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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1984)
Page 2/The Battalion/Tuesday,September 25, 1984 Opinion LETTERS: Gramm editorial right on mark EDITOR: I definitely agree with the Phil Gramm editorial. Because there is noth ing worse than an Aggie economics pro fessor who thinks he’s a politician. Gig ’em Lloyd! Sergio Davila Class of ’85 Gay Student Services recognition question of civil liberties EDITOR: This letter is written in reference to the proposed recognition of the Gay Student Services Organization. The GSSO is a service organization. It exists for the benefit of gay students who may need counseling. As for those people who do not want to be around homosex uals, and for this reason object to the GSSO being recognized, someone should open their eyes. Every person in this world is different. The sooner nar row-minded individuals learn to deal with these differences and respect peo ple for who they are instead of the way they choose to live their lives, the more able they will be to cope with their own lives. Who are we to judge others. The actions of others are not anyone’s con cern but their own. Let people have the freedom to live their lives in their own fashion. After all, that is what America is all about. J. Atchison Class of ’88 Liberal, homosexual not the same EDITOR: In response to Jamie Menton’s letter concerning the GSSO, I have a few com ments. I will not address the question as to whether or not there should be such an organization supported by Tetfas A&M for two reasons. The first being that it would serve no logical purpose; the second being that it would draw emotions and attention away from a larger issue. Ms. Menton, what the hell is wrong with being liberal? I am referring to your final paragraph, “If these liberal, non-moral . . .” Is liberality synonymous with homosexuality, or did you just throw that in because it is the only word you could think of to fit into your very emotional, irrational letter? Are you im plying that liberals are “bad” people and should be scourged for being criminals to decency and clean living? The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference In memoriatn 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 Bonnie Langford, News Editor Ed Cassavoy, Sports Editor The Battalion Staff Assistant City Editors Melissa Adair, Michelle Powe Assistant News Editors Kellie Dworaczyk, Rhonda Snider, Lauri 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 Pahmeier Cyndy Davis, Patricia Flynt Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting 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 rep resent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, faculty or the Board of Regents. The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper 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 intent. Each letter must be signed and must include the address and telephone number of the writer. The Battalion is published Monday through Friday during Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday and examination periods. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester, $33.25 per school year and $35 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on request. Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Editorial staff phone number: (409) 845-2630. Ad vertising: (409) 845-2611. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. Perhaps someone should remind you that it is these “liberals” who made this country what it is. Where do you think we would be today if people such as John Hancock and George Washington were not “liberals?” Was freeing the blacks from slavery after over a century of oppression a non-liberal thing to do? Can you think of any great American who is considered so because he (or she) wanted to keep things the way they were? It has always been a break from the traditional that brings about changes and improvements. So to call someone a liberal and imply that such a person is in some way demented for be ing so, or to attach that label to some other label you think bad is not a fair statement. In conclusion I want to ask you to change your future references to homo sexuals and omit the “all liberals must be gay” connotation. Further, I think you should be honest with yourself and forget about trying to rationalize your very narrow-minded opinions and admit that you are simply a bigot. Hopefully, as you progress through your college education, you will realize that other people have ideas that differ from your own, and that they aren’t in herently wrong because of it. Kevin Peter College Station McGlohon’s column offends readers EDITOR: “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?”(Job 38:2). We feel compelled to write this letter to clear up some implied accusa tions in Robert McGlohon’s column. The Bible reveals that God created man and breathed life into him. But God put man before the trace of life, that man might receive eternal life. In stead, Adam partook of the tree of the knowledge of good in evil, which issued in death. It was not merely that God’s commandment was broken. The real damage was that a poison, sin and death, entered into man. A good illus tration would be if a father forbade his son to play with poisons in the cabinet. If the child broke this rule and got poi soned, the disobedience aspect would be far outweighed by the consequence of ingesting the poison: death. So it is with all man. We all died in Adam. It is not that God has targeted whole segments of the population of the earth for eternity in a “nasty place,” as McGlohon has alleged, but that we all got poisoned and received a sinful na ture. This nature bears fruit, sinful deeds. As a result, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”(Rom. 3:23). Sin issues in death (Rom. 6:23). But God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that who ever believes in Him would not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus is the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). He also im parts life to us, that we may be born of God. It is not that Christians are exclu sive, when we say that we are children of God. But as many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become chil dren of God, to those who believe in His name (John 1:12). This includes all who believe, regardless of racial or national origin. So far this semester, only one group of Christian speakers has used the spot at Rudder Tower that McGlohon de scribed for preaching: we the under signed. Our sharing did not resemble McGlohon’s dream, rather we declared the jubilee (Lev 25:8-19; 39-41; Luke 4:18-19), the acceptable year of the Lord. We did not emphasize hell, but we declared the release from the bondage of death, through receiving Christ as the life-giving Spirit. Robert McGlohon’s column slanders God and offends us. Whatever his mo tive was in writing this column, it indi cates a grave misconception as to God and His love for man. As long as this misconception exists, sidewalk preach ers are a necessity. As to Robert McGlo hon we hold no ill feeling, but as the Bi ble says, “Awake sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Eph. 5:14) Gary C. Barbee John Londergan Mark Lupo Terry Raines Henry B. Ransom, Jr. Samuel S. Villareal EDITOR S NOTE: Robert McGlohon’s column runs every Friday in The Battal ion. Going to the gross hoppers In search of Cannabis pests Scott McCullar It was inevitable that some sneaky agent in the Food and Drug Adminis tration would get the fiendish idea and ap proach the entomo logy departments of major agricultural universities with it — a research grant des tined to frustate those involved in the selling of a particular illegal substance. This grant would fund the devel opment of natural insect pests of Can nabis sativa (See hemp) plants and bales. Once made host specific, massive re lease programs could spread the insects around the country; especially in the gulf states and major cities where smug gling and usage are highest. Several major universities applied for and were awarded the grants, and even though the motives of the professors wanting to conduct such research can’t be determined for sure, they never lacked willing graduate students. Experimental plots of the “host” plant were needed and so grown, and soon several likely pest candidates were uncovered. “Grass” hoppers were one of the best; already known as ravenous plant-eaters, they only needed to be made “weed” specific. And the pest that lives anywhere and eats anything and everything — the cock “roaches” — eas ily became major “weed” pests. The research was conducted in ex treme secrecy to avoid dangerous reper cussions from the underworld drug dealers. Otherwise, agricultural re searchers would for the first time in their lives be harrassed, threatened and terrorized, from a source other than their department heads. However, due to the security measures and element of “surprise” involved, the experiments went along uninterruped. Even though the research would oc casionally “drag,” and those conducting it became slightly confused in their thinking, they were the most relaxed and mellowed out bunch of researchers ever known. The pressures usually in volved in government research were somehow handled much better by these researchers, and who KNOWS what went on in those secret, test-plant field stations. Soon the new pests were ready and spread across an unprepared country with “traumatic” effects. The stashes be longing to users of every race, class and sex were wiped out by insects with the weed-seeking ability far above any po lice dog. Yet the screams of anguish by those victimized had to be kept rather con stricted. They could hardly run to the authorities seeking aid, for such would acknowledge possessing the illegal sub stance in the first place. Insecticides weren’t much help ei ther, for though they killed the insects, they ruined the pot. (Remember the Paraquat controversy a couple of years ago.) However, pot smoking took on a new dimension when it was discovered that the bodies of the pest insects absorbed and concentrated a lot of the resins of the marijuana they fed on. For dopers, this created a “middleman” situation. If the weed itself could not be smoked, the pest that fed on it could. “Reefers” changed to “creepers.” Insect collecting took off like a SHOT, and dopers started gathering under street lights, parking lot lights, and porch lights. Hanging out at truck stops to scrape windshields and grills be came popular. Even though smoking in sects wasn’t illegal, policemen couldl if a person was “under the influence'f something he’d just smoked ifhevi found running around in circles uncj street lights at night. Some species absorbed and retain; more of the precious resins thanotlic Thus the various “grades" of tof ranged from “pre—mo crawls” at “Major Reefer Creepers" downtob | grade bunches of small bugs smokedi rolling papers cut with mealwon mulch. High-grade grasshopperscoiJ be smoked right down to the tipsiE the legs as a “roach” clips. In Texas the practice of mixingl* dope with fire ants became popularw those liking the “Jalepeno high" added. At pot parties phrases like “Arethei any bugs in this room?” and “gettinw buzz on” took on whole new meanings ' From the “haze” of these new pn tices rose “black market entomologi i for when research to combat theseno pests was outlawed, “underground”!: search began. Entomologists that hi i fallen on hard times, lost their moralss [ that had their funding cut fromund: ” them were sought by the drug unde ; world for research. And so came the despicable cum ;i state of black market entomology: chei; researchers working out of grimeylali | involved in criminal research to obia |i illegal objectives. In retrospect and in the faceofsid | developments, it seems the inevitali | has occurred. Entomology finally,k gone to pot. Scott McCullar is an artist whodn* the daily Battalion cartoon strip “M ped." He has a B.S. in entomology (pi Texas A&M and a b.s. in column wrii from The Battalion. noti sear tons fum they wen sugg A edo, agaii look than they C Reaching out from the wallet to touch someone you love John Hallett I received my long distance phone bill the other day. I had _ reached out and touched my girlf riend to the tune of $62.43. I’m glad I’ve got MCI. Ma Bell would have asked for my first born male child. I can really relate to the guy in the com mercial who boasts that a particular long distance company is for the guys who “didn’t fall in love with the girl next door.” Now you might think that $62.43 isn’t much of a phone bill but allow me to in dulge myself and explain a few things first... This month’s long distance bill re flected an attempt to reduce the num ber and length of my phone bills; earlier bills had been much higher. Actually what occurred was a strategic redistribu tion. It used to be that I would be the one to initiate the phone calls, now I call Elaine less but she calls me more. A lot more. In fact, her phone bill is now higher than mine. But that’s not all. She goes home from school at least twice a month and calls me from there, too. I’m sur prised her parents aren’t complaining since they’re paying her bills. Mean while, I’m here at A&M slaving away at The Battalion trying to make ends meet. Long distance relationships simply aren’t cheap to maintain. Elaine’s birth day is only a few weeks away. I wonder if she’d rather get roses or four hour- long phone calls instead (Believe it or not, the phone calls would be less). So far this year I’ve been to Indiana three times (where Elaine lives) and Cal ifornia twice (where my family lives) and one more trip to Indiana before the year is out is likely. Not bad for an “in dependent student” on financial aid, eh? I hope no one over at the Student Financial Aid office reads this (Who re ads The Batt anyway, right?). Actually it can all be attributed to hard work and discipline. Discipline means keeping a strict budget which means no junk food, no beer and no Quarter-Pounders with cheese. Ba sically that translates to lots of peanut butter and jelly. Last week, I splurged and ate dinner at the MSG Cafeteria. I had forgotten just how good mashed potatoes and gravy can taste. It makes you appreciate the simple things in life. A friend of mine here at the paper has been kind enough to offer me rides home after work. Afraid that I might be taking advantage of him, I declinedoK night. He was embarrassed and thougli that I had been of fended by his trail can on wheels. In all honesty I can say it wasn’ttk trash that continued to accumulatef his car that bothered me. It’s just thad can’t bear to be reminded by the < bottles, cups, wrappers, containers bags of all the things I can’t have. T times I do wish love was blind or at lea: deaf. I finally decided that I just co take it anymore, so I went to see a cial counselor to see if he had anysuf gestions. “The way I see it, there’s only ones: lution,” he informed me. “What’s that?” I asked as if I didn't* 1 ready know. “Get married.” So if you should happen to be in 8 lem, Indiana next May, stop by for® 1 wedding. If you don’t recognize mel be in the red tux that say’s AL’S FOl MAL WEAR on the back. Then I can catch up on my photf bills and maybe even finish my educ tion. John Hallett is The Battalion’s malf up editor.