-I , rtT ,.-nja» 1 1-1.^
opinion
Your best interests
should decide vote
The commotioh and commercials w ill
laid Saturdav, and the 6th CCongressional
l)istii( t will liave a new representative,
v Sinc e Democrat Phil Ciramm resigned
jiis congressional scan in Janitary to run
Jcs a Republican, we’ve been bombarded;
and Faulk don’t have the expertise neces
sary to serve as Congressmen.
Those three men arc^ considered the
front-runners in Saturday’s election —
the campaigns of the other eight candi
dates haven’t been much different.
Editorial
Svidi campaign rhetoric. We’ve heard
-Chat Gramm is a savior, Dan Kubiak is a
‘Crue Democ rat and John Hehrv Faulk is
•Courageous.
> Their campaigns have included a li
beral close of mud-slinging. We've heard
that Gramm is a traitor, and that Kubiak
But on Saturday, the speeches and
promises don’t really matter. On that
day, the spotlight of the congressional
race shif ts f rom the 1 1 contestants to you.
You may have been influenced by the
campaigns. Or maybe you haven’t been.
In either case, Saturday is your day —
your vote will help decide who speaks for
you in Congress. Vote for the candidate
who will represent \oiir best interests.
Letters: Minorities,
money and recruitment
Editor:
Pardon my ignorance Julian
Pechacek, (Letter to the Editor 2/4/83)
Dut I cannot understand why allocating
Cnonies to correct minority conditions
Cvould be “detrimental to the fundamen
tal principles that make Texas A&M
great.’’ True, high academic standards
(gild rich tradition have a big impact on
student recruitment and retention, but
you don’t kill elephants with a BB gun
either.
you could ever dream of being. They face
even greater pressure to succeed and are
pioneers in every sense of the word. Hon
estly, given that Texas A&M was the
same (tradition, academic reputation,
etc.) but the ethnic f igures were reversed
(96 percent black and Hispanic, 4 per
cent white) would you have the “guts and
stamina” to come and stay at TAMU?
David Oviedo
Old College Main
1
v You don’t need to be a business major
to realize that if you want to attract the
best, you have to offer more than the
competition does. Jackie Sherrill didn’t
ejnme to Texas A&M just because of tra
dition and high standards, just as I would
assume that prestigious scholarships may
have tipped the scales in A&M’s favor in
attracting the many National Merit Scho
lars on campus today.
Support for report
Editor:
T Competition for top academic stu
dents is fierce, especially for superior
black and Hispanic students. The big
pame schools such as Stanford and Yale
annually cross the state border and claim
many top minority students. Add to this
another university of equal academic
reputation right in our own backyard
that presently offers almost eight times
the number of minority scholarships
offered by Texas. A&M and you have one
big uphill battle. And I haven’t even men
tioned any of the social and environmen
tal factors at A&M that keep prospective
minority _ students from considering
Aggielatid.
We the members of Inroads/TAM—a
recognized minority corporate-manage
ment development group — feel it neces
sary to express our support for the recent
report on minority conditions. We con
sider the information presented in the
report factual and accurate; and we
appreciate the President’s committee’s
painstaking study of the situation. We
equally approve of the proposals by the
committee to solve problems currently
faced by minority students at Texas
A&M.
As a group composed of minority stu
dents, we are very much aware of factors
present at the University which some
times create an unpleasant atmosphere
for minority students. The problem of
underrepresentation of minorities and
> True, all people have an equal right to
attend the state (not federally) funded
;school of their choice. But not all of us,
minority or otherwise, come from High
land Park or River Oaks. I believe in the
concept of equality, not “under
equality.” I might add that the undergra
duate minority scholarships are strictly
tnerit-based with no consideration given
top financial need.
the occurence of offensive acts such as
those mentioned in the report need to be
eliminated. Changes need to be made at
Texas A&M in order to nurture the
ideology of “Aggie Spirit” and to attain
“World-Class” status.
Students and faculty of this institution
should realize that Texas A&M’s reputa
tion is at stake. Unless we open our eyes
and start addressing our problems ... this
University is in trouble.
I am glad that you appreciate the qual
ity of individuals here and the fact that
Jthey have the guts and stamina to stay.
-Then you must surely admire A&M
^minority students because they are
-tougher and more self-sustaining than
Stephanie G. Evans ’85
Editor’s Note: This letter was accompa
nied by seven signatures.
The Battalion
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O*
MTS THE LAST TIME I ACT AS A SURROGATE MOTHER ...
Reagan’s lost women’s agenda
Ac
with
mnn
less
der}
by Maxwell Glen
and Cody Shearer
With potential Democratic rivals
ready to turn the gender gap into a 1984
windfall, now would seem the perfect
moment for Ronald Reagan to back
proposals extending justice to women.
Instead, administration officials seem
content to sit on their hands.
Two weeks ago President Reagan
piped a pretty tune before Congress,
{fledging to remove “unjust discrimina
tion” in the U.S. (legal) Code and fight
for equitable wages and pension benefits.
With the president’s call for more strict
attention to - delinquent child-support*
payments, one could almost sense , the
emergence of a Reagan f eminist agenda.
DesjMte the ripeness of the moment,
however, the jjresident’s strategy on
women’s issues portends a leisurely pace,
Lilliputian scope and little benefit to
women. White House schemers have
simj^ly left their man with an unimagina
tive bag of tricks.
Consider first the vow to remove “ves
tiges” of discrimination from the U.S.
Code. (Reagan’s favorite alternative to
the Equal Rights Amendment Pej^laces
such words as “he” and “she” in law with
gender-neutral substitutes.) Most courts
already ignore gender distinctions. Even
Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kan.), who intro
duced the Reagan-backed package of
word changes last October, admitted that
it was a “modest” proposal.
“I want it to be understood that elimi
nation of facial gender bias is just one
small stej) ... and cannot be equated with
the true achievement of full equality
under the law,” Dole said then.
Meanwhile, Reagan’s newfound deter
mination to eliminate wage discrimina
tion is inconsistent with straitjacketing of
the Equal FLmployment Opportunity
Commission and other federal offices
empowered to enforce the rights os
working women. Reagan has not man li
ed his rhetoric with specific proposals as
yet.
In pensions, Reagan has eyed another
suitable quarry. Many insurance com
panies charge both sexes similar pre
miums but pay women smaller benefits.
The practice has tended to assure retired
women an unjsutly lower standard of
living.
But though the Justice Department
condemned pension discrimination be-
Despite the* ripeness of the mo
ment, however, the president's
strategy on women's issues por
tends a leisurely pace, Lilliputian
scope and little benefit to women.
fore the Supreme Court last month, it
stopped short of recommending a re
medy. Rather than endorse retroactive
relief preferred by a lower court, Solici
tor General Rex Lee simply argued for
more equitable pension jjlans in the fu
ture — an irrelevant gesture to women
paying into pension j^lans today.
Reagan has some reason to be proud
of his new commitment to child support
enforcement , insofar as it was hammered
out by the White House with the counsel
of women’s groups. In his 1984 budget,
the president asks Congress to require
states to withhold delinquent support
payments from joaychecks and state in
come tax refunds. Yet, all but five states
withhold some part of child support
money.
Moreover, Reagan proposes to elimin
ate general matching funds for state col
lection budgets and instead juay
“bonuses" to slates with exception!
lection records. I le argues thatsii [ ^
.11 tion would save Lncle Sam asp | u bi
S 1 00 million a \ ear. But even with! |eor
ai helj), some states don’t doenougi jlish
one Senate aide: “Without federi |
port, state legislatures will be seal
subsidize the effort themselves,
the Senate, led by Louisiana's R
Long, killed a similar Reagan
last year.)
New jn oposals are a must fordid
Democrats have already seizedtli(|
der gaj) as a cheaji one-way ticket
White House. Speaker Tip 01
joined the congressional caw
women’s issues and pledged tod
weight behind the latest FRA ell
ty hopef uls are actively seekingw
organizations for endorsementsai
osu re.
Perhaps one positive sign was Ren
conspicuous State of the t’nion
of day care for children, a subject
ally considered taboo in consertfal
cles. White House officials, whohaj
federal support for day care,favotl
ness tax credits for day care facililifi
say new proposals are in the work
Another obvious opportunity
Reagan would be endorsement
Economic Equitx Act, a two-year-ok
written In Republicans and (avert
Democrats. The proposal wouldci
real biases in insurance, pay,
and tax and inheritance laws. Rea?
endorsed several portions of the
has withheld complete support,
not the ERA, the bill remains
alternative.
Indeed, the GOP’s retreat I
women’s issues in 1980 still plague I
president, threatens his jiarty, anJ |
require more substantive steps to
good a reparation. So what is R(
waiting for?
Hit and run
complaints
Editor:
I would insincerely like to thank the
“Honest Ag” who hit my car, a beige Dat-
sun B210, while it was parked on the
street next to McFadden and failed to
leave a notice to where they could be
reached. This shows the amazing ability
of some people to show an extreme lack
of conscience. We’ve heard it all before, it
defies the Aggie Code of Honor, but does
it not also go against the basic rules of
common courtesy.
I’d like to let you know how this has
inconvenienced me, in case you failed to
think that far ahead. This is a financial
burden and time consuming, as well as
being an emotional strain. The last thing
I needed to worry about, with all my tests
this week, is how I’m going to pay for this.
(Insurance companies aren’t always will
ing to fork out the money.) If by chance
the person who hit my car is reading this,
please put yourself in my place and find
your heart to give me a call.
Thank you.
Beth Mullins
Haas Hall
260-8345
Slouch
By Jim Earl
“The College of Medicine says that Vll have to bring up
my grade point ratio to be eligible to will my brain to
them. ”