The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, September 02, 1985, Image 2

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Page 2/The Battalion/Monday September 2,1985
Here we go again
Well, here it is, the start of another semester at Texas A&M
and it’s time for our ‘Welcome Back Aggies’ editorial. Much has
changed during the summer: Henry Cisneros was named to the
Board of Regents; the Supreme Court ruled the University must
recognize the Gay Student Services; Lt. Gen. Ormond R. Simp
son, former assistant vice president for student services, retired
and was honored by having the main drill field named after
him; and three women havejoined the traditionally all-male Ag
gie Band.
On a more personal note, The Battalion lost its little known
but greatly appreciated unofficial adviser, Bob Rodgers, who
started his duties as editor of the Bryan/College Station Eagle
yesterday.
And most recently, The Battalion made the switch from
summer staff to fall staff. The new staff would like to extend a
welcome to new and returning Aggies on campus. We would
like to encourage open communication between our staff, the
students and the faculty.
Please take advantage of the Mail Call column and the new
guest columnist policy, which exists for your benefit. Or feel
free to give us a call. Our phone numbers are:
Editor 845-2647
City Editor (for story ideas) 845-3316
Asst. City Editor 845-3314
Opinion Page Editor (for letters and columns) 845-3315
Sports 845-7381
845-2665
Reporters 845-3313
At Ease 845-3312
The Battalion Editorial Board
Mail Call
Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in 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.
Give Corps a chance
EDITOR:
As the fall semester begins, the
spectre of the unfortunate death of a ca
det last year also has returned. There
have even been rumors that the Corps
of Cadets may be on the way out.
If such is indeed the case, then it will
be a gross miscarriage of justice. The
honorably appropriate solution of test
ing the physical endurance of the appli
cants prior to their induction into the
Corps will not have been allowed to
prove itself as a viable means of avoid
ing any further accidental deaths of
trainees.
Would it not be more appropriate, in
stead of slandering the Corps off the
A&M campus and allow the death of
one young man to go unavenged, to use
his death via harassment as a means to
improve the tradition and experience
gained on training officers on a pre
dominantly civilian campus?
As a former midshipman at the U.S.
Naval Academy, I can attest to the prov
idence of training the leaders of our
armed forces in a partly social, rather
than a strictly military environment. For
that matter, I can recall exhaustion, I
believe; a death whose circumstances
were not investigated, or even held
against the seniors involved therein.
Nor do the service academies have as
near a rigorous testing program for
physical endurance as A&M now does
for its incoming cadets.
Thus, it would appear as if the Corps
of Cadets is on its way to becoming an
even better officer training institution-
that it has already proven in the past,
and I say it would be a great loss to the
United States Armed Forces, were it not
allowed to continue to exist — and only
because of an unfortunate and regretta
ble accident; if not because of the other
wise healthy competition the Corps es
pouses with the other three service
academies.
William H. Clark II
Pallmeyer doesn’t
make the grade
EDITOR:
The Battalion’s Karl Pallmeyer is
studying to become an expert on Con
temporary Christian Music (CCM). As a
project for his study, he wrote an opin
ion published here August 16. He asked
that we grade it and submit the results
to you (he may not remember asking
this!).
He was to discuss whether CCM
sounds like secular rock and, if so, why.
Score: 50 percent partial credit. He said
it does, but we found his discussion of
why incomplete. He failed to mention
CCM’s impact on rock (Christian artist
Michael Omartian has produced hit re
cords for Rod Stewart, Christopher
Cross, and others). He also neglected
former secular rockers (e.g., Leon “San
tana” Patillo, Mylon “Atlanta R.S.” Le-
Fevre, Dion “and the Belmonts” Di-
Mucci) using their unique talents to
show others how to find the “satisfac
tion” that eludes their contemporary,
Mick Jagger.
Pallmeyer accuses CCM of “stealing
from secular artists.” Any cursory study
of rock history shows spirited gospel
music a major influence on the Little
Richards and others that pioneered
rock. We acknowledge Satan has made
great use of what evolved, but we won
der if Mr. Pallmeyer would like to re-
cbnsider — for bonus points — who
stole what from whom.
Please encourage Mr. Pallmeyer to do
his research before publishing his next
opinion. We recommend The Gospel of
John, Chapter One, Verse Three, as
good place to start.
Bill Hough 88
Thanks, fellow Ag
EDITOR:
After going crazy trying to obtain my
shuttle bus pass, etc., I almost gave up
hope. The first day I used my new stu
dent I.D. I managed to lose it! The past
two days I’ve been checking to see if it
had been turned in to the MSC Lost and
Found or to the Pavillion (Headquarters
for student I.D.’s).
Much to my dismay, I found that my
card was still lurking somewhere on
A&M’s vast campus. The sense of loss,
helplessness, and embarrassment I ex
perienced can only be surpassed by the
fury I felt inside. Because of my careles
sness, I would be required to pay $8 to
have a new I.D. made and would have to
fit their hours into my busy schedule.
One thought led to another, and I fi
nally resigned myself to the fact that my
I.D. card must be gone forever.
Then this evening — Thursday, Au
gust 29 — I came home from work to a
pleasant surprise. A fellow Aggie had
found my I.D. on campus and mailed it
to me along with a simple, friendly note.
To my fellow Aggie: I would really
like to thank you for saving me a lot of
aggravation (and money). Moreover,
thank you for going out of your way to
mail me my I.D. You really brightened
my day — I don’t mind saying that it felt
great to be the recipient of such a good
deed.
Thank you again, and may you and
may every Aggie have a fabulous year.
Here’s to you, Ags!
Margie Lasek
Class of’85
Enforcing anti-sodomy law
reeks of modern Orwell ism
Michael
Crawford
Guest Columnist
The Eyes of Texas
are upon you all the
live-long day. The
Eyes of Texas are
upon you, you can •
not get away. Do not
think you can escape them at night or
early in the morn. The Eyes of Texas
are upon you ’til Gabriel blows his horn.
— The University of Texas alma mater
Last week, the state of Texas entered
the bedroom of every Texas citizen
when the New Orleans-based 5th U.S.
Circut Court of Appeals resurrected the
state’s anti-sodomy law. In doing so, the
court re-opened a Pandora’s box, blur
ring the line between personal freedom
and governments’ legitimate right to
legislate the activities of their citizens.
Put aside for a moment any fear, hos
tility or disgust that you may feel toward
homosexuals and instead examine the
implications of the court’s actions on
both the homosexual and heterosexual
population.
The anti-sodomy law was struck
down in 1982 by a U.S. district judge,
and that ruling was supported last year
by a three-judge Dallas court. The New
Orleans court, however, said that the
law was in fact constitutional because of
Western culture’s historic objection to
homosexual conduct.
The court went on to say that the
state does have the right to support
morality and therefore the law does not
deprive homosexuals of equal protec
tion under the 14th Amendment.
In effect, the court has given the state
its blessing to punish consenting adults
for what goes on in the privacy of their
own bedrooms because it has been his
torically acceptable. Texas must now
.make some important choices.
To use the law to its fullest extent
would require Orwellian methods —
peering into every bedroom as if it were
the potential scene of a crime. And the
sexual practices of every Texan would
come under scrutiny. After all, how
does one prove that you are not homo
sexual? Observation?
Or the state could take a less strin
gent, more practical approach and se
lectively enforce the law only in certain
areas. But the standards of this type of
patchwork enforcement would vary
widely between counties, law enforce
ment agencies and political administra
tions. Inconsistently enforcing such a
law would result in discrimination
charges and ensure expensive lawsuits
against local governments.
Or lastly, the state could ignore its re
newed powers and instead focus on pro
viding all of its citizens with better
roads, better schools and a healthier
economic environment. But if the law
is to be ignored, the decision must
come from the attorney general’s of
fice and be made clear to all law en
forcement agencies. Because civil
rights and gay groups will doubtlessly
seek, and be successful in, overturn
ing this latest ruling, the state would
then be spared the expense of enforc
ing an unenforceable law.
After all, the state attorney general
refused to appeal the overturning of
the sodomy statute, prompting Am
arillo District Attorney Danny Hill to
leapfrog the attorney general and in
dependently pursue the appeal. If
politicians need an open door for de
ciding to ignore this law, they have
one here.
Texas’ growth and diversity con
trast sharply with outdated, unenfor
ceable laws such as this one. Texas
needs to get out of the business of leg
islating morality and concentrate on
“meat and potatoes” issues. Of this
ruling, one thing is certain — it will be
overturned eventually. But in the
meantime remember:
The Eyes of Texas are Upon You.
Michael Crawford is a senior jour
nalism major and a senior staff
writer for The Battalion.
In search of...
guest columnists
The Battallion newsroom is a lonely
place these days. Sure, the fall staff is set
tled in, and the usual rhythm of fingers
tapping on computer keyboards echoes
through the halls.
But what makes the newsroom seem
deserted is the lack of correspondence
from our readers.
Of course, the semester is just getting
started, and most returning and new stu
dents simply haven’t had time to write us.
However, our concern is not merely for
lack of letters to the editor — they will un
doubtedly begin to trickle in as school
gets into full swing.
Our concern is for the type of forum
we provide for our readers. In the past,
the LETTERS column was the only place
where readers could express their opin
ions in The Batt.
So, we would like to officially extend an
invitation to all students, faculty, staff and
other members of the community to write
guest columns. t
A guest column is exactly that — a col
umn written by someone not associated
with The Battalion’s opinion page staff.
What we are looking for in our guest
columns is more than simply a long letter.
A letter responds to issues that have al
ready been raised.
A column, however, presents new
viewpoints on new issues. It could discuss
the merits of a campus organization, pro
vide insight into local or national events,
or react to a new art form or dance craze.
So, if you have a new idea you would
like to get off your chest, drop off your
column at 216 Reed McDonald or send it
to: Opinion Page Editor, 216 Reed Mc
Donald, Texas A&M University, 77843.
We reserve the right to edit your col
umn for style and length, but every effort
will be made to maintain the author’s in
tent. Guest columns should be no longer
than four typewritten, double-spaced
pages.
And if your want to respond to issues
that infuriate or enlighten you, please
send us a letter to the editor. All we ask is
that you keep our Letters Policy in mind
(it’s printed in the Mail Call column right
under the title).
We’d love to hear from you.
Loren Steffy
Opinion Page Editor
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Rhonda Snider, Editor
Michelle Powe, Managing Editor
Kay Mallett, News Editor
Loren Steffy, Opinion Page Editor
Karen Bloch, City Editor
Travis Tingle, Sports Editor
The Battalion Staff
Assistant City Editors
Kirsten Dietz, Jerry Oslin
Assistant News Editors
Cat hie Anderson, Jan Perry
Assistant Editorial Page Editor :
John Hallett
Assistant Sports Editor
Charean Williams
Entertainment Editors
Cathy Riely, Walter Smith
Staff Writers ....Tamara Bell, Meg Cadigan,
Ed Cassavoy, Ann Cervenka,
Michael Crawford, Cindy Gay,
Doug Hall, Paul Herndon,
Tammy Kirk, Jens Koepke,
Trent Leopold, Mary McWhorter,
June Pang, Tricia Parker,
Lynn Rae Povec, Marybeth Rohsner,
Gigi Shamsy, Kenneth Sury
Copy Editors Mike Davis, Rebecca Adair,
Wendy Johnson
Make-up Editor Ed Cassavoy
Columnists Cami Brown, Marcy Basile,
Karl Pallmeyer
Photo Editor Wayne Grabein
Photographers Greg Bailey,
Anthony Casper, Frank Hada,
Kyle Hawkins, Jaime Lopez
Michael Sanchez
Editorial Policy
The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper
operated as a community service to T exas 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.
T he Battalion is published Monday through Friday dur
ing Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday and
examination periods. Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per se
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 77843.
POSTMAST ER: Send address changes to The Battal
ion, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
77843