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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1983)
Page 2/The Battalion/Thursday, October 6,1983 opinion Equality an impossible goal Since the beginning of time the battle of the sexes has been waged. At first, men seemed to have complete control of the world, but gradually women have taken up the slack. The goal of the battle, however, seems to be not equality but supremacy. When I was in high school, many peo ple thought I was an active women’s libber. I got my reputation because I was the first girl president in a club that had been all-male five years before. Many people doubted my ability, but to the relief of many and the disappoint ment of some, the club went on just as before if not better. In fact, the club equaled the highest ranking ever achieved in the district organization. I am not a women’s libber and never have been. I simply believe that a person should be judged on his or her own merit, and merit alone. To tell the truth, if you think about it, the idea of equality is kind of silly, be cause women will never be equal to men until a woman can eat the same amount of food as a man and not gain any weight. Equality is impossible, and no, I am not saying that women are inferior to men. No man would be here if it wasn’t for a woman, and on the flipside, no woman would be here if it wasn’t for a man. I think I probably can name about 37,000 Aggies who wouldn’t want to be around if it weren’t for the opposite sex. Maybe one of the biggest reasons that equality is impossible is because some men still can’t accept the fact that women like, I mean love, to look a handsome man (and I don’t mean to see how straight his hair part is). Yes, guys, it is true. Bring Tom Selleck on campus and believe me you will find out exactly what I’m talking about. The battle of the sexes will never end, because mankind is too set in its ways. True, girls may seem to get the best end of the deal when it comes to dating, but guys don’t have to go through the ordeal of getting ready for a date: putting on make-up, shaving legs, finding a pair of hose without runners. Neither a bra burning nor an equal rights amendment, nor the lack thereof, will change the situation. No amendment can change the attitudes or expressions of the masses. When a guy leaves his apartment in a mess he is called a bachelor. When a woman leaves her apartment in a mess she is a slob. When a guy is promiscuous he is play ing the field; when a girl is promiscuous she is a loose woman. Women don’t get the short side of the stick in all cases. For example, it is accepted, in fact fashionable, for a woman to dress like a man. But for a man to dress like a woman .... Kids write hate mail out of fear Letters Students’ actions at gan exhibit real Aggie class Stm by Stephanie Battalion ! Ians for the Ag Editor: I am writing this letter to inform the Aggies who were not in Lubbock last weekend about the happenings at the A&M vs. Tech game, I nave never been so proud to be an Aggie as this weekend. Midnight yell practice was continuous ly interrupted by intoxicated Tech stu dents! T he insults were horrible, but the Yell leaders maintained their composure and finished it in style. The game was murder! First we (Aggies) were cursed and booed, but when a member of our Corp of Cadets was struck by a beer bottle it became a little more than I could tolerate. Those immature Tech students (greeks, natu rally) threw ice, cups, bottles, and any thing else they could find at Aggies throughout the game. My anger raged until I witnessed an act of maturity and dignity like none that I have ever seen before. A tuba player in the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band was about to have a football thrown into his tuba by a, (you guessed it — greek) pike. The Aggie patiently removed his in strument from his mouth, sat it aside and looked straight ahead until the childish brat realizecf he would receive no atten tion for his feeble-minded act from that Good Ag! What Class! I do not know that Aggie’s name but it sure made my wife and I proud to be students at Texas A&M. The most excruciating blow came af ter the game had ended, when Tech stu dents hurled the bourbon and coke, Sea gram and 7 all over the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band, and unsuspecting Aggies waiting for yell practice. The entire affair would have been too nauseating for me to bear had it not been for the superior class shown by Aggies at the game. I hope that none of our out-of- town guests are ever treated that way! One further note please. I believe there are two types of Aggies. Aggies by blood, and Aggies by choice. Jackie Sherrill is the exception; he is an Aggie by bank account! Coach Sher rill, you are the man paid for the title of football coach, I’m not. Your opinions have a high dollar value, my advice is free. Don’t make a habit of punting on third down. Once was cute but let’s not expect a standing ovation. Start Murray, he can pass and run! Coach, you need to put your heart into it, not just your business interests. You obviously know more about coaching than I as indicated by your sizeable paycheck, but if you know as much as your paycheck would imply A&M would NOT be 1-3! Rafe Foreman ’85 I think it is great that somanj| at Texas A&M ride bicydesto would really be nice if they courteous and considerate mannttl J.C. nroject to raise n pji-l Olympic Gai illy under way f jjiit Senate appn night of the A Remark unnecessai. [The Aggie Olyi , in which studt e in Olympic |h an “Aggie twi: t date for the e\ I 26' oi Editor: I would like to express myclisa|)[ ment, embarrassment, and angeroiSj^ p ur p OSe incident that occurred this pasUc-| 0 involve studen during A&M’s Career Day progniMney for the Ob Some friends of mine were visiJ the same time university in order to tourtheQ pines With. be stru Veterinary Medicine. While bein; p same hies as the area where the animals aresla®' nes ’ s i aK * ered. their graduate vet student JL[ eat! , e ,! made a racist remark insinuating e °! iei 1 1 Tie meeting prop Mexicans worked in this area bt they enjoyed killing the animals. One of my firends, who is Mi American, questioned her guide his comment. Apparently, he her than to at tunent overall gr discuss it rather than to attributed! mark to one of his professors While I was not on the tourandi know who the guide was, 1 amiM prised that such attitudes exist at However, 1 am insulted that a r representing the university wotli press such a belief to prospectk dents. oc I have encouraged my friendit 3ff Campu ou by Tricia P Battalion Ref spond to this on her own, but I ak^nounced its net an obligation to challenge such bek® nc ‘l presidents David Ciiffl xes * n ^ ie area a day night meeting. JStacey Roberts lit of OCA, saic Mncil presidents t Relocate bell tower| tweenstu , de " tslh (tents and the a Editor: ipus. ■Presidents set u] ... • • , ,1m carpools and I wish to voice my opinion aboutfBneefings with m ment of the proposed Albrittonl! Tower. Problems with bikers I think it is a nice gesture todonat tower but why not pick a better pla construct it. Someplace that all visit! the campus have an equal opportuit view it. In past years the chimes from (lie tower used to peal every quarter and for special events such asgradua Now they are silent, what caused! silence? Why not use the money tort them instead of adding more bells: Why also place the tower whertii structs the view of the semi-resit Academic building, the one thesdio spending all the money to giveital lift? What about the flag pole, won! tower also hide the symbol thatthisti try holds so dear? Before tearing up the garden the contractors get together with tilt] vironmental Design Department atil cate the best place on campus. Christine Rogal Mary Jane Rodrigi by Art Buchwald Amost every time President Reagan gives a speech he makes reference to a letter he received from some student backing him on the particular issue he’s trying to push at the moment. It has always made me wonder if the president ever gets mail from kids who don’t agree with him. Well, it turns out he does. Sen. Orrin Hatch angrily brought it up in the Senate a few weeks ago. In a emotional speech he revealed the White House averages 100 letters a day from school children voicing their fears about nuclear war. Hatch maintained that these letters were inspired by teachers who belonged to the National Education Association, and cited a book NEA had published ti tled, “Choices: A Unit on Conflict and Nuclear War.” The book encourages pupils to write to the president and world leaders to ex press their fears. The NEA denied their book was re sponsible for the anti-nuclear mail be cause only 3,000 had been sold. (With a title like that I believe them.) My first reaction to Sen. Hatch’s speech was that I was happy to learn there were 100 students a day who could still write letters. This shows the country’s education is not as bad as it had been painted. The second was that the letters had somehow been read by top aides in the White House and had gotten under their skins. But then, I had to come down on the side of Sen. Hatch and here is why. School children do not have the intel lectual capacity to express themselves on something as serious as nuclear war. They don’t understand it and never will. All they are doing are mouthing the biases of their parents and teachers who have been influenced by the liberal anti- Reagan media. No child had ever seen a “window of vulnerability” close up, nor does he or she understand the importance of hardened MX missies silos, multi-warheads, first strike capabilities and all the other little things that go into maintaining a superior deterrent arsenal. All the kids seem to worry about is getting killed. Playing on this gut emotion, teachers tend to point out the negative side of the nuclear arms buildup, and never men tion the fallout from the pluses. Is it any wonder President Reagan is getting so much mail from school chil dren telling him that they are afraid of nuclear war? Sen. Hatch doesn’t like it and neither does the White House. Pupils are sup- osed to write to the president telling him ow much they love him, and how much they pray for him, and how happy they are his policies are working to get us out of a recession. Those kinds of letters written from the heart are passed all around the White House to make everyone on the staff feel good. The ones instigated by pro-freeze teachers have no place on the president’s desk. He hear: from Congress and from misguided grownup doves all day long. He doesn’t want to be told the same thing by a bunch of scared school kids. Editor; The problem with bicycles at Texas A&M has been a problem for some time. However, I believe it is becoming worse each semester . . . Aiding this problem is the fact that campus police don’t have the manpower and, all too often, the authority to enforce the rules which are outlined for bicycle use in uni versity regulations. Several glaring problems are most pressing. (1) Bicycle riders do not have any consideration for pedestrians. As a result, bikes are seen zooming about cam pus at high speeds on any paved surface. This is dangerous to those who walk and often not the best way of travel for the bikers. For example, they seem to prefer to ride on the sidewalk, weaving through foot traffic when there are empty bike lanes on the street. The road in front of the post office by Sbisa is a good example. (2) Bicycle riders often have no con sideration of others when it comes to where they park their bikes. The mass of bikes in front of the library is a good example. Usually there is vacant spaces at the bike racks; however, everyone seems to prefer to block the stairs and doors, etc. just so they won’t have to walk a few extra feet. What about the bikes chained to rail ings of disabled ramps? How can a dis abled person who NEEDS to use the rail ing enter some buildings (Chemistry building is a good example)? Again, there is usually empty space at the bike racks not far away. I have even seen bikes in side buildings blocking exits and stair ways. There are several things I would like to see happen. First, more citations should be issued for moving violations involving bikes. Many bikers think they don’t have to obey the same traffic laws as cars. They are wrong. Second, ALL bikes chained to trees, lampposts, railings, etc. should be picked up. The campus police have the authority to do this! A few sweeps through areas such as Zachary and the library would reduce this problem greatly. Constant offenders should be forced to attend a defensive driving course designed for bi cycles. Bring back peaches Editor: Put the peaches back in Sbisa. Darren G. Rudlol (Editor’s note: This letter was Mi nied be 45 signatures.) Slouch Limited c DIXIE CHICKE UWIVERSm DR “/ don’t know what it is bt 1 joined. It’ll look good ne.vj my picture in the yearbook \ The Battalion USPS 045 360 Memt’jr ot Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference Editor Hope E. Paasch Managing Editor Beverly Hamilton City Editor Kelley Smith Assistant City Editor Karen Schrimsher Sports Editor Melissa Adair Entertainment Editor .... Rebeca Zimmermann Assistant Entertainment Editor Shelley Hoekstra News Editors Brian Boyer, Kathy Breard, Tracey Taylor, Chris Thayer, Kathy Wiesepape Photo Editor Eric Evan Lee Staff Writers Brigid Brockman, Ronnie Crocker, John Lopez, Christine Mallon, Michelle Powe, Ann Ramsbottom, Stephanie Ross, Angel Stokes, John Wagner, Wanda Winkler Copy Editors Kathleen Hart, Kristal Mills, Susan Talbot Cartoonists Paul Dirmeyer, Scott McCullar Photographers Brenda Davidson, Michael Davis, Guy Hood, John Makely, Dean Saito The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting news paper operated as a community service to Texas A&M University and Bryan-College Station. 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Address all inquiries and correspondence to: Editor, The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M Uni versity, College Station, TX 77843, or phone (409) 845- 2611.' The Battalion is published Monday-through Friday during Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holi day and examination periods. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester, $33.25 per school year and $35 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on request. Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. United Press International is entitled exclusively to the use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it. Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein reserved. Second class postage paid at College Station. TX 77843.