opinion
Battalion/Page 2
February 28,1%
Slouch By Jim Earle
“Midsemestergrades! Already? But I haven't even gotten
settled down in class yet. “
Hawkeye,
The last new episode of M*A*S*H airs
tonight. Television is generally thought
of as a vast wasteland, and the 4077th
M*A*S*H unit exists in that wasteland
the same way it exists on the battle-torn
wastelands of Korea. It survives. It com
forts and provides relief. It keeps us
going, and has for the past eleven years.
M*A*S*H ends tonight, and so does the
Korean War lor a generation that has
never experienced the reality of a war. It
seems we should reflect on that.
M*A*S*H gave us an eleven-year view
of war from the “front lines.” We got a
concentrated view of the worst part of
war, the suffering that goes on in a hos
pital. We were shown how such a war
af f ected members of our own family, for
if any television characters could be cal
led “family”, those of the 4077th certain
ly could.
M* A*S*H actually stands for Mobile
Army Surgical Hospital, although the
4077th wasn't really mobile. Oh, it moved
a few times, sure, but it really stayed in
the same place. “Rosie’s Bar” was always
just across the street from the camp. 1 he
M*A*S*H camp was home, and home is
you’re going home Jc
thought of as a stationary place. The war
always revolved around the 4077th.
M*A*S*H was supposedly about the
Korean War, but the stories and lessons it
told were relative to all wars. M*A*S*H
never limited itself to the 1950s. There
were occasional references to events and
music of the period, but M*A*S*H never
made it essential for the viewer to believe
in a specific place or time, only in wars
and the people in them. On screen,
M*A*S*I4 looks like it could be set in the
M
b 3
There
2nd World War, or Vietnam or evem
Middle East. T
M*A*S*I I may live on in rnoreij
than re-runs. Our generation has
lot of time and love with thesecharai
We have experienced awar withti
and grown to despise and hate it the] amed
way thev do. We saw characters,ihu i&Mat
pie, \\ e loved and c ared about suffer! irship |
ibly because of war. Some of them
died. In between the jokes and his
M*A*S*I 1 brought us the most
taut lesson of war — that it costs ns
thing to wage it. What we have seen r ^
4077th has af lected how wcthinU C
now and how we’ll perceive it in
lure.
M*A*S*II will he remembered
many things: the characters
empathized so deeply with,thefet
we were made to use while watching,
the fun and jo\ the staff lived lifei lillyjoe
We even lon ged with them to lean if Mind
war and go home, even though w
home. And tonight, we ^et to$eeift rence
come home. Watching the re-runs
will be a little more enjoyable It
that it all comes out all righi.
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Letters: SCON A
thanks from UT
Editor:
It is with deepest humility and respect
that we, the UT delegates to the SCON A
28 conference on the Latin Americas,
convey our profound admiration and
effusive praise to you and the entire
Texas A&M student body for the great
Aggie hospitality shown to us and to all
the delegates the week of Feb. 16-19. We
felt proud to be fellow Texans at this
international event and honored to parti
cipate in such a prestigious forum so en
riched by that special Aggie spirit for
which A&M has become famous.
fhe rivalry which exists between our
two great universities is common know
ledge to Texans everywhere and indeed
to people the world over. Yet a fact not so
well known is that this healthy rivalry
actually is rooted in a relationship char
acterized by genuine mutual admiration.
The manner in which we “teasips” were
received by the wonderful people of
SCON A 28 only served to enhance this
relationship. The entire three and one-
halfdays of the conference were held in
an ambience of friendliness and com-
; raderie that not only provided the com-
; tol lable medium so crucial to the success
of all such meaningful endeavors but also
* created everlasting bonds between its
; fortunate participants.
2 The SCON A 28 conference was there-
- fore a success not only in terms of fulfill
ing its primary objective of generating
useful and constructive dialogue be
tween peoples of diverse backgrounds on
- a subject of major contemporary signifi
cance. It also succeeded in forging strong
links between old and new friends alike.
^ To the many remarkable members of
. SCON A 28 — the planners, organizers
1 and especially those on the “front line” —
I we extend our warmest compliments and
1 appreciation for including us in this out
standing event. And, thanks largely to
our SCON A experience, to the entire
; A&M population we reluctantly confess a
heretofore well-guarded secret: it strikes
us that to be an Aggie is an honor of
which one can be most proud.
Kevin D. Mitchell
Warren G. McKesson
Big Event thanks
Editor:
I would like to thank all the many
students who participated in the Big
Event this past weekend. I think it is very
gratifying to find students who are in
terested in providing this kind of service
to their community. Even though the
weather did not cooperate, I was very
impressed to see many students who con
tinued to work despite the very heavy
rain. I know the communtiy benefited
from your effort and I hope that each of
you benefited from your experiences.
Hopefully this can become an annual
event.
» Gary Halter
Mayor, College Station
Donate canned goods
Editor:
Although the sarcastic jabs of the
group’s display in the MSC may be a tur
noff to some, I hope that students, facul
ty and staff support SWAMP in their on
going collection of food and clothing. It’s
a good time to clean out closets and
shelves anyway and time to recognize
that the lives of our needy neighbors in
B-CS cannot be made significantly better
by a single afternoon of well-meaning
efforts (i.e., the Big Event).
Donations of clothing and canned
food can be dropped off in 216 MSC and
will be delivered to Twin City Mission by
SWAMP members.
Rita R. Hamm
Center for Energy and Mineral Re
sources
USPS 045 360
Member ot
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion
Editor Diana Sultenf uss
Managing Editor Gary Barker
Associate Editor Denise Richter
City Editor Hope E. Paasch
Assistant City Editor Beverly Hamilton
Sports Editor John Wagner
Entertainment Editor Colette Hutc hings
Assistant Entertainment Editor. . . . Diane Yount
News Editors Daran Bishop, Brian Boyer,
Jennifer Carr, Elaine Engstrom,
Johna Jo Maurer, Jan Werner,
Rebeca Zimmermann
Staff Writers
Melissa Adair, Maureen Carmody,
Frank Christlieb, Connie Edelmon,
Patrice Koranek, John Lopez, Robert
McGlohon, Ann Ramsbottom, Kim
Schmidt, Patti Schwierzke, Kelley
Smith, Angel Stokes, Tracey Taylor,
Joe Tindel
Copyeditors .... Shelley Hoekstra, Jan Svvaner,
Chris Thayer
Cartoonist Scott McCullar
Graphic Artists Pam Starasinic
Sergio Galvez
Photographers David Fisher, Jorge Casari,
Ronald W. Emerson, Rob
Johnston, Irene Mees, William
Schulz
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77843.
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Letters: Notification law questioned
Editor:
This letter is in response to the letter
on the Parental Notification Rule
(“Squeal law“).
Dear Dannette Heren:
You did not state yonr age, but I must
assume that it is well jDast being able to
remember your thoughts and attitudes
of your teen years. I am in my late 20’s
and I still remember mine.
First, you end your letter with “A mor
ality has to be enforced for their (minor’s)
sakes.” Morals or principles of right and
wrong are things that are learned and
develojAed in life, fhe concept of blanket
enforcement of morality is ludicrous.
Next, you said “but the sexually active
minor should be the exception, not the
rule.” This must be a perscmal wish or
hope, because you are not talking reality.
Have you read any recent sexual surveys
(Playboy, Hite Reports, etc ...). A sixteen-
year-old virgin is becoming very rare,
whether or not they should be.
My God, “peer j>ressure” on sex, come
on. I don’t know if you have had sex, but
my first time (as a minor) was not because
of “peer jAressure.” Ever since puberty
there was a lot of sexual curiosity just
waiting to be satisfied, and sexual drive
filled in where curiosity left off.
Concerning “sexual flings,” you must
not remember your teen emotional state.
Sex was something very serious (almost
religious). As a teen, once you had sex
(just once) with someone, meant that you
were together and (some how) knew’ the
innermost feelings, thoughts and aspira
tions of each other.
Question, who really would be finan
cially affected by this rule?
Last, you ask “What about the count
less minors who are sexually active only
because these birth control devices are so
“easily” and “secretly” available.” Easy,
how easy do you think it is to go into a
strange clinic, talk to a strange nurse or
doctor, and ask for help for something as
personal as your sexual relations. You
need to do some research and see how
many virgin minors apply for birth con
trol devices and then have sex only be
cause the birth control devices are so easy
to get. Those countless minors are very
countable.
In closing let me partly quote you
again. “We need to open our eyes and
help many teen-agers,” and many past
their teens also. Most children are sexual
ly developed by 13, however, very few if
any are capable of raising a child at that
age. With the system as it is now, look at
the number of unwanted teen-age pre
gnancies. Parental notification will not
significantly reduce the number of sex
ually active minors. However, parental
notification will reduce the number of
jirotected sexually active minors.
conduct the shouting of your otaj
from the safety of your dormrtf
not one resident adviser (or
for that matter) had thegutstofl
shut uj). Well, we’re askingyoq
next time you have the urge to sM
loyalty, write a note.
P.S. We’re also curious—whatd
body’s mother have to do, with *
you live in Davis-Gary or Moses,s 1
Report thefts
Editor:
Chris Zimmerman, ’84
Keep it down
To whom ii may yoncernrT!
who had his or her articlesst(
the MSC Bookstore downstairs^
should please report this in
campus police. This is thei
police can helj) you recovervo 11 !
property.
Editor:
uM
This is a letter to the “men” (or should
we call them boys?) of Davis-Gary and
Moses halls.
Last weekend, we were treated to the
most heartwarming display of dorm
loyalty that we ever hope to hear. We
can’t tell you how impressed (not to men
tion how disgusted) we were of the yell
ing match that you boys so thoughtfully
provided for everyone to hear (at 2 a.m.
no less). However, we were also just a bit
disappointed — not only did you boys
Necklace return®
Editor:
To: Mary
Thank you very much forreiif
add-a-bead necklace.
Andrew