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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 12, 1975)
Page 2 THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 1975 Slouch Jim Earle VP explains yell leader resolution By JEFF DUNN SG Vice President for Academic Af fairs There seems to have been a great misunderstanding in regard to the Student Senate s Yell Leader Re solution deleting the word, “male,” from the requirements. The fault ol this cannot be pinpointed to any thing or anyone in particular, but it appears to me that there was a gross misinterpretation of facts surround ing the issue. I feel that my “yes” vote on this resolution was done in the best in terests of Texas A&M, however, I respect the “no” votes of my col leagues in the Senate. I was very pleased by the Senate s vote and I believe that once every student realizes all the facts of this issue, the student body will also agree. This resolution did not encourage and favor female Yell Leaders. It did nothing but strike out the word, “male,” from the requirements of a candidate. The Senate felt that no elected position on this campus should include a written dis criminatory policy against women. As student leaders, we are held re sponsible for the running of elec tions and the setting of candidate qualifications. We do not want to be held accountable for promoting any discrimination in this area, because if we do then we would also be vul nerable in other areas of university policy in regard to written discrimi nation. It should also be remem bered that the final approval or dis approval of ANY candidate will al ways ultimately lie with a vote from the student body. It is argued that a tradition as sac red as yell leader should have a caluse restricting females from run ning as a candidate. This caluse viol ated the US Constitution, violated the laws of this state and violated our own Student Bill of Rights, which guarantees equal treatment in all areas of the university. A clause restricting females from being a candidate is clearly dis criminatory and it would never stand up in a court. Some say that we should make such a female go through the hassle of a court ruling if she wants to run, but it seems obvi ous to me, and to all, that she would win her case, and I believe that she would enhance her chances of elec tion as well as embarrass TAMU, across the state mid the nation. The student body is overwhelm ingly against having female yell leaders. I believe that this is the case at Texas A&M. Essentially, those who voted “yes” saw this as an opportunity to make it even harder for a female to achieve that goal. The reasoning behind this is that our rule restricting females from run ning would last only until a female decided to challenge it. We are only kidding ourselves if we believe that a written discriminatory policy will adequately prevent females from being a candidate for yell leader be cause it just won’t do it. It was a hard decision for us to vote “yes” because we anticipated so much over-reaction and emotion, yet if each student will stop to think about this issue he will realize that we had to strike out the male re quirements before any trouble could arise. Curt Marsh has stated that he wanted to cheat this female out of any free publicity on the issue. I agree, for it would definitely en hance her chances, as it did in 1971 when a few freshman girls were elected to the Senate on the basis that their signs were burned down in front of Duncan Hall. We, the student body, will preserve the tradition of male yell leaders at the polls, for only then will we have a real tradition. Some students think those who voted “yes” were in favor of female yell leaders. No! no! no! Nothing could be farther from the truth! Al Senator no good? Trade him in By WILL ANDERSON has been made on misrepresenta- hinges on one point: Did your sen- The Student Senate is a time-con- tion yet. ator represent his constituents’ suming, often difficult activity. I disagree with Jeff' Dunn (see views? Whatever problems it has are only The Aggie forum) when he says When a senator puts his beliefs compounded by senators who are a senator should be held account- before the beliefs of his constitu- not willing to put out even the able for his beliefs; those are the ents, he no longer represents the minimum requirements for their senator s own business. But the sen- majority view of the people-that positions. ator’s actions do concern me and elected him. Obviously, when a A large number of appointed sen- he should be held accountable for senator ceases to be representative, ators was indicated by Tom Walker, , . them. That is ajact^ he should cease to be a senator. SG executive ’ i, s . Dunn is correct "when hfe says If the constituents’opinions have no director (The Ag- * the comparative abilities of females weight then there is no use in voting gie forum, March Wo** as yell leader arfc ”an‘irrelevant £art in the first place; anyone can mis- 6). Walker said ■* of the controversy.” The question represent you equally as well, those appoint- ; made" nece^ary Motion to Dismiss a Student Senator after senators dis- fHrlv j Attention: covered the Sen- BBKSJrdf Jerri Ward, Judicial Board Chairman ate involved Student Government Office, Room 216 “xLTenate would Improve if Memorial Student Center. students would seriously consider Date. — the candidates for the Senate, he I wish to file for a hearing to be held at the earliest saic l possible time to remove my senator, There is another way besides from his seat in Student Government for the follow- tne vote students can express their in p- r p a con(sY displeasure with the way their sen- ^ i u 1 r U 1 . c ator is representing (or not repre- — 1. He does not belong to a Senate committee as senting) their views in SG throw required by the Student Body Constitution. the bum out. Below is a form to be — 2. He has not participated in a project as re used in requesting a review of your quired by the Student Body Constitution. Iho'yoursenatort and ~ 3 ' He has " ot communicated with me, his how he has performed, or not per- constituency, nor has he relayed his views to me as formed. If you do not know who required by the Student Body Constitution, your senator is, you may already I wish/do not wish to be represented by another be starting a strong case against student, faculty member, lawyer or other person of 'whatever functions served by ch ° iCe - (If , yOU d ° W ; ish t0 be represented by SG could be produced more effec- someone else, place his/hei name tively if the Senate was trimmed of here: .) its deadwood. So consider your I understand that I will have to produce evidence to senator; does he contribute? If prove my charges, not, his removal will not only be accepted by the rest of the Sen ate, I’m sure it will be appreciated. If you think your senator knows Signature how his constituents feel but votes ) the other way, there may be Address grounds for his removal. The recent 'k'k'k tlie^eqiiire me n't s” for yelTleader L Y ° U ma J Cal1 the Student Government office, an immediate example (Tradition 845-3051, for the name of your senator if you do not yields; Page 1, Feb. 27). No ruling know already. Cbe Battalion Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editor Mail subscriptions are $5.00 per semester; $9.50 per school year; $10.50 per or of the writer of the article and are not necessarilti those of tul1 vear A11 subscriptions subject to 55f sales tax. Advertising rate furnished , the university administration or the Board of Directors. The Statiom'rexas 77^13. he Battal,on ' RoQm ^ 17 ' Scr '■ ,cp ' , Budding, College Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting enterprise operated — —— by students as a university and community newspaper. The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for reproduction of all Editorial policy is determined by the editor. news d ' s P‘' tches credited to it or not otherwise credited in the paper and local news of spontaneous origin published herein. Right of repntduction of all other matter herein are also reserved. LETTERS POLICY Second-Class postage paid at College Station, Texas. Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The editorial Editor Greg Moses staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does not guaran- ^ sslstimt ‘ t " r Wl11 Anderson tee to publish any letter. Each letter must be signed, show the . .'^Txie HeZ address oj the writer and list a telephone number for verifica- Sports Editor Mike Bruton *“ >n - •* Photo Editor Glen Johnson Address correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion, Room News^ditors ..... . . . .V.. .V.'..V .'.Barhar!. w'est 217, Services Building, College Station, Texas 77843. Douglas Winship Members of the Shident Publications Board are: Jim Lindsey, chairman; Dr. Reporters. . .T.C. Gallucci, Tony Gallucci, Paul McGrath, Robert Cessna, Gerald Tom Adair, Dr. R. A. Albanese, Dr. H. E. Hierth, W. C. Harrison, Steve Olivier, Rose Mary Traverso, Steve Gray, Judy Baggett, Alan Killingsworth, Sayeeful Eberhard, Don Hegi, and John Nash, Jr. Islam, Mary Jeanne Quebe, Cathryn Clement, Cindy Maciel, Jim Peters, Mark ' Schluter, Steve Ussery, B. Babji Singh, Don Middleton, Mike Kimmey, Jerry Represented nationally by National Educational Advertising Services, Inc., Oeary, Chris Askew. New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. _ , . Photographers Douglas Winship, David Kimmel, . _ Gary Baldasari, Jack Holm, Chris Svatek, Steve Krauss, Kevin Fotorny, Tom MLMdcK Kayser, David McCarroll. The Associated Press, Texas Press Association 1 ■■ — , , , Columnists Bill Sheen, Mike Perrin, John Vanore, The Battalion, a student newspaper at Texas A&M, is published in College John Tim Cowden Station, Texas, daily except Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and holiday periods, September through Mav, and once a week during summer school. Artists and cartoonists Dr. James H. Earle, Nguyen Dziem, Brad Foster, Rodney Hammack, Tom Brents, Scott Morgan. though I can only speak for myself, I feel that most, if not all, of those who voted in favor of the resolution would not like to see female yell leaders at A&M. To us, males on the track at Kyle Field is one of the most impressive traditions we have here. It would dishearten my view of A&M if this university should ever elect a female yell leader, and our vote in the Senate reflected that view. The debate in the Senate was cen tered on whether a female could handle the job of being a yell leader. That is really an irrelevant part of the controversy, because those senators were assuming that a female would be elected. I say that female yell leader candidates would not have the chance of a snowball in hell if they ran in 1975, but if there should ever be a time at A&M when a majority of students would like to see a female yell leader, then it would seem to be a futile attempt to try to prevent her by claiming some discriminatory rule against her. Our vote did not make it easier for her to win, it made it rougher because she now has to fight for it like everyone else. In conclusion, I would like to say that I have no antagonistic attitudes toward anyone in regard to this re solution, including those Senators who voted “no. However, let me leave you with some advice and some comments on the entire issue. First, do not be fooled by hearsay, and do not come to any conclusions until you are satisfied of the facts. We realize, however, that hearsay can sometimes be easily spread. The Battalion made a big issue of how everyone voted but it failed to explain in detail what the real issue was about. Second, do not hesitate to challenge a senator on his vote, for each senator should be held ac countable to his heliefs. But once again, be sure of your facts. 1975 SWC BASKETBALL OIAMPIPNS Ovei Looking ve see thi rustees 0 egular tw lence — r lent senat esolution The rest .2 to 10 vo “We did it!” Keep your pistol Some dark night you may need it as a club By MIKE PERRIN Banning pistol bullets is one of the worst mistakes the federal gov ernment can make. But they may do it anyway. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is going to take public opinion on a proposed ban of hand gun ammunition. That really won’t do away with handgun ammunition — it will only make millions of Americans subject to criminal pro secution. Under the proposal, all handgun ammo would be disallowed except for police, the military, licensed pistol clubs (like the Cosa Nos tra?), and li censed security guards. You, the average citizen would nbt be able to have handgun ammunition unless you wanted to break the law. Some present uses of this ammo include protection of life, protection of property and sport. Each one of these deserves con sideration. So does America’s num ber one killer and erippler: the home. More accidents or injuries which lead to discomfort, crippling and death occur in the home than any other place. That is the logical spot to start if we want to legislate something. Therefore, 1 propose the following guidelines for the American home using the same reasoning being used to ban handgun ammo: 1. ) No more children. Almost everyone was a child at one time. Everyone who is injured or killed in the home was once a child. So do away with children. 2. ) No more indoor plumbing — : more injuries occur in the bathroom than in any other single room. This lethal location is too volatile to con trol, so just eliminate it — except for the police, the military and a few other groups whose job it is to spot weird goings-on in bathrooms. After all, we don’t want to deprive these men and women of their live lihood. Therefore, if they are bath room-dependent, we will excuse them from the ban. sources like sinks, defrosting refrig erators or ice cubes. 4.) It is recommended that the rest of the house be wrapped in rub ber to prevent injuries or deaths from falls. Those guidelines, al though far from comprehensive, should at least start to bring under control this most deadly of all Amer ican institutions. Now let s turn to the minor issue of handguns. After all, this ban is not really on handgun ammunition, but on handguns since they are use less without the bullets. Handguns are around at a lot of robberies and killings, correct? Will banning handguns cure this? No. Why? The answer is simple — criminals do not obey the law. Aha, cries the opposition, those crimes are not committed hy criminals, but by ordinary citizens. All are not. If a person is mad enough to kill 3.) The kitchen — the next best - someone or wants to rob a Seven- spot to get maimed is the kitchen — Eleven, there is no problem finding burns, scrapes, slips all occur with alarming frequency — bruises, con tusion and abrasions, not to men tion concussions, happen in the kit chen. Since this is the next most le thal spot in the house, alternate guidelines are proposed: no more sharp objects like knives and forks, no more breakable objects like glasses and plates, no heat sources like stoves, no water slippery a way to do it. There will be a flour ishing black market in handgun ammo, and other methods of de struction can he used — poison, knives, cars, shoving, rifles, shot guns, bows and arrows, acid and a host of others. Since handguns occur with crimes, then we do away with handguns and we do away with crime, right? Wrong. Handguns are a way to commit, not a reason to commit, crimes. Handguns must not he evil in themselves because even with tie ban, the police, military and othei groups can have them. If they an really evil, why let anyone have them? The reason those groups get them is because the sponsors of the proposal know that criminals nil still have the handguns and thepo- lice w ill need them for their own protection. That indicates the basic inconsistency in their argument:! the majority of handgun crimes in volve not criminals but ordinary cit izens, then the police do not need guns. That doesn’t even include the theory of protection FROM the po lice and military. The big benefitters from this pro posal will be those who operate pis tol clubs — their future will he as sn red as millions of Americans floe* to their doors so they can shoot handguns. In short, then, crime wont ?® down. Similar reasoning applied I® other problems appears ridiculous, and one interest benefits from t a proposal. Tell the Product Safety Commis sion there should he no ban on handgun ammo. ROBERT HALSELL TRAVEL SERVICE AIRLINE SCHEDULE INFORMATION FARES AND TICKETS DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL ^ CALL 822-3737 1016 Texas Avenue — Bryan WNDEROSt MOTOR INN South Highway 6 Original Owner: O. T. Tilley CLIP THIS AD AND BUY ONE ITEM AND GET ONE HALF PRICE. • Home Baked Rolls, Pies & Hot Biscuits • Specially Prepared Noon Lunches • Friday Night Catfish - The best in town • Sunday Buffet • Evening a la carte • Ponderosa Club Happy Hour - 4:30 - 6:00 Live Music - 7 days a week • Reasonable prices - Friendly Service Coupon expires April 15 - Good for breakfast, lunch or dinner. 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