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
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<£>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
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and Bryan-College Station. Opinions expressed in The Bat
talion are those of the editor or the author, and do not
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ty administrators or faculty members, or of the Board ol
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The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper for
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within the Department of Communications.
Questions or comments concerning any editorial matter
should be directed to the editor.
LETTERS POLICY
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Columns and guest editorials are also welcome, and are
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Address all inquiries and correspondence to: Editor, The
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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.