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Opinion
Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday,January 25, 1984
Texas school days
will be too long
A nine-hour school day is too long for
anyone.
The state education committee led by
H. Ross Perot last week recommended
lengthening the school day in Texas
public schools. So instead of Dick and
Jane catching the bus at 7:15 a.m. for an
8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. school day, they may
have to board the bus earlier and hear
the final bell later.
There are many arguments against a
longer school day — the best argument
being that those who need help the most
will be helped the least by the longer
day.
The attention span of a school-age
child can barely withstand the seven-
hour days they face this year. How can
we expect them to withstand a nine-
hour day when most college students
seem to have trouble maintaining their
attention span through four 50-minute
classes a day?
Even businessmen are only required
to spend an eight-hour day at the office.
The reasons behind lengthening the
school day need to be questioned. Is a
longer school day needed to train to
day’s students for today’s rapidly chang
ing technology, or is it just an excuse to
turn schools into baby-sitting factories?
Maybe part of the answer lies in re
quiring students to attend all seven
hours of the present school day. Many
high school students are allowed to
spend from two to three hours a day in
class, spending the rest of the time in
out-of-school jobs.
Complaints about the public school
system abound. Solutions must be
found, but diluting the work of our
already over-worked school teachers is
not a solution.
When the soup is watery, adding salt
will only make it salty.
— The Battalion Editorial Board
New events center
would be an asset
The Board of Regents’ study of pre
liminary plans for a special events center
is an important step in the design and
construction of a facility Texas A&M
desperately needs. G. Rollie White Col
iseum simply can’t handle a University
of over 36,000 students, and A&M can
not afford to wait much longer before
building a multi-purpose arena.
With an estimated price tag of $45
million, however, A&M might not be
able to afford to build one. “That’s a lot
of money for a basketball arena,” is the
way some people put it.
Still, the truth remains. When pre
sent facilities are outgrown, new ones
are needed. It’s the same for special
events centers as it is for engineering
buildings. A facility such as the Frank C.
Erwin Special Events Center — the Uni
versity of Texas’ multi-purpose arena —
is a powerful recruiting tool, not only
for athletes, but for all prospective stu
dents. It would be an impressive addi
tion, and one that would certainly be
nefit Texas A&M.
At its meeting Monday, the board
viewed a slide presentation showing
how other institutions developed simil-
iar special events centers. The regents
then discussed the various options avail
able, including seating capacities,
square footages and costs.
It is The Battalion Editorial Board’s
hope that the regents decide on a plan
that will be the most beneficial to the
people who will use the facility the most
— A&M’s students.
— The Battalion Editorial Board
Peace-niks aren't violent
Letters:
A U.S. Army soldier was abducted by
an anti-missile group in West Germany.
Or was he?
The soldier in West Germany, it was
reported by the Associated Press, had
faked his own abduction.
He was found in a barn in Bavaria.
Under questioning from U.S. Army and
German government officials he admit
ted it was all a hoax. He had in fact told
his wife a white lie.
Why did he call his wife and tell her
that he had ben kidnapped?
Because he was afraid his wife would
be mad at him for failing to pick her up
after work, he said. And so he blamed the
peace-niks for holding him hostage.
There are groups of people in West
Germany who are strongly against the
placement of U.S. missiles on their land.
They argue that the arms race is the
Soviet Union versus the United States,
and they don’t want to be the battlefield
for the confrontation.
And from time to time, especially
when prominent officials or nuclear mis
siles visit West Germany, the protestors
pull out their signs and their skeleton
costumes and march.
Peacefully.
The Army is antagonistic ton;
these groups because of politicaloi
tions. And this problem ofattitudfli
through in the accusations of the
Yes, our lost soldier is beingadmi
to a U.S. military hospital to undei
mental examination. But he is more
horses, w;
eople sit
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movie, bu
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failridei
Jerry S
|ent, says
number
donn
friedman
ri
This “kidnapping” is the first case of
violence against Americans that I have
heard attributed to the anti-nuclear pro
testors. They are, for the most part, in
volved in passive resistance to the U.S.
Army.
No kidnappings. No murders. No
trials and executions of army officials for
crimes of Army against the peoples of the
world.
tides each
“We
gether
organ
lub,” Stu
One of
vines is ric
livestock s
id. Thi:
to be treated for story-telling thanfoiM 0 , ut ‘ nelv .
attitude toward the peaceful protestf
— people he regards as his enemies
We need to keep in mind that
who protest against the U.S. Army
actions are not directly protestinga]
U.S. citizens.
They are protesting against di
tion. '
Armies shoot bullets. Armiesfiret i| e ! s
siles that kill. Armies arm our nud ly e
weapons. Armies march with greni y exas th
an(1 Runs. Houston
I he peace-niks are the ones marc! I Thetra
with the signs and the flowers. : to begin i
(Donn Friedman is sports editor
The Battalion and a senior joum
major.)
iville, Stu;
1 riders r
roup, tf
Abortion rally
presented facts
Editor:
I am writing in response to the article
concerning Monday’s demonstration
against abortion. First of all, I am relieved
that the rights to peaceful assembly and
freedom of speech were acknowledged.
However, Monday’s demonstration was
not only an appeal to the emotions, but an
appeal to the facts.
If the author of the article had taken
the time to really examine the demon
stration brochures, her questions and cri
ticisms, as well as those of other pro-
choicers, would have been answered im
mediately. One of the brochures listed
alternatives to abortion such as adoption,
supportive community services, and rape
crises centers which provide immediate
medical attention so that pregnancy and
disease can be avoided. Another
brochure stated that pregnancy resulting
from forcible rape is extremely rare.
The demonstration itself was “emo
tional” because abortion is a serious mor
al and emotional issue that is negatively
affecting our entire society. Child abuse,
for example,as gone up 500 percent since
abortion was legalized.
I personally would like to thank the
organizers and participants of the de
monstration for waking me up to the
facts about abortion and for effectively
appealing to my emotions. I also appreci
ated their Christian, Bible-based pers
pective which was really the wisest, most
rational approach to adopt.
I would like to submit the following
problem to the author of “Emotional
Appeals.” A woman suffering from
tuberculosis gave birth to a defective
child, whose father was also infected with
VD. Her second child was born dead, her
third child was born with a birth defect,
and her fourth child was born with tuber
culosis. Upon discovering that she was
pregnant with a fifth child, would you,
Miss Smith, suggest t she get an abortion?
Chances are the response would be affir
mative, in which case you would be
assenting to the murder of Beethoven,
one of the greatest composers of our
time.
Think about it. There are alternatives
to abortion, but abortion is not a positive,
effective or moral alternative.
Dawn Wright
Graduate Student
neither does one easily choose to bring an
unwanted child into the world. Both the
consequences and choices must be care
fully weighed no matter the decision.
At least now with the legalization of
abortion, it has become a safe procedure.
Today’s women now face a much higher
chance of complications with a full term
pregnancy than with an abortion.
Mr. Peters should face the fact that
abortion will continue. It will either be
through the front door or the back. But
for post-1973 women, it is finally a safe
alternative for a difficult decision.
Chuck Sowders
Class of ’85
Laws hypocritical
Student favors
senior finals
Right to choice
Mr. Peters’ letter in the Jan. 20 edition
of The Battalion has struck a very sensi
tive chord. It is one that indeed has very
little middle ground. I am not writing to
defend the rightness or wrongness of
abortion; just the right to decide.
No one who has been through an
abortion was happy to make the decision.
It is not a choice that one makes easily,
Editor:
I would like to add to the recent con
troversy about senior exemptions from
finals. It seems to me that the basic reason
that most students are against the prop
osed change is laziness, pure and simple.
Some of them have come up with “argu
ments” such as the following.
“It’s a tradition.” This logic says that
something should be done a certain way
for no other reason than because it was
done that way in the past. There is no
reason to lend that argument credibility
by saying anything further.
As for the material covered in class, I
Editor:
Tell me this.
Under our current laws man can be
tried for statutory rape if he engages in
fornication with a minor female, even if
she is willing. This law infers that a minor
female is not mature enough to make the
decision herself to engage in sex.
Yet a large percentage of the popula
tion is opposed to the implementation of
a “squeal law” on the premise that it is
none of a parent’s business if his or her
children are having premarital sex.
This is blatant hypocrisy! I do not see
how such duplicity can be defended.
We should choose to either adhere to
morality or reject it.
Also, one final note. I thought Scott
McCullar’s portrayal of taking finals as
being analogous to bearing a cross was in
poor taste. Mr. McCullar, do you expect
to be martyred for taking finals?
Ricky Davis
Space research
is practical
The Battalion
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Member of
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Editor Rebeca Zimmermann author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of
Managing Editor John Wagner Texas A&M University administrators or faculty mem-
City Editor Patrice Koranek hers, or of the Board ol Regents.
Assistant City Editors Kathleen Hart, rhc Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper
Stephanie Ross for students in reporting, editing and photography clas-
News Editor Tracey Taylor scs within thc Department of Communications.
Assistant News Editors Susan Talbot, Questions or comments concernmgany ednonal mat-
Wanda Winkler tcr S1(,u ( Be directed to thc editor.
Editorial Page Editor Kathy
Wiesepape
Sports Editor Donn Friedman
Assistant Sports Editor Bill Robinson 1 hc ^‘ttalion is published Monday through Friday
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77843.
Editorial Policy United Press International is entitled exclusively to
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University and Bryan-Collcge Station. Opinions ex- Second class postage paid at College Station, TX
pressed in Thc Battalion arc those of thc editor or the 77843.
think it is obvious that studying for a com
prehensive exam will strengthen and uni
fy the material. Of course, profs could
give seniors such a test near the end of the
semester without calling it a final and
having it during finals week. But those
who did it would be quite unpopular and
I doubt the practice would become wide
spread. I think it would be better to just
have regular finals.
I am not just saying this from a safe
distance. In fact, I would be one of the
first to have to take finals at the end of my
senior year. I can see beyond the
annoyance of studying for more finals,
however. I just think that the proposed
change is in the right direction for Texas
A&M. It’s got to start being more like a
real university and less like an agricultu
ral and mechanical junior college. Tm not
saying that we should blindly follow other
universities (like having a bell tower). In
fact, there may be things that Texas A&M
does better than any other school. I just
think the proposed change is a step in the
direction of improving the University.
Brian Sterling
Class of ’86
Editor:
Regarding your front page article of
Jan. 18: Dr. Borlaug errs when he says
space can’t feed people. Weather satel
lites have proven immensely useful in
crop production, and Landsat systems
have returned massive data on soil quali
ty, pollution and the like. Sjjace does have
practical, even agricultural, uses.
In grouping space travel with nuclear
arms, Dr. Borlaug is as guilty as the en
vironmentalists he accuses of “polluting
America’s youth.” Rather than bemoan
ing a militarized space, Dr. Borlaug
should join other scientists in promoting
peaceful, scientific uses of space.
Mike Cole
Dunn Hall
Code of Honor. This was madcap]
to me ast Thursday when I left a
containing a large sum of money on
buss. Not only was the billfold giveij
the driver, but nothing was missing
Tm from the North and I assure
that for the same thing to happen;
large university elsewhere, gettingi
billfold back would have been not!
short of a small miracle. But I don’tli
that this was an extremely unusualca*
believe most Ags would have donel
same thing.
Ms. Wiesepape says thatmanyvii
tions of the Honor Code go 1<
ignored, but what about all the
things Ags do for each other? You ran
hear about the acts of kindness and inn
rity that makes students of A&M spec
Why? Because they happen so oftenli
we begin to expect them and take tin
for granted.
I have never met people quite!
Aggies. They are some of the bestpeo)
in the world and if you think thatTfl
A&M is a world class university, it’si
cause it’s made uj4 of world class peof
Ms. Wiesepape, the Aggie Code
Honor isn’t something that can be
forced by a judicial board. If it wai
would lose its meaning.
The Aggie Code of Honor is sol
thing that each individual AGgieff
decide to adopt because of his pride!
respect for Texas A&M.
Kellie Copelaf
Class of
Baft cartoonists
short on humot
Student defends
Code of Honor
Editor:
I must say I disagree with Ms. Wiese-
jjape’s statement that the Aggie Code of
Honor is little more than a farce.
There is no way that you will find a
university where everyone is perfect and
no one lies, cheats or steals. But the ma
jority of Aggies do live up to the Aggie
Editor:
I would like to vent a personalfrus®
tion concerning the humor, or
stated the lack of humor in The Battf
today. Come on hoser, the stuff is just®
funny. I sure hope the people who#
the cartoons for the Batt are notseekin!
career in this field. The unemployn®
lines are already long enough wit!
them adding to the problem.
Why not sponsor a cartoon of the#
contest with each dorm submitting
favorite cartoon and let R.I., Warped)
the hoser person be the judges. ^
could pick the one that they feeldispj'
the least humor and have it printed,
assuring the readers of The Battalio [l
truly laughable experience.
Steve W. Lueckeme 1
Class of
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