think she was one of the first members." Although he has no complaints now, he said he was bothered by his first meeting. "All the guy ever talked about was how everything was bad, and people ·:;ere destroying the Earth," Vickoren said.

Pendragon said he doesn't remember that particular meeting.

"Being an earth-based religion, the things that happen to the Earth are very important," he said. "It takes no quantum leap to look around and f"!e the environment really is being destroyed. So it's possible we could have complained about that" He added that he and Freewo/man facilitate the conversation, but the participants drive it.

"I'm not one of those doom-andgloom, end-of-the-world people,"

a friend handed him a flier. he said. "l' m just trying to develop my Lee is a former Palomar student who didn't want her last name print- abilities," he said. "There's only so ed. She came because she noticed a much you can learn from books and flier on a bulletin board at the the Internet Then you have to learn Palomar Unitarian Universalist from other people."

Circle by the ·Sea meets most Fellowship (which is not affiliated with Circle by the Sea). She said she Fridays from 8 to 9:30 p.m. in a has never practiced Wicca, but is classroom at the Palomar Unitarian interested in its traditions. The word Universalist Fellowship at 1600 Wicca is commonly used inter- Buena Vista Drive in Vista. changeably with witchcraft, but tra- Beginning in middle or late ditional Wicca is coven- or group- February, the group will offer basic based. and has specific parameters. · introductory training courses in Ralph, a commercial painter from witchcraft Classes will begin about San Marcos, also did not want his an hour before the Friday meeting, last name printed. He said he does- and will have a fee of $5 or less for n't adhere to any particular belief interactive materials. Call (760) 888system, and came to a meeting after 9704 for more information.

What are "W"itches?

According to the Witches' Voice Web sfte: • W1cca is a legally recognized religion in the United States.

• Neo-poganism is o terrn used most Qften to describe people who follow an earth~based beliei system or religion.

Neo-paganisrn shovld not be <;:onfvsed with the New Age movement, which draws from many esoteri<;: spiritual techniques.

• Witches, Wiccans and other pagans celebrate the se sonal changes in nature.

• Witches' Voice estimates the number of witches, Wiccans and pagans in the United states at 1 million, Of!Q 3 minion worldwide.

HOW ABOUT A GOOD PAYING JOB? Let Student Job Placement help you (not to get a date), but to find that special job.

For more information, visit us in the Student Services Center, or call us at (760) 744-1150, ext. 2362, or visit our website at http://jobplacement.palomar.edu.

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According to "What We Believe," a pamphlet written

by Freewo/man: • Wiccans make no sacrifices of buman or animal life.

• Wiccons do not believe in the concept of·sin, feeling instead that each is responsible for his Of her actions.

• The practice of devil-worship, or Satanism, is not Wiccan.

• Wfcca is not a charismatic cult, or a hierarchicaf religious structure.

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Opinion

The Telescope • Monday, Feb. 7, 2000

Editorial Extending library hours pocket change to college ast semester more than 160 students signed a petition distributed by an Student Associated Government senator asking the library to extend its hours during finals week.

The library hours remained the same because the extra $1,000 to keep it open could not be found.

In the past, the library was open later, but hours were cut because of decreases in the budget. Now the local economy is going strong, and growing faster than ever.

Palomar College has an annual budget of $61 million, of which the library gets $1.5 million. Why is it, then, that when a request to keep the library open for two more hours a day during finals week it's rejected because of money?

One thousand dollars is one 61, OOOth of the total college budget, and one 1,500th of the library's

L

budget. The college couldn't find the extra $1,000 to extend the library hours?

It seems the funds to keep the library open later would be easy to find m the it's college's coffers pocket change.

It also seems the college jump at the would opportunity to invest a small amount of money to give students the opportunity to study more. Does Palomar not see that as worth the measly amount of $1,000? Or is the college just being lazy?

It was suggested the ASG pay for it, but why should students have to pay to keep the library open? The hours were originally cut to keep costs down during a recession. The recession 1s over and the economy robust.

Our student government 'f leaders need to take a stand on this, and not accept a lack of funds as an excuse. The money is there, with the lint in the college's pocket.

Focused on Palomar Monday, February 7, 2000

Volume 53 Number 12

Editor in Chief Tom Chambers Can~pus

Beat Editor Nancy Seuschek

Opinion Editor Amy Bolaski Entertainn~ent

Editor

Evan Blewett

Feature Editor Sean J. O'Connor

Distribution Manager Instructional Assistant Daniel Kwan Lew

Journalisn1 Adviser Wendy Nelson

Photojournalisnl Adviser

Sports Editor Photo Editors Robert Chavis Sean Colburn

Copy Editor Michael Paisner

Online Editor Tom Chambers

Advertising Manager Janet Dorsey

The ·John McCain facade L

istening to the commentators after John McCain's win of the New Hampshire Republican primary last week, one might think the campaign for the nomination was over. They seemed to be in heaven as they told Americans about the reforming senator from Arizona upsetting the hopes of the preppy son of an ex-president.

But do Americans realize how insignificant the New Hampshire primary is? Or how the "outsider" and "reformer" images of McCain are just a facade?

New Hampshire voters continually vote for the renegade. Four years ago New Hampshire Republicans chose Pat Buchanan as their nominee, which did nothing for Buchanan, who lost to Bob Dole and is now running under a different banner. Jn 1980 the "live free or die" state picked George Bush while Ronald Reagan went on to be the nominee.

According to exit polls taken during the primary vote last week, New Hampshire voters said they didn't vote on the issues - and that is obviously clear.

John McCain is not the reformer he would like us to believe he is. He is a product of the current system. In fact, his proposals on campaign finance, health care, tobacco sales and taxes all give more

Ton~

Chan~bers

control to the government! When he debates George W. Bush on taxes and health care, he sounds just like Al Gore.

It's doubtful that New Hampshire Republicans really want to be aligned with ideas that match those of the vice president.

Not only that, but McCain's stand on campaign finance is entirely hypocritical.

He likes to call the current finance system corrupt, but it's what got him elected. It's what is financing his campaign now.

Many will say, "Well, you can't change anything until you get elected," but McCain has been elected six times to national office . It wasn't until a ·couple of years ago that he suggested campaign finance reform.

If McCain was the reformer he is portrayed to be, many of his "reforms" should have already been implemented, as he has been in Congress for almost 20

years. Why did he wait until he ran fo~ president to come out as a reformer?

McCain also is not the outsider many say he is. He is the only Republican candidate to be elected to a seat in Washington, D.C. If someone wants to elect an outsider, they should look to Steve Forbes, or Alan Keyes, but not McCain.

He actually has the most political experience of the bunch.

The wind will soon leave the McCain sails, just like it left Buchanan's in 1996, as the campaign season wears on, and people realize where he stands on the issues. Bush supporters have given $6''1 million to McCain's $9 million, leaving McCain with an empty gun. If it wasn't f-or the recent media blitz, McCain would still be giving stump speeches to Arizona sagebrush.

Unfortunately, many Americans have bought into the McCain facade, and, like those in New Hampshire, will vote for him, not because they understand where he is on the issues, but because he was· a prisoner of war, and h is image as· a reformer.

Chambers is Editor in Chief of The Telescope, and can be reached via email: tommychambers@hotmail.com

Tara Hebert

Paul Stachelek Richardson Miron

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Staff Writers Joanne Appleton, Michelle Bigler, Mark Brown, James Rolfsen, Janis Jaeger, Kimberly La Florey, Douglas LeClair, Arlene Martinez, Laura Mitchell, Bob Odie, Jason Sherrill, Matt Simica, Katie Thompson, Lindsay van Hoorebeke

Staff Photographer Wendy Jones

Staff Cartoonist Irving Martinez

The Telescope welcomes all letters to the editor.

Letters must be typewritten (no more than 300 words) and include the author's n~tme, major and telephone number. The Telescope reserves the right to edit letters for space, and not to print letters containing lewd or libelous comments. Letters must be received by Monday at 3 p.m. to be considered for publication the next Monday.

The Telescope is published weekly on Mondays, except weeks containing holidays or exams.

Signed opinions are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily represent those of the entire newspaper staff, Palomar faculty, and staff, and the Publications Board or the Governing Board.

ADDRESS: The Telescope Palomar College 1140 West Mission Road San Marcos, CA 92069 OFFICE: Room TCB-1 at the north end of campus PHONE: (760) 744-1150, Ext. 2450 FAX: (760) 744-8123, "Attention: The Telescope' E·MAI L: telescope@ palomar.edu WEB SITE: www.palomar.edu/telescope/

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Calif. Newspaper Publishers Assoc.

CF AC

California First Amendment Coalition

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Journalism Association of Community Colleges

Ethnicity shouldn't define opportunity

!

recently attended my first day of classes at San Diego State University. Several things became increasingly clear to me as my day, as well as my feet, limped along. There are far too many people there, the chances of finding a parking spot are akin to the chances of winning the lottery and reverse discrimination is alive and well on campus.

You see, I am a middle-class white female , which apparently renders me undesirable for most financial aid and internship opportunities. Because of the simple fact that there is nothing unique about my skin color or ethnic background, I am denied many opportunites readily extended to minority groups.

I've accepted the fact that I won't receive any consideration for financial aid, excepting loans. This is for a myriad of reasons; one of the main ones is that I am not considered in need of money because I am white. Fine. I looked into scholarships in hopes of finding some help there, but quickly realized many journalism scholarships are geared toward minorities.

Especially the ones I seem to be qualified for on all other counts.

Again, fine. It seems ridiculously unfair to me that despite my hard work and ambition, there are many chances I won't get simply because those chances are reserved for minorites.

Please, don't get me wrong. I firmly believe every hard-working student deserves an equal shot at financial aid, internships and in the job market. I also believe that equality means allowing

An1y Bolaski

middle-class white Americans like myself the chance to take that shot as well.

I was reviewing some ads for internship positions and summer jobs in the communication department at SDSU, and mistakenly believed I had struck gold. The Boston Globe was seeking applicants for a 12-week, paid internship over the summer.

It couldn' t be a more perfect opportunity for a budding journalism major - experience at one of the nation's more prestigious newspapers. It was paid, at that. Experience is key in journalism, and an outstanding internship is absolutely invaluable as far as getting that experience. This is exactly the reason I was so angry when I read the qualifications applicants must meet in order to be eligible, and realized that yet again, I was not.

The ad indicated that applicants should have strong communication skills, experience working on a student newspaper, the ability to type 30 words per minute and clippings of work published. Great - I have all of those things. I've worked hard to get where I am and to make myself as marketable as possible for a shot at positions like this one. Apparently none of

those things matter though: only AfricanAmericans, Hispanics and Native Americans were encouraged to apply. Yet again I am faced with another opportunity that has gone up in smoke for reasons beyond my control, and for reasons that certainly have nothing to do with talent, drive or specific abilities. And yet again, I have run into something that does nothing more than foster and breed bad relations among a variety of ethnic groups. That something is favoritism based on race, which is something we have struggled for years to overcome. It's just the other side of the coin this time.

What if that ad had indicated that only whites need apply? Surely it would have been viewed as discriminatory. Surely an outpouring of complaints and outrage would have ensued, . and in all likelihood the ad would have been changed promptly to ensure that equal opportunity hadn't been shelved on the back burner. So why exclude whites? Does discrimination only come : in one color and one ethnicity?

We should all be extended the saine chance to succeed, but a chance based on talent and effort, whether at Palomar, SDSU or another academic institution. This thinly veiled attempt at "equal opportunity"· is nothing more than reverse discrimination of the worst sort, and certainly will do nothing to improve educational standards or racial harmony until everyone truly has a fair shot. n

Bolaski is the Opinion Editor, and can be '· reached via email: amyb776@hotmail.com

Opinion

The Telescope • Monday, Feb. 7, 2000

¥\ttem.pt at tradition on hot 'streak'

Sean J. O'Conno

Alex Ross College Press

T

ULANE UNIVERSITY, La. -It's the stuff of legend.

Just like the story about a past editor-inchief of Tulane University's Hullabaloo who came up with the name "Green Wave" back in 1920.

It's the stuff of tradition.

Just like the story about how one small Midwestern college's mascot came to be the White Donkey (and oddly enough, the ;tory doesn't involve the consumption of massive amounts of tranquilizers on the part of the mascot's namers).

It's the stuff of myth.

Just like the stories about the University of Virginia student body who don suits and ties, dresses and heels, and sing songs .during home football games: "Kum Bay ·All My Lord, Kum Bay Ah ... " (Beat that, Florida State). , It's the stuff of legend, tradition and :myth. :: Or at least someday it might be. · During finals last semester, 10 or so brave Tulane students dropped their :britches, tossed their bras and bared their buns in an attempt to start a tradition on ~this apathy-filled campus. · They painted themselves top to bottom in blue and green, publicized their plans via mass e-mails days in advance and on ' the fated night jogged down McAlister Drive, one of this campus', er, main strips. ' For some of the hundreds of onlookers it was horror. For others it was humor. For still others it was a scene straight out of Fox TV's highly-acclaimed television program "When Streakers Attack."

•But whatever it was this fact remains: 10 or so brave students streaked Tulane. . That's right.

They streaked. · Pure, 110 percent nudity. In the buff, wearing their birthday suits, playing with tincle Steve.

They were naked.

1•t Granted, painting your body and jogging down a street at 9 p.m. isn't the most conventional way to celebrate school spirit. The streakers, who ranged in year from fteshman to senior, could've easily bought a· Tulane sweatshirt or cheered on the men's basketball team or made a small contribution to the university. ,. But they didn't.

Instead, they dropped their drawers, ·.painted giant 'T's on their chests, and before walking out the door, consumed a lot, and I mean a lot, of alcohol. . · Jose Cuervo gave them a pat on the back, Jim Beam threw in a few words of encouragement and Sam Adams gave them his blessing.

Needless to say, before long, the streakers were soused, sloshed, ripped, blitzed, plastered, obliterated, and flippin' g on ked -like- a-deer-b 1u dgeoned- by- adrunk-Mississippian-yokel's-honky-tonktruck.

And then they were off into the night.

Down McAlister they went amidst cheers and jeers. Seniors did doubletakes. Juniors fell to their knees.

Sophomores stared in astonishment.

Freshmen, as usual, cried for their mothers.

But somewhere inside, everyone, and I guarantee you everyone, who saw those 10 brave streakers, was cheering.

Cheering for the day when hundreds of students would line McAlister in nothing but blue and green and streak. Streak for Tulane, streak for New Orleans, streak for themselves. · . Streak for their disappearing youth, · streak for that looming future, streak for the sake of streaking. Streak so that one day, when they're old and wheelchair bound, they can remember.

And smile. · Aside from the Running of the Bulls, Tulane has few real traditions. Most universities have several, if not dozens of rituals and legends . . Princeton had, until recently, its Nude Olympics. Florida State has the tomahawk chop. And North Dakota County · Technical College's Deerhorn campus has its nation-high 98 percent dropout rate.

Tulane has its sweatshirts and contributions and face paint but other than that, it doesn't have much.

Ten intoxicated kids running down McAlister and into the December night isn't a part of Tulane legend, tradition, and myth yet.

But with a little luck and a lot of Jim Beam, someday it will be.

S

..

Irving Martinez I Tile Telescope

Eli3.n needs to go home Amy Bolaski Opinion Editor

I

n November, more than 400 Haitian refugees were intercepted by the U.S. Coast Guard, and promptly sent back to Haiti. You probably didn't hear much about that; after all, it's a common occurrence. It's also one that took place precisely the same week Elian Gonzalez was found strapped to an inner tube. off the coast of Florida.

It's interesting that, as a country, we are so concerned with the fate of one little boy, the sudden posterchild for "democracy" and "opportunity in America," when we are so unconcerned with the fate of everyone else. We certainly don't exude such sympathy for all the Haitian, Mexican and other Cuban immigrants (many of whom are children) trying to establish a better life for themselves. They're sent back without a thought, brushed under the carpet and forgotten about. The media will make sure Elian isn't forgotten, but had his mother survived, both would have been shipped back to Cuba before we carved our Thanksgiving turkeys.

This may seem a bit harsh, but the issue has little to do with Elian and much to do with the tiresome, strained relations between the United States and Cuba. What U.S. politicians are concerned with, what Castro is concerned with and what many Cuban-Americans are concerned with is the 40-year

embargo on Cuba, citizenship laws and a U. S. market that other countries take advantage of freely while we do not. A loophole in the current citizenship laws called the "wet feet, dry feet" rule is also an issue that will gain more attention because of Elian. Typically, Cubans who manage to arrive on land are al1owed to stay and claim asylum after a year.

These things concern everyone, much more so than one little boy.

Of course, we fee] some compassion for a six-year-old who recently lost his mother, because it's a sad thing. Let's be real here, though. If we were that concerned about Elian, wouldn't we have promptly returned him to his homeland, his father and his grandparents as quickly as possible? Surely he would be better off, after such a shock, in a familiar environment and without publicity-driven media hounds after him constantly. In fact, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service voted to send him back in the fust place.

He's still here because of a congressional subpoena designed to slow down the process. Seems like a great idea- keep him here just long enough to adjust to his new life, then uproot him again. Keep in mind, his well-being is the only thing we all care about.

For those who like to tout the fact that Elian said he'd like to stay, think about why. Trips to Disney World, cellular phones, go-carts, and a myriad of other new things

that every six-year-old needs - no wonder he wants to stay. Wouldn't any child? Showering a child, who's far too young to have any idea what he really wants, with excessive gifts and public displays of affection is a sick way to manipulate a child for the answers the higher-ups want. What Elian needs is a normal, healthy environment to grow up in with a loving family whether here or Cuba. And for Elian, those things are in Cuba, not the United States.

Yes, his father is a member of the Communist Party. Yes, little Elian will grow up in a communist environment. Go figure, since Cuba is, wdl, a communist country.

Although the middle class in Cuba is small, Elian's father is a part of it. He has a room, toys, friends, a school. He also has his father and all four grandparents there. He has some cousins and great uncle here.

Let's send him back to his home, with his father. We aren 't sending him back to some horrible, oppressive life, just one with a far different political environment and less opportunity.

He isn't starving, he isn't mistreated - and if we're going to keep him, let's set a precedent. It's time to offer a11 of the children who are victims of communistic oppression a chance here. Bring on the rafts, because everyone deserves the same chance in life the right to grow up here... especially those far worse off than Elian Gonzalez.

On a ~itch hunt, again

H

ere we go again. It happens more often than we care to admit. We lose our heads. We regularly invent our scapegoats.

In Puritan times, it was the Salem Witch Trialso. The whole town lost its mind.

In the 1920s, it was the Red Scare. We even had a vessel, the Red Ark, to ship all the Bolsheviks (that's what Communists were called then) back to Russia.

In the 1940s, during World War II, we forced Japanese-Americans to sell their property and sent them to intern camps for the duration. They were second-class citizens.

In the 1950s we were still seeing Reds in Hollywood actors. And when we didn't see them there, we saw them in professors at universities. It was called McCarthyism.

In the 1980s we shifted to nursery schools where nursery school teachers were accused of the most heinous and preposterous crimes imaginable against children. And we believed all of it at the time! Most of the cases were reversed, but reputations were ruined.

Now we have a new scapegoat, Wen Ho Lee. And, indirectly, the Chinese community.

Lee worked as a scientist at the Los Alamos Laboratories in New Mexico for almost 20 years. A Taiwanese-bom, selfeffacing 60-year-old, a naturalized American, he appears the most unlikely espionage agent you could imagine. A Sean Connery, he is not.

The trouble began with a front page New York Times story on March 6, 1999. The Times reported the Chinese were involved in massive thefts involving nuclear secrets stolen from Los Alamos by the Chinese in 1988.

Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) charged Chinese spies were involved in stealing the "crown jewels of our nuclear arsenal."

And the prime suspect was still working in Los Alamos.

China maintained it developed the miniature W-88 warhead on its own. It certainly is capable of doing that. Then China said what knowledge it did get, it got from the Internet.

It didn't take long for the suspect to be identified. Lee had, indeed, gone to China with his wife in the 1980s several times. He did speak to some scientists casually. He was on a cultural exchange visit and had all the proper permissions.

He fit the "profile."

But there were problems; the FBI couldn't find any evidence on him. Then it came out that his wife actually worked for the FBI in China! And do most Taiwanese have a soft spot for the Chinese government? Hardly.

Some profile.

Nonetheless, he was fired from his job without a nod to due process in the form of a hearing.

Early last month, Lee was accused of violating several security procedures, but not of espionage. How many of those in Los Alamos could be tripped up because of breaches of security procedures? A lot, I suspect.

Lee now sits in a New Mexico jail without baiL On March 7, 1999, one day before Lee was fired, the FBI continued their questioning of Lee. They told him he failed the lie detector test- when they knew he passed it! Not only did Lee pass the test, but he also achieved a very high score for truthfulness.

"I don't know why I failed. But I do know I have not done anything... I never gave any classified information to the Chinese.. . I am an honest person. I'm telling you all the truth, and you do not believe it," Lee said.

The FBI asked him if he knew about the Rosenbergs. He was informed that the Rosenbergs did not cooperate with the FBI and because they did not cooperate with the FBI they were put to death.

Cox sensed a spy scandal. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson needed to find someone. The presidential candidates had their own Chinese theft to worry about in presidential contributions to the Democratic Party.

And Wen Ho Lee was, and remains, a target of opportunity.

Is our security so weak that once a theft has been discovered, it cannot trace it?

The FBI has lied, not Wen Ho Lee. And FBI agents were threatening him with death?

We deserve better.

Wen Ho Lee deserves better.

The Chinese-Americana community are now feeling the chill of being "suspect" because of the Wen Ho Lee incident.

Chinese-Americans also deserve better.

O'Connor is the Feature Editor, and can be reached via email: shlin@aol.com

6

Arts &

Entertainment

The Telescope â&#x20AC;˘ Monday, Feb. 7, 2000

'Eye of the Beholder' just an eyesore Bottom: Joanna Eris (Ashley Judd) flees from the law and her past in "Eye of the Beholder".

Eye ofthe Beholder t

Rating:

*

(out of tour stars)

Starring: ,Ewan McGregor Ashley Ju<id Jason Priestly Evan Blewett Arts & Entertainment Editor

The irritating aspect about watching "Eye of the Beholder" is at some point, you keep expecting the errant plot strands to somehow weave together for an emotionally satisfying payoff or clever roundup. Alas, that moment never comes.

Too bad, because the movie generates enough high-tech noir style to Top: The Eye (Ewan McGregor) secretkeep you watching and hoping. It ly follows around the object of his struggles hard to maintain an air of affection. style with a sunless posh atmosphere and constant ctislocation, but Ewan McGregor plays The Eye, a British ultimately gets caught up in its own need for intelligence ace haunted by visions of his sheer strangeness.

The movie is so demented and overdone; long lost 9-year-old daughter whom he's it's hard to feel anything as you watch it. The never seen. His attitude toward everything in superficially artsy execution overshadows his life is so unconcerned and insipid; it's not any attempts to take us deep inside the char- surprising when we find out his wife left him acters, and instead presents us with an objec- high and dry. tively viewed string of almost random acts of His contact Hilary (played by singer k.d. violence. This movie resembles a jigsaw puz- lang, who apparently had nothing better to zle with nothing but edge pieces. Potentially do) charges him with the assignment of tracgood performances are wasted because the ing the actions of a VlP's reckless son.

During the job, he witnesses and phofilmmakers don't trust their story enough.

tographs a sultry American girl (Ashley Judd) bloodily offing the playboy and disposing of the body (for reasons that we never discover).

Naturally, he falls for her, hard.

The killer, named Joanna Eris, then jets around the country with the Eye furtively following her every move as they endlessly bounce from city to city (a tiresome effect represented by snow globes).

With him secretly watching but never taking action, she involves herself in a series of campy, unconnected episodes, often involv-

ing a man meeting with a violent end.

The result is a befuddling miasma of dreamy set pieces, harruned up for good measure (like greeting a New York detective in her hotel room sporting nothing more than a lace teddy and pumps).

All the while, the Eye's obsession for her deepens with every ambiguously bizarre move she makes.

Separating himself from his work, he becomes this woman's high-tech guardian angel, helping her escape the feds from behind the scenes.

As if she needs it. Having been raised in a militant orphanage run by the strongwilled feminist Dr. Brault (Genevieve Bujold), she is fully complacent in her role as an identity-switching, wigswapping, troubled serial murderess.

The disturbing misadventures experienced by the unknowing couple winds down in Alaska, of all places, where Joanna suddenly lands a waitress job at a remote diner.

The Eye quickly becomes a regular customer, and together through a series of inaction they march off into the sunset of forgettable

boredom.

Jason Priestly enters in for about 10 minutes as a bleached blonde desert drifter to add a hint of spice, but by the time his junkie perversions begin to take over it's far too late to salvage this corker.

Directed by Stephan Elliott (of "Priscilla" fame), "Eye of the Beholder" could have worked if the story had stabilized on a solid foundation of cause-and-effect and not left so many unanswered questions hanging limply in the air like day-old balloons.

New biography explores legend that was Vince Lombardi Sean O'Connor Feature Editor

David Maraniss' book, "When Pride Mattered," chronicles the life of Vincent Thomas Lombardi, the celebrated football coach of the Green Bay Packers. The book is more than just Lombardi, the football coach. Maraniss portrays a comprehensive study of this !pythic figure which includes his family, his religion, his education, his philosophy, the personalities he came in contact with as well as an indepth look at the teams he coached and struggled against.

At Fordham in 1937, Sleepy Jim Crowley coached the 60-minute lineman, Lombarcti. Crowley was one of Notre Dame's four backfield players who were immortalized by the best sports writer of the day, Grantland Rice, who likened the Notre Dame backfield to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from Revelations: Conquest, War, Pestilence and Death. They easily defeated every team they encountered.

Lombardi, a player on the Fordham Rams' line, also laid claim to fame as a member of the Seven Blocks of Granite, a line that could not be breached by opposing teams.

Thus we have the legends of the Four Horsemen and the Seven Blocks of Granite intertwined along with three fabled coaches: Knute Rockne, Crowley and Lombardi.

After graduation from Fordham, Lombarcti spent two years trying to find himself. For a while he worked for Dupont. He half-heartedly spent a semester io law school. Then he was offered a job as assistant football coach at St. Cecilia's High School in Englewood, New Jersey. Here he found his vocation in life. Later, as head coach at St. Celica's, he piled up an excellent win record and was offered a job as offensive line coach at his alma mater.

After coaching at Fordham, came four years of working terback sneak, a play neither practiced nor found in Green with Coach Red Blaik at West Point and two years with the Bay's playbook. He plunged across the goal line. Green Bay New York Giants where Tom Landry coached the defensive won the game.

The triumph was vintage Lombardi. He was demanding of line and Lombardi coached the offensive line.

Finally, his big break came at the age of 47 when he left the his men, grueling in his workouts but, in the end, his players Giants to become head coach of a down-and-out team in the who worked with called him "one beautiful man."

Ray Scott, a television sportscaster, said, "Of all the games hinterlands at Green Bay, Wise. The face of American football was about to change I've done, that final drive was the greatest triumph of will over because of Lombardi's adversity I'd ever seen. It was a thing of beauty."

The game is now referred to as the lee Bowl. coaching of the Green Bay It was also the beginning of the Lombardi legend which Packers.

One of the most memo- seems to grow larger with each passing year, now some 30 rable games at Green Bay years after his death. happened when the Packers Once again in the Ice Bowl, Lombardi had instilled in his wrestled with the Dallas team the will to win against impossible odds. "Winning isn't Cowboys, who were then everything; it's the only thing," he said. Maraniss goes into coached by Lombardi's erst- detail about what the phrase may or may not mean in the while colleague in the American psyche.

In the end, of course, Lombardi didn't mean winning by fair Giants, Landry, on Dec. 31, means or foul - he was a man of integrity - but he did insist on 1967.

The temperature was 13 excellence backed by practice, endless driHs, a restless pursuit degrees below zero. One of perfection, a willingness to endure pain and sacrifice and writer wrote the breath, hit- putting the team before an individual's personal concern. ting the cold air from playLombardi believed in fair play but not the concept of the ers and fans, rose from the "good loser." field like "big buffaloes on While at West Point, he was also influenced by General the winter plains. It was Douglas MacArthur who was a loyal follower of Army football pre-historic." The field was and who said, "There is no substitute for victory."

Lombardi's favorite scripture quotation was from Saint Paul, rock hard. For most of the game, Dallas was beating "All the runners at the stadium are trying to win, but only one the Packers on their own of them gets the prize. You must run in the same way, run to turf. At half-time, Dallas win." A deeply religious man, he attended mass each morning dominated the game, 14-10. and regularly said the Our Father with his team before games.

One suspects when Lombardi says, "Winning is the only By the end of the third quarter, Dallas still Jed, 17-14. thing," he, like St. Paul, is really talking about the price everyIn the fourth quarter, the one must pay to live a life of integrity.

John Facenda, ESPN sportscaster, said, "Lombardi, a certain Packers were on the 32 yard line with 68 yards to go for a magic still lingers on the very name. It speaks of duels in the touchdown and four minutes snow and the cold November mud."

Maraniss comments that Green Bay's run to the champiand 52 seconds left. Some fans, even committed sports onship in 1996 brought more attention to Lombardi. But writers were walking off the field in search of warmth, think- Lombardi, he writes, "is always there anyway, lurking in the national pysche at a deeper level." ing that Dallas carried the day.

The Super Bowl trophy is now called, "The Lombardi Not so. In the waning minutes of the game, the Packer's began their drive. A series of short passes got them to 42 Trophy."

"When Pride Still Mattered" is a page-turner. Excitement yards of the goal. Bart Starr, the Packer's quarterback, moved the baH to the Dallas 30 with one minute and 35 sec- leaps off every page. For those who have lived through this onds to go. It came down to a final play with 20 seconds era, the book once more brings to life memories that cannot be remaining and one yard from the goal line. Lombardi told forgotten. For those who have not lived these moments, this Starr to run it. Chuck Mercein, the halfback, expected to run book is as thrilling as any novel they may read. "When Pride the ball. Starr improvised. He executed an unexpected quar- Still Mattered" is a book not to be missed.

Evan Blewett

Super Bowl ads not what they used to be As a long-standing effect of tradition, every Super Bowl in recent memory has been a predictable snoozer compared to the year's most ingenious commercial ads that take place during the game.

Now, in the year 2000, at Super Bowl XXXIV, the tides have turned.

The January 30 game featuring the St. Louis Rams against the Tennessee Titans, from kick off to the final losing yard, was actually more interesting than the commercials!

Is it fate? Karma? Coincidence?

One reason could be the influx of a new type of advertiser: the Web site. About 30 percent of the ads during the game came from hot, young, new Internet addresses who haven't cut their teeth on the express cleverness needed to live up to Super Bowl ad hype (a feat perfectly mastered by Budweiser and Pepsi).

Another fad observed this year was the art of the understatement.

On several occasions, soundless text serenely and politely asked for your attention (such as lifeminders.com and britannica.com, again both Web sites), offering up perfect opportunities to casually discuss relevant football topics uninterrupted.

In general, many of the afternoon's spots felt underwhelming: Mohammed Ali boxing to the camera for WebMD, Leonard Nimoy and Shaquille O'Neal waxing poetic about Mickey Mouse for Disney, and Mike Ditka supporting the good points of the movie "Runaway Bride" for Blockbuster.

That's not to mention the bizarrely feminist baby promo for Oprah Winfrey's Oxygen Media (Oprah during the Super Bowl?), Mountain Dew's cold cover of the rock classic "Bohemian Rhapsody," and monster.com, featuring a gaunt rendition of Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken."

One can't feel too bad about taking these normally entertaining breaks from the game to go to the bathroom, get a refill on chips and dip, or clean out the garage.

According to www.superbowlads.com, one of the favorite commercials of the entire day voted on was an Anheuser-Busch ad featuring a border collie on a movie set.

Unable to express sad emotions for a cheesy western, he finds his motivation in the memory of being thwarted from chasing a Budweiser truck after an unfortunate leap into a parked minivan.

Cute, but not great. And this was the handpicked favorite?

Most notoriously of all, and the most talked about, will be the spot for Nuveen Investments. The commercial presents a futuristic New York setting at a special gathering in a large auditorium, during which an emcee describes the advances medical science has made in fighting AIDS, cancer, and, as a special point, spinal injuries. Near the end of the ad, Christopher Reeve (with the assistance of a little digital wizardry) rises from a chair at the front of the crowd and haltingly approaches the podium.

It may look and feel like a stoic moment, but the question must be asked: what does Reeve have to do with an investment firm?

In general, the entire afternoon seemed hamstrung from a lack of wit and character. The demure undertakings of commercial ideas running at less than 100 miles per hour perfectly counter-balanced the action and suspense of the Super Bowl itself, which was the best of its kind in years.

' ¡

'

,

The .T elescope •

Monday. Feb. 7. 2000

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5 Hoagies 9 Verdun's river 14 Needle case 15 Sole 16 Art holder 17 Nothing in Nogales 1B Resting atop 19 Speak with lengthened vowels 20 Dilute 21 Puts up with (something) 23 Five iron 25 Parrot 29 Fruit beverage 31 Farm layers 32 Practicable 33 Hemi-score?

34 Livestock tidbit 35 Confine 36 Top 37 Candidate for cement boots 38 Function 39 Bauxite, e.g.

40 Altarvow 41 PensionS 42 Inc. in Britain 43 College cheer 44 Golf gadget 45 Strut 47 Sicilian volcano 48 Wood and Wynn 49 Pakistan pass 50 Seuss or Spack 52 Writer Caldwell 54 Hemingway's sobriquet 57 Italian isle 60 Resting on 61 School collar 62 Once more 63 Stellar blast 64 Tenant's expense 65 Mark sale items 66 Helen of 67 Annexes DOWN 1 Penny 2 Area code 801 3 Incipient

4 Tropical vine 5 Gales from a specific direction 6 Like papered walls 7 Wimbledon fellows 8 Since, in Scotland 9 City SE of Calgary 10 Singer Kitt 11 Member of NATO 12 Stitch 13 Building branch 22 Cash upon termination 24 Shoving with the upper body 26 Wiped out 27 Slurred over 28 Makes over 29 In jeopardy 30 Lack 35 Capital of Benin 46 Peninsula of Portugal 47 Newspaper

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8

Sports

T he Telescope •

Monday, Feb. 7, 2000

PORTS Comets get bit by Coyotes Cuyamaca takes advantage of poor shooting by first place Comets'

Big Jerk Awards are in , • n o surprise who is on top

By Richardson M iron Sports Editor

The last time the Comets were alone on top of the Pacific Coast Conference was 1978, when the club won its only championship.

But after beating San Diego C ity College 56-55 on Jan. 26 the Comets took sole possession of first place and continued their hot streak as they racked up their sixth win in a row.

The streak was snapped, however, ont Saturday, Jan. 29, when the Comets lost 78-67 to the Cuyamaca College Coyotes in the Dome.

The loss dropped the Comets ( 11-12, 5-2) into a tie for first place with MiraCosta College, but that wasn't what displeased Head Coach Virgil Watson.

Poor execution and unproductive shooting is what the first year coach found most dissapointing.

"We've never shot that poorly in a game this entire year," Watson said. "We didn't come focused to play. We had won six in a row, and we had been playing well, so this time we played a bad one."

Watson's assessment that the club shot poorly is putting it lightly.

Other than reserve guard Josh Coe, who scored 23 points, the rest of the squad was inefficient as they combined to shoot a pathetic 24 percent from the field.

The Coyotes (9-13, 4-3) were led by the guard tandem of Anthony Elias and Raymond Hubbard, who combined to score 46 points and responded with clutch baskets any time the Comets tried to mount a rally.

The Coyotes took advantage of sloppy Comet play from the beginning, as they jumped off to an 8-0 start. They held on to the lead until Coe connected on a 3pointer giving the Comets a 32-30 lead with 3:49 seconds left before half-time.

But the Coyotes responded and had control at the intermission 40-36.

The Comets were forced to play catch up all night long as the Coyotes stretched their lead to 10 at one point. But six straight points, on backto-back three pointers by forward Anthony Bolton and Coe kept things interesting as the Comets closed Virgil Watson Men't Bukerball Coach the gap to 51-47 midway through the final half.

That was as close as it would get, however, as the Coyotes were able to fight off all Comet comeback attempts.

"They took our inside game away and we didn't shoot very well on the perimeter," Watson said. "We can't live on the outside. We have to get inside and get some baskets to be successful. I guarantee we will play better games than this one."

Coyote Head Coach Rob Wojtkowski was thrilled with the way his squad

Richardson Miron

I

Forward Anthony Bolton (Vista High School) launches a deep three pointer in the Comets' loss against Cuyamaca.

played, and somewhat surprised that they were able to have their way with the Comets.

"We played great, this was far and away our best game, Wojtkowski said.

"They are a tough team, but they missed a lot of shots. The Comets just seemed off tonight," he said.

HAt the very The Comets will try to worst we are rebound from tied for first their poor shooting and Watson is place. We are confident still in control squad will be his up to future chalof our own lenges. fate.'' "'At the very worst we are tied for first place.

We are still in control of our own fate.

The season is a journey, not a one night stand," Watson said.

There is still a lot of basketball left to be played and the Comets are still in good position to win their first PCC title in the last 22 years.

The Comets will get another chance Wednesday, Feb. 9 against Grossmont College. The game will tip off at 7:30 p.m.

Courtesy l'hnto I Th e Tde.<cope

Forward Grant Brittain (middle #22) and Todd Hetrick (right) await a rebound.

- Additional reporting by Arlene Martinez

MALE ATHLETE

FEMAL E ATHLETE

Fall 1999

Fall 1999

S

SHANNON BROTHERTON

GREG CICERO

Women s Volleyball

Football

hannon Brotherton led the Comets women's volleyball team to an 11-1 record in confererence play. She anchored the team from her middle blocker position where she racked up 102 kills in conference play and 145 overall on the season.

t's already a month into the new year, and sports fans have fresh meat to chew on. Like the Rams victory over the Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV, or just how far the Lakers will go this season.

But 1999 undoubtably left its mark on the sporting world and many athletes will be remembered for what happened during the final year of the century.

Especially those who will never be forgotten for making complete asses of themselves.

Here are some of the folks who I wish would just go away. Then we wouldn't have to hear about their stupid mistakes any more.

6) Chris Mims, formerly of the San Diego Chargers. The last thing this guy needs to be doing is stealing somebody's Del Taco.

Come on Chris, you already weigh 300 Ibs ...

5) Tie between Chad Curtis of the New York Yankees, and Jim Gray of NBC. Gray was way out of line for attacking Pete Rose the way he did and Curtis was j ust as wrong when he facial scrubbed Gray on national television. Both proved to be bush leaguers.

4) Mike Ditka, New Orleans Saints. Not even Chargers General Manager Bobby Beathard would have traded away the farm for the rights to draft Ricky Williams.

3) Ryan Leaf, San Diego Charger.;.

I guess we should congratulate Leaf for actually improving his behavior from his first year in the league.

There wasn't any shouting down sportswriters, or threatening an entire bar to a fist of cuffs, or getting banned from convenient stores. But there was the typical once a year blowup from the big baby.

Leaf's shouting match with Trainer John Hastings and Beathard resulted in a one month suspension that was definitely deserved. All Charger fans can do now is hope for this guy to grow up a little bit, or he will continue to be an annual addition to "Jerk of the Year" lists.

2) Rae Carruth, Ca.-olina Panthers.

Carruth hasn't yet been convicted for murder-, ing his pregnant girlfriend, but just the fact that he was hiding in the trunk of a car is enough for the former wide receiver to be given this award.

The trunk of a car... Come on Rae, ever heard of a closet?

1) John Rocker, Atlanta Braves.

Without a doubt Rocker is the clear cut winner, not only for 1999, but probably for the next• decade. The lefthanded fireballer may be a prescence on the mound, but clearly he is a bonehead as a person.

What annoys me most about this racist is his attempt to make good for what he said.

Face it Rocker, you are a jerk, and nothing you ever say again can make up for the ignorance you showed in that Sports Illustrated interview. , The suspension that he received is peanuts compared to what I would have dished out if I was commisioner.

Early Nominees for 2000. Ray Lewis, Baltimore Ravens and Mike Tyson. Hold the phone on Lewis, he is only being accused of murder, so we can't thrash him just yet. As for Tyson, well I don't know why but I can't imagine him not making the list two years in a row. ·

Q

uarterback Greg Cicero led the Comets to a No. 21 national ranking, and was chosen as a 2nd team All-American. He threw for 2,505 yards in 10 games during the regular season and had 32 touchdown passes to lead the nation.