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 ;
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$417 ir
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with a t£
But t
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which
1987 sp
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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
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