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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 5, 1976)
Page 2 THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, MAY 5, 1976 i i : i Corps helps unite students Readers’ forum Czechs again; round two Editor: Regarding the letter you ran com paring the Corps to a social fraternity (Spirit erosion. May 4), there are a few inaccuracies. Kee Nethery said the Corps “di vides and isolates students from each other.” The Corps is less than one- twelfth of the school now, but the traditions that are supposed to make A&M unique are preserved by cadets. Notice the predominance of close-cropped hair at Silver Taps. The gathering for the campus muster in G. Rollie was three-fourths cadets. Divides and isolates? No, the Corps plays a major role in keeping this cross-section of American youth united to the extent it is. Nethery suggests cadets must climb a social ladder. That implies By DAVID KORANEK and ALTON PRIHODA Since our first letter in this column last week in which we complained about the University’s decision to discontinue the Czech language program at TAMU, Dr. Anne Marie Elmquist, Modern Languages De partment Head and Dr. W. David Maxwell, College of Liberal Arts Dean, attempted to defend their position on this issue with some rather unsound arguments. In her so-called clarification of the Czech situation in the April 29 issue of the Battalion Dr. Elmquist stated that she had not promised that Czech would be continued if enough people signed up for it but that the petition would be forwarded to Dean Maxwell. This definitely was not the impression she gave us, whether by miscalculation or intention, and the entire Czech Club feels that they could not have misunderstood her at that meeting last fall. Her remark that she was surprised at not having heard from us earlier was quite humorous, the facts being that we had not even heard of the decision to drop Czech until late in the spring of 1975 and additionally, most of us had not been on campus during the summer. Dr. Elmquist mentioned only one specific case of an attempt to locate a professor and gave the rather silky excuse that “other advertisements and correspondence yielded no posi tive results.” She failed to mention whether the department had ever considered hiring someone who could teach both Czech and another language, which was an important point we made in our first letter. Specifically, we know that a certain Dr. Holik was not considered be cause, having received his PhD from Texas A&M he was given the impre ssion that, since it is somewhat unof ficial University policy to frown upon hiring its own graduates, he proba bly would not get the position, if one was available. Isn’t it odd that Dr. Elmquist herself received her PhD from Texas A&M, in the same field as this very well qualified candidate, and that she is now Department Head. Dr. Elmquist also stated in her letter that the petition that she had requested and received was un dated, a point which is obviously in significant and irrelevant. We feel that this statement alone is highly indicative of her true feelings on the TAMU Czech language program. Most of the statements in Dean Maxwell’s letter in the April 30 edi tion of the Battalion were not only inaccurate but indicated his total ig norance of the Czech language prog ram here at Texas A&M. Perhaps the Summer Study Program was no sec ret at other colleges and universities but it certainly was a Texas A&M. To cite specific evidence, last spring an announcement from the Depart ment of Modern Languages ap peared in the Battalion concerning the University’s Summer Study Program for German, French and Spanish students with no mention whatsoever of the Czech program. With discrimination of this sort no wonder so few students knew of the Czech language program. Another of Dean Maxwell’s state ments was that “only by widespread promotional elfort did we succeed in attracting the 25 students from ac ross the nation.” There was no wide spread promotional effort of the program, what little was advertised certainly was not done through the efforts of the “we” to whom the Dean refers (it was done personally by Prof. Skrivanek), and not only were 25 participants easily found but another 19 applicants had to be turned down due to the number of available scholarships. That there should be chagrin on the part of the University that only 5 of the participants last year were Ag gies is not entirely clear. After all, that number was quite reasonable considering the enrollment in Czech at that time and that not all of the students were qualified or desired to participate. In previous years more Aggies had participated. Moreover, what better means does the Univer sity have of advertising itself 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 Regents. The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting enter prise operated by students as a university and community newspaper. Editorial policy is de termined 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 guarantee to publish any letter. Each letter must be signed, show the address of the writer and list a telephone number for verification. Address correspondence to Listen Up, The Battalion, Room 217, Services Building, Col lege Station, Texas 77843. NEED EXTRA CASH? Become a Plasma Donor at Plasma Product Inc. 313 College Main, College Station Cash given with each Donation. throughout the state and nation than by accepting as many non-Aggie par ticipants as possible. Also, the Dean had stated quite clearly that economics was a primary reason for discontinuing Czech and what could be more economical than out-of- state participants paying 10 times the tuition rate of students from Texas. Finally, Dean Maxwell stated that “at the expiration of our agreement with the University of Prague, one of the universities mentioned was pre vailed upon to continue the prog ram, none of the others indicating a willingness to do so.” Firstly, this statement indicates how familar he was with the Program because the Czech institution concerned was Charles University in Prague — not the University of Prague. Secondly, to say that University of Texas was prevailed upon is hardly correct and a much truer statement would have been that they took it immediately upon learning that it was available, no questions asked. Thirdly, no other university communicated a desire to take over the Program be cause as late as January of this year Texas A&M still had it, but within a few short weeks it was under the direction of UT. Certainly these other universities believed that A&M was not stupid enough to give up a program of which it was “justifi ably quite proud.” We hope that these facts have helped to “clarify the clarifications” of this issue and regret that to do so we had to resort to personal attacks on the University faculty and ad ministration and question their mo tives and credibility. Hopefully, everyone is now more aware of the one-sided battle that we in the Czech Club have been fight ing and will show their support and interest. You are urged to attend this semester’s last Czech Club meeting to be held tonight at 7:30 at T2C Hensel (married student housing). For more information feel free to call 845-4242 or 846-2252. Reporters needed Applications for positions on the summer and/or fall Battal ion staff are now being ac cepted. The Battalion is seeking part- or full-time reporters to cover campus, city and sports news on a voluntary or paid basis, according to qualifica tions and availability of funds. Also, photographers are needed. Application forms are avail able in Reed McDonald 217 between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. weekdays. hell week and frat parties. The Corps offers hell for two years and some beer. There are differing opinions about the value of the training the Corps offers, but I think one thing is obvious. The “ladder” cadets have to climb is not easy and it is certainly not social. The Corps and the Greek system do not have the same goals. The majority of cadets go on to a hitch or a lifetime in the armed forces. I sus pect that very few members of fraternities go on to be professional Greeks. Also, did you ever notice that all cadets tend to look pretty much alike even though they repre sent different social classes, races and nationalities? A uniform is a very efficient method for social leveling, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The biggest difference is the method of entering either the Corps or a social fraternity. The Corps ac cepts anyone who passes the physi cal. Some cadets quit the Corps be cause of grades, personal problems or a plain dislike of Corps life. But no one is denied admittance because he didn’t play politics with his up perclassmen. I am not attacking social frater nities or civilians or anything. If that is what students enjoy, then it’s no concern of mine or anyone else. It’s just that I resent being accused of taking from the unity of the school. The Ross Volunteers as they are now may be pretty close to being a social fraternity, but the Corps as a whole? No way. Will Anderson Druggist speaks Editor: In regard to the article in the April 29 Battalion, concerning use of psilocybin mushrooms, several im portant facts were omitted. Number one, it failed to mention that these mushrooms are found only in cattle manure, and that all bthers, even though they may fit the description given, should be strictly avoided. Secondly, concerning the psychological hazards of their use, the article made no mention of how to avoid a bad trip other than com plete abstention. Because of their tremendous power to alter one’s state of conciousness, mushrooms (like LSD and mescaline) should generally not be used where the user is confronted with the normal social situations. Psychedelic drugs often bring about an experience which is far too ‘heavy’ for socializing, one should not use themintlie! manner as alcohol and marijm Users should know that the stici and direction of a trip is often® dependent on the setting in the drugs are taken thanthedosi Also people should be awaretliati mushroom trip is not necessarik any others and can be radically4 rent. Should a person have a bai it is advisable to get theminai place and try to talk to them, unnecessary to take such person the hospital because a trip lasts about ten hours, and the legal sles resulting from a hospital visit much worse than the bad trip, Name withheld by rein texas a&m flying club may 6, 1976 room 302 rudder 7:30 p.m. GRADUATION PHOTOS Of You Receiving Your Diploma MAY NOW BE ORDERED From barker 1— photography 846-2828 Northgate Represented nationally by National Educational Ad vertising Services, Inc., New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester; $33.25 per school year; $35.00 per lull year. All subscriptions subject to 5% sales tax. Advertising rates furnished on request. Address: The Battalion, Room 217, Ser vices Building, College Station, Texas 77843. The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for reproduction of all news dispatched credited to it or not otherwise credited in the paper and lo cal news of spontaneous origin published herein. Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein are also reserved. Second-Class postage paid at CoUege Station, Texas. Editor Jerry Needham Managing Editor Richard Chamberlain City Editor Jamie Aitken Campus Editor Kevin Venner Sports Editor Paul Arnett Photo Director Jim Hendrickson News Editor Lloyd Lietz ACTIVE SPORTS DAYS Step Out In Great Savings From: adidas ★converseI 5 ROM $209° VARSITY $-1790 VIENNA min stylelootwear $ 17 90 STAN SMITH *21 90 TOURNAMENT *21 90 Piffling ALL AROUND $2090 SWINGER $ 15 90 ★ converse One Group of Sports on Racks! Y2 PRICE COACH V $-| 790 DOWNTOWN BRYAN SHOE FIT COMPANY 822-1239