Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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At least before walking into general psych or intro to sociology there were a few yardsticks. A lot of things might have been shaky, but there were still a few blacks and whites, a few rights and wrongs. And I needed them. Enter college: it ' s all shades of gray. What used to be a definite yes or no is now Well, it depends . . . Sure, for those who had no blacks and whiles to begin with, It depends was.great. II saved one from making a lot of decisions. But if one was ready to build one ' s life— including one ' s education — on the assumption that some things are not subject to whim and fancy, It depends was a disappointment and a bore. If one wanted to open one ' s mind to new avenues and ideas, one first had to open one ' s soul In tact. the place was overrun with teachers and leaders who were sp open-minded that their brains tell out. What a paradox. In such a whirlpool of research, investigation, analysis, and profession- alism, one expects to find answers. Instead, there were mostly people who said there were no answers at all. Or if there were answers, most were afraid to admit it. It was too nifty to say things like It depends . . . it ' s all rela- tive . I don ' t want to impose my morals . . . do what you feel . . . • Most of this. of course, refers to matters of ethics and social response. At a time in life when a young per- son most desperately needs some solid guidance in these areas. it is nowhere to be found. And the reason such guidance is absent from college is the same rea- son it is absent everywhere else: intelli- gent. trained, and highly professional people no longer wish to discuss morals or absolutes or how they form everything we do. Why? Because to discuss that would mean to admit some absolutes some blacks and whites. And it ' s just too in these days to tell students all decisions about ethics and social response are up to individ- ual feeling and fancy. It ' s too cute to get up in front of students and dispa- rate the totally accurate assertion that our entire legal and social system would dissolve if not for a handful of absolutes. Of course the It depends philoso- phy has done much good. Thank God, we came to realize that some absolutes were never meant to be absolutes at all. A woman ' s place is not always in the home. The President is not always right. What ' s good for ITT or the CIA is not always good for America. Progress is not progress if it annihilates the countryside. But, if ever we have gone too far, we have done it with the It depends mentality that has infested colleges. Those great minds who should know better have been unable to draw a line between absolutism and intellectual agnosticism. What is taught at K-State and all over the country is not that some, but ALL questions have the same answer: It depends. Rather than coming up with some- thing original and commensurate with their intelligence, the big thinkers on campus manage to spew out nothing more than trite, popular responses as though everything they think and feel came from Time magazine or The Tonight Show. Oh, for just a few men and women who would have said something differ- ent. I cannot apologize if this sounds like biting the hands that fed me. Indeed. I appreciate those who taxed my mind and sharpened my abil- ity to analyze and think rationally. I appreciate those who prepared me for my chosen profession. And I appreciate those few whom I did see manifest the courage to carry their own cross when everyone else followed the crowd. But I feel sorry for those who came so starry-eyed and open-brained that they were lured to worship the pan- theon of PhDs and professors who were more screwed up than their stu- dents. I wretch with disgust for those who were so foolish to believe there is no compromise between absolutism and relativism. College must not be for everyone. It must only be for those who have spent at least some of their lives build- ing a foundation on which to make basic ethical and moral decisions. To wait until coming to college to build that foundation is to play a rou- lette of the worst kind. For there is no ethical foundation to be found amidst the It depends rab- ble. There is only a babbling melting pot of fools. Parents must stop sending sons and daughters to college just because it looks good to the neighbors. Worse yet, parents must stop send- ing sons and daughters to college to straighten them out. II they aren ' t straight when they go in, they may be human pretzels when they come out. College is for those who have built a personal foundation and discipline. It is for those who have at least begun to plant their feel on the ground. Those who come otherwise pre- pared are going to be suckled by a reckless nursemaid — a system that is trying to turn out men and women with minds of marshmallow instead of moral commitment. I don ' t know what will alter this Situa- tion, I hope it alters itself. Meantime. I pray that my generation finds the right balance between abso- lutism and relativism. We might. And we might not. I guess it just. uh . . . depends. II depondS —21

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Upon unloading one ' s child into the hands of higher educa- tors at that great limestone institution in Manhattan, some parents think the child and world ' s problems will be solved in four short years. However, not all professors convey worldly answers, and not all students possess worldly aspi- rations. Susceptible contract ' it depends ' but the prepared have immunity By David Chartrand I know I must sound ungrateful, but college is not for everyone. Four years ago I would never have dreamed that my parting note would be anything but niceties. But that was then. Now, I have to speak the truth and make it stick. Of course, college was good to me. Mostly, it was certain people who were good to me: Jeff, Merek, Joe, Alan, Brenda, Jean, Bill, Leanne, Len, Cathy, Gail . . . and more. But I ' d rather shoot myself than let that be my last word. I mean soon I ' ll be tossing my dirty clothes into the old Barracuda for the last time and I ' ll be damned if all I ' m going to say is, Oh gee, it was so beautiful. I have so many memories. You bet I have memories. I have one big memory too: the University organ- ism has a very bad cancer. In fact, four years of the college experience exposed such a serious and spreading cancer that my conclu- sion is this: college is not for everyone. What cancer? It is the corroding spread of an atti- tude called It depends. So many college freshmen enter the University walls like they had arrived at the end of the rainbow. Everything to be desired, learned, or felt is going to be found somewhere in these hal- lowed halls. The ultimate experience is college. All that is truth and reason is at col- lege. All the answers are at college. And then the big shocker. One is immediately told by everyone with a degree by his name that there are no answers. There are no truths. There are no absolutes. Everything simply depends. There is no way to tell with words the significance and impact this dis- covery has on the four-year experi- ence. Up through high school, the only serious conflicts were dealing with Mom and Dad ' s do ' s and don ' ts or handling that first love affair. But this. This new discovery makes it a whole new ball game. 20 — it amends

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Although it ' s not listed in the General Catalog, many colle- giates decide their major will be that of professional stu- dent. With the help of an adviser, these kids adopt pseudo- majors such as medicine, architecture, law, and post-grad- uate degree. And, after 20-odd years behind the textbook, finally emerge as The Professionals . Pre-lofty laurel sojourn rough By John Lonergan If you have a friend who ' s there, then you ' ve likely already heard the stories — some true, some truly exag- gerated, but all of them grim. You ' ve heard of the breakdowns, breakouts, flunkings, withdrawals, cheatings, beatings, and always, always, the pressures. Yet each year the number of people wishing to subject them- selves to such torture grows and grows. To the average student these images spell grad school, vet school, med school, and law school; but to those applying and those applied, they mean only one thing: excelsior . Call them what you may, post-grad- uate positions are some of the most fiercely contested jewels in the aca- demic world. Fortunes are gambled and friends are made and lost in the quest for the holier-than-thou Grail. And regardless of the trials and tribula- tions one may face in the various pro- fessional schools. the biggest trick of all remains getting in . To aid in this regard, pre-profes- sional clubs at K-State, their ranks swelling yearly, attempt to help the young hopefuls maximize their advan- tages for admittance. No fact or factor is unworthy of exploitation. In these highly competitive fields, this is simply a way of life. Still in the long run it is the student who must be able to sell himself. It is his responsibility to see that he has the appropriate GPA, test scores, extra- curriculars, or what ever deemed nec- essary for acceptance. And should he not find the pot of gold at the end of his purple brick road, the unpleasant task of finding a more suitable pigeon hole for but another luckless student is left up to the adviser. The pursuit of higher education to many is a passion, to most an impossi- ble dream. But despite the horror stories about life one step beyond, every indication is that if the post grad- uate had it to do over again, he ' d do it over again. For the successful appli- cants. the worries are certainly not over, but the important one, accept- ance, has been permanently con- quered. 22 — Prolessonal schools