I
Opinion
(
Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, December 12, 1984
True spirit of giving
goes beyond home
Here it is, the
Wednesday of fi
nals week. Half of
the student pop
ulation is already
home with
mommy and
daddy looking for
ward to their four
weeks of X-mas
break. A time to
relax with the
family, and without a worry in the
world.
I was first reminded X-mas time was
approaching almost two months ago by
a local store. X-mas displays up already
— 1 couldn’t believe it. And then, the
day after Thanksgiving, the X-mas
street lights magically appeared. Those
city officials doubling as elves must not
be able to read a calendar.
Then the X-mas tree lots appeared,
followed by houses with X-mas lights ar
ranged in typical X-mas designs. Santa
Claus even came earlier this year to
grant the wishes of all the children at a
local mall — I thought Santa knew if we
were naughty or nice and only visited on
X-mas eve. What a disappointment.
Everywhere I looked reminded me
that X-mas was the time to spend
money, take trips and celebrate.
Too bad Santa Claus won’t be able to
grant the wishes of the famine-stricken
people in Ethiopia and other African
nations.
Officials have projected that no fewer
than 500,000 people will have perished
between May 1984 and May 1985, and
they are also estimating that up to seven
million Ethiopians are “at the risk of
starvation.”
At one of the relief camps, a spokes
man for Save the Children said 150 peo
ple were dying a day, but three days ago
only 40 were dying.
Imagine seeing 150 of your friends
and family dying a day — not a pleasant
thought.
The children that survive will still suf
fer from the drought for the rest of
their lives because they will have sus
tained impaired physical and mental
growth.
Experts, including relief officials and
Western diplomats, estimate that a mini
mum of 600,000 metric tons of grain
will be needed the next 12 months — so
far only half of that has been pledged,
mostly by American and European do
nors.
But, even close to home, people are
starving and unemployed.
The Houston Chronicle has been
running a daily, front page feature
called “Goodfellows,” in an effort to
generate help for some of these unfor
tunate people close to home.
Laura, a retarded teen with unem
ployed parents, can’t understand why
Santa Claus is unable to visit her house.
Melissa, a straight-A student, can’t go to
school anymore because her parents are
out of work and had to sell the car to get
money for food.
The problem is universal and the so
lution is not just up to the government.
Sure, they could build a few less missiles
and send food to those foreign coun
tries that need it, instead of arms and
weaponry to countries that don’t, but
that won’t alleviate the problem.
These problems, in America as well as
foreign countries, can only be solved if
everybody gives and cares.
Besides, isn’t giving and caring the
true meaning of Christmas?
Kevin Inda is a weekly columnist for
The Battalion.
Commercialsim makes
life tough for parents
By ART BUCHWALD
Columnist for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate
It wasn’t meant to be that way, but
Christmas has become a nightmare
for parents who feel they must prove
their undying love for their children.
The only way some fathers and
mothers know how to do it is to pro
vide them with the “in” toy of the
year.
This was the case when Broads-
treet came into my office perspiring
and shaking.
“Help me,” he said.
“That’s what I’m here for,” I told
him gently. “What do you need?”
“I have to get my hands on a Cab
bage Patch doll for my daughter this
Christmas.”
“Are you crazy? If you need a
green card for an illegal alien, I can
get you one. If you want a billion-dol-
lar defense contract from the Air
Force, I can fix it for you. If you’d
like to go on the next space shuttle
flight, I’ll get you a seat. But where
am I going to find a Cabbage Patch
doll in late December?”
“You’re my last resort. I’ve been to
every toy store on the East Coast, I’ve
advertised in the newspapers. I even
tried to break into the Coleco toy fac
tory in Connecticut. In all cases I
came up empty. I can’t face my Jes
sica on Christmas morning if there
isn’t a Cabbage Patch doll under the
tree.”
“A lot of fathers will have the same
problem this year,” I told him.
“I don’t care about other fathers.
All I worry about is Jessica. If I don’t
produce a Cabbage Patch doll she’ll
never believe anything I say again.”
He put his head in his hands. “I’ve
failed as a parent.”
“You’re not a failure,” I told
Broadstreet. “The system has failed
you. Jessica can’t hold you responsi
ble because the toy manufacturer
didn’t produce enough dolls for
Christmas.”
“It’s not just Jessica that I’m wor
ried about. Every night when I come
home my wife Deborah is waiting for
me at the door and she hisses, ‘Did
you get one?’ When I shake my head
I see nothing but fear and loathing in
her eyes.”
“Does she say anything?”
“No, but I can read what’s going
on in her head when we’re eating
dinner in silence. She’s saying, ‘I
could have married 100 successful
guys, and I had to choose one who
couldn’t even provide his child with a
Cabbage Patch Kid.”
“You’re just imagining things,” I
told him. “She’s probably thinking, ‘I
wish I could share his pain.’”
“You don’t know Deborah. Four of
her girlfriends already have Cabbage
Patch dolls stashed in their closets for
Christmas. They don’t say it out loud,
but Deborah knows they pity her for
having married beneath herself.”
“Broadstreet, if you don’t get a
Cabbage Patch Kid for your daugh
ter, you’re not going to be accused of
child abuse. Maybe it’s as good a time
as any for Jessica to learn that she
can’t have everything in life she asks
for.”
“Would you like to tell that to a 4-
year-old girl on Christmas morning?”
“I guess not. Are you sure you’ve
tried every resource available? I read
in the newspaper the other day that if
you deposit $50,000 for 10 years with
the Old Faithful Savings and Loan,
they’ll give you a Cabbage Patch Kid
absolutely free.”
“I saw the same ad. They ran out
of dolls the first day. Someone also
ran an advertisement for a $2 million
house in Georgetown, and said they’d
throw in a Silver Cloud Rolls-Royce
and a Cabbage Patch doll in the deal.
They had to call out the police when
600 people showed up. I’m desper
ate. That’s why I came to you.”
“All right,” I said. “I’ll make one
call for you to the White House. They
owe me a lot of favors.”
I rang up one of the president’s
top gofers. When I hung up, Broads
treet said, “What did he say?”
“He told me to forget it. The Rea
gans can’t even get a Cabbage Patch
doll for their grandchildren.”
There is life after graduation
I’m tired of fare
well columns.
I was tired of them
three semesters ago.
During the closing
weeks of the semester, every graduating
senior on the staff seems to wax elo
quent in a column saying thanks and
goodbye to everyone they’ve ever
known. It always sounds like they’re
about to leave this good old world and
head for that home in the sky.
I swore I’d never write one. College is
not the end, folks. And I suspect it’s not
even the best.
When I cross that stage on Saturday,
there won’t be tears in my eyes. I’ll be
looking forward to the challenges of a
new phase in my life.
But I wonder what I’m taking with
me when I leave College Station. In
three and a half years, I’ve gone from
being a wide-eyed freshman to being a
Kathy
Wiesepape
wide-eyed new employee. Have I
learned anything along the way?
If someone asked me to find the de
rivative of an equation, I couldn’t do it.
In spite of Bana 217, I’m still func
tionally illiterate when it comes to com
puters. After four semesters of German,
I could manage a weak “Guten lag,”
but not much else.
With some economics and accounting
behind me, I have a basic grasp of the
laws of supply and demand. But what
good does that do me, when I still can’t
balance my checkbook or keep my
credit accounts under control?
The names and dates I memorized to
pass history fled as soon as 1 finished the
final. Ditto with the Shakespeare pas
sages I had to recite my sophomore
year.
Still, I can’t say I’ve wasted my time. I
can whip out a decent newspaper article
in 15 minutes and a passable essay in an
hour. Given enough time and the right
math books, I can figure out the mean
ing behind statistics. I understand the
political structure of my country’s gov
ernment, and my knowledge of histor)
has given me a deeper insight into cur
rent events.
Maybe my future employer won’t
care about those things. But they will
care about whether I know how to think
quickly, clearly, and logically.
That’s the most valuable thing my ed
ucation here has given me: the ability to
think. Forget the facts, the names, the
numbers and the words. Those were
only exercises to push me into a higher
level of reasoning.
The diploma shows I’ve reached it.lt
doesn’t show that I have to stop there.
Learning is a continuous process.
I have the rest of my life to finish my
education.
Kathy Wiesepape is a December jour
nalism graduate.
LETTERS:
Severing ties could
hurt blacks most
EDITOR:
I am writing in response to the two
editorials in the December 10 issue of
The Battalion on the Reagan Adminis
tration’s policy dealing with South Af
rica. I was pleased to see that the Edito
rial Board brought partial light to the
dilemma which all moral countries face
in formulating an effective policy to
ward South Africa’s apartheid beliefs;
i.e. alienation of South Africa would
leave that country no choice but to turn
to nations which do not share our belief
in equality. Thereare three other issues
though, which must be resolved before
the United States condemns South Af
rica and severs all ties with them.
First, is the very selfish view of our
own need for South Africa. Not only is
South Africa a strategic military asset to
the U.S., but we also import some ex
tremely important minerals from that
country which are necessities to some
parts of our economy. Second, eco
nomic sanctions against South Africa
would hurt eyerybody in that country,
both whites and blacks, and it is proba
bly safe to venture that the government
of South Africa would place most of the
economic burden created by the sanc
tions on the black population. Third, as
political observer George Will put it,
there are many factors at risk for the
United States to formulate a policy us
ing its people’s indignation to justify it.
Policy making has to be somewhat above
pure emotion to be effective. Those cre
ating a new policy need to take into ac-
count all possible consequences to
America, the world, and the people that
are supposed to benefit from it.
Unfortunately, equal rights in South
Africa is like government intelligence
and K-Mart quality, it simply does not
exist. The United States does need to
implement a stronger policy against
South Africa’s apartheid rule, but be
fore one belittles the Reagan Adminis
tration’s policy as Cathie Anderson’s ed
itorial did, it is important to make a
more intelligent, even-handed assess
ment of a situation which has no clear
solutions. Remember, a severing of ties
with South Africa would most likely
hurt those that need our help the most
— the blacks.
David T. McDowell, ’88
Anthony R. Lordi, ’88
South Africa stands
for what U.S. against
EDITOR:
The South African ambassador to the
U.S. stated to an American newspaper
that although his country does have ra
cial problems, the concept of “one-man
one-vote” would not be an adequate so
lution. My question is simple: what is the
answer?
Democracy has always stood for one-
man, one-vote and for a pluralist re
spect for individual economic and politi
cal rights. South Africa rejects both by
its treatment of Asians, coloreds, and
blacks. If South Africa wishes to even
shed its role of International pariah and
join the ranks of progressive Western
democracies it must guarantee equal ac
cess, both political and economic, to all
citizens regardless of RACE.
South Africa is a poignant reminder
of what America is opposed to and what
we struggle for — freedom, equality and
opportunity. Hopefully it will remind us
of our past, how far we have come and
how far we must go.
I don’t know what policies our gov
ernment could use to reform South Af
rica, but our principles demand we do
what we can. I don’t know by what
means, but I understand the end, South
Africa’s system must change.
Mike Cook
Space weapons only
add to the problem
EDITOR:
I am responding to Brian Duffys’ let
ter published in the December 6 issue of
The Battalion, in which he defends the
implementation of weapons in space.
Where does it ever stop Mr. Duffy?
Has this country evolved into such a re
actionary state that we have lost all abil
ity for rational thought? These space-
based defense systems are not a solution
to anything; they only add to a problem
that is very nearly out of control. War,
of any kind, is now an unacceptable op
tion in this world, because now it can
possibly lead to the destruction of every
thing mankind has ever worked for, and
every new system especially in space,
raises the tension in an already stressed
situation.
In addressing your rhetoric ex
pounding freedom I find that you for
get one thing; to have freedom there is
one prerequisite: life.
Your systems of war do nothing but
destroy it, and quite possibly all of it (if
you are truely interested in this issue
read “Nuclear Winter: Global Conse
quences of Multiple Nuclear Explo
sions” published in Science, Decemoer
23, 1984).
I will close with this observation of
President Eisenhower: “When we get to
the point, as we one day will, that both
sides know that any outbreak of general
hostilities, regardless of the element of
surprise, destruction will be both recip
rocal and complete, possibly we will
have sense enough to meet at the con
ference table with the understanding
that the era of armaments has ended
and the human race must conform its
actions to this truth or die.”
Which will it be?
Mark Janes
Class of’87
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
In memoriam
Bill Robinson, 1962-1984, Editor
The Battalion Editorial Board
Brigid Brockman, Editor
Shelley Hoekstra, Managing Editor
Ed Cassavoy, City Editor
Kellie Dworaczyk, News Editor
Michelle Powe, Editorial Page Editor
Travis Tingle, Sports Editor
The Battalion Staff
Assistant City Editors
Kari Fluegel, Rhonda Snider
Assistant News Editors
Tammy Bell, Cami Brown, John Hallett
Assistant Sports Editor
Charean Williams
Photo Editor Katherine Hurt
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