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.
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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.
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The Battalion
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Copy Writer Cathy Bennett
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