The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 06, 1983, Image 2

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    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
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