opinion
Battalion/Page 2
February 18,
l Sick
Yankee is ‘naturalized Texan’
Being a “Yankee” at Texas A&M Uni
versity has taken some measure of cour
age and determination on my part.
Not only do I have to defend my birth
place, but I’ve had to formulate some
replies to questions native Texans feel it’s
their right to ask and have answered.
Standing up for my “Yankee” heritage
is something I don’t mind doing.
But, being asked “what brought you to
Texas A&M?” makes me think there may
be some Texans who aren’t seeing the
forest for the trees.
It should be obvious what brought me
here. But for the Texans who aren’t
aware of what they have here at this Uni
versity and in the state itself, I’ll provide a
little run-down of the things I’ve found.
When I came to Texas this past Au
gust, I was coming to a new “country”
where a different language was spoken
and a different cultural atmosphere per
vaded.
I couldn’t get enough of the Texan
dialect. I found out what a “longneck”
was — no, we don’t have those in Ohio —
and I learned what a “gooseneck” was.
We may have goosenecks up North but
since I wasn’t brought up in Ohio farm
country I was unaware of their existence.
I do get derided for my “Yankee” ac
cent and at first I was overly sensitive
when people said: “Where are you from,
you can’t be a Texan!” But of course we
all know Texans have no accent at all,
right?
I’d love to take one of my native Texan
friends to Ohio just once and watch the
crowd gather around and say: “Oh,
please, say something else, you talk so
neat!” But that’s different. A Yankee ac
cent is not looked upon with much appre
ciation in Texas.
Admittedly, there has been an influx
of “da— Yankees” lately, but it’s because
of what great things Texas has to offer —
besides economic prosperity.
The culture is all new to me, too. When
I arrived I was a hard-core anti-Country
& Western person. But guess who can’t
wait to go to the Hall of Fame now?
When Christmas came around I
prayed to St. Nicholas to please have
someone give me a belt with my very own
name on the back. And do you know
what, he blessed me with one of those
most novel symbols of Texan culture!
But, Texan charm and hospitality has
to be the most pervading and valuable
aspect of this new culture I’ve had the
good fortune to experience.
There may be something about the
warm, comfortable (most of the time) cli
mate that makes Texans friendly and
caring. In frozen Ohio, if a stranger ack
nowledges me on the street, I wonder if
he’s crazy or if he’s about to say “stick ’em
up“.
Here, everyone offers at least a smile
or a nod, if not an Aggie “howdy“. It
really makes a difference and one I never
seem to overlook. Don’t they say: “A
smile’s no good to you until you give it
away?”
So those are the answers I’ve arrived at
for questions about what brought me
here.
But, since most people don’t have the
time or the inclination to listen to me
ramble on about how wonderful Texas is,
I’ve shortened my reply.
I just say: “Well, I’m here because I
finally got smart.”
And even though I’ve only lived here
six months, please see if y’all can bring
yourselves to call me a “naturalized Tex
an” instead of a “Yankee.”
Slouch
By Jim Earle
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“I hate water fountains.
Mechanical man
stealing home basi
by Dick West
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The United
States, according to Industry Week
magazine, lags far behind Japan in the
use of robots. But I didn’t realize how far
until I came across some promotional
material put out by the Mizuno Corp. of
Osaka, a sporting goods company.
Having made deep inroads in the U.S.
car market, thanks in large measure to
their advanced development of indust
rial robots, the Japanese now have de
signs on our very own national pastime —
the game of baseball.
Get a load of this space-age equipment
Mizuno is introducing in this country this
week:
Electronic catchers’ mitts — Even in
the major leagues, catchers still flash
signs to the pitchers the old-fashion way
— by hand. Compare that quaint system
with the Japanese pushbuttom mitt.
By pressing certain buttons on an elec
tronic relay device, the catcher indicates
whether he wants a fast ball, a curve, a
slider, a change-up or whatever. That
signal then is transmitted to the mound,
where it appears on a lighted display
panel on the pitcher’s glove.
Morever, each glove has its own radio
frequency said to prevent other teams
b >\
Bali;
I The Col
Council vot«
shop session
the Magna
&! ,000 to In
needed to 1
to campus.
I? Commit!
Stark said 1
from stealing the signs.
What about jamming? Coiifehe council’
enemy dugout disruptcatcher-tojpily $2,00(
transmission the way Sovietradioifcoested was
cians occasionally interfere withVil Tta co
America broadcasts? y 1 l m ^
I don’t know, but I certainly’ 'V*
put it past some baseball managiU t h e r i t y
Billy Martin, for example., vided betw<
Hit and run— : And whatofthufstateand is
manager conveys by hand to lii to promote
third base coaches, who then rebjandcultura
to the runners and batters? and local le
For that, Japanese roboteersbB ^ ^idn
veloped a device that transmits If or ‘.T hlle l
messages from the dugout tokeifF"^ ^
Igainst fun
had contac
Moreover, these signals are chlfheeting a
into audio messages that can beswuncilnot
bled if necessary to prevent theBpid.
team from intercepting them. I Jhe cou
;..cided to s<
One future innovation could• )m mittee
placement of the third base coackP m P rov eni'
robot that automatically holds upB
ner unless the right-of-way to the
dear.
If robotization takes some old
out of baseball by electronical
ing bonehead plays, so be it. Aft
there is always chess.
microwave receivers built into
ers’ headdress.
Letter: Please don’
Editor:
For the past two days Rudder Foun
tain, one of the best places on this campus
to spend a lunch hour, has been blessed
with Christians and a PA system. I don’t
want to hear this, or for that matter any
point of view from a loud speaker during
my lunch hour. It offends me. Also, the
messages this week may offend Jews,
Moslems and those other beliefs, includ
ing atheists. I suggest that Christians who
can’t find a church consult the yellow
pages for one of the 77 churches or
prayer rooms in Bryan and College Sta
tion and that they leave the microphone
in its case.
Bland Crowder
204 Highland
Asking for an accident
Editor:
I am addressing this letter to the gen
tleman on the bicvcle who ran into the
bar’ - " 8:45
Monday morning. 1 had stoppea at the
corner of Jersey and Bizzel in the right
turn lane when I heard a dull thud and
then a bang. This bicyclist had apparent-
lv rear-ended me when I stopped for the
light and he did not. He them pulled up
to the passenger side of my car, yanked
the door open, yelled something un
printable and rode away.
Sir, I ask you: 1) If you are riding with
the traffic why do you not follow traffic
rules and stop at red lights instead of
trying to inch by those who abide by the
rules? 2) If you must make your own
traffic rules why do you not buy a head
light for your bicycle? I was taught to use
my headlights when visibility is nil (as it
was this morning) or it is dark; and finally
3) What gives you the right to frighten
my passengers by storming my car? You
did not take the time to speak to me ra
tionally but scared the daylights out of
my riders!
I doubt that any of the points I have
made will sink in or make any sense to
you because of the apparent frenzy I wit
nessed. However, I suggest that you stick
to walking before you get yourself killed.
Mary Katherine Smith
401 Anderson #15L
Facilities bar entertainment
Editor:
In response to Mike Foderetti’s letter
oi I'cb.'uary 17th concerning the lack of
entertainment at A&M, please let me
state a few facts. First of all, I agree that
Texas A&M does not have the facilities to
adequately attract top-name entertain
ment. Moreover, it is time for this Uni
versity to provide its students and sur
rounding community a building that
would be satisfactory for a campus this
large. But, unfortunately A&M is going
to have to wait awhile before they will
have the same quality entertainment as
t bless me or my lunch ard
t.u. ( Texas University). I have been in
formed that a new building is being plan
ned, but will not be finished until around
1990! As Town Hall Chairman this 1981-
82 season, G. Rollie White Coliseum has
been our greatest obstacle. Town Hall
had the opportunity to bring Dan Fogel-
berg, The Cars, Bruce Springstein, and
Kenny Rogers to name a few, but as usual
all were cancelled due to inadequate faci
lities (i.e. G. Rollie White). I just wish that
A&M could see the importance of a new
facility and move as quickly as possible to
see this become a reality. And so maybe
w'hen I am an “old Ag” I can come back
and enjoy a new events center.
Lauren Pennington ‘82
Chairman, MSC Town Hall
Thanks for helping hand
Editor:
Thursday morning (12:30 a.m.) we
had a flat tire on Southwest Parkway. We
would like to thank the people who stop
ped to offer us assistance. In the twenty
minutes it took to get back under way,
three separate, concerned Ags stopped
to offer us tools, a ride, or assistance. It’s
this kind if attitude that makes us proud
to be AGGIES, especially comforting in
these times of outside assaults on Aggie
ethics.
Once again, we thank you for stopping
to offer assistance, showing that the
AGGIE WAY still stands in good stead.
John B. Latimer ’82
Kevin Hertel ’83
Delayed mailing
Editor:
I would like to extend my apologies to
the 332 students receiving the letter
announcing the Feb. 11 Mexican Amer
ican Engineering Society meeting after it
was held. Due to the society’s late mailing
and this community’s mail servicej
hility to deliver intown mail will
days, few, if any, were received
The meeting will be reschedul
Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in 104AZad
follow-up letter has been mailed
advance to prevent the recurrence
problem.
Benito Flores
Secretary, MJ
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