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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 9, 1987)
Page 2/The Battalion/Thursday, April 9, 1987 4 Opinion ! $b Religion is becoming a good standup routine lo A religious storm is about to sweep the nation. When it does, things are going to be a lot better for both the religious and non-religious peoples of Amer ica. Currently, the headlines are be ing dominated by the doings of various religious leaders. These leaders have two things in com mon: they claim to be doing the work of the Lord, and they are getting very rich doing that work. Oral Roberts raised over $8 million by saying that God was going to kill him if he didn’t get the money. After a few days in his elegant prayer tower, Rob erts claimed that God told him he would have to raise the same amount every year or he would die. That’s the trouble with terrorists — you give them money and they just want more. It’s interesting to see that God is continuing this form of religious blackmail. Jimmy Swaggart says that he knows that the Devil is alive and well and work ing against God. Most religious people will agree with that statement, but Swag gart will go as far as to name those peo ple who are doing Satan’s work. It’s funny that those who oppose Swaggart are the ones he claims to be in league with Satan. Robertson says he has received “di vine inspiration” to run for president. If God is telling people to run for presi dent, is he also going to tell people who to vote for? Is God even a registered voter in this country? rviniHgia» wwinga Don't let sex ruin your life Dave Martin Guest Columnist Good. Now that I have your attention, it’s time to talk about a very grave matter — literally. By now you have all heard of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). You know basically what it is, what it does and how it is spread. But do you know how to avoid it? You may be saying, “What, me worry? I’m not gay, and I don’t use needles, so I won’t get it.” Wrong. A common misconception is that you must be in a high-risk group to get AIDS. If you are having sex, regard less of who you are with, you are in a high-risk group. It’s as simple as that. While the number of cases of gay males with AIDS is higher than the number of heterosexuals with the disease — males and females — het erosexual cases rapidly are increas ing. This is due mainly to lack of edu cation about having “safe sex.” AIDS is caused by the Human Im munodeficiency Virus (HIV), which is spread through the exchange of body fluids such as blood, semen, urine and possibly saliva. It does not discriminate about who it affects. No matter your sex, age, sexual prefer ence or shoe size, you are at risk un less you follow safe sex practices. This primarily means you should USE A GONDOM. No, Dr. Ruth hasn’t taken over The Battalion. If you aren’t going to follow President Reagan’s advice — complete absti nence from sex — then a condom is necessary equipment. “Why?” you ask. Remember Mom’s wise words, “Don’t touch that, you don’t know where it’s been.” Can you be certain that whoever you’re in bed with is healthy? Sure, she said you were her first as she threw off the feather bra. Or maybe he told you that he’s been saving himself for just the right girl. You can trust them, can’t you? No. It has been said that nowadays when you take someone to bed, you’re also sleeping with every one they’ve had sex with in the past five years. And vice versa. How can you be sure that you haven’t been ex posed already? Many places in the Bryan-College Station area perform blood tests for the HIV antibody. This is not a test for AIDS. It can only detect the pres ence of antibodies that indicate infec tion from the virus sometime in the past. A positive result does not mean you have or will contract AIDS. Some of the labs that offer these tests are: • Beck Biomedical (776-7777) $30, takes three days for results. • Brazos County Health Dept. (361-4440) $3, high-risk groups only, 10 days for results. • Cen-Tex Life (776-6050) $35, takes 3-5 days. Uses Western Bloc test to confirm positive results. There are others (listed under LABORATORIES, MEDICAL in the phone book), but these three offer the highest degree of anonymity. Only your first name or initials are used, and no records are kept. The question now is, how do you talk to a potential sleeping partner about practicing safe sex? What if it scares them away? Or if they tell you not to worry about it, what should you do? First, you should ask your self, “is sleeping with him or her really worth dying?” If your answer is “yes,” you had better start digging. The best way to handle the situa tion is to simply express your concern about AIDS, and discuss the ways to decrease your chances of contracting it, i.e. — safe sex. Remember, you must both follow the safe sex guidelines if they are to do any good. Don’t let your partner convince you not to bother “just this once.” This is your health they are risking, and pos sibly even their own. Many people believe that talking about AIDS or using a condom takes the romance out of love-making. Yes, perhaps it does a little, but how ro mantic is the tale of the man who killed his lady with his love? Actually, safe sex need not detract from the ro mance. The general rule is to use your imagination, as long as you keep your fluids to yourself. Just what is safe? Basically, there are four categories of safety. “Safe” sex includes dry kissing, mutual mas turbation, oral sex with a condom, massage and fantasy. Vaginal and anal intercourse with a condom are “possibly safe.” Those practices classed as “risky” include oral sex without a condom, cunnilingus, wet kissing, and use of drugs or alcohol. Drugs and alcohol decrease judgment ability and also lower your immune system defenses. Unprotected vaginal or anal sex, in travenous drugs, sharing needles and rimming are considered “dangerous” and should be avoided. Some numbers you can call for more information on AIDS and safe sex are: National AIDS Hotline 1-800-342- AIDS (4-minute recording); 1-800- 447-AIDS (Live Operators); KS/AIDS Foundation, 1-713-523- AIDS (Houston); Gay Student Serv ices, 846-6051. Despite the occasional jokes, this is a serious subject. You should not only learn safe sex, but use it. You may think, “I can’t change my habits.” You can, and you had better. All it takes is one night to ruin the rest of your life. Protect yourself — and the one you’re with. Play it safe and live. Dave Martin is a junior psychology ma jor and is vice president of Gay Student Services. Columns submitted for Farmers Write should be be tween 700 and 850 words. The editorial staff re serves the right to edit for grammar, style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author’s in tent. Each column must be signed and must include the major, classification, address and telephone num ber of the writer. Only the author’s name, major and classification will be printed. 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. The Battalion is published Monday through Friday during Texas 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, Department of Journalism, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4111. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion, De partment of Journalism, Texas A&M University, College Station TX 77843-4111. Jerry Falwell has often provided the media with several humorous episodes. His Moral Majority has done little to spread the word of the Lord and has opted to spread bigotry, prejudice and narrow thinking in the name of God. His role in the recent PTL scandal shows his true motive — gaining power. Jim Bakkerand several major figures of the PTL show have been caught doing some unchristian things. It seems as if Bakker got carried away with spreading God’s love and tried to spread it to someone besides his wife, Tammy. And it seems Tammy tried to use a few chemicals to help her find a way to heaven. With the likes of Roberts, Swaggart, Robertson, Falwell, Bakker and all the other polyester-suited, Styrofoam haired TV evangelists hopping around like monkeys on a hot plate, religion has been getting a bad name. With the fun damentalists suing every school that uses a textbook other than the Bible, re ligion has been made to look like a dis ease of the mind. But the problem is not religion. It’s the people using religion for their own purposes. It’s hard to see the homes and buildings owned by the TV evangelists and believe that God is the primary in terest in their lives. Despite the image of the so-called re ligious leaders, the religious people of America are not that bad. There are millions of Americans who are good, re ligious people who go to church, work for the community, help their neighbors and lead a good life. These people are able to balance their religious lives with their secular lives without losing out on either aspect. These people spread the word of God by presenting a good image instead of trying to force thtt views upon others. The real religious people of Ament; are getting tired of some ofthecraple ing shoveled in the name of God. Even time someone goes on national TV ami says “give me money for my God, truly religious person feels ill ever someone who claims to be SUQ B L smal ing H lletin bi , 'ow wh the work of God does somethingungtci^j cer , like, the truly religious person iskrihrcakfast. because religion has been madetolotjwhy the fi bad. Hwhole. This garbage can only go on fonB 0 " ^ ^ long. Before long, those who have using religion as a means to gaineanti f yh ev a power and wealth will be forced toaiJLstion-a swer lot their crimes. It won’t betheit jstudents i cular public who will change things-wints ar will be the religious people, fed upktP' n ‘ n S ^ the way religion has been perverted ^ r ' board. Karl Pallmeyer is a journalism pjJ ^ f 1 * 1 a uate and a columnist for The Battaliot^ 11 ^!'' 01 poard late ■The bo Sb sa Met ■ennon goi the id< ling a simil Evans Lib ■They j Menu Bo;: i attracting ell says. ;in I "People to us, but Bp” the Inemng i imeic opin IWhen ' Fall '86, G Iwere getti ■y.The 1 ■ the ex dicing hal ecentb moved ck puse it d ithe exit, ht I "It was thought it nipt journ; 'Student jplaints ad Mail Call G It takes money EDITOR: I am writing this letter to address the problem of the computer system in the library — ALIS. If you want to make Aston Hall co-ed, great, but keep the wings together. The obvious solution is to rearrange throughout the wing, and assign the girls to every other suite. This is a tried and true method at other universities, ALIS is not a very efficient or updated computer system. It falls short of what I would expect from such a vast and important library as A&M’s. Many times all the terminals are shut down, leaving students and other library users to thumb through the card catalog which is not as up to date as ALIS. We are left stranded when important papers and reports are due because ALIS is down and the librarians have to hand check books that we need. This process takes an extremely long time compared to using the computer to do the work. If these books are not checked back in, we cannot gain access to these important sources of information. I find it strange that the reference desk’s computer stays up when the rest shut down. If the school can keep one up, why not all? If the school invested all that money in the installation of a computer system, why didn’t it get a more reliable and efficient one — a system that could be updated easily. If they thought they were getting a good deal, they were sadly mistaken. I say we trash ALIS and buy a new, more efficient system which can be updated and will work all of the time. A cheap computer is a waste of money if it does not work! If this is totally unfeasible, then I wish the library’s computer system could be fixed so as to serve the students and faculty the way it was intended. Virginia Busby ’90 We are fam-il-y EDITOR: such as the University of Texas. But if the choice between going co-ed or staying a group were to be made by us,we 11 would just as soon stay together. 3rd Floor Blacksheep 21 residents of Aston Hall Dear Frank EDITOR: (This is an open letter to Dr. Vandiver.) I am writing this letter in regard to your recently announced policy on senior finals. As a former student, I have no st rong opinion as to whether graduating seniors should take final exams,bull am very much opposed to any plan that undermines the traditions surrounding Commencement and Final Review — the only events during the Spring semester that draw large numbers of Old Ags back to their alma mater. The plan you have outlined punishes students and former students alike, and could only be agreeable to those transient, mercenary, have-lecture-will-travel faculty members who have no strong ties nor long-term interestin the future of our great University. One would do well to remember that Aggie Muster, perhaps the A&rM tradition looked upon most favorably!)) Aggies and others alike, would not have come into fruition had the student body not felt compelled to defend the traditional observance of the Battle of San Jacinto by marching on A&M President David F. Houston’s house and burning him in ef figy on April 21, 1903. This letter is directed to the housing board in regard to a recent rumor around Aston Hall. Sources have said that our hall will soon be co-ed, which is fine with the majority of those residents I’ve spoken with. But today I learned that if this proposal is approved, the residents of the third and fourth floors will be relocated. Speaking for those of us on third south, this idea is unacceptable. We have developed a tight-knit “family” on our wing. We go out together, borrow from one another, and watch out for each other. We invested in wing T-shirts this semester to display our spirit. Dr. Vandiver, as a historical scholar, you should realize that one of the more important reasons to study historyis to learn from our collective mistakes and not make them twice. Alan Maples ’85 Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorialstGff n ' serves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will make every effort !o me tain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and must include the classify tion, address and telephone number of the writer.