t
Page 2 THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 1977
Opinion/Commentary/Letters
Gregson supports Harvey for president
Gay lifestyle a political attitu
Editor:
It seems that my quote in yester
day’s Battalion was a bit prema
ture. It is now evident that the lines
of the campaign for President of
the Student Body have been drawn
and are well defined. I have de
cided to give Robert Harvey my
entire support for this office.
The editor(s) of the Battalion
seem to think it is a sin for the
Corps to all get out and vote. The
essence of any political race is to
vote for the best person running —
not to judge from which organiza
tion he or she is from. The duties of
the Student Body President include
serving the needs and interests of
ALL the students of Texas A&M. It
is my opinion that Robert Harvey
can and will serve these interests of
the students of this University.
The alleged election ir
regularities in my campaign were
blown totally out of proportion. In
stead of six complaints being filed
with the election commission only
one was filed. That complaint, after
talking with the election commis
sioner, was filed by Stanfield him
self. My campaign was halted by
the ACCUSATIONS of one of my
opponents! This seems a long way
from sincere concern for student
interest. It seems more like some
one wants the job so badly that he
would resort to anything to get it.
I would urge everyone to se
riously consider the choices that we
have for Student Body President.
Do not look at the organizations
that these people are a member of
but for who is truly concerned
about our interests and needs as
students.
— Scott Gregson
Student jury
supported again
Editor:
Within the last two weeks three
letters have appeared in The Bat
talion concerning the dissemination
of candidate information and qual
ifications to the Student Body. All
three letters expressed a desire by
the students for more information
concerning candidates seeking var
ious elected positions. It is quite
apparent from these as well as
other examples that students are
being asked to vote for a candidate
whom they know little if anything
about.
The question is, should we elect
Student Government Officers be
cause they have flashy advertising
or should we elect officers who
have the qualifications to perform
their duties in the best interest of
the Student Body? Because the stu
dents are faced with voting with lit
tle or no information or not voting
at all, I submitted the “Student
Jury Nominee” proposal to the
Student Senate on Wednesday,
March 23. A number of us felt that
this lack of candidate information
could be partially rectified with this
system.
Basically this system calls for a
group of randomly selected stu
dents to review written statements
submitted by the candidates for
Student Government President or
Vice-President. This group of stu
dents would also interview the can
didates for approximately one hour
to determine the legitimacy of the
written statements. After a careful
analysis of each candidate, the
“Student Jury” would endorse a
candidate for each office, with the
analysis as well as the endorsement
being printed in The Battalion.
This system would supplement the
voter’s knowledge of the candidates
as well as offer an endorsement by
a randomly selected group of stu
dents.
When the “Student Jury” propo
sal was introduced, the major op
position was led by Senator Robert
Harvey, Corps Commander. Dur
ing last semester’s debate on the
No-Confidence bill, Mr. Harvey
stated, “students are not logical
enough to know when to vote no-
confidence.” Perhaps he meant
that if the Student Body had more
information dealing with the candi
dates, they would be in a more ra
tional position to vote for a particu
lar candidate or cast a vote of no-
confidence. It would seem logical
that Mr. Harvey would then ac
tively support a proposal to in
crease the amount of information
made available to students. Unfor
tunately, Mr. Harvey as well as a
number of other senators vehe
mently opposed the passage of such
a proposal. They argued that this
would be “Government by Com
mittee” and that no group of stu
dents should be allowed to present
endorsements except The Battal
ion.
The irony of the situation is this.
The day prior to the elections last
week, the Corps newspaper. The
Quadrangle was distributed to all
members of the Corps. This paper
stated, “The Corps this year is well
represented in the campaign with
71 candidates. Perhaps, if this rep
resents a resurgence of the Corps
interest in having a voice on cam
pus, the Corps will have the biggest
turnout of voters for the election
ever. Every vote counts! The fol
lowing is a list of the candidates
from the Corps. This is not in
tended in any way as an endorse
ment but to inform.” This publica
tion developed by the Corps lead
ership served its purpose well. A
large number of Corps members
cast their ballots as they consulted
The Quadrangle. In effect The
Quadrangle served as a group
endorsement of that group’s candi
dates, with candidates being
elected because they are part of a
group, not because of their qualifi
cations.
Now don’t get me wrong. I am
not opposed to the Corps having 71
candidates, that shows an interest
on the part of the individuals who
filed. On the other hand, if we are
to endorse a group of candidates,
let’s not be hypocritical. Let’s de
velop a system whereby all students
understand the legitimacy of the
The ^Battalion
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those ion. Room 216, Reed McDonald Building, Col-
of the editor or of the ivriter of the article and are lege Station, Texas 77843.
not necessarily those of the U niversity administra- United Press International is entitled exclu-
tion or the Board of Regents. The Battalion is a sively to the use for reproduction of all news dis-
non-profit, self-supporting enterprise operated by patches credited to it. Rights of reproduction of
students as a university and community news- all other matter herein reserved. Second-Class
paper. Editorial policy is determined by the postage paid at College Station, Texas.
cditor - MEMBER
LETTERS POLICY Texas Press Association
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 Southwest JournaUsm Congress
words and are subject to being cut to that length Editor . Jerry Needham
or less if longer. The editorial staff reserves the Managing Editor Jamie Aitken
right to edit such letters and does not guarantee to Associate Managing Editor Rusty Cawley
publish any letter. Each letter must be signed, Assistant Managing Editor Mary Hesalroad
show the address of the writer and list a telephone Features Editor John W. Tynes
number for verification. News Editor Debby Krenek
Address correspondence to Letters to the News Assistant Carol Meyer
Editor, The Battalion, Room 216. Reed Sports Edjtor p au , Arnett
McDonald Building, College Station, Copyeditor Steve Reis
Texas 77843. ' Reporters Paul McGrath, Lynn
Represented nationally by National Educa- Rossi, Lee Roy Leschper Jr., Jan Bailey, Darrell
tional Advertising Services, Inc., New York City, Lanford, Dave Tewes, Glenna Whitley, Steve
Chicago and Los Angeles. Martaindale
The Battalion is published Tuesday through Photographers .... Kevin Venner,
Friday from September through May except dur- Tracie Nordheim, Mike Willy
ing exam and holiday periods and the summer,
when it is published weekly. Student Publications Board: Boh G. Rogers,
w . . Chairman; Joe Arredondo; Tom Dawsey; Dr.
subscriptions are $I6T5 per semester; Gary Haltcr . ^ ]ohn w Hanna . Dr Charles
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rates furnished on request. Address: The Battal-
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candidates’ qualifications after a
careful analysis by their peers.
In order to help rectify the pres
ent electoral environment, I would
hope that students would follow the
suggestion previously offered by
The Battalion, “Talk to your new
senators, as that is where the deci
sion to implement the system will
have to come from.”
—John Oeffinger
Speaker Pro-Tem
1976-77 Student Senate
Stanfield expands
on two issues
Editor:
I wish to try to expand on two
issues which have been misused by
my opponent in an effort to alienate
students because of his failure to
present adequate information on
the issues involved. The first of the
two issues is that of providing low-
cost day care facilities. The monies
which were requested for the day
care center by the Student Senate
are being held in reserve and have
been collecting dust for the last ten
years. None of the requested
money would have come from cur
rent student service fee payments.
Though the Student Senate made
its voice known with a 36-6 vote in
favor of the resolution, two lines of
thought were debated. First, Texas
A&M is one of the few major uni
versities which does not provide
day care facilities for its students
needs. Second, many students at
A&M are voicing their opinions
that because they pay Student
Service Fees, they would like to see
some student services and not only
programming services as offered
by the Memorial Student Center.
The day care center was to be
funded for two periods and then
become self-sufficient after those
periods. I use the past tense “was”
because one prerequisite of the bill
was to investigate the availability of
manpower and funding through the
College of Education. The funding
is not available and the issue is at
rest.
The second of the misused issues
concerns the Gay Student’s Serv
ices Organization. Because I voted
against the bill presented in the
Senate, my opponent has said that I
support the G.S.S.O. which is
fake. The bill asked that the Senate
support the administration’s delay
on giving an answer to the
G.S.S.O.’s request. After attempts
to amend the bill to request their
non-recognition had failed, the
original bill was voted on and
passed. I voted against the bill be
cause supporting inaction on behalf
WHO is
Robert Harvey
representing?
Why did Robert Harvey vote
against student input in the
administration?
(Senate Bill 77-032-11)
VOTE in the
Student Election
Runoffs April 14
pd. pol. announcement by the
Concerned Students Group
Doug Skee, treasurer
Kenneth I. Powell, Chairman
of the administration is ridiculous.
The bill was introduced by my op
ponent.
—Stan Stanfield
Candidate, Student Body President
Name was
listed wrong
Editor:
Re: Robert Harvey’s statement
in Tuesday’s Battalion that the fact
that Harry Warren lost is evidence
that the Corps did not attempt a
bloc vote.
The truth of the matter is Harry
Warren’s name was incorrectly
listed in the Quadrangle under vice
president of Rules and Regulations.
Actually, Mr. Warren was run
ning for vice president of Student
Services. He did receive numerous
write-in votes for Rules and Regu
lations though.
So much for that argument. ’Nuff
said.
—W. Scott Sherman
Picture did not
endorse article
Editor:
In reference to my picture which
appeared in the April 12 edition of
The Battalion, I would like to set
the record straight by stating that
in no way did I endorse the article
associated with my picture
I had presumed that The Battal
ion would possess the responsibility
to try and prevent false impressions
from being created about an indi
vidual. Although I was informed the
picture would appear in The Battal
ion, I allowed my picture to be made
only as a personal favor to Kim Tyson
and had no knowledge of the content
of the article. In fact. The Quad
rangle was given to me by Kim
Tyson herself for making the photo.
—Craig Gontarek ’79
Editor’s note: Your picture was not
meant to endorse the article, as the
article was a simple news story.
As to false impressions. The Bat
talion is not responsible for the as
sumptions and impressions of its
readers. We attempt to print the
news as accurately as we can and let
the readers draw their own impres
sions.
Your statements may be war
ranted, but I must defend The Bat
talion’s reporter /photographer.
The photographer says she asked
you twice and both times you agreed
to have your picture taken and pub
lished in The Battalion.
As to “a personal favor to Kim
Tyson,” she says she had never met
you before.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the sec
ond part of a four-part series on
homosexuals, their lives and their
problems. The Battalion is aware
that the subject is controversial and
that almost everyone has strong
feelings about it. But The Battalion
believes that more is to be gained
by intelligent discussion than by
rumor and invective. We hope that
this series will contribute to under
standing and enlightenment.
By GLENNA WHITLEY
Battalion Staff
The seven men around the
kitchen table looked no different
than other Texas A&M students.
No limp wrists. No feminine giggles
as the stereotypes suggest. Their
fashionably styled hair and blue
jeans are characteristic of
thousands of other college students.
But six of the men are homosexu
als. The seventh is a heterosexual
who lives with two of the homosex
uals, Mike and Keith.
Gay lifestyle is viewed today not
as a description of sexual prefer
ence, but as a political attitude,
said Mike Minton, one of the plain
tiffs in a suit filed by the Gay Stu
dent Services Organization against
Texas A&M University in an effort
to gain recognition as a student or
ganization.
“The actual labels for sexual
preference are homosexual, bisex
ual, heterosexual, asexual. Gay is a
political attitude that says a person
should be free to choose whom he
loves and be able to discriminate
that from gender,” Mike M. said.
“It shouldn’t be a choice of the
state, society or an institution.”
Keith Stewart, his roommate and
co-plaintiff in the suit, said, “I think
it also applies to a lifestyle, the way
we carry on our lives. Gay people
are less likely to view a particular
sex act or preference as morally or
socially wrong.”
“When I transferred here as a
sophomore, (University President)
Jack Williams got all the transfer
students together at the orientation
and said, ‘Welcome to Texas A&M,
the school where there is no drugs,
no sex, and no homosexuals,”’ Keith
said. He added that happened in
1973-1974.
“Just because this is a rural com
munity, it doesn’t mean there
aren’t and haven’t always been gays
here. We are not liberal elements
from urban areas that are going to
be here for four years and then rid
the city of the pestilence,” Mike M.
said. He added that this community
has about 15 businesses established
by gay people, but he wouldn’t
name them.
There are more lesbians in the
GSSO than there are gay men, he
said.
“They don’t have as much to lose
or gain. The males here are very
much afraid of being discovered.
They feel they would be perse
cuted. Speaking from personal ex
perience, I don’t think this is the
case,” said Mike G., an
environmental design student, who
didn’t want his last name used. “I
haven’t been persecuted. My name
came out last semester in The Bat
talion. I haven’t even attempted to
put up any kind of straight appear
ance since then.”
“The social climate has changed
so radically here, especially with
the influx of women, there is really
a different social attitude than
when Mike was putting on his
straight act,” Mike M. said. “Most
people wouldn’t openly go up and
punch you out because they knew
you were queer. They would just
snicker and point and say, “My
God, he’s gay.’”
“I have had that happen,” Keith
said. “I’m glad I transferred here
though. I think we have so much
more than gay people in other col
lege towns because we don’t have
bars here. We have to stick to
gether. We have to like each other
and get to know each other. In a
large city like Austin, Houston,
Waco, all those university places
where they have bars, the gay
people just see each other in the
bars.”
The group described gay bars as
sexual marketplaces. Keith said
that the large discos cater mainly to
gay men and to “fag hags,” straight
women who like to be around gay
men.
“Fag hag is one of those terms
like queer, faggot and queen that is
typical of any minority or stig
matized group. It’s offensive com
ing from an outsider, but it’s ac
ceptable within the group,” Mike
M. said.
Frank said that less than 10 per
cent of all homosexuals frequent
the bars, but everyone interviewed
said they leave College Station
often to go to the bars in Houston,
Dallas or Austin.
Keith said the atmosphere at gay
bars is much freer in termsol
playing than at straight bars,
“We can be whatever wei
We can be masculine, wei
feminine. We can be in beh
we can be neither,” he said
“When I first met Keil
thought he was a football [
type, really macho. The sb
time I saw him, I thought tlii
cannot be the same persoi
acted just the opposite,” saidf
who is heterosexual.
“This is a phenomenon c
camping. It’s an act that agaj
son will put on to amuse nol
himself but onlookers,” Mil
said.
He added that they
“camped” several times ii
community, for example at Da
Restaurant. On one such i
one man had on a Jap
kimono, one was dressed ini
up pants with a rhinestonebii
on the crotch, and one wasdn
in a hooded caftan.
“One guy dressed up in dra;
went shopping in Skaggs. Tw|
went to the Ring Dance
Mike M. said.
“Seriously, on dancing togt
at the various bars here in tom
try to do it discreetly likei
there is a big crowd,” said Ml
as everyone laughed.
Mike M. said,”We don’t i
like any of the bars in tom
tried them...”
The rest of his sentence
drowned out by laughter,
promenaded in dressed in a;
length black dress with ago
design.
“I thought I’d give you av
demonstration of camp. ’hesi
“Where did you digupthat[
of trash?” asked Mike G.
“Do you want me to get my»
ing demonstration on? Mike
asked. He left and camebackr
sed in shiny purple lame pi
(See “Gay” Page 6.)
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