First amendment misunderstood
I don’t mean to be rude, but Hahnming Lee [“Constitution degraded” printed on Feb. 4] is clearly misinformed about either the First Amendment or what was stated between Senator Coons and Mrs. O’Donnell. Lee’s assertion that, “…[separation of church and state] is not in the First Amendment,” seems a bit much, given that the first sentence of said amendment is “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Senator Coons didn’t claim that the literal phrase “separation of Church and State” is in the First Amendment. He stated that “the First Amendment establishes the separation, the fact that the federal government shall not establish any religion,” which is to me, a logical paraphrasing of the above wording. O’Donnell was clearly wrong in this case.
Brian Pogioli
First-year AE
Commencement plans underwhelming
I just wanted to write and express my sincere disappointment with Master’s graduation ceremony this Spring. Not only is it on Mother’s Day…I hope [Institute President G.P.] Bud [Peterson] and Val [Peterson] don’t mind giving up their Sunday and holiday to listen to not only Master’s students being announced one-by-one, but Bachelor’s students as well. I had come to terms with being bored to tears for a few hours while you announced bachelor’s students at high noon on Sunday, but to top it off we now must be subjected to the musings of the CEO of Wal-Mart. I can’t wait to hear all about socially responsible business practices from such an outstanding company. Really? I am amazed at Tech’s inability to enlist someone who could actually inspire the next generation. Oh yeah, and for that talk Tech throws around about being so “special and elite,” Georgia State has former President Jimmy Carter speaking on a Saturday.
Andrea Rattray
Grad. ARCH
Stealing a ‘T’ is not stealing the ‘T’
A few days ago a conversation with some Tech buddies turned to the tradition of stealing the T. We discussed some different signs around campus missing Ts and some stories we knew about them. And then we decided that a number of these stolen Ts just looked bad, so we came up with a two new guidelines for continuing this rich Tech tradition.
First, if you’re going to steal a T, you’ve got to actually steal it. By this I mean, you have to be able to hold it in your hand after the act. So quit scraping Ts off of Stinger signs and campus maps. Those little white filings on the ground no longer constitute a T, and instead of being clever, you have only succeeded in making our campus look bad.
Second, if you’re going to steal a T, you’ve got to steal THE T. As any good Jacket knows, the origins of stealing the T are found at the top of Tech tower. When the Magnificent Seven first stole the T in 1969, they scaled a tower that read “TECH” and descended from one that read “ECH.” They didn’t climb halfway up, look over, and decide to steal the T out of “D. M. Smith” instead. So no more Ts out of “Insititute,” or “Ferst,” or “stinger route,” or any other word that isn’t “Tech.”
I neither promote nor frown upon students trying to steal the T. Short of the ‘Reck itself, I can’t think of a single emblem of Tech I’d like to take with me after I get out more that a nice five foot tall T. And that’s sort of the point; if you’re going to steal the T, there has to be meaning behind it. Whether it’s making memories with some friends, stealing one to take with you later or just stealing one to prove that you can, there has to be significance to the act.
Chris Rodesney
Third-year PHYS