Page 2/The Battalion/Monday, February 24, 1986
Opinion
No one-man job
In Thursday’s editorial we incorrectly chastised the Texas
Legislature for not going into special session to come up with al
ternatives to Gov. Mark White’s 13 percent spending cuts. Ob
viously, the Legislature has be to called into session by the gover
nor — which is what he should have done, instead of trying to
slay the fiscal dragon himself.
White’s intentions are well-founded. The Texas economy is
in grave danger, and spending must be cut more than it has
been. But White’s plan excludes public schools, highways, parks,
prisons and pensions and comes with a promise not to raise
taxes.
Institutions and agencies hit by the spending reduction or
der are expected to make up for those that have been side
stepped. Tne $68 million that Texas A&M has been asked to
slash is an exceedingly deep wound, given that most of the fat
already had been trimmed out of the budget at the beginning of
this fiscal year.
Solving Texas’ financial woes can’t be accomplished with one
executive order. Gov. White (not the Legislature) should call a
special session to enable our representatives to help choose the
course of financial action.
A viable solution may not be pretty. Some of White’s sacred
cows may have to be slaughtered. Taxes may have to be raised.
Texas has enjoyed a healthier economy in past years than many
states, and giving up our luxuries won’t be easy.
The Battalion Editorial Board
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The nerds were right
the values were wrong
land ton
In Texas, high
school athletes are
being asked to
pass their courses
before suiting up
for games. In
Georgia, a one
time teacher won a
$2.6 million award
from the Univer
sity of Georgia af
ter being fired for
opposing favored
to read play books. At the University of
Georgia, the now-celebrated Jan Kemp
says that athletes were admitted who re
ceived a flat 400 score on their college
boards — what you get for merely hav
ing a pulse.
Mahon, the quarterback for the Chicago
Bears. He drinks, he parties — and he
hits his receiver the next morning.
Richard
Cohen
treatment for ath
letes, and the NGAA has raised eligibil
ity requirements for athletes. Something
is happening. Call it the “Revenge of the
Nerds.”
All across the nation, high-school and
college sports programs are being scru
tinized and awful things are being
found. A professional football player,
an alumnus of a fine school, is arrested
and found to be functionally illiterate.
College coaches complain their athletes
are graduating from high school unable
Cynics can celebrate. America can
claim to have abolished sexism in the ex
ploitation of young people. Now both
men and women are exploited for their
bodies — catching passes in their own
distinctive ways. But pardon me for sus
pecting that the effort to reform school
sports had little to do with exploitaion of
men, women or — in particular —
blacks. It has to do, instead, with the
nagging sense that the nerds were right
all along: that we have been celebrating
the wrong values.
The thing about excellence in sports
is that it seems, and often is, a gift. You
either have it or you don’t. And if you
have it, and if you’re young, you don’t
have to work hard at it. Certainly that is
the message conveyed by, say, Jim Mc-
That sort of thing makes sports a tar
get. The American celebration of the
extremporaneous, of the carefree — of
all things associated with youth — has
cost us. Japan, to us a nation of nerds, is
beating us all over the place. The Japa
nese may play baseball well and ski like
champs, but in this country they are
seen as the antithesis of what youth cul
ture stands for. T hey work hard. They
study. An American student gets an av
erage of a half -hour a day in homework;
in Japan it’s two hours. In the United
States, 32 percent of 4-year-olds attend
school. In Japan the figure is 63 per
cent. The typical American student has
one year of high school math; in Japan
it’s three.
the American worker, especially the
blue-collar worker — the ones who
made all the shoddy cars. It hardly mat
ters that both the worker and the stu
dent are scapegoats for awful decisions
made by others (management, school
boards). The fact remains that the
judgement is in: America has to work
harder. Japan, for one says so.
sored b
By Irvi;
Delia Pi.
Trayc
suit co
The result is that sports has become
something of a scapegoat. As George
town’s basketball coach, John Thomp
son, has pointed out, the real problem is
not the occasional athlete who enters
college an illiterate and exits the same
way — but all the kids who can neither
play ball nor read. The real problem is
not the student athlete who is allowed to
play even though his grades are lousy,
but the rest of the kids whose grades are
just as bad and never study, either.
without effort, got the girls
glory. (May his day at thePostOlfc
long and boring.)
Some of it stems from a genua
cent for the well-being of the ail
and, even, a sense of outragethat
change for filling a stadium the
even learn to read. And some
f rom t he corruption of what issupp
to be amateur athletics, every
the paying of salaries to theawan
bonuses. There is a lot toobject
But the most telling criticism
Smith w
■ The
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The figures don’t necessarily speak
for themselves, but the results do: The
average American student is spoiled.
That is the popular judgment, too, of
There are many reasons for the crit
icism being leveled at school sports.
Some of it stems from jealousy: the envy
of the school-boy athlete who, seemingly
from the nerds. It is theywhosttl
abuse of school sports as repre® Qinnin
what's bad about American edua
general: its emphasis on fun,exid
raneous activity and instant gnti
lion. When these become para®
when they finally come tocorrupu:
institutions, then it is clear dial
wrong values are being celebrated
nerds have been saying that alii
Now they have their revenge.
Richard Cohen is a columnist^
Washington Post Writers Group.
Mail Call
More than one statement
EDITOR:
I’m writing in response to the article in The Battalion about the
speech given by Dr. Charles King on “Racism in America.”
I attended the speech and felt the article was very good because
it made me remember the feelings that I had that night. I felt that
way until I got in class the next day and heard some of my fellow stu
dents laughing and saying they felt that Dr. King was wrong when
he said that “all white people are to blame for racism and that they
are the only ones that could solve the problem.”
At the first of the program I felt the same way, but at the end of
the night I could feel my attitude changing. I sincerely believe that
anyone there would have felt very similar and at least understood
the comment and what Dr. King meant by this statement.
The writer of this article did a good job for those of us who were
there, but for those that weren’t, which is most of the readers of The
Battalion, the article made Dr. King seem like some kind of irate
black man that blamed all white people for everything and had noth
ing to support what he was saying.
I felt that what he said made a lot of sense because I heard more
than that one statement. He made some very good points. I would
suggest to whites and blacks alike, to attend one of Dr. Kings’ semi
nars whether you think you’re prejudice or not. You’ll be surprised
what you learn.
Brent McCoy
Class of ’88
Prejudice lies in the individuals
EDITOR:
I would like to dissent from a statement of Dr. Charles King in
Wednesday’s Battalion. In the article Dr. King was reported as say
ing that the cause of racism in America is white people and that they
are the only ones who can stop it . I disagree with this. I admit that
whenever I talk to a person, I notice their color or race. However, I
also try to reserve judgment of the person until I know the individ
ual.
I have been the victim of a so-called “reverse” discrimination
from a variety of individuals of many races. Prejudice resides in the
individual, not the race. Therefore, the solution to the banality of
prejudice lies in the enlightement of individuals, not a race.
Michael Moran ’88
That’s the ticket?
EDITOR:
I would like to express my dissatisfaction with the 1987 Class Ball
ticket.
I have been to several class balls and the tickets were always ni
cely printed and worthy of keeping in a scrapbook.
This year’s Junior Ball tickets are not worth presenting at the
door.
They were chicken scratched (handwritten would be too nice a
word) and the quality of printing was such that all of it did not print
in each ticket. I will overlook the fact that the date was yellowed-out
and written over with a ball point pen, but as for the rest, there is no
excuse.
It is extremely clear that no time or effort was spent on some
thing everyone going to the Ball will see.
I am embarrassed for the Class of’87. Maybe next year they can
at least move up to the quality of theater tickets.
Gwen Me Neal
With a gleam in their eyes
EDITOR:
In reference to Cynthia Gay’s column in the Feb. 17 Battalion:
I have real problems believing that the space agency is serving no
purpose by sending men and women into space. Her main argu
ment seems to be that the two fatal accidents wasted the lives of the
astronauts we lost.
Most of the astronauts involved went on record as saying that if
something were to happen to them they would want the program to
continue. The families also, even after the deaths of their loved
ones, have said that manned space flight must go on. Who is Cynthia
Gay to contradict these people and say the loss of these pioneers
should end the dream they lived for?
Manned exploration, at the risk of death, has been an integral
part of discovery. I wonder how many sailors were lost trying to find
the New World. How many frontiersmen never made it across the
mountains of Colorado? The astronauts knew nothing was fail-safe.
They knew the dangers involved, took them at face value, and went
on with a gleam in their eyes.
Scot Jenkins
Aerospace Engineering ’89
(and future astronaut)
Time will tell
EDITOR:
This letter is written as a reflection of Dr. Charles King’s highly
inpressive presentation on racism in America.
Dr. King’s roudy, aggressive tactics that offended some blacks
and whites at first were implemented in a very effective manner. His
booming, intimidating voice projected throughout the theater
caused many of us to feel his powerful words as they were spoken.
(Being accustomed to a black, Southern Baptist preacher, as many of
us who attended are, it was a familiar feeling).
Most might have called King’s tactics “scare tactics” — they were.
He scared the audience into examining this monumental crisis of
prejuidice in our society honestly and openly. The points King
raised caused us to think in different ways about the reasons and re
sults from acting upon prejuidice.
This highly informative presentation was a much needeo
except not enough people showed up to grow from the inforri
presented. Roughly, 75 percent who attended were black.So
more progress could have been made had the ratio ofbl;
whites been closer.
Fear was presented as one of the top reasons for lack of ini
tion with blacks. We all take risks in our day to day struggle
Why not take the risk of meeting and getting to know someoif’l
is not of your own ethnic group? A storehouse of informant 1
understanding of others can be found this way. Drop all the
and let people meet the real you!
My old lady is white and I am black. We have becomt
friends and have learned much from each other — eachr
on each other making us a step closer to fully understanding
other. As a matter of fact, all of my buddies have taken thesaw i!
that my old lady has, and we are all one step closer togettingi’
rounded education from one friendship.
Drop the facades and take the risk. 1 have faith thatoned*
racism crisis will be resolved, but only time will tell. Time is tfe
equalizer, you know.
Kyle Miller
Class of ’88
Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editor 11 ''
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News Editor Cathie A 11 ,
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