Page 2
College Station, Texas
Friday, October 1, 1971
THE BATTALION
Listen up
Knocking the editor’s
Editor:
Although I respect the editor’s
opinions as a third-party observ
er and, in fact, agree with many
of them, I was under the impres
sion that “Listen up” wasjfor the
students to express opinions on
topics important to themselves
and to be answered by other stu
dents with their own opinions. It
seemed that the editor’s job in
this column consisted mainly of
presenting the letters, noting any
clear misstatement of facts, and
providing answers to questions
asked of or accusations made to
the university administration.
I feel the editor should restrict
any personal comments to edi
torial articles, as was done in
“The ‘real’ Aggies” (September
28). An editor exerts a great
amount of influence just in
choosing the letters to be pub
lished without making a student’s
opinion look foolish by following
his letter with a reply, at times
indignant, which the student can
not immediately answer. Last
year’s editor of The Battalion
began in the same way, and this
matter was called to his atten
tion. This university has its
share of dissenting opinions, and
many of these may be unneces
sary, but freely debating issues
is to be preferred to having a
campus of 14,000 conformists.
Finally, if this letter is printed,
let us learn what other students
think. We do not want the editor
to supply our replies.
Peggy Pearson ’69
P.S. At the risk of being la
beled a “militant coed,” I think
that “Maggie” is a pretty nick
name for “Margaret,” but to be
a Maggie is depressing.
Replies to letters are one way
I can express editorial policy on
subjects without having to write
a lengthy and repetitive editorial.
Also, they are letters to the edi
tor, which is me, and I feel I have
a right to reply.
On the subject of selecting
which letters are run, I run all
that are legible, even those that
are not typed, and aren’t vulgar
or incomprehensible. Occasionally
I don’t run a letter because it
says virtually the same thing as
another one has, but other than
that, everything is run.
If there are any other opinions
on the replies, or opinions of the
same sort, I’d like to see them.
—Ed.
★ ★ ★
Editor:
What has happened to Texas
A&M ? What is becoming of the
“West Point of the South?” Are
we not becoming as any other
university in this country, only
that we have a large ROTC pro
gram.
These are questions that should
and can be asked by just what
has been said and seen of only a
month of the 1971-72 school year.
Traditions. Traditions are what
makes this fine institution and
they are already beginning to die.
Progress is the main reason giv
en. Why should this be ?
Students are losing respect for
the Corps, for which this school
was established and still stands
for. Letters have been exchanged
back and forth in this Listen Up
column and this also produced an
editorial. What was accomplished
by all this exchange ?
And now another tradition is
being eliminated. That of mid
night yell practice. A changed
route, for reasons that aren’t very
substantial and could be taken
care of by more than changing
the route. Yell practices are
something no other school in this
country can boast. Especially the
“march on Kyle Field.”
The next thing that we will
eliminate will be “Sawing Var
sity’s Horns Off” — or standing
at the game or by not even light
ing the Bonfire, if there even be
one.
The Friday night yell practices
have been the same for more than
30 years. It involves the whole
school—but the way the new
route change is, it will involve no
one but the Corps and will be
come no more spirited or exciting
than our Tuesday yell practices.
Criticism was given the civi
lians for not participating, this
way they aren’t even given a
chance and miss the fun of yell
practices, which are probably the
most exciting thing on this cam
pus.
The Twelfth Man needs all the
support it can get. It needs all
the spirit it can give to those
“Fightin’ Texas Aggies”—if a
shorter route is being sought for
the reason of having a shorter
yell practice or because the “go
ing is rough” to Kyle Field, then
this institution is defeating its
purpose of building men.
Aggies, let’s get together. Let’s
join in getting the Spirit of Ag-
gieland back to where it should
be. Let’s support the Twelfth
Man and those “Fightin’ Texas
Aggies.”
My feeling, as probably is most
of the student body, is that the
route should not change and
something should be done other
wise to elevate the problem.
W. Morris ’74
A&M as the “West Point of the
South” or as a school that stands
only for ROTC is dead—fortu
nately.
As for Midnight Yell Practice
being eliminated, that’s not quite
true. The intent of the changes
is to make the practice more ef
fective, rather than the semi-riot
we now have.
If you wish to keep marching
on the old route to Kyle Field, be
our guest. But you might want
to know that soon Military Walk,
a major part of it, is to be con
verted to a hole in the ground,
and therefore mud. I doubt the
Band will mind you climbing over
and around the slime, but please
don’t ask them to do it.—Ed.
★ ★ ★
Editor:
First of all, I would like to
apologize to all civilian students
and Maggies who feel that Corps
members have insulted them in
one way or the other in the past
several years. I myself have been
Cbe Battalion
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of
the student writers only. The Battalion is a non-tax-
supported, non-profit, self-supporting educational enter
prise edited and operated by students as a university and
comm unity newspaper.
LETTERS POLICY
The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M, is
published in College Station, Texas, daily except Saturday,
Sunday, Monday, and holiday periods, September through
May, and once a week during summer school.
MEMBER
The Associated Press, Texas Press Association
The Associated Collegiate Press
Tetters to the editor must be typed, double-spaced,
and no more than 300 words in length. They must be
signed, although the writer’s name will be withheld by
arrangement with the editor. Address correspondence to
Listen Up, The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building,
College Station, Texas 778-13.
Members of the Student Publications Board are: Jim
Lindsey, chairman ; H. F. Filers, College of Liberal Arts ;
F. S. White, College of Engineering; Dr. Asa B. Childers, Jr.,
College of Veterinary Medicine ; Dr. W. E. Tedrick, College
of Agriculture; and Layne Kruse, student.
Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising
Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and San
Francisco.
Mail subscriptions are $3.50 per semester; $6 per school
year; $6.50 per full year. All subscriptions subject to 5%
sales tax. Advertising rate furnished on request. Address:
The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, College Station,
Texas 77843.
The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for
reproduction of all news dispatchs credited to it or not
otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneous
origin published herein. Rights of republication of all other
matter herein are also reserved.
Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas.
EDITOR HAYDEN WHITSETT
Managing Editor Doug Dilley
News Editor Sue Davis
Sports Editor John Curylo
Assistant Sports Editor Bill Henry
CHARLEY PRIDE
OVER 18 HITS IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS
G. ROLLIE WHITE COLISEUM
Friday, October 1, 1971 — 8:00 p. m.
EVERYONE MUST PURCHASE A TICKET
TICKET PRICES:
Reserve Seat Tickets General Admission
A&M Student & Date .... $4.00 ea. A&M Student & Date .... $2.50 ea.
All Others $5.00 ea. Other Students $3.00 ea.
Patrons $3.50 ea.
Tickets & Information — MSC Student Program Office Phone 845-4671
Steve Hayes
Senator speaks on population
repli
les
guilty, I know, of doing just that
on occasions at yell practices,
football games, etc. However, I
would ask these people to under
stand that being a member of the
Corps is perhaps a somewhat
more passionate experience in re
spect to belief in Aggie and
Corps traditions than being a ci
vilian student.
You might note that I differ
entiate between Aggie and Corps
traditions, for that is the point of
this letter. I feel that many peo
ple fail to realize that many for
mer Aggie traditions accepted by
the one-time all military student
body are now Corps traditions,
such as juniors doing pushups at
yell practice, fish spurs for the
SMU game, and many others.
Personally, I feel it would be ab
surd for civilian freshmen to
“whip-out” like Corps fish. How
ever, I would expect all Aggies
to hump it, wildcat, and stand
erect during the Spirit. Those are
examples of Aggie traditions. All
I ask is that civilians accept and
respect Corps traditions, both ci
vilian and Corps member alike
stop bear-baiting each other as
teasips and Aggies do, and all
Aggies unite behind the Fightin’
Texas Aggie football team, which
will be in the Cotton Bowl on
New Year’s Day.
Kim Bannister ’73
Often, an article excites me
either for its honesty in an age
of compromise, or for its novel
approach in an era or redundancy.
Last year, at Texas A&M, Sena
tor Robert Packwood (R-Ore.)
presented a speech that really
seemed to have less circulation
than it deserved, at least I never
heard about it in Indiana last
year. I would like to use this
column to share some excerpts
from that speech in case some
of you missed it.
ON POPULATION: Let’s take
a look at the population problem
just of the United States. By the
year 2000 . . . we’re going to have
300 million people . . . we’ll have
roughly half a billion people by
. 2050 . . . That’s one problem,
the second being we have more
women in the child bearing age . .
than they are spread throughout
the rest of the population ... So
even if we reach a replacement
rate of 2.11 children per family
today, we will level off . . . be
tween 275 and 290 million people.
. . . I’ll set forth a postulate, . . .
Packwood’s Population Postulate:
the quality of life is inversely
proportional to the number of
people times the square of the
area in which we live.
ON CONTRACEPTIVES: It
does no good for them to be
available if people don’t know how
to use them. . . . the ultimate . . .
purpose ought to be to make con
traceptive information and devices
available to every person ... re
gardless of . . . educational back
ground . . . income. So that no
body gets accidentally pregnant.
ON ABORTION: We have no
more right as a government to
compel pregnancy than we have
to compel abortion. . . . I’ve intro
duced the National Abortion Act,
which if passed, would simply
void all of the state abortion laws
that have any restriction . . . that
prohibits a woman’s right to have
an abortion.
ON VOLUNTARY STERiu
ZATION: . . . there’s no rea,'
why ... we cannot again..
available . . . information and f;
cilities to encourage ...those*, ^
would like to have sterilizations.'
ON POLITICAL ATTITUDES
You’ve got to quit being a spe* |
tor in the game of government,
“can’t” is a euhemism that p*
ticians use to say “I won’t,"'i
don’t want to.”
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Attention College Station telephone customers.
BENI
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Bed*
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Bal
licial
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btion
fVTTI
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In case of
noov
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16-973
HAL
Dot
emergency
111 an
Dial 911
HU
tER,
23-8i
Starting today, October 1, in College Station,
General Telephone offers this fast, new service
for your convenience.
In case of fire, burglary, accident or similar
emergency, just dial "91 1". You'll be quickly con
nected to the proper authority.
You can still receive help by dialing "O" in case
of an emergency, but 911 will be the primary
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