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The Battalion
Viewpoint
November 6,1981
Slouch By Jim Earle
TrW 0.R
“I never thought I’d write anything worth twenty cents!’
Sanders an old Ag
of highest caliber
Editor:
While studying in the Memorial Student
Center, I decided to take a short break and
trotted upstairs to take a look at the Metz
ger and Sanders Gun Collection. I under
stood that it had been remodeled and I was
curious to see what the exhibit had to offer.
It turned out to be more than I expected.
I entered the room and was very impressed
by the vast assortment of fine weapons that
were on display. I was alone, quietly admir
ing the beautiful collection, when three
elderly gentlemen walked in. I figured they
were a few old Ags visiting their alma ma
ter, but something about them took my
attention away from the collection.
There was a certain aura eminating from
these individuals that made me curious
enough to go up and introduce myself. To
my astonishment, it was Dr. Samuel San
ders himself, along with his old football
buddy “Tiny’ Keen, observing with pride
the priceless Colt firearms that he donated
years ago. Mr. Letbetter (Business Mana
ger for the MSC) was explaining all the new
renovations that were added to enhance the
pistol and revolver exhibition I realized that
Dr. Sanders really prized his collection and
it made me appreciative of the fact that he
could let Texas A&M enable other fellow
Ags to enjoy his obviously lifelong collec
tion of historical firearms.
Dr. Sanders appeared to me as quite a
character and I thoroughly enjoyed listen
ing to his accounts of his days at the Univer
sity back in the 1920s. He spoke with a
Reader’s Forum
Guy Chandler Hood ‘84
Brickman
WITH
^ THAT
<£AfVT IT
51981 King Features Syndicate. Inc. World rights reserved
9- 8
Warped
Student says police lack concern
Editor:
Understaffed and underpaid, the Col
lege Station police have once again proved
themselves to be everything but under
standing. They are short of cops, short of
cars, and if they ever do arrive, short of
Reader’s Forum
concern.
Picture the scene — three young women
leaving work at the end of the day go to their
cars parked around the back of a restaurant.
Of course the back light isn’t working, but
they are confident as they walk around to
the parking lot. After all, this is such a nice
town, and nothing has ever happened be
fore. Then, in an instant they are torn from
their false sense of security and thrown into
panic.
“Hey Girls,” his voice rings out. And
there he is, just a few feet away, standing in
the moonlight boldly and energetically
fondling himself. We flee back into the
building, locking the door behind us. Com
ing toward us, he presses his body against
the large glass window and continues to
watch his prey squirm until he has had his
fill and disappears into the darkness.
Once inside, we know exactly what to do
— keep calm and call the police. “They’ll
take care of everything.” How many times
has a child been told, “If you ever need any
help, just ask Mr. Policeman, he’ll help
you
The call was made, the directions given
— keep calm, everything will be all right.
In our delusion of “Mr. Policeman ”, we half
expected Starsky and Hutch, their buddies
from CHIPS, and all the other pictoral
Wonder Cops to come to our rescue. But
after an hour of waiting, we slowly began to
realize the truth. Another call to the Police
Station verified the fact that the call was
made, and that it wasn’t just in our minds.
The reassurance of “Well, It’s been a might
busy night. I’ll try to catch one “o’ the boys
an’ send ‘em on over. Just hang in thar’; it’ll
only be little while longer. ”
Feeling like a case of suspected jaywalk
ing, we waited until they found their way to
the scene a half hour later. Leaning on a
table, the smiling cop listened to our
account of the incident and then chuckled,
“Well, it’s a mighty nippy night to be a-
runnin’ round neck-ed, ain’t it?” The other
cop let out a chuckle and added that at least
the guy was smart enough to wear a hat. As
we waited for them to take down the de
scription of the man, I noticed they had no
paper with them.
Realizing the man was gone, I knew they
wouldn’t dash around to the rear of the
store with guns blazing and shouting
threats, but I knew they would want a de
scription — wouldn’t they?
“Well, if there wasn’t any property dam
age, then we can’t do anything. ” No proper
ty damage? You mean if this creep had step
ped on a potted plant we could file some
thing against him, but not if he had sexually
exposed himself and threatened us? No,
this couldn’t be the law in this place I call
home. Questioning this man, who was sup
posed to represent safety and piece of
mind, his good natured comment that:
“You can expect a lot of this kind of thing in
a college town, ” didn’t reassure me of my
safety. “It’s usually a dare you know, ha-ha;
he’s probably at a party in those apartments
behind your shop having a good laugh with
his buddies. They only do it to watch your
reaction, ya’ know. If you didn’t react,
they’d just quite doin it.”
Sure enough, not more than fifty yards
behind the shop a party was roaring at the
apartment complex. And there they stood
— with a complete description of the guy
and yet they would not even go and have a
look around. We didn’t expect the officers
to get a search warrant or to crash the party
looking for the fondler, but most of the
people were outside anyway. Would a look
around have been asking too much? Or
maybe they were afraid they would have
found the guy. Oh! The paperwork in
volved! No, the advice of going stn
home and to ignore him the next time,
issued from our saviors. Then inoneu
bold attempt for some action, thequi
was asked ... “What if I take a gun andlj
this guy away the next time?
would it take you to get here to come
me away?”
“Oh, ” the reply. “You wouldn’tbelo
away, the courts would probably coma
you for cleaning up the streets.”
And for my experience I amleftwii
advice — If it ever happens to you,
laugh it off and try to understand tk
kind of guy doesn’t USUALLY hurthisi
tims. But if he does, don’t waste yourS
calling the College Station police. Just]
in your car and go look for the guy.
find him, blow him away; sure yt
raped, but the courts will callyouahera
doing the policemens’ job.
Well, sir, I ’m sorry I voted for tile|j
raise for the police. My tax dollars!
support a police department that shoul
capable of protecting me and myfaini
How would you feel if that hadbeeny
wife, sister, girlfriend or daughter?Sk
we be satisfied with this type of sM
police service? I truly understandthep™
lem of the department. They areindesp
ate need of manpower, but they I
chance to apprehend a criminal, andtl
didn’t even begin to make an atteuj
Maybe if the man had been pickedupi
night, they wouldn t have to answerta
calls about the same person. Andwhatij
next time he’s not satisfied withjusteij
ing himself? Is is still an unimportantc
some young girl is raped — or killed’I
sorry I picked a bad night to be assail
God knows I ll try to pick a better nights
time.
negligent handling of an offense,
police can’t handle it, surely some hpel
police can’t handle it, surely somet\pe|
neighborhood volunteer protection [
could be set up to provide protectionh
fear from our own home town.
Denise Friesl
It s your turn
twinkle in his eye, as I went back with him
in history to “good ‘ol army” and greatly
understood his love of being a student here.
He and “Tiny” (who is actually very big)
played for Texas A&M when they won the
“Dixie Classic” in 1922. (Whew, the 12th
man original).
After a little research, I soon discovered
that Dr. Sanders is one outstanding indi
vidual who was an exceptional athlete in his
day. Lie broke many a track and field record
while helping the Aggie football team to
victory.
Dr. Sanders and “Tiny” are both mem
bers of the Aggie Football Hall of Fame. He
was a Ross Volunteer, which explains the
leadership he possessed after college to go
on to be a nationally renowned doctor. The
list of his accomplishments can go on and
on, but the one item that everything boils
down to is that this man is an Aggie. He
cares about the future students of this fine
institution, and he is willing to give some
thing of himself so that others might benefit
from it. Men like Dr. Sanders make me
proud I’m an Aggie and give me the hope
that someday I could be of the same caliber
as he. Texas A&M gives me the chance to
strive for that goal.
Campus police need to alter patrol
By H
idy G
Editor:
I would like to express my feelings about
the University Police and the Traffic
Appeals Panel of the Texas A&M campus.
Although I sincerely believe the Univer
sity Police Serves a vital role in the security
of this campus, I also believe they hand out
parking citations much too freely. The
police should spend more time patrolling
the handicapped and day student parking
spaces for violators, instead of diligently
ticketing the cars which are being loaded
and unloaded around the dorms.
parking close to their dorms for loading pur
poses, it would save many students the
back-breaking job of carrying their luggage
from one end of campus to the other.
the concrete campus of t.u.
Remember, Ags, we have a res
ity to keep traditions alive for future Agjii >was
itclas
:ent C
inves
The s
Alan Logan
Anne-Laurel Anderson'
eek oi
Keep same
bonfire site
Editor’s note: This letter was accompani
by 93 other Chi Omega signatuit
Editor:
I, myself, have been given a citation for
parking in front of my dorm while trying to
unload my car. There was no need for this
citation to be issued since the space in
which I had parked was neither reserved
nor illegal. As any other concerned student
would do, I set up a date to appeal this
citation. In my case, justice was done and
the Traffic Appeals Panel upheld the
appeal. This does not always happen.
Though many of the panels are interested in
seeing justice done regardless of the time
required, there are some which are not.
There are some Traffic Appeals Panels
which are only interested in getting the
accused violator in and out of the hearing
room as quickly as possible with no regard
for justice. The Traffic Appeals Panel on the
afternoon of October 14 was an example of
this latter style of “justice. ” This should not
be tolerated.
Bonfire is a tradition at Texas A&M.
Greeks are new here, but we call ourselves
the Aggie Chi Omegas, and bonfire has be
come as special to us as any other tradition.
We’d like to see this tradition continue, and
continue to be held on Duncan Field.
The Board of Regents has recently de
cided to build a new University Press
Building on Duncan Field. This building
would not be a necessary part of the main
campus and we, as Aggies, feel that this
building could be easily relocated on the
other side of the tracks instead of the Bon
fire site.
If Duncan Field were to become just
another building in the series of Adminis
trative buildings, intramural and Corps
activities would be severely disrupted. As
is, the field is necessary to relieve the
crowding of Penberthy Field. Further, we
enjoy the natural landscape of Aggieland to
Band eongratulatioi
Editor:
We would like to congratulate thek
ws on
pits in
Stui
itnpus
foup.
RHA;
on their unsurpassed performance du
Pport
Wing
The
l ild thi
the half-time activities at the SMUf
The precisely-executed drills werethek
we have ever seen.
We were very disappointed to seel
no articles of appreciation were written
The Battalion this past week. Itseemstl g won
people are extremely free with all sorts wpus
criticism but stingy with praise. It’s
time we said “thank you BQs” you nw
very proud.
Jody Dixon*
Editor’s note: This letter was accompai
by two other signatii
The members of the Traffic Appeals
Panel should be screened much more close
ly so. as not to allow any unresponsible
members on the panel. Furthermore, the
University Police should be much more
understanding towards the students who do
not have convenient parking spaces next to
their dorms. If the University Police would
allow these students the convenience of
By Scott McCullar
EXCUSE- ME
WH C RE'S
fc-1 i i »»• i\. i w
LIKE TO SUBMIT
A LETTER.
A 'f UH*.
pc ! r>» r e^
SHE
V'T 5FF I*
MAY I ASK WHAT
THIS ONE'S ABOUT?
WE CAN LEAVE IT ON
WELL, IT WRAPS UP ALL MY
BELIEFS ON 6AYS, EJ£A, THE
SABER INCIDENT, GREEKS,
GUN CONTROL AM) "WARPED^
XUST PUT IT ON MY DESK
AND I'LL 6ET TO IT...
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
MEMBER
Texas Press Association
Editor Angelique Copeland
Managing Editor . Marcy Boyce
City Editor Jane G. Brust
Asst. City Editor Kathy O’Connell
Photo Editor Dave Einsel
Sports Editor Ritchie Priddy
Focus Editor Cathy Saathoff
Asst. Focus Editor Debbie Nelson
News Editors Phyllis Henderson
Bernie Fette, Belinda McCoy
Diana Sultenfuss
Staff Writers Gary 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
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