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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 4, 1985)
Page 2/The Battalion/Monday, March 4, 1985 OPINION Help small farmers: buy all their farms By ART BUCHWALD Columnist for The Los Angeles Times Syndicate “I meant to. But since it was them j end I decided to relax and dig fend ■'T-T "" li"l< ' ICIMII ill- 11.11 ii - ill (Inuii iiii;I' President Reagan, in last week s radio wash m horse and sit w i th l , address, said the government has done ca jj everything it can for the farmer. It is now time for others to pitch in and do more, “from officials at the state level to banks, private groups and individuals in the community.” the bugs don’t get your corn, thesul I wasn’t quite sure what I, as an indi- zero temperatures don’t freeze yourii vidual, could do to help the farmer, so I matoes, your cows don’t get pnemont drove out to Culpeper, Va. the dollar gets weaker and the Russi “Hi, Farmer Brown, Presidem Rea- are starving to death gan told me I should pitch in and help you. What exactly can I do?” “I’ll let you have the farm real cheap “How much money can I make?” “You can make a bundle — provide | ‘You can buy my farm.” ‘I don’t know much about farming. Small town life has its advantages “Shucks, there’s nothing to it. All you have to do is get up at 5, milk the cows, feed the hogs, and see how many chick ens died in the night from the frost. Any fool can do that.” An article on the editorial page of a recent issue of the Houston Post suggested that Texas A&M should annex the University of Houston. The UH professor who wrote the article Loren Steffy claimed that the addition of UH to the Texas A&M System would give the Ag gies a foothold in Houston and give UH Permanent University Fund benefits. I had little interest in the article itself, but the author referred to College Sta tion with such flattering terms as “corn patch,” “briar patch” and several other metaphors denoting rural backward ness. Over the weekend I had the distinct “pleasure” of driving to Houston to at tend a wedding. The wedding was won derful, most weddings are, but the drive to Clear Lake City brought the Post arti cle to mind. The term “corn patch” also popped into my head as I avoided a po tential accident, dodged the ten-foot- deep ravines in the middle of 1-45 and was exposed to the automotive courtesy of the average Houston motorist. I recalled the numerous times I had heard fellow students complaining about College Station being dull, tiny, uncultured and devoid of life except for A&M. Compared to Houston, College Station may be lacking in excitement, but the “small-town” atmosphere does have its advantages. The other morning at 2:30 a.m., for example, I walked from my apartment to the 7-1J and returned home without being robbed, raped or murdered. I can hop in my car and drive where ver I want without worrying about bumper-to-bumper rush-hour traffic at any given hour, and I have most of the potholes on the major streets mem orized. I can also roll down my window and inhale relatively clean air as op posed to the lung-coating aroma that usually infests a large city. True, I can’t shop in Neiman-Mar- cus; I can’t eat at Bennihana’s; I can’t catch a flight to Bolivia; and I can’t ad mire the sun setting behind College Sta tion’s skyscrapers. Houston, you can have your fancy stores, your pollution, your big build ings, your nightclubs, your crime, your Ku Klux Klan rallies, your crowded streets, and your teeth-gnashing motor ists. I’ll just sit back in my corn patch and watch the sun set on the horizon and maybe later I’ll drive down the road and smile at a the driver ahead of me who wants in my lane, knowing that it really doesn’t matter if he gets one car length ahead. “After you till the soil, plant your seed, spread fertilizer, spray for bugs and dig furrows for irrigation.” Loren Steffy is a sophomore journa lism major and a weekly columnist for The Battalion. “Dave Stockman says the reason you farmers owe so much money to the banks is you keep speculating in land and buying new equipment to make windfall profits at the expense of the American taxpayer.” “Dave’s a good old boy, but he knows as much about farming as he does about drawing up a balanced budget.” “It wasn’t just Stockman. President Reagan said the same thing.The reason you’re in so much trouble is you bet on inflation and you were wrong. Didn’t you hear him Saturday morning?” LETTERS: Sully’s Symposium not ‘predictably boring’ EDITOR: In response to your Feb. 19 editorial questioning the thought put into this se mester’s Sully’s Symposium, I must ad mit that I am not sure if you understand the framework around which the forum was designed. From its inception, the fo rum undertook to obtain the views and philosophies of as many students as pos sible whose influence and activities had an impact on campus life. Inviting Da vid Aders, student body president to re spond to questions about the impact of the Zentgraff settlement, minority re cruitment, and the GSS issues did not in my mind turn out to be “predictably bo- ring.” many people’s parents visit during Par ent’s Weekend and enjoy all of the festi vities? Yes, that too is coordinated by Student Government. How many couples that participated in the Big Kiss realized that Student Government was the main instigator of this event? Does anybody know some one who received free blood from Bra zos County, thanks to all the blood do nated in the Blood Drive? Again, this was coordinated by Student Govern ment. * Attendance at Women’s Week disappointing Did anybody realize we sponsored a 4-day national Student Government con ference, COSGA ’85, for over 250 stu dent leaders from all across the nation? How many people will participate in the Big Event, and how many people will be helped out by this service? This, too, is sponsored by Student Government. Sully’s Symposium is not and was never meant to be closed to dry public relations speeches. Any individual wish ing to speak or make a suggestion for an upcoming forum is encouraged to drop by the Lambda Sigma office, on the sec ond floor of the Pavillion. Lambda Sigma is and has been trying to get the true “movers and shakers” of this uni versity. Last semester the Corps com mander, representatives of Black Awareness, and many other organiza tions discussed their respective con cerns. This semester, Lambda Sigma has already set as goals getting H.R. “Bum” Bright and President Vandiver to speak at upcoming forums. Definitely not the path of least resistance. Bill Emshoff Well, I think I have gotten my point across, even though I could go on and on. Many of these events are taken for granted. People just think they some how get done. Well, thanks to'Student Government things do get done, con trary to what The Battalion thinks. Batt staff should learn to ‘do unto others...’ EDITOR. , I have often wondered, as I have read all of your adverse articles about Stu dent Government, if anybody realizes all of the good this organization does. I wonder when people attend Aggie Muster, and are in awe of all that goes on, if they realize the whole ceremony is put on by Student Government. How iLis a shame that all of this election controversy has been made up! For any one to believe that Student Government controls who runs for office is absurd. (For your information, the only things that are checked are the candidates’s grades and his/her standing in the Uni versity.) But thanks to the “power of the press” and ignorance of The Battalion Editorial Board, people believe trash like this! Laura Madia happens to be a very credible person, and along with Jim Collins, has done a fantastic job with the Election Commission. It is too bad the Editorial Board took all of her com ments out of context and had to drag her name through the mud. In many people’s opinions, your cartoon printed on Feb.23, was tasteless and extremely inconsiderate! It is sad to think that an important lesson in life has passed the Editorial Board by, and that lesson is to treat oth ers only as you would have them treat yourself. Think about it! Cliff Dugosh, ’86 accompanied by 35 signatures EDITOR: What does it take to get at least fifty people to come hear an incredibly wealthy business person speak on suc cess strategies, especially if that person is a female? What about a brown bag luncheon on interviewing do’s and don’ts, a great performance by the Women’s Chorus, a style show, or a speech on the early women’s movement by Dr. Sara Alpern? All of these events were part of the second annual A&M Women’s Week held the week of Feb. 18. They were free of charge and open to the public. However, having barely twenty-five people attend Lyn Noble’s speech was embarrassing when the faculty mem bers outnumbered the students. I know that last week may have been bad for many because of tests; yet, I still feel the attendance was quite low for a student population of 33,859 in which about 14,000 are women. So why did we have an attendance problem? You cannot blame it on the public re lations when both Aggie Women and Women In Communication sponsored it. Besides the usual flyer distribution and decorating of the MSC kiosk and backboard, we put a notice in the “A- round Tow r n,” bought a Battalion ad and had two articles printed in The Bat talion. We even mailed and delivered 300 special invitations to women student leaders, faculty, corp officers and soro rities. We are interested in learning and dis cussing relevant topics such as lead ership training, career planning and choices, health, safety, family, and dressing for success. We offer field trips to Houston or Dallas that allow students to meet women executives in a variety of professions. We act as a support group which can connect you to the right peo ple for solving personal and academic problems. Also, men are encouraged to join because men need to know how to work side by side with women. Just twenty years ago women were admitted as students at A&M. They never dreamed that women today would be entering career fields and leadership positions that were tradition ally off limits to them. The days of women attending A&M for an “Mrs.” degree are long gone (at least they should be). Obtaining a college degree is only half the story; the other half is be coming involved to learn about people and skills that you do not get in the classroom. Connie Rogers Class of’87 All not as pleased with A-1 service as KK EDITOR: This letter is in response to the article published in The Battalion on Monday, February 25, 1985 entitled “Wiatt: no viable alternatives to towing for campus police.” Director of Traffic and Security Bob Wiatt was quoted as saying, “It is a good feeling for students to know that even if their car is being towed, it is be ing taken care of.” I would like to say that I do not share this “good feeling” that other students may have about the A-1 wrecker service and in fact my Jeep, which was towed just recently, was not properly taken care of. Being a four-wheel drive vehi cle, it has a front and rear transmission which are both supposed to be disen gaged before being towed to prevent damage to the drive train. When I went to pick up my Jeep at the A-1 lot I found only the rear transmission had been dis engaged. It seems to me that a company that has towed as many vehicles as A-1 should know the correct way to tow all types of vehicles and I can only hope that no permanent damage has been done to my Jeep. I am in favor of the proposed “boot” or lock on the base of the wheel rather than a tow-away policy. These devices would eliminate the tow-away cost for the student as well as other problems such as in my case. Since A&M receives no money form the wrecker service, why not use the “boot” device? The money collected from this practice could go toward building more parking facilities which would help eliminate the parking shortages here at Texas A&M. Pat Parker, ’86 “You don’t make it sound like mikj fun." “It’s a lot of fun, if you’re a gaml)lg| What other business offers you a chan to bet your house on the crap tablf ok I a year?” “The people in Washington sayilKl reason you farmers are living on it! I edge is that you’re always producing^ much food and the taxpayers are stud with the bill.” “When do you get to play golf or ten nis?” “Don’t you ever get into town?” “Sure. You get to go once, maybe twice a week, to meet with your banker and explain to him why you can’t meet the payments on you loan.” “I can’t quarrel with that. We’rejin dumb people who know how to gro things, but we don’t know how ton® ket them. The ideal situation for Anw ica is if we farmers didn’t grow et food and made everyone pay throuji the nose. Then instead of the taxpaye having to give us price supports« could charge him $15 for a poundd potatoes. I’m sure those smart fellowsc Washington will be able to figure out way of causing a food shortage in tin country so we could get a fair pricefot our crops. You should buy my farm no* while it’s dirt cheap. Then when Wash ington works out a plan there willbeu few farms left you can get $6 for a quae of raw milk on the open market.” “It sounds tempting. But I’m notsun I want to be a farmer. Even if you malt a lot of money it doesn’t sound like you have much time to enjoy it. Isn't that some other way I can help you?” “Well, if you’re going back to Was! ington you can take this corn cobwi you and tell Dave Stockman to stick iti his ear.” T he 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 Cami Brown, John Haliett, Kay Mallett Assistant Sports Editor Charean Williams Entertainment Editors Shawn Behlen, Leigh-Ellen Clark Staff Writers Cathie Anderson, Brandon Berry, Dainah Bullard, Ann Cervenka, Michael Crawford, Kirsten Dietz, Patti Flint, Patrice Koranek, Trent Leopold, Sarah Oates, Jerry Oslin, Tricia Parker, Lynn Rae Povec Copy Editors Jan Perry, Kelley Smith Make-up Editors Karen Bloch, Karla Martin Columnists Kevin Inda, Loren Steffy Editorial Cartoonist Mike Lane Sports Cartoonist Dale Smith Copy Writer Cathy Bennett Photo Editor Katherine Hurt Photographers Anthony Casper, Wayne Grabein, Bill Hughes, Frank Irwin, John Makely, Peter Rocha, Dean Saito 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. v newspaper, students in reporting, editing and photography classes within the Department of Communications. Letters Policy Letters to the Editor should not exceed ’WO Hindi in length. The editorial stnfl'reserves the right to edit letters for style and length but will make every effort to liiniiiniiii the author's intent. Each letter must Ire signed and must include the address and telephone nuinltct ol the writer. The Battaliot, is published Monday through frith) during Texas A&M regular semesters, except lot holithy and examination periods. Mail subscriptions are flli.7:, per semester, $33.25 per school year and $35 fter full year. Advertising rates furnished on request. Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77B43. Editorial staff phone number: (409) H45-2630. Ad vertising: (409) 845-2611. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. POS TMASTER: Send address changes to fhe D,iit,il- ion, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843 F< Prt select will b ate t< Halil ing. Als mittei lish a dardi evalu Stude Th omnn chan; new cours ★l * * * * * * * * if if if 4 )f if if if if if if if f f if if if f if if if if if if I f if f. f f F4 f f L N J M t Jf * S| 4 T| T G U *1- T R