Page 2AThe Battalion/Wednesday, March 6, 1985
■■nmmjwM.
—
Job hunting at A&M
not embarrassing, yet
It hasn’t been a
particularly good
year for Texas A&M.
Bruce Goodrich is
dead following “mo
tivational exercises.” Texas A&M Re-
Michael
Crawford
world doesn’t wait for us to make at
other mistake, especially when elite
schools, businesses and politicians ati|
making them at the same time.
Jal
hai
By WA’
gents are trying to overstep Attorney
General Jim Mattox to appeal the Gay
Student Services’ case all the way to the
U.S. Supreme Court. Women still aren’t
encouraged to march in the band.
Watch a newscast from Austin somt
time and try to catch a story abou
what’s happening here. You may hati
to wait quite a while. There, thebigneK
is the University of Texas. In McAljet
it’s Pan American University.
Our university has gotten — and de
served — reams of bad publicity. But as
we go into the job market are we going
to be interviewed by someone saying,
“Hey, didn’t you go to that school where
they’re afraid of homosexuals and wo
men?” Probably not. At least not yet.
In short, we are interesting only it
ourselves and the paranoia weareexpt
riencing should be put to good use.
It’s true that Texas A&M has made
the news lately with alarming regularity.
A friend’s father heard about the Good
rich death within 24 hours after it oc
curred. Nothing unusual about that, ex
cept he was stationed in the jungles of
Peru at the time. If a death in College
Station, Texas was reported in Peru, it
was certainly reported elsewhere.
Success is in eye of the beholder
On my way to
school last week a
garbage truck
pulled in front of
my car. Because I
was in a hurry, it
didn’t make me
too happy.
Look at these
people, I thought,
hanging on the
back of a garbage
Kevin Inda
General Dynamics. He, too, will be the
first to show you his new Beamer in the
garage.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not
saying people aren’t successful if they
have a nice car in the garage. But does
being considered “successful” have ev
erything to do with material demonstra
tives? Can you have one without the
other?.
truck for a living. Don’t they have any
ambition? Why don’t they want to be
successful?
And then my conscience confronted
Kevin, you’re a jerk. You have no
right to judge people.
My conscience was right. It made me
think about what I had done. And then
I thought, just what is success? What
symbolizes success?
A business student might say, “Suc
cess is that $65,000-a-year job on Wall
Street,” or “just look in the garage at my
new Beamer — that’s success.”
Being classified as a “successful” per
son has something, but not everything,
to do with money, prestige and material
things. A successful individual is one
who carries out a specific task to the best
of his abilities and is happy with his ac
complishments. Sure, success can also
bring about wealth and fame, but that
facet of being considered “successful”
shouldn’t be regarded as the standard.
As college students we all have goals
and plans for the future. Some of us
may go into business or politics, it really
doesn’t matter. Nevertheless, one
shouldn’t have to go to the bank or look
in the garage to measure the amount of
his, or anyone else’s, success.
Moreover, an engineer might equate
success with going to work for NASA or
People can be considered “successful’
no matter what they do.
They aren’t likely to get their name
mentioned in the Who’s News section of
The Wall Street Journal but that doesn’t
mean they can’t be successful at what
they do. You might wonder how people
who take out trash can be considered
“successful.” Well, a successful garbage
man is satisfied with his work and with
his life. If he’s happy with his life that’s
all that matters; he shouldn’t be put
down for it.
As thinking human beings we have
the ability to reason and perform judge
ments. But this process sometimes pro
vides us with biased conclusions. These
hand-me-down biases are gifts from
past generations. Generations that
erected barriers between the “right way”
and the “wrong way.” But, as thinking
individuals, we control our thoughts
and actions. We can alter or reverse our
biases and eliminate barriers.
I admit it. I’m just as guilty as the next
person when it comes to being judge
mental. But, it’s not right to deem oth
ers “unsuccessful” because they don’t
meet your standards.
You never know when you might find
yourself taking the trash out for a living.
But what occurs on our campus is of
little more than passing national inter
est, and employers look for academic
qualifications and personal initiative.
Texas A&M is not the center of the
world, the nation or even the state. It is,
however, the center of Brazos County
— thus the media covers it accordingly.
That intensive coverage makes us hy
persensitive and unrealistic. It’s easy to
think that other cities’ media cover
A&M to the extent that channels 3 and
15, the Eagle and The Battalion do. Not
A&M should be glad the colleoitt
memory of the general public is shot
The negative coverage hasn’tyei
harmed the school’s reputation. Moit
than anything, the nightly picturesc
the Cuadra trial, the Zentgraf suit ant
the GSS case should cause us toexamb
ourselves. Beyond the specifics in ead
of the cases, there’s the question of wit
we.can’t seem to adapt. It’s beenarguei
that if we were to change, we would lx
come just like any other school. Berk
ley, MIT and the University of Tea
roll with the changes, and they area
just any other school. They are amonj
the best, and A&M should andcouldlx
among them. '
A&M is only one of dozens of higher
education institutions in Texas. Add to
that the schools in other states and this
university gets lost in the forest. The
We have the money, facilities and
personnel that other schools wish
But incorporated in the idea of a work
university, there must be flexibifo
Flexibility to accept change and others
with different styles and tastes. If Uni
versity officials remain rigid in theirbai
tie to keep the status quo, the lastingef
feet could eventually be on the studenis
and their search for jobs. Bad reputa
tions are much easier to create and
harder to shake than good ones.
Michael Crawford is a junior joum
lism major and a staff writer for Tin
Battalion.
LETTERS:
All the king’s horses
and all the king’s men.
tors. Only Unitedbank is committed
enough to the student to place two
them in the boardroom.
Now, take garbage men for example.
Kevin S. Inda is a senior journalism
major and a weekly columnist for The
Battalion.
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
Member of
Texas Press Association
SouthwestJournalism 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 Hallett, 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
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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.
The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper for
students in reporting, editing and photography classes
within the Department of Communications.
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length. 'The editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters
for style and length but will make every effort to maintain
the author's intent. Each letter must be signed and must
include the address and telephone number of the writer.
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Say 'uncle/ or else
By ART BUCHWALD
Columnist for The Los Angeles Times Syndicate
When President Reagan was asked
last week if he intended to overthrow
the Sandinista government in Nicara
gua, the president replied he wouldn’t if
they said “uncle.”
“What does he mean by that?” I asked
my reliable State Department source.
“Remember when you were a boy and
you wrestled another kid to the ground?
The first one who cried ‘uncle’ lost.
Then the winner got up without break
ing the loser’s arm.”
“What has that got to do with Nicara
gua:
‘It’s our new foreign policy. We’re
willing to let any country exist as long as
it cries ‘uncle’?”
“How do you get Nicaragua to cry
‘uncle’?”
“The very best way is to support the
‘freedom fighters’ who are trying to
overthrow the government there. Since
Congress is reluctant to put up the
money to make the Sandinistas scream
‘uncle,’ the president is taking his case to
the American people. He and Secretary
of State George Schultz have warned
that if Congress won’t support this
country’s Uncle Doctrine then we may
wind up in an endless darkness of Com
munist tyranny.”
“If our policy is to make totalitarian
countries cry ‘uncle,’ why don’t we over
throw the government of Chile?”
“We can’t go into Chile because the
military regime there is on our side. Ni
caragua, on the other hand, fits the
ideological profile and is just the right
size, provided we give their freedom
fighters the strength to wrestle the pre
sent government to the ground/
“Why don’t we make South Korea cry
‘uncle?”
“Because our ‘Uncle’ policy is only
aimed at (ital) Communist (unital) totali
tarian governments that are not chosen
by the people/
“What’s the legal basis for making a
government cry ‘uncle’ if we don’t like
what they’re doing?”
“The present policy is not predicated
on legal grounds but moral ones. The
president believes we have a moral duty
to help people bring about freedom in
their country and overthrow the tyr
anny from thejeft by covert force.”
“What about tyranny from the right?”
“We only deal with tyranny from the
right by quiet diplomacy. If we made a
right-wing government say ‘uncle’ pub
licity it might be replaced by a left-wing
government, and that is something we
have to avoid at all costs.”
“How much will it take to make the
Nicaraguans cry ‘uncle?’
“The president wants $14 million to
help the freedom fighters make the
Sandinistas throw in the towel.”
“That doesn’t sound like a lot of
money. Does he really believe the Nica
raguans will cry ‘uncle* if we give the op
position $ 14 million?”
“No, but it will get our feet wet. Once
they use it up then the president can go
back to Congress and ask for some (ital)
real (unital) money to overthrow the
Managua government. If money doesn’t
do it, then we may have to send in
American boys to do the job right. It
won’t be the first time American troops
made the Nicaraguans say ‘uncle.’”
“If we’re going to go to that much
trouble to overthrow a Communist re
gime in our hemisphere, why don’t we
knock off Cuba?”
“Because if we tried to overthrow
Castro it might bring in the Soviets.
Then the question of who cries ‘uncle’
first might be superfluous.”
EDITOR:
There was once a great construction
company. In fear of cost overrun, the
brainy company president or zany com
pany president decided to cut the fund
for cement purchase by more than 20
percent. The building collapsed, and
the company went bankrupt happily
ever after.
There was once a great farm in the
country. In fear of cash shortage, the
canny farmer or fanny farmer decided
to cut the fund for watering by more
than 20 percent. The plants became
dried and dead, and the farmer went
starved happily ever after.
There was once a great state in the
Union. In fear of revenue shortage, the
shrewd state government or screwed
state government proposed to cut the
funding to the universities by more than
20 percent. The people . . . and the state
.. . happily ever after.
Steve Schwarzbach, ’85
Ren Carter, ’85
Student Advisory Directors
Unitedbank-College Station
Big Brother may be
moving to Texas A&M
Liem C. Du
Class of’85
Unitedbank committed
to A&M community
EDITOR:
We would like to clarify some miscon
ceptions concerning the banking serv
ices Unitedbank-College Station offers
as reported in the Feb. 28 issue of The
Battalion.
A Student Government study re
ported that a $500 minimum balance is
required for free checking priveleges at
Unitedbank. This figure is incorrect;
the figure should state $250, one-half
the amount reported by the Student
Government.
Another serious error was made in
reporting that Unitedbank does not
cash checks from the University. The
fact is Unitedbank has always and will
continue to cash checks from Texas
A&M. The tellers at Unitedbank inform
us that they cash anywhere from 600 to
1,000 A&M checks each month, requir
ing only positive proof of identification
(typically a valid driver’s license) and
that the person cashing the check be the
person that the check is made payable
to. This service is provided as a courtesy
to the University.
Unitedbank-College Station has long
been committed to servicing the bank
ing needs of the A&M community. Wit
ness to this is the bank’s Student Advi
sory Director Program, in which A&M
students are selected to serve as advisory
directors on the bank’s Board of Direc-
EDITOR:
Big brother seems to be at it again.
Under the guise of cost reduction,
Texas A&M University is proposing to
consolidate university travel by use of an
approved travel agent. I have two objec
lions to such a policy.
First, the decision to consolidate
travel has been undertaken without an)
public discussion of the alternatives.
Only a call to a local travel agent by a
colleague to book travel brought the
proposed policy change to my attention.
In some respects this lack of a public fo
rum was not surprising to me as bu
reaucrats are often jealous of their dis
cretionary powers. However, such an
infringement on personal freedoms is
personally very objectionable.
My second concern is a bit more
scholarly. As any Economics 203 or 201
student realizes, monopolies tend to be
inefficient. Obviously the University
Central Purchasing Organization could
use an economics lesson. To illustrate
the inefficiency of Government run
programs one only needs to point to the
Grace Commission survey which com
pared the Government monopoly to
private enterprise. This report made
2,478 recommendations to eliminate
waste that could save the Government
and taxpayers $424 billion over a three-
year period.
In contrast, the advantage of the mar
ket system is its decentralization. By
many travel agents competing with one
another for each consumers business
there is an incentive to keep costs low or
lose potential customers. I for one can
not see how the creation of a University
Cartel that will fix the price of services
for a year will maintain the incentives to
keep costs low. In fact, I would expect
exactly the opposite to occur.
Time is running out on the free mar
ket at Texas A&M. The University is
moving quickly to consolidate travel and
increase its power in the marketplace; a
RFP has been distributed for bids and a
decision will most likely be made in the
near future. Perhaps an outpoor of sup
port for a more efficient system could
still stem the tide.
Larry Rose
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