opinion
Battalion/Page 2
March 11,1982
Reader’s Forum: More
laws are not the answer
Editor:
It seems that yet another red-inked
entry must now be slated on the students’
budget; for most students, this entry has
enough digits to demand short cuts in
everything from entertainment to eating.
This entry is for the money needed to get
liability insurance now required by law.
Realizing that most students need
both the previously mentioned popular
activities, it would then be reasonable to
ponder the wisdom of such a law. The
state legislature, for one, could assure
drivers that this law (like the rest of them)
was passed in the spirit of the common
good, meant to protect the individual
driver from losses suffered in the com
mon car wreck. It is true that most drivers
who are at fault in wrecks do not have the
financial clout to beat out a trying round
in an often unreasonable or unfair civil
court bout. The seriousness of the crash
cases predicts the likelihood of such bit
ter battles. But is the new law a good
solution to the problem?
The answer to that question depends
on who is asked it. Insurance companies
are enjoying a boon in new clients who
were, in ef fect, recruited by the state leg
islature. Although the insurance agen
cies are regulated, their climbing rates
are more steep than the hills of Austin.
Even with good driving records, typical
college students are just old enough to
pay the highest rates allowed.
Traffic officers (state, county, city,
etc.) are also enjoying a period of new
prosperity, seeing that at least 25 percent
of all Texas drivers still do not have in
surance. To be certain, the roads are ripe
with plenty of pickings to fill our officers’
citation rations. Not to mention the bulg
ing budget boundaries of the traf fic de
partments — soon they will be able to
rescue the ailing automobile industry
themselves by buying new fleets cars.
Aside from all of this, a most impor
tant part of the question of the law has
been overlooked. Who has wondered ab
out what happened to individual respon
sibility and the corresponding personal
freedom of a citizen to operate his own
caron a public road? Who has considered
the consequences of the state shifting
from dictating who can’t operate a moto
rized vehicle without a license to who
can’t operate a motorized vehicle with a
license?
As he fills out next months’ insurance
premium check, someone will indignant
ly say, “But there has to be driver licens
ing, a minimum age for drivers, mini
mum vision requirements, annual auto
inspections, explicit traffic rules, manda
tory liability insurance, and a full-time
traffic trooper gang to enforce it all.
Why, if it weren’t for these laws, mad
drivers would be everywhere, running
loose on the streets, making insane lane
changes and amber light charges, endan
gering the lives of other motorists and
pedestrians.”
But he has not yet driven down High
way 6.
by
If you’re
out of
spring bre_:
will be to d
cause dri™
and driver ^
in traffic ti—
partment ■=
man said.
| “Heed s ]
slow dowi»
sthoff said .
jiH Sorne c
»known as
more cone
than other:
‘There
Texas, b
^ijv enforced .
tO Buck, dire*
for the Am
Association
The A
many comp
for bail be
traveling ir
Splendoi
on Highw;
enforced ai
|‘We arr
AWT', teidfiyw th "" e a “;
llf'U.if J, Depart me
^ _ \ If Buck a
V&JtlQn 2. Up I E'VTjqq t- ry have comj
FP (if ff/rvrrjpu 1 die ah
^ ‘ppCfjsigtis in 11
-
'The cit
Live Oak a
a major h
San Anton
D. S. Zimmerman ‘83
Hart Hall
‘Chaucer’ meets the Aggies Ho
Slouch
By Jim Earle
“Not only does his ride leave early, but he has a doctor’s
appointment on Monday after the Spring break. ”
I brought with me to Texas A&M two
years ago a dozen or so paperbacks that I
had studied in high school — just to give
my bookshelf that air of collegiate
psuedo-sophistication. Last week the
books finally had to yield their space to
newer texts.
Intending only to thumb through the
old ones, I found myself having read the
entire prologue of Geoffrey Chaucer’s
“The Canterbury Tales.” “A brilliant, en-
lighting slice of medival society,” as my
teacher Mrs. Brown used to say.
withe a fingre sign.
hig
After re-reading the stuff, I had to -
admit, surprisingly, that the work was no
thing less than extraordinary. Using the
persona of an observer of a pilgrimage to
Canterbury, Chaucer described (and cri
ticized) members of medival English soci
ety with sarcasm and jocosity.
His technique is timeless.
So what might Chaucer have said ab
out a weekend “pilgrimage” of Aggies to
Austin, I wondered:
that they were, . . . ,
Fore withe daddy’s card they filled thee
tanke,
And thee beere pade fore withe a check
frome his banke.
After mid-terms whene every student be
acosted,
He turneth all his energy in thee persute
of Austin,
And there benext to a gas pump me saw.
And these Aggies so traveling in spite of
thee law.
Three milit’ry gents next came in per-
fecte formation,
In three Trans Ams, of jets a perfecte
emulation,
Emerging frome each craft in tiarke glas
ses of a pilot,
I wast greeted bye each, “Howdy,
Damnit!”
And as they left, withe rigidly reheat
aplomb,
Their license plates read, “DROP,”
“THE,” “BOMB.”
Thee firste group cometh in a Cadillak so
meek,
Sporting pigtails and reptiles — musteth
be Greek,
So giddy and propre, like thee best of
their gendre,
Surely thee ladies their daddies assumd
Following thee three soldiers, a red con
vertible puld inn,
Behind the wheel a tan blonde, in thee
sun she having beene,
T hough her auto sat sleak, withe sensual,
gliding lines,
Its body was put to shame, bye her
smoothe bronzed thighs,
Thee passengre seat empty, but fore a
chilled bottle-o-wine,
I askt if it I mite fill it, she answered “no”
As she drove off I felt rejected
ly for love,
Untill thee next couple canieinnife , .
pik-up truk, b yJ^
Fore poor Bill\ Bob (his name 14 Tim Kappa*
from Ins IkTi), orfcophomoi
Was undre fire from Billy Sue,MW would ra
nasally dell, heir senior y<
“Girl,” he commanded, "Lit inlS^t c ' et y -
c (| HA manda
vNot aher,” she replied, “yef^B , J 0 ^ s ^
Star- ear will be
Cider.
In next pulled an engineer, Kapp
specific, ?st fall by tin
Twenty-thousand dollars a feer'and's
seemed terrific, ophomore
He fumbled withe thee gas cap,; .ambdaSigm;
withe thee pump, ias (55 memb(
Fore such conf using devises were® IStudents <
his curriculum, icrship must
And afire filling up thee tanke,a Eqde pointra
ing up his engine, Tlust cc
He screached onto thee highway*^ 111 ° ’
behind his transmission. attended Tex;
ty the precedi
Thee caravan continued lotlgCfKy Chairm;
night, said.
A f renzied escape frome a # - Tau Kappa
plight. Student Acad
And into thee bowels of me ”
roard, ■ 50rs mon . tl
, ii r t - .i c,»eas on acadt
fore on thee walks of bixtn Jt w s ^ 0|
school people ignore. T au Kappa cc
..j The societ)
Benext to that gas pump I’d no contributions
behind, Quiz File in
So I stood at thee highway andtti Evans Library,
a ride.
Academic Co
ence prograi
assistance fo
rogram.
Letter; How many will die in fires before we learnfiwsi
Editor:
Where should bikers ride?
How many MCM Grands and Westch-
ase Hilton’s have to happen before big
U.S. cities take responsibility to introduce
tough ordinances on the means by which
high-rises are constructed and the train
ing of people to operate fire alarm sys
tems in these high-rises? Hopefully
Houston’s Mayor Cathy Whitmire and
city council will take the bull by the horns
with “the buck stops here” attitude and
formulate such an ordinance. One death
is one death too many if it can be pre
vented. The introduction of this type of
ordinance would be a step in the right
direction.
While there are no studies that have
proven that the materials used in the con
struction of new high-rises form poiso
nous gases when burned, it is conclusive
that the victims of these recent high-rise
fire tradegies were not killed by typical
carbon monoxide poisoning. However, it
has been speculated that a fire in a newly
constucted building can produce hyd
rocyanic gas. This is a more deadly gas
that is used to kill criminals in the gas
chambers.
With that thought in mind, we don’t
need a building to fall on us to tell us
there is a problem. However, it is a prob
lem with a solution that is readily avail
able to us if we tackle it head on.
Editor:
I sincerely wish to apologize to the girl
who I inadvertently ran into with my bike
at about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday next to the
Academic Building, especially since this
is the first pedestrian I’ve ever hit.
Actually, I should apologize for the as yet
inexplicable actions of the C.T. who
caused this little accident in which, for
tunately, nobody was seriously hurt.
To the girl: I have already apologized.
To the C.T. (and anyone else guilty of
such acts): I can only say that if anything
like this ever occurs again and I am un
able to stop in time (yes, it takes a couple
of seconds to stop, even moving slowly), I
will not hesitate to run into that person to
avoid hurting myself or innocent people.
anticipating. After all, bikes are a lot less
maneuverable than people, so try to give
us half a chance.
Roy Gui
To the man: It is your opinion that
bikers should ride on streets and not on
sidewalks, whereas I have heard of
motorists who complain that bikers
should stay off the streets. Where the
heck are we supposed to ride, then?
As I recall, I had ample clearance be
tween the oncoming C.T. and a lamp
post next to a curblike structure, but for
some unknown reason, he decided to
move toward the curb as he saw me
Richard Gosselin ’85
approach. I am sorry that I didn’t quite
feel up to testing out the quantum
mechanical probability of going through
a lamp post, but as he did not stop mov
ing or resume his original direction, I was
forced to veer off in the opposite direc
tion to avoid him. Unfortunately,
soneone else, the girl, happened to be
there and was coming toward me. For
tunately, I was not moving very quickly at
all, or the results could have been worse.
Nonetheless, some older man attempted
to berate me for not staying on the street
like I was supposed to.
It does not seem logical to place bike
racks near buildings and sidewalks if we
are supposed to stay on the streets. How
about walking bikes to class? It would
seem more efficient, then to have bike
racks around the perimeter of the cam
pus, since the end result would still be
walking to class.
Obviously, the most efficient method
is to ride the bikes to class and park in the
designated areas, but if 35,000 motorists,
bikers, pedestrians, etc. don’t cooperate,
then what? Come on people, most of us
have enough common sense to look
where we’re going, so pedestrians, don’t
pull studid stunts around bikes unless it is
obvious the biker is being careless. Most
riders try to be careful, but it makes it
worse when walkers try to anticipate
where riders will go — let the biker do the
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
Member of
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Southwest Journalism Conference
Editor Angelique Copeland
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