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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1984)
Opinion Page 2/The Battalion/Thursday, March 1, 1984 Sex discrimination: OK at colleges? Who cares if women are discrimi nated against in college? That’s essentially what the Supreme Court said when it ruled Tuesday that the federal government may not cut off all financial aid to a college just be cause one of the programs of the col lege discriminates on the basis of sex. That’s right, Title IX may be dead. The federal government can refuse aid to specific, discriminatory pro grams but not to the entire university. Thus, if a college wants to do away with its women’s athletic program, and the program does not receive federal funds, it may do so. If a college dis criminates against women in admis sions or classrooms, unless direct fed eral aid is involved, it may do so. And many just might. A sampling of Southwest Confer ence school officials said they didn’t think their schools would reduce sup port of their women’s sports programs. Arkansas Athletic Director Frank Broyles said that funding of men’s and women’s athletics have been based on the amount of money available. But who will be the first to lose funding when money gets low? Surely not the football teams. And why should a school support a program that doesn’t return any mon etary proceeds from its investments? How much money does the library make? — The Battalion Editorial Board Child custody not a question of race A child-custody case argued before the Supreme Court may set a danger ous precedent if the high court upholds a lower court decision. The case involves a Bryan man, An thony Sidoti, his ex-wife and their 6- year-old daughter Melanie. Melanie’s natural mother, Linda Palmore, is asking the justices to overturn a 1982 ruling by Florida District Judge Mori- son Buck of Tampa. The judge origi nally awarded Palmore custody of Mel anie but later granted custody to Sidoti. The Court heard arguments last week and is expected to rule sometime injuly. The judge’s reasoning for the origi nal decision was based on a racial issue which wasn’t a focal part of testimony in the original custody trial. Palmore is married to a black, and Buck cited the inevitable “social stigmatization” of Melanie as a reason for granting Sidoti custody. Solicitor General Rex Lee, rep resenting the Reagan Administration, told the Supreme Court last week that Buck would have decided Melanie’s custody differently if Palmore had not remarried interracially. The racial aspect of the trial has made the issue a constitutional one. That’s the tragic part — and the Catch- 22 part. No court should grant the responsi bility of a child’s life on the basis of whether one parent is married to someone of a different race. Bigotry will never be erased as long as courts say custody hinges on such a factor. Conversely, Melanie’s life shouldn’t be disrupted because of the foolishness of a judge. Any judge should know bet ter than to base his decisions on a racial If Palmore wins the case because of Buck’s foolishness, the judge must take the blame for yanking a child from her home. — The Battalion Editorial Board Letters... Texas A&M reputation a laughing matter Editor: When getting a copy of The Battalion, I recently have had a strange desire to im mediately flip to “Police Beat.” I have noticed an odd trend among crimes commmitted on campus. It seems that individuals have been committing the most insignificant, stu pid crimes. In the Feb. 19 Battalion I read of strange people exposing themselves and masturbating in the library. Then there was a story of four subjects thrown in the Brazos County Jail for the horrible crime of removing a manhole cover. Contained in the Feb. 15 issue were “criminals” who stole liquid paper, markers and stamps (probably a journa lism major). These petty crimes didn’t stop there. In the Feb. 21 edition, under “misde meanor theft,” there was the case of someone with an immense appetite en tering the Zachry Engineering Center snack bar and eating a quart of tunafish salad. After an hour of uncontrollable laughter, I proceeded to read Police Beat, and there it is, in print: some guy sits next to a student and fondles him self. I will now think twice before entering the MSC browsing library for fears that I will encounter some sexually frus trated goon fondling himself. I suppose now the student body is going to orga nize a special room for these perverts. Now come on, Aggies, let’s not make Texas A&M the laughing stock of all universities. Our reputation is funny enough already! I also hope the entire newspaper staff knows that “Police Beat” contains more humor than the comics “Slouch” and “Warped.” Jeff Berling Class of ’84 The Battalion USPS 045 360 I I Member of > ■ Texas Press Association n! ,. 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 Donn 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. Advertis ing rates furnished on request. Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed Mc Donald Building, Texas A&M University, Col lege Station, TX 77843. United Press International is entitled exclu sively to the use for reproduction of all news dis patches credited to it. Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein reserved. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. o&scMm £>1904 ccMtPMy. Age irst iy LYNN R Re pc: .LOST FACE DM BEIRUT? DON' T BE ABSURD.. Jack Slimp cc |n a dream jioon in Dec days la d complete ■el of the b« Bend of 19h Bley Co., wh B from hirr Sd 111 ') that it Bear. "I laid down <> >on for a na jver do, anc ,” Slimp s .One interview Jmp, a 196i :M, is founde iidem of the M.inassas, Va il was so po* * irked for mosL hr'i building ; Board, penni* ‘1 pictured it B) said, “but Bake a prot aught I shouh ■By the time t ■over, 1 had ■ down to its c Bverage is a c Biers and Ch * board is n and balanc s either lev Buckle up those children (toward on kere s no ■ Slimp sal I way down. Driving down Texas Avenue yesterday I saw a terrible sight: a mother who hated her child, who didn’t care if her child lived or died. What was she doing? Letting the child jump around in the car with no seatbelt on. “Oh, so what? It’s too much of a hassle to get the kid to sit still. He’ll yell.” You’ll yell if he goes through the windshield. Remember the commercial featuring Loni Anderson? Where she says that a child’s body becomes a missile exerting a force of one ton during a wreck? Imag ine what becoming a one-ton missile can do to a tiny 30-pound body. The result is an innocent child who becomes mangled and mutilated be cause his mother didn’t take the extra three seconds to belt it in. It’s probably the same mother (or fa ther, let’s not discriminate) who spanks her child when he’s not absolutely per fect. The child yells then, and the results of his bad behavior surely aren’t as bad as the possible results of not wearing a seatbelt. One of my First memories of my par ents is being told “The car doesn’t start until the seatbelts are buckled.” And it wouldn’t. My father had to turn around and see that my sisters and I were securely buckled in before he’d turn the key. I was lucky. My parents loved me. “Oh, but you can’t buckle in a two- month old infant. You have to hold him.” Sure you do. That’s why they make carseats. Safe, padded, sturdy carseats that you just slip the baby in and voila! He’s safe. Secure. Not about to become a missile flying through the windshield. “But we can’t afford a carseat. They cost $60 or even more.” Granted, however, some people can’t even afford $60. Very few people, but some. There’s a solution for them, too. The Brazos County Red Cross has ar ranged to “rent” carseats to needy fami lies for 50 cents a month plus a $5 de posit. Now anybody can afford that. But there seem to be more parents who don’t love their children than par ents who do. Mommy likes to hold little Jimmy while Daddy drives. Great. And little Jimmy can make the ultimate sacri fice when they have a wreck: his life. Emily Stiteler, the local Red Cra rector, told a Battalion reporter ti an accident occurs, the child pro the mother while being crush« death. She said a Bryan police of told her that if a mother has a chi her lap, she might as well tie it front bumper of her car, becau would be equally as safe. “But we won’t have a wreck!" That’s probably what every parti every child killed in a car crash said. “We’re good drivers. Wei have a wreck.” You may lie Mario Andretti, other crazies on the road don’t km They’ll crash into you no matter well you drive, and your baby willlx as dead. There is no excuse not to have dren buckled in, securely. The only excuse would be a lac love. Only a mother who doesn’t lovt child would want to turn a six-iw old infant, that precious giftoflife. a small, bloody, mangled, twisted» Only a father who didn’t care would to see his first son as a corpse, and silent in that tiny casket, neve run in the grass or play in the sand,( die a puppy, or smell a rose. It’s a lousy way to keep a baby6 crying. Kathleen Hart is a senior journals jor and assistant city editor for The Balk ints in Leve )ing the bo: lent. To ret lilibrium, p« red and av >ful player, llayer has a ies when p lie game is it can be wo ing either st ...and more letters ie approach s to let a lar ombat forces .will remove f the boarc ng the weig] >oard will fa avor; that i side will dre win the gam layer would ble into I zone while in points, te other tactic w is to overcc with what 8 of forces and r ou march c p said, “and b. imore times.’ nip said thai le to learn, ye epth to’' it. C he envisionec aling to more Make gifts practical Editor: The Albritton Gampanile is a nice addi tion to the hodge-podge of eclecticism we call a campus. Now that we have a phallic symbol, we can be like all the other schools in the Southwest Confer ence. The other memorials such as bonfire funds or eternal flames are nice also, but really do not serve the students as class gifts should. I will admit that I really should not gripe about the Class of ’84’s gift since I have not attended class council in three years, but I feel there are better causes for the money spent for memorials. Texas A&M has been good to me, and when I can I will send money, but it won’t be for phallic symbols or football coaches. A gift means much more if many, many people can use it. How does a mansion and a pond for the chancellor help the student body? Or a bell tower? Or a football coach? Do these and other embellishments really improve the products and reputation of this University? My ideas for a good gift are sin How about a fund to increase sail for teaching assistants? Or an Arbi turn — a place for recreation and lea ing? Why not renovate our campus! course? Such gifts would really benl the students and make Texas AH “The Harvard of the Southwest.” I am not trying to be radical, want Alumni to think about howl gifts will help the University acadel cally — the primary reason this instf tion was created. Les Maul! Class off