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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 1985)
Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, October 2, 1985 Opinion Denying health care not justified The A.P. Beutel Health Center recently cut physical exami nations and birth control prescriptions from its services to stu dents. Director Claude Goswick says the center’s seven physi cians see 500 students a clay. Therefore, he says, they don’t have the time or manpower to provide routine services, such as birth control presci iptions. There is no question the health center personnel are under staffed and overworked. But that doesn’t justify denying a serv ice to students who pay a health fee and expect health care from their campus health center. There are more than 14,000 women attending Texas A&M who require gynecological exams at least once a year. (Doctors recommend that women over 18 see a gynecologist once a year to check for problems such as cervical cancer.) Women who at tend A&M for four years will need to see a gynecologist at least four times during that period. Yet such an important service is deemed routine and there fore not important enough to provide. Goswick says the physicians have their hands full treating students’ injuries and illnesses. In other words, it seems the phy sicians are more interested in treating students after they are sick or hurt rather than practicing preventive medicine. Some physicians at the health center prefer not to give birth control prescriptions, Goswick says. It would be unfair to force a doctor to provide a service against his wishes, but it also is unfair to deny women gynecological exams. There should be someone on the health center staff who will provide such services. Goswick says money is available to hire more physicians; there just aren’t any physicians available for hire right now. But the answer to this problem is not merely to cut back the work load of the existing number of physicians. The answer is actively seeking physicians to meet the demand. This University recruits athletes, Nobel laureates, profes sors, chancellors. Why not recruit physicians? The Battalion Editorial Board CXB3CN«'N<DW& WTBWE Ml By K * Theatre Skle by Si lute to I winner Thursday Auditorii mance ( Town Ha i; The si annual U lections hits “Con Music,” Thing H< tie Form Direct staged I souri Ref ing “A St TThe Dr I and “Tin ' Earnest.” Why go the extra when the U.S. has miles it all? Canada. What winding secrets it holds. From Col lege Station, that far away country almost fades away like the horizon in a haze. On my flight home from To ronto, I couldn’t help writing down Camille Brown is big but too far away to mean much. But the closer a Texan gets to Canada, the more he should realize how impor tant it is to know something about it. Lake Ontario was my first introduc tion to Canada. It’s one of the smallest of the Creat Lakes, but at ground level it looks at least as big as the Gulf of Mex ico. and bus to get to any part Fast and efficient. Thus no one city really needs to own a car, and teenagers don’t get a license. The Cottage Country is notfai If Sande ceived I from Pit practicec years, is Misssour She's a [ who’s pe tin ought ||essee a Say in “H — — Mail Call Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters for style anti 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. Can’t police get wet? EDITOR: During the cold weather and down pour of rain Sunday, a young lady asked me if I would help her jump start her car in the Commons lot. While we were both outside getting wet, she told me that she had called the Campus Police so that they might help her jump start her car. The University Police informed the young lady that they would be happy to help her idler it stopped raining. No thanks to the University Police, I got the car started. I wasn’t aware the Univer sity Police melted when they got wet. Perhaps if the young lady wanted prompt service from our “professional” police department, she should have ille gally parked her car in a staff lot! alluding to the physical differences be tween the sexes. Obviously if the Ags played against a group of women the game would be ri diculous; it would be a farce. Women just do not have the strength or athletic ability that men have (sorry, Laurie, it’s a fact of life). These differences do not lessen the value of the accomplishments that women have made or the awareness that people have of these accomplish ments. Men and women can never be equal in all respects: genetics, if not so ciety, has dictated this fact. Women can, however, be the intellectual equals of men; maybe they should stop worrying about being discriminated against and concern themselves with achieving their potential. my thoughts about this centuries-old culture I’d just discovered. Now I can look hack at the notes I scribbled on my People’s Express com plimentary throw-up bag and begin to understand the complexities of that dis tant country about which so many Tex ans have misconceptions. Canada is a long drive from College Station. Why go the extra miles when Texans can get anything Canada offers in the United States? Lake Texoma can’t compare. The lake comes with seagulls, beaches and huge cargo ships, but not inexpen sive seafood. I had to remind myself the lake wasn’t an ocean. Right on the lake is Toronto, the Safe City. But some of the characters walking along the streets seem to disprove that claim. Purple- and green- haired punk people strut down the busy streets. Some imitate the Clash, Madonna or the Crue, some dress up like the living dead. I hear the new trend is the Am adeus look. A two hour drive north deliversli; dweller to the land of many cog Anybody who is worth beans b tage by one of the beautiful rive lakes up nolth. The highway to Cfl Country on a weekend is like5oi traffic in 'Texas. Canadians look like Americans Canadian minds set Americanide far away as possible. A Canadian suited if he's accidently American. 1 with c If we want snow, we go to Colorado. If we want beach we go to Padre Island. Big cities? Dallas or Houston. Big bodies of water? The Gulf. Lisa Stelly ’86 Why go to Canada, then, unless you feel the urge to tame the wilderness in a parka? Well, Canada is more than Camp ground Heaven. And believe it or not, it’s not part of the United States. Canada has similar, hut nonetheless separate, currency, a different form of government, socialized medicine and among other things a socialized beer in dustry. From’a Texan’s perspective, Canada Second-hand clothing shops there are as common as 7-11 stores are here. Wild haircuts and weird clothes are accepted. Those who flaunt them get the attention they strive for on the subways or walk ing along the street. In Toronto, unlike Dallas or Hous ton, the rich, poor, punks and preppies are thrown together every day on the subways. Subways ignore social status — there are no first class seats. So in To ronto, when you want to show off pros perity, you buy expensive clothes. Whereas in Dallas, the well-to-do buy expensive cars. For 90 Canadian cents, a suburbanite can travel by Go-train, subway, streetcar Sure, the United States andCi are friends if not for the only that it would be too much of a tia we weren’t. Canadians won’t' we don't attack them. ButCanadiaa we’re encroaching, and thisthroi be the root of some anti-American ments. No matter if the issue is w resources or the environment,0 ans seem to disagree with theAme way of dealing with it. My short exposure to Canada linct culture was an eye openc pointed out how little Texans know about this country. The the cities, the attitudes are unliket be found in the United Stales. MoS pie know Canada for its beaui) more people should realize Gnu real riches are found in its culture Besides, they have salt andu chips. Camille Brown is a senior jo0 major and a columnist for Theb Matthew K. Davis ’86 Policy short-sighted Gandhi was ‘just what the doctor ordered EDITOR: I feel the new policy of the A.P. Beu tel Health Center — no longer provid ing physical examinations or prescrip tions for birth control — is short-sighted and discriminatory. Unwanted preg nancy is a health risk for all sexually ac tive students, one that is easy and rela tively cheap to prevent. The disapproval of the prescribing physician does not eliminate the health risk and should not be allowed to interfere with the (preven tive) treatment. Further, because birth control is the responsibility of couples rather than “the woman’s” problem, this policy dis criminates against all sexually active stu dents. The health center’s cost-cutting decision makes about as much sense as cutting costs by refusing to treat sports injuries. After all, most sports injuries could be avoided simply by eliminating sports. I urge the administration of the health center to review this policy and find out other ways to cut costs. Winston Churchill called him “the half- Chandra S. naked fakir” — and Balachandran as far as Churchill Guest Columnists was concerned, there ~ — Anne Raymond Assistant Professor, Geology Yell not really sexist EDITOR: I am writing in reply to Laurie Hu man’s letter on Sept. 24 concerning what she termed the “chauvanistic com ments” of the yell leaders. I think that in suggesting that the Aggies should “make Northeast Louisiana look like a bunch of women” the yell leaders were was no love lost between them. Subhas Bose, the ardent advocate of the sedi tious overthrow of British imperialism in India, blew hot and cold over “the fa kir’s” means of achieving Indian inde pendence. Albert Einstein said of him, “Genera tions to come will scarce believe that such a one as this, in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Gandhi was inevitable. If humanity is to progress, Gandhi is inescapable. He lived, thought and acted, inspired by the vision of humanity evolving toward a world of peace and harmony. We may ignore him at our own risk.” Millions of poor Indians loved him for his sheer simplicity and transparent, yet powerful, personality. He said of himself, “People have described me as a saint trying to be a politician, but the truth is the other way around.” His life was a message — it still is, for those who want one — a struggle, full of mistakes, trials and tribulations. His life was a struggle for realizing the quintes sence of that great assertion of the Upa- nishads (Indian scriptures) that “Truth alone triumphs, never untruth.” Gandhi applied “abstract” and “subt le” philosophy to simple acts of daily life. In his simplicity lies his greatness. He said, “I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills. All I have done is try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could. In doing so, I have sometimes erred and learned by my errors. Life and its problems have become to me so many experiments in the practice of truth and non-violence. . . .” Today marks this fascinating man’s 116th birthday. “Mahatma” Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is now practically a household word for millions who never before had heard of him — thanks to that powerful movie by Sir Richard Attenborough. In his time, he was “just what the doc tor ordered” to a people ravaged by ha tred, war, devastation and lack of a sense of purpose in life. On this day, thought for some of the values he stood for is worth the effort. What better homage to can be paid to a man who, by these values that he stood for, shook a mighty empire to its roots? What better example to emulate than a man who sought truth and achieved a high de gree of success? He was a man, not a divine incarna tion. He failed many times and in many ways. But he faced truth and made it a part of himself. He identified himself with the op pressed and the weak and fought for their liberation. In this process, he held a mirror to the Indian nation, and in fact to the world, and showed India its weaknesses — untouchability, inequity, oppression, and disunity. In the Fight he also demonstrated In dia’s strength and how India could use it to become great. To help the poor, he believed, he must be one among them. Only by living their lives could he truly know suffering. Part of his fascinating personality was his universalism. His struggle for the unification of the Hindus and Moslems in India was a practical demonstration of this universalism. He neatly summed up his universalism saying, “I am a Hindu, and a Moslem, and a Christian and a Jew — so is each one of you.” What better thought to put into practice in daily life in interacting with our fel low humans? He is not being deified here, which is precisely the point. He was a seeker who sought with all his heart and soul. He was not born extraordinary. As a child, he was not extraordinary. He became extraordinary. T his is an example of the strength of the divine in man. For those who don’t like theistic over tones, the example is a demonstrations of man’s inherent capacity to reach great heights by dint of hard work. In his words, “I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have, if he or she would make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith.” He was an example of what each one of us can be, if we want to be. Indeed, he was a working model of the prayer that sages of India sang in the hoary past and many do today. “From untruth, lead me unto truth. “From darkness, lead me unto light. “From mortality, lead me mortality.” Chandra S. Balachandran is gv student at the Biosystems Resed vision. The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Rhonda Snider, Editor Michelle Powe, Managing Editor Loren Steffy, Opinion Page Editor Karen Bloch, City Editor John Hallett, Kay Mallett, Neiw£i< ,! Travis Tingle, Sports Editor Editorial Policy the Biitliilion is a non-protit, self-sumiwiftot pet ofreruted as a community senice to Tms 0 Brytm-Collcffc Station. Opinions expressed in 77ie Batta/mnaret/m* 1 Bditoruil Bom cl or the mtlhor, and do nul ntsttsf resent the opinions ot I'cxns A&'M iidmiiiisuaM’ 1 or the Board ot Reffcnts. 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