Viewpoint
The Battalion
Texas A&M University
Friday
October 6, 1978
Are ‘Animal Houses’ taking over
They say this is the era of the indi-
■vidual, of originality and of indepen
dent thought. But it’s becoming fear
fully clear how quickly that “indepen
dence” can be squelched by the great
celluloid mind-bender, the All-
American movie.
John Travolta’s case of “Saturday
Night Fever” infected an entire gen
eration with disco fever. Before that
the “Jaws” super shark was scaring
people off beaches coast-to-coast.
It’s not even that modern a phe
nomenon. Alfred Hitchcock’s
“Psycho” almost ended the shower as
an American way of life. Marlon
Brando’s macho portrayal in “A
Streetcar Named Desire” created an
entore masculine mystique around
the plain white T-shirt.
And now we have “Animal House.”
It doesn’t matter whether this collec
tion of assorted crazies, drunks and
wild men has anything to do with art,
truth or reality. What matters is that
people are imitating those crazies,
drunks and wild men.
Since “Animal” fever struck we’ve
seen some of the strangest—and occa
sionally most disgusting—behavior to
ever darken the Texas A&M campus.
And that’s at a university that places a
premium on strange, occasionally dis
gusting behavior.
“Toga parties” that bring together
hundreds of sheet-garbed students are
harmless enough. But some of the
other “monkey-see, monkey-do” ac
tivities are not.
There are not many sights as dis
gusting as that of one mob of youthful
men — under the pretense of a “water
fight” — hurling handfuls of hog
excrement at another mob of men.
Not much better is a movie “audi
ence” that rips, litters and steals vari
ous parts of Rudder Auditorium dur
ing a midnight movie.
Then there was last Friday’s food
fight in Sbisa Dining Hall. It’s one
thing to shower self and consenting
friends with chicken, pizza and as
sorted vegetables; it’s something
entirely different to do the same to
innocent bystanders, including stu-
m
dents’ parents and grandparents.
It’s a bit frightening to think that a
mere two-hour motion picture could
turn people into fitting residents for
an “Animal House.”
George Orwell, in his book “1984”,
predicted that by that year the
citizenry would be controlled men
tally and emotionally by regularly-
scheduled exposure to movies. It
seems his prediction may be coming
true.
And it’s only 1978.
L.R.L.
Involved in the Russian black market
Last in a 2-part Series
(Editor's note: in the first article in this
series. Dr. Loving described the Russian
black market. Dr. Loving spent three
months last winter in Russia as a Fulbright
Fellow.)
By DR. JEROME LOVING
For a number of obvious reasons we de
termined to have nothing to do with the
black market. And when we left Russia in
May we gave away to students and friends
what clothing items we felt we could
spare. But there were, we ultimately de
cided, a few items that we could not afford
to give away - heavy boots, gloves, coats,
etc., purchased especially for the snow
and minus 25 degree Leningrad weather.
And since we had worn these items over
on the plane in February, we had no room
for them in our trunk in May. Hence, I
decided to take the risk and sell them for
rubles at half the price we had paid for
them.
But we approached this transaction with
the utmost of caution; for soviet officials - if
they wished, as I think they did in Craw
ford’s case — could have claimed we were
asking inflated prices and thus dealing in
the black market.
Our first Soviet acquaintance — call him
Yuri — had long admired our boots and
coats and often made us offers, much more
than we wanted. I suppose I would have
given him many of the items, but I sus
pected his friendship was mainly based on
what he hoped to get from us in the way of
Letters to the Editor
Dr. Jerome
Loving
western goods. One afternoon while walk
ing with him outside my hotel, I broached
the subject of the sale and he jumped at it.
We completed all of our bartering (such
as it was) outside by the Neva River, which
runs right through the city, because both
of us suspected my quarters had been
equipped with secret listening devices.
This is an assumption that all foreign
diplomatic people make. I never found
any bugs, but once I accidentally broke
the telephone and the hotel maids abso
lutely refused to let me take it apart to fix
it. Instead they promptly replaced it.
Their service had never been so good!
Once inside my quarters, Yuri silently
tried on the items for sale. He was very
agreeable about prices, overwhelmed
when I threw in a pair of old raggedy jeans
to boot. These alone were worth about 50
rubles. But he was still hungry. “Do you
have any cosmetics to sell?” he asked in his
faltering English. My wife dipped into her
purse and came up with an old bottle of
nail polish. This too we gave away.
The deal was set but far from safely
completed. We still had to get the con
traband out of the heavily watched hotel
and into his one-room communal flat
(another story). Because the hotel catered
to foreign tourists and guests, it was always
patrolled by militia (Soviet police), and the
main entrance, the only entrance, was
constantly watched by crusty old men who
were doubtless KBG agents or informers.
Yuri didn’t dare walk out of the hotel with
a suspicious looking bag. He trembled at
the thought of it. No, I would have to de
liver the goods another day, something I
had not contemplated.
The "drop” therefore was set for the fol
lowing Saturday. And during that week I
backed out of the arrangemet vicariously a
number of times. I wasn’t really breaking
any Soviet laws because I was selling at a
fair price, but at the same time I realized
that I was making myself vulnerable to
what had proved during my stay in Russia
to be a hostile government as far as Ameri
cans were concerned.
If Yuri had talked (and his fear might
have made him) and the Soviet officials
were SO inclined, I could have found my
self in the same dilemma as Francis Craw
ford.
The day of the delivery my son David
and I mustered our courage and calmly
marched past the doorman and militia
man with a large box and my briefcase
filled with another pair of boots. We did
not depart without notice, of course, but
then any time Americans moved in that
city everybody seemed to know it.
We boarded the tram, or trolley, that
rolled by our hotel, transferred to another,
and were soon in Yuri’s neighborhood.
Like the rest of the city proper, the streets
are lined with old mansions, now some
what run-down and divided into small
flats. We got off where I thought Yuri and
I were supposed to meet, but he failed to
appear. David and I must have waited on
that busy street corner ten or fifteen min
utes.
All the while Russians, curious about
my box and David’s bright red ski jacket,
looked at us out of the corner of their eyes.
“Could Yuri have chickened out of the
deal?” I asked myself.
Had he decided to report the deal to
the authorities?” “Was Yuri a KBG
agent?! I considered jumping into a taxi
and getting back to the hotel and safety,
but I remembered that most cabs were
operated by KBG informers. My actions
would seem strange, especially if I had
been routinely followed - as I had been on
other, rare occasions.
I decided to go one more stop on the
tram, just in case I had mistaken the meet
ing place. We did, and to my relief there
was our friend Yuri, smiling and ready to
receive the goods. Naturally, we didn’t ex
change them on the street but walked the
three or four blocks to his flat. There his
wife greeted us with an unannounced
three-course Russian snack — about an
hour after breakfast.
Dr. Loving is an English professor at
Texas Ai?M.
Fighting over grass ‘pretty silly’
Editor:
I feel sorry for those people who de
graded Lindsay Scoggins in front of the
MSC. I feel sorry for them because of their
lack of manners, their ignorance, their lack
of sensitivity, and their total lack of respect
for fellow Aggies. What happened to the
friendliness Aggies are so famous for? It
was shown Tuesday that this longtime tra
dition is fading fast.
Since when does sitting on grass make
someone a communist? The people accus
ing Mr. Scoggins of being a communist
need to take a trip to the dictionary. Also,
these people sould know the issues the
next time they choose to degrade someone
in public.
Slouch
IjstF
Why threats of violence? That was un
called for. If anyone visiting A&M for the
first time had seen or even read about the
grass incident they would wonder what
type of people actually go to this school.
Fighting over grass is really pretty silly,
and it looks even sillier.
A&M is a unique school. It stands apart
from any other university. Maybe that is
why so many people choose to come here.
However, Tuesday’s incident, and the way
people behaved towards it only helped to
categorize A&M with other schools such at
t.u., in how they act towards their school
and their fellow students.
-Laurie Abernathey, ’80
by Jim Earle
>
<«*!
“ I HAVE AS MUCH SCHOOL SPIRIT AS THE NEXT, BUT I CAN’T
HELP BUT WORRY ABOUT WHAT MY MOTHER THINKS WHEN
SHE LEARNS WE KISS AFTER TOUCHDOWNS AND WE’VE
SCORED AS HIGH AS 58 POINTS!”
Immoral deed
Editor:
It is a long standing tradition at A&M
that people do not walk, stand or sit on the
Memorial Student Center grass. All “good
Ags” respectiy tradition, except for one
hippie type who, Tuesday at 10 o’clock,
was actually sitting on memorial grass.
About a hundred “good Ags” and I
noticed this immoral deed and decided to
take action. We decided that anyone who
would desecrate our memorial turf should
beaten pulp in the name of God, Jesus
Christ, apple pie and Lockheed.
We gathered around this pointy headed
liberal, anxiously awaiting his return to his
seat. The feeling of comradeship which
coursed through the crowd was enough to
make an Aggie-Ex’s heart swell with pride.
It is these when people should forget
meaningless things like the revolution in
Nicraua nuclear proliferation, civil liber
ties, government corruption and minor
details like impending wars and concen
trate on important matters such as mid
night yell practice, Reveille’s funerals and
people sitting on the grass (fertilized by
tradition).
I should have known better than to ex
pect some sort of worthwhile activity on
campus because, after all, this is Aggie-
land.
—Mark Konecny
Prove yells safe
Editor:
I am writing in regard to several recent
articles in the Battalion concerning con
duct in Sbisa dining hall. Being a dorm
resident for four years and a head resident
for three semesters, I know of the impor
tance of dorm unity and spirit in a some
what civilized manner. Sbisa has always
been an exciting place to eat, especially on
Friday nights before home football games.
Most of the articles referenced last Fri
day evening when an extensive showing of
Aggie spirit culminated in the destruction
of Sbisa furniture and a pretty large food
fight, which resulted in the loss of dining
hall privileges for several students. If the
privilege of doing yells in Sbisa continues
to be abused, we will undoubtedly lose it
in the near future.
Top level management of Sbisa and the
Student Affairs Dept, is no longer willing
to tolerate massive food fights, broken
chairs and visitors getting hit with chicken
bones. They have a good case as it has
never been Aggie tradition to be destruc
tive or hassle university administrators.
However, it is my hope that in spite of last
Friday, yells will still be allowed in Sbisa,
if they are done without other radical ac
tivity.
With the Tech game coming up on
Saturday being one of the biggest games of
the year, it is very probable that Aggie
Spirit will be riding even higher than last
week. As an Aggie, a staff member and a
dorm resident to confine their actions in
Sbisa to dorm and Aggie yells only this
Friday. I would like to see yells in Sbisa
continued, but it is the opinion of most
high level Sbisa and student aflair’s per
sonnel that it is the yelling that leads to the
other activity.’ If that is the case, we need
to change; otherwise, let’s prove it’s not
so.
How about it Ags?
—Bruce Klinger, ‘78
Head Resident, Crocker Hall
P. S. My apologies to Mary Helen
Brown. Most of those guys were drunk
and did not mean to offend anyone with
their yells at Yell Practice.
Smoke instead
Editor:
This is to comment on all the “un-Aggie,
communistic, pinko, go to T.U.” letters
and articles I’ve read. I thought the Aggie
traditions were to keep the Ags together. I
also thought Ags were suppose to be a
homogeneous body who stuck up for each
other. I think if there were more “How-
dies” (what happened to that tradition?)
and less complaining about how un-Aggish
everyone and everything is, this childish
labeling would stop, and it’s about time it
did.
-Jenny Hagen, ’81
P.S. If more people would smoke grass
instead of worrying about sitting on it,
we d all be a lot better “off.”
Top of the News
campus
Election commission meets today
The student election commission for 1978-79 is scheduled to meet
today at 5 p.m. in the Student Government office, Room 216 of the
Memorial Student Center. Anyone interested in working on the
commission, which supervises all campus elections, is invited to the
short meeting.
STATE
UT fraternity members indicted
A Travis County grand jury has indicted a member and two former
pledges of a University of Texas fraternity on felony aggravated as
sault charges for beating and sexually molesting a freshman student.
Alpha Tau Omega fraternity member Ron Alan Wilson, 19, of Law^
ton, Okla., and former pledges James Patrick Hinson, 19, and Robert
Taylor Herrin HI, 18, both of Houston, were named in the third
degree felony indictments Wednesday. The three students were
charged earlier with attempted sexual abuse. Michael Froelich of
New Braunfels told police he was walking past the ATO house on
Aug. 31 when two men grabbed him and his roommate and dragged
them into some nearby bushes. The roommate escaped but Froelich
claimed he was taken to a garage where he was disrobed, robbed and
assaulted. Froelich has withdrawn from school because of the inci
dent. Roy Q. Minton, attorney for the three defendants, said he
expected his clients to make their first court appearance next week
and said they would plead innocent.
Davis defense files 83 motions
Lawyers for T. Cullen Davis have asked a judge in Houston to
reject as evidence videotape recordings allegedly implicating the mil
lionaire in a plot to kill his divorce judge. The motion was among 83
filed, and will be acted on Monday. Davis’ defense lawyers contend
the recordings should not be admitted because Davis was not in
formed of his constitutional rights beforehand.
Ex-mayor to be jailed weekends
A Brownsville federal judge Thursday reduced former Laredo
Mayor J.C. Martin’s four-year mail fraud sentence to 30 weekends in
the Webb County Jail. Martin was schedided to go to prison today.
U.S. District Judge Reynaldo Garza, a longtime acquaintance ofMar-
tin, said Martin was in “deteriorating health” and had paid the City of
Laredo $237,838 in resitution. Garza also placed Martin on super
vised probation the remainder of the four-year term.
Houston to build air terminal
The Houston City Council Wednesday approved preliminary plans
for construction of a fourth terminal at Houston Intercontinental Air
port. Terminal D, which would be able to handle 6.6 million
passengers per year, will cost $162.7 million. It will serve as a combi
nation domestic-international flight terminal, and is scheduled for
completion in March 1983.
NATION . . ;|
Food prices increase again
The cost ol food, down for two straight months, rose sharply in
September to push up all wholesale prices by 0.9 percent, the gov
ernment reported Thursday. It was the greatest increase since spring
and a severe setback to the fight against inflation. The Labor De
partments September report said food costs soared by 1.7 percent,
the largest rise since April.
Group wants all tires recalled
11A interest group has told government safety experts it thinks
^ F,re stone 500 steel-belted radial tires should be re-
ca e . ie enter for Auto Safety in Washington said Firestone may
Arl ° ne £ otlate a deal with the National Highway Traffic Safety
fi=r a : ,0n S °j t u e tires wou . ld not be recalled. Firestone has con-
related defects 16 ^ t Klt none °* tbe tires bas proven to have safety-
WORLD
Khalid well after heart surgery
in “comnW^ ten< i^ n ^ ^ aucb Arabia s King Khalid says the monarch is
of hisTamllv foil • aCt ° ry co, I ldition ” and able to chat with members
Khalid 65 undo° Wln ^ °P® n heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.
Tuesday for reli Tf 60 U s,x 'h our double coronary bypass operation
coro^ry aner^ ° m ^ and weak "«ss associated with blocked
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WEATHER
Partly cloudy with a chance of showers and cool with winds
east to northeast 10-15 mph. 20% chance of rain today de-
creasing for Saturday. High both days low 80’s. Low tonight
mid-60 s. The temperature for kick off time tomorrow will be
81.
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V"
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