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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 30, 1985)
Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, October 30, 1985 iFam Opinion (H-jbWbi control no fairy tale e'f c e upon a there was Kittff? Aggie Rid- ilig f lood. She was very innocent and cVen tier darkest, scariest night- mart s did not in volve sex. In fact, sl,ie didn’t even kiipw what the Wdfd meant. But one day her crimination against women. The health center’s directoi responded quickly with a gesture that was sure to take the heat off. The health center appeased its attack ers by, hiring a doctor, enabling the cen ter to reinstate the birth control service they had offered before a September cutoack in services. Camille Brown hormones turned a big wolf, and her hidden desires ig w best of her. She went to find one lerve ntrol. ever talked about this subject ie Forest, so she didn’t know ‘md birth control. But she got and finally went to the Ag- When she got there she saw a d he told her she was immoral her of a place just outside of Forest where she could get thing, birth control. So Aggie ood, convinced she was abnor- ided to forget about birth con- use it only caused her emban as- dttle Aggie Riding Hood grew had lots of children, but did not >pily ever after because she al- .nignt she was weird, tale is not as far-fetched as it But the doctor they hired was a pedi atrician, not a gynecologist. So while ev eryone thinks something has been done, still no significant step has been taken to ensure adequate health care for women. The health center restored the rou tine checkups that it had previously of fered, but the checkups available for women on campus have never been up to par. Reinstating these checkups is no way to improve health services. Three problems remain. First, the health center’s services for women have been restored to their orig inal inadequate level. Second, people think the issue is over, when they should realize the health center is not meeting the needs of all students. And third, no improvements can be made until Dr. Claude Goswick, director of the center, changes his attitude that only illnesses and injuries should be treated at the health center. f'l ne is a drama that has been brew- campus, and it has a potent end- concerns birth control services far from adequate and inconsis- Tered by A&M’s A.P. Beutel Center. >ry began when the health cen- under fire for discontinuing Urol services. Headlines and mps were screaming dis- With this prescriptive attitude, Gos wick is missing the point. A health cen ter should be concerned for the health needs of students, and counting physi cal exams and birth control services as u nnecessary is simply naive. It’s just as important to prevent a problem before it occurs, as it is to treat a problem after it has settled in. Goswick has mentioned in previous articles that giving physical exams is a favor his physicians perform for stu dents. Some women have gone into the center to refill a perscription of birth control pills, only to be refused treat ment by a doctor who claimed it was against his morals to treat her. And on top of that, Goswick said the health cen ter often refers students to Planned Par enthood, where they can get birth con trol counseling and services for a nominal fee. Goswick’s administration of birth control at the health center is outra geous and should never have been al lowed to get this far unscathed. Why has no one at the University questioned this problem before? Most major colleges not only offer gy necological care for women, but coun seling services as well. A birth control article in College Woman magazine says, “Once inside (the campus health center), you will find not only information and medical serv ice, but also some needed reassurance. Most campus health centers provide the pill, diaphragm, 1UD, information on other methods and as much free coun seling as you need.” But not at A&M. An Aggie who musters enough cour age to ask sometimes embarrassing ques tions about birth control is referrea to an off-campus clinic. There’s no moral to this tale, but there is a bottom line. Health care does not exclude birth control. If the campus health center can’t accommodate this area of health care, its name should be the illness and injury center. When the A.P. Beutel Health Center can offer health care, then it deserves to be called the campus health center. Camille Brown is a senior journalism major and a columnist for The Battal- i OSGCN** * I*'***- ...MR. PRKSIDm. NC£&. W0U1D UKF, TO SEND A. JOJRNMJST [CTO SfftCR.. .SAM DONALDSON, ABC MENS, ON BOARD THE. ATLAOTIS... •Bi ft/,? eagan trips over his own tongue President Reagan imbled over ii words lately ubd to deal Ap News Analysis i r s e d with ,r •- Michael Putzel issues ranging from arms con- apartheid. Whether attributable to fatigue, care lessness or mere inattention to detail, t he president’s statements have prompted enough concern that he him- self has felt compelled to try to clarify theui. -And his aides, who long ago stopped trying to correct factual errors in Reagan s impromptu remarks, have more than once been left without an ex planation of what the president was talking about. During Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign and early in his first term, Democratic opponents and many news reports challenged Reagan’s use of sup posed facts that just didn’t check out. Assigning “truth squads”to verify num bers became standard practice after the president’s news conferences. The White House eventually stopped responding to suggestions Reagan nad made a mistake on this or that. The Battalion USPS 045 360 Member of - Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Ipf&S Rhonda Snider, Editor Michelle Powe, Managing Editor Loren Stef fy, Opinion Page Editor Karen Bloch, City Editor John Hallet, Kay Mallett, News Editors Travis Tingle, Sports Editor Editorial Policy dtion j& a non-profit, self-supporting newspa- “ l a community service to Texas A&M and ttittion. tipPcised in The Battalion arc those of the Board or the author and do not necessarily rep- 'h crjtiir the opinions ol I'exas A&M administrators, faculty or the Board of Regents. / he Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper for students in repot ting, editing and photography classes within the Department of Communications. I he Battalion is published Monday through Friday dining Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday and examination periods. Mail subscriptions are S 16.75 pet semester, $33.25 per school year and $35 per full vertismg rates furnished on request. The Battalion. 216 Reed McDonald University, College Station, IX f^-pdid .It College Station. TX 77843. In recent weeks, however, Reagan has made some gaffes even he felt com pelled to correct. Two weeks after he told an inter viewer in August that South Africans “have eliminated the segregation that we once had in our own country,” he publicly apologized, saying he “careles sly gave the impression” that he believed segregation had been eliminated in the white-ruled nation. At a news conference two weeks later, Reagan said that, “in spite of some of the misinformation that has been spread around, the United States is still well behind the Soviet Union in literally every kind of offensive weapon — both conventional and in the strategic weap ons.” Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia, an in fluential Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee who usually supports the administration on defense issues, said that claim of total Soviet mil itary superiority was “not right.” Just a few days later, during a trip to Tennessee to promote an overhaul of the income tax system, Reagan was asked about reports the Soviets were proposing a 40-percent reduction in nu clear weapons and replied he’d like to see a plan for even larger cuts than that. Upon leaving Knoxville, he stopped to tell reporters he “was misunderstood in trying to call an answer” to them ear lier in theday. It was in a similar question-and-an- swer exchange on the run in Chicago on Oct. 10, when said he would be willing for the Palestine Liberation Organiza tion to try the pirates who murdered American tourist Leon Klinghoffer. Again, he reappeared later to tell re porters he had not meant to say that; he should have said they could only be brought to justice by the authorities of a sovereign nation. Reagan almost always speaks from a prepared text when appearing before an outside group. But when he gets tired, he may stray from his text, as he did on the last leg of a 13-hour, 4,200- mile trip last week. At a routine fund-raiser in Milwau kee, the president launched into a story about his ambassador to the United Na tions, Vernon Walters, and how the en voy persuaded Chinese leaders to aban don their opposition to his “Star Wars” nuclear defense plan. For three consecutive days afterward, Reagan’s spokesmen were asked whether the event Reagan described was true. For three days, the spokesmen had no reply. Michael Putzel is a White House corre spondent for The Associated Press. Mail Call Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff nsm\ right to edit letters for style and length but will make every effort to maintain theitilh intent. Each letter must be signed and must include the address and telephonenmk the writer. I] - Small car ‘lifted’ EDITOR: A few weeks ago, Oct. 3 to be exact, a criminal injustice wastes milled against my car. It is a small car and thus, lightweight. My am parked parallel on Coke Street. Oct. 5, my car was not where 1 parkdt I assumed it had been stolen. This, of course, sent me into a state of panic. I immediately phos; the campus police to find that my car had been towed. Why? Itwasoniit grass, up beside a building ... on Lamar Street! OK, that was a real cute joke, Ags —whomever you are. I (orlsbt say my parents) had to pay $40 to get my car back. Not to mention® ing two classes. Maybe you thought you were playing a harmlessprati but I take care of my car, and I thought my fellow Ags would respeaii guess I was wrong. Hey, Aggies, this type of thing can be expecttdi other schools, but not Texas A&M. Grow up a little guys, OK? Suzanne Pruitt Class of ’89 A generic University? EDITOR: Some things have been going on at Texas A&M lately that I findpu I tty upsetting. While walking across campus the other day, I sawajpc of civilians poking fun at a group of cadets (after they wereom. earshot, I might add). And I’ve seen some letters in the paper with gestions for changes 1 could not believe. No Corps of Cadets? A bar in the Memorial Student Center!Wa are we trying to do, make A&M like every other college in the nation: I am aware ol the anti-Corps feeling among some people on camp, and I would like to express my disapproval of the way the cadeuaroj ing treated. 1 have it straight from a cadet that the people in the not want to be treated any better than any one else on campus. Bid have they done to deserve being treated worse? They have activities and traditions that seem strange to non-Coi|i students, but there are plenty of other people on campus who are some pretty strange things, too! (And I fina myself wondering if (hep pie who are complaining the loudest could even make it in the Corps members also gel some special privileges, but they work earn those privileges. They created a lot of those privileges. Andnoo:| is forcing any civilian student to take part in anything theCorpsdoes The cadets were the sum of A&M until last couple of decades, they are the ones who made the unique school we are enjoying to® They are backbone of our traditions and that unquenchable Aggie that distinguishes us from Louisiana or Alabama or Houston or thtii versity of 1 exas. Without the team effort of the Texas A&M Corps dels, and the A&M student body, all of that will be lost. Speaking of traditions brings me to my second point —thesif lion of a bar in the MSC. Is your grandmother’s house not hoe! enough because she does not serve beer or whiskey? The MSCisow ing room, a place of relaxation and togetherness, a place whereeven can feel comfortable. Put a bar in there and not only will it be a rowdy place, next year most underclassmen won’t even be able toefl the MSC. Besides which, it is a memorial! Do you often advocate hare; | party in a war memorial? For those of you who don’t like A&M the way it is, who want a hi;] the lounge, swinging party life, and a non-military atmosphere, simple enough solution . .. Co to t.u. COLI A Package $21 $29 Stephanie A. Hillard Uninvited guests EDITOR: I was in my room Monday night talking to my friend whenwe»:| interrupted by this rude resident of Moses Hall collecting none)I chainsaw and dance. Unfortunately, my door was not locked bui slightly ajar. He knocked on my door and before I had lime to walko to the door and answer, he barged into my room. He then proceeded! tell us he was collecting one dollar from every girl in this dorm[»i chainsaw and a dance in which all girls would be admitted free. First off, I don’t appreciate this stranger bursting into my room out my consent, especially since 1 never allow anyone I don’t knowif my room. And second, the only time I hear of a minimum dollaranw! for a donation is in politics where the donator receives somethinginfj change for his money —usually a dinner. If my dollar is an exchange!' this “all girls free” dance, then this dance is not worth attending. Next time, be considerate of others and remember a donationsla not have a dollar sign on it. A donation is a gift. Cheryl Rayner Think about Hance EDITOR: Those of you who are native residents of Texas probably know the Department of Corrections is having problems with overcrow prisons. For those of you who are not native residents, believe me Three Saturdays ago, while you were cheering on the football against TCU, a friend and I were traveling back from Austin alongh 1 82U when my Ford experienced difficulties. What else could m) I# and I do but lock the doors and walk to a service station? Unfortuiw these difficulties occurred in the worst part of Fort Worth, theeasisii and we soon became the victims of aggravated assault. Within tens* onds, we were robbed of our wallets and watches, not to mention the and money spent to get a new SMU I.D. card and anotherdriveii cense. We thank God for our lives. But we cannot thank Gov. MarkM* | especially if the man who threatened our lives already had served at! 11 in prison. You see, White’s idea of handling the prison situation is 1® criminals go free on probation for “good behavior.” I won’t say an)^ more about this policy of his; I’ll let it speak for itself. However, I would like to comment on former Rep. KentHaa s point of view concerning the prison issue. Hance has said, “were bly going to have to face up to the fact that we’re going to have to^ more prisons.” If faced with the choice of either constructingnesvpris® or releasing prisoners because of lack of space, Td rather havecr# 1 kept behind bars. Wouldn’t you agree? Kent Hance does, and fot j reason and many others I’d like to see him elected Governot oflexas Think seriously. Crime can happen to anyone (it did to my friend< : | me), but it doesn’t have to happen. A strong deterrent, such as an ass® j long; prison sentence, will help prevent crime before it happens "j White refusing to build new prisons, over 10,000 criminals will l)® : leased withing the next two years. Think seriously about this issue,^1 then think seriously about Kent Hance. Jeff Turner