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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 1986)
Page 2/The Battalion/Friday, October 10, 1986 The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Cathie Anderson, Editor Kirsten Dietz, Managing Editor Loren Steffy, Opinion Page Editor Frank Smith, City Editor Sue Krenek, News Editor Ken Sury, Sports Editor Editorial Policy The Battalion, is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper oper ated as a community service to Texas A&M and Bryan-College Sta tion. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editorial board or the author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, faculty or the Board of Regents. The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper for students in reporting, editing and photography classes within the Depart ment of Journalism. The Battalion is published Monday through Friday during T exas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday and examination periods. Mail subscriptions are $17.44 per semester, $34.62 per school year and $36.44 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on re quest. Our address: The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald Building, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College Station TX 77843. A school divided T he clash that occurred at Friday’s midnight yell practice only aggravated an already-painful division between the Corps ol Cadets and civilians. If the much-vaunted unity of the Texas A&M student body is to be preserved, an understanding must be reached. While the Corps has no legal justification for barring students from running onto the field, it has traditionally done so. While the civilians know the cadets will try to keep them from running onto the field, they traditionally try to do so. But when this traditional sparring turns to violent conflict, some thing needs to be done. The civilians should have thought about the possible consequences of their provocation. The cadets should have thought about the consequences of using physical action to deter the civilians. Certainly, neither groups’ antics should be repeated. In this case, tradition served as a catalyst for violence. The only accomplishment either side can boast of is that the yell practice inci dent has helped to drive apart two groups that should be striving to come closer together. Michael Kelley, a sophomore general studies major and bass cor poral for the Aggie Band, summed it up better than anybody. “We’re Aggies, and we should be working for the common cause of Aggies. I’d like there to be a better bond between the Corps of Ca dets and the civilians. It think it’s stupid — Aggies fighting Aggies,” he told The Battalion Wednesday. Stupid it is. The dif ferences that divide the Corps and the rest of the student body need to be rectified, not enhanced. We don’t need traditions that encourage such a division at a University that boasts of its unity. If the no-civilians-on-the-field tradition continues to be followed by the just-try-and-stop-us routine, repeat melees are certain. Many civilians do not understand the cadets’ intent and purpose and vice versa...... ,, t , This doesn’t mean the tradition is bad dr that it should be sacri ficed because of a misunderstanding and a few hot heads. But it ob viously needs to be modified — as most other traditions have been — to meet the needs and well-being of the entire student body. Ice-olated solutions Why Iceland? Of all the places to hold a superpower talk, why would the United States and the Soviet Union agree on this geo graphical speck in the North Atlantic? Perhaps because Iceland, the most isolated nation on earth, may put die negotiators’ goal in better perspective. Iceland has a population of 234,000, a jobless rate of less than 1 percent and a literacy rate of 99.9 percent — the highest in the world. No ballooning defense budget saps vital social programs such as education. It had its first reported armed robbery in 1984. The last presi dential election was scrapped because no one ran against the incum bent. On Thursday nights there is no television, so President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev don’t have to worry about be ing distracted by either “Family Ties” (Reagan’s favorite) or “The Cosby Show.” But the best things Iceland has to offer the superpower pre-sum mit is peace and solitude. The solitude may create an amiable nego tiating environment, but it’s the peace that may be the most valuable asset. In the midst of divvying up missiles and evening up nuclear stockpiles, the two leaders should take time to look around their pre summit site. If they get up from the table, go to the window and pull back the curtains, they’ll see all around them what they seek — peace. Uet’s hope it’s a strong reminder. I Mail Call -i Lost faith EDITOR: Two weeks ago I attended my first yell practice of the year only to leave in disgust and disappointment. To restore my faith in our yell leaders, who represent the Spirit of Aggieland, last week I attended my second yell practice of the year only to leave in disgust over the so-called spirit our yell leaders represent. This is one proud Ag who has hung his head low bcause of the filth I heard when the yell leaders told their grody stories. Yell practice is a tradition that is used to “fire-up” the Ags for the upcoming battle on the gridiron. It is a showplace for future Ags, former Ags and visiting guests to see the spirit we are proud of at Texas A&M. It is a place to bring our family, friends and date to be a part of a fine tradition. It is a place to show the spirit and support we Aggies have for our fine “world- class” university. To me, a “world-class” university doesn’t have to lower itself to the distasteful stories our yell leaders tell at yell practice. We should be able to stand on the pride, traditions and spirit that has distinguished A&M to be the fine university it is today. Michael Cooper ’87 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 be signed and must include the classification, address and telephone number of the writer. L-auJ*> or- Y\jO ( n.o damn darkle SrfhVv at (cmclx courvf-e*'/ X can't bc/'CUf? rXca enforces apo-r4ivcT J I I ►vufAty Life marked with milestones Richard Cohen Several years ago, my family gathered on Cape Cod for a week end. We met at one of those resort restaurants where the menu is writ ten o n a black- board held by a chummy waiter, and we had a won derful time. With dinner concluded, the waiter brought the check and set it down in the middle of the table. That’s when it happened. My father did not reach for the check. In fact, my father did nothing. Con versation continued. I waited and waited and, finally, it dawned on me. Me! 1 was supposed to pick up the check. After hundreds of restaurant meals with my parents, after a lifetime of always thinking of my father as the one with the bucks, it had all changed. 1 reached for the check and whipped out my American Express card. My view of myself was suddenly altered. With a stroke of the pen, I was suddenly an adult. Some people mark off their life in years, others in events. I am one of the latter, and I think of some events as rites of passage. For instance, I did not be come a young man at a particular age such as 13. It was later, when a kid strolled into the store where I worked and called me “Mister.” I turned around to see who he was calling. He repeated it several times — “Mister, mister” — looking straight at me. The realization hit like a punch: Me! He was talking to me. I was suddenly a Mister. and 1 remember them all well. One oc- cured when I noticed that policemen seemed to be getting younger, not to mention smaller. Another came when I suddenly realized that I was older than every football player I knew. Instead of being big men, they were merely big kids. With that milestone went the fan tasy that sometime, maybe, I too could be a player — maybe not a football player, but certainly a baseball playet. 1 had a good eye as a kid — not much power, but a keen eye — and 1 always thought I could play the game. One dav I realized that I couldn’t. Without hav ing ever reached the hill. I was over it. For some people, the ultimate mile stone comes with the death of a parent and the realization that you have moved up a notch. As long as your parents live, you stay in some way a kid. At the ver\ least, there remains at least one person whose love is unconditional. I count other, less serious, milestones. I remember the day when 1 had a fero cious argument with my son and real ized that I could no longer bully him. He was too big, and the days when I could just pick him up and take him to his room/isolation cell were ovet. I needed to persuade, reason. He was suddenly, rapidly, older. The other con clusion was inescapable: So was 1. One day you go to your f riends' wed dings. One day you celebrate the birth of their kids. One day you see one of their kids driving, and one day they have kids of their own. One day you meet at parties and then at weddings and then at funerals. It all happens in one day. Take my word for it. asleep in f ront of the television setasmi friends' fathers did. 1 never thougil would have trouble sleeping. I rentt ber my parents and their friends talking about insomnia like they were memb of a different species. Not ableiosleep. How ridiculous. It was all 1 did onte.li was what 1 once did best. I thought that I would never eata food that did not agree with me.\o\d meet them all the time. 1 thought! would never stop playing basketball and never go to the beach and not swim.I spent all of August at the headland never went into the ocean me. I thought I would never appredate op era, but now the pathos, the schmalt; and. especially the combination of voict and music, appeal to me. Thedeathsol Mimi and Tosca move me. Thev die ip tnv home as often as I ran manage it I thought I would nevei preiertostat; home instead of going to a party, hi now I find myself passing them up. used to think that people who watdil birds were weird, but this summer I found mvself watching them andmavbe I'll get a book on the subject. 1 yearnfot a religious conviction I never tho I’d want, exult in my heritage anywav,I feel close to ancestors long gone and echo my father in arguments with my son. I still lose. One dav I made it good toast. One day 1 handled a head waiter. One day I bought ;t house. One day — whatadavll — I became it father, and nottoolo af ter that, I picked up the check fori own. I thought then and there it wasij rite of passage for me. Not until I| older did 1 realize that it wasoneforl him too. Another milestone. There have been other milestones, I never thought I would ever fall Copyright 1986, Washington Post WritersGntj^ Woman’s place’ analogous to the role of cheerleader Bill Sparks a.< uiii in a ni Assault victims “ constitute 25 per cent of the group’s visits to emer- gency rooms — its members have learned to fear the dark. The group also receives an average of only 62 cents for every dollar that the ruling minority earns for the same work. Of elected representatives, only 5 percent are members of this majority of the population. This group has been at tempting for more than 100 years to se cure the same constitutional rights that are now the pi i\ ilege of the members of every other group in the country —w ith no success. The stereotypical place of the woman in our society finds its perfect analogy in professional cheerleaders: grown women, chosen for solely for their ap pearance, on the-sidelines cheering on men in their basically worthless activity. In the average conversation, which sex dominates the talk? Which sex yields its voice when the other speaks? Which sex is considered the final authority in the instances of disagreement? Hold on to that cheerleader image. I am no longer surprised to find my English professors, who consider them selves absolutely modern in terms of the latest artistic movement or philosophical perspective, still using the male gender for the majority of their speech. By using the male gender I mean, for example, “The degeneration of Man in the industrial Age . . . ,” or, “When a writer ends his treatise he must first consider . . . .” I realize that — especially for males — this may seem like nitpicking. How ever, when we consider the inverse of the two statements, so that they read: “The degeneration of Woman in the In dustrial Age . . .,” or, “When a writer ends her treatise she must first consider . . .” you may notice a slight discomfort or even an alienation with the usage. To understand how a woman can feel left out by sexist word choices, you might try for one week — or even only a day — to make a conscious effort in us ing only female-gendered words, being careful to note the response of the per son you are speaking with. It requires only a little extra effort to make your speech completely non-sexist. The AT. Beutel Health Center also subscribes to the cheerleader analogy. It has only one gynecologist — who ap pears only twice a month. Imagine going to the Health Center with a com mon ailment and being told that only regular gynecologists are on hand at the moment and that you will have to come back in two weeks to see a doctor about your “special” problem. There are 17,000 female studentsoij this campus who have paid theinsN of building use f ees, health service left et ah, and who deserve at least onefulj time staff gynecologist on campus.h' not unusual for universities — the versity of Houston and the University Texas, for example — to have a M time gynecologist. Is it right that grown women (ft grown men) do not have the abilitv® obtain birth control and birth-contn* information at our university? There are influential people onil'* campus who believe that to haven# marital sex, regardless of your age.* immoral. They insist that a woman* womb is not her own but the propert'# society and that these concerns areff! the matters of the University. But it is certainly not illegal fort" 1 consenting adults to have sex if tltf’ choose (at least, two of the oppot sex), nor for a.woman to decide whetl to carry her pregnancy to term—yet. They paid their share of fees, tit*! have certain rights entitled to them students of this University, oneofwP is to oppose prejudicial policies on cam pus — and to help effect a change. Bill Sparks is an English major andlk newsletter editor for the campus ter of the National Organization ft* Women.