Page 2/The Battalion/Friday, November 22,1985 Education — one way or another Education is supposed to be a process of cultivating the mind — growth through exposure to new ideas. A school —- oe it a col lege, high school or elementary school — should be an avenue for this exposure. When A&M Consolidated High School Principal Sandra Parker canceled a mock interracial marriage in tne school’s home and family living class, she not only abridged this expo sure process, her actions implied that students snould not de viate from established social norms. Parker reversed her ban at the last minute and the wedding was allowed to go on. But her initial reaction is disturbing. Shov ing nebulous community standards down their throats does not encourage students to examine social values for themselves. For five years, students taking the course have planned and staged mock weddings as part of the course. This year, students planned a wedding with a black bride and white groom. Parker vetoed the ceremony, claiming it was not representative of ac cepted community behavior. “The community looks at the school to illustrate and to mod el,” Parker said. Perhaps, but the students look at the school as a means of learning about life. Interracial marriages are a part of life, one which the class textbook includes. Parker suggested the students have two weddings — one black couple and one white couple — rather than a “mixed” one. This type of reasoning went out with “separate but equal” res trooms and drinking fountains. Ironically, Parker’s cancelation did enlighten students to one aspect of social behavior: the prejudices and social condemna tion associated wiih activities such as interracial marriages that fail to conform with popualar mores The Battalion Editorial Board Mail Call Opinion Old ‘spirits’ of Aggieland could use a little ‘exorcise’ Lei Freef ByT I don’t believe' in ghosts but I feel that Texas A&M is haunted . The spirits of rich, old Ags linger on at- this school long af ter they’ve gone. I can remember „ . a time when the Blocker Building Pallmeyer was known as the A&A Building, the Read Building was known as East Kyle, the Simpson Drill Field was known as the Main Drill Field and the Peterson Building was known as the Plant Sciences Building. It’s amazing how many things get a new name once some rich, old Ag gives this school a lot of money. It’s even more amazing when another rich, old Ag can have an entire bell tower built in his honor. It’s even more amazing still when there’s a huge building for rich, old Ags being built across from a TV station w’here journalism students used to get practicle experience until its bud get was axed resulting in the elimination of its news department. Right across from the street from KAMU-TV is the future home of the International Rich, Old Ags’ Headquar ters. The $7 million going into that building could keep KAMU’s news de partment on the air for 70 years. Despite efforts by the rich, old Ags, Texas A&M is not. a miliian school Al ter World War II mam servicemen, mv father included, carnc to tne Agricultu ral and Mechanical College of Texas to complete the education that had been cut short by the war. Mandatory enrollment in the Corps was dropped since it was foolish to ex pect men who have spent the past four years of their lives defending tins coun try to bow to the wims of younger men who have spent the past four years of their lives getting out of high school and getting into college. Although my father did not complete his degree until 1948, he was included in with the Class of ’44, the year he would have graduated had it not been for the war. Considering that less than 2,000 oui of 35,701 students are in the Corps, and that not all of those 2,000 are seeking a career in military, it is foolish to believe that Texas A&M is still a military school. Despite this it’s hard to step two feet on campus without having some re minder of war being thrust at you. The MSC and other memorials are impor tant since we need to remembei those men who have sacrificed their lives in service of our country, but why do we need Military Walk? Military Walk, be tween the Rudder Complex and Sbisa Dining Hall, is the path the Corps used to take to its dailv meals. Admittedly the food at Sbisa is piett\ bad but the sacri fice involved doesn’t rate a monument. This summer at my roomate’s grad uation ceremony Board of Regents Chairman David Filer gr.. the madua tion address Eller said that the nevv group of graduates had a duty to sup port then school tinanualh now ihni they have become former students. Eller did everything but pass the plate. It is true that Texas A&M has an impressively supportive alumni butit would be nice if theii money would be used for education instead of bell towers, renaming old buildings, buy ing gifts for the football team and building new buildings that the stu dents will never get to use until they are no longer students. There is a lot of room for im provement at Texas A&M. Money from rich, old Ags could be used to buy more books for the library, pro vide scholarships, build classrooms or do a number of things that would benefit the students currently going to Texas A&M. Faculty a need psyc participate tant progra Tne pro available sii provided I committee and oversi Lutes, asso lege of Libt Lutes, v chairman, gist is paid bers. “The sta doctor up free,” Lute its aren’t program is with deep lems, it’s I need pract Nuc We have no right to tell the rich, old Ags how they should spend their money. If they want to give Texas A&M money then they should be al lowed to. But most of their gifts have been like the gif ts that you get from you eccentric old aunt at Christinas You have to say “thank you” even Univei Dr. Lee named the A&M’s Depa gineering, ai H. Richards< dean of engii Peddicord man who wa ciate dean o though the gift >n Y worth a damn. P ne ^I‘ n S- ; Dr. Pedd hjil Palhneyci i» o .ttuioi joutut ■intellect to W-ioWMiuMfor* IJS ami Battalion. Bon the excel! I jveloped in re Isaid. “We an goutstanding I partment ha: ——— Band responsi Prior to ji Thanks for nothing EDITOR: This is an official thank-you note to the management at the Manor House Inn. Thanks to you and your recent policy changes, you’ve managed to make my last memories here in Aggieland bad ones. Tm graduating on Dec. 13 and had made reservations with your hotel back at the beginning of September, for my family. I reserved two rooms for one night with no indications from your staff that any changes would be made. Now, upon confirmation of the reserva tions, my parents were told of a new policy your hotel has of a two- night minimum charge. Or in other wordsr doubling the price of a room for what most people would call a one-night stay — Aggie graduation. greed and inconsiderate attitude, for forcing my family, and proba bly several others, to look for more reasonable rates and manage ment elsewhere. Wayne L. Grabein Class of’85 Of ‘nice’ and ‘others’ EDITOR: The letter of Elaine Pahmiyer and Angie Buechler raised a fairly interesting question in my mind. That is, what is the difference be tween a “nice” car and an “other” car? They listed Cutlasses, Jeeps and Camaros as “nice” cars, and Toyotas (except Supras), Volkswa- gens and Tempos as “other” cars. Can a Jeep really be considered a car? Most of the ones I’ve seen don’t even have doors or a roof. amazingly similar in appearance. Of course, the Mercedes was not on the “nice” car list, but I am assuming this was only because it was i| an abbreviated list. The Jeep’s styling has changed very little since its introduction in WWII. Of course, it could be the gas mileage that a car gets that denotes it as a “nice” car. All the cars on this list are gas guzzlers, relatively ; speaking. Maybe owning a gas guzzler is a sort of status symbol, im- [{ plying that its owner must be financially well-off to af ford quenching p its thirst for gasoline. Maybe the vandalism is the work of environ- I mentalists, trying to send a message to the owners of “nice" cars c which can use up to twice the amount of gasoline to go to the same |' distance as some “other” cars. Who knows? Who cares? Not me, Tm just bored. Frank Irwin Graduate Student My parents also learned that this new policy, initiated in mid- September, after I had made my reservations, would still apply to their reservations. And despite my parents’ arguments with your management, you refused to honor our early reservations. I can’t speak for the rest of the Texas A&M students, but my family cannot afford to pay double the price for a room, especially under these circumstances. We were forced to cancel our reserva tions. I made the reservations back in September to make sure my fam ily would have a place to stay for graduation. Everyone knows the horror stories of trying to find a hotel at the last minute. The Col lege Station Chamber of Commerce said two-night minimum charges were not uncommon for football weekends, but they were surprised to hear that some hotels had this policy for graduation. The two-night minimum policy of yours and any other hotel in the area has no place in Aggieland, an area that prides itself on its helpfulness and fairness. Yes, thank you Manor Flouse Inn for your Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff re serves the right to edit letters for style and length but will wake every effort to main tain the author's intent. Each letter must be signed and must include the address and telephone number of the writer. Could it be a high sticker price that constitutes a “nice” car? A quick check at a local Toyota dealer reveals that the Supra (a “nice” car) and the Cressida (an “other” car) have about the same sticker price. Perhaps the ladies meant to write “. .. Toyotas (except Supras and Cressidas)”? A few years ago, a man had his $80,000 Ferrari crushed into a three-foot cube and made into a coffee table after he wrecked it. Is this a “nice” car, or just an expensive coffee table? Maybe it’s the styling of the car that becomes the fine line be tween the two types of cars. The Mercedes 190 and Ford Tempo are Wastes of time EDITOR: What is really the biggest waste of time, energy and wood? The Texas Aggie bonfire or The Battalion? You print an awful lot of anti-Aggie material, by not printing this, you will show that The Battalion is as one-sided and close- minded as the conservatives and traditionalists that you are con stantly putting down. Rob Farrell ’86 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, News Editors Travis Tingle, Sports Editor Editorial Policy The Battalion 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 are those of the Editorial Board or the author and do not necessarily represent 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 Battalion is published Monday through Friday during Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holi day and examination periods. Mail subscriptions are f 16:75 per semester, f 35125 per school year and $35 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on request. Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Second class