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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 1985)
Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, January 30, 1985 LETTERS: Women will be asset to band, other groups EDITOR: Three cheers to U.S. District Judge Ross Sterling for approving a settlement requiring Texas A&M University to en courage women students to join the all male campus organizations. Three more cheers to the women who stood their ground during the long legal battle. An appeal may lurk before them, but “they’<vt come along way, ba by.” Women comprise more than 40 per cent of Texas A&M’s current student enrollment. It’s a fine school for aca demic and leadership training, thanks to outstanding faculty and student orga nizations. Women have added a great deal to numerous campus groups, and the Aggie Band, Ross Volunteers and Fish Drill Team will benefit as well. Sometimes traditions need to change. Men and women are learning to work together in the business world — why not begin this education on a college campus? It’s time for former students and current students opposed to Judge Sterling’s action to wake up. It’s 1985, and there’s a wonderful world around us, a world for men and women to share. I’m proud to be a former student of Texas A&M myself, and I hope all stu dents will continue to benefit from their experience on that campus. Jane G. Brust Class of’83 Board of Regents should not appeal EDITOR: We would like to applaud Judge Ross Sterling as well as Attorney General Jim Mattox for finally reaching a settlement in the Zentgraf discrimination case. It appears that, for once, justice has been done. But wait! Is that grumbling we hear coming from the distinguished Texas A&M University Board of Re gents? Yes, the whining is coming from the plush regent’s annex in the MSC. It seems that they’re dissatisfied with the settlement. Could it be that “a very dis tinctive and unique organization unlike any other volunteer organization in the country” has been attacked? Come on, regents, can’t you do better' than that? After all, the KKK is “a very distinctive and unique organization.” We now find out that the regents plan to appeal the ruling, although their le gal standing in the case is, at best, du bious. After all, their legal representa tive, the Attorney General, has decided to uphold the state constitution by sid ing against them. In addition, the Texas Aggie Band Association, allied with the regents, was denied the right to inter vene in the case. Apparently, they plan to try the same trick they used to appeal the GSS decision. That is, Mattox de cides to let them appeal the case as long as no state money is used. We sincerely hope that the Attorney General stands up to them this time, and thereby stands up for our rights. After all, when the rights of some seg ment of society are repressed, it makes it easier to repress the rights of other groups. In this case, however, the re pressors are not some faraway, un touchable bureaucracy, giving Big Brother orders which affect millions. Instead, they are a nearby, untouchable bureaucracy, firmly entrenched and with firm control over us. It’s time for a re-evaluation of the power structure; maybe someday the highest power of the university won’t continually embar rass the students and faculty, who are struggling for excellence. Brian Sterling, ’86 accompanied by 8 signatures Vigilante justified in defending himself EDITOR: Goncermng your editorial on Jan. 28 about Bernhard H. Goetz. You said, “Allowing people to take the law into their own hands is not the answer. Al lowing people to seek revenge through any means flies in the face of our com mittment to live in a country of law and order.” People can only be taking the law into their own hands or seeking revenge af ter the fact. This man was simply de fending his personal body against in jury. If Goetz would not have had a weapon and had justifiably refused to turn over the money, he would surely have been killed or badly injured. This would not even had made the newspa per in New York. Here, a man working to support his family is put out of work for some time, possibly permanently. Your heart should go out to a man that has to suf fer the brow beating he has re ceived from a newspaper for defending his right to live without harassment. Perry D. Cortese Ruth Hicks Embryos also are ‘created equal’ EDITOR: In response to Kristin Parsons’ letter stating that 15 million women are glad to have the right to choose life or death tor their unborn babies — what about the United States Constitution which states that “all men are created equal”? f his means to me that all men are cre ated equal from the moment of concep tion. Isn’t that what creation means? This does indeed mean that an “em bryo” is as much as a “child” and a “per son” as her 13 year-old. With the genetic code (DNA) imprinted in every cell, the child has every capability of being fully formed, if given the chance. And what about the 15 million “wo men” mentioned? How many of these “women” are actually irresponsible teenagers who will not seek birth control methods because the escape of abortion is always there if they get “in trouble”? Sara Mitchell Class of ’88 Men should have vote on abortion EDITOR: I would like to respond to the letter from Scott Ferguson entitled “Men Shouldn’t Have Vote on Abortion” (1/25/85). I would like to present my case in the form of four questions: 1. Are men not af fected by abortion? At the present time a man has no legal means to fight the abortion of HIS child. Shouldn’t a minimum require-' ment for an abortion be the consent of BO TH would-be parents? 2. Should laws be made by only those they will affect? If this is the case then we should only allow male congressmen to vote on war issues. Only males are drafted in war-time. And, only those convicted of murder should make laws dealing with murder; they are the ones the law will affect. 3. Why do all pro-abortion/pro-choice advocates always stress the rape and in cest victims? Very few abortions are per formed for these reasons. Special sec tions of anti-abortion law could provide for these circumstances as well as when the mother’s life is in danger. 4. Mr. Ferguson stated in his closing that many anti-abortionists are propo nents of capital punishment. What do abortion and capital punishment have in common? Capital punishment is handed out to the very deserving. Show me an unborn child that has committed the same crimes as Gary Gilmore and I’ll pay for the abortion myself. I don’t think all the solutions have been found to the abortion issue and I am not ready to prohibit half of our population from looking for them. B. Keith Byer Class of’85 Androgyny article in At Ease praised EDITOR: I was very happy to see the articles on androgyny in “At Ease” on Jan. 25. 1 hope now that the student body will un derstand a little better what is going on inside the heads of the “eccentric mi nority” on campus. I am a male senior environmental de sign major, and my pierced ear, spiked hair (that means it’s short on top, cow boys) and 10 inch blonde tail have shocked more than a few people on campus. Hey, somebody must do it! Wouldn’t class be boring if you didn’t have me to stare at? 1 enjoy being different, androgynous if you want to call me that (sometimes I wear mascara and eyeliner,too). I do it to make people question their associa tion with life's social groups and realize that there are people who stand out as individuals. Individuality is not only a haircut and strange clothes, but a way of thinking and of living. It is only another level of education, one that you won’t discover sitting in a classroom staring a chalkboard. Tres Wright Class of’85 Orchestra coverage not professional EDITOR: After viewing last Thursday’s perfor mance by Pinchas Zukerman and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) spon sored by MSC OPAS, I am having diffi culty understanding the coverage given the performance. Several aspects of the article appearing in the Battalion edi tion of Jan. 25 are difficult to under stand. It was very curious to me that a pho tograph of the SPCO, led by three time Grammy award winning Pinchas Zuker- man, should be captioned “The Brazos Valley Symphony.” I also saw little need to report “chuckles” from junior high students and a lack of standing ovation before intermission. No mention was made of the final piece played in the second half of the program which re ceived a standing ovation as well as three encores. I do realize The Battalion is a student newspaper, but it is also our only uni versity newspaper; world renown artists presented by MSC OPAS and other stu dent committees are a rare opportunity and should be reported with more pro fessionalism. Shelley Henderson Ignoring opponents petty and rude EDITOR: The front page photo entitled “Read it, Ag” (1-28-85) displays a particularly rude Aggie tradition. The petty refusal to recognize our opponents can only en gender disrespect and resentment in re turn. Aggie spirit is a fine thing but, not at the expense of simple courtesy. David Bear Professor in minority glad to be there EDITOR: 1 have one correction and one com ment on Jeff Brady’s article in the Jan. 21 issue of the Battalion. Correction: I am not teaching grad uate courses part-time in the basement of the Chemistry Building. I have a pleasant of fice on the ground floor and teach two sections of undergraduate Or ganic Chemistry. Comment: I am pleased to be “in the minority” in view of the earlier com ment from Dr. Davenport to the effect that “most of the time the majority is wrong." I have long suspected that such is the case. Rod O’Connor Full-Time Iconoclast and Part-Time Professor — Vigilante justified What was that famous line? Oh. “And justice for all.” On January 9, 1 wrote a column about citizens hav ing the right to protect t h e m - selves. The piece was w r i 11 e n i n praise of a self- employed electronics expert named Bernhard Goetz. Goetz is the real-life reincarnation of Dirty Harry w ho made hamburger of four teen-agers during a robbery at tempt in subw ay train in Lower Manhat tan. Goetz w as charged with four counts of attempted murder and onecountof criminal possession ot a dangerous weapon. I was outraged that a citizen was no longer able to protect his own life. What was the world coming to? The system just should have said, “Okay you crimi nals, we’re going to crack down on citi zens carrying weapons for protection. We’re going to make it safer for you guys to commit crimes." Bv charging Goetz, that’s basically what they did. 1 was pleased to learn that last Friday a grand jury refused to indict Goetz for attempted murder. Instead, they in dicted him only on three counts of crim inal possession of a weapon. He still f aces up to seven years in prison if con victed. But, even if convicted, the law al lows judges to consider mitigating cir- cumstances, especially when the defendant is a first-time offender. So, there is a good chance Goetz may sene no time at all — something I hoped for all along. ' Abl>i< B t wo rati | : debate I and the ■ day at 1 1'he d I rnorial > I- rum, wil I Youth I founded | 1968. 11 I test of tl i can |)oli< Both magazir painted revoluti tablishn i rebel w’ colorful In 1 with th< of coca he wot jumpec for six; Durii in the identity sumed became New Yc In A malic r coincid autobio Motion Reactions to Goetz’s indictment var ied. New York City Mayor td K<xh, who previously denounced vigilante ac tions, didn't criticize the grand jury’s ac tion. Governor Mario Cuomo also felt the grand jury did the right thing. Of course, politicians never jump to conclu sions or criticize actions without some one else first taking the blame—in this situation, the courts. Shirley Cabey. the mother of the mdSt' seriously injured victim doesn’t agree. According to her lawyer, “She said that what the government is now telling peo ple is that it is all right to go out and pid up a gun and shoot black people.’’ Cabey s response was a normal one. Her son is paralyzed from the waist down and in a coma. Doctors say neuro logical tests indicate that some of his brain functions — involving compre hension and speech — ate impaired. But her statement is ludicrous. The government is giving people the right to defend themselves. It’s not es tablishing open season on blacks -jusi on knife-wielding hoodlums. The fact that four youths were in jured — one seriously — is tragic. But, they had it coming. It would have been a greater tragedy if Goetz was convicted for attemped murder. Kevin Inda is a senior journalism ma jor and a weekly columnist for The Battalion. By The I last N< !■ again f I Morris I The I the art 1 that us | fall mi; 1 aters l I says. The Z af ter s! “I b ; first ri I man, : A&M. “On I sophis I they • Eastwt 1 g er m I wellcr; Hie 1 course ment ; F The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference 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 Copy Editor Kay Mallett Make-up Editors Karen Bloch, Karla Martin Columnists Kevin Inda, LorenSteffy Editorial Cartoonist Mike Lane Sports Cartoonist Dale Smith Copy Writer Cathy Bennett Editorial Policy 1 he Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper operated as a community service to Texas A&M and B rya n-College Station. 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