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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 1986)
Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, April 16, 1986 Opinion A closed mind is open to a wild imagination Why are some people so opposed to change? The people who are so against change usually go to extreme lengths to convince others of their position. They will predict inevitable doom if something they oppose comes to be. Glenn Murtha britton Bell Tower? I thought any con troversy arising from the situation was ridiculous. I just didn’t buy the argu ment that moving the memorial was dis- repectful to the Aggies who lost their lives in World War I. It wasn’t like it was being moved to the Soviet Union or New York. It was only moved a few feet. To tell the truth, I never knew it existed until it was moved. ever thought up this line gets my vote for “Dork of the Year.” Now everytime that I see the band march, I imagine an impending Soviet attack on Kyle Field. These people exist even at Texas A&M. At our University, which has changed so dramatically in the last 15 years, one would think that Aggies would be used to change and stop resist ing it. But not so. If anything, the memorial was moved out of respect for these Aggies. They’re noticed now more than ever before. Now the memorial is located on a nice concrete landing with benches instead of in a patch of weeds. Tell me that doesn’t show more respect for those Ag gies. What else have these doomsayers pre dicted? Oh yes, the Gay Student Serv ices case. The GSS filed for recognition in 1976 and the University said no. So the group filed a lawsuit which even tually reached the Supreme Court last year. The Supreme Court let a lower court decision stand, requiring the GSS be recognized. Let’s examine some events leading to change in the past few years and the manner in which some Ags reacted to them. Let’s start with the World War I Memorial. Remember the letters to The Battalion protesting the movement of the memorial to make way for the Al- How about letting women participate in the band and other Corps activities? This came to a head last year. It’s hard to believe, but someone actually argued that allowing women to join the band would somehow weaken our nation’s defenses. Why wouldn’t the University recog nize the GSS? Lawyers for the Univer sity argued that allowing the group to meet on campus would result in, to paraphrase, mass orgies or something. Mass orgies? I’ll have to admit that they had a valid point. Most of the meetings I attend in Rudder Tower usually begin with an icebreaker orgy. Rudder just seems to have that effect on people. I love Rudder Tower. Weaken our nation’s defenses? Who- Uruled Feature Syndicate MAftGUUES (ZpWt. MOvSTDrJ Mail Call Just another 'first' EDITOR: In his review of Jean-Michel Jarre’s “Rendez-Vous,” Karl Pallmeyer states that “Last Rendez-Vous: Ron’s Piece” would have been of great historical significance if not for the shuttle tragedy. homosexuals also have one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Homosexual “marriages” have a 99 percent divorce rate and that a very high percentage of homosexuals have to undergo intensive psychiatric treatment as a result of their “gay” lifestyle. Even if “Ron’s Piece” had been played and recorded aboard the Challenger, it would have been only one in an endless list of space “firsts.” Finally, the most significant fact that Murtha overlooked isthe thousands of homosexuals who have been delivered from the bondage of their depraved lifestyle by asking Jesus Christ into their lives to forgive them and to heal them. Mike Foarde ’87 The loss of the shuttle — and everthing connected with it — will be remembered long after most of these “firsts” have been forgotten. “Ron’s Piece” could become for the space program what “Silver Taps” is for Aggieland. Kevin McLeod Bailey Blind, deaf men EDITOR: The untold story EDITOR: The comments from the secretary of the Board of Regents published Friday in The Battalion are a slap in the face to Texas A&M students. They lack conscience, logic and humanity when viewed from this perspective. I would like to comment on Glen Murtha’s column in the April 9 The Battalion. I think that Murtha did a terrific job of avoiding the real issue of concern to most people. He admits to having done “little” research on the issue of homosexuality, and it is more than obvious that his research was just that — little. Secretary Bill Presnal explains that the board acts purely for financial gain and does not make statements on the morality of its investments. This should not be the case. Once you wade through Murtha’s statements, he seems to indicate that homosexuality is a willful sexual- orientation choice made by individuals. This is true, but the issue is if we as a society accept or condone individuals that make this choice. If there is no absolute moral standard, then we should be hard pressed to condemn, say, pedophiles (people who are sexually attracted to children) or people who enjoy sex with animals because they could just as easily argue that our moral reservations toward their sexual orientation are just our opinion. Acting in such a “money-rules-my-life” manner, we could expect them to invest in a country of the likes of Nazi Germany. In addition, they could invest in prostitution and gambling (both legal in Nevada) — if they haven’t alreadly — and make some serious cash. Then, the next step would be to lobby for the legalization of marijuana and cocaine so that they could sell it to schoolchildren. Talk about pulling in a chunk of change . . . These are obviously not things that a majority of Aggies would support and, therefore, the board, whether it has many morals of its own or not, should heed the students’ wishes. Unfortunately, it seems that they could not care less about 35,000 students’ wishes. It seems that they could not care less what 35,000 tuition-paying individuals think. Then we could have organizations on campus such as PSO (Pedophiles Service Organization) designed to help pedophiles improve their technique etc. or SFB (Students for Bestiality) arranging “Barn Dances” so students can get together with their prospective sex partners. There is an absolute moral standard, the Bible. Therefore, we can accurately and justifiably say, “Sure every individual can choose, but we as a society will not condone individuals making the Wrong choice.” Much in the same way we put individuals in jail who choose to be thieves. Murtha failed to research, largely because he only investigated immoralist sources, significant facts such as bate forum this week on whether a bar should exist in the Memorial Student Center. Someone stated in a letter to The Battalion last semester that it might be nice to have a bar in the MSC. What about this year? The Texas A&M Debate Club is sponsoring a de- Nowhere is this more obvious than in the fact that the board denied Students Against Apartheid’s request to even discuss the issue. They wouldn’t even talk to them. That’s the real tragedy. It seems we are being led by blind men and we’ve just discovered they are deaf also. Randy Trosper Naturally someone had to write in op position to this proposal. Pretty soon a lot of people were claiming that a bar would be disrespectful to Ags who had lost their lives in America’s wars and to whom the student center was dedicated. I’ll have to concede that they have a good point. If they put in a bar, what would be next? A bowling alley? Video games? A beauty salon? Have you noticed some of the newer, more liberal groups on campus this year — NOW (National Organization of Women), Greenpeace, TAMU Civil Lib erties Union (related to the American Civil Liberties Union)? I’m just curious about how the doomsayers must have reacted to these new groups. Some pos sible arguments against them could in clude: NOW — Allowing an organization Battalion. like NOW to exist on campusflpV© promote hostility between the seiE/ suiting in an all-gay A&M. MflOV • Greenpeace — An aniinu;•. 1 ganization such as Greenpctfa promote tension between A&M By AN^ Soviet Union resulting in theintl v nuclear destruction of the Univerl Di [erry • TAMU Civil Liberties Ur jate profes TAMUCLU is solely a havenfejneering ; munists and communist syrapati,s* : g nef l a : Its existence on campus could Iff 31 lie , sa } communist takeover of ^ universities would soon fall totkM\-} i:ui munists (the Domino Effect),tMorking o qualm any Aggie resistance wityexas Tech live gay KGB agents (since had turned gay because of NOmR 161 e s with the nation’s defenses wtill^j (women in the band), Mikhail|y S chev could then assume office. ; Conglete Gee, how the imagination gMed to p wild when the mind is so djonofneut ( hange ^■eutral istronauts i Glenn Murtha is a senior poMveightles! ence major and a columnist i:] he legs ngle to tin lat out in Customers to blarrf for insurance crisis Btere’s rtebrae i ys. ‘fn spao Buy has tl )n says. “1 fthe dead More and more, a youth misspent (for low pay at that) as an insur ance adjuster is turning out to have had some va- lue. So when it comes to the cur rent insurance cri sis (a special seg ment on NBC, a Richard Cohen Congleto |this chaii the award, were willing to taililstitute oi any case — and get a paymec! ethnology times just for filing a chintltilH eluded physicians who could, IliBt . tune tellers, divine whiplash; 1 ^ running their hands over X-r<l re | )rene tures. And, finally, it indudedtk* ance companies themselves.lt»idN VEN cheaper to settle a claim thani 120,000 i This, in turn, encouragedlawve!i§ ce tystei even more claims. ^Bofthec cover of Time), Cohen of Claims, as I once billed myself, knows who is at fault. It’s you. You wouldn’t get that impression from what you’re reading and certainly not from the mail I get. There, in press releases and studies so massive I have saved their reading for my retirement, the insurance industry and trial lawyers are slugging it out. The former blames the latter for suing at the drop of a hat or, worse, a scalpel. And the latter blames the former for hiking rates to compensate for bad investments — back when insurance industry prospects were, like interest rates, sky high. But all these doctors and alltts| T e ins i: , , , . tfeton re ii yers had to have patients or other words, they had to haveiB| ffes that saw the negligence suitasiB make a buck — as yet anotherr ment. Back when Cohen of Ckl closing files at a pace thathasf-l yet to be matched, everyone in| dustry knew that there wasat between urban and rural areaiij THtATR >st C Post Oal For most of us, a fight between the in surance industry and lawyers is the do mestic equivalent of the Iraq-Iran war: May it simply continue. But in this par ticular war, the casualties are close to home. Bus lines have ceased operating because they cannot get liability insur ance. The tram from New York’s Roose velt Island to Manhattan ceased operat ing when the premium was raised from $800,000 a year to nearly $9 million. Some cities have had to close their parks and playgrounds because they either could not get — or could not afford — liability insurance. ban areas, an accident was almfi to produce a suit — every thing h cost of a new bumper to theusmi for pain and suffering. In turJf Ho(pG that was rarely the case. Therein9:45 parties were likely to knowonen A handshake and a check usual) a claim. ers (PG- Ironically, in an era thatpri :209:2 ° return to the ideals of comrautfli nerr aggs /loney current crisis in liability insurant ments just the opposite — atoffi and, its handmaiden, alienation®!" the stranger. We sue the other; ijog^o sue as if we are disconnected implications of the suit — higheipnd of Th< urns and the social cost. Juries^ 9 '- 30 awards in the same way. Ever)’ volved feels disconnected sequences of their action, as if no stake in, or responsiblitif common good. These examples, though, are in the nuisance category compared to the ef fect the insurance crisis has had on phy sicians and, as a consequence, on the poor. In some places, clinics have had to shut down. The poor have been sent away, some of them, surely, to die. The country now faces the ultimate irony: A poor person might not be able to get medical attention. But should he get it — and should something go wrong — he could almost certainly get a lawyer to Now we are feeling theconsecT * ( Civil lawsuits have mushro . . 1. Any s million-dollar verdicts, once nl now almost commonplace. (IlifT’ ' lJesc 401 judgments of a milliondoffMon-l more in 1984.) Doctors can’tgj with c ance and blame trial lawyers, 4 yers blame the insurancecompacpENOT sue. Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The edito rial 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 be signed and must include the address and telephone number of the writer. Cohen of Claims saw this coming a long time ago. Back then, I knew a vast industry existed in which the raw materials consisted of phony or margi nal claims. This industry included law yers who, because of contingency fees guaranteeing them as much as one-half Cohen of Claims knows the)' a point. For years both sidessa'I ing while elements among thefflj personal injury into a growdiit second only to drugs in profit* 1 morality. But just as with d has to be more than a ra There has to be consumer! and maybe mostly, at fault. Tli jl l said at the beginning, is you. Richard Cohen is a colu/niiisi i Washington Post Writers Grom Mall >WN Af fERLY : FBE :EPIN The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board beaut ■EE 902 E. 29th OLICE , ACADEI Editor Miche q Managing Editor KajTy"- Opinion Page Editor Lot 1 THE ESI City Editor News Editor CathieA^)n0SSR Sports Editor. ..Travit Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper operated as a community service to Texas Station URPHY’ ■ 'ILDCA Opinions expressed in I he Battalion are those of the Editorial Board or the author and do not necessmlfV - opinions of Texas A&M administrators, faculty or the Board of Regents. DDII p/N The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper for students in reporting, editing and photographydlt! 6 ,mu rv Department of Communications. The Battalion is published Monday through Friday during Texas A&M regular semesters, except Forholitbf , ' ; l lion periods. 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