Should culturebepreserved to hinder  future  happiness? 
Shouldsexualorientation determine the morality of a crime? 
Appalachiaan football fan airs opinion about past season 

Should culture be preserved to hinder future happiness? 

To The Editor: 

Undoubtedly, one of the central questions in economic and international affairs in the coming century will be globalization. And in a world increasingly dominated by American business and culture, globalization has become virtually synonymous with westernization. 

The consequences to culture are many and the dilution of regionalism in our own country is symptomatic of what is happening all over the world. 

This all comes, for me, at the end of a very a long trip to South America in which I ate multiple Big Macs, bought Nike tennis shoes, and couldn’t escape the ravages of a giant CocaCola advertising campaign. This happened not in Buenos Aires or Santiago, which we had expected, but in cities my friends and I had never heard of before this trip, Mendoza, Argentina and Renaca, Chile. 

Mendoza was the necessary starting point for our adventure into the Andes. We had expected a quaint provincial capital in which we could soak up remnants of colonial culture and the revolution that replaced it. ~at we got was a bustling metropolis of half a million people with all the convenience and uniqueness of Charlotte. Haste la vista culture. 

The shock that hit us in the tiny, but admittedly wealthy, ocean resort of Renaca was the last straw in a bail of cultural contradictions. In the middle of a sunny afternoon we found ourselves in a shopping mall that would rival anything in North Carolina. Ralph Lauren, Nautica, Sharpe, The Ciap, and countless others packed the three story structure that was currently under expansion. Lunch at Burger King and ice cream at Baskin Robbin’s, we thought we were in Charlotte. 

Immediately we began to sigh and moan at the corruption of what used to be a lively and unique region. We wanted open markets and spicy foods that we couldn’t pronounce. We wanted straw and leather products, sandals and hats, beaded necklaces and dirt roads that wind over narrow passes. We wanted to feel lost, not at home. We were angry. 

And here lies the problem. Every subject in the last paragraph is “we.” What about ‘they?”’ 

The things that we had searched for were classics products of underdevelopment. An underdevelopment that started with the Conquest and persists to this day. An underdevelopment that has defined Latin America. It was this economic disadvantage that spurred countless revolutions against the old world. 

However “quaint” it may be, people do not want to live in poverty. And today, the only solution to underdevelopment is globalization. What we didn’t understand was that hunger, disease, and everything else that comes from living without is necessarily a part of what we were looking for. 

But the problem is not so alien as we might like to think. We too live in a region that has been subject to underdevelopment. Not many people would choose to mine coal or farm rocks OUT of the dirt if given the choice. But that is the lot that the Appalachian region has given many people. 

The geography and by-products of that culture have drawn many of us to this area. And I know that it would nice it to stay this way. But when we scoff at the expansion of 421, we scoff at economic development that would improve the livelihood of many people. 

This is not to suggest that we stop trying to preserve culture, that we pave everything and plant Star Bucks in the aftermath. But we should be more aware of the consequences of “quaintness. “ Perhaps a compromise of cultural variety is worth the health and happiness of the exploited. 

Should sexual orientation determine the morality of a crime? 

To The Editor: 

In response to Stan Farmer’s article commentary on the “liberally-biased media,” I would like to remark upon the major flaw in his article. It seems as though Mr. Farmer has forgotten the reason why the Matthew Shepard tragedy received the national attention that it did. 

The reason is that it was a hate crime. He was killed because of the fact that he was a homosexual and his murderers decided that he should die because of how he was born. In Mr. Farmer’s example of the Jesse Dirkhising tragedy, he makes an illogical connection to the Shepard case. 

From everything presented in the article, it is obvious that this example was not a hate crime. It was a rape and a murder not any less of a tragedy by any means but a horrible act that is committed on many of women every year. These cases do not receive national attention because unfortunately it is not that rare of an occurrence on the national level. 

Hopefully, I have drastically misinterpreted Mr. Farmer’s article but he also made the mistake of commenting that the Dirkhising case should have received national attention. The reason for this is in his mind the fact that the murders were homosexual makes this case more of an atrocity. 

A rape/murder is horrible and disgusting but to say that the sexual orientation of the people involved makes it more or less immoral sounds to me a little bigoted. 

Brian Bean 
ASU Box 15383 
Sophomore 

Appalachian football fan airs opinion about past season 

To The Editor: 

I have been a supporter of ASU football for 60 years. I have missed only a very few home games, and have seen many away games. I saw all away games this year, and all home games. I have had the same four seats in Kidd Brewer Stadium every since it was built. 

I was indeed disappointed with our coaching performance in the Florida A&M game. They simply were not prepared for this game against the 13th ranked team. I was so disgusted that I decided not to stay at my cabin near Boone after the game. I decided to go to my home in Vale, NC after the game. 

We stopped in Lenoir to have supper at the same resturant that two bus loads of Florida A&M spectators were eating. They filled up one end of the room. While waiting for our table, I decided to visit the Florida A&M supporters. I went to every table, congratulated them on their victory and wished them well. They were very humble, appreciative and thanked me for my visit. Many of them jumped up and shook my hand. 

I have found through the years that the best way to overcome a bitter defeat is to congratulate the winners and extend best wishes. I slept much better that night after visiting with the Florida A&M supporters. 

Leonard B. Scronce 
BS-1942 - MA-1953