The Battalion
Novembers,
SMU incident: indignation, regret
Texas A&M’s honor is safe at last. No
longer will we, the students, have to lie
sleepless at night worried by the threat that
alien cheerleaders may one day step foot on
sacred Kyle Field.
No, surely that will never happen again,
thanks to a certain sabered soldier who at
Saturday’s football game proved that the
students here will not tolerate such flagrant
violation of our school’s traditions.
Imagine the nerve of those SMU cheer
leaders to dare attempt to lie down on Kyle
Field and spell out S-M-U. Oh, but never
fear; Sir Cadet was near.
And there was no stopping the fearless
soldier, not even twice being tackled by a
cheerleader. With a mighty slash of his ter
rible swift sword, not to mention a few
harmless kicks with his flawlessly polished
boot, he was quick to the rescue, defending
that Aggie honor.
Where he could possibly muster up
enough courage to single-handedly take on
an entire cheerleading squad. I’ll never
know. Nevertheless, a true dueling match
ensued — Sir Cadet armed with his saber,
the cheerleaders with their megaphones.
Yes, folks, megaphones. But, of course, Sir
Cadet still won.
My only disappointment with the whole
affair was the fact that two security guards
and free safety Billy Cannon wrested the
duelers away from each other when the
battle was only beginning.
Had it been allowed to develop into a
full-scale war, I’m sure our gallant cadet
would have had ample time to chop up
those cheerleaders and feed them sliver by
sliver to Rev. Only then would Texas
Editor:
A&M’s honor have been fully restored as it
was prior to the Mustang invasion. Right?
But I’m satisfied, nevertheless, with Sir
Cadet’s gallant efforts on our behalf. After
all, under similar circumstances, others
assigned the duty of protecting Kyle Field
would probably have merely dragged those
cheerleaders off the field by their arms.
No lashing with a sabre, no swift kicks
with a boot? How mundane. We wouldn’t
have had the excitement of a near spearing.
And assuredly, such an uneventful outcome
as that would have been truly our loss, for I
doubt that the event would have received
such widespread media attention (includ
ing page one photos in The Houston Chro
nicle, The Houston Post and The Bryan-
College Station Eagle).
But more importantly, had Sir Cadet not
been quick enough to brandish his saber in
the name of Texas A&M and Aggiedom,
perhaps our school would not have again
become the object of statewide ridicule,
Aggie jokes would not have been perpetu
ated and public attention would have been
focused on the successes and failures of our
football team, rather than on its fans.
I’m sitting in a friend’s apartment after
the Aggie-SMU game. I feel sick, in a mild
way. The strange thing is that I go to SMU
... my team won. It’s not real tough to figure
out why I feel this way: I’m reacting to the
crowd behavior at the game. Of course,
when you talk about an Aggie crowd, you
include the Corps.
I am fascinated by the Corps. I respect
the hard work that these young men put
into their training. I really wish that SMU
could enjoy the spirit that the Corps prom
otes and preserves.
Still, the behavior of the crowd was at
times just plain weird. Tm not knocking
tradition: I’m talking about some things
that, even endorsed by 40,000 people, re
main strange.
Take for instance, the case of the Corps
member assigned to keep people off the
playing field, who decided that the SMU
cheerleaders needed a quick lesson in
Aggie tradition.
Couldn’t this soldier have handled the
incident a little differently? I learned that
this fellow is member of an elite organiza
tion of Corps men (the Ross Volunteers). Is
this the best that the Aggies have to show
us? Judging from the incidents that fol
lowed, it just might be.
As this fellow walked away, his uniform
torn and wet, he gave the thumbs up sign to
crowd. They gleefully responded with
cheers. Gig ’em guys.
A Corps member I talked to explained
the incident as just a sad case of one mis
guided individual, a throwback to the days
of “might makes right,” abusing his power
and responsibility. Despite the seeming
mass endorsement of the act, I believed
him ... for a while.
Late in the fourth quarter, the SMU
cheerleaders formed a huge pyramid in
front of their cheering section. The band
played, the crowd loved it. What was the
Corps’ response to this precarious tower of
human flesh? As the cheerleaders watched
in frustration, three green-clad Aggies scur
ried up, grabbed a megaphone and ran. The
cheerleaders, their safety dependent on
their ability to remain still, were slow to
respond. When they did, chasing the
thieves out of the stadium to get their prop
erty back, a healthy size group of Ags fol
lowed to make sure they didn’t.
Finally, as I walked to my car, a fellow
recognizing my SMU window sticker drove
up and rolled down his window.
“I just want to apologize for thei
that went on today,” he began.
Fine, I thought, rational thought!
infiltrate the A&M campus, just uotj
Field.
Suddenly though, his tone stilj
“It’s only because we’ve got thebesti
the world. I’ve seen A&M-SMUj
since I was 10 years old, and I justviJ
tell you, SM U has a lot to learnaboullj
fans.
In an uncalled-for flippant
answered, “Like what?”
He said, “Just because you’re a
school, you think you can do amttj
SMU needs to just shove it up theiii
Ignoring the subject-verb
lv v
problems, I thanked him for his obi
tion.
“Yeah,” he said, and speed off. b
wanted to ask if the pretty co-ed sitting
to him shared his feelings.
Sure, maybe SMU does havesomeii I
stalking its campus. Maybe we dones I
learn a few things about being goodh
But did this weekend’s visit to Aggiel
give us any kind of example to
Pete Sin |
SMU journalismsti
Slouch
By Jim Earle
“Not only does it protect our rights of privacy, but it’s less
trouble to post mid-semester grades this way!”
Qualifications of speakers
are considered carefully
skil
afte
Editor:
MSC Political Forum is always happy to
answer questions concerning the policies
about our programming and speakers. We
do not take our job lightly as we examine
the qualifications of our speakers thor
oughly. !
First, let me outline our selection criter
ia, before commenting on our selection of
Katherine Brady. This criteria includes:
1. Current relevance of the subject
2. Prestige and reputation of the speaker
3. Attendance draw of the speaker
4. Speaker association with the topic
5. Educational value of the program
6. Cost of the program
The weight of these concerns varies with
the program.
As for the ERA debate between Phyllis
Schlafly and Katherine Brady, we felt this
was a timely subject and deserved the
attention of the Texas A&M University
community. Phyllis Schlafly was an obvious
choice to present the anti-ERA position and
we had hoped to secure Gloria Steinem to
present the pro-ERA position. Due to
Steinems’s reluctance to appear with
Schlafly, we were forced to find an alternate
speaker. As a non-partisan organization, we
felt both sides of this issue should be aired
simultaneously. Therefore, after several
Reader’s
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possibilities such a Bella Abzug, Karen De-
Crow, Eleanor Smeal, and Sissy Faren-
thold fell through, Katherine Brady was
brought to our attention by Tom Neilsen, a
booking agent for Epstein, Winthrop Inter
national Limited. Although being familiar
with Brady as an author, we were con
cerned with her qualifications to speak on
the topic of ERA. We asked Neilsen to
supply us with names of colleges and uni
versities where Brady had spoken previous
ly. We then contacted the programming
committees of those schools and inquired
about the presentations Brady had made.
Each school’s committe spoke highly of
Brady’s speaking abilities and presentation.
Whitman College in Washington, D.C. was
so impressed with Brady that when plan
ning a debate on abortion they specifically
placed Brady in a debate with Schlafly. Sev
eral members of the committee had also
seen Brady on the Phil Donahue Sb
were impressed.
We recognized that in the
last Tuesday Brady was overshadc
Shlafly. We also recognize thatthosei
ing passage of the ERA may have felt
side was not adequatley presented. It re is uni
gret that the debaters were not as e lost ext:
matched as we had hoped they wool be at t
however, we feel that even fn f/gWlj' act “'b
we brought the issue of the Equal H
Amendment to approximately II
dents, faculty, and staff members and
dents of the Bryan-College Station
munity. In addition to those atten
many tuned in to the debate v
broadcast live on KAMU. We feeler
those in the audience were abletodft ionSe rvi
tiate between problems in debatingan!
real issue.
We urge anyone interested in MSCI
Firefip
tical Forum or those having suggestion
future speakers to contact us at 845-1511 plants';
drop by Rm. 216 MSC, Student Proji imtrol a
Office. We were glad Holly Hainesbros heir com
to our attention what many others
questioned concerning the debate. Wes David Co
cerely hope this has clarified thosef ,ec I t ' on V
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Texas At
Student criticizes site of University Press building
Editor:
I am writing this letter to inform all
concerned Aggies of a little known fact that,
if nothing is done, could affect us all.
“They” (Administration? Board of Re
gents?) are planning to construct a new Uni
versity Press building. This probably
arouses no great interest in most of us.
What does concern us is where they want
put this building. As of now, they plan to
build it on Duncan Field. That’s right Ags,
Duncan Field could then no longer be used
for Bonfire. Bonfire would then be moved,
probably off the main campus.
This issue is a highly emotional one for
many people (including myself), but com
mon sense also rejects the practicality of
placing this building on Duncan field.
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
MEMBER
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism .Congress
Editor Angelique Copeland
Managing Editor . . Marcy Boyce
City Editor Jane G. Brust
Asst. City Editor Kathy O’Connell
Photo Editor DaveEinsel
Sports Editor Ritchie Priddy
Focus Editor Cathy Saathoff
Asst. Focus Editor Debbie Nelson
News Editors Phyllis Henderson
Bernie Fette, Belinda McCoy
Diani-i ‘Miltenfuss
SUi., v. new , j. Barker
Frank L. Christlieb, Randy Clements
Gaye Denley, Nancy Floeck, Tim Foarde, Colette
Hutchings
Daniel Puckett, Denise Richter, Mary Jo Rummel,
Rick Stolle
Nancy Weatherley, Barbie Woelfel
Cartoonist Scott McCullar
Graphic Artist Richard DeLeon Jr.
Photographers Brian Tate
Daniel Sanders, Colin Valentine
EDITORIAL POLICY
The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper
operated as a community service to Texas A6cM 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.
First of all, it is a matter of convenience.
Duncan Field is an ideal size for both the
construction and the burning of Bonfire.
More importantly though, thousands of Ags
work on Bonfire each year. Many of these
students couldn’t work as much if they had
to get to the stack. A shortage of manpower
has been problem in recent years, moving
the stack off campus would only compound
this problem.
main campus. The Texas A&M system has
enough land in the immediate vicinity that
another site could easily be chosen.
We students, all 35,000 of us, are Texas
A&M University. If we all join together in
opposition to the proposed construction on
Duncan Field BEFORE plans are final
ized, then our voices cannot be ignored.
Sherry Howell ’84
Pranks not funny
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 staff 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 absorption of Duncan Field would
also affect its other uses. During the spring
and summer months it doubles as a site for
both intramurals and Corps activities.
Secondly, this new University Press
building is not a classroom building; there
fore it doesn’t have to be located on the
Editor:
Halloween is a fun and break-loose, get-
crazy time. But for several girls who ven
tured through a haunted “dorm” on
Wednesday night, the “fun” ended on the
fourth floor. The perverts on this
floor wing know what I am referrinj
Things like this happen all the time,
what are the victims supposed to
infuriated. It’s a shame that a
guys had to destroy a good time. N
like this has ever happened to me belt receive
and I resent being exploited or evenha'i
these guys think that I don’t deserve
respect. My feelings were hurt. Myt'
thought was to keep quiet and forgeti(
the idea of treatment like this from aft
“Ag” upsets me more. All the girls
went to this dorm “haunted” house
supported these guys, deserve an apoli! world’s 1;
from the fourth floor wing responsible! kept bus;
this type of disrespect.
Sandra McCauley'
Warped
Jiditor s note: This letter was
by four other signatures.
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