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
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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
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cept for holiday and examination periods. Mail
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Second class postage paid at College Station,
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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.
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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