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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 8, 1985)
Page 2AThe Battalion/Thursday August 8, 1985 Batt loses its mentor College newspaper staffs undergo drastic changes every se mester. With each new editor, a new staff is hired. The Battalion is no exception. However, through each staff change for almost a decade, Bob Rogers, has remained The Battalion’s unofficial adviser. Tuesday, Rogers was named as the new editor of the Bryan- College Station Eagle. “Rog” has been more than merely a journalism professor, he has given guidance to many students. He critiqued The Batt for our weekly review sessions and brought new meaning to the words “learn from your mistakes.” His advice sometimes has been solicited, sometimes not, but he always has respected The Batt’s independence. Sometimes he has defended our independence against people who felt the pa per should be under University censorship or control. His presence in the newsroom, either to offer advice or com ments or merely to exchange casual conversation will be sorely missed. No longer will Battalion editors find a copy of the paper on their desks with “AAARRRGGGHHHHM!” written on the top in red ink. Many students have had a dramatic impact on The Batt, and their graduations often leave the remaining staff feeling a little hollow. But Rog’s unexpected move to the Eagle is an even greater loss. We can sum up our feelings in Rog’s own words: “Yuckers!” We’re sorry to see him go, but we wish him well. The Battalion’s loss will be the community’s gain. The Battalion Editorial Board Mail Call If pets reduce stress, why am I on edge? Letters to the Editor should nut exceed 300 words in length. The edito- signed and must include the address and telephone number of the rial stall reserves the right to edit letters Lor style and length but will writer, make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must be Cheryl Clark I’ve read studies about the relaxing effects of owning a pet. People with high blood pres sure are told that watching fish in an aquarium can help lower their blood pressure rate. Pet ting a pet is good for slowing a heart rate. Walking a dog is good way to relax after a stressful day. I have a kitten — Samantha. She is all the things a kitten is supposed to be. Cuddly, cute, playful, frisky. She be haves in the correct kitten manner. She chases her tail. She goes where she doesn’t belong. She has managed to kill a rather large house plaint, much to my roommate’s dismay. She knocks things off the table and behind the bed. She at tacks anything that moves under my comforter, including me when I’m try ing to sleep. She instinctively knows that better food comes from the refrigerator than her Kitten Chow. I have already spent a small fortune on her shots and other ailments. I can’t understand why I’m not more relaxed. I compared notes with my fellow pet owners. Were they relaxed? Did they experience a lesser degree of stress after playing with their pets? One kitten owner is constantly wash ing her pet to try to get rid of the fleas. Have you ever tried to wash a one pound kitten? It’s not easy. She has had the pet for about two months. In that time, she has climbed a tree several times to rescue the kitten. She and her kitten have had a definite clash of wills as to what the kitten is al lowed to get on, such as the kitchen ta ble. The kitten wanted to play with her owner during Tom Cruise’s dance scene in “Risky Business.” I don’t think my friend has an ounce of stress. I know a new kitten owner who has yet to give his kitten a name (good sign, huh?). So far all he says is how much the kitten meows and how clumsy the kitten is. He has definitely relaxed since get ting the kitten. Of course, cat haters will say these problems come from having a cat. Cats can’t be disciplined or controlled. Any one who has a cat can’t expect to be re laxed. So, I checked with dog owners. Are you a happier, more relaxed individual after taking care of Fido? “Of course we are,” yipped the dog owners. One dog owner has strung barbed wire around her yard and put cinder blocks around the bottom of her fence to keep her pet from digging its way out of the yard. Another dog owner has spent many early mornings chasing after her dogs. She has not one dog, but three. One dog would distract the owner while the other two escaped. While the owner was chas ing the two escapees, the distractor took off. Yes, this friend is relaxed. My roommate has a dog. One night she took the dog with her when she went to wash her car at the car wash. She pulled into the car wash, got out and went around to get the dog. The dog was pretty pleased with himself when he managed to lock the door all by himself. The keys were still inside too. Uh-huh, real relaxing. Maybe I keep ignoring some of the more positive benefits Samantha pro vides because I keep having to take her to the veterinarian. She does love to cuddle. She’s nice to come home to. She never questions or criticizes me. She’s pretty loyal to me. I can safely say that most of my pet owning friends think the same thing about their pets. Most of the time they wouldn’t want to trade their pets for anything in the world. Except when the pet locks itself in the car. Cheryl Clark is a senior journalism ma jor and a columnist for The Battalion. Good journalists are Christian journalists EDITOR: It seems The Batt and journalists in general are constantly being attacked for various reports and articles. Being such a powerful medium in service to the public, journalists should be under scrutiny and for the sake of the journa lism profession, as well as the public, false reporting must be revealed and severely punished. One of the services to the public by the press is its continual surveillance and reporting of activities of elected of ficials. Journalists who have exposed “big time” wrong-doing include politi cal cartoonist Thomas Nast’s expose on New York City’s Boss Tweed, and more recently, Watergate. The press can’t afford to report only what people want to hear. This idea closely parallels an event from the Old Testament of the Bible. The ancient nation of Israel had rejected God’s laws; consequently, God called a young man named Jeremiah to be his prophet, i.e., to “tell it like it is.” He said, “A horrible thing has happened in this land — the priests are ruled by false prophets, and my people like it so!” (Jeremiah 5:30-31). People were hearing what they wanted to hear, and they liked it. As Jeremiah said, “You can’t heal a wound by saying it’s not there” (Jeremiah 6:14). Therefore, I applaud the Batt and journalists who “tell it like it is.” This brings up another problem which I alluded to earlier — what about when the press is wrong. Is the press to blame for that? Yes, but it is also the public duty of every citizen to watch the press and take action to cor rect the wrongs of the press. Lawsuits against newspapers and reporters are appropriate when the press has over stepped its bounds. The First Amend ment doesn’t guarantee the right to print anything about anybody, any time, with impunity. False reporting deserves punishment. Recently, there was a Batt editorial which criticized the Boy Scouts for tea tioortf^vl— ching reverence for God. The journalist who wrote that piece was wrong in his thinking. If the editorial had simply said that the Boy Scouts teach reverence for God and let the reader draw their own conclusions about the rightness or wrongness of that fact, then the edito rial would have been acceptable. If the editorial had said that teaching reverence for God was right, then the editorial would have been commenda ble. I am disturbed by this anti-Go- d/anti-Christian editorial opinion. It would be much better for everyone if journalists simply stated objective facts or at least presented both sides of the story, rather than expressing un grounded (and even destructive) opin ions which erode public confidence in the press. “To be truthful” should be the cor nerstone of a journalist’s work. Let the evidence be gathered and the truth be brought out for all to see. Too often journalists attack Christian principles (and principles/morality, in general) with little understanding of the issues. American freedoms, such as free expression and free press are founded on Christian principles. In conclusion, I applaud the press for uncovering deceit and making truth known. I admonish the press for cre ating deceit and attacking principles which are the foundation for a free na tion, for free expression and a free press. If a journalist wants freedom of expression, then he or she should be embracing Christian principles, not at tacking them. A Christian wants to know the truth as much as anyone. Of course the ulti mate truth for a Christian is derived from the Bible. It was Christ who said, “If you abide in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine. And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). How often is this “truth” distorted to only the last six words?! Murphy Smith Philosophize, but don’t vandalize EDITOR: We feel that the free expression of personal, political viewpoints is one of the great freedoms offered by this wonderful country. But when this ex pression takes the form of the deface ment of public property, we think it’s “bad bull.” Such were our feelings Tuesday, August 6, when we were greeted by the “Shadow Family” painted on the ground in front of the Academic Building. Along with the “family,” va rious messages concerning Hiroshima were scrawled on the stone benches — even old Sully had a message strewn in front of him. Was vandalism necessary to get the message across? Greg Schulle ’84 Ariel Tarrago ’87 Looking for Peter EDITOR: I was wondering if you can help me find a high school classmate. We have heard from almost all of them but Peter Ghiglieri, born October 14, 1936. His parents were Mr. and VI: James Ghiglieri. Our last contactvt I him had his home listed as College^ tion, Texas. He was going to or» tended University of Texas in 1 (medical school). Would anyone your town happen to knowoHiinu: where he might be contacted? He attended Beeshnell PrairieCi High School in Beeshnell, Ill. hosi be very happy if anyone can tellmei formation of him. Joyce Brewer 413 W. Adams Abington, Ill. 61410 China’s nuclear step EDITOR: Too often in today’s press therefei ence to nuclear power is associate: with nuclear proliferation, and July 25 Battalion Editorial Boards no exception. They said, “China says the technoi ogy will be used to develop a comme; cial energy program, not to enhanct] its existing nuclear arsenal” and the: try to persuade the reader that C will not hold to their side of the gain. In reality China is getting little,t anything, that could be used for production of atomic weapons. 1 sa' “little” because the shipment of nium might be included in the Yet even if this fuel is delivered, iti presence there is inconsequential they have domestic resouces for re trieving uranium. To a country that already hasthf bomb, any technology that might assist them would already be known» them. Even if this knowledge was den ied them they could gain it by sendini students to American universities. As was mentioned, this is a business transaction. One that I believe to 1* very important to the nuclear poitf industry and to society. Nuclear poitf is a step forward to a society that is en ergy independent. Robert Martin Class of‘87 The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Kellie Dworaczyk, Editor Kay Mallett, John Hallett, News Editors Loren Steffy, Opinion Page Editor Sarah Oates, City Editor Travis Tingle, Sports Editor Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting nempaptr operated as a community service to Texas A&M ltd Bryan-College Station. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of th Editorial Board or the author, and do not necessarilrrep resent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, fmiitl 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. 'The Battalion is published Tuesday through Friday dur ing Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday anl examination periods. Mail subscriptions are f 16.75perse- mester, $33.25 per school year and $35 per full year. Ad vertising rates furnished on request. Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University, College-Station, TX 77843. Editorial staff phone number: (409) 845-3316. Ad vertising: (409) 845-2611. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 7781}. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battal ion, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77813