Page 2/The Battalion/Tuesday, April 1, 1986
Opinion
Batt endorses Cleary
After interviewing the five candidates for student body pres
ident — Marty Roos, Brett Shine, Mike Sims, Mike Hachtman
and Jim Cleary — we unanimously agreed on only one thing: All
five were qualified for the position.
Each of the candidates had concrete ideas on ways to make
life better for Texas A&M students. Each wanted better student
communication with the Board of Regents and had ideas for re
forming Student Government.
But after serious and sometimes heated discussion, we de
cided on the person who we felt had the experience and lead
ership qualities Student Government and the students need —
Jim Cleary.
Cleary currently serves as vice president for academic affairs
in the Student Senate and as student representative on the pro
vost search committee.
By serving in these positions, we feel he has opened channels
of communication with faculty and administration. We also feel
he has the dedication and assertiveness to accomplish the goals
he has set for himself and Student Government.
Among Cleary’s ideas are making teacher evaluations avail
able to students and getting rid of the non-productive rules and
personnel in Student Government.
Jim Cleary has the dedication and determination to lead Stu
dent Government to a more active role in voicing the opinions of
the student body.
The Battalion Editorial Board
United Feature Syndicate
MAftGULIES
©1966 HCV6TDN POST
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Prostitution turns people into controlled commodities
I eqc
Int dec!
The last time I
taped columnist
James}. K i 1 p a -
trick’s mug shot to
my dart board was
in 1983, after he
wrote a piece ad-
vocating high
school and college
newspapers as lap-
dogs of the admin
istration.
Loren Steffy
Now Kilpatrick’s picture once again is
gracing my bull’s-eye. Last week, Kilpa
trick advocated legalizing prostitution.
“The law has enough to worry about
without worrying over discreet sexual
relations between consenting adults ....
Let’s let the ancient law of supply and
demand quietly accommodate the oldest
profession in the world.”
Kilpatrick’s idea is based on the con
clusions of an Atlanta committee that
determined “Prostitutes in Atlanta
should be allowed to work out of escort
services, bars and hotels, as long as they
do so discreetly and stay off the streets.”
The committee stated that prostitu
tion should be decriminalized and hook
ers periodically tested for diseases. The
disease-testing idea is nothing new. In
Nevada, house prostitution is legal in
most counties. The “working women”
are fingerprinted and routinely checked
by public health officials. But house
owners collect 50 to 60 percent of the
earnings and the basic per customer
charge is low. Even in this legal arrange
ment, prostitutes are a controlled com
modity, not human beings.
The Atlanta committee also sug
gested that because licensed escort serv
ices would have to pay taxes, everyone
in the city could benefit from prostitu
tion. Everyone, of course, except the
prostitutes themselves. Many hookers
who work out of bars must pay the man
ager a sizeble chunk of their profits.
Others must encourage their customers
to drink, thus running up the bar’s prof
its. Of course, then the owner would
have to pay more taxes. . . .
It sounds good in theory, but many
“escort services” are linked to organized
crime, which is not known for responsi
ble tax-paying. Legalizing prostitution
and collecting taxes on it means a city
would be endorsing sexual solicitation
of men, women and children. I have a
difficult time being thankful for the city
repairing the sidewalk in front of my
house if the money was generated by ex
ploiting women.
still spend most of their time ensuring
that “illegal” streetwalkers don’t peddle
their wares in the public domain.
Kilpatrick’s assertion that the law has
better things to do is wrong. The most
common arrangement for a prostitute’s
services is the pimp system. Many of
these relationships are based not on a
monetary agreement but on a coerced
psychological dependence in which the
hooker is an exploited victim.
The other problem with Kilpatrick’s
theory is the idea of “consenting adults.”
Most prostitutes don’t start out as
adults, and almost none of them are
“consenting” at first. The drift into
prostitution usually starts in childhood
with the development of a negative self-
image. What follows is sexual exploita
tion, including molestation, incest or
rape. Eventually, the child accepts the
image of herself as a hooker.
turned to when other alternativesarei netime
ther not feasible or not available. Thi lustbe
who do choose the world’s oldestproi
sion as their career usually areaddki ^ghtr
to drugs and/or alcohol and havei on , 1
other way to maintain their habits. 1ft
these people need is help, not a la
government supporting the actions
their employers/abusers.
repo
aint (n
(majc
ent n
bout e
Maybe all these deficiencies witliJ
galized prostitution can be takencarej
by a clever lawmaker. But thisi
. RIO
The law spends more time fighting
this type of prostitution than the subtler
forms. Call girls, the upper crust of the
prostitution hierarchy, are rarely ar
rested. So even if prostitutes were re
stricted to bars and hotels, police would
And juvenile courts don’t steer way
ward children in the right direction,
they only enhance the problem. Adoles
cents usually learn the fundamentals of
their trade and frequently meet juvenile
pimps while under juvenile court juris
diction.
has a basic moral concept that sell
your body for material gain is wd
The act in question doesn’t changewl
the environment, the status ofds
prietor or the cost of the service.
ed and
lying <
indent
For most young men and women,
prostitution is not their “career,” it’s a
temporary means of survival, a quick an
swer to their social and economic needs,
Kilpatrick is right, within hislimitf
frame of mind. The law does have
ter things to do than worry aboutsen
relations between consenting adults
only prostitution were that simple.
Loren Steffy is a junior journalism
jor and the Opinion Page editorI:
The Battalion.
y troop
plane
rce pi
,nd tv
Imelda’s secret shoe stash: fixation or
Sherlock
Holmes was study
ing the newspa
per. “No matter
where one goes to
track down the se
cret of the Marcos
fortune, the trail
always leads back
to the shoes.”
“Why is that?” I Aft BuchWOld
asked him.
“I’m not sure, Watson. Let’s see what
we know already. Imelda had 3,200
pairs of size 8 shoes in her closet, most
of which had never been worn. Why,
Watson, why?”
“Suppose Ferdinand Marcos had a
foot fetish. Many men with power do.”
“It’s too easy, Watson. Even someone
with an extreme foot fixation could
never go through 3,200 pairs.”
“I’ve known people with fetishes who
went through a pair of new shoes every
day. Perhaps Ferdinand was one of
them.”
“I’ve checked around at the palace.
No one ever saw Marcos playing with
Imelda’s shoes.”
“Well then, Sherlock, maybe Imelda
was the one who had a foot fetish.”
Sherlock smiled as he usually does
when he’s caught me. “Wrong, Watson.
Not a foot fetish. If anything, Imelda
had a shoe fetish.”
“What is a shoe fetish?”
“It’s a compulsion to hold and caress
a piece of footwear to assuage your
guilt.”
“And what causes one to have the fe
tish?”
“We’re not sure. All we know is that
many people who have a shoe fetish also
have a numbered bank account in Swit
zerland.”
“It’s all starting to come together,
Sherlock. Imelda bought shoes on
her trips abroad to disguise the fact she
was opening numbered bank accounts.”
“Just the opposite, my dear Watson.
Imelda opened numbered bank ac
counts abroad to disguise the fact she
was buying shoes.”
“Of course,” I said. “But why?”
“Imelda had a very deprived child
hood. The money she sent out of the
country was to assure her that no matter
what happened to the Philippine gov
ernment, she would always have some
thing to wear to the ball.”
“But, Sherlock, we’re talking about $3
billion. Are you trying to tell me that all
this money was set aside for footwear?”
“Have you priced women’s shoes la
tely, Watson?”
“That’s all well and good. But sup
pose Imelda had stocked up on the
shoes so that when she was booted out
of Manila she could open her own store
in Honolulu.”
“Take a look at this photo. Does
Imelda look like somebody who would
work in a shoe store?”
“Probably not. But she could own it
and not work there.”
“Except for one thing, Watson. All
the shoes are size 8. You can’t open a
store where all the footwear is the same
size.”
“Hmmmn. Well, tell me, Sherlock,
does solving the shoe enigma help you
solve the problem of where the Phil
ippine treasury is?”
Use your heads
EDITOR:
Once again The Battalion Editorial Board, that
infamous group, has left me wondering about its
mentality. I am responding to the Mar. 24 editorial
“A Cloudy Response.” In it they praised the Soviet
Union for their “self-imposed, unilateral test ban on
nuclear weapons,” and shamed the Untied States for
recently testing a nuclear weapon.
Sure the Soviets want a test ban on nuclear
weapons because they have already achieved a
healthy advantage in this area and they would like to
maintain it. This same article also praised the Soviet
Union for their intentions of peace and stability. Do
the Soviets support radical regimes like Libya and
Syria who export terrorism in the name of peace?
Do they invade Afganistan in the name of peace? Do
they fortify their borders with free countries with
hundreds of thousands of tanks and other military
hardware in the name of peace?
No, the Soviet Union’s long range intentions are
not of peace and stability, but of world domination
and the spx ead of Communism. So before writing
- Mail Call —
your next liberal, naive article please use your heads
and think about what you are writing.
Blaine Gillcoat ’87
GSS anniversary
EDITOR:
A year ago, the Supreme Court, by refusing to
hear Texas A&M’s appeal, forced the University to
finally recognize Gay Student Services.
Since then, our former “foes” — the
adminstration — have done all they can to make our
recognition painless. It’s good to be able to work
with the University.
The other students have been mostly complacent.
Perhaps they support our right to be here, or they
realize that we ARE here, whether they like it or not.
Whatever the reason, the GSS is not the
controversial subject it used to be. Phis week is Gay
Week at Texas A&rM. GSS is celebrating its first year
on campus. It is also commemorating 10 years of
service to Aggies. Saturday is the 10th anniversary of
our original application for recognition.
Kevin McLeod Bailey
Secretary of GSS
Well-lighted books
EDITOR:
On Mar. 18, during spring break, I happened to
walk by the Evans library about 8 p.m., and much to
my disbelief EVERY SINGLE LIGHT WAS ON.
T here was not a soul to be seen inside, not even the
janatorial staff. But here were all these brightly lit
books.
It makes you wonder how the University,
according to a quote by President Vandiver in The
Battalion Mar. 25, is “doing everything
to contain costs.”
I know I feel pretty good knowing that my
increased tuition and decreased financial aid is
making sure that all the books in Evans library don’t
have to be af raid of the dark.
David Fuller
Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The
editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters for style and length
but will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each
letter must he signed and must include the address and telephone
number of the writer.
front?
No-
Bl
“Not necessarily. A lot of it is hid
in real estate, gold, jewelry, bands
legitimate companies that Maid
bought when he was riding high,
that has surfaced are the shoes.”
“Quite. Say what you will, Sherlof
the Marcoses always covered
tracks.”
“Watson, I would liketogobai
take one more look at Imelda’s closet
“Why, Sherlock?”
“The Marcoses had a dog guardi
their clothes. On the night theysneai
out of the palace the dog did not to
Why not, Watson?”
“Why, Sherlock?”
“Elementafy. The dog had a
his mouth.”
Art Buchwald is a columnist for
Los Angeles Times Syndicate.
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Michelle Powe, Editor
Kay Mallett, Managing Editor
Loren Steffy, Opinion Page Editor
Jerry Oslin, City Editor
Cathie Anderson, News Editors
Travis Tingle, Sports Editor
ea
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bas
or
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