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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 26, 1984)
Opinion Simple precautions stop campus crime ByKA' A r. Riel iiologia fessor ( Women living on campus have been a little jumpy lately. Sudden footsteps in the hall, a loud cry in the room upstairs, loud voices in the parking lot — all bring a sudden, momentary surge of fear. But they have reason to be afraid. Last week, two Fowler residents were assaulted in their dorm rooms. And a few days before that, a Keathley Hall resident saw a man with a knife on the stairs in the early morning hours. Mon day, several women saw a man loi tering in the hall on the fourth floor of Mosher Hall after curfew. As much as we would like to believe that this campus is safe, it is not im mune to violent crime. The easiest tar gets are students — men and women — lulled into a sense of false security who don’t take adequate safety precau tions. The simplest, and most obvious, measures can be the most effective means of protecting yourself. Lock your doors and windows. Don’t walk alone on campus at night. Report any suspicious person or incident to the University Police. It may be an added inconvenience, but why take the chance of becoming a victim? — The Battalion Editorial Board Advertisers stoop to 'sexploitation' America, land of the advertisement. Where else could you see a photo of a scantily-clad woman leering at a male torso under the bold headline: “Can you find the meat? In this Ad?” Yes, someone from EEP, Inc. paid $289 for a 3/4 page ad in Monday’s Battalion to try and sell their TUN, SEXY, CUTE!’ T-shirts and running shorts. And the EEPs gave the prospective buyer a choice of three slogans to be af fixed to their clothing — all with highly sexual explicit overtones: 1. I found the beef. 2. Where’s the pork? 3. Here’s the pork. Sure, Wendy’s “Where’s the BeeF’ advertisements were funny when they first appeared on the tube, and yes, many of us will admit that we chuckled when Walter Mondale asked where the beef was in Cary Hart’s political rhe toric. It even was funny when University of Houston fans displayed banners at the Southwest Conference basketball tournament that asked the Arkansas Razorbacks: “Where’s the pork?” But this advertisement isn’t cute. It isn’t even funny in a raunchy manner. It’s sexploitative. And it’s not alone. Many other ads employ similar sexploitative themes. In America, newspapers have the right to take advertisements for almost any legitimate product — and they do. After all, that’s how newspapers make money. Letters: Conservative saviors So responsibility falls on the con sumer. If you don’t like the repugnant manner in which a product is adver tised, don’t buy it. Caveat emptor. Let the buyer be ware. — The Battalion Editorial Board H. Ross Perofs ideas raise important issues On June 16, 1981, Gov. Mark White brought together 21 people to take a look at the failing Texas educational sys tem. What resulted from that meeting may have changed the fate of public ed ucation in Texas — for better or worse. The Select Committee on Public Edu- cationi was given the task of setting in motion educational reformation in Texas. The group’s appointed leader was H. Ross Perot. Perot wasted no time in raising eye brows around teachers’ lounges across the state with blatant attacks on extra curricular activities, vocational educa tion, classroom discipline, teacher certi fication and a myriad of other areas that many educators across the state say are the backbone of the educational system. Perot was criticized for having no “method to his madness” — and it’s true that some of his recommendations have been absurd. Take for instance his statement in which he advocated “driv ing a stake through the heart” of voca tional education. Pretty strong stuff. He has succeeded in making enemies in every corner of the state and head lines across the nation. If nothing else, Perot is sensational. But this is not the first time he has made headlines. Remember the Iranian hostage incident? While the Carter ad ministration twiddled thumbs and scratched heads wondering what to do about the abducted state department personnel, Perot hired an international SWAT team to rescue members of his computer firm and return them safely to the U.S. Typical Perot style. The way he has tackled the education problem is no exception. Take a look at Perot’s accomplishments. Public aware ness of the problems in education are at an all-time high. Priorities in education are finally being put back into perspec tive. Texas educators are at last being held accountable for the students they turn out. And what topped the committee’s list of recommendations to the legislature last Thursday? Not the abolition of vo cational education or football programs. Not 11-month school years, either. Topping the agenda was teacher pay — a recommended $350 million pack age that would increase the minimum starting teacher salary 36 percent, from $11,000 to $15,000 per year. The com mittee also proposed 10 percent pay raises for experienced teachers. The committee also included in its recommendations competency testing for teachers and administrators. The is sue of teacher pay and teacher compe tence go hand-in-hand — quality is di rectly related to pay. The key element in any educational system is the teacher and Texas cur rently ranks 44th in the nation in the quality of teachers coming out of its col- Editor: You’re right Woodrow! I’m glad some one else in this world sees the truth. It’s people like these liberal commies at The Battalion that are ruining this great land of the free and home of the brave. They’re just trying to put all the abortion stuff and Gay Students Service stuff in our mind so we won’t see what they’re really doing. But we know the truth, don’t we Woodrow? First they want to take our guns away. Then they want us to back down to those freedom killing rene gades in Moscow. Well it’s about time the eagle rose up to stop the bear and we’ll begin by get ting all these pinkos outta College Sta tion. We will swamp The Battalion with letters and then everyone in the Univer sity will think twice and maybe they’ll see the light, too. And we’ll be conservative! Then we’ll rise up and convince the whole Bryan-Gollege Station area. And t hey’ll hear our voice. And then we’ll take the state. We’ll make Texas the conservative bastion of America. Then everyone can see the truth, like you and me, Woodrow. Then the big change will come. First will be the press. Then the law. They’ll call psychologists and finally will come the sociologists to study the last of the great mind closers — those people who just seem to have forgotten that people are people, that one man should treat another as he would want to be treated — with understanding and respect. And everyone will wonder, “Did these guys fall asleep in 1884 and wake up in 1984?” Kyle Michel Class of ’85 reached a stand on the much-talked- about subject of gays and the gay life style. First of all, I want to stress the fact that I am not homosexual. I have simply decided how I think that homosexuals should be treated in a society of hetero sexuals. Homosexuals should be left to lie what they have chosen to be — as long as I am not bothered or affected by their lifestyles. I get sick and tired of he; reading that same old talkthatp going to bell because they’resinm Whatever is right, don't you that homosexuality will remainu tence? And yet religious groups spending time trying to help hoi uals (or rather, "stop” themj.lai not obvious that the gay commui not request it? Class Ihysics, ; “ ring at Jitlenly ig in St. , hospi jnjap parer r: Ron ■ngineenri Sfff was ; 1 scien pifcfessioi "able, v gar ling s 1 an ex t said. i\iihe sun lly miss iieff, a IsMiist, 2 in Eh lAii Fo War, dor o i Misso 1.957, his n ily off to docioi; | of Cal •sin 19( ie lau e be for |M in 1! jrafessor. alety of fu jsei 11 he n i for fversity nudea fdi cycl ges of ary me safety eff wa; 1973. H public ibershi ties in fear S arch S ics Sot: No gripes about gift leges of education. That ought to tell us something. The only way to recruit outstanding teachers and keep them in the class room is to provide incentive, something the Legislature keeps forgetting. If Texas lawmakers once again re nege on raising teachers’ salaries, the state will wind up with a lot of vacant teaching slots to fill. It’s true that teach ing standards must be raised, but if in centive isn’t increased, the teaching pro fession won’t be able to attract anybody to meet those standards. It’s true that Perot has had some off- the-wall ideas concerning education. But the push for teacher pay raises and stricter certificaton requirements clearly shows that he has his priorities in line. However, the final decision on public education in Texas really rests on the people of the state, not Perot or the leg islators. Editor: I am tired of hearing all those com plaints about the Albritton Bell Tower. I would like to know how many of those who are complaining about it have ever returned all their Ghristmas gifts with the reply, “I need the money instead.” Albritton made a generous gift, and he has every right to choose what he would like to give. The gripes say, “Why didn’t he give money for academics?” If all the money in this University were used for acedemics there would be no Kyle Field, All Faiths Ghapel, Memo rial Student Genter, or several other campus beautifiers and pleasantries. Many things go into creating a pleasant learning atmosphere, and I think the bell tower will enhance it. There might have been a better loca tion for it, but I am not the one that spends time researching locations and discussing possibilities. The Board of Regents was assigned this task, which they did, according to reports in The Battalion, over a period of several weeks. Jon Loud Class of’87 Editor’s note: this letter was accompanied by six signatures. Slouch neral by JimEafc at [Churd Bryan, f Ip.m. Fi unera reside I d Drive e is sin ' of Br I Word Jr. of ra Neff ;hier, I n; an vn of lyn H a., and mo, Mi “What else? It's my laundry mark!'’ It is the people who must stand up for education, so that education can finally stand up on its own. Bob Caster is a senior agricultural journalism major and a sports writer for The Battalion. Leave the gays alone Editor: After reading the advertisement, “The Myth of the Eighties,” I finally 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 Editors Kathleen Hart, Stephanie Ross News Editor Tracey Taylor Assistant News Editors Susan Talbot, Brigid Brockman, Michelle Powe, Kelley Smith Editorial Page Editor Kathy Wiesepape Sports Editor i Donn Friedman Assistant Sports Editor Bill Robinson Entertainment Editor Shelley Hoekstra Assistant Entertainment Editor Angel Stokes mmmffing editor, city editor, news editor, 1 rial page editor and sports editor. Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-protit, self-support ing newspaper operated as a community service to Texas A&M and Bryan-College Station. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the Editorial Board or the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, faculty or the Board of Re gents. The Editorial Board consists of the editor. Letters Policy Letters to the Editor should not net® words in length. The editorial stall rexfid right to edit letters for style andkn^mm. make every effort to maintain the autW! tent. Each letter must he signed and ® l? elude the address and telephone nmbr 1 * writer. Reader 's Forum columns and guested 1 also are welcome. A ddress all inquiries tow* itorial Rage Editor. Out address: The Battalion, 216 Donald Building, Texas A&M Unheal lege Station. I X 77843. 3 United Press International is entitltil tl( sively to the use for reproduction of all patches credited to it. Rights ol reprodu&f all other matter herein reserved. ^ Second class postage paid at College™ TX 77843. T>- J A