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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 12, 1985)
Page 2/The Battalion/Tuesday, Movember 12, 1985 Opinion A letter for every occasion JohnHalleft A friend re cently received a letter from Presi dent Reagan con gratulating him on being selected as Sanitary Engineer of the Year by the local affiliate of the American Union of Sanitary Workers. Dear Billy Bob McCaskill, Well, here I go again but 1 just can't help myself . I couldn’t resist taking time away from preparation for the summit to congratulate you. Sometimes Ameri ca’s vital security interests must be cast aside to recognize citizens such as your self. It pleases me to know that there are still a few good men out there in our great country who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. Keep up the good work. Sincerely yours, Ronald Reagan P.S. We could really use a reliable garbageman like you here in Washing ton. Just last week the trashman forgot to stop by the White House. Let me tell you, it certainly was embarrassing to show Chuck and Di around the place with all that mess piled up. Nancy nearly had a heart attack. R.R. Needless to say, Billy Bob was hap pier than a fox in a chicken coup. Keep ing in the spirit of the president’s gra ciousness, here are a few suggested congratulations the White House may have overlooked: f, Upon checking out from the hospital, the newly expanded family would be greeted with their complimentary gift or the new-born, a birth certificate and a letter from the president. Dear new parent(s), Congratulations on your new addi tion to the family. Statistics show that ev ery new-born child is born nearly $10,000 in debt, taking into consider ation the current federal budget deficit. Please rest assured that I am doing everything possible to ensure that that debt does not become insurmountable for your son or daughter. I know I can count on your continued support. Sincerely yours, Ronald Reagan P.S. Enclosed is a form to make tax- free contributions to pay off the na tional debt. Won’t you take the time to invest in your child's future?. At commencement, to your aston ishment you find that the piece of paper with the ribbon tied around it isn't blank, it’s a letter from the president. Dear graduate, Congratulations, you finally made it! 1 know at times it seemed as if you may not make it this far, but you did and I admire your fortitude and persever ance. I have worked hard to guarantee that your generation will live long and prosper at the expense of others who are not as fortunate as you. Once again, congratulations — may all your dreams come true. Sincerely yours, Ronald Reagan P.S. Don’t default on your govern ment loans. Support Reaganomics. And to ensure that no homesick serv iceman goes without a letter at mailcall — here’s Ronnie. Dear new enlistee, Thank you for joining the armed services. The decision to defend your country against the Evil Empire is a noble one, indeed. However, it is with great sad ness, that I must acknowledge there are few true patriots such as yourself left in our country today. I know / can sleep peacefully at night with young men such as yourself pro tecting me. Respectfully yours, Ronald Reagan Commander-in-Chief. The president also could congratu late convicts granted parole on their newfound freedom, teenagers who get their drivers licenses, newlyweds, octa- generians, and couples celebrating their golden anniversaries, to name a few. In short, no one’s life would be com plete without recognition from the na tion’s most exalted politician. But in this time of spreading communicable dis eases, fast foods and computers, maybe there is something to be said for keep ing a low profile. Don’t look now, the “Great Commu nicator” may be watching you. The let ter may already be in the mail — with postage due. John Hallett is a senior political sci ence major, a columnist and News Edi tor for The Battalion. i kgb spy Yurcwewo It III pt&V/t7£NC£ JDCtZNAL-BuuETrti More to apartheid than capitalism vs. communism Norman Muraya Guest Columnist I would like to thank}. Byron Schlomach for his Oct. 31 guest column on human rights and apartheid in South Africa. As the president for Students Against Apartheid I must respond to his statements. Schlomach states that “black-on-black oppression” in many African nations is “worse than the white-on-black oppres sion in South Africa.” Why is it then that the United Nations has not condemned all those other nations in Africa, like it has done many times against South Af rica? Because no other nation in the world during the last 40 years has so consist tently violated human rights as South Africa. No other country on the African continent has a constitution and govern ment which excludes by law the rights and needs of over 70 percent of the population. The second mistake Schlomach- makes is stating that blacks in South Af rica are there as “migrants” from neigh boring countries escaping persecution from their own black leaders or escap ing intertribal strife. Every black in South Africa is a descendant of one of the many ethnic population groups that have been living or migrating across southern Africa for the last thousand vears. Schlomach also mentions that many blacks have jobs in South Africa. True, but he did not mention that they make about one-seventh of what a white would make in the same occupation. In dexed for inflation, black wages have not risen since 1911. After all, the largest concentration of natural resources on the continent is lo cated in South Africa and blacks will not simply jump into the ocean and allow the Apart-Hate regime to hoard all the gold and diamonds. Schlomach continues^ by stating that those opposed to apartheid are only lib erals (Jesse Jackson, Edward Kennedy and Desmond Tutu) who are “sucking up to the Russians on the one hand while fomenting revolution and fanning the flames in South Africa on the other,” Both Republican and Democratic Congressmen have been arrested pro testing apartheid in front of the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C. Both American political parties are in terested in democracy and human rights, and President Reagan has insti tuted economic sanctions against the re pressive regime in South Africa. Finally, Bishop Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent advocacy at a time when his family and relatives were being violently brutalized by the regime in Pretoria. Locally, anti-apartheid leaders con ducted a most peaceful march on Na tional Anti-Apartheid Day, Oct. 11, one in which over 200 citizens walked si lently across campus. For some strange reason Schlomach feels that those who oppose apartheid also are pro-Russian. This is nonsense. Those who detest human rights viola tions in South Africa also detest them in any nation. The issue, however, is not the Soviet Union, but South Africa, and both the United States and the Soviet Union have publicly condemned the government of South Africa. I resent that Schlomach has at tempted to reduce human rights viola tions to the old tired debate of commu nism verses.capitalism. Anti- apartheiders, especially those who advo cate divestment, are capitalists who are speaking as consumers, tax- and tuition- payers. We do not want our money sup porting statutory race discrimination wherever it may exist. In particular, we do not want our money funding an apartheid regime which denies 24 mil lion black citizens political and economic rights, one which has murdered over 750 blacks during the last thirteen months. Norman Muraya is president of Stu dents Again st Apartheid Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 w ords in length. The editorial staff reserves iht right to edit letters for style and length but w ill make every effort to maintain the author] intent. Each letter must be signed and must include the address and telephone numlxrof the writer. Show a little class EDITOR: I am amazed and appalled at the decision of Student Governmentto hold a legs contest to raise money for United Way. Surely an organization representing a student body as large and di verse as Texas A&M’s could have thought of other means of f undraising Legs contests are degrading to men and women alike. I don’t care if it is “for a good cause” — it’s tacky. A legs contest is a poor choice for raising money for a charity. It is an excellent choice for proving the insensitivity of our elected representa lives. Are there no women (or men) in Student Government who care enough to vote against something this exploitative? Yes, I know the contest is also open to men or "any tiling else with cute legs,” but the point is that men (or anything else) are not exploited as women, especially on this campus. Please, Student Government, remember who and what you are rep resenting. If you are working toward a world-class University let’s showa little class. Stacey Roberts Couldn’t have said it better myself EDITOR: As offensive as this may seem to the scores of traditionoholics strutting self-righteously about the campus, I simply must express my amens to ward Karl Pallmeyer for having the courage to offer an alternate view of Texas A&M traditions in his column appearing in last Wednesday's Battal ion. I am sure his sarcastic portrayal of tradition was found to b “tradition-shock” S’ Ikiiv a.m. to plm. jo one of ! Station Knts. ■ “1 en H real I ec out ■ Will) linislc fsi rite ■ The i pi iest. a pries marge e just at suffering Aggies as it was tomy- refreshing to my fellow self. I would guess that Karl has had his share of bad experiences with these hard-core tradition fanatics. Here are two of the many experiences I have had in my two-month stay at A&M: I was sternly reprimanded by an obnoxious person with a conspicu ously shaved head for trying to park my bicycle in the bike racks around the MSC in accordance to University rules. Unfortunately, my stupidity did not allow me to realize that the section of mud I had to cross to get to the only available bike racks might be considered part of the MSC grass by a holier-than-thou, power hungry traditionalist. While expressing my displeasure at an official’s call during the A&M- SMU game, a young lady in front of me turned around, glared into my eyes and snarled, “Good Ags don’t boo!" Maybe these and the many other confrontations I’ve had with tradi tions in only two months seem perfectly reasonable to some of The Battal ion’s readers. And maybe the handful of girls who responded to Karls Nov. 6 column with the painfully dramatic and awe-striking questions, “Why did you come to A&M?” think I should take Highway 6 or whatever. Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not leaving A&M because I love it here. I love the people, I’ll stand up all day to support our team, and I think midnight yells are a blast. Now if only we can turn down the volume of the brow-beating, closed-minded traditionalists, 1 won’t have any rea sons to write letters to the editor. I think Karl Pallmeyer’s sarcastic column on Nov. 6 and the follow-up on Nov. 8 expressed my views perfectly. Perhaps the readers who cringe at the words “Karl Pallmeyer” as if it were a dirty word should open tneir minds to the deeper meaning of his column and make A&M a better, friendlier place. Greg Deans ’88 Missing the message EDITOR: ) I am writing in response to Brian Koontz’s letter concerning MSC Great Issues’ presentation of the program entitled “Does Love Prevail Over Hate?” featuring Auschwitz survivor Marc Berkowitz. Koontz states “Preventing a massacre such as the Holocaust through public education and awareness is one thing.” And it’s one thing that MSC Great Issues intended as the purpose of the program. Koontz belittles the committee for charging $ 1 to attend this program. He must assume that we are attempting to profit by sensationalizing sucha tragedy. If he would have inquired further he would have realized that Great Issues has never profited from a program. What we do charge merely serves to reduce our losses on each presentation so that we may present one more program this year that addresses some other interest of the Texas A&M students and faculty. Since Berkowitz received a standing ovation from an over-capacity crowd, we feel we have not failed in this instance to provide a program that the campus was interested in. Perhaps we need to hear from people who actually attended .the program. As for the desire to “change history” which Koontz accuses Berkowitz of possessing, it does not exist. Not once in his presentation did he voice any intent that could be remotely construed as a wish to change history. Neither did this incredibly gentle man, with whom we had the privilege to spend the better part of two days, ever convey anything that could be in terpreted as “feelings of vengeance.” If anyone is interested in having a voice in choosing the programs Great Issues presents, we have open membership and encourage all inter ested students to drop by 216 MSC and become involvec}. Jim Schicker, MSC Great Issues Chairman Jerry Rosiek, Vice Chairman for Programming lasiona ■ge St Irvan. I Will) ■mag ■ted n ■te th ■e ch ■hI se: K VVl11 ■tide ■ving ■vs tl ■imiiu I He i ■>iial i 0! co ■(Mil 1 t|)etii|. I Blit iBniiist ttal cm; ■me 1 ikv n I lest pel Btaiii; I He null lx ninisi I ^' n h AU! ■sean road ii to shot or hui arount I Mih prsior gun, a ■e of ■oum as pan liltive The Battalion USPS045 360 Member of' Texas Press Association ✓ Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Rhonda Snider, Editor Michelle Powe, Managing Editor Loren Steff y, Opinion Page Editor Karen Bloch, City Editor John Hallet, Kay Mallett, News Editors Travis Tingle, Sports Editor Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper operated as a coniniunit v service to Texas A&M and Bryan- College Station. Opinions expressed in The Battalion arc those of the Editorial Board or the author and dt> not necessarily represent l/it- opinions of Texas A&M administrators, faculty or the Board of Regents. 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