The Battalion
Viewpoint
November 3,1981
I;-
A&M reacts to SMU game incident
,1
Editor:
As anyone who has ever been to an A&M
football game knows, Texas A&M students
and alumni are more than just fond of
“Aggie tradition.’ And with some justice,
for A&M is a fine and unique institution
with a proud history. However, recently
some Aggies seem to have forgotten the
true purpose of this University and have
pursued “Aggie traditon” to the point of
harming A&M s reputation and bringing
notoriety, not honor, to this campus. (The
attitude that outsiders’ opinions don’t mat
ter and that criticism of A&M is “treason
doesn’t help matters.)
The very sad incident at Saturday’s SMU
game involving a senior cadet drawing his
saber and kicking (with his senior boots)
visitors who happened to be on the football
field before the end of the game demons
trates clearly that it is time to take a hard
look at “Aggie tradition and where this
fast-growing institution is headed.
Beyond the dishonor Cadet Hood
brought upon himself and Texas A&M last
Saturday are some deeper issues affecting
all of us in the A&M community. This con
fused young man was in a very real sense
not acting alone. First of all, many Aggie
fans were not horrified by this incident but
instead were amused by it. When Cadet
Hood declared, “It’s my job to get people
off the field,’’ what was he really saying? He
was saying “Aggie tradition” is sacred and
that he was only carrying out his duties as
he saw them. Now, many in the Corps will
disagree with Hood and were very embar
rassed by the incident; but Cadet Hood was
definately manifesting the sentiment and
irrational “Aggie tradition” of many of his
fellow students.
After a midnight yell practice which the
Eagle described as a “disciplined frenzy,”
many Aggies were very keyed up for the
SMU game. Emphasis upon a male “martial
spirit” Friday night, roughing up some stu
dent hecklers at yell practice and shouts of
“Beat the hell out of SMUT” obviously spil
led over into Saturday’s game for some
Aggies. Nowhere this weekend did anyone
remember to emphasize that, tradition
aside, football is a game. Good sportsman
ship was unfortunately lost in the worship of
“Aggie tradition. ”
Was this an isolated incident? I don’t
think so. Cadet flood was an officer of the
day Saturday. He also chairs the judicial
board of the A&M student association. He
is a senior with much responsibility and has
Slouch
By Jim Earle
Not a word! Don’t even open your mouth!’
posed as an example to younger cadets and
“good Aggies. His attitude is unfortunate
ly shared by many (though by no means all)
Aggies. A sad example of this was last
week s letter to The Battalion from self-
styled “right-wing” Aggies threatening
physical violence to gay students. Intoler
ance only breeds violence and brings no
honor to A&M.
I for one am glad to see more women on
campus these days and more students in
terested in a college education rather than
in living out some fantasy of A&M’s roman
tic all-male, military past. The time has
come to question the presence of boys play
ing soldier on campus with real weapons.
The time has come for more than just some
“imported faculty to be concerned about
the poor academic performance of cadets
who are overworked by the annual bonfire
preparations. (Even some older cadets have
spoken to me about the sad lack of emphasis
upon academic excellence in the Corps.)
Substituting rabid support of “Aggie tradi
tion” for academic achievement brings no
honor to the Corps and is no way to prepare
future officers to help defend our country.
I do support traditions and a healthy
pride in one’s campus. When I first came to
A&M, I was awed by the MSC and the row
of pictures of Aggie medal of honor winners
located there. I wonder what some of those
“good Aggies ’ would think about the intol
erance on campus today? I am sure at least
that they would be horrified by the attitude
which led to the recent dishonor brought
upon both “Aggie tradition” and the cher
ished symbols of the senior boots and the
saber. Before “good Aggies” quickly dis
miss this affair as an “isolated incident” and
dissociate themselves from this one over-
zealous senior cadet, I hope they will ask
themselves how this could have happened
and to what extent the blame is shared by
many of us. If we can learn something from
a little honest soul searching perhaps our
honor can be restored.
Chester Dunning
Assistant Professor
Department of History
is at least as good as the method currenfl
use, since skewering cheerleaders inM
other Texas county is generally d
illegal.
Krvs.llii
4312 Mm I
Hats off to Hood
Editor:
Appalled by editorii
Hats off to Greg Hood. As an Aggie I’m
proud of his courage and selfless dedication
to the spirit that has bonded Aggies
together for 105 years.
What Greg did was an emotional act,
personifying the inexplicable love that
Aggies have for this school, for Muster, for
Silver Taps, and for yell practice after a
game if we’ve been outscored.
We’re “Fightin’ Texas Aggies” and I’ll
stand by Greg Hood’s actions to any 2 per
center who wants to see what an Aggie is
made of.
Editor:
This letter is in response to the edit
published in The Battalion Mond.? I
Marey Boyce. We are appalled at yomi I
casm concerning the incident at Rylefi!
Saturday between Cadet Greg
David Imes ‘82
Solution is all wet
the SMU cheerleaders. It would have®
in better taste to have forgotten tlie
dent entirely instead of ridiculinga
Aggie, Cadet Hood.
We agree he should not hayedraj
saber for something very seriouscouldB
occurred. Cadet Hood had even ji
according to Aggie tradition, to dismidB
SMU cheerleaders off of Kyle n
However, Miss Boyce, if you aregoisfl
write an article on the unfortunateinci®
please report the facts accurately and J
taste, not with vicious sarcasm.
The
cons
Ur,
Editor:
I think I have found a solution to Satur
day’s problem. The guilty Officer of the
Day should be sentenced to dig a moat
around Kyle Field and then travel to SMU
to capture several dozen extra large alliga
tors, which will then reside in the moat. A
small ferry can be constructed to transport
the players and officials onto the field,
thereby eliminating the problem of unau
thorized personnel. I feel that this solution
Mitchel WhiHngtoil
Editor’s note: Because of the tremei
volume of letters on this topic, onlya,_
tion of the letters can be publisheil
effort has been made to print a represtj
tive sampling of the letters received
cerning the incident.
I
Opinion, not gays, alarming
Editor:
Wa
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Texas
said .V
of a g'
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At
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killed
Head
Kenny Ray (Tuesday, Oct. 27) tells us
that he feels threatened by the claims of the
Gay Student Services Organization that 10
percent of the students at Texas A&M are
gay r . He further tells us what he wants to do
about it. Should any “proud young gays”
show themselves in his territory, he and his
99 friends will “beat the hell outa the GSSO
and all of its kooky-queers. ”
Even though one can only conjecture as
to why Ray is so sensitive on this issue, he
appears to tell us why he wishes to physical
ly harm his fellow students. He is “conser
vative right-wing. ” He is “Old Army. ” He is
presumably, a member of the heterosexual
majority.
But on the face of it, membership in none
Reader’s Forum
of these groups obligates one to threaten
physical harm to gays. Many gays are them
selves political conservatives. The mission
of the “Old Army,” as I recall it, was to
protect liberty, not to violate it. And to be
heterosexual is certainly not automatically
to be anti-gay.
I feel threatened by Ray and his friends. I
feel threatened by this ignorance of the way
a democracy works. I feel threatened be
cause his tactics remind me of those of Hit
ler’s Brownshirts and the enforcers of Sta
lin’s Gulag. They too said: “If you do not
think and behave as we wish, we will beat
the hell outa you. And they
threatened that there are even
our student body who have so littlereji
for personal liberty and so little un
standing ofwhat it means to beameinL
a university community, that most fa
all free institutions in a free state.
The course of adtion which Ray
friends propose may derive only froniii
immaturity. This is certainly the besti
in which their letter can he put. Butiti
betokens an incipient sickness of souk
isolation of spirit. It aligns its authors*
those fascists of both the extreme Jelti
the extreme right who seek to destroy
basis of a free society.
Larry Hick
Associate Profc
Department of PhiM
By
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The Battalion
USES 045 360
MEMBER
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It s your turn
Fear, prejudice can lead to violenci
Editor:
To the Texas A&M Community:
It is time for the fear and prejudice that
rages upon this campus to cease. Only fear
breeds violence. The violence directed to
print toward the gay men and lesbian
women of this community is a fearful reac
tion.
What are you afraid of?
Do you think we are contagious?
Do you think we want to convert you?
Do you think we look different?
Do you think we will hurt you?
Violent behavior erupts because some
one is afraid, because someone is being
oppressed. Are we oppressing you?
Ten percent: that’s a national statistic
(LOVING SOMEONE GAY, Don Clark).
In general, ten percent of a given popula
tion is homosexual. The odds against our
swaying or even influencing significantly
the straight population are 1 in 10. How
terrifying for you!
I urge the heterosexual majority of this
community to educate yourselves. That is
why the gay men and lesbian women come
to Texas A&M: to receive the quality educa
tion that Texas A&M is nationally-know for.
Homosexuality is not contagious. We do
not want to convert you. It is hard enough
for us to be whole and unafraid. Why should
we encourage straight men or women to
change?
If we look different, it is for the same
reasons that straight men and women look
different. Each of us is unique in our perso
nalities and preferences.
We will not hurt you. Violence occurs in
the homosexual community because of the
oppression of the straight society: because
of fear, turned inward.
We do not fear you because you are
heterosexual. Many of us have learned that
our fear of you is destructive to our spirits.
We claim that the human spirit can
thrive without fear, oppression, and pre
judice. We claim our freedom among you in
that spirit of liberty and justice.
Name withheld
Member, Gay Student Services
Once again, thanks and congratulations!
We appreciate your help in making the Fall
‘81 Aggie Blood Drive a success.
Margaret Young
Fall ’81 Aggie Blood Drive Committee
take care of any interferring businesssoi
you can go to Silver Taps. Aggies areh 1
for doing a little more than is nece$
let’s first meet the criteria of beingf
Ags.
Editor’s note: The author of this letter is
employed on the Texas A&M campus and
the name was withheld because they
feared being fired.
Kelli J. Clement ‘85
Silver Taps: make time
Editor:
Who’s the frat?
Blood Drive a success
Editor:
Congratulations are in order for the stu
dents, faculty, and staff who participated in
the 1981 Fall Aggie Blood Drive. You set a
new record; a total of 2,204 units were don
ated. Way to go Ags! A special thank you
goes to all of the organizations who donated
and participated in the contest. The win
ners are:
First Place — Aston Hall
Second Place -— Fowler Hall
Third Place — Squadron 12
Silver Taps was last played on Oct. 6.
During the half-hour before the ceremony I
heard numerous excuses for not attending:
“I have a major test tomorrow,” “I need to
read three chapters before my 8 o’clock
class,” “I am just too tired,” etc. Ags, Silver
Taps should not be thought of as an option
but rather as a responsibility.
The actual ceremony does not last over
fifteen minutes; surely we can spare about
30 minutes a month for our fallen comrades.
For a school where tradition is a sacred
word, we seem to be falling further and
further from one of our most precious rites.
Plan ahead this time: start studying 30
minutes earlier, take a nap before going,
Editor:
This letter is written primarily to
residents of Davis-Gary involved in tk'
Frat” campaign. An interesting thifli
pened at yell practice Friday. I hadan**
of-town date, and we were waiting# 5
stands for the band, when membf
assume) of Davis Gary, sitting in a p
around a Davis-Gary banner, started^
ing something. My date turned to E
pointed at the group, and said,
fraternity is that, Delta Gamma? Theyi
be the largest on campus.” Just thougW
let you guys know.
Scott Swearingen
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By Scott McCulloij
r™ -
i can't take
IT ANY fAORE
FR0N\ YOU
MOTHER, I'n
RUNNING AWAY*
WHAT ARE
YOU TALKING
ABOUT YOU
LITTLE
BRAT?
I'M TIRED OF
FIGHTING AND
ARGUING WITH
YOU. I'rt A
GROWN WON!A//,
V , .
' NO YOURE NOT*
YOU’RE A KID,
NO I WON'T,
m TAKING
ONE OP YOUR
WH AT ?!
ARRGHH!!
TAKE IT AND
/good-bye, nonMV
V DEAREST!