Page 2/The Battalion/Thursday, September 20 1984 Opinion Booze doesn't mix with spirit EDITOR ’S NOTE: This Editorial pertaining to Friday’s midnight yell practice is appearing today because many of the people to whom it is directed already will be at local happy hours before the Friday Battalion hits the streets. The mood will be quite different in Kyle Field Friday at midnight than it was in front of the Academic Building Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 10:30 p.m. Friday’s crowd will be full of fun-loving Aggies, reveling in their drunkenness, try ing their best to yell Aggie yells. That Tuesday the mood was much more somber. Silver Taps was played; few, if any, Aggies were drunk. None were boisterous. “Typically well over half the Aggies remembered at Silver Taps died as the result of alcohol related motor-ve hicle crashes,” said Kirk Brown, president of the local Mother’s Against Drunk Drivers organization. Fs the tradition of midnight yell practice so weak that it can’t sustain itself without mind altering beverages? “I don’t think it’s part of the tradition,” said yell leader Terry Hlavinka. He said he doesn’t condone drinking in Kyle Field; in fact, it’s against state laws and University regulations. “A few people get out of hand -r— but that’s the excep tion rather than the rule,” he said. “But what is really bad is when the people leave (Kyle Field) and there’re beer cans lying all around.” Yell leader sponsor Don Albrecht said he thinks alco hol plays too big a part in yell practices. “I know there’s drinking there,” he said. “I wish peo ple didn’t have to drink to go to yell practice, but it seems they think they do.” The people who think drinking is an essential part of yell practice need to realize Aggie Spirit doesn’t come in a bottle. And more importantly, if you go to yell practice af ter a drink or two, have a sober friend drive you or walk. Both the Campus and the College Station Police should stand ready to arrest any person who tries to drive away from yell practice drunk. If University officials don’t make sure that the laws regarding the consumption of al cohol in Kyle Field are enforced — since many students come to the stadium in cars — they are condoning drunk driving. Too many Aggies already have died in alcohol related accidents. Driving drunk kills. Discrimination, racism continue to occur here “Nigger!” an offensive word born of hatred and igno rance. It is a word that should have died long ago. But it isn’t dead at Texas A&M. Tuesday, a truck swerved at a black student and the driver and passengers of the vehicle hurled racial insults at the student. Luckily the act didn’t physically injure her; she says she didn’t suffer any injury clue to the harassment or the threat. Once again Texas A&M University has been damaged. This time by a truck-driving bigot. Richard Lewis, a sociologist, told the President’s Com mittee on Minority Conditions just two years ago that 44 percent of all minority students he interviewed at Texas A&M said they had been victims of racial harassment here. “Living with constant fear and/or social intimidation on a major university campus is intolerable,” the report of the President’s Committee on minority conditions said. But because the nature of most attacks of personal dis crimination involve limited verbal abuse rather than life threatening words or actions, the University is limited in its response. The types of discrimination here can be broken down into two major categories, William Kuvlesky, a member of the minority conditions committee told The Battalion Wednesday. • First, blind traditionalism such as flying the Confeder ate flag over the bonfire or conducting slave sales. • Second, personal discrimination such as the incident Wednesday which usually involves a small group verbally as saulting a minority student. Sheran Riley, special assistant to President Frank E. Van diver, said most people don’t realize that their blind tradi tionalism can sometimes be construed as an insult. She said most, after being told that such actions upset minority groups and damage the reputation of the University, halt or alter their activity. It’s just a matter of people becoming aware before this type of discrimination can be reduced, Kuvlesky said. Personal acts of discrimination are not as easily reme died. They won’t stop until non-discriminators stand up and refuse to allow this type of abuse to continue. It’s not enough to never call a black a “nigger” or a Mexican a “spic.” It’s time the notation archaic was added to every dictionary con taining words like “nigger.” People must let those who live in a state of hate and igno rance know that we won’t stand for their bigotry. The Battalion Editorial Board The fui nent is to and to Im idministr; vice-presk said Wed n But mo resource a availubk t of this we ilained to rent of tf statue'. Sully S weekly tal improve the studer ers. The s; Generic cathedrals could rescue tourists Kathy Wiesepape Ever since I came back from Great Britain, I’ve been hav ing nightmares about Gothic cathedrals. It’s always the same. I’m standing in the nave, looking down the dark length of the cathedral toward the al tar. T he ribs of the vaulted ceil ing rise to spec tacular heights above me. Panes of medieval stained glass bend the entering sunlight into a rainbow of light at the far end. Behind me, a professor is lecturing his class on Gothic architecture. “Note the flying buttresses carrying the weight of the roof outward from the walls,” he says. “Remember, a cathedral is built outward as well as upward.” I yawn, leave the class behind and walk down the center aisle. I pull my camera out of its case and a chaplain robed in black is immediately at my side. “Photography is permitted in the ab- LETTERS Name proposed for new bell tower EDITOR: In the search for world class status, Texas A&M has a new Football coach- ,there are even Nobel Prize winners on staff and, of course, an eternal Flame. Probably the biggest edition to campus is the ALBRITTON Bell Tower. After announcing the proposed loca tion and cost of this Bell Power, the Bat talion hit with several editorials and let ters. The outcry seemed to come from the “world class” among us. It’s very easy to tell someone else how to spend their money after it’s earned; the little red hen taught us that. These persons also kept on using tacky words like phal lus (My, My, is that world class?). T he one thing that makes A&M the home of the Aggies is that spirit of Aggieland. It seems to me the real spirit of Aggieness has been lost in this search for world class status. In an attempt to revive some of the Aggie in us and move away from this world class tackiness I would propose an aggie name for this structure. A real cowboy name for those of us who haven’t heard of a clarion. How about the Albritton Ding-a- Ling? 'M.D. Baker Class of ’85 Commanders responsible EDITOR: The current investigation of the death of cadet Bruce Goodrich appears to be misguided. T he responsibility for the death, and in fact all Corps activities, lies with the persons in postions of au- bey only with a permit,” he tells me poli tely. I hand over 50 pence and he pins a bright yellow card on my shirt, branding me with the mark of the tourist. I stroll through the cathedral, taking pictures — lots of them. Chapels and more chapels, tombs and more tombs. Paintings, carvings, tapestries, stained glass — all of it part of my photographic record. Then the scene changes, and I’m back home again, showing my prints to a friend. “Where was this?” he asks, holding up one of the cathedral photographs. Vaulted ceiling, Hying buttresses — yep, that’s a cathedral. But which one? 1 take a closer look. “Westminster Abbey,” I say, “No, Yorkminster. No, maybe Lincoln Cathe dral. Give me a minute.” I think back, frantically trying to re member. Let’s see, Salisbury is the one with the spire, Winchester has the long est nave. Or is it the other way around? It can’t be Yorkminster — that’s the one with the burned roof. I think the one at Bath was the most ornate. The wood carvings at Chester and Lincoln looked a lot alike, but Chester also had the mosaics. Or was that Carlisle? Maybe Durham — no, that one was Norman, not Gothic. That’s when I wake up, my headspio ning. It seems like every town in Great Bril ain has its own Gothic cathedral, them are beautiful. That’s becausetki all look the same. In six weeks on the island, ourgroiif must have hit the majority of cathednk in England and Scotland. I’m surew saw' all the biggies, and I doubt w missed many of the semi-biggies. After about the fourth one, 1 waso thedraled out. The vertical lines dt signed to draw the eye upward heaven drew only yawns from me. stained glass. More flying buttresses Neat. Let’s go. Cathedral saturation is a commai tourist malady. But I have the solution Build one generic cathedral, one tk outdoes all the rest. Make it thelonges: highest, most ornate. Bring the most ini' portant historical tombs and shrines most inspiring art, and the mostimpres sive architecture together in one place. One visit and you’ve got all your a thedrals over with for the rest of tk trip. Kathy Wiesepape is a weekly column ist for The Battalion. Her column htI appear on Thursdays. thority, Charles Rollins, student com mander of the Corps of Cadets, and Col. Donald L. Burton, Commandant, Corps of Cadets. The military courses taught at Texas A&M teach that author ity is accompanied by responsibility and those who hold ultimate authority are held ultimately responsible. A Naval in vestigation of a collision at sea will not be of the helmsman but of the captain of the vessel. Considering this fact, it is in teresting to read Rollins’ statement that this investigation will, “... not ‘cover up’ for any guilty cadets.” The cadets that were directly involved in this unfortu nate incident are guilty only of exercis ing poor judgement since they were en gaged in a tradition that is officially C rohibited by Corps regulations but has een officially condoned for years. I am not suggesting that the Corps should be disbanded or that the indoc trination period should not be stressful. Army boot camp is still a rather stressful experience yet there the air tempera ture and the humidity are monitored to determine appropriate levels of physical activity. Neither am I suggesting that upper classmen should not be given po sitions of an officer. I am suggesting that those individuals in positions of au thority begin exercising that authority and begin accepting responsibility for their actions and the actions of their subordinates. An investigation should be conducted to answer one question: Was this an iso lated incident or was this the tragic re sult of an ocurrrence that is both ac cepted and common? It is an obvious conflict of interest for anyone asosciated with Texas A&M University to conduct this investigation. Mark L. Spearman The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference In memoriam Bill Robinson, 1962-1984, Editor The Battalion Editorial Board Stephanie Ross, Acting Editor Patrice Koranek, Managing Editor Shelley Hoekstra, City Editor Brigid Brockman, News Editor Donn Friedman, Editorial Page Editor Kelley Smith, News Editor Ed Cassavoy, Sports Editor The Battalion Staff Assistant City Editors Melissa Adair, Michelle Powe Assistant News Editors Bonnie Langford, Kellie Dworaczyk, Latin Reese Assistant Sports Editor Travis Tingle Entertainment Editor Bill Hughes Assistant Entertainment Editor Angel Stokes Editorial Cartoonist Mike Lane Make-up Editor .John Hallett Copy Writer Karen Bloch, Copy Editors Kathy Breard, Kaye Pahmeies Editorial Policy The Butulion is ;i ntm-profii, self-supimning ncivspa|Xf operated as .1