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
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By
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Theatre
Skle by Si
lute to I
winner
Thursday
Auditorii
mance (
Town Ha
i; The si
annual U
lections
hits “Con
Music,”
Thing H<
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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.
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Travis Tingle, Sports Editor
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