Page 2
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, November 2, 1971
THE BAIT/
Lday,
Listen up
Letters praise goat-ropers, knock local red-necks
„ . . j nrp neoule who got out was in the co
Editor:
This is in response to the let
ter by Mr. Ronnie Quebe of Octo
ber 28, 1971.
Dear Mr. Quebe:
Although we wish to remain
neutral on your stand concerning
smoking, we feel compelled to de
fend our cherished ritual, for
snuff dipping is dear to our
hearts. We wonder what forces
compel you to observe this phe
nomenal event. Perhaps you are
enthralled at the process by which
Cowboy Bob endeavors to satiate
the inner man. Perhaps those
who do not dip are awestruck at
Cowboy Bob’s miraculous feat of
unending wonder. (Don’t knock
it if you haven’t tried it). Be-
CADET SLOUCH
by Jim Earle
[ STAUl-lW<SS PoR
president
sides, we who partake in the art
of separating liquids from solids
find great peace of mind in lis
tening to the pitter-patter of the
tiny droplets splashing to their
destination. (And very little peace
of mind from the gas produced
while being observed)
Sir, do you realize the skill re
quired to hit a 2% inch circle
from a distance of 3 feet while
paying attention to the lecture in
progress? Goodness!! You should
be proud to be exposed to such
masters of their art for a few
hours each week!!
Perhaps you too should become
acquainted with this fine old tra
dition. Some of the greatest tal
ents of the past were dippers. All
you have to do to join this giant
fellowship of man is just go
across the street and buy a tin of
sweet snuff (good for novices),
and ask Cowboy Bob to demon
strate the art for you. It will
only cost you a dime, and could
open up great new horizons of
insight for you.
With a dip in our lips, and a
smile in our hearts,
Bill Turner
Charles Kessler
Tommy Blake
★ ★ ★
Editor:
With all the recent talk about
traditions here at A&M, I would
like to propose one that would
probably meet with general ap
proval. I am referring to Hump
Day (not the same as Ags now
think of the word).
Where I come from, Hump Day
is always on Wednesday. Now on
Hump Day, no one can do any
work or put forth any studious
Bu lletin Board
“I thought you had lost that bumper sticker!”
Tonight
Engineering Technology Socie
ty will meet in the Mechanical
Engineering Shops at 7:30.
Houston Hometown Club will
meet in the Birch room of the
Memorial Student Center at 8.
Wednesday
Host and Fashion will meet in
the Memorial Student Center art
room at 7:30 to hear Dean Schrie-
ber speak.
Steve Hayes
Bonfire:
superlative disease
The Superlative Disease:
The Tree Case
As the lawnmower outside
drones on, endlessly it seems, I
find myself thinking of days past,
women missed, steps travelled,
and yet I know that I must re
turn to more mundane matters;
new material, research for col
umns, A&M, and the illustrious
Aggie rendition of the burning
bush . . . the ‘ain’t it swell’ bon
fire. The bonfire reflects more
than just dogmatic adherence to
an archaic tradition, but to me
reflects a lack of foresight into
the future, and a chronic case of
what I call the “superlative dis
ease,” a disease that causes its
victims to lapse into incessant
chantings, all beginning with the
“biggest,” the “best,” the “first,”
the “only,” the “worst,” the
“grandest,” and the “finest.” I
think you have the idea. If you
don’t, you probably have the dis
ease.
The superlative disease is not
only characterized by a vocabu
lary buttressed by the superlative
case of most adjectives, for fre
quently the victim also suffers
an early symptomatic stage of
myopia in which his vision is de
cidedly limited in perspective to
the rest of the world not normally
visible to the naked eye. Because
of this early myopia, which some
times leads to a later and more
severe eye problem, (tunnel vi
sion), the victim often falls into
the ‘if-I-can’t-see-it, it-doesn’t-ex-
ist’ syndrome. Some have argued
that through time there have been
many indirect casualties of the
superlative disease, although it
is not normally fatal to the vic
tim himself. Instead, the victim
only suffers in his thinking, in
that he finds it difficult to under
stand anything in life unless it is
characterized by some superlative.
In short, this obviously limits the
capacity to understand most of
life, for given the vast population
and cultural array of human con
tributions, there are very few
persons or arts that can claim
to be the finest or the best, or
even the worst. Very few contrib
utions to human evolution and de
velopment are really presented as
the best or whatever-the-superla-
tive, they just contribute to an
advancement in world understand
ing.
Sadly, the victims of the super
lative disease, by focusing their
aims on the immediate, (recall
that this is myopia, an early
symptom and condition), simply
are unable to relate to the impli
cations of their actions, they can
see nowhere but immediately in
front of themselves. The rest of
the world of people and other liv
ing things are not considered in
their decisions. This is not the
fault of the sufferer, but the dis
ease under which he labors. For
him, the rest of the world is not
considered, for it cannot be seen,
and therefore does not exist. The
victim, as a result of the myopia,
also fails to consider any alter
natives, for he does not believe
that valid alternatives exist. He
has never seen any actual alter
natives, and so, you guessed it,
the sufferer of SD does not be
lieve they exist.
Che Battalion
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EDITOR HAYDEN WHITSETT
Managing Editor Doug Dilley
News Editor Sue Davis
Sports Editor John Curylo
Assistant Sports Editor Bill Henry
effort. Such things are against
the ideals of this fine tradition.
After Hump Day of course
comes Thursday, and Thursday,
being the day after Hump Day,
leaves everyone exhausted from
the previous day’s celebration. No
work on Thursday, either. Friday
follows Thursday, but Friday is
the day before the weekend, and
everyone must rest for the week
end. And of course the weekend
holds no promise of effort being
put forth, for obvious reasons.
Now Monday leaves everyone
tired from a strenuous weekend.
No possibility of work here, ei
ther. And since Tuesday is the
day before Hump Day, prepara
tions are in order, and these take
all the time and leave none for
study.
Now I realize that some Ags
(notably, those trying for honors)
wouldn’t be inclined to uphold all
the fine ideals of Hump Day, but
I see no greater institution for a
school such as A&M. Let’s get
those petitions for the establish
ment of Hump Day coming in . . .
Gary Couples
★ ★ ★
Editor:
In regard to Bob Dixon and
Bob Stodghill’s letter of Oct. 28,
1971, Battalion, two definite
points stand out: 1) the High
way Six Syndrome is applicable
in their case, and 2) they both
seem to be ignorant of an ob
vious situation. They advocate
the destruction of the Corps
image because they claim “it mis
represents the student body.”
This is an erroneous statement.
The name, Texas A&M Univer
sity, immediately connotes the
Corps of Cadets. This organiza
tion, in the past and the present,
has been representative of the
Fightin’ Texas Aggie Spirit and
the A&M University System.
Agreed, the Corps exists as a
numerical minority of the total
student population, but to state
that it mocks the ideals of A&M’s
students is fallacious. However,
if Mr. Dixon’s and Mr. Stodg
hill’s self-partiality exceeds their
own common sense, then why did
they choose to attend a univer
sity whose student body is so
grossly “misrepresented?”
The comments concerning the
integrity of the members of the
Corps of Cadets leaves one aghast
to believe that such violations of
logic could be submitted. An ex
ample is the statement: “the
most apathetic students on this
campus are people who got out
of the Corps.” Therefore, those
students left in the Corps must
possess the spirit and the self
pride to do something extra, that
is support your so-called “tradi
tions without purpose.”
The purpose of the Dixon-
Stodghill letter initially proposed
to point out two obvious ideas in
a letter written by Mrs. Cham
bers. It turned out, however, to
be simply a condemnation of the
Corps of Cadets. The objective
could have been better handled in
the manner of Bill Dorkoch’s reply
to the same letter, in which he
chose to emphasize that the ci
vilian students as well as cadets
display the qualities of an up
standing university. Think about
it.
Louie Zingery ’74
A. E. Adams III *74
★ ★ ★
Editor:
The people of this red-necked,
corps-dominated community con
tinually bitch about civilians be
ing long-haired, dirty freaks.
They bitch because not everyone
has a “corps” haircut, and what
not. Well, not everyone is a
white - angle - saxon - protestant
kicker or believes that God once
was in the corps. I wishthep
pie in this area would atop tJ
to push their ideas down otU
throats.
1 speak specifically of thej,!
cident which has served to ml,
me ashamed to be an Aggie, ]ij
hair has never been long, U
moderate and well-kept. Toi]
I went to the “C” for a trinj
mistake, a costly humiliatingrii
take. I asked for a “nice tty
and thin,” and explained mysl
I was shaved, by a snotty, goj ; ,
herding, shearing, barber. W
snidely he said if I
“pleased” I didn’t “have to pay;
I paid, I always pay.
What 1 write, 1 write in hasti
There’s a lot I wouldn’t writes
I weren’t mad. But I am, anil
want everyone to know it. Iwatf
everyone to know that theyaJ
free to take their “C” and anJ
thing else they care to andpn
it in their ten-gallon corps ara
and move it up their highway
sixes.
“Shafted” Pancho Stajp
Air Foi
| and a|
the awanj
ifficers
jraduate
issignmer
Recipiej
lean
ne^
[Becker
OUR succeI
The barbershop says that ill
you have any complaint to pleasl
take it to them. If it is valiJ
something will be worked out.-|
Ed.
Too, the myopia also affects
the victims’ logic. An example of
this is' the argument that since
trees are already cut and to be
burned anyway, they might as
well be the ones to burn them.
Notice that such a statement
avoids any other issues that may
exist, such as ethical or economic
ones, especially considering those
persons in the area still using
wood-burning stoves. Such logic
is based on the premise that if
someone else does it, then it is
all right for them to do it too. (To
those of you who seriously study
such illnesses, the ‘faulty-logic
syndrome’ should not be confused
with the ‘Get-all-you-can-before-
someone-else-does syndrome.’ The
latter syndrome is highly malig
nant and is fatal to those afflict
ed and to those associated with
the victim.)
Fortunately, the superlative
disease is not necessarily a per
manent condition, except possibly
in its late stages. It usually can
be cured by independent thinking
and a conscientious refusal to ad
here to irrelevancy. For those of
you who find this sometimes dif
ficult, there will soon be an SDA
chapter here. (Superlative Dis
ease Anonymous) It believes that
SD is a disease, and not a social
stigma.
Superlative disease is being
eradicated on most college cam
puses. Researchers attribute this,
in part, to an open minded, inde
pendent, and vocal academic lead
ership.
I hope that the ‘finest’ bonfire,
in all respects, will be without
trees.
a student newspaper at Texas A&M, is
ge Station, Texas, daily except Saturday,
and holiday periods, September
Saturday,
through
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