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Page 2A'he Battalion/Thursday, January 29, 1987
Opinion
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
’Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Loren Steffy, Editor
Marybeth Rohsner, Managing Editor
Mike Sullivan, Opinion Page Editor
Jens Koepke, City Editor
Jeanne Isenberg, Sue Krenek, News Editors
Homer Jacobs, Sports Editor
Tom Ownbey, Photo 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.
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Neighbors?
State Rep. Richard Williamson, D-Weatherford, has come up
with a creative, inexpensive solution to the problem of overcrowding
in state prisons. Forget about repealing the 95-percent capacity limit.
Forget about building a new prison. Forget about enlarging county
prisons to accommodate state prison inmates. The prisoners can live
with college students.
Williamson proposed, and anticipates that the Texas Depart
ment of Corrections will agree, that the “world” of unused buildings
on college campuses around the state be used to house non-violent
prisoners.
Aside from the obvious fact that Williamson wasn’t considering
A&M’s campus when he decided how much extra space was avail
able, he failed to take the feelings of students and educators into ac
count.
How do students, faculty and staff members of various Texas
colleges feel about sharing quarters with criminals? Though the pris
oners’ “dorms” probably wouldn’t differ much in character from
many existing college dorms, the idea of housing students alongside
criminals is absurd.
Perhaps the prisoners could convince Williamson to arrange for
them to enroll in the universities as well.
The real crime is that the state is paying Williamson to come up
with ideas like this.
£
Mail Call
Et tu. Brute!
EDITOR:
I submit the following funeral oration for the funeral of Aggie Tradition
which will follow the granting of Mike Sullivan’s request for the abolition of
the Corps of Cadets.
Friends, Aggies, and Cadets
Lend me your ears.
For I have come to bury Tradition —
not to praise it.
Mike Sullivan says that we should
abolish the Corps of Cadets.
And he is an honorable man.
Mike Sullivan says that 95-percent
of us “have absolutely nothing to do
with the Corps.” We don’t support it.
And Mike Sullivan is an honorable man.
Mike Sullivan wants no midnight yell
practice, no Aggie Muster, no Silver Taps.
And Mike Sullivan is an honorable man.
Mike Sullivan says that it is the
“pursuit of a reputation...” that we want —
not Aggie Spirit.
And Mike Sullivan is an honorable man.
Mike Sullivan says we must be ambitious.
And Mike Sullivan is an honorable man.
Jim Starcher ’90
Off target
EDITOR:
Wednesday’s column advocating abolition of the Corps was way off base.
I don’t believe most people associate A&M with the military, nor would it be a
very good reason for the Corps to abolished. It serves its purpose.
The problem with the Corps is that a few bad apples give the impression
of a rotten barrel because all the fruits look alike. Cadets need to realize that
when they put on their uniforms, their behavior reflects on that of the group.
They should strive to create a positive image and an honorable reputation.
This does mean they will have to stop beating up women.
Margaret Shannon ’87
The last word
EDITOR:
Many questions have been raised recently concerning the outdoor exhibit
behind the Academic Building. While some say the exhibit is a refreshing
change, many contend that it is annoying and possibly the furthest thing
from art.
The question that comes to mind is, “what is art?” According to the
American Heritage Dictionary, art is “the activity of creating beautiful
things.” Obviously, all people do not share the same taste in beauty — thank
God, we might all be wearing Sbisa uniforms. Will Rogers once said, “If a
man ain’t nothin’ else, then he is an artist. It’s the only thing he can claim to
be that nobody can prove he ain’t.”
This is a democracy and the choice to accept or reject the exhibit, or
anything for that matter, is every individual’s own. Regardless, the Laguna
Gloria Art Museum was very gracious in allowing this campus the
opportunity to view its display.
Andrew J. Kochevar ’88
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.
Football is destroying America
The Super
Bowl came and
went Sunday leav-
ing us to face
seven football-less
months. I can’t say
I’m disappointed.
It should come
as no surprise to
anyone that foot
ball is no longer a
game. It’s a multi
million dollar in-
KaN
Pallmeyer
culture teacher, says he changed grades
of student-athletes as part of an ar
rangement made with the students. The
students would be spanked in exchange
for a passing grade. Jim Pappas, a math
teacher, says he also was asked to
change grades of student-athletes.
Leonard Schenck, coach and principal
of the elementary and junior high
schools, denies these accusations but the
University Interscholastic League has
ordered a probe of the school’s grading
policies.
It is ridiculous to believe thatal
preparation is for a career in pr:
sional football. Although someproij
ball players get paid unnecessariU
amounts, comparatively few atUi
make it to the pros. It is sadthai;
who don’t make it to the prosdoniL
any other skills to fall back on.
dustry dedicated to the destruction of
the future of our nation. Football is a
tool being used by the scuttlefish to
cloud the minds of the people so they
will become so intoxicated with patriotic
jingoism that they fail to notice America
is going to hell in a handbasket.
From Sunday’s Super Bowl, all the
way down to junior high schools’ Thurs
day night football games, the worm dis
guised in pigskin is eating at the very
heart of America’s youth. Football starts
its evil work at an early age.
The city of Windthorst and its 409 in
habitants should have greater concerns
than football. Instead of trying to Field a
football team, the school should concen
trate on teaching children practical skills
that will enable them to shake the dust
of that crummy little town off their
heels and tackle success in the real
world.
The future of our nation is at3
because so much emphasis is te
placed on something that provides:
in the way of the advancement oli
inanity. Education is being subjup
in favor of football. High schoolani
nior high schools have their prion
backwards when it comes tothefooii
education question. Colleges:
doomed to a future of Financialnii
the alumni forsakes books in law
balls.
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In junior high school most male chil
dren are conditioned to believe that
football is a prime element of manhood.
Almost every boy tries out for the foot
ball team because of pressures from
parents and peers. The boys who have
the potential are taken, trained and pre
pared for high school football. The boys
who don’t have the potential are used as
tackling dummies for the others. Such
social Darwinism is sanctioned by the
schools.
The problems in the dinky little town
of Windthorst become larger in larger
cities. Larger high schools are able to of
fer a wider variety of courses so student-
athletes are able to sign up for a course
load that isn’t challenging and won’t in
terfere with extracurricular activities.
Former governor Mark White tried to
remedy the situation with his no-pass,
no-play provisions but the legislation
has failed mostly from lack of interest
among teachers and communities.
The most damaging aspect of fa J
is that it carries a philosophy destrucl
to the psyche of the American wjI
Individualism is pushed aside infil
of team spirit. Players are requireci
follow the set patterns of plays and j|
orders of the quaterback insieac|
thinking for themselves. Blind
founded hatred is the required am
towards the opposing team. Violeiwl
shown to be the only way to win the !
me.”
High school football is much worse.
The boys are groomed and primped for
college recruiters in much the same
fashion as cattle before a livestock show.
Nothing is allowed to stand in the way of
a promising career in the football indus
try, least of all school.
In Windthorst, a small, insigniFicant
town near Wichita Falls, there have
been charges that teachers have been
asked to change the grades of students
so those students may participate in
sports. Ron Rushing, a vocational agri-
In college, grades don’t matter as
much, and several athletes are allowed
to play out their four years of eligibility
without receiving a degree. Colleges
also offer blow-off courses for their star
players and there have been instances of
grade changing.
Many high schools’ athletic programs,
particularly the football program, re
ceive a disporportionate amount of the
schools’ budget. In college sports, the
money problem is way out of hand.
Aside from the outrageous budgets for
the athletic department, the charges of
athletes receiving cars and gifts from
alumni show that there is a lot more
than sportsmanship involved with the
“game.”
Vince Lombardi is the man niosil
sponsible for the destruction ofthati
losophy and the bastardization of j
“game.” When Lombardi said:
ning isn’t everything, it’s theoi
thing,” he added a Machiavellian a
to the “game.” Pig farts.
Once upon a time there wasasa'i
“It doesn’t matter if you winorl
how you play the game.” Thatisajj
losophy that can be applied to*
Sometimes you win, sometimesyoq
— the only thing that matters is tlie*|
you handle each defeat and victor)
how you use those experiences
your life and the lives of those art
you.
Karl Pallmeyer is a journalism p
uate and a columnist For The Batt
They want only the gory details
Was it really
necessary that we
be given every
specific detail re
garding President
Reagan’s recent
surgery?
After all, the
surgery did in
volve a rather pri
vate part of the
president’s anat
omy, and I think
Lewis
Grizzard
most people could have done without
the unabashed coverage of the ailment
and the procedure that was necessary to
get rid of it.
I do admit some people have a very
inquisitive nature when it comes to other
people’s health problems.
Family discussions when I was grow
ing up routinely regarded the health of
others.
“Hear about Shirley Spratlin, our
third cousin? She had an operation and
they had to sew her right side back up.
She was eat up. Eat up.”
Visualizing that scene always made
me terribly uncomfortable. I could see
the doctor Finishing the opening of his
patient and then turning to his nurse
and saying, “Oh my God! This person is
eat up. Eat Up! Let’s sew her right back
up and get out of here quick!”
Cousin Shirley, incidentally, lived an
other 30 years, despite whatever it was
that had gnawed at her innards.
Still, the family continued to refer to
her as “poor, old Shirley” and whis
pered when she was out of earshot
about how she was able to go on when
she was in such pitiable condition.
Visiting doctors, and having proce
dures and surgeries done to one’s self is
enough to endure, without having to be
subjected to graphic explanations of
what is happening to someone else.
What I hate most about modern med
icine are tubes. Doctors will put a tube in
you anytime it appears remotely nec
essary that they do so.
I’ve had a few bouts with the knife
myself, and I consider myself an expert
on tubes. When they started talking
about where they were going to put
tubes in President Reagan, my own
nightmare came back to me.
I have said many times before that
when the Lord was creating humans, if
he had wanted doctors to stick tubes in
at least a couple of places they stick
them, he would have made those open
ings a bit larger.
And let me tell you something else
about tubes. When doctors rune-
holes to put them in, they makei
holes. You simply cannot escape.
I felt sorry for the president J*
was embarrassed for him whentlif
organizations spared no detail o'
predicament.
This man is the president
United States. Doesn’t he, too.desei
little privacy? Why should hisdigi
slapped around in the mannerit'Vi
We ought to use some restraints
news business in such situtions. M
tainly should report the illness
public Figure, especially one with
power and responsibility of the
dent, but there are the matters of?
taste and respect for their indivkhs
volved and his or her family to
siclered. Enough on the tubes, f°|
stance.
President Reagan isn’t the first;
dent to have his physical ailnienj
tailed in full for the public, oft 1
Remember Jimmy Carter’s)
orrhoids and Lyndon Johnson'
bladder operation?
Johnny Carson was monologi |1 :j
President Reagan’s operation the 1 !
night and said, “At least Reagan
do what Johnson did — show 11 '!
scar.” Let us hope not.
Copyright 1986, Cowles Syndicate