TERRE HAUTE —
Voices of reason may get drowned out in the heat of a moment, but in the long run they stand out.
Two situations involving Wabash Valley schools drew intense public attention last week. Some of the responses were understandable questions about school policies. Other reactions — especially comments posted anonymously on online message boards and through social-media sites — turned mean. Both cases needed rational discussion.
In time, these will be seen as teachable moments for the community.
One stemmed from a plan by organizers unaffiliated with Sullivan High School to conduct a “traditional” prom for heterosexual couples only, separate from the annual school-sponsored prom in the SHS gym. The alternative prom idea arose after two girls wanted to participate in the school’s annual “grand march” — the introduction of couples at the prom with friends and family gathered around. A few churches and “concerned citizens” backing the heterosexual-only prom said they opposed the inclusion of same-sex couples on a biblical basis. Sullivan High School officials said its prom would not exclude anyone.
After national news outlets mentioned the name of a church where those concerned citizens gathered for a meeting, the church got flooded with more than 3,200 emails, as well as phone calls and faxes. The minister at the church, who emphasized its neutrality on the issue, said those incoming messages included porn images and “hateful” words.
Another Sullivan pastor admirably supported the rights of the girls, and any students, to participate in the prom, saying it is “not a theological issue for the church to wrestle with. This is an issue of civil rights.” That voice of reason was needed.
An unrelated situation occurred on Feb. 8 at Dixie Bee Elementary School. A Muslim couple and their three young daughters — who are students at the school — were allowed to walk from classroom to classroom, distributing gifts and quotations from the Muslim prophet Mohammed to the teachers. The family was participating in a national event organized by Muslims called “Mohammed is a Prophet of Mercy — Sharing the Language of Peace and Love.” The family also video-recorded the gift-giving to preserve memories of their time in Terre Haute before moving back to Saudi Arabia in a year.
The access granted the family to hand out the gifts, room to room, apparently boiled down to a misunderstanding between the principal — who was away from the school at the time — and office staff members. The family’s advance request was approved after Vigo County School Corp. officials sought the opinion of a Indiana School Boards Association attorney, but the idea was for the family to leave the materials at the office. Afterward, once the family learned they were not supposed to go door to door or video-record, they were very apologetic and returned to Dixie Bee to allow the principal to erase the video.
Like the Sullivan prom, the anonymous reactions in online forums went beyond relevant questions of school access and safety policies, and instead reflected stereotypes and bigotry aimed at the family’s religious faith. As VCSC director of student services Ray Azar said, “It’s very difficult to read some of the nasty comments made. Some of the things out there are really disturbing, and I hope it will stop.” That dose of reason was needed, too.
The discourse over these issues is important. It should be respectful of others’ rights, too.
Editorials
EDITORIAL: Hateful comments disrupt flow of respectful discourse
Let’s hope reason will win the day
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EDITORIAL: Waging the ‘readiness’ campaign
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news: Dashing finish for the Sycamores
It’s always thrilling to see Indiana State University’s athletic teams do well in high-level competition, and two specific teams rose to impressive heights last weekend in the Missouri Valley Conference outdoor track and field championships.
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EDITORIAL: Better monitoring needed to prevent local environmental messes
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EDITORIAL: Memo to U.S.A.: You can ‘SPPRAK’ just as we do in Vigo County
Our kids, truly, are ‘Making a Difference’
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Some words in praise of boring government — Indiana’s
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EDITORIAL: Doc’s prescient prescription
Viewed through a 2013 prism, Doc Bowen’s response to the AIDS epidemic looks merely prudent, routine.
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EDITORIAL: Education remains worth the cost
Within the next few weeks, each of the local colleges will have conducted graduation ceremonies. A few days later, a different Class of 2013 will don caps and gowns for commencement — the seniors at five Vigo County high schools. It is still a smart, worthy aspiration for those high school grads to replicate the achievement of those college students by earning a higher-education degree.
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EDITORIAL: Good news for downtown
For decades, it seems, downtown Terre Haute has been in the throes of change
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EDITORIAL: Overall, state budget step in the right direction
For average Hoosiers uninterested in political point-scoring, the budget crafted by the Indiana Legislature inspires only muted, if any, fanfare.
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EDITORIAL: The lessons of organ donation
The range of emotion surrounding life-saving transplantation of a vital organ is extreme. It is the ultimate “good news-bad news” scenario.
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READERS’ FORUM: April 26, 2013
• Pence’s tax cuts benefit wealthiest
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news
This does not qualify as a surprise in any way. But the Wabash Valley’s response to widespread flooding of recent days has been nothing short of impressive, even inspirational.
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EDITORIAL: Still waiting for the jobs reward
The forces in control of Indiana government for most of the past decade need to show some results to Hoosiers in one primary category.
Good-paying jobs. -
MARK BENNETT: Littered with irony: Why do people callously discard their trash, and who are they?
Though they aren’t acknowledged by the U.S. Census Bureau, there are basically two demographic groups of people … Those who would dump their old toilet on the banks of the Wabash River or a rural roadside. And those who wouldn’t.
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EDITORIAL: Doing the dirty work to clean up tossed trash
A first-of-its-kind, coast-to-coast project to remove litter from U.S. roadsides brought the Pick Up America crew through the Wabash Valley two years ago.
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EDITORIAL: Keep school security a local issue
The decision to provide armed security inside a schoolhouse should be made locally.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news
Indiana’s parks need your help.
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EDITORIAL: The return of terror
Emotions today remain strong and raw in wake of Monday’s terror bombings near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
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EDITORIAL: A solution to distracted driving … stop it … now
You’ve got to stop. You know you do it. It’s a miracle you haven’t caused a tragedy already.
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EDITORIAL: ‘Women of Influence’: 2013 selectees have given much to their communities
For the second year, United Way of the Wabash Valley has teamed up with local sponsors to select and honor a group of women who have made outstanding contributions to their communities, professions and families.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news: A new honor for our veterans
A commendation goes out today to state Rep. Clyde Kersey, a Terre Haute Democrat who led the charge this week in the Indiana House of Representatives to pay tribute to the nation’s Purple Heart recipients.
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EDITORIAL: Shifting view on marriage
One could argue, as many have, that Sen. Joe Donnelly did the right thing last week when he dropped his support of government-sanctioned opposition to same-sex marriage. It wasn’t a radical move, considering most Democrats have now made the switch.
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MAX JONES: The American Newspaper: Changing? Yes. Dying? No way!
It happened again this past January when all those “looking at the year ahead” stories started popping up on Internet “news” websites and broadcast “news” programs. Under a provocative headline reading something like “Five industries/businesses doomed to tank in the coming year,” there it was, a prediction based on an unsubstantiated “expert” analysis that the newspaper industry will continue in 2013 to suffer its slide into oblivion.
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EDITORIAL: A chance to change our bad cultural habits
The sight of diligent, eager young people dragging trash out of the Wabash River wetlands is both inspiring and sad.
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EDITORIAL: Maintaining high standards
Standards
It’s the raging buzzword in education circles these days. Everyone insists that higher standards must be met. Anything less is, doggone it, unacceptable. -
Noteworthy in the news
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EDITORIAL: Crack down on dumpers
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Season of Day 2s arrives
Calendars in Cincinnati contain one extra holiday — Opening Day, traditionally the first Monday in April.
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