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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 1983)
Page 2/The Battalion/Monday, October 31,1983 Why don’t students speak out anymore? (Editor’s note: Marc Rogers is a doctoral candidate in educational psychology at Texas A&M.) by Marc Rogers During these tumultuous times, when conflagrations are erupting throughout the world, America’s college campuses reader’s forum are amazingly free of controversy and disputatious behavior. Whatever happened to the deep soul- searching and penetrating insights that were (are?) the hallmark of a college edu cation? Being an “elder” statesman on campus (33 years young), I more often than not long for the anachronistic 1960s, where every day was emotionally and mentally charged and charging. I am dumbfounded by the apathy and insularity that pervades American uni versities today. Are there no more Don Quixotes willing to venture forth and save the Dulcineas of the world from the miasmic and pernicious influences of avarice, hate and aggression that seem to have their icy-cold finders around man kind’s jugular, just waiting for the oppor tune moment to snuff out life on earth as we now know it? This harangue was occasioned by a statement a friend expressed to me over dinner. Pondering on the events of the day and weekend past, she exclaimed, with more than a trace of obvious disgust, that Texas A&M students seemed more preoccupied with the score of the Dallas- L.A. Raiders football game than with the events that had recently transpired in Lebanon. Instead of midnight vigils permeated by heated polemics and strained vocal cords, Texas A&M students proceeded to class, safe in the Panglossian view that “all is for the best in tliis best of possible worlds.” How provincial, gauche and pathetic! Texas A&M students seek to avoid controversy like Europeans in the Middle Ages sought to avoid the Bubonic plague. How can Texas A&M become a world university when it enters the fray long after the combatants have finished doing battle? To be a leader means to enter the abyss of the unknown, not by re-acting but by en-acting. To cite just one example: American leathernecks are now conspi cuous by their presence in Lebanon, El Salvador, Honduras, Grenada and the Strait of Hormuz (gateway to 25 percent of the world’s supply of oil). The only hotspot in the world that is currently devoid of U.S. Marines on maneuvers is Southeast Asia, an interreg num that President Marcos of the Philip pines is sure to fill in the imminent fu ture. But here at Texas A&M, our mettle is tested by those stalwarts who dare to do their traipsing on the MSC grass. For a school so steeped in military tradition and valor, the national holidays of Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day pass with nary a whimper of discussion or re flection. That (so-called) vaunted fighting Texas Aggie spirit seems to be confined to matters of a trivial and almost sopho- moric nature, rearing its moribund head in the waning moments of a football game or at the “last call for alcohol” announcement at the Texas Hall of Fame. I am not advocating a campus Putsch reminiscent of those that created such divisiveness in the late 1960s and early 1970s. What I am optimally seeking, at a Uni versity-wide level, is some sort of mean ingful dialogue that cuts across the diffe rent departments and majors on campus to form a coalition of opinions that can be promulgated to the world as the “voice of Texas A&M University,” a voice whose proclamations and pronouncements on domestic and international issues and scenarios will bear heeding and respond ing to. At an individual level, I support dis cussions and decisions achieved infor mally by the Socratic method, a method whose modus operand! is based on syste matic questioning of another to reveal his/her hidden ignorance and/or bias in addition to eliciting a clear expression of a truth known by all who are present. The former proposition will provide Texas A&M the manna it needs to pursue (and acquire) the cerebral giants (Nobel Prize winners in physics) it so avidly seeks, speaking to them on a level that they can understand and identify with (incisive intellect and intracollegial pole mics), rather than at a level which they reject (offers of Money). The latter proposition will serve a dual purpose, enabling the individual Aggie to be a citizen of the world while simul taneously keeping the prospectus parti cular to his/her persona. Why, with any luck, the Aggies might even join the rest of the world in welcom ing in the 21st century. Letters Soviet trip defended Editor: I would like to respond to Forrest Jones’ letter on Oct. 13, criticizing Dr. Betty Unterberger for attending a histor ical conference in Russia. Since you submitted your opinion to the University newspaper, Mr. Jones, I assume you must have some vague notion of the value of academic thought. This may be presumptious on my part, though. I would like to know just what you think would be achieved by Dr. Un terberger snubbing her invitation to the conference? In my humble opinion, absolutely nothing. The conference in question is one of historians. They will be discussing things never before broached with Americans, and therefore our parti cipation is vital. The KAL incident was tragic, and un forgivable. Believe it or not, Forrest Jones, those historians did not do the shooting. They, like Dr. Unterberger, have devoted their lives to peaceful pur suits. Let’s not stop them from making this world just a little more civilized. by Aggies is that they have so much integ rity and esteem for their school and don’t want its reputation ruined. Maybe you should go to t.u. M. Weaver ’84 Originality needed Editor: 1 salute you! You are the first person in a few weeks that put anything original . - . . ^ in the opinion section of The Battalion. Ann Todd Gays reconsider Editor: I am writing this letter in reply to my feelings and perhaps the feelings of my fellow Aggies about the gays at Texas A&M. I am sympathetic toward gays because it is true they may not have chosen their particular disposition, and thus are ridi culed frequently. However, that is one the consequences of being gay and if you feel uncomfort able you should seriously try to become a normal human being again and, then, becoming an Ag. There will always be talk behind your back. And instead of expending your energy trying to be accepted as you are, why don’t you use your energy to become what God created you to be? Perhaps the reason you are ridiculed The truth about Grenada Davie 1ead si Hitchcocl by Dick West United Pres* International The shape of Grenada does vaguely ~ a m WASHINGTON — Several music-lovers have asked if the Caribbean island the United States invaded last week is the place the famous song was written about. The answer is no. The island is Grenada, pronounced “greh NAY duh.” Note that its first vowel is an “e.” And the accented middle syll able sounds like a negative vote or the noise a horse makes. Although Grenada may well be the title of all sorts of calypso, reggae and bossa nova tunes, the song in question is “Granada,” pronounced “gruh NAH duh.” Geographically, Granada, whose first vowel is an “a,” is a Spanish province, once a Moorish stronghold. It is true that Christopher Columbus was sailing out of Spain when he disco vered the island. Only he called it Con cepcion. The name Grenada was applied by post-Columbus Europeans, for reasons that escape me. Perhaps they were think ing of grenade, pronounced “gruh NAYD.” resemble the configuration of a hand grenade. The islanders, however, are cal led Grenadians, not Grenadiers. And they mostly speak English. More likely, Grenada was named for grenadine, a bar syrup flavored with pomegranates. As a matter of fact, it is the southern anchor of an island chain called the Grenadines. If, however, any pomegranates are grown on Grenada, that fact was not mentioned in any of the reference books I consulted. Grenada’s crops run mostly to bananas, cocoa, cotton, limes and acc( sugar cane. True, the island produces mace, which is the name of a weapon of sorts. But Grenada’s mace is a spice made from nutmeg, which grows in abundance there. So let’s not try to read too much into that. Some Americans seemingly have got ten the impression that the storming of a golf club at Augusta, Ga., convinced Pres ident Reagan of the feasibility of the inva sion. If one man could take five hostages while the president was on the links, im agine what 2,000 Marinescouldii j that line of reasoning goes. The notion the Grenada! bigger than a golf courseisi however. And it has muchtou™ hazards. The island measures north to south and 12 milesfrorJ west at its widest point. Sure,by Kart ably could cover its 133 square B a golf cart. But you can playmosi^Brwo loc al without going 21 miles. Thesj*Texas A&M longer. |commiitee It has been said that some kilrfS?' 11 'day t<> Augusta National course are sol®'' on f 1 u 1 ai the average player would tot ip 11 ’’ 1 hitting the fairway with a rifle. I , , .. OK. So it also is a fact diaU^^R'intendei, carry rifles. But it might be sum J, Ilt jr in j| q point to draw any conclusions tffiGh a pan al M More significant may be the Amended the the president’s golf score is beirrf 25 percent i like it was a military secret, acn tract soi Some day, we may knowhoiHg **' e ^ ni ' golf strokes the president toollJf ri ' an 8 t ‘ m< ' 1 the Mediterranean and the( J! a ' 5 7~ <>IU Meanwhile, dont forget tMtU'|| r jr e | 3ruaI . v , like Reagan, is spelled with two!! t f u . Univers an “e." percent roy companies Why is Joe taking ‘nukee’ cours I always thought French was fine I saw an old Joe Radium the other day. He was hidden behind piles of dusty books in the library. “Hey, Joe! You look pretty bad. What happened?” He looked up from the books and re plied that he had been up all night study ing for a nuclear engineering test. That puzzled me, since last I had heard, he was a French major, so I questioned him. “Why are you wasting your time with a nuke engineering class? It’s one of those silly courses that only sissies and preweds take. Are you looking for your Mr.?” “No,” he replied sheepishly. “I just wanted to take something for me. Boy! You should have heard my dad yell when I told him I wanted to stay here an extra year. “And my mom. Poor old mom just broke down and cried. She demanded to know why I was letting such a good career like French go down the tubes. I attemp ted vainly to explain, but she only she claimed down enough to tell me that if I just tried to enjoy French I would have a job after I graduated. “Mom got really desperate and then pointed to the neighbor’s house. ‘Look at Tom,’ she screamed. ‘He got a computer science degree last year and he still can’t find a job. Do you want to end up like him?’” I felt pity for poor Joe. It must have really torn him up, since his brother found a ludicrative job as a Russian major. bonnie langford Then I asked him how he ever man aged to convince the people in his depart ment to let him take nuclear engineering courses. “That’s another sad story,” he replied, looking as if he was about to shed a few tears. “I, started sneaking a course here and there when I was a sophomore. I really thought nobody would notice what I was doing, but they did. My counselor sat me Bits, and a lasafter. ■ iHThc ITfm the 17(j-acre bul no oil t ■$. KUgden sai< tion was for I Itihe begin n down that spring and asked me• M'rr drilling going on. ST' s a 1 a “I explained the firstsixhoui!*pP r(l vva '' ,s lives and they bought that, for j 1 <> ^- 1 the end of my sophomore year tkBI) * ( j ^ 1 ^ ‘ got suspicious. They demanded|c a L s 1)res ! what all of the experimenting readied the I knew I couldn’t fool themar*rgilund rese and broke down. . only way to “It was awful. They demandd pi t has an < either drop these ‘nukee’corn* rF a c ? sl . ( I get out of French. B le f! “That’s when I knewwhatlliai [iT,'V \ I went to the ‘nuke e’deparaf F A explained my situation. piepC | nc ] la ‘ llot understanding. Why, they tool Lou Id be a g< and saved me. So now I'm a Bid [if the royalty gineering major with a second* weied to 25 French.” ■T ,1 f be a This really astounded me. lailT;Ab e ' 'be if he was worried about whatwjK ma(e ’, 1 ' : pen after he graduated withtfc attached to his degree. “I’m not really worried. FI later. Right now I’m just tryinj®! education 1 want cellor Clyde mltee mem ■lies wantt After a while I must say, it gets boring and even silly at how a one- sided opinion can draw replies, counter-replies, coun ter-counter- replies, etc., that are usually as equally one-sided and silly. More often than not, the only thing many of the re plies have going for them is the fact that it is easy to criticize someone’s personal opinion while they are not there to re spond on the spot. Letters should, maybe, reflect other points of view and be interesting to read — stimulating the natural thought pro cess — not attacking another person’s point of view. Be original in the future. Submit your own opinion and not an attack on someone else’s. Everybody, afterall, has the same right to a separate and different opinion. To attack a per son’s opinion and state opinions of that person — in my opinion — is not showing any degree of intelligence, but rather showing us that you are — in your opin ion — superior to the rest of us. Remember, this is a world class Uni versity. Let’s let each other be entitled to his own opinion. How about replies being enlightening and equally as informative in the future? Slouch By Jim Earle “I just love celebrating Hallo- ween, don’t you?” The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member ot Texas Press Association 'Southwest Journalism Conicrence Editor Hope E. Paasch Managing Editor Beverly Hamilton City Editor Kelley Smith Assistant City Editor Karen Schrimsher Sports Editor Melissa Adair Entertainment Editor.... 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