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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 1981)
7 The Battalion V IE WPOINT September 16, Slouch By Jim Earle CHECKS CASUEP '‘If I was working during the time I wasted standing in line to cash a check, I wouldn t need to cash a check. Reader says Fall Fest was really Fall Flop’ This is one of probably 50 complaints or attempts to rectify the anger and disgust felt by many who were led on to believe that the “Fall Fest” was something worth the 12- mile drive to Snook. For those of you that were lucky enough to have been some where other than the Delta Zeta party, I can say that next year the general consensus should be that “Fall Fest” tickets aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. I have several statements I would like to direct to that individual, committee, orga nization or beer distributorship (no names mentioned) that would like to take respon sibility for the disaster Saturday night. The reason for the uncertainty lies in the fact that while waiting an hour and 15 minutes for a beer and not being able to dance well enough to evade the traffic to and from the stagnant beer lines, I found that I could not find anyone that would take responsibility long enough to tell how to get my money back. When I asked for my money at the gate, the girl meerly turned her head, said “nope” and asked the person next in line for their ticket. The most evident issue involved the de fective valve that stopped the flow of what almost every good Ag goes to a party for: beer. This was a problem that I thought was understandable until I realized that it was ten o’clock before this problem was allevi ated. My understanding of the procedure for throwing a party always involves a close inspection of the beer supply to insure that it flows fast and cold — beforehand. This to me, is the best part. All things considered, the beer problem was one that could possibly have been pre vented, but could not be blamed on the “Fall Fest” coordinators. The foundation of my complaint lies in that no one would even consider a refund for those that never even got close to the beer and did not stay long enough to get one. I could not even get any information on where I could further per- sue my grievance at a later date. I sincerely hope that the money that De lta Zeta received from this fall bash is well spent towards the expansion of their organi zation. Now that the association is made between the fall flop and Delta Zeta, they and all social-oriented organizations of their type will face even greater difficulty in an environment in which they are already rela tively free of influence. I also believe that this incident should only strengthen the policies of TAM U towards these organiza tions. Josh Coleman ’82 the small society f^TTY fr/ttZYgoPY WILL H/WEB- A C&LLt&& by Brickman ANP Mp^PY WILL \ HAV& AM ^PUz:AT|<2M - <£>1961 King Features Syndicate, Inc. World rights reserved The Battalion USPS 045 360 MEMBER Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Congress Editor Angelique Copeland Managing Editor Marcy Boyce City Editor JaneG. Brust Asst. City Editor Kathy O’Connell Photo Editor Greg Gammon Sports Editor Ritchie Priddy Focus Editor Cathy Saathofl Asst. Focus Editor Debbie Nelson News Editors Jennifer Afflerbach Bernie Fette, Belinda McCoy Diana Sultenfuss Staff Writers Frank L. Christlieb Gaye Denley, Terry Duran, Nancy Floeck Phyllis Henderson, Colette Hutchings Denise Richter, Rick Stolle Cartoonist Scott McCullar Graphic Artist Richard DeLeon Jr. Photographers Brian Tate Becky Swanson, Dave Einsel EDITORIAL POLICY The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper operated as a community service to Texas A&M University and Bryan-College Station. Opinions expressed in The Bat talion are those of the editor or the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Texas A&M Universi ty administrators or faculty members, or of the Board ol Regents. The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper for students in reporting, editing and photography classes within the Department of Communications. Questions or comments concerning any editorial matter should be directed to the editor. LETTERS POLICY Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in length, and are subject to being cut if they are longer. The editorial stall'reserves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must also be signed, show the address and phone number of the writer. Columns and guest editorials are also welcome, and are not subject to the same length constraints as letters. Address all inquiries and correspondence to: Editor, The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. The Battalion is published daily during Texas A&M’s fall and spring semesters, except for holiday and examination periods. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester, $33.25 per school year and $35 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on request. Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald Build ing, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. United Press International is entitled exclusively to the use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it. Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein reserved. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. Up against the wall, MX missiles By DICK WEST United Press International WASHINGTON — During his recent visit to China, former President Carter appa rently set a new speed record for climbing the Great Wall. Regrettably, nobody had a stopwatch on him, so his exact time for the event was unrecorded. There was, however, near unanimous agreement among Western observers that no other American chief ex ecutive, erstwhile or incumbent, had ever mounted the 25-foot-high wall as fast as Carter did. Regardless of whether the achievement ever appears in the Guinness Book of Re cords, Carter could hardly have picked a more opportune time to call attention to the wall. Although you won’t find it identified as such in standard reference works, the Great Wall of China was the MX missile system of its day (circa 221 B.C.). So perhaps we can learn something constructive from its his tory. The 1,500-mile fortification originally was proposed during the reign of Shih Hwang as a means of warding off the Tar tars. The Tartars of that time were aggressive tribes bent on finding new markets for Tar tar steak. China, for its part, resisted the encroachment on grounds that Tartar steak didn’t go well with eggrolls. Ironically, some of the Tartars lived in parts of what is now Russia. And it is the present day Russians we would be trying to ward off with the MX missile system. (His tory does have a way of repeating itself.) From blueprints that have been pre served, we can see the original idea was to build a 45-foot tower every 200 yards or so along the wall. The specifications called for as many as 25,000 towers and China ob viously didn’t have enough soldiers to man them all. If, however, troops were shuttled back and forth among the towers, the Tartars could never be sure which ones were occu pied. Darn clever, eh? But do not suppose for a minute Hwang’s plan to build a w northern borders of China went with all of the people. Despite its defensive capability the Chinese who lived in theneigl weren’t too thrilled about having; high wall in their back yards. M oreover, the high constnicti#i| made it extremely likely tha couldn’t build the wall andstillk budget. Brick and stone didntcomt ^ in the 3rd century B.C., asyoumi agine. A number of alternative plansweii [he idered. One called for buildingtkfl along the shoreline, thus turning I :re£ ject into a seawall. But in theenf ” ( know from the relics that survive,tk Wall was built inland. Was the protection it provided«; ^ money? Well, consider this To this very day you seldomUi steak on the menu in Chineserestn ifle \ :o moi ap EAvSI has a few QUESTIONS, JUDGE... Defacing property is inexcusable Editor: We would like to call to the attention of the students at Texas A&M University the destructive writing which is being done on various buildings around campus, the latest example being the graffitti on the A&A building which reads: “Disarm vs. Armageddon” Such irresponsible destruction of school property is: 1. Not in keeping with the true Ag spirit that this University embodies and, 2. Is uncalled for and very immature on the part(s) of the writer(s). There are other avenues to voice such opinions, i.e. The Battalion, various politic al forums on campus and other media. Spraypainting buildings is inexcusable. We would like to encourage students to report such vandalism to help stop these activities. removed to protect them so I couldn’t see two feet in front of me. So, “streaking” from the scene was out of the question. Thus, to elicit that the quadding was overly zealous, “unrestrained, ” and “sick exhibitionism,” is unfounded and totally unfair to Mclnnis, and me. I accepted it (as if I had a choice) as a tradition, and Good Bull. If you were so offended, why did you watch? If ANYONE should complain, shouldn’t it be me? To those people who were offended Wednes day night, I honestly apologize. To those more numerous people insulted by Friday’s half-factual, narrow interpretation of the facts, I am also truly sorry. But afterall, what is a quadding in it’s purest form? A tea party? No, it’s a tradition. Perhaps a bit extraordinary (?), but any tradition worth having, is worth earning! Gig ’Em! ble, the constructive action wouM been to take the matter up withtl(| parties directly or with membersofl dent film committee working tl would have alleviated the allowed all concerned to enjoy tk more. It would also have avoided broad swipe at a target that hasdoneli deserve criticism. Aggie audiences have been routii repeatedly praised by speakersandf mers of all styles and varieties forth thusiasm. We should be quite thap these audiences remain the same,®! this year but hopefully all the yd R.S. Hi E.B. Kathy Wendell ‘82 Susan Bass ‘82 Sorority says thank Audiences OK Editor: ‘Quadee’ replies Editor: Replying to Friday’s (Sept. 11) Battalion editorial concerning the Wednesday night quadding of a Mclnnis resident, let me first introduce myself: The “Quadee.” Now look, if we re going to publicize this, let’s get all the facts, and get them straight, O.K.? Yes indeed, I was summarily stripped, groded, and chained between Hughes, Fowler and Keathley Halls. This is a fact, but is not where Friday’s editorial ended. It went on to say that after taking my deserved bows, I went casually over to “chat” with some girls. Darn, if I’d only thought, of doing that! In fact, as my glasses had been Editor: This is in reply to the letter of Sept. 7 regarding the Memorial Student Center Film Committee International Films and the behavior of the audience at the showing of one of these films. I too dislike rude behavior, just as I dislike having myself and others indiscri minately chastised for someone else’s per ceived rude behavior as was the case in Monday’s letter. I did not attend the film but as I am a student and an Aggie and having attended MSG films, making me a member of the “Aggie audiences,” I would like to take ex ception to the letter and the unfriendly atti tude embodied in it. The tendency of some to selfishly and shortsightedly seize any available opportunity to cause ill feelings and dissension does none of us any good. If there was rude behavior, and since the author was able to identify those responsi- The sisters of Delta Zeta Sorority 1 1 ; everyone who attended our thirds Fall Fest on Saturday, Septemberh 8 take this opportunity to apologize!' inconvenience caused by the trialW the beer equipment. This was due 1 eumstances beyond our control. We® our thanks to the beer companyfe expedience in remedying this problem ^ we appreciate the patience of it’ ! g attendance. This was one of the i*' g cessfu 1 Fal 1 Fests ever and we will lx 1 - donate a large sum of money to the® ' County Rehahilitiation Center. '■ forward to next year’s Fall Fest and' | continuing endevour to benefit om munity. Thank you again for yoursuf Kelly Yoln? Editor’s note: This letter was aw 1 nied by the signatures of 76 Delta Chapter members.