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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 6, 1975)
Page 2 THE BATTALION THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 1975 Koozat By Nguyen Dzien Letter battle begins OH! PL-eASC.-DON'T----IOFTICPQ.1 you WH.L- MAK£l The: cazoivt? A-MCrQY ■ THUS fS A Q-&E4. T H//HNfriO- T£4-P>tT/Ort ■ SHE t'S a pz&tty A/omam Yell.- leac?e.q_ amp THE CXCPIHD -JUSTS .... '‘'loves* tiEU ' UHE C.I2AZ-Y Editor: Before a battle of letters begins in the “Battalion” over the February 26th Senate decision to delete the word “male” from the qualifications for student Yell Leader, I would like to reinforce the point made by Curt Marsh and make another point of my own. The first point is that the majority of student Senators showed a great deal of wisdom and foresight in their Yell Leader resolution. Their deci sion reflects their knowledge and respect of the Supreme Court deci sions which regard sexual discrimi nation as unconstitutional. They acted as good Americans and Ags during this moment of controversy. Had the Senate not amended the qualifications and had given in to those “Old Ag Traditionalists” (of whom I am a member) the entire matter would probably have been eventually taken to court and con tested. A protest in court is in itsell not distasteful; however, as has happened many times before, the extensive coverage by the press and the delay of the court in handling cases could combine to cause a pain fully long and over publicized event which would probably taint the reputation of A&M and result in a decision similar to our Senate’s. The Senate’s decision then is anchored in an idea 200 years old and it will not easily be changed. The second point I would like to make concerns the role of the stu dent body in having the final word in this matter. If by chance a female feels she can meet the challenge of fered by the position of Yell Leader and should decide to run for that position, her prospects and the all male Yell Leader tradition would be at the mercy of the entire student body. At this point the real debates should begin over the coming elec tion. Election day will be the indi vidual student’s chance to express his convictions on his ballot and it will be an excellent time to observe true democracy in action. Elliot Lowe Go Mert Editor: Having been at the Student Se nate meeting Wednesday night, I was quite impressed by the seem ingly all knowing representatives — the ones who had the word “male” deleted from the qualifications for yell leader. At first, I was moved by what Curt Marsh, John Nash and Steve Eberhard vocalized on how the Senate had no right to state re strictions or qualifications on such positions. They said that it was up to the student body to decide what the qualifications were by voting at the elections for the candidates of their choice. As previously stated, I was moved by their orations — that is, until I started thinking. If the Senate does not have the right to state qualifica tions that their constituents want, then what do they have the right to do? What is their purpose? Several Senators stated that they had polled their constituents and found that not only did they not want girls to be yell leaders, but they did not want them to run. They stated that girls and guys, both, in overwhelming majority felt this way. There were 36 Senators who felt it did not matter what their constituents thought — or at least that is what their votes indicated. It is possible that someone’s consti tuency could have supported the re solution. However, out illustrious Senate had already voted down the resolution to allow students them selves to decide in a referendum. There is no question that if a girl were elected yell leader, the role of yell leader would be altered greatly. The role of yell leader is not the point. The point is that the Senate said they could not establish dis criminating qualifications. Ques tions of discrimination are for judi cial concern. Elected legislators should be concerned with the de sires of their constituents. That is the way our democratic system works. Now Student Senate is in a predi cament. It seems they have an ob ligation to drop all other qualifica tions. Who is to say a student with a 1.9 GPR is not just as capable of being a yell leader, or student body president for that matter, as present office holders. Or why limit the number of yell leaders to five — why not let voters decide at each election what positions they want to exist? An even more basic question is that if an elected legislator cannot (or will not) carry out the wishes of its constituents, then why does Stu dent Senate exist? Louie Gohmert ’75 P.S. Check the roll call vote on the yell leader question and see if your Senator voted the way you feel. If not, remember him or her at elec tion time. And in the meantime, there is such a thing as petition. rr Good i° b ISIouch Editor: The fact that the Student (?) Se nate voted not to allow the students of A&M to vote on the issue of delet ing the word male from the qualifi cations for Yell Leader seems to be a crying shame. It would be one thing if the Senators were representing their constituents, yet how many Senators actually did this? How many Senators had a quiz the next day or some other “pressing” prob lem that they had to take care of which kept them from contacting their constituents for their opin ions? Granted that a very small minority of Senators actually took time to obtain opinions on this issue from the people they represent. The issue of deleting the long lived tradition of the word male from Yell Leader qualifications should be the right of the students at| Texas A&M, not the right of a social clique within the senate who are too! busy studying (?) or perhaps socializing to check with the people* that are being represented! Thanks) to those who voted against letting the Senate delete the word male from Yell Leader qualifications. Joan Marshall A T j p * M wav) [ 1 \ £*- -At / Jim Eark ^7 77T TVE DECIDED TO SELL MY CAR!’’ A Realist’s Reply to Libertarianism Solution to all the problems ... By MARK RANKIN For the past few months, this space has been occupied with the writings of one Mike Perrin, liber tarian and self-proclaimed economist of The Battalion. Perrin has shown us the libertarian solu tion to a variety of the world’s prob lems ranging from the validity of government itself to the relative merits of cowhide benches in the MSG. While I have no argument with libertarianism as an ethic, I would like to take this opportunity to argue that there are some cases where the free-market solution may not be the best one. Take education for example. Tomorrow Texas A&M will adopt a completely freemarket approach towards education. Anyone desiring to teach a course will rent a room for the university and will advertise the pertinent information in The Battal ion which is now on a subscription basis, using no Student Service Fees since they are no longer col lected. The faculty will vie to make their particular course sound the most attractive in an effort to draw as many students as possible. One such advertisement might look like this: EXPLORE THE ADVEN TURES OF MONEY & BANK ING! — come hear the AMAZING Dr. Peabody Mondays and Wed nesdays from 11-1200 (stag movies every other Wed.) Room 210, Sys tems Bldg. Air Conditioned — A student, seeing this, arrives at the prescribed time and place and en ters the classroom and takes his place with about nine other stu dents who were attracted by the ad vertisement or, perhaps, the enter taining effects of the professor’s last lecture. The professor proclaims, “How much will you give me for a lecture on the Federal Reserve?” The class members draw together in a tight circle and after a few minutes delib eration announce, “Two dollars, fifty cents and ... a button.” are you ^OU KNOU) ^ h ■ * ii Jm Si 3-t> i 1 - tl " I PON'T THINK THAT YOU 5H0UIP LET K0UK 5I5TER PI/5H WU AROUND DM0 CARE6 ABOUT PU5HIN6 ? IT'£ ALL THAT HITTIN6 , THAT 6ETS ME! “What! That won’t even get you a cursory explanation of Keynes,” de clares the professor indignantly, “Try Again.” “Two fifty-five.” “Nope.” One student heads for the door. “Where in the hell going?” “The English Department has a Mickey Mouse festival going.” “We re down to two-twenty.” “I’ll give you the Great Depres sion for three!” “Are you kidding, you’re only an assistant professor. ” “Look, I’ve got to eat this after noon, how about two-ninety.” “At those prices we won’t be able to eat. Two-seventy.” “Seventy-five.” “Sold.”' Five minutes later, nine students leave the room, knowing exactly two dollars and seventy five cents worth about the Great Depression. The MSG has closed down, the last of its money having been spent to bring Milton Friedman in for a speech which had the bad fortune to have conflicted with the beer drink ing lessons sponsored by the Chemistry Department. The bas ketball team is out on the Academic Building lawn begging for funds with which to make the trip to Au stin. They had to hitch-hike to the last two away games. One slightly haggard looking student stands, dejected, in the Rudder Center fountain, threaten ing to drown himself. Someone points out that the water had been turned off for days and he declares that he will simply eat the mosaic tiles that are left offhhe floor. It seems that the price of diplomas has risen to two hundred dollars. Sully has been felled and sold for scrap metal by the Fish Drill Team. Itin erant maintenance men wander the streets asking people if they want something fixed. The library doorman’s position is much sought after since he is in the best position to take bribes. The campus has become a free market. Mike Perrin is happy, and all of our problems have been sol ved. KESAMI Sandwich Shoppe “NO TWO SANDWICHES ALIKE” OUR FRESH DELICIOUS MEATS AND CHEESES AND BREADS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FOR RETAIL SALES. N0RTHGATE 846-6421 Cbe Battalion Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editor or of the writer of the article and are not necessarily those of the university administration or the Board of Directors. The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting enterprise operated by students as a university and community newspaper. Editorial policy is determined by the editor. LETTERS POLICY ' Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does not guaran tee to publish any letter. Each letter must be signed, show the address of the writer and list a telephone number for verifica tion. , 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; Dr. Tom Adair, Dr. R. A. Albanese, Dr. H. E. Hierth, W. G. Harrison, Steve Eberhard, Don^Hegi, and John Nash, Jr. Represented nationally by National Educational Advertisingl>ervices, Inc., i ^New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. MEMBER The Associated Press, Texas Press Association 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 Klay, and once a week during summer school. Mail subscriptions are $5.00 per semester; $9.50 per school year; $10.50 per full year. All subscriptions subject to 59f sales tax. Advertising rate furnished . on request. Address: The Battalion, Roqm ^17,- Services Building, College' Station, Texas 77843. The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it or not otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneous origin published herein. Right of reprdTduction of all other matter herein are also reserved. Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas. Editor Assistant Editor Managing Editor Sports Editor Photo Editor City Editor Campus Editor Copy and News Editor. . . .David Kaspar . . . . David Pierce James Briedlow . . .Paul McGrath .Jimmy Richards . .Wayne T. Rife . Josh Utterback . .Susan Carstens Reporters . . . Dub Shook, Mike Kimmey, Tray Henderson, Donald Falk, Sayeful Islam, Janie Nettles, Dan Kaspar, Henry Franke, Arnold, Beth Krugler. Doris Koch, Stan Sisco, Jimmy . Photographers Dean Clemens, Jack Holm, David Kimmel. Artists and cartoonists Dr. James H. Earle, Nguyen Dziem, Brad Foster, Rodney Hammack, Tom Brents, Scott Morgan. Ntn-Sr*? 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