The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, October 29, 1986, Image 3

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    Wednesday, October 29,1986/The Battalion/Page 3
Mail Call
V'-;
wist
ths
chool-boankj
k had passe:-
i-age Mothtrf
many gove*
vill work, fcj
not become.al
tgnant. N’etlJ
lictions, rcl
ivtre, that «;•*
) awav-asrj
of the 1950s 1
; statistics v;
Tired senators
EDITOR:
I attended the Oct. 22 Student Senate
meeting because of an extreme interest in
apartheid.
My view of the Senate meeting was that the
senators didn’t want to bother themselves or the
Board of Regents with apartheid in South
Africa. Many senators had views on the
University’s divestment, but we were only able
to hear two of them. Most of them were tired
and wanted to go home, so they voted not to
hear any further debate after an 11-minute
speech by an anti-divestment senator.
Anti-divestment supporters stated “this is not
a moral issue but a political one.”
Universities hold a major portion of the
stocks of the companies who invest in South
Africa. If universities divest, the companies will
get a clear message to get out of South Africa.
This will alienate South Africa even further.
South Africa’s economy is hurting and the more
we alienate them, the further it’s economy is
going to fall. This will cause the present
government in South Africa to leave or abolish
apartheid. South Africa is going to change and
we ought to do our best to help.
Bryant McAllister ’89
Aggie GOP name misused
EDITOR:
As president of Aggie GOP, the Republican
Party of Texas A&M, I am deeply offended by
Democratic candidate Pete Geren’s use of Aggie
OOP’s name to mislead students into believing
that he is a Republican and/or that Aggie GOP
supports him. Of course, neither of these is
true.
For years Aggie GOP has supported
Republican Rep. Joe Barton and will continue to
do so in the future. None of the leaders of the
B so-called “Aggie GOP for Geren” are actual
1 members of the real Aggie GOP.
I apologize to any students who have been
misled by Geren’s advertisements and hope this
| letter clears up the confusion.
Mike Hachtman
President, Aggie GOP
; Editor’s note: Aggie GOP for Geren is now
; known as Aggie Republicans for Geren.
" ■Sanctions hypocritical
ething ihaieB 7 1
PfiiK, lU EDITOR:
premawre i
Twise-iKi
’orccsaoj
ge girls w-1
Acre j
economkej
: produced::
igle mo
icnces. Hie ;
ruse ofilief
‘iits before tf
en-agers
nough fom
kids. Too e
anxiety aid.
ut the wayti
not just to
each sex ed
trol easily at
iu’s statistic
lie formers::
:1 something
mothers.
eton Post Wd®’ 1
•nsidered
r’s book %
i uproar
' eating ’
hington
The Oct. 22 editorial claims that moral
j opposition to apartheid demands action against
South Africa because we must not support
| funding of human rights oppression.
Unfortunately, your moral posturing appears
to be highly selective, or you would at least be
.equally emphatic in denouncing U.S. trade and
I assistance to the Soviet Union, which presently
■ is exterminating civilians by the tens of
thousands in Afghanistan. Soviet atrocities
include the scattering of explosive devices
d disguised as toys which explode when picked up
by children.
Where is your moral indignation? Why don’t
-you complain about the below-cost grain which
the Soviets are about to be given, subsidized by
the U.S. taxpayer? Surely if we are morally
obligatead to act against South Africa, we are
morally obligated to stop providing aid and
trade to the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union employs walls, minefields
md barbed wire obstacles to prevent its citizens
from escaping. The obstacles are reinforced
with guards, watchtowers, machine guns and
dogs. Even so, people in communist countries
risk their lives trying to escape.
I South Africa, by contrast, has an immigration
problem: hundreds of thousands of blacks have
immigrated there, both legally and illegally.
They are in South Africa because, apartheid or
no apartheid, they enjoy a better life than they
would in neighboring countries where attempts
at majority rule have proved disastrous.
Unlike Soviet citizens, people in South Africa
are free to leave at any time. But where would
they go? To neighboring Zimbabwe (formerly
white-controlled Rhodesia), where former
communist terrorist (now dictator) Robert
Mugabe has wrecked the economy and
murdered 10,000 tribesmen of his chief political
opponent? To Angola, where a dictatorship is
kept in power by an army of Cuban mercenaries
and royalties from American oil companies? To
Mozambique, where another Marxist
dictatorship is kept in power by U.S. military
assistance?
Obviously, sanctions against South Africa are
hypocritical. Our indignation and economic
sanctions should be applied to those countries
which enslave their populations and forcibly
prevent them from leaving.
Allen Dobey ’87
Editor’s note: Blacks in South Africa are not
free to leave at will, and getting exit visas for
them is difficult. You also make incorrect pre
sumptions about the editorial board’s opinion
on the Russian grain subsidies, a measure that
we do not condone.
Relative immorality
EDITOR:
I was surprised by two things in Rob Farrell’s
letter “Trash on the Shelves” (Oct. 21).
First, Sterling C. Evans Library deserves
much more credit than I gave it and, second,
Farrell’s mind is more closed than I thought.
Maybe we should take all the copies of The
Advocate, and while we’re at it grab
“Communist Manifesto,” “Zen and the Art of
Motorcycle Maintenance” and Ozzy Osbourne,
and we’ll have a good old-fashioned book
burning party. In fact, let’s just do it under the
Albritton Tower and we can get rid of that stuff
that inspires “social incompetence” all at once.
If Farrell really wants to consider what is
“best for society’s sake,” maybe he should think
about opening his mind to accepting
homosexuality not as a freak of nature, but as
an individual’s chosen lifestyle. And, if he wants
to drag immorality and the Lord into this . . .
immorality is like beauty — in the eye of the
beholder, and didn’t the Lord say something
about loving thy neighbor?
Chris Carson ’85
Where do we stand?
EDITOR:
We all know that true Ags stand during
football games. But where exactly do we stand?
At the Texas A&M — Baylor game, a problem
arose which led to this question: do Aggies stand
in front of or upon the seats designated to
them?
The problem was that row 10 ticket holders
stood on the seats in front of row 10, while row
eight ticket holders stood on the seats of row
eight. This led to the disappearance of row
nine.
Row eight was filled to capacity, while row
nine was occupied by inflexible row 10 ticket
holders. Who was right? Those of us with row
nine tickets were left to fend for ourselves. The
seats we had paid for and waited in line for were
gone. What were we to do?
Two of us stood in the aisle. Have you ever
stood in the aisle? We didn’t have as much fun
as we could have, but it was worth it to see Texas
A&M beat the hell out of the Baylor Bears!
Katherine Bev
Kathleen Clark
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 au
thor’s intent. Each letter must be signed and must include
the classification, address and telephone number of the
writer.
AGGIES FOR CLEMENTS
AGGIES FOR BARTON
AGGIE G.O.P.
Plan for CAMPUS VISIT by Vice President
George Bush, Bill Clements, Joe Barton and Phil
Gramm.
Meeting Oct. 29, Rm 321 Physics, 7:00 pm.
For more info, call Mike, 693-4337; Heidi, 696-
1552; or Cindy, 693-2339.
International Students Association
Seminar Committee
presents
Dr. Mounir Bayyoud
in
The Middle East; Past, Present and Future
Thursday, October 30 Rm 410 Rudder
7 p.m.
NIGHTMARE ON SPENCE STREET
HALLOWEEN HAUNTED HOUSE
THURSDAY, OCT. 30
8 p.m. to Midnight
THE PAVILION
$1 admission
fl 0 I • ■
Remember to join in the Grove for additional Halloween Festivities
r
LITMUS
LfiW. m
•' 'f
...for ever/ husband who travels
...-for ever/ wife who waits at home
:
Submissions are now being accepted for Litmus, TAMU's only student-published literary
magazine. Your poetry, short stories, non-fiction or graphics could be published, but only
if you SUBMIT. Come by the MSC Literary Arts cubicle in MSC room 216 to pick up a
flyer with needed details.
All Aggie
Reunion Rodeo
October 31 Gr November 1
7:30 pm
Dick Freeman Arena
Tickets $4. 00
$3. 00 student ID
$2. 00 children
For More Information
764-8992
693-5268
Paid Political Advertising by Committee to Re-Elect Clements. Bob Perry Treasurer.