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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 3, 1987)
I 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 I Alton |5 stabbi Place Re ial mov No cause for dying Court State Dis equest : [rial folic ublicity America’s obsession beauty strange ways — sometimes deadly ways as in the case of Houstonian Patsy Howell Seeking to trim down her 5-foot-1-inch, 120-pound frame before her family vacation, the 39-year-old mother of two decided to un dergo suction-assisted lipectomy, a surgical procedure to remove fat deposits by suction. Unfortunately, the medical world can’t always be relied upon for sound advice, and the surgery killed Howell. Her death was a tra gedy, but the events leading up to her death transcend the definition of tragedy. The judgmental stares, whistles and comments directed mostly at the women of our society win more business for companies selling weight-loss products, tanning services and cosmetics than advertisers could ever hope to achieve. There’s a mentality among men and women in our society as is reflected in our TV programs, advertising and daily conversation that not only encourages women to strive for Sex-Goddess status, but condemns tnem for not doing so. And the mentality is not lost on the Texas A&M campus. Each semester, The Battalion receives letters from concerned students — with the bulk of them coming in the spring — about ha rassment of young women, overweight or not. Speaking up and defending an individual against the verbal abuse of others has nothing to do with chivalry, but it has everything to do with courage and compassion. Hopefully, those values haven’t been completely replaced rjy the mentality that caused Howell’s death. After all, beauty is supposed to be only skin deep, but the callous ness of others can cut all the way to the bone. Talk some sense to the boy, Harry... He wants to quit art school and study medicine instead... ” Tyler 'erry W Washi between defense, overage The m |lammat< toward t ions of n ree thai ivhich co ence pr Local Peer pressure better than law Almost every one has gone out to a bar or club on a Friday night, es pecially after a rough week, and gotten drunk. This isn’t a shock ing statement to most people. What is shocking is a number of people who drive them selves home afterward, public outcry from the issue and legislative efforts to toughen DWI laws, people continue to drink and drive. And despite organizations like MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driv ers), extensive coverage by the media on Passing the buck American style 1 guess the most frustrating question to answer is why do people drink and drive? It would seem after all the public ity about the dangers of drinking and driving, not to mention the legal re sponsibilities if arrested for DWI, that people would stop drinking and driv ing. Apparently, we humans are a little slower than that. Look at all the public ity about the dangers of cigarette smok ing. The commcrical with the late Yul Brynner who died from lung cancer is enough to make most smokers put out the cigarette they’re puffing on. But as soon as the spot is over, they light up an other one. Co witl dents can get alcohol, you betterW frT^I 18- to 20-year olds are even iw * * way with i < > alco solve mi a problems asso:, high scM t* identification art! t or underage telling young af Dr. D< College A&M, h late for sity of M Cor rig o be noi inalist :er reflec lecided I hancellc If the Reagan Revolution was erected on a tri pod of morality, ideology and be nign greed, then bad news has cer- tainly come in threes. First came the insider-trad ing scandal, then the one about sell ing arms to Iran Richard Cohen ways an all or nothing proposition for them — sin or virtue. They acknowl edge only the either/or of life, not its counfounding relativity. That makes their plight only worse. For instance, Bakker attributes his sexual dalliance not to lust, but to an attempt to make his wife jealous — an adultery to promote a better marriage. Believe him if you will, and then call me for a swell deal on the Brooklyn Bridge. and now the admission by the evangelist Jim Bakker that he had a wee sexual in terlude with a church worker: Greed- gate, Irangate and Godgate — as usual, money is missing. Of them all, Godgate is certainly the most alluring if only because it involves sex. Bakker, a minister with a TV parish numbering in the millions, has resigned as the head of the PTL (Praise the Lord) Club and turned things over to the Rev. Jerry Falwell. He admits to having paid $115,000 in blackmail to keep his tryst quiet and attributes his public shaming to an attempt by someone to mount a Hostile takeover of his ministry. The underlying theme of hypocrisy in the Bakker scandal is a rich vein that should be mined to its fullest. It has the widest application and goes to the heart of what are often called the social issues — the soul of the Reagan Revolution. It’s hard to believe that abortion, which they want banned, they would have themselves, if they had to. The homo sexuality they condemn as a whimsical perversion they don’t connect to the urges that drive them to their own brand of sin. They prescribe traditional values for families buffeted by eco nomic and social forces beyond their control — offering placebos out of the Reader’s Digest for the real ailments of contemporary America. bucks by a bunch of leisure-suited char latans. But to their flock, this is tragedy, and one that unfortunately sullies evan gelists who are beyond reproach. Even the habitually gullible can catch the scent of money and power: the need for funds to erect Potemkin Village theme parks in which a contrived past is cre ated in the synthetic present. The world of the religious hucksters exists only on TV and in Divinity Lands — places of constant values and carpentered nostal gia. More recent is our nation’s campaign against drugs, but will the war on drugs work? How many people do you think have given up drugs because of warn ings from Linda Evans, Nancy Reagan and other celebrities? Even rock stars who use to be synonymous with wild times and drug use have appeared on TV to warn against the dangers of drugs. But, as always, the false past has been vanquished by the all-too-real present. Headlines announce a hotel-room tryst and a financial empire goes into spiri tual receivership. The people hurt by the scandal are the true believers who thought they could stave off the trou bles of modern life. In this, they were encouraged by the political establish ment. It babbled its own version of the old-time religion: Greed is good; anti communism is always virtuous and so cial problems can be eradicated by just saying no. However, the problem of alcohol abuse is still paramount because alcohol is easily accessible and highly acceptable in our society. Children may never see their parents take drugs, but you can bet most children have seen their parents drink alcohol. These kids may have even seen their parents drunk. It’s only natural for children who grow up in an environment where alcohol is accepta ble to accept drinking as a normal part of entertaining. Unfortunately, some children learn about alcohol use from an alcoholic parent. In no way am I sug gesting we eliminate alcohol, but rather a sincere effort on the part of our so ciety to change the norms associated with alcohol use. sourceful. Fak commonplace Instead of they're not old enough to we should educate them ataneart to be responsible. In mam Eurg countries, children are constant! rounded bv alcohol, especially di meals. But instead of beingarayste talxx), alcohol is treated with ihtt )ost at , a monness of bread. Children often drinking alcohol as a decision that In- met w ith i esp<msiblebehaviodi \&M. I went to Spain, none of the' 1 Spaniards I meet would even to ered getting drunk at a barord they were driving. Of course, state legislators si the problem of trying to preventd: driving. Another open-container has won approval in the Senateit currently under review by the Hi quor Regulations Committee. W two previous defeats on similar!: appears this time the open-coi measure will become law. Thisb will affect the driver. Passengensli be allowed to consume alcoholini tor vehicle. “So fat lents at lore tha p with t ny parti( orrigan iring it tc As with the other scandals, this one begs for the appointment of an investi gatory commission or a special prosecu tor. (John Tower, where are you when we need you?) There are many ques tions to be answered: How does anyone launch a hostile takeover of a ministry in which no shares are traded? Why didn’t Bakker simply deny his 15-min ute “sexual interlude” and tell his quar ter-hour Delilah to go fly a kite? Were there, possibly, other 15-minute inter ludes, so many of them that maybe over the last decade Bakker has spent a total of three and one-half hours in illicit sex? For some, the current scandal amounts to low comedy, a battle for The present troika of scandals are rooted in the simplicity of those catch- phrases. Like all simple truths, they are too simple to be always true. Copyright 1986, Washington Post Writers Group I can remember in high school what a challenge it was to find and consume al cohol. It was standard practice for many students to get drunk before the foot ball game or any other social occasion. Getting drunk was something to brag about. Raising the drinking age isn’t the Passage of the open-containerEi logical step in trying to deal wil drinking and driving pro some legislators feel the law wilt enforceable. Others say theb"- ignored by the public, much like lit mph-speed-limit law. Whateveriltl suit, it’s a step in the right direcw cause many people will probably voluntarily. Even if they don'tobc law, it will be another attempt tout 1 clear how our society views diii and driving. Maybe adults are toot I their ways or too stubbo mi tocfe! but children more often thannc spond positively to values deeim portant by society. Increased ab and direct honest messages; abuse, alcohol abuse and the cigarette smoking can only our children safe. Jo Streit is a senior journalisin' 1 and a columnist for The Battalion When it comes to Bakker, two emo tions collide. The first is scorn. His in cessant fund-raising, his hyper-hypoc risy and his rigid orthodoxy are hardly to be admired. He is a salesman of salva tion, a religious rainmaker who sold the unattainable to the gullible but attained a Palm Springs house for himself. He preached what he himself could not practice. His wife was addicted to pre scription drugs, he had succumbed to lust and yet on countless TV sets he bubbled a message that was beyond his own reach. But the second emotion is compas sion. Bakker and his flock, indeed many of the evangelical ministers, are like rigid buildings in a high wind. They have no give and so they snap. It is al- Mail Call Flat world? EDITOR: Are you sure you’re not really the president of the Texas A&M “Rat Society,” Lawrence? Bob Breene ’82 This is yet another response to the March 25 column in Farmers Writeby Frank Lawrence entitled “Creationism is as scientific ^as evolution.” I say this because I sincerely hope many letters have and will be published to correct the unequaled gush of nonsense Lawrence unleashed on the Opinion Page. A cut above EDITOR: To outline the torrent, lots of people misinterpret the laws of thermodynamics. It’s OK Lawrence, you’re not alone. Many folks also know how to spell DNA and genetics, and that’s about the extent of their knowledge on the subject. So all right, you didn’t do well in Geology, lots of people find it very difficult. And, Lawrence, I didn’t expect you to know about the detailed evolution of horses known from the fossil record, just one example drawn from many. Nor did I expect you to know anything about the fact that entomologists and botanists, among others, have witnessed speciation, where one species becomes two reproductively isolated species, a basic tenet of evolution. Let’s not even consider what you frothed about astronomy, Lawrence. All this is easily forgiven. You just need a few more years of reading, learning and thinking. No problem. I am tired of having the same justification for just about every project undertaken at A&M these days. Namely, that we are trying to becomea"v class” university. What bothers me about the use of this vague, catch-all term 1 ' that it seems to suggest that if we try hard enough and are lucky, maybe someday Texas A&M will rank right up there with the great universities of tl> ( world. What’s not so easy to pass over, Lawrence, is your putting two mutually exclusive words together in the same sentence. Every time someone does this, it’s the equivalent of their putting on a clown suit and running about in populated areas waving a huge red flag while shouting “The moon is green cheese. The moon is green cheese!” into a megaphone. Those words Lawrence, in case you haven’t guessed, are “scientific” and “creationism.” Greationism is in no way related to science and vice versa. Well, I’ve got news for those who (most of whom never attended A&Mas students) casually throw that term around. No matter how many bell towers" 1 build or how many high-dollar profs we hire (or lose), A&M is and will always in a class by itself. A cut above the rest. Gig’em Aggies 1 Joseph P. Newton ’81 Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right to editItW style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author's intent. Each letter must be signed aid 1 include the classification, address and telephone number of the writer. Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit 10: style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author's intent. Each letter must besigni include the classification, address and telephone number of the writer. I 1