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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 1986)
Page 2AThe Battalion/Monday, August 27, 1985 Opinion Take a hike Gulf States Utilities, College Station’s supplier of electricity, has been authorized by federal regulators to increase rates 40 percent. GSU, facing bankruptcy, is pleading for sympathy. Col lege Station, facing the highest utility rates in the state, should not be fooled so easily. If the increased rates go into effect, it will mean a substantial rise in electric bills for College Station residents, including most Texas A&M students. The College Station City Council should consider breaking the city’s contract with GSU. Implementation of the rate in crease could scare off new businesses looking to locate in College Station.If College Station hopes to lure industry into the area and bolster the floundering local economy, it must keep utility rates competitive with those in other communities. While College Stations rates have been climbing steadily, Bryan has temporarily reduced electricity costs. The difference in power costs could cause College Station to lose vital industry to its neighbor. For too long GSU has been pushing off its rising costs for the River Bend nuclear power plant in Louisiana on Texas consum ers. College Station residents have done their part in keeping power costs down through the city’s load management program. The effort, while successful, is not enough to combat the pro posed increases. College Station has tolerated GSU’s lack of consumer con cern long enough. The city needs to fight its way out of the GSU contract. College Station should tell GSU to take a hike, not vice versa. The Battalion Editorial Board What to expect from the Corps of Cadets Howdy Aggies! Being an old dead senior from ages past (last year), I have the ultimate perspective on life, the universe and everything. This includes many facets of life too numerous to mention, so I must limit myself to the abandoning any study time whatsoever. This leads to the excuse that the Corps causes bad grades and does indeed af fect the sleeping habits of cadets in their classes. Mark Ude Corps of Cadets and what anyone who invests their time and energy into such an enterprise can expect. The biggest benefit of the Corps of Cadets is the ability for students to work with incoming freshmen and build their self-confidence. This shouldn’t be taken lightly. While many freshmen are al ready self-confident, many more are not and could use the practice. While work ing at the Military Procurement Center this summer, I saw all types of freshmen and a good number were like lost lambs. The philosophy of performance under fire is applied and continues for the first two years. There is something to be said about completing a difficult job, espe cially under pressure, whether it is just shining shoes before an inspection or undergoing a class project for the Corps “brass.” The other important aspect of Corps teachings is learning human behavior. In an average freshmen class, there is a wide variety of personality, from the country farm to the big city, native Tex ans and Yankees, red-blooded Ameri cans and foreigners. Each of these peo ple in the class must learn to work with each other, understand common prob lems, misunderstandings and preju dices. This leads to some lasting friendships, both in the class and throughout the Corps. The knowledge that any job can be accomplished with just the right amount of sweat and spirit leads to an aura of as sertiveness which does not come easily to non-cadet freshman. This assertive ness will continue to grow as one takes on further responsibilities, which in clude leadership and training of future freshmen. This attitude will be useful throughout the rest of one’s life. Besides the lasting friends of one’s class, there is also the rest of the outfit, the rest of the major unit, and others, including non-cadets. Classroom Drill 1 Crawl under desk 2. Kneel on floor 3. Arms over head 4. Wait out lexas Special Session AAkRGUUES 6>l9g6 HOK*CN FP6T United Feature Syndicate Tobacco industry perpetuati cigarette lies through ads If J a n u s, the two-faced god, had not been cre ated by the Ro mans, the month of January would be named after cigarette advertis ing. Like Janus, it can look both ways. To its cli- Richard Cohen For girls, the messages are different. In some ads, smoking is equated with a liberated lifestyle. For sure, they have come a long way — all the way to the emphysema ward. Often, smoking is linked with romance. For instance, one ad for Parliment shows a couple on a balcony overlooking a nighttime sea. He, tall and well-dressed, is looking down at her — maybe because she is holding a cigarette the size of a railroad spike. ents, the industry claims both effective ness and huge fees, while to cigarette foes it says its advertising does nothing much. Its humility looks a lot like hypoc risy. In the law, something called commer cial speech is recognized as a distinct cat egory. The term applies to such things as ads which entice the reader to make a commercial decision — buy a product. This , leads to another aspect of the Corps — image. Cadets are the most vis ible students on campus, and therefore are SEEN falling asleep in classes. This should be clear to all in the Corps, and for good reason, because when people are looking at them, they must be on their best behavior and look their best. One should make an effort to do so, in or out of uniform. This includes on and off campus, at A&M or the University of Texas. This is another trait that in creases one’s ability to apply for a job with reasonable chance of success. This is the argument advanced straight-faced by the cigarette industry in the face of a congressional attempt to ban cigarette advertising. In essense, the industry and its allies in advertising and magazine publishing claim ads do not lure new smokers into the habit, but merely vie with one another to convert existing smokers to another brand. There is no question that commerical speech, as opposed to other kinds, does not enjoy full First Amendment protec tion. For instance, the First Amendment notwithstanding, you cannot advertise a phony cure for cancer. Who is to say they are wrong? Surely, more than advertising makes a smoker. In my case, it was an attempt to become an adult by doing something restricted to them. My guess is not much has changed since those days — and that some kids would start smoking even if there were no advertisements encourag ing them to do so. It is enough that adults forbid it. Cigarette advertising could fall under the heading of commercial speech and there is little doubt that Congress, if it had the will, could find the way to ban it. It’s obvious that if cigarettes were in troduced today the government would ban them. Not much of a case can be made for a product that is addictive and causes disease. Unfortunately, plenty of evide suggests that smoking remains chic especially among blue-collargni| — and that includes lots of kids and ticularly, for some reason, girls. AUSI passed ; day cut! $417 ir the Hoi with a t£ But t mediate which 1987 sp compro A K mittee Stc Mark Ude is a senior geography major and a columnist for The Battalion. But it also makes sense that advertis ing reinforces peer pressure. If a kid thinks cigarette smoking makes him ei ther a man or more of one, he need only peek at an ad for confirmation. There he can see smokers engaged in all sorts of manly pursuits, everything from hanging off cliffs to hanging off hang gliders to writing what looks like news paper dispatches from a desert on, of all things, a Hemingway-era portable type writer. But cigarettes have been with us ever since Capt. John Smith lit up in Vir ginia, and a whole industry has arisen around them. In some parts of the country, tobacco is an important cash crop and it seems that as long as farmers grow it and Jesse Helms is in the Senate, cigarettes will be sold. Even if they seduce not a singled smoker, ads tell both the pot® smoker and the current smokertltf arette smoking is acceptable. Set yourself: It’s advertised. If nothing a government ban on cigarettead't' ing would be another way of ^ “We disapprove.” As any former smoker can tell you, one reason he or she quit was the stares from non-smokers — the disgrace, the recognition of weakness. What was once an accepted habit is now considered gauche in some quarters. If you smoke, you are a fool; but worse than that, you either inconvenience or endanger the people around you. The tobacco lobby, the advertisif dustry and those parts of themedi* 1 rely on cigarette ads (look at thd 4 cover of many magazines) claim the) 1 only preaching to the converted.E 1 ' true, so what? I he suggestion of a healthier,re® tic life through smoking is, ine SSt no different than a phony cancer 1 and should be banned for the same son: It’s a lie. Copyright 1986, Washington Post Wrilff* OB30N»UOl»fc ft TO*** MS* 6 I am not one to say that every guy who goes into the Corps will become a real man. But in all fairness, the Corps will help the freshmen who were passive in high school, and didn’t involve them selves with many school activities. The Corps provides the opportunity for any person to succeed. And the temptation to remain passive is hampered by the older students pressuring complete in volvement in class activities. Mike Deaversj ' MIUIQHS ANP MllllONs/l V EARNED The next advantage the Corps has for poor, innocent souls is enhancing self- discipline. The Corps is not for every body, and those who leave do so because the pressure on time and other commit ments is too great. Priorities are taught, but not always learned. DRIVE-THRU ACCESS Believe it or not, the Corps wants its members to make good grades and not just to rub it in the noses of non-cadets. Grades always are emphasized first, then Corps activities. Through in creased pressure again, one learns how to assign priorities and manage time. Some never learn, while others thrive on procrastination and live on borrowed time. Some even major in the Corps, The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Sou lit west )ou rnalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Cathie Anderson,Editor Loren Steffy, Opinion Page ^ ll0! Frank Smith, City Editor Sue Krenek, News Editor Ken Sury, Sports Editor The Battalion Staff Assistant City Editor J ( Assistant News Editor Jeanr Assistant Sports Editors ....Loyd Ur, Photo Editor Make-up Editor Staff Artist ..Anthor ....Richa ...Mi Editorial Policy i'e Battalion is a non-profit, seir-suy per operated as a community service to Bryan-College Station. Opinions expressed in The Battalion ■duorial Board or the of Journalism. um victed s woman buried the thi cuted v to deal Che- have t ceived The Battalion is published Tuesda c unrig the Texas A&jvl summer semesti tun y tnd exan, ' na tion periods. Mail },, 5 semester, S33.25 per school ull year. Advertising rates furnished on 0(1, address: The Battalion, 216 77843^' 7 ' CXas A&M University Co 3eco n d class postage paid at College Station ^ POSTMASTER: Send address changes wj h ' on, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M Vni >erl11 Station TX 77843. if