. ..... . .
Editor,
The Battalion:
I write this letter in response
to Mr. Teipel’s lamentation of
the demise of the “Old Army
Aggie.” My intent is not to at
tack what he has said so much
as it is to present a view with a
different and (I hope) more real
istic perspective.
I suppose that it might be in
order at this point for me to
state my ‘qualifications’ as a
non-reg to speak about Aggie
Spirit. I have more than a pass
ing familiarity with the spirit
Mr. Teipel speaks of, having been
a member of the outfit which
justly claims to be the last of
‘Old Army’—Spider D. My ring
is inscribed “A&M College of
Texas” and there’s a ‘64’ on top,
and I point out that it has not
been, nor will it ever be, defiled
with the addition of a diamond.
I’m an old Batt-man—was man
aging editor one summer. Actual
ly, I could probably fill the Batt
with “spirit qualifications”—for
instance, I got two other Ags
together in Saigon in April of
’65 and we three held the first
Aggie Muster in Vietnam—but
that’s not my purpose here. Suf
fice it to say that I think I know
what -this spirit business is all
about.
Judging from his letter, Mr.
Teipel is a member of this insti
tution’s perennial group (there’s
been one every year for the past
92 years) which bitterly bitches
about Old Army going to hell,
and steadfastly opposes any
change as unthinkable deviation
from tradition. He and his ‘se
lect’ group smugly regard them
selves as all that’s left of the
“True Aggie,” and I imagine that
the gouges made by their boot
heels in dragging their feet as
the leaders of this institution
and student body try to bridge
the Corps-Civlian gap are consid
erable.
To take his letter pretty much
in the order it was written, I’d
like to say the following: The
Batt has not changed “in a few
years from the student news
paper to an administration rag.”
What it has done is evolve into
a university and community news
paper, edited and operated by
students practicing responsible
journalism. Granted, it isn’t quite
as exciting as the L. A. Free
Press, but neither is it as irres
ponsible.
His comment about ‘academic
excellence’ leads me to believe
that anything I could say about
that would be so much straw in
the wind to him.
About student body unity
though—why not? Why do you
think the idea is a farce, Teipel ?
If you’ve paid any attention at
all in your military history class
es, you’ll recall that historically,
it’s the unified groups who came
out ahead.
The second paragraph begins
with what must be a list of things
bugging Mr. Teipel, but the sen
tence structure as printed is un
grammatical and the intents' is
unclear. There are four points
here I’d like to comment on,
though.
“Civilians wearing part of the
Aggie uniform”—it may well be
that should Mr. Teipel investi
gate, he’d find that persons wear
ing those buckles or shirts or
whatever, are at least as quali
fied as he, or in most cases, a
little more so, to wear them. Al
though I don’t wear my old belt
& buckle to yell practice, there
are a number of us who would
find it most interesting to be
challenged by a man who’s been
here perhaps SVz years, should
we elect to do so.
“Standing on the wood”—now
here’s a legitimate bitch, finally.
Standing on the seats in Kyle
Field is a recognized senior privi
lege, and the word simply hasn’t
gotten out to all the non-reg
LISTEN UP I
the batt forum
underclassmen. It is being worked
on, though.
“The Senior Boot Line”—that
Mr. Teipel would deny the civi
lian senior the right to partici
pate in this demonstration of sup
port for our team is utterly and
absolutely indefensible.
“The plea for a ‘Special Ef
fort’ ”—well, J. R., here’s where
I agree with you—not in your
choice of words, certainly, but
in idea. The day that the Aggie
Spirit actually needs a call for a
‘special effort’ by the powers-
that-be is the day that you can say
with validity that the Sprit of
Aggieland has truly died and gone
to hell. (May that day never
come . . .) But since you’re sling
ing mud on the civilians, let me
fling a small clod back at you
at this point by saying that I
can’t recall a single incident at
A&M more cookie-pushing than
the business of you guys ordering
the underclassmen into the night
to paper the campus with little
note-paper “wreck Tech” signs.
The observation was made that
an Aggie T-shirt, attending a
convenient yell practice, and an
occasional howdy don’t make an
Aggie. Okay, the civilian has no
uniform to indentify him as an
Ag. He wants to show that he’s a
part of that group—that he has
pride in his school. What’s wrong
with the Aggie T-shirt you so
disdain, Teipel? As for the “con
venient” yell practice, do you pro
fess the belief that all those
troops would be there if they
weren’t afraid of being raped
blind by the class above them
if they weren’t? Come on, Ag,
who’s putting on who? The oc
casional howdy is in the same
vein—does that fish say howdy
to the sergebutt out of a feel
ing of goodwill and overwhelm
ing love of his fellowman ? Be
real . . .
I believe his remarks that he
finds it inconceivable how any
one can be an Aggie without
participating in the Corps of
Cadets, and that “Aggie” means
“Corps” come from a sincere be
lief—and that’s unfortunate, be
cause it’s out of step with the
world around him.
Several years back, there were
a number of people in A&M’s
hierarchy who were concerned
about the future of A&M. At
that time, the handwriting was
on the wall—cut out this “route
step” business and move toward
an objective if you want to sur
vive. A group of 100 Aggie Exes
was appointed to the “Century
Committee,” and their task was
to evaluate where we’ve been,
where we are, and where we want
to go. And they fulfilled that
task. They saw an unparallelled
history as an outstanding land
grant, all male, military, agri
cultural and mechanical college.
They saw also that at that time
the college was in fact, a univer
sity. A sort of slipshod, loose-at-
the-ends, going-nowhere-in-parti-
cular university, resting on the
reputation of those who had gone
before, and turning out rubber
stamp graduates with rubber
stamp minds into a world that
doesn’t need any more rubber
stamps. Well, they decided that
A&M had a greater destiny than
to turn out good soldiers, and
they acted on that decision. So,
we have a new name, new co
education, new non - compulsory
Corps, new facilities, new objec
tives and a new vigor in moving
toward these objectives. Things
which stand between where we
are and where we want to be
are going to be changed—either
modified or discarded. This is the
fate of “Old Army” and “Spirit”
as Pinky knew it, as Earl Rud
der knew it, as Ed Cooper knew
it, as I knew it, as Teipel knows
it and as the Fighting Texas Ag
gie Class of ’72 will know it and
their children after them. To sur
vive and grow, you adapt, that’s
all. To maintain identity you re
tain the essence of what you are,
but all else must be flexible, or
you begin to stagnate.
Compare traditions to barna
cles on a ship, if you will. A new
ship has none, and moves pretty
well. It lacks “character”, though.
An older ship has some, and can
make headway, but is hindered
somewhat. A ship laden with them
is crippled though, so you chip
some off and you go again. Chip
them all off, and you may find
that they were holding the ship
together!
So, Mr. Teipel, why don’t you
and the others who think as you
do begin to consider what you’re
concerned about from a more
overall standpoint ? Pull your
head out from where it is and
stand above the herd for awhile—
look around and see where every
body’s going. Try to find out why
there are so many headed that
way when you’re headed this
way. If you really want to get
something done about it, there
are far more effective ways than
wailing in the Batt.
Tom Harrover
★ ★ ★
Editor,
The Battalion:
From the tone of Mr. Teipel’s
letter in the Oct. 18 Batt, I must
conclude that his “The Aggie
Spirit is a state of mind” is
synonymous with “The Seventh
Degree of Concentration” em
ployed by Captain Shotover in
G. B. Shaw’s Heartbreak House—
not to mention other similarities
that possibly might be drawn.
I thank you for your space, and
remain
Tim O’Hara
303 Montclair
★ ★ ★
Editor,
The Battalion:
I am writing, as I am sure
many other AGGIES are doing,
to take issue with certain com
ments expressed by Mr. Teipel in
the letter printed in Friday’s is
sue of the Batt. I am a freshman
and a civilian. I hope Mr. Teipel
will not throw his paper away
upon reading this.
First, I object to calling
the Batt “an administration rag
scarcely worthy of toilet tissue.”
I live in Davis-Gary Dorm and
I can testify that five minutes
after the Batt is delivered, over
half of the issues have already
been taken. By 6:30 p.m., only
a few papers are left. This is
proof that many AGGIES de
pend on the Batt to furnish them
with the latest campus news. The
Batt does a much better job of
this than most school newspapers
I have read.
SECONDLY, AND this is the
most important, I object to Mr.
Teipel’s obvious definition of Ag
gie Spirit as Corps Spirit. I be-
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THE BATTALION
O-pinions expressed in The Battalion £ ‘u “* SS
are those of the student Winters only. otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneous
The Battalion is a non-tax-supported, non- Crefn^^e^fio' ° f republication of a11 other
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The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building. College Station,
Members of the Student Publications Board are: Jim Texas 77843.
Lindsey, chairman ; Dr. David Bowers, College of Liberal
Arts,: F- S- White, Co’lege of Engineering; Dr. Donald R. EDITOR JOHN W. FULLER
Clarx, Co lege of Veterinary Medicine; and Hal Taylor, Col- »» _ -n
lege Of Agriculture. Managing Editor Dave Mayes
Sports Editor John Platzer
u/ln. Batta * k :r- 8 £} u ?. ejn "ewspaper at Texas A&M is City Editor Mike Wright
published in College Station, Texas daily except Saturday, XT t^.,. td v n i _
Sunday, and Monday, and holiday periods, September through INeWS Lialtor - tiOu Calmer
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lieve that although Aggie Spirit
originated with the Corps, it is
not restricted to it. He defines
Aggie Spirit as a state of mind,
and I agree wholeheartedly. Lip
service, whether by civilians or
members of the Corps, is all too
common. But among the non-regs
as well as in the Corps there are
those who swell with pride when
they hear “The Spirit.” There are
those who experienced an indes
cribable feeling when they hear
“The War Hymn.” And there are
those who believe that a degree
from A&M means more than a
degree from any other university.
I acknowledge that these three
examples do not in themselves
constitute Aggie Spirit, but they
are ample evidence of its exis
tence among the civilian student
body.
BECAUSE OF the efforts of
such people as Hector Gutierrez
and Bill Carter, who recognize the
need for a united student body,
the Aggie Spirit (suck it up, Mr.
Teipel) is being rejuvenated.
I submit that although I have
been here a short time and can
not possibly have experienced the
full meaning of Aggie Spirit, I
have had the seed planted in me.
In four years when I receive my
degree, I will be just as much,
no more, of an Aggie as my
friends in the Corps are.
In conclusion, I wonder just
how fully Mr. Teipel understands
what the Aggie Spirit is. He
stated that “Aggie — means
Corps!” I submit that Aggie—
means Aggie!
Roger Miller ’72
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