Inspire, Winter 1996

The Education Process ritish statesman Edmund Burke said:"All that is necessary for the triumph ofevil, is for good men to do nothing." At Cedarvill College,the Department of Social Sciences and History takes Bur ' words very seriously. We have endeavored to prepare young pe become active participants in today society. The foundation ofour teaching is Bible. Paul reminds us in 2Timothy th the Scriptures have a purpose: they are to teach,reprove and correct us,and to instruct us in righteousness,so that we may be equipped for a life ofgood work (3:16). As we prepare the students to properly integrate the truth of God's Word into their everyday lives, they will be better prepared to face a world that is becoming increasingly evil. In our department,students are introduced to the political process in various survey courses,such as American National Government, American State and Local Government,and Introduction to Public Administration. The students begin to apply these principles in the more focused upper level courses in Public Policy,Political Dynamics,and The Legislative Process. In our many internship opportunities, our students are able to actually apply in real situations what they have learned in the classroom. Through these many experiences,in the classroom and out, Cedarville students are being prepared by the Social Sciences and History faculty to confront our society with a Christian world view. The desired result,then,is to stem the tide ofevil and advance the cause of Christ to a lost and dying world. - - ik . _ _____----•••--- : . ':.. ' ,-----,-,---- -_--. Kevni Suns '74, associate professor ofpolitical science "Grass Roots" Involvement he most local of political involvement is the precinct level, and Dr. Dwayne Frank '60, professor of education,is serving in his second four-year term as chairperson of his precinct and delegate to the Greene County Central Committee of the Republican Party. "The Central committee meets monthly and makes decisions regarding party policy for the county,"says Dwayne."We assist candidates running for office, have fund-raisers, and do the legwork,like putting up signs, manning county fair booths,and getting voters to the polls. We have a position statement on issues to which we hold candidates responsible after they're elected." Dwayne graduated with a B.A.in social science from Cedarville and a B.S. in education from Central tate University and later earned an M.S. at the College ofIdaho and an Ed.D. at the University t ofIdaho. After teaching in Boise at the high school level for eight years, he returned to Cedarville tojoin the faculty o the Department of Education. He served as department chair for three years and,during a one-year leave ofabsence,as curriculum consultant for the Clark County Board of ttcation. As for his political involvement. Dwayne emphasizes that he's "just of the people." Historically very foundation ofour gre country's political process that kind ofinvolvetnen "grass roots." WIPP lie me To slily Involvement Lev. XXV:X Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof. Learning Law atthew Martens'93,originally from Trenton,New Jersey and an accounting major at Cedarville College,recently finished first in his law school class at the University of North Carolina. Matthew presently works as a law clerk for Judge David Sentelle ofthe U.S.Court of Appeals for the D.C.Circuit. As a law clerk, Matthew reads the appellate briefs filed in those cases to be heard by the court and then recommends an outcome based on his reading ofthe relevant law.Once the court decides the case, Matthew drafts an opinion announcing the court's decision. Following his one-year clerkship with Judge Sentelle, Matthew will begin a clerkship with ChiefJustice William Rehnquist ofthe U.S.Supreme Court. Matthew believes that one ofthe most disturbing things about the political arena today is that it is widely viewed by the public as including the court system.For example,in November 1992, after a fierce political struggle, the people ofColorado adopted by referendum an amendment to their state constitution that prohibited the state from adopting laws conferring on homosexuals a preferred legal status.The losers in this political struggle, unwilling to accept defeat,filed a lawsuit in which they argued that the Colorado amendment violated the federal constitution. This past June,a divided United States Supreme Court agreed in Romer v. Evans.(Matthew worked on behalfofthe state ofColorado in that case, writing a significant portion ofthe state's brief to the Supreme Court.)But as the dissenting justices in Romer recognized,the Court had no business injecting itself into the "Kulturkampf'(German for "culture war")over gay rights. That issue is one to be addressed by "the political branches"alone. Similar illegitimate intrusions into the political arena by the Supreme Court can be seen in cases like Roe v. Wade(abortion),Lee v. Weisman(high school graduation prayers),and United States v. VMI (single-sex education). While believers are vocal in their opposition to wrongheaded decisions such as Roe and Romer,Martens points out that we as Christians often fail to speak against Supreme Court forays into the political arena when the result is favorable to us,though such intrusions are no more legitimate. Matthew urges believers to speak out consistently againstjudicial intrusions into the political arena,not only when the results of such intrusions are morally flawed,but because the intrusions themselves are illegitimate whatever the outcome. Matthew and his wife, Wendy(Walters'94),live in Oakton,Virginia, where Wendy is a staff auditor with Goldklang,Cavanuagh,and Associates. rry otramel Bouquet, mother of two, wife of a pastor, nd a 1987 Cedarville College graduate with degrees in psychology and communication arts, became involved in her community.On October 14, 1996,the Ashland,Ohio Public Library made a change in its check-out policy regarding the video collection, which allows any patron of e to check out any video in the libraries holdings,including R-rated videos. This open access policy troubled Sherry and many in the Ashland community:so they got to work. A petition campaign and presentations to the Ashland Public Library Board of Trustees meeting forced the board to reconsider the policy change.The board voted unanimously to give parents the option to restrict videos from their children while keeping the open access policy for the entire video collection. Sherry made a presentation at that meeting and told board members prior to their vote that efforts to restrict R-rated videos was not censorship by thwarting the freedom rights of children. Bouquet spoke for the protection of children and asked for policies that would not put minors at the mercy of harmful materials which would completely circumvent the rights and responsibilities of parents to protect and guide their children. Sherry said,"Parents are not all-knowing and all-present" and asked for a partnership between parents and the library with the goal of protecting children from harmful material, especially in light offuture Internet possibilities. Under the American Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Manual,the Library Bill of Rights,and the Freedom to Read policies, libraries all over the country are being guided to take a liberal stand in offering "freedoms"to all people of all ages. Sherry states that through this process and hours of research she has uncovered extreme philosophies which should alarm any Christian and particularly parents."These documents which libraries adhere to are not legal and binding,and they portray a rather farfetched interpretation and extrapolation of First Amendment rights," Sherry says."I plan on continuing my efforts to partner with our library in this public forum to see that it is run by our community and that those on the board are exposed to family-friendly resources for library policy making." Bouquet has discussed the possibility ofserving on the Board ofTrustees for the Ashland Public Library. Sherry encourages others to be salt and light in the public forums oftheir communities.