The_Rambler_2000-02-24

              Suny Farmingdale Celebrates Martin Luther King Jr.
by Christopher CoUora
Last year, SUNY Farmingdale held a trib-ute
to Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a
presentation entitled: "Who Will Stand?: A
call to Leadership". The event featured Rev.
Alfonso ^^att. \^att is a counselor,
educator, public speaker, he believes in
addressing the needs of young people today.
On Thursday, March Rev. Wyatt will
return a year later to address students again.
Last year he came with a message of hope
exemplified by Dr. King. He stated that
"some times, people have to stand up and
be an individual, and refuse to be manipu-lated
by the powers diat be, or the powers
that want to be. Who will stand and exem-plify
what it means to live in a democratic
society, where we are not judged by physi-cal
properties?" He stressed &at we should
mate our education paramount and that we
should not settle for mediocracy but maxi-mize
our skills and talents. To our genera-tion,
he suggested our education; 'That use-less
information we were given, was trying
to teach us how to think; how to think in
the abstract, how to understand the Amda-mental,
how to analyze the issues that con-cern
and threaten the society we will inher-it,
how to solve problems: some of natures,
human, the problems diat divide people and
government." He reminded us th^ Martin
Luther King Jr. talked about dreams, equali-ty,
and about a human community. He dso
state that "It's all right to have dreams, but
dreams that just stay in die back of your
mind, tend to become a ni^tmare; dreams diat
have no trudi or means of actualization, too
many get stuck in that stage". In conclusion, he
suggested that Martin Luther King Jr. left the
seeds of faith in die human condition, seeds of
love; the challenge of loving all of Gods cre-ation,
and the seed of hope.
One student stated that she learned "that it's
about doing things, you have to be yourself and
go out and make your dreams happen for your-self"
Mr. Wyatt stated "It's really important
diat young people to continue to translate Dr.
Kings dream, tfiat they continue to pudi for
equality and justice so diat the dream does not
b^me a ni^tmare"
Dean Fergason stated: " The message as a
challenge was ri^t to die point, we're looking
to continue the dream of Dr. King. What we're
trying to do, being the oldest public college on
Long Island, is to make sure that, as we edu-cate
people, they keep in mind the legacy,
because we won't be here forever. We hope
that your leaders will understand die sacri-fices
that we made on behalf of everyone.
And diat they take die knowledge that they
gained and stand for leadership..."
He hopes that students would understand
the meaning of Dr. Kings teachings about
unity, not just the African-American struggle,
but the struggle for human rights as a whole.
The origins of human diversity flow fix>m
our own fear and difficult accepting of dif-ferences,
whether diey are of culture, reli-gion,
origins, econcMnic class, or race. In
eveiy culture, there are idealists who climb
diat mountain, who dream the dream, who
realize more than die avonge person of die
day. From Gahndi, to Einstein, to Socrates,
there have always been people who have
stood up and tJacsc peoi^e have started revo-lutionary
movements in society, getting the
ball moving. It's time for all of us to take a
stand in our own lives and change for die
better. We are die children of a new age, die
migority of us have grown up more respect-ful
of differences, not oblivious, just less
judgmental. Around SUNY Farmingdale
there is no denying the rich diversity and
eclectic grouping of individuals. Not only of
background, but of age, religion, sex, and
race. But diink about it, it's die 21st Century
and how many edmically diverse professors
are diere here on campus?
But die people of today are slowly evolv-ing
to see in the light of idealists arid genius-es
like Martin Luther King Jr. There are
those who walk among us, with the same
enlightened point of view as Dr. King, md a
great deal more dien diere were before.
Look, in die new millennium, we may not be
driving ^aceships or have robots, but diere
is still a level of human mental evolution
that is beginning to take hokl. Hopefully,
over the course of the next century, people
will realize that we are all indivic^s and
that we all can be ourselves widiout fear of
letting our differences divide us, judging
people for character and behavior over skin
cok>r. Maybe one day we will live the dream
of Martin Luther King Jr.
So come to die celebration on March 2ed
in Roosevelt hall's litde dieater. It could
very well change your outlook on life.
The Battle for You!: US Military Seeks More Recruits by Communication By Christopher Collora
In an age of increasing cynicism
about authority and the military, the
United States finds its constitutional
goal of maintaining a standing army
increasingly difficult. The simple fact
is that in our armed forces, recruitment
is down in alarming numbers. One
recent attempt by the Army to recruit
new members is by familiarizing civil-ians
with the programs and career
opportunities available through the US
Army One such case is a recent pres-entation
given in Prof. Jacquett's
Journalism 226 class here at SUNY
Farmingdale. Army Captain Stevens
from Fort Bragg, Virginia, and two
Army journalists answered questions
to a class of 30 students on Feb 9 of
"Your going to get ahead based
on your talents" said Glenn.
Army recnjiters (Stevens, Tetrow, Glenn)
this year.
While both Staff Sargent Glenn (print
journalist) and Specialist Tedrow (broadcast
journalist) spoke extensively on their
careers as journalists in the army and
seemed satisfied with the opportunities
offered them, the aspect of Army life was
the primary focus. Tedrow got the opportu-nity
to interview Secretary of State
Madeline Albright among other important
government officials.
In addition there are excellent opportuni-ties
for career training for minorities and
'women. "Your going to get ahead based on
your talents" said Glenn. The problem is
.that the military can not compete with the
SUNY Farmingdale
Air Force
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civilian job market and economy. Well-trained
and educated people in our mili-tary
are being whisked away by better
offers.
While their motto has shifted from the
classic Uncle Sam **! want you!" to the
more acceptable "Be all you can be",
their overall objective tai^get remains
constant: recruiting civilians into a
pooriy perceived lifestyle. The cynicism
came full force as the subsequent
evaluation was given by the students a
week later. Many students in the class
viewed them with hard skepticism.
"The whole thing seemed so fake and
fixed" stated one student, echoed by
many A number found it "odd" that the
Captain floated towards the back of the
room as if in a strategic manner to
direct the two journalists speaking in the
front. Many also knocked the lifestyle
of discipline and hierarchical authority.
This attempt may have been genuine to
portray the military in a positive light.
Health and Fitness
"The whole thing seemed so
fake and fixed"
there is still a long way to go for the
military to get over its stereo typed
image.
The question of the militaries status is
a hot political topic as presidential can-didates
like John McCain promise to
rebuild our military and give those who
serve our country and protect our
lifestyle of freedom, the respect they
deserve. The theme of "committing
yourself to causes greater then your own
self interests" has seemed to disappear
in these prosperous times of overabun-dance
and those who sacrifice time and
life so that others might live are to at
least be respected The military life may
not be for everyone, but without it we
would know no other. Looking beyond
our borders in the US, there is a lot to be
cynical about, in here we have it pretty
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good.
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