2 | April 6, 2011

Opinion The Rambler | www.therambler.org

Rams can make difference in disaster zone

than 40 fires were started be- Those who have survived the di- to Disaster Relief International. a general admission into the game
cause of the tsunami as well. saster have been left with little to General admission for anyone could be set as well.
Emma Fradette A nuclear plant in the path nothing. Thousands are without is $20 in advance and $25 the day Another option is students can
Sports writer of the waves was severely dam- electricity, clean water, food, shel- of the event, according to the TCU collect non-perishable food items
ekfradette@mail.txwes.edu aged, and contaminated ev- ter and families. Daily Skiff. such as canned foods, rice and
erything around it including According to The Guardian I think Texas Wesleyan should other boxed items to donate.
people. more than 452,000 people are lo- participate in the relief efforts as As a university, Wesleyan could
Those people who have cated in packed shelters until fur- well. send the items over to be used by
been affected by the radiation ther assistance can be available. Students and faculty have a tre- the survivors. We could send old
On March 11, Japan was hit by are left in confinement separated Texas Christian University, our mendous opportunity to do some- clothes, shoes, blankets and toys
one of the biggest earthquakes from the outside word in fear of neighbor school, is throwing a thing important for others around as well.
in history, and shortly after the further contamination. block party to benefit the relief ef- the world. A university meeting could be
quake followed a tsunami devas- Many universities and organiza- fort in Japan. Athletes make up a large part of held to discuss these and further
tating parts of the island. tions are doing what they can to Students have joined together the student body at Wesleyan. options for students to participate
According to ABC News, waves give aid to the Japan tsunami sur- to throw a benefit called the West I believe if all the athletic pro- in.
as high as 10 meters in some areas vivors, and I believe Texas Wes- Berry Block Party where local grams got on board, they could Wesleyan’s community should
reached as far as five kilometers leyan should be one of them. bands and businesses join togeth- come up with a type of game not turn away from this devastat-
inland. More than 18,000 people have er in an effort to raise money for where students and faculty could ing event for Japan because it has
Thousands of farms, houses and been presumed dead or missing, aid to Japan. come out and watch to raise mon- and will continue to affect the rest
people were swept away from the and police officials say that num- The event begins on April 16, ey for the relief efforts. of the world as well. Our college
unexpected natural disaster. More ber will only grow larger. and the majority of the funds go Concessions could be sold and community can find a way to help.

Legalized gambling brings games but no real winners

I wonder if he or any who That sounds like more govern- cation, mostly teachers. accurately represent Texan’s beliefs,
support the notion of legalizing ment to me. I do not think they will There is always some quick fix for there is no way to keep government
Barry Grubbs gambling remember the prom- work for free. our economic problems but our law- from re-appropriating any funds the
Opinion editor ises made about the state lottery. There is no get rich scheme to bail makers don’t seem to follow through. state receives from legalized gam-
bgrubbs@mail.txwes.edu On Aug. 26, 1991 the state gov- us out of this mess. A recent poll of registered voters bling.
ernment signed bill 54 to instate And please do not be fooled when conducted by the University of Texas Maybe they will legalize gambling
the Texas lottery, I recall pre- supporters explain how gambling re- at Austin and the Texas Tribune in- eventually.
dictions that this would virtu- ceipts will save our economy. dicates 74 percent support casinos in Maybe some of the money will be
ally solve the education funding They are the same legislators, re- Texas, and fewer than 20 percent op- used responsibly to rescue our state
As students, we may not consider crisis. After being fed that promise, sponsible for a budget that will see pose the expansion of gambling. from its grave economic situation.
the issue of legalized gambling worth Texas voters had no problem voting an estimated 8,000 jobs lost in edu- Whether or not these numbers All I’m saying is—don’t bet on it.
worrying about. After all, who has it through.
any cash left over to bet with after You probably realize by now that
books, tuition and fees? it didn’t exactly work out the way it
However, the issue is gaining mo- was planned.
mentum in our state whether we like By the way, Rodríguez also sup-
it or not. Texans do gamble, just not ports using the $9.2 billion in Texas’
in Texas. rainy day fund to help balance the
It is estimated by Texas legislators budget.
that Texans spend between $4 - 6 bil- Here’s an idea: let’s try that first
lion every year on gaming in neigh- before making the same lame lotto-
boring New Mexico, Oklahoma and style promises to taxpayers about
Louisiana. That money eventually gaming dollars solving our fiscal
pays for roads, and educational pro- problems.
grams among other things—but not Texas senators and representatives
in Texas. have already filed casino gambling
Yes, I agree that letting that kind of bills and bills that would allow slot
money cross our state lines on a one- machines at racetracks in the Texas
way trip is sickening. House and Senate.
I do not however believe legalized Whether you are a college student
gambling will solve Texas’ budget or limping along on social security,
crisis. this irresponsible behavior by law-
Texas lawmakers do not all share makers will affect you.
my view. House Joint Resolution 112 would
District 29 Senator Jose Rodriguez call for an election on a constitution-
says, “Given our current fiscal crisis, al amendment that would allow the
it would be irresponsible to not con- creation of a five-person Texas Gam-
sider the expansion of gambling.” ing Commission.

Choosing war solves nothing What do you think about legalized

help us win. Let’s places does not mean we
gambling in Texas?
think really hard, should fight one another.
Regina Crossley and ask ourselves Love the differences, cher-
Photographer why we really ish and explore why people “I guess it’s okay if we have it, but I’m really
rlcrossley@mail.txwes.edu fight. Instead of are different. We can love indifferent about gambling”
taking the time to one another and just stop - Cristina Brewis,
fight, we can take the violence. It is a choice. junior, Spanish
the time to talk There is not really anything
and get an under- that can help us while we “I think if it’s controlled then it’s fine.
What do we actually fight standing of one another. No are crying about wars we It shouldn’t be that big of an issue.”
for? Yes, we have one mil- one would have to die. The put ourselves into. - Skyler Gentry,
lion reasons to fight in a population would even be When are we going to freshman, Psychology
war. But why do we fight bigger. wake up, and realize we are
when everything is for ev- This land and this world all one? I guess it would be
“I understand if that’s what people want to do, but
eryone. belongs to all of us asking too much for us not
gambling your kids college fund away isn’t smart.”
We weren’t put on earth to Yes I’m proud of the sol- to go to war. It would also
- Paige Jennings,
fight for our land, our food diers who defend my coun- be asking too much for us to
freshman, mass communication
or our independence. We try. They are really strong, love one another. Going to
have always had what was and they sacrifice their war while loving one another
ours. lives, which is a really big is the wrong thing to do. So “I think legalizing gambling could bring money to the
It’s just that people want deal. let’s fight, let’s go to war. Metroplex.”
to take away from others But doing this is avoid- Let’s fight against the peo- - Gina Kautai,
what we all share. able. Instead of fighting, ple that are different from junior, finance
Sharing isn’t so hard. Why we can make promises that us. Don’t help the people
can’t we all just get along? one country won’t hurt the that may need us on the “I think gambling could be bad, but it could be fun
We think we have reasons other. other side of the world. until it gets out of hand.”
to kill each other, but does When there are problems We don’t need them, - Ashley Bringol,
it really make sense? to solve, we can talk about right? I am saying that all of junior, business marketing
What does killing each it. Everyone disagrees, but our wars were pointless.
other mean in the end? It sometimes you just have There are reasons we have
means some win and some to agree to disagree, move fought, but do any of them “I say it’s fine if it’s allowed in Las Vegas.”
lose, but what is really won? forward and follow through justify killing each other? - Eiji Davis,
We don’t stop fighting once with that. I guess it would be really freshman, undecided
we’ve won the war. Just because we are differ- crazy if what I’m suggesting
We pray to our God to ent, and we live in different were to happen.

The Rambler
Shauna Banks, editor-in-chief
Barry Grubbs, opinion editor
Eliana Mijangos, sports editor
Meisa Keivani Najafabadi, photo editor
Stephanie Mejia arts & entertainment editor
Jonathan Resendez, multimedia editor
Erica Estrada, graphic designer/cartoonist
Wendy Moore, faculty adviser
Dr. Kay Colley, faculty liaison
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