THE BATTALION
Page 2 College Station, Texas Wednesday, November 3, 1971
CADET SLOUCH
by Jim Earle
“Last week I was afraid to say ‘Wait until next year’
and now I’m saying wait until next weekend!”
Bonfire
Bulletin Board
Tonight
Fellowship of Christian Ath
letes meets in the Lettermen’s
Lounge at 9.
Orange County Hometown Club
meets in the lobby of the MSC
at 7:30.
Host and Fashion will meet in
the Memorial Student Center art
room at 7:30 to hear Dean Schrie-
ber speak.
Chess Committee will meet at
7:30 in room 3B of the Memorial
Student Center.
Thursday
Student Senate meets in the
Library conference room at 7:30.
Model Airplane Club will meet
at Hobby World, 305 University,
at 8:15.
San Angelo-West Texas Area
HTC will meet in room 3-C of the
Memorial Student Center at 7:30.
Eagle Pass Hometown Club will
meet in room 2-B of the Memorial
Student Center at 7:30.
DeWitt-Lavaca Hometown Club
will meet in room 203 of the Aca
demic building at 7:30.
Monday
Scale Modeling Club will meet
in the Social Room of the Memo
rial Student Center at 7:30.
Junior Class Council will meet
in room 304 of the Physics build
ing at 7:30.
Listen up
Administration accused of violating right
Last year at the Bonfire I turned and started to leave following
the yell practice. As I walked away two freshmen in the Corps passed
me. One turned to the other and said, “Is that all it is?”
His companion replied, “It doesn’t seem worth it.”
It hurts, after working on two Bonfires, to hear something like
that. It hurts because it is the truth.
Every year we build a Bonfire. Every year we stack logs, operate
chain saws and walk around in a semi-stupor brought on by exhaustion.
Every year we create a monster.
There is no reason to keep building the immense object we have
in the past. Fifty feet could be lopped off the top of our Bonfire and
we’d still have the world’s biggest.lt could be a third as large and it
would still convey the spirit and the “burning desire to beat the hell out
oft.u.”
In the past we have had what is called the “superlative disease”
by our ecology columnist Steve Hayes. In the past we have continued,
without rhyme or reason, to force it ever higher. In the past we have
had people injured and almost killed because of its immensity.
It is time that we look to the now rather than to the past. It is
time that we took a long hard look at the Bonfire tradition, not with
the idea of tearing it down, but with idea of making it more relevant
and more meaningful.
If we did cut down on the size of the Bonfire it would mean more
people would be released to do other things. What have been called
“alternatives” in the past could become a meaningful and useful part of
the Bonfire tradition. It could also bring in those who oppose Bonfire
on ecology or other issues.
It is hard to imagine what would be the result of having several
thousand students working on something like the Burton Creek
clean-up held last year, or working to build a park in an under-privi-
ledged area. The capacity for doing something really meaningful in this
community, not just providing it with a burning smell in the wind and
a traffic jam, would be tremendous.
We call for the student organizations on this campus, and the
students themselves, to review their participation in the Bonfire and in
the community. We think that they will, for the most part, find their
participation in one to be ridiculously high, while the other is
ridiculously low. They will find that the good they do is relatively small
in comparison to their selfish actions in building the Bonfire. We hope
that they will react to this view by finding meaningful, worthwhile
objectives and not go about creating monsters.
Editor:
On Tuesday, October 28, Mr.
Wendler, Executive Director of
Texas Intercollegiate Student As
sociation, gave a talk on student
civil rights. I expected the MSC
ballroom to be filled, but this
was not the case. Evidently many
students do not take their civil
rights too seriously. Nevertheless,
I would like to summarize on a
few of Mr. Wendler’s statements.
a) The University cannot re
quire students to live on campus
except under unusual circum
stances. Payment of building
mortgages is not an unusual cir
cumstance. Many students do not
realize that A&M cannot require
you to live on campus. Upper
courts have already decided in
favor of the student. Why does
A&M persist in total disregard
of our constitutional rights as
American citizens?
b) While the University has the
right to inspect rooms for dam
ages to walls, blinds, sinks, etc.,
it does not have the right *to
search your personal belongings.
Yet, two summers ago, my room
mate and I were awakened at
11:30 PM and commanded to open
our footlockers and drawers for
inspection. Doesn’t the admini
stration realize that this is un
lawful search? Yet A&M persists
is such policies.
c) Freedom of the press shall
not be infringed upon. It is your
right as an American citizen to
distribute literature on public
property. For some of us this
brings to mind a paper published
a few years ago known as Evo
lution. “Congress shall make no
law . . . abridging the freedom
of speech . . .” Contrast this with
the A&M Blue Book Section 51,
as pertains to censorship of po
litical speakers.
These and many other viola
tions are happening now. People
—WAKE UP! It is the students
who must initiate these changes
We must do it now because it
will take years to accomplish
completely.
As for the administration—I
ACCUSE. I accuse the admini
stration of flagrantly violating
the civil rights of every student
here. I invite—no, I challenge you
to answer these accusations. And
if you dare to try, let me first
admonish you that you cannot
contract away your constitutional
rights. That little card every stu
dent is required to sign when he
enrolls, by which he agrees to
abide by the Blue Book rules, can
not contract away his constitu
tional rights. THIS IS THE LAW.
E. R. Elsbury ’72
The problem with the speech
Ed Wendler made was that while
he told the truth, he didn’t quite
tell the whole truth. A Supreme
Court ruling of April 5, 1971 up
held the right of a state-support
ed institution to require students
to live and eat in campus facili
ties.
The Supreme Court has also
upheld the right of a university
to search rooms if it has “reason
able cause to believe” a criminal
law is being violated or other evil
is present. To quote from the
opinion of Moore v. Student Af
fairs Committee of Troy State
University, “the regulation au
thorizing search of dormitories
thus does not depend on whether
a student ‘waives* his right to
Fourth Amendment protection or
whether he has ‘contracted’ it
away; rather, its validity is de
termined by whether the regula
tion is a reasonable exercise of
the colleges supervisory duty.”
As for Evolution, Dean James
P. Hannigan says that they may
sell their magazine on campus
but that they haven’t been able
to publish this year. That is the
reason you haven’t seen Evolu
tion.
As for the speakers policy, Han
nigan said policy has been chang
ed and he “knows of no speaker
that has been refused permission”
to speak on campus.
Hannigan also said that A&M
has a legal adviser who looks
over all policies to make sure
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
community newspaper.
LETTERS POLICY
Letters 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 77843.
Members of the Student Publications Board are: Jim
Lindsey, chairman; H. P. Eilers, 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.
The Battalion,
published in Collei
Sunday, Monday,
May, and once a
a student newspaper at Texas A&M, is
re Station, Texas, daily except Saturday,
and holiday periods, September through
week during summer school.
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EDITOR HAYDEN WHITSETT
Managing Editor Doug Dilley
News Editor Sue Davis
Sports Editor* John Curylo
Assistant Sports Editor Bill Henry
there are no violations of students
civil rights.—Ed.
★ ★ ★
Editor:
As an Aggie I am very proud
of our school, but I am not blind
to its faults. There are many
problems that deserve immediate
attention. One of these is the
fence that has been constructed
in front of the Academic Build
ing. I believe that the proposed
mall could be built in sections—
not all at once—and thereby not
disrupt the flow of students.
Traffic flow on campus is get
ting worse, cars should be prohib
ited on campus during class
hours, and new, separate path
ways should be provided for bi
cycles. This would cost money,
but it would relieve congestion
and hopefully satisfy both pedes
trians and bicycle owners. An
other problem is parking. I pro
pose that a bus service for day
students would go a long way
towards solving this. Such a sys
tem would drastically reduce the
need for day student parking
areas. These areas could then be
used for dormitory students.
There are other problems, how
ever, that are related to the basic
ideas of this university. I feel
that we should be guaranteed the
same freedoms as other citizens.
Specifically, our rooms should not
be subject to searches without a
warrant. This is asking no more
than is guaranteed in the Consti
tution. I believe that students
should not be forced to live on
campus, eat Sbisa food, or pay for
the laundry service unless he
wants to do so.
I am running for the Student
Senate. The only qualifications I
offer are a willingness to listen
to the student body and a concern
for the betterment of Texas A&M
University.
Randy Stephens ’75
The fence in front of the Aca
demic building is there to keep
people from falling in a trench
that is soon to be there. The mall
is being built in sections, and has
since it was started last year, but
there is a limit to how small the
sections can be.
Most of your other transporta
tion suggestions are already be
ing implemented and researched
by the university.—Ed.
★ ★ ★
Editor:
I believe that I have a matter
that needs the concern of the
entire university, particularly the
freshman class. It concerns the
upcoming class of ’75 elections.
Let me emphasize that I am not
a candidate nor am I writing this
letter in support of any certain
individuals. I merely want to
make known to many civilians
what goes on here in the Corps
area.
Over this past weekend, cam
paign signs for the elections be
gan appearing on campus. Liv
ing in Dorm 10 as a civilian, I
noticed that many signs were
placed in front of Duncan Hall.
These supported male candidates
with no distinction as to Corps
or civilian, and also several signs
for various female candidates.
Tuesday morning as I left for
an early class, I saw a pile of
charred wood and cardboard on
the sidewalk outside Duncan.
When I looked at the campaign
signs, it was easy to see that at
least five signs were missing and
these were the signs of our young
women candidates. One sign that
was burned was made out of
sheet metal and I previously
noticed it as belonging to a fe
male.
I have no doubts whatever that
certain individuals in the Corps
of Cadets are behind this inci
dent. I have heard cries i B .>
son of “Beat the hell out oft, 1.
regs and maggies!” whiles
in Duncan. Clearly the Co, ^
school it once was. I f ee i ^ a m ini
a non-compulsory Corps and ”
addition of FEMALE AGGlilday af |
not maggies, leads to a confl, A spoK
ence of opinion. Everyone lliation |
the right to participate in
dent government. No one is a
titled to demonstrate his imm
turity for destroying prope*
not belonging to him justl*
cause he longs for the dayswb
everyone was 01’ Army.
Paul E. Klein 75
out for the Corps and no one^tf jCll
As times change, this
sity is no longer the
th reun
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