Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, November 9,1983
inion
Columnist’s job
not always easy
by Kellie
Battalior
Thursday rr
rthday of th<
id accordin
Being a columnist may be fun, but it is
not an easy task.
Week after week, the ever-vigilant col
umnist must come up with a fresh idea
for this week’s column. That’s the hard
part.
Writing a column becomes easier,
however, as the writer develops his or her
own style. Take Andy Rooney for exam
ple. A person familiar with his style of
commentary can spot Rooney a mile
away.
I think I could make a fairly decent
Rooney-type columnist. I have been
known to ramble every once in a while.
“Have you ever noticed that cock
roaches don’t wear bow ties? I wonder
why. Bow ties are nice.
“I have several bow ties. I have one I
wear especially when I take my dog to the
veterinarian. My uncle has a bow tie with
a hula girl that wiggles her grass that he
got one night in downtown Honalulu
from a girl named Lola.
“Have you ever noticed that Dober
man Pinschers don’t wear socks?”
Dear Abby is one columnist who has it
pretty easy. All she has to do is answer
strange letters from strange people.
My hometown newspaper once ran a
letter to Abby which said, “Dear Abby:
I’m 39, divorced, have four kids, am on
welfare and think I am pregnant again.
That’s not bad enough, but what’s really
bothering me is that my hair won’t hold a
perm. Can you please advise me? —
Elaine in Louisville.”
wherever thei
icre will be a
“On Nov. 1
ands up a litt
nior Marine i
Texas A&M
‘itt, said. “The
pe of comnit
Fawcett ha
SC<
by Pj
Quick as a whip Abby replied, “Dear
Elaine: First, see a doctor. It could be due
to your physical condition. If it’s not that,
inquire at a beauty parlor that specializes
‘ i ru ‘
in nair care.
I’m still wondering why a woe
welfare with four kids and oneon; Batmiio
is worrying about her hair. Fund raisii
Abby never has to worry about. lnnua *. Stud*
block either. Writer’sblockisthed-t n . Nat i?. nal
disease that afflicts all writers ato&i? 11 *7 iau 1
or another and that prohibits anv SCONA is
rational thought. r erence attei
Some writers deal with write can and intei
by swearing or scribbling whikielegates foi
simply force words out. I get topics of int
once ended up getting an ideafot :erri
umn by walking across the topsofi .SCONA 2
desks in the rc£m. ' aisin S ^ s
However, some pteople dounc;p he c „ n f erer
the writer’s plight. I once saw a$h ;reate j n tel
toon, drawn by Jeff MacNelly,(among youi
the reporter Perfessor showingterhing the
the office girl, how to write. rhallenges fai
“Writing is simple Muffy," Ptday Fheprc
said. “First you have to makesii:^ erUS ol cl
have plenty of paper sharp
typewriter ribbon Chen you bttj so|ution
the desk, roll a sheet of paper e SGONA’s
typewriter and stare at it until be» nt i re iy by
blood appear on your forehead ;eives no fun
I can relate to Shoe. /ersity.
Brian Hit
Letters: Grenada invasion signal to world
Editor:
This is in response to the article writ
ten by Kathy Wiesepape in the Oct. 28
issue of The Battalion. I also grew up in a
warless time, but, like many, I believe the
soil we stand on was earnea by brave men
like the ones who died in Lebanon and
Granada. Ronald Reagan will not let the
domino effect of communist expansion
continue in Central American or the
mideast and I for one am proud to see it
end.
Grenada is a signal to the world that
the United States will sit still no longer.
Many people think Grenada and Leba
non are insignificant parts of the world
and are not worth defending. Any place
where there are people striving for free
dom and a better way of life, the leader of
the free world should be by their side.
The real question of this issue is do we
want to defend small countries like Gre
nada now in Central America or wait un
til we have to defend our border when
the Soviets achieve their ultimate goal?
To address another point, some peo
ple refer to the training of the Corps of
Cadets at Texas A&M as “little more than
a game.” It is not. It’s purpose is to train
men to defend the Unilted States and
others who strive for freedom. Most
cadets and non-regs such as ourselves
would be bound by honor to fight or even
die for this great country.
If our ancestors in the last 200 years
were willing to die for their beliefs, why
are so many today not willing to die for
theirs? If you are not willing to sacrifice
for what you believe in, do you truly be
lieve in it? As J. F. Kennedy once said
“Ask not what your country can do for
you, but
country.”
what you can do for your
Todd Mills ’85
(Editor’s note: This letter was accompa
nied by three signatures.)
tain a flow of ideas and discussion of
current issues in letters to the editor.
The Battalion will not run any letters
after today in response to the follow
ing: G. Brown’s letter concerning
Kill all liars
Editor:
Hopefully, Corps Commander Pre
ston Abbott can instill in the Corps and in
the rest of us Ags his obviously well-
thought-out opinions on the subject of
justice. I, too, am a supporter of capital
. punishment, although I had erringly be
lieved it a punishment reserved for some
of our society’s more serious crimes. I
must admit that the idea of capital pun
ishment for liars had never occured to me
until I read Comm. Abbott’s comment in
The Battalion.
Just think how much more room we
truthtellers wo?ld have if all liars were
shot! I know golf courses and fishing
streams would be virtually emptied of
people. The ratio of women to men
would increase as a large percentage of
Aggie men (those who have claimed to
have “scored big- time“) would have to be
shot for lying. (Surely some virtue re
mains among women at Texas A&M?)
Should we stop at liars? What about
other crimes that are more serious that
lying? Shouldn’t traffic violators and
check bouncers also be shot? And what
about students with overdue library
books and students under 19 who drinK
alcohol? Wait — maybe I am getting car
ried away by it all. We’ll just stick to shoot
ing liars, okay, Comm. Abbott? By the
way, when is Cadet Brown’s execution to
be held? I wouldn’t miss it for the world,
because I believe in truth, justice, the
American way and the Corps.
Ben Horrell
God’s will and Gays
wants you to be. We beg to disagree with
this ridiculous and blasphemous state
ment. For someone who surely puts
much faith in God, you have put forth
little effort in study about your present
condition.
In the Bible, God definitely speaks out
against such practices of homosexuality.
In Romans 2:27, He condemns the man
who leaves the natural lust of the woman
and performs this unseemly deed with
another man. We must assume, there
fore, that God does not approve of
homosexuality. Also, woman was created
to assist man. and to replenish the earth
through reproduction with man. Is re
production possible between two people
of the same sex? Certainly not! So we are
not sure where you get some of these
ideas.
God does love all, but it seems plain
that he does not approve of the practice
of homosexuality, and it is not the normal
human being who goes agaist God’s will.
nan of the
irive, says S
Tudget set
.vould like to
so it can invt
/ear’s confei
SCONA
its
sophical ideas, whose depths arct i 1
i i j . j f- |* (hose citit
cloaked to sound semi-literatr . ,
, , . _ , amount or i
brought me a point of truth, a suL 0 u ectec j in
moment, if you will: that A&M » a i so are ra i 5
better off without us gays. SubjeciiCity and Cz
Weaver’s approval, I hereby subestudents in
modest proposal: attend SCO!
1) We get the Chem departmr Two wee
devise this little pill that we dropijyiye, SCO!
campus water supply that’ll maker. 11 contac
one who has gay feelings “^rning SCC
radioactive.
2) Then we give all non-gays L
counters. When you come across
n i
Bla
Editor:
This letter is written in response to Mr.
Filho’s letter on Nov. 4 concerning
homosexuality at Texas A&M (or any
where else for that matter).
You state at the close of your letter that
you were born gay, that you are comfort
able that way, and that is the way God
D. Faltys
D. Eubanks
body who ticks, you can all makethil
sound like Lenard Nemoy on “lnv:|
of the Body Snatchers,” to indicate'
found one of us. »
3) Then you ship all of us off (no| * -
crates, please) to t.u. where we’lli!^
our lives far away from Texas Ai 1
slave labor making bumper stickeii United p
say “Steers and Queers Without 1 DALLAS
siers,” or something equally ascatcf ues d a y a
non-gay delectation. f, a .. en Si
A modest proposal
>lack
^rolina of
32,399 (cf’g! IlrownVletter) tetife
campus can have a cosy, gay-fre j urv
vironment in which to bask in l$md 17 m
being the normal guys God meanAmhony W
to be.
Editor:
Mr. Weaver’s letter of Oct. 31 has
sparked a brainstorm. His deeply philo-
)f stealing $
i 7-Eleven
suburb of (
1982. The
Jay E. McSb-heer from
crowd and i
The Battalion
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Questions or comments concerning any editorial
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Letters Policy
Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in
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The editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters for
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Columns and guest editorials also are welcome, and
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Address all inquiries and correspondence to: Editor,
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White House aids struggle
with some unusual problems
Williams.
William
(ion to the
the Lord.”
“I was pr
on the Lor
William
prosecutio
racism.
“I was o
engineers
by Helen Thomas
then moved the sit
to the East Room,
United Press International
signing I
scene of the signing of several civil rights
WASHINGTON — President Reagan
recently told a group of Jewish leaders,
“We’re on the road to Armageddon.”
Aides were at a loss to explain what he
meant and in what context, particularly
since the United States has escalated its
military involvement in the Caribbean
and the Middle East and soon will deploy
intermediate-range missiles in Europe
that can hit Moscow in a matter of mi
nutes.
But deputy press secretary Larry
Speakes had an explanation. “The Bible
says that,” he told reporters.
bills in the Johnson era.
By the time the guest list had grown to
more than 200, including black politi
cians and King’s former civil rights allies,
the signing program was moved to the
Rose Garden with all the trappings of a
state visit.
When it was over, the guests joined in
softly singing, “We Shall Overcome,” the
battle cry that symbolized King’s struggle
for racial equality — the song that was
sung so many times by anti-war protes
ters outside the White House on Pennsyl
vania Avenue during the turbulent
1960s.
don’t have any information on I
The White House took the unus^
not unprecedented step of turning
responsibility for information abouij
nada to the Pentagon in the first af]
of days after the invasion. As a
military officials have managed to M
even the White House in the daii
certain aspects. |{
Yi
The White House had a hard time decid
ing how to handle the bill creating a na
tional holiday honoring Martin Luther
King Jr. after it reached the president’s
desk.
For several days, aides were unable to
say whether there would be a signing
ceremony with fanfare and all flags
flying, particularly because the measure
originally was opposed by Reagan.
When it was finally decided to have a
ceremony, the question became how big
and where. At first it was arranged that
Reagan would sign the measure in the
Oval Office, with members of King’s
family and a few congressmen on hand.
But aides, realizing it was a historic event
worthy of more pomp and circumstance,
David Gergen, director of White House
communications, was asked recently: “Is
the war over?”
“Which one?” he smiled.
Since the U.S invasion of Grenada, pres
idential aides have had to play the role of
reporters in trying to extract information
from the Pentagon, even though they are
all one official family. And their batting
average is not good.
Even spokesman Larry Speakes
strikes out when he calls the Pentagon
public affairs office.
In response to questions, White House
aides claim they have been trying to find
out the death toll among Cubans and
Grenadans during the one-week war,
and are told by Pentagon officials, “We
Slouch
iby Jim Eail
“Thanks for the com^
the coffee, but it’s really noteflf
fee. Tm just finishing uf-
washing these socks.”