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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 27, 1984)
Opinion Page 2/The Battalion/Monday, February 27, 1984 Jonestown legacy: two more deaths The Rev. Jim Jones lives on. The man’s powerful hold over the members of the People’s Temple didn’t end on Nov. 18, 1978, when 912 of his followers died in a mass murder-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. Tyrone Mitchell had left college and joined his family at the Jonestown set tlement. He became one of the follow ers, searching for utopia in South America. Mitchell was at a dentist’s office in Georgetown, Guyana, on the day of the slaughter. His family wasn’t that lucky. Mitchell returned to the United States without his parents, grandmother, four sisters and one brother. Last Friday, the legacy of horror and disillusionment left by the man who had shattered Mitchell’s life and his faith fi nally caught up with him. A little after 2 p.m., he opened fire on the playground of the 49th Street El ementary School in Los Angeles from a house across the street. One child was killed. Eleven others were injured. Al bert Jones, the playground supervisor, was repeatedly shot at as he tried to cross the playground to help the injured children. On his last attempt, he was hit in the foot. Before police could get into the house, Mitchell took his own life. Attorney Marcus Topel, who rep resented Mitchell at the grand jury in vestigation of the Jonestown massacre, guessed that the man was trying to re create the mass death and destruction of the settlement’s final hours. Who could have known that Jones, who offered peace and love, who prom ised to lead his cult to utopia, would lead his disciples to death? Five years later, with the debris of the shattered community cleared away, the poison he injected into one man’s mind has taken its toll. And Jones can add two more deaths to his record. — The Battalion Editorial Board Gifted minorities get scholarships Editor: Patrice Koranek’s harsh and factless assault on scholarships awarded to mi norities has done a great disservice to all students who have received “minority” scholarships. Given: Many minorities do not attend inner city schools and therefore have the opportunity to receive a high quality primary and secondary education. Given: Many minorities come from middle-income families who have the economic resources to send their chil dren to college. Given: Some, not many, scholarships are earmarked for highly talented and qualified minorities. Talented, gifted, minorities — can it really be that these words refer to the same group of people? Maybe not in the minds of those who wish to believe that Texas A&M is on some kind of minority roundup, but in the minds of those truly dedicated to finding qualified scholarship recipients this is a reality. As candidates for the Texas A&M President’s Achievement Award schol arship, the largest “minority” schol arship offered at this University, we were required to show evidence of an outstanding high school academic re cord, extensive extracurricular activities and community involvement. As recipients of this award we have come to Texas A&M with the intent of taking advantage of the opportunities here to develop our talents and abilities to the fullest. It has been our pleasure and privilege to work with service orga nizations on campus, from Student Gov ernment to Student Y, from MSG com- mittees to University special committees, in all instances contributing of our time and ourselves. We receive no special privileges and no diplomas on silver platters. We are truly sorry that you “had to overcome a lot of obstacles to get to a major university,” but it hasn’t exactly been a cakewalk for any of us either. We are engineering, science, business and liberal arts majors, and some of us even hold part-time jobs. We find no need to shake our families hardships at anybody else and offer no excuses for our per sonal failures. Readers Forum However, there is one fact that does upset us. As the city editor of The Bat talion and a student of journalism, we surely expected Miss Koranek to do some kind of research into the criteria used for awarding “minority” schol arships. In our communications with the Of fice of School Relations, which coordi nates the President’s Achievement Awards and is currently spending hun dreds of man-hours evaluating applica tions, it has become apparent that she made no effort to contact them or any other University office connected with University scholarships. Since Miss Ko ranek has worked so hard in the past, it is our hope that she will now work just as hard to become better informed. Given: Factless opinion can harm good programs, no matter what your background. Andy Hernandez Kevin D. Williams (This letter was accompanied by 17 other signatures.) Preview 6<j P&\9/TME T3UHE CO. IAPR.1 In desperation, Jesse Jackson flies to the U.S.S.R. to find Yuri Andropov; he is unsuccessful, but frees 1980 Soviet Olympic hockey team from gulag. Walter Mondale wins Iowa, New Hampshire after promising to move them to a warmer climate; Glenn drops out to become shuttle astronaut. [MAR. 15 In presidential debate, Reagan appoints special bipartisan commission to study if you are better off than you were four years ago. Mondale promises to stop promising. Sound goes out in middle of debate, no one notices. Mondale, trying to woo crucial bloc of voters, promises to be “the best president left-handed Armenian bowlers l)j ever had.” By DAI Mondale »i Southem primaries promisin' to men Jimm) nameapi 1 The s for the ^ jrday, l'* ices spc pera at Jociety a: drunners Texas A< lote the groups. I "The p promote ts,” sai (ordinal rts. “It fOPAS) s< OPAS, pro'idesjii s ‘ c ’ ^ ance material fe cartoonisi Repulfc events 01 campus, r drunners club, spoi for the A lan said. Coincidentally, on day before election, R.R. brings home Marines from Lebanon, balances budget, names three women to Supreme Court, signs ERA, proposes nuclear freeze and has James Watt jailed. Letters Foreign students want friendship Editor: I am writing in regard to the reception for international students held by the Tau Kappa Junior Honor Society. I warmly commend them for their kindness in remembering that we for eign students are also part of this Uni versity. In all of my years here, this is the first time I’ve seen an organization other than the International Students Association take an interest in the friendship between American and for eign students. l am not suggesting that every group or organization hold receptions for us. But Texans, as individuals, should real ize that we as students have conie to view Texas A&M as a second home and that we have all come with the intentions of establishing friendships with Aggies. Somehow, this does not come about as frequently as it should, apparently due to the prevalent attitudes here. I want to point out that most of us are not ignorants, illegal aliens or any other stereotype professed by uninformed persons. Are average Aggies able to dis tinguish this or only honor students? Let’s all learn from e^ch other. H. E. Guerrero Class of’83 If we can’t find it in our attorney gen eral, maybe we can find it in our prison officials. Is there no privacy left?” You know, you crazy guys at The Bat talion will never cease to amaze me. You complain of a lack of human decency and a lack of concern for personal pri vacy. How strange, then, that in the past two weeks, a man who was seen mastur bating on the fourth floor of the library building and an individual who was seen fondling himself in the browsing library were reported in the Police Beat col umn. Tell me — where is your concern for personal privacy? Certainly you don’t apply such ethics only when they suit your personal opinions, do you? I am not advocating individuals to stimulate themselves in public. But I am questioning the value of reporting such indecencies. Does it make the world a better place to live? Will it help the public to aid the police in apprehending the reprobate? I doubt it. So please, in the future, when you de cide to preach ethics and morality to your readers, practice what you preach in all aspects of your journalism, not only when you feel that it suits the occa sion. United 1 impressed (nay, awed) me mostpWASHIl your argument were the manyraHalon to m; you gave to support your thesisi^don A humanists are out to get us. V0 * v ‘ n .S fu I submit that not one has ever heard the term seciitLg ma y c ji s , manist,” not one person in 10,ir Both hoi define the term, and not onepewok at the 50,()()() is one. If Mr. Hellwig'sassl^Act. are correct, then what awesome;IF^ ie these people must possess! Besides unsubstantiated cla®!p erat j ves y should also discuss sterling Iflerves 25 i I lellwig’s syllogism goes likete: 46 states, manists are biased. SomehumawTie leg scientists. T herefore, all srientjMr^. 11 *^. published by humanists are bias# Ii^ ia | 1 K u < j a Or put another way: people who are able to write can write editorials. Somereli) pie write stupid editorials, all religious people who are editorials and do write editorii stupid editorials. ocation, store the m living fur iay $7.9 hi Ins direc kd of the The Rea lanwhile, Absurd, isn’t it? Most of ui 1 the fund think so, except for the Chicto interst lo; who are knocked unconsciousff )wne d co ° manistic acorns. mg power I John W. Mcdr e num ^ el ing interes the more If I want yellow journalism, I’d prefer to have to go to the checkout stand at the grocery to buy a National Enquirer rather than find it in a “professional” student publication. Clay P. Gomez Class of’84 Jives to g Vassar deleg( ,ft0j " lhepr praises SCO^ir Hunter Editor: Right to privacy: be consistent Humanism not a major threat Editor: I read with interest the editorial in the Feb. 23 issue of The Battalion concern ing the possibility that convicted killer James David Autry may have his execu tion publicly televised. Whereas Jim Maddox feels that such a presentation may serve to deter crime, the prison officials expressed hesitance at the idea of televising the execution. To this, the auspicious Editorial Board stated “Thank God for human decency. Editor: “The sky is falling!” cried Chicken Little. “The humanists are coming!” cries Gerald Hellwig. What I thought might be an interest ing interpretation of the church-state separation soon evidenced itself as just another half-baked, misguided attempt to dump all of society’s ills on “secular humanism.” Mr. Hellwig, I’m glad you reported this growing menace to society. What SCON A 29 was an extraordina:' rience. I came from New Yorljl pletely unfamiliar with theconft but it managed to exceed my e* tions. I confronted differing'*' no closed minds, for which h| my fellow delegates. I was particularly impressed^ conference was run entirely byre? ble, efficient student coordinator conference, a culmination of tit- forts, displayed these qualities respect. The experience was particu due to the nature of Texas Ap whole. The review by the Corps tertainment of the SingingCadt 1 the square dance are alleventsl* soon forget. Kathryn Vassar College fiency act 1” for the Mso this use ovei The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference Editor Rebeca Zimmermann Managing Editor John Wagner City Editor Patrice Koranek Assistant City Editor Kathleen Hart, Stephanie Ross News Editor Tracey Taylor Assistant News Editors Susan Talbot, Brigid Brockman, Kelley Smith Editorial Page Editor Kathy Wiesepape Sports Editor Bonn Friedman Assistant Sports Editor Bill Robinson Entertainment Editor Shelley Hoekstra Assistant Entertainment Editor Angel Stokes Photo Editor John Makely Staff writers Ed Alanis, Robin Black, Bob Caster, Bonnie Langford, Sarah Oates, Michelle Powe, Lauri Reese, Dave Scott, Karen Wallace Photographers Mike Davis, Bill Hughes, Katherine Hurt, John Ryan, Dean Saito Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper operated as a community service to Texas A&M and Bryan-College Station. Opin ions expressed in The Battalion are those of the Editorial Board or the author, and do not nec essarily represent the opinions of Texas. A&M administrators, faculty or the Board of Regents. The Battalion also serves as a laboratory news paper for students in reporting, editing and photography classes within the Department of Communications. Letters Policy Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters for style and length but will make every effort to maintain the author’s in tent. Each letter must be signed and must in clude the address and telephone number of the writer. Reader’s Forum columns and guest editorials also are welcome. Address all inquiries to the ed itorial page editor. The Battalion is published Monday through Fri day during Texas A&M regular semesters, ex cept for holiday and examination periods. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester, $33.25 per school year and $35 per full year. 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