:: :::: : :: ::: ::: :: :::: : :: :: :: ::: ::: :: :: :: : :: :: ::: :: : : :: :: :: $$$$$$P"""$$$$&s. .s&$$$P""$$"&s. $$$$$$P""$$$&s. .s&$$$P""$" "$$ : : :: : :: $$$$$$ :: $$$$$" $$$$$$ : $s.$$$ $$$$$$ : $$$$" $$$$$$ : $x.x$$: :: :: ::: ::$$$" :: $$$$$s$ $$$$$$ : $$$$$$ $$$$$$ : $$$$$s $$$$$$ : $$$$$$ : :: : ::: :$$$x. :: $$$$$$$ " $$$$ : $$$$$$ $$$$$$ : $$$$$$ "$$$$$ : $$$$$$: :: : ::: :$$$$$$ :: $$#$$$$ .s$$$$ : $$$$$$ $" "$$ : $$$$$$ s$$$$$ : $$$$$$: : ::: : :: :$$$$$$ :: $$$$$$$ $$$$$$ : $$$$$$ $x.x$$ : $$$$$$ $$$$$$ : $$$$$$ :: : : :: $$$$$$ :: $$$$$$$ $$$$$$ : $$$$$$ $$$$$$ : $$$$$$ $$$$$$ : $$$$$$::: : : : :: : "$$$$bssd$$" "P':`Y$$$$bsd" $$P' $$$$$$ : "$$$$ `Y$$" bsd$$$$$$ :: :: : :: :s$$$$$ :........::::............::......:::...... $gggg $$$$P': :: :: :: :: $$$$$$ ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::tMM:.`Y$$$""""""".:: : : :: :: :::: : :: ::: ::: :: :::: : :: :: :: ::: ::: :: :: :: : :: :: ::: :: : : :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: pong #005 :: november 05, 1996 :: :: pong is a dto production :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: the rebirth of pong :: :: by murmur :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: The first issue of pong came out on November 10, 1995. Originally intended as a platform for both music and college-natured issues, over twelve months pong has taken various forms. Music was expanded and then dropped, and the last issue of pong came out on April 28, 1996, making pong an e'zine with an absurdly long period of stagnancy (slightly more than six months.) However, pong is back, and this time the focus is very clear: political and social issues aimed mostly at roughly the 14-28 demographic. Above all else, we at dto productions are aiming to make pong a forum for thought, not a place for us to hammer home our opinions. We fully encourage anyone and everyone with any opinion on any political or social issues to submit. The first issue back is being hurriedly prepared in an attempt to release before Election Day. It is hoped that we can establish ourselves and what we intend to do with a statement emanating from before the Election of 1996. We are a young group and have not flexed our political discretion before. In fact, most of our initial audience will participate in their first Presidential Election here in 1996, if not in 2000. We do not aim to sit by idly when a new (or existing) regime takes power on January 20, 1997. As citizens of the world's longest standing democracy, we intend to take advantage of those rights guaranteed to us under the Constitution of the United States. Apologies to our friends in Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and wherever else; it is quite likely that most of what we cover in pong will scarcely be topical to you. But such is the nature of this endeavor. Monthly release effective immediately certainly seems to be in order and we shall strive for just that. Hopefully it will be but a mere matter of time before we have some decent support behind us and will therefore not have to scrape out an issue from month to month. The content of pong will be decided entirely by its contributors, and if there's something you want to see covered, please, please, write about it. Submissions may be directed to phuckelb@sun.iwu.edu until such a time as dto.net is operational and pong will have a presence on it. The lengthiness of this introduction is necessary for us to get across the point that, yes, we're serious. This is our political statement. If it should fail, then it should fail, and we have at least attempted to be a positive motivator in American politics, albeit a tiny, tiny one. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: table of contents :: :: by pong staff :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: the rebirth of pong by murmur table of contents by pong staff why bother? by murmur color war by gaurd conclusion by murmur how to reach pong by pong staff :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: why bother? :: :: by murmur :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Why bother? Because someone has to, and better it be an intelligent generation that has some pretty good ideas what's best for it than for it be an underinformed populace pulled by political rhetoric or an extremist outfit with harmful goals. Why bother? Because I don't want to see Social Security collapse on my dad, just like you probably won't want Social Security to collapse on you. Why bother? Because a smaller percentage of the population owns a greater proportion of the wealth in these United States than at any other time in our history except for the Roaring 20s. Anyone else remember what happened in 1929? Why bother? Because it is wrong to embrace democracy and then to let it function around you. It is illogical to condemn a government yet not to participate in it. Why bother? Because the Justice Department has appealed the ruling of a Philadelphia federal district court to the Supreme Court in an attempt to abridge our constitutional right to freedom of speech, and without people like us to act, they would have gotten away with it. Why bother? Because there's no telling when your vote will matter. There's no telling when the 40 college students you register to vote will turn the tide of an election of U.S. Representative and someone who isn't going to demolish college loans will have their seat preserved. Why bother? How can you justifiably not bother? Doesn't an increase in taxes affect you? Doesn't a decrease in day care funding affect someone you know? Isn't there a toxic waste site within 100 miles of where you live? Don't you want to have at least same say in whatever the hell is going on with this complex world around you? Isn't it better to do something than to let people control your life in so many ways every day of your life? Why bother? Because information is a weapon, and only an information-laden populace will be able to deal properly with its surroundings. Ignorance is not necessarily bliss when it comes to taxes, toxins, and the like. Why bother? It's your future. It's my future. It's the future of the United States of America, and it's the future of the entire planet Earth. Why pong? Because we have to start somewhere. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: color war :: :: by gaurd :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Ever seen a rally for Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition? You know, Jesse Jackson? In case you don't remember who he is, Jesse is the man who said "To ignore race and sex is racist and sexist." Well, if you've seen pictures of the so-called Rainbow Coalition, the only color you'll see is black. Why do you think that is? "To ignore race and sex is racist and sexist." Why do you think that almost exclusively black Americans follow Jesse's belief that in order to build a better America, we must categorize a person by the color of their skin? Now, to say that Jesse Jackson is simply a racist would be so painfully obvious as to be an insult to the reader's intelligence. I mean, if you made it past the word "coalition" without reaching for a dictionary, then you can come to the conclusion that he's a racist all by yourself. The question is, WHY is he a racist? Why is he followed by other racists? Are they both merely pragmatists in their own right, or vengeful bigots? Does Jesse hope one day to be President, or hold some other high office? Perhaps. Would he then be merely blowing with the political wind? Or does he have so much hate in his heart that he would take pleasure from dividing a nation in two? Do the men who follow him feel the same? Is their only goal to exact some sort of menial and trivial punishment on the sons of the sons of the men who enslaved the fathers of their fathers, or do they merely want preferential treatment because they haven't found a break anywhere else? "A house divided against itself cannot stand." You may have heard about it on the news: the University of Texas went to court some months ago. A student, applying to the Graduate program [ed. -- in law], was turned away, at a time when students of equal or lesser merit, but a more-desired skin color were being accepted. Since this is, after all, a government funded school that I am attending, it seemed only logical that it would live by the rules the government had enacted. As early (early? ha!) as 1978, the Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation, or quota systems could only be enacted in situations where a prior system of bias could be proven. So why had the question arisen again? If the University had not, at least in the span of an applicant's lifetime, turned blacks away because of their race, why did they now do the opposite? "To ignore race and sex is racist and sexist." When it went to court, it was decided that the University of Texas could not simply use skin color or national background as a means for determining admission. The day after story this hit the news, a petition was passed around in one of my classes. This was a relatively small class, and it so happened only three blacks were in it. I'm not sure why, but the three of them always sat together... Were they friends? I have no idea, they always sat at the front of the room on the far right side... the furthest seats from the door, and the closest to the professor. I rarely bothered to walk to the far side of the room when seats near the door are just as good. Like I said, it was a small class, so they could have sat next to anyone if they had wanted to, but the three of them always sat right next to each other. When the petition got to me, I noticed three signatures on it before I began reading it. It read something like this: Help restore the University of Texas' policy of assisting racial minorities! The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that UT can no longer use minority status as a qualification to allow students an equal place in the school system. You can help by signing this petition to the Admissions Board. I sighed, and passed it on without reaching for my pen, as did just about everyone in the class. The only guy I saw who didn't actually READ it was someone wearing a NIN shirt. Heh. I laughed every time I saw him. NIN. Haha! Even now it's funny. NIN! Hee hee! Oh, where was I? Oh yes, the NIN guy passed the petition by, and my thoughts return to... "To ignore race and sex is racist and sexist." Why did so few people sign it? Why did anyone sign it at all? Racial inequality will not be solved by intensifying the thoughts of the American people on the color of their neighbor's skin. Perhaps it won't be solved by attempting to ignore differences either. I've heard people say "children aren't born racist, they're taught to hate." You know who says that. You've met people who say bullshit like that on daytime TV. Children may not be born racist, but they aren't born color blind either. A child must choose or be taught either path, there is little middle ground, and you aren't born with one path laid out for you. In the end, there may be only one solution to the problem of racial division. And that is genetic diversification. Personally, it would seem that nothing would bring a faster end to racism than the blurring of racial lines through interracial marriage. However, you don't need to blur the lines completely. You just need to have a large enough group of racially mixed individuals such that people stop seeing everyone as black or white, but as shades of grey, drawn from the same palette. I suppose that's why groups like the KKK and Louis Farrakhan are so opposed to the idea. The stare of the eyes of a man whose race is divided would throw their arguments against the wall. Should such a man hate himself? Hate one parent, but love the other, because of the part of him they helped create? The very notion of racial quotas takes on a strange meaning when 50% of you fulfills the quota, and 50% doesn't. "A house divided against itself cannot stand." The problem is one we have created, and continue to create, second to second, we regenerate it. We seem to be moving in the right direction now... quotas have become something to be avoided, at least on the surface, and are revealed for what they are. But those three black men in my EE312 class... were they the only three to sign the petition? I've often wondered if they were... and I've often wondered how racist it is of me to suspect the only three black men in the class for having signed the petition that I saw one of the three bring in. I just hope I live to see the day when EVERYONE in America believes that it is neither racist nor sexist to ignore race and sex... despite our baser nature to pay attention to superficial differences. Maybe we can get a jump start on that day when Bob Dole is inaugurated president. Until then. "Thanks for the political applause, and I'll see you all in Hell." -- Dennis Miller :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: conclusion :: :: by murmur :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: A conclusion is not something that you should become accustomed to seeing in pong, but I felt that the special circumstances of this issue grant just cause to the existence of this statement. It is 2:30 A.M. CST on Tuesday, November 5, 1996. In eastern states polling places will open in a mere two and a half hours. Voting will begin for the men and women that will largely lead us into a new decade, a new century, a new millennium. It is impossible to know what to expect on this Election Day. One way or the other, however, groups will motivate quickly in reaction to the announcements of who shall hold the White House for the next four years, which party shall hold the House, which party shall hold the Senate. State races also are of increasingly critical importance as a resurgent movement to restore power to the states has been underway the last several months. Election Day itself is not of the most critical importance; it is understanding the meaning of Election Day that is. It is understanding what comes out of who holds what office, and what this means to us as American citizens (or, possibly, to those persons who are not American citizens but might certainly be affected.) pong is merely one aspect of an increasing political role I personally plan to take in the world. So far my treading in political matters has been rather limited; I have signed on with the CIEC as part of the legal battle over the Communications Decency Act, and I have become a deputy registrar legally able to register people in this county to vote. These are, for me, merely the beginning. I'm not sure exactly where I want pong to lead us, but I know that what I am attempting to undertake is a positive thing. Many thanks to Gaurd for submitting a piece on such short notice, enabling me to release an issue that is not entirely my often convoluted rambles. Issues of the United States are issues of its people, and as one of those people, I will voice my opinion, and I will actively take part in such things as I deem fit to do so, in conjunction with my rights as a free citizen in the world's longest-standing democracy. pong is meant to be a forum for discussion, and a platform by which to get ideas across, but it can be so much more, if people will merely bother to help. It is of the most fundamental importance to somewhat understand the functions of the nation you live in. Let's do it. I apologize for the seemingly off-kilter monologue. I hope I have gotten my point across. I hope that by January 20, 1997, there will be people behind us at pong and dto productions enabling us to actually get a real statement across, enabling us to speak with a bold voice. Perhaps it's a wacky dream. So be it. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: how to reach pong :: :: by pong staff :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Currently a world wide web site does not exist. Back issues of pong are available via anonymous ftp thanks to lemming.com. Go to ftp.lemming.com /pub/zines/pong for back issues. Back issues are also available by emailing phuckelb@sun.iwu.edu. All submissions and comments maybe directed to either individual writers or to murmur at phuckelb@sun.iwu.edu. Submissions are heavily encouraged and we will be very liberal (small 'l' there) in what we include in pong. Contributors for this issue are: gaurd :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: pong #005 :: november 05, 1996 :: :: pong is a dto production :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: The views expressed in pong are those of the individual writers, and should not necessarily be construed as the views of pong itself or any of the other writers of pong. pong maintains the rights of all citizens to engage in freedom of speech as guaranteed under the First Amendment of the Constitution to the United States. pong reserves the right to refuse any submission to publication on any grounds. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :: copyright 1996 dto productions. :: :: all rights reserved. :: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::