Opinion
Page 2/The Battalion/Tuesday, October 2, 1984
Texas' taxes rising;
sinning to cost more
Sound the alarm. Taxes have been increased again.
This time, the state sales tax has been raised from 4 to 4.125
percent, increasing the sales tax that area residents will pay to 5
and 1/4 cents per dollar. All as part of Gov. Mark White’s plan to
raise $4.6 billion over the next three years. Remember White?
The guy who campaigned for governor on a platform of no new
taxes for Texans. Under White, new taxes are being levied and
sin taxes are being increased.
State officials say tax revenues must be increased to maintain
state services at the present level and to implement badly needed
improvements in our state education system. Though the poor
of Texas will be disproportionately taxed by the sales tax hike,
White’s plan seems a much better path than the alternative of re
duced state services.
And what could be more equitable than making people pay
more for entertainment — namely movies, liquor, cigarettes and
massage parlors? It seems a far better way to raise money than a
state income tax or a state university tuition increase.
— The Battalion Editorial Board
The Battalion
(ISPS 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
Bonnie Langford, News Editor
Ed Cassavoy, Sports Editor
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Growing from tadpole
to another old Aggie
Whistling trains now a source of fear
I used to love to lie in bed with the
window open so I could hear the trains
in the distance. The sound of that whis
tle way far off was better than any lul
laby. I don’t like to hear the trains go by
anymore.
On Thursday, Sept. 20,1 almost lost
a friend and fellow Battalion staff mem
ber in a car-train accident. On Friday,
Sept. 21,1 did lose a good friend in a
second car-train accident.
These two accidents happened at
the same dark intersection — almost exactly 24 hours apart.
Since the accidents, there has been talk of closing the Lu
ther Street crossing or putting up signals — there are no sig
nals or crossing gates at that intersection — and even of relo
cating that stretch of the railroad tracks.
There has also been a lot of concern expressed about the
caution drivers take at train crossings.
At the Board of Regents’ railroad committee meeting last
Friday, Bryan Mayor Ron Blatchley talked about how most
people don’t see the danger in racing a train through a cross
ing, so the crossings must be equipped with as much safety
equipment as possible. He’s probably right, but something
happened the other night that made me realize that even the
most cautious driver can get into real trouble at a crossing like
the one at Luther Street.
I was assigned to work on both of the accident stories —
an emotional challenge because I knew people involved in
both accidents — so I’d been keeping up with the investiga
tions and various discussions about the accidents.
Last Monday night I learned that someone! had put
up a cross — a burial-type cross — at the intersection. I de
cided it might be worth checking out.
So my roommate— who is a reporter for KAMU — and I
took her car and headed for the Luther Street intersection.
We were both pretty paranoid about the whole thing, and de
cided to take every precaution before we started across the in
tersection. We had the windows rolled down and the radio
off — all the better to hear oncoming trains. We both turned
around and took a long, hard look. No train, no problem.
About the time the nose of her car got to the tracks, there
was a train. We never heard it and never saw it, but believe
me we had looked; the train’s whistle never sounded until it
got to the intersection.
I don’t think that in my short life I’ve ever come so dose
to dying. I don’t ever want to come that close again. When
that happened, I realized how dangerous an intersection like
the one at Luther really is and how easy it is to get into real
trouble at such an intersection.
It also put to rest the doubts in the back of my mind that
my friends had been trying to beat the train to the intersec
tion — they probably never knew what hit them.
There’s going to be more talk in the next few weeks or
even months about what happened and what can be done to
intersections to help avoid similar accidents.
Any action to improve the Luther Street intersection is
going to take time. Probably a lot of time. Until then, it might
be a good idea to avoid the intersection altogether. People
who usually use that street can get to wherever they’re going
by taking Jersey Street — it connects with the same streets Lu
ther does. I can tell you from firsthand experience that cau
tion is important, but that does’t eliminate the all the danger
at the intersection.
There’s also going to be more talk about railroad-crossing
safety. Next week is Texas Railroad Grade Crossing Safety
Week, and state officials will be working with state railroads
to make us more aware of what we can do to reduce our
chances of becoming another gruesome newspaper write-up.
Please take time to listen to this information — and use it.
I don’t want to write any more obituaries.
Robin Black is a senior staff reporter for The Battalion.
Robin
Black
It happened to
me. I thought I
was past this stage.
I’m a senior now
and I paid my
dues. But it hap- Patrice
pened anyway. Koranek
I have a fresh- . 1 ■—
man roommate.
At first I thought,
“How bad can it
be? I know this girl, we’ve been friends
for a long time and she will be better
than someone I don’t even know.” Did I
have something to learn.
As a senior I have outgrown many of
the idiosyncrasies that she performs
each day.
For example, I don’t come in squeal
ing about the guy who sat next to me in
History 105 and asked to borrow my
notes. By now I know that he isn’t inter
ested in me, just my notes. And just as
well, because at this point I have had
classes with the same people for two or
three years and they are friends of
mine, not possible dates.
I don’t rush to pick up the phone af
ter the first ring. By now I know it’s
probably someone from The Battalion
calling with a problem that I will have to
take care of or someone calling to re
mind me about a meeting I forgot. And
those times I think it may be “the call” I
have enough poise and willpower to let
it ring a few times. And I don’t spend
hours giggling on the phone.
I don’t go home every other week
end. Mom and Dad made it a whole
summer without seeing their youngest
daughter, and I think they can make it
for a month or two. Besides, I spent
eighteen years in my hometown and
only three years here. I’m going to make
up for lost time by staying here (or tak
ing road trips to more exciting places) as
often as posssible.
I don’t call my friends who are still in
high school. Of course, after being gone
for three years, I don’t have many
friends left. Those who are left probably
wouldn’t understand what I was talking
about anyway.
I don’t start studying for my exams a
week ahead of time. As a senior I have
refined the art of procrastination so that
I do all my studying the night before an
exam. Cramming is better for the brain,
right?
I don’t swoon every time a c.t. in
boots says hello. By now I know that he
says it (A) because he needs an ego trip,
or (B) because it’s habit and he’s just say
ing howdy to everyone he meets, which
is fine.
I don’t think I’m going to flunk out of
the University just because I make D’s
on all first-round exams. By now I know
that my prof will drop a test grade,
curve the whole class’s grades, or that I
will Q-drop the class. Besides, it takes
more than one semester of low grades to
get booted.
But the difference in attitudes that
really blew my mind occurred on a re
cent weekend. I decided to wear a sheet,
actually a curtain made from a sheet, to
a toga party. My roommate nearly blew
a fuse. She couldn’t believe that I, the
quiet girl she knew in high school, was
going out in public dressed in a sheet.
To top it all off, she couldn’t believe that
I had done it before and had had a blast.
By now, though, I know how to do silly
things without looking like a freshman.
Patrice Koranek is the managing edi
tor of The Battalion
LETTERS:
Mass to be held
for victim of train-car
wreck last week
EDITOR:
I would like to take this opportunity
to inform the Aggie Friends of Kathy
Hossley that there will be a memorial
Mass held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church
on Tuesday, October 2, at 7:00 p.m.
prior to Silver Taps. All are welcome to
share in this special memorial service
for Kathy and her family.
Julie Kassem
Women should not
vote for Republicans
EDITOR:
The Republicans say there is not a
gender gap in support for President
Reagan. I don’t know if there is or not
—but there sure ought to be.
I watched the Republican Convention
in Dallas when they were discussing
abortion. I saw this big fat man who was
leading the right wing Republicans who
said that a woman shouldn’t have an
abortion even if the pregnancy was
caused by rape.
He said that it would be murder to
abort the pregnancy and that the
woman should be forced to carry the
child even if she did not want the child
and hated the father. He said she could
adopt it out after she had born the pain
and expense of the pregnancy.
Think of it, the Republican Party sees
a woman’s body as something she has no
control over and as an instrument to be
used to add to the population of the
world.
Women ought to tell those men who
want to tell them what to do with their
bodies that until they have carried a
child to term, they should keep their ad
vice to themselves.
Houston Thompson
Silsbee, Texas
Mon impressed
by honor, integrity
of A&M students
EDITOR:
As the General Manager of Chappar-
ral Minerals, Inc. I have been taking
courses at Texas A&M University to im
prove my knowledge of the oil business.
Two things have recently occurred to
me that positively reflect on the institu
tion and its students.
During the spring of 1984, while tak
ing a course in geophysics, I left my
Hewlett-Packard 41CV calculator in the
computer center. Several days later I
went back and, to my relief, the calcula
tor was being held at the desk by the stu
dent in charge. When I offered her a re
ward, she declined saying she did not
accept money for things like that.
In the second case, I misplaced an ex
pensive leather briefcase, but could not
remember where. Several months later,
I received a call from the Geophysics
Department saying that they had found
my breifcase and had finally figured out
how to unlock it. By unlocking it and ex
amining the contents, they had tracked
me down. When I picked it up, ray
briefcase was in fine shape and so was
the $50.00 savings bond I had left in
side.
The integrity and respect for others
property that was displayed in these two
instances are a great credit to the stu
dents at Texas A&M University. I’ve
sent a $250.00 check to the Texas A&M
University Memorial Scholarship Fund
as a token of my appreciation.
Stephen E. Ogden
Chaparral Minerals, Inc.
McGlohon off base
one more time
EDITOR:
In the Friday Battalion Robert McG-
lohon’s critique of William F. Buckley,
Jr.’s article was obviously colored by
Robert’s preconceived ideas about what
a conservative writer would say. To
quote Robert’s article: “Later in the arti
cle, the author proclaims, ‘When one
realm of ethics or morality is abondoned
- particularly in an area like sexuality,
which can so debase human dignity - all
of the others are likely to follow.’ Imag
ine that: Sexuality debases human dig
nity.” He did not follow Buckley’s train
of thought. He was saying that aban
doning ethics or morality in the area of
sexuality debases humanity dignity. He
was not implying that sexuality itself
would debase numan dignity.
One is left with the impression that
Robert read the article with his mind al
ready set to disagree and only cued in
on what he wanted to hear.
Norene Dupre