Page 2/The Battalion/Thursday, October 9, 1986
Opinion
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Corps turns yell practice
into tradition of violence
At Friday
night’s midnight
yell practice seve
ral students de
cided to run out
on Kyle Field.
Nothing strange
about that, it’s tra
dition. Several ca
dets decided to
stop them. Noth
ing strange about
that, it’s also tradi
tion. The cadets usually grab the of
fenders and carry them off the field.
This time, however, the cadets got a
little carried away with their self-ap
pointed position as keepers of the Field.
In Wednesday’s Battalion, students said
they were not only grabbed but also
held down on the ground and beaten.
According to these students, cadets even
used helmets to ensure their punches
had the maximum effect.
When friends tried to stop the pum-
meling, the students said their friends
also were thrown to the ground and
beaten. They also said the women who
ran on the field were hit, thrown to the
ground and called derogatory names,
showing how well the Corps’ Fine tradi
tion of chivalry has survived for 110
years.
The Corps sees a traditional right to
protect the Field, but traditional rights
don’t stand up against legal rights. The
Corps’ role as unofFicial protector of the
Field does not give it free reign to bash
heads. Even police are not allowed to
use such violence as a form of crowd
control.
According to University regulations,
the Corps has no right to keep anyone
from going onto Kyle Field. Appendix
VI, Sec. 5 states that disruptive activity
includes:
“Obstructing or restraining the pas
sage of any person at an exit or entrance
to the University or property or at
tempting to prevent by force or violence
or the threat of force or violence the in
gress or egress of any persons to or
from said property.
“A lawful assembly is disrupted when
any person in attendance is rendered in
capable of participating in the assembly
due to the use of force or violence or
due to a reasonable fear that force or vi
olence is likely to occur.”
Violations of these regulations on dis
ruptive activity can result in disciplinary
action and possible prosecution.
Despite what the cadets say, Kyle
Field is not a memorial stadium. The 55
flags that fly over the stadium are there
to honor the 55 Aggies who died during
World War I, but the Field itself is not a
memorial.
One cadet told The Battalion, “How
would you feel if somebody ran over
your father’s grave?” in reference to the
sanctity of Kyle Field.
To that I say, how would you feel if
your father was buried under Astro
turf? Why do football players receive
special consideration in running across
“graves”?
I never had much respect for people
who run onto the Field. I think it’s silly
and childish. But they don’t deserve to
have their heads bashed in for their chil
dishness. Fortunately, none of the civil
ians were injured seriously — only a few
bruises, scrapes and cuts. But there are
a lot of ill feelings and a damaged repu
tation.
Some things the Corps does in the
name of tradition and being “red-ass”
do nothing but make this school look
like a collection of mindless apes. No
wonder there are so many Aggie jokes.
In 1981, cadet Greg Hood did his
best to defend tradition by drawing his
saber and charging after Southern
Methodist University cheerleaders who
ran out on Kyle Field to lead a yell fol
lowing an SMU touchdown. It’s nice
that Hood had access to a deadly
weapon in his Fight to save the Field.
What would have happened Friday
night if the cadets had been carrying
sabers as well as helmets?
And only two years ago Bruce Dean
Goodrich, a sophomore cadet, died as a
result of “motivational exercises,” one of
the Corps’ Finest traditions. Information
about those “motivational exercises” was
destroyed by cadet Gabriel Cuadra, who
was afraid that the information would
hurt the Corps. Cuadra’s actions hurt
the Corps much more than the truth.
The Corps may be one of the oldest
institutions at Texas A&M, but that
doesn’t give it the right to physically in
timidate other students. The ideals it
claims to stand for are lost when it tries
to hide the truth in fear that its image
might be tarnished. The ideals it claims
to stand for die when it uses unneces
sary violence to protect them.
Like it or not, the Corps is the most
visible aspect of the student body at
A&M, even though it represents less
than 6 percent of the student body.
Whatever the Corps does reflects on the
entire school.
And students will not stand for
mindless violence in the name of tradi
tion. If the Corps wants a school where
those who won’t adhere to its archaic
ideals are beaten and persecuted, it
might do well to remember its old say
ing:
“Highway 6 runs both ways.”
Karl Pallmeyer is a senior journalism
major and a columnist for The Battal
ion.
News you can use — maybe
Did you know: „
• One of eight L@WiS
Americans sleeps GliZZOrd
in the nude?
• Michael Jack-
son, who was at the White House to help
promote an anti-drunken driving cam
paign, locked himself in a bathroom and
refused to come out until the president
personally asked him to.
• Hundreds of Field mice are leaping
from Golan Heights cliffs in what Israeli
scientists say is an instinctive solution to
overpopulation.
• There is no mold or mildew in Ant
arctica.
Of course, you didn’t know any of
that. Neither did I, until a publication
called “View from the Ledge” arrived by
mail the other day.
“View,” published by DEADFROM-
THENECKUP, Inc. in Washington,
D.C., is a newsletter that describes itself
as a “Celebration of the Submains
tream,” which means it is crammed full
of little news items you likely won’t Find
in your hometown newspaper.
I’m not certain how I got on the
“View” mailing list, but I’m most appre
ciative. What this country needs is some
body out there to collect the outrageous
and the unreasonable to keep the rest of
us from going insane.
Enough in the way of explanation.
Let us now celebrate with “View from
the Ledge” and its news form the sub
mainstream:
• QUOTE: “Nuclear war would
really set back cable television.” — Ted
Turner.
• FACT: Rats rewarded in lab exper
iments hit the cocaine button two and a
half times more than they hit the heroin
button.
• THERE GOES THE JUDGE: A
trial in Kenya was adjourned when a gi
ant lizard invaded the courtroom. While
the bailiffs tried to kill the lizard, 20 de
fendants escaped.
• DOWN UNDER: Two hunters in
Adelaide, Australia, tied a stick of dyna
mite to a rabbit’s back and lit the fuse
“just to see what would happen.”
What happened was the rabbit ran
under one of the hunter’s new trucks
moments before the dynamite and the
rabbit and the truck exploded.
• FACT: A survey of doctors in Ja
pan reveals that more than 90 percent
cheat on income tax. The worst: gyneco
logists.
• CRIME NEWS: A Tifton, Ga.,
man was arrested for driving around
nude and slinging lard at women.
• DARN THE LUCK: A Los An
geles robbery suspect broke into a build
ing to hide. It was the kennel of a train
ing school for guard dogs.
• QUOTE: “We plant roses, we
breed chickens, and we eat candy — but
before we can eat candy, we must eat the
kidneys of our enemies,” — Moammar
GadhaFi.
• ANOTHER FACT: v In 1895, there
were only two cars in the state of Ohio.
They collided.
If you are interested in receiving
“View from the Ledge,” the best idea is
to write P.O. Box 57141, Washington,
D.C. 20037. If you want to contribute an
item, send it to the same address.
Which reminds me: A reader in San
Francisco recently sent me the following
item from the San Francisco Chronicle.
I quote directly:
“KIDNAPPING: A woman standing
at the corner of Kearney Street and
Broadway at 2 a.m. was forced into a
man’s car. He drove her to his apart
ment where he forced her to wash the
dishes.”
Copyright 1986, Cowles Syndicate
Mail Call
Mysteries of Sbisa dining
EDITOR.
Would someone please explain to me the logic of the following rule? I’m
in Sbisa Dining Hall. I walk up to the line to get some barbecue, but I don’t
have a tray in my hand. I have not yet had a main dish, but the lady tellsmel
can’t have a second serving of barbecue. I explain that I’ve yet to eat a first
serving of barbecue, but no matter: to get some barbecue I must haveatray.l
proceed to get a tray and sure enough, the same lady plops on my plate a
helping of barbecue.
Question: Have I, by holding a tray, proved I have not had a serving of
beef? I assume I have proved it, but I for the life of me can’t Figure out how.
This worries me, for I’m in a logic course this semester, and my first testis
just around the corner.
It’s now dinner time the following evening. I’m once again in Sbisa. Iget
in line for some steak. This time I hold in hand a ticket, distributed at the
door, permitting only one serving of steak. Once again — why didn’t I learn?
— I don’t bring a tray. But I have a ticket, which, of course, shows I havenoi
had any steak. But what do you know? The lady (a different one) says I can't
have any steak unless I have a tray because — why can I not see the light?-
my ticket, which shows 1 have not eaten any steak, does not show that 1 have
not eaten any steak.
I suppose my Logic 204 text will in a later chapter expose me to this deep
process of reasoning, but I’d rather not wait. So would someone please
explain it to me now?
Andrew H. Pendleton ’88
Three years in waiting
EDITOR:
We also looked up the word senior. This term means “older or elder”or
“member of the highest class in college or high school.” Being a senior is an
honor, and we’ve waited three years for the privilege.
A student must be a senior and have 92 hours to get his “Aggie Ring.”
This should also be true for 50-yard line football tickets. The last two weeks
we’ve been stretching our necks to see the middle of the Field while freshmen
are standing comfortably on the 50-yard line.
We would like to go a step further than complaining and devise a solution
to the problem. Giving us a priority day is not giving us priority seats. I
suggest seniors still draw on Monday but be given a choice of the seats only
between the 40 yard lines on all three decks. On Tuesday, juniors candrawas
they do, still giving them a chance for good seats, but second in line to seniors
and so on with the low erclassmen. This may sound unfair to the
lowerclassmen, but they will have three more years to earn the better seats.
Meanwhile, we’ll try to enjoy our 15-yard line tickets so we can support
our Aggies to the 1987 Cotton Bowl!
Tammy Hedgpeth ’87
Annette Walker ’88
Julie Hitchinson ’88
Jill Kami ’87
Faith healing South Africa
EDITOR: . i
A few months ago I read an article in a campus newspaper that stated
“Over 3,000,000 South Africans, both black and white, gather to prayand
fast for their country.”
What was more surprising than the sheer magnitude of the event was the
fact that the secular news media never bothered to mention it. I knowthatthe
government has suppressed the media’s activities, but I wondered howsucha
large event could escape their attention.
Perhaps the situation in South Africa is much different than the media
would have me believe, since one-fourth of the South African population
agrees that only God can heal their land.
My former roommate is from Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia, a province
of South Africa. He feels that disinvestment and other economic sanctions
are not the solution to his neighboring countrymen’s problems, partlydueto
the level of communist activity in his own country.
He knows, and I agree with him, that if the people would humble
themselves, turn from their wicked ways and pray, then God would heahheir
land (and this goes for America as well).
As George Washington said in his farewell address: “Where is the security
for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert
the oaths? . .. Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be
maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influenceof
refined education .. . reason and experience both forbid us to expect that
national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
David Panak
Graduate student
Deserving recognition
EDITOR:
I feel that a part of Texas A&M tradition goes highly unrecognized. 1 ant
referring to the Fish Drill Team.
The drill team is made up of freshmen in the Corps of Cadets whojoinon
a voluntary basis. This year, the drill team has its largest number of
volunteers.
These young men and women devote an extreme amount of time and
energy to be a part of this organization. They meet at least four times a week
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 5 p.m. at Duncan Field. 1
feel they deserve to be recognized for their efforts.
LanaJones
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Sue Krenek, News Editor
Ken Sury, Sports Editor
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