Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 1985)
Page 2/The Battalion/Friday, September 6, 1985 OPINION - Drinking age hike just buck passing Texas has been embroiled in controversy over the drinking age for years. The increase from 18 to 19 four years ago sparked legislative debate and grumbles from the public — especially high school students. However, it helped solve some of the alco hol-related problems on high school campuses. But now Texas is increasing the legal drinking age again, and the results can’t be justified as they were in 1981. The na tional government is using federal highway funds to blackmail state legislatures into raising the legal age nationwide by 1986. The new minimum age is supposed to decrease the number of alcohol-related automobile accidents. But a closer examina tion of statistics shows that the 19 to 21 age group is merely be ing used as scapegoats in an ever-increasing national problem. The U.S. Department of Commerce says the 18 to 20 group is involved in fewer (7 percent) alcohol-related accidents than the 21 to 24 group (11 percent). A drinking age increase is supposed to reduce alcohol con sumption by youth and thus reduce drunken driving. As a re sult, drinking-related highway deaths are supposed to decrease. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that if young adults are prohibited from drinking legally, they will drink illegally, consuming more alcohol in less safe set tings. They are likely to drive more and experience more inju ries. Death rates for 18- to 20-year-olds in states with a minimum age of 21 have gone up since the law was instated. Drunken driving and the fatalities related to it are a prob lem. But increasing the drinking age could have a more detri mental effect. In areas such as Bryan-College Station, raising the drinking age means less income for the community and fewer jobs for college students. If drunken driving is going to be curbed, it must be done by stricter enforcement of existing laws, not by pushing the prob lem off on young people. 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. Welcome from Jackie EDITOR: With fall approaching, and the new school year already here, let me be among the first to welcome all students to Texas A&M. A group of you are arriving on the campus for the first time while many of you are returning to continue your studies. To the freshmen, I want to be one of the first to congratulate you on the choice of such an excellent academic institution. All of us in the athletic depa- r iment consider it a great privilege to be associated with a university that prides itself on such fine academic and athletic standards. We want you to know that we appre ciate your great support for our athletic program. In fact, a national survey re cently concluded that Texas A&M was second in the nation in 1984 in student football tickets sold for home football games. We appreciate this kind of sup port. When you look at everything in volved, it is doubtful to me that any uni versity in this nation has a student body that has taken such an active role in sup porting their school. It is something that no one in the athletic department takes lightly; rather, we feel it is something to be proud of and to boast about. Again, welcome to the campus, we are glad you are here. See you at the games. Jackie Sherrill Head Football Coach and Athletic Director Clearing the record EDITOR: I am writing concerning the article printed in your back-to-school issue of September 2 on the Placement Center. While we certainly appreciate the pub licity, and the information in the article was generally correct, there were some items that were inaccurate and need to be corrected. 1. The article states that our alumni service provides registrants with lists of upcoming interviews. This is not the case. We have an alumni service which includes resume referrals and an alumni job bulletin, but alumnni do not generally take part in on-campus inter views. A few alumni who remain in town are granted limited access to intervews for only one semester after graduation. They must discuss their situation with a WE'RE LOSING altitude. I» s DUMP SOME ^BALLAST/// 8 years after Biko’s death apartheid still unchecked Karl Pallmeyer member of our professional staff, and the points they have remaining at grad uation have nothing to do with their eli gibility for Placement Center services. 2. The article states that we have em ployment opportunities posted in bind ers in our library. So far so good. These postings are for student information, and students apply directly to the em ployer. The article states that the em ployer may come to campus to interview if sufficient applications are received. This is not the case. 3. Major firms spend a large amount of money on their college recruiting programs in order to assure themselves access to the most qualified student ap plicants. That sounds a little different than “The large firms come here ready to spend big bucks,” which was a quote in the article. I might have said it that way, but I sure hope not! As all this suggests, the Placement Center has a wide variety of services, and attempts to assist students as well as alumni in their job search. To find out what service is best for you, and the ex act mechanics of how it all works, I would suggest that you attend one of Our orientation sessions advertised in The Battalion. Judith L. Vulliet Assistant Director Texas A&M Career Planning and Placement Center Unfair coverage EDITOR: After reading the two articles on Sept. 3 and 4 on the anti-pornography rally and the gay protest to the Texas Sodomy Law, I thought the coverage was typical anti-Falwell. First of all, the anti-pornography rally was headed by the National Feder ation for Decency (NED), not Jerry Fal- well (as the article implies). There were many other speakers other than Falwell. Rather than focus on what these speak ers said, and their cause, which I believe is worthy (hopefully you agree), over half the article dwells on Falwell and South Africa. Instead of quoting anything the speakers said; the article dwells on Fal well calling Bishop Tutu a “phony” and angry reactions to that by anti-Falwell protesters. Nowhere in this article was a quote, from any of the other 5 speakers, v on what this rally hoped to accomplish, On the other side of the coin is the “Gays Angry” article on Sept. 4. Com- It was eight years ago today that Stephen Biko was taken to a po lice station for in terrogation and beaten. Six days later he died. Unfortunately, few Americans know who Biko was. Few Ameri- cans know the circumstances under which Biko was killed. Stephen Biko was a black man who wrote about the unfair way blacks were being treated. That was nothing new, blacks have been writing about black problems for hundreds of years. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in 1852, d uring a time when blacks were held in slavery. Ralph Ellison wrote “Invisible Man” in 1952, during a time when blacks were legally free but were not able to fully enjoy their freedom. Gwendolyn Brooks wrote “The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock” in 1960, shortly af ter Little Rock had been the scene of a famous battle over whether blacks should be allowed to go to school with whites. Stowe, Ellison and Brooks were not killed because of their writings. Biko was. Stowe, Ellison and Brooks lived in America. Biko lived in South Africa. Biko was more than a just a writer, he was a leader. He formed the South Afri can Students Organization and several other groups that were interested in ob taining civil rights for blacks. In 1972 Biko wrote several articles for a book, Student Perspectives on South Africa, that promoted the idea of equal rights for blacks. The articles and the book, al though banned in South Africa, gained support throughout the world in the struggle to end apartheid. Apartheid is a South African word meaning “apartness.” It describes the government’s policy of strict racial seg regation and discrimination against the native blacks in South Africa. Apartheid means that blacks can own land and live only in certain areas. Apartheid means that blacks can only go to certain beaches, swim in certain pools, sit on certain benches, ride on certain buses, eat in certain restaurants, go to certain theaters, hold certain jobs and attend certain schools. Apartheid means that blacks can’t be paid the same amount of money as whites for equal work. Apartheid means that blacks can’t hold political meetings. Apartheid means blacks can’t run for office. Apartheid means that blacks can’t vote. Biko fought long and hard against apartheid. He became a “banned” per son. He could not speak to more than one person at a time, could not leave his home in King William’s Town, could not be quoted or photographed and was kept under constant surveillance by the Security Police, South Africa’s version of the Gestapo. In 1976 Biko came to testify in a trial in which nine black leaders were charged with “subversion by intent.” The Supreme Court of South Africa wanted to prove that the idea of equal rights was dangerous to the safety of the public. The court, merely a tool of the government, declared that the nine black leaders were guilty and sentenced them to five years of imprisonment. The court’s ruling also made it a crime for any black to speak out against white rule. Biko had been arrested by the Secu rity Police on several occasions. He was usually made the scapegoat whenever there was a riot involving blacks but because he was so popular with the blacks he was never imprisoned for very long. After Biko’s testimony at the trial had reached the outside world, many countries began to put pressure on the South African gov ernment to end apartheid. The South African government thought Biko was becoming too powerful and de cided to stop him. On Aug. 18, 1977, Biko was ar rested for breaking his banning order when he was found outside of King William’s Town. On Sept. 6 he was taken to Room 619 of the police sta tion in Port Elizabeth. His hands and legs were chained to a grille and he was “interrogated” for 22 hours. Dur ing the “interrogation” he was beaten and tortured until he lapsed into a coma. Biko died six days later. More than 20,000 people attended the funeral of Stephen Biko. Around the world millions of people mourned the death of this great man. Although Biko never advocated violence, his death triggered some of the bloodiest riots South Africa had ever seen. Biko was not the first man to die because of apartheid. Nor was he the last. In the past year alone over 600 blacks in South Africa have been killed. As you are reading this article it is likely that another man is being beaten or killed simply because he is black and wants to be treated like any other man. The plight of Stephen Biko and other South Africans has affected people across the world. There are many organizations in the United States dedicated to stopping apart heid. This week, eight years after Bi ko’s death. Students Against Apart heid has become a recognized student organization at Texas A&M. Our country was founded on the idea that all men are created equal. In South Africa all men are not being treated as equals. It is our duty as freedom-loving Americans to stop apartheid. W’e have the power — eco nomic power — to stop apartheid. Be cause South Africa is one of the world’s richest sources of gold and di amonds we have been somewhat re luctant to wield that power. But there are things that are more important than gold and diamonds: freedom and human life. Karl Pallmeyer is a senior journa lism major and a columnist for The Battalion. Mail Call plete coverage is given to the gays, who had less than half as many protesters as did the NED. Their cause was fully ex plained and numerous quotations given by the leaders and speakers. Nobody was interviewed who op posed the gays and wanted to uphold the Texas Sodomy Law. Then, there is Don Eastman, pastor of a large gay church in Dallas, who says in the article “tradition is wrong — let’s change tradition.” Each year at his church, a “Holy Ghost” convention is held, where gay “delegates” meet. Upon entering, each delegate is given two “boy” magazines and a list of gay bars. How credible is a man such as this? In contrasting these two articles, one can see the apparent belittlement of the anti-pornography cause and the sympa thetic treatment given to gay protestors. Hopefully, The Battalion will give more fair treatment to a cause such as this in the future. Michael Long Graduate Student M.E The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Rhonda Snider, Editor Michelle Powe, Managing Editor John Hallett, Kay Mallett, News Editors 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 Cathie Anderson, Jan Perry Assistant Sports Editor Charean Williams Entertainment Editors Cathy Riely, Walter Smith Sta/if Writers ....Tamara Bell, MegCadigan, Ed Cassavoy, Ann Cervenka, Michael Crawford, Cindy Gay, Doug Hall, Paul Herndon, Tammy Kirk, Jens Koepke, Trent Leopold, Mary McWhorter, June Pang, Trida Parker, Lynn Rae Povec, Marybeth Rohsner, Gigi Shamsy, Kenneth Sury Copy Editors Mike Davis, Rebecca Adair, Wendy Johnson Make-up Editor Sarah Oates Co/umnists....Camille Brown, Marcy Basile, John Hallett, Karl Pallmeyer Photo Editor ! Wayne Grabein Photographers Greg Bailey, Anthony Casper, Frank Hada, Kyle Hawkins, Jaime Lopez Michael Sanchez Editorial Policy The Batialion 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 arc 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. The Batialion 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 Batialion. 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. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battal ion, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843