Page 2/The Battalion/Thursday, April 16, 1987
V
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwestjournalism 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 77843-4 111.
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.
Avoiding conflict
The decision by the Texas attorney general that a proposed
agreement between Granada Development Co., partially owned by
Board of Regents Chairman David Eller, and Texas A&M consti
tutes a conflict of interest comes as no surprise. Although the poten
tial for a conflict certainly exists, the University should not have
needed Jim Mattox’s opinion to realize that, based on appearances
alone, the deal could be detrimental to all involved.
Under the arrangement, the Texas Agricultural Experiment Sta
tion would work with GDC on research and development projects.
Under the proposal, GDC would fund the projects and in return re
ceive exclusive marketing and sales license of the products. The Uni
versity would receive royalties, which haven’t been agreed upon.
Mattox is right in finding a conflict of interest in the deal. To
those unfamiliar with the University, GDC or the details of the trans
action — particularly other companies — Eller could appear to be us
ing his influence as a regent to win the contract for his company.
As ridiculous as it may seem to those directly involved, the Uni
versity should not put itself in a position where interests could be
perceived as conflicting.
While the agreement may seem too good to pass up, the Univer
sity later may have to sacrifice more than it’s bargaining for. If the
GDC-A&M transaction apears to be the result of Eller’s dual inter
ests, other corporations may question the University’s integrity in the
future and be leery of making contracts.
Eller still seems confused by the ruling. GDC and the University
have engaged in other transactions in the past, but Eller needs to re
alize that with the regent’s chairmanship comes a responsibility to
avoid even apparent conflicts of interest.
We are not questioning Eller’s sincerity, devotion or contribu
tions to A&M. Nor are we implying that the GDG^TAES agreement
was tainted with self-interest. But, in cases like this, appearances can
not only be deceiving but be far more devastating than an actual con
flict of interest. As we said when the board first presented the case to
the attorney general, it is best to void even the appearance of impro
priety.
That A&M sought the attorney general’s opinion shows it gave
the matter due concern. But, while Eller’s relationship with the Uni
versity probably had nothing to do with GDC’s involvement in the
deal, the University cannot overlook the potential for a conflict.
Going through with the deal now — especially after hearing Mat
tox’s opinion — would show bad ethical judgement on A&M’s part.
Despite the prospective benefits of the deal, the ends do not justify
the means.
A school the size of A&M can’t afford to risk the effects on its
image because it ignored the ethical backlash from an apparent con
flict of interest.
Opinion
S
f<
Creating the ultimate textboo
Certain reli
gious groups
have been claim
ing that school
textbooks on sci
ence are incom
plete and mis-
leading because
they don’t men
tion creationism
as a viable expla
nation for the
existence of the
Karl
Pallmeyer
universe. The religious groups say that
evolutionary theory is just that — a the
ory — and other “theories” ought to be
taught as well.
The religious groups say they want
both sides of the creation story printed
and taught in schools.
The only problem is that those reli
gious groups don’t realize that there
are more than two sides to the story.
There are other religions, some even
older than Judeo-Christian beliefs.
Several Central Asian pastoral
tribes, including the Yakuts, Tartars,
Altains and Burhats, once held the be
lief that the world was created by a god
of the sky.
This god created the world, which
was filled with water, by dredging up
earth from the bottom of the ocean.
People and animals appeared on the
land soon after its creation.
The Australian Aborigines believe
that at one time the earth was nothing
but a flat, barren plain.
During the “Eternal Dreamtime,”
several supernatural beings arose from
their underground sleep and began
roaming the plain.
The places from where the beings
arose became caves and water holes.
Most of the beings began to spread out
across the plain and became the ances
tors of various plants and animals that
later produced human offspring.
One of the beings, a rainbow snake
that could change into a human, used to
visit all the different tribes and was a
unifying symbol of the creation, since he
made the country’s largest water hole
with his tail. After creation, all of the i>e-
ings went back to sleep or turned them
selves into sacred trees or rock forma
tions.
The beings still had the power to send
rain, or they had signs that helped pre
dict the future.
According to a Mesopotamian legend
dating to about 3,000 B.C., the world
was created when the Great Hero, Mar-
duk, killed the Great Dragon of the
Deep, Tiamat. Marduk split Tiamat in
half, like an oyster, one half becoming
the heavens and the other half becom
ing the Earth.
Another Mesopotamian legend says
that the Earth was created by a god who
bundled a bunch of reeds together and
spread the earth over them.
The Egyptians have legends that a
hermaphroditic creator-god, Atum,
rose out of the waters and stoodond
where he/she created Shu, thegodoiik
air, and Tefenet, the godofthewi
One version of the legend states is
Atum give birth to Shu and Tefeneti
masturbation.
Another version states thatAif!
coughed up Shu and Tefenet.
Shu separated the sky fromtheerJ
giving biith to the sky god, Nufandtii
earth god, Geb. Nut and GebgaveW
to the other gods, Osiris, Seth,Isisai
Nephthys, who went on tocreateiH
and animals.
One legend f rom the Memphis rep
of Egypt states that the earth grew#
a lotus flower that rose fromtheoca
Man arrived when Khnum, the arts
god, began making people on his potto
wheel.
According to the Hindu religionj
world and universe is merely thedra
of a great god. Each century (god'stis
not ours), the god wakes up forasto
while and then goes hack to sleep.Wt
he begins to dream again, a new wd
and universe is created.
Japanese myths state that the Mil
was a great muddy river and that apt
bird flap, >ed its wings and separated
lands f rom the water. Fiji Islandslwi
legend that says land wasscoopedoU
the bottom of the ocean and piled
into various islands.
Chinese myths state that there**
great egg that contained the godFj
Ku. One day Fan Ku hatched out of i
egg and began to make the world will
D(
patie
chall
Davh
“IV
get"
place
had t
Li;
prob
imnn
spur
solef
ease.
Tf
is L
stud
mast
gree
chite
“N
has 1
espe<
A 1 I
tienl
said.
facili
been
eled
mod;
cann
need
H<
with
honn
hosp
has s
her,:
prod
Liao
helps
latior
ence.
“I
a Inn
the h
build
natui
N;
Vietnam: we were digging our own grave
The following column is the second of
a two-part series. The first column ap
peared in Wednesday’s edition.
Gong Thanh
Guest Columnist
I remember one
evening when my
mother was mend-
ing my sister’s
shirt. My mother
was crying. When I asked why, she told
me that she wished God would bring
peace to our country. I had heard the
other kids from my town talk about
peace before. They said that peace was a
horrible thing because school would be
longer, and ghosts of the unjustly dead
would crawl up each night to scare peo
ple, especially younger kids like me. I
was 11 years old.
I didn’t understand why my own
mother prayed for peace. But when the
Viet Cong declared that they had
brought peace to South Vietnam, I real
ized that those kids were wrong. There
were no dead “ghosts;” rather, there
were live “ghosts” — the Viet Cong.
These “ghosts” didn’t just scare the peo
ple — they killed. They killed people
with a slow, painful death. For instance,
they walked into my uncle’s house with a
piece of paper and said, “the govern
ment would like to borrow your house
permanently to use as an office . . . and
to honor your volunteering, we’ll give
you a 24-hour notice for moving.” My
uncle refused to move. That night he
went out to buy coffee and never re
turned.
The next morning when the “govern
ment” returned, not only did they “bor
row” the house, but everything in it. My
uncle’s two sons — one was 15 and the
other was one year older — were
drafted and sent to fight the Cambodi
ans the same day. My uncle’s wife left
her home with her two daughters, who
then suddenly disappeared like their
daddy. One of the wealthiest ladies in
town, my uncle’s wife, had to wander
from street to street searching for her
lost husband, her adolescent daughters
and her two sons. Loneliness so over
whelmed her that she began to lose her
sanity. She sang, she danced, she cried,
and she laughed in the street, in the flea
market, at twilight, at noon, and at mid
night. On she went, calling her daugh
ters, her sons, and her husband in those
silent nights like a ghost crying, lulling
her family to sleep. Silence answered
her calls.
There was no such thing as an insan
ity institution in my hometown, or in
any other town for that matter. If there
were one, probably hundreds, thou
sands and thousands of people like my
uncle’s wife would be committed for the
same reason.
For that reason, the people who lived
next to my uncle’s house were fright
ened. They were led to believe that if
they gave their properties, including
their business building, then the gov
ernment wouldn’t have to “borrow”
their home. Three days after they of
fered the government everything they
had worked for so many years, the gov
ernment came back for their home.
Tan, the oldest son in that family, was so
mad that he hit a member of the gov
ernment and tore up the paper. They
arrested Tan. Because there was a dem
onstration of the people to release Tan,
the government said they would hold a
“people’s court.” On the following Sat
urday they took Tan out to the would-
be “people’s court” and made Tan dig a
hole. They then tied Tan up and waited
for the townfolk to come. The crowd
grew larger, hoping they could support
Tan and his family. The announcement
was made that the “people’s court”
would begin. A member of the govern
ment walked slowly toward Tan, raised
pistol to Tan’s head and pulled the trig
ger. Tan fell into the hole he had dug.
I have come to America, the dream
land, where I thought I would pick up
the pieces of my life and go on, where I
thought I would turn over a new leaf
and be happy about the future. I was
wrong. Every day, something I see
brings a sudden sadness, a sudden dark
memory that slowly and painfully un
folds.
Yesterday, I went to a city park.
Walking by the pond, I saw a little boy
with his paper boat. He placed it on the
pond and pushed it out. He was jump
ing up and down and laughing to see his
boat slowly drifting. His brother held
some rocks and started throwing them
at the boat. One of his rocks hit right in
the center of the boat. The rock slowly
sank, pulling the paper boat with it. The
little boy started to cry — crying loud
and long.
I remember crying when I saw a sink
ing boat. But it wasn’t a paper boat. It
was a fishing boat with hundreds of peo
ple on it off the coast of Pulau Bidong
— a refugee camp, a small island in
West Malaysia where many boats had
sunk. The island was small, but there
were about 54,000 people — no utilities,
not enough food, not enough water.
One day, there was a boat packed wih
people heading toward the island.
The people on the island gathered to
gether on the beach waving, yelling, and
making signs for the boat to come in.
But the Malaysian officers started shoot
ing toward the sky, hoping the small
boat would turn away. The people
shouted louder, “Come in, come in,” but
the sounds of gunfire were louder than
the voices of the people. The boat
turned away. In the distance no further
than the naked eyes could see, the small
boat began to sink. Slowly, the boat sank
deeper and deeper into the cold, mean
sea until there was nothing left but the
violent waves.
I left Vietnam with a hope that one
day I would be one of those children re
turning to liberate my country. Now it
seems my hope is perhaps just a forlorn
hope. With all the things that have hap
pened to me, with all the tragedies in my
life, I wonder where my future will be?
My mother is suffering from a painful
disease. She must be hospitalized three
times each week.
I often feel that my life is hanging on
the edge of a deadly hole. My hand is
holding the rope, waiting for someone
or for some sort of power to pull me out
of the hole. The rope, perhaps, is wear
ing out. String by string is cutting loose.
I look up, I look down. I wonder if I
should cut the rope. At least 1 would fall
to a peaceful death. At least I would end
my painful life, quickly and easily. But I
won’t cut it. As long as there is still a
string left, as long as I can breathe,
there is hope. Thousands of people are
suffering each minute under the com
munists, dying on their way to find free
dom, waiting for me, my brothers to re
turn, to liberate, to rebuild my home. I
will not give up hope. The hope of
bringing home foreign seeds from here,
or anywhere in the world. The hope of
replanting my mother’s zucchini gar
den, my father’s mango tree. The hope
of seeing my children, my grandchil
dren, the new generation benefit from
these foreign seeds I have brought
home. I will not give up hope.
Nguyen Gong Thanh is a junior petro
leum engineering major.
hammer and chisel.
According to philosopher-*!®
Douglas Adams, the world was00?
by a race of mice looking for theanstf
to the ultimate question oflife.tk®
verse and everything. A great conipi®
called “Deep Thought” was btiP
solve the problem and after7.5ni 1
years it gave its answer as 42. Thebflf
had to build another bigger andM 5 1
computer to help them to fully
stand the question. That computer^
the Earth.
If textbooks are to give every
ry” of creation, they would haveto*
elude each of these and hundredsi#
Those who claim that they wanttkf
deo-Christian creation story taugti 12
an alternative to evolutionarytheon 2 *
hoping only to force their religio^
liefs upon young, impressionablestW
children. That’s just what they claim®
Ire the great secular-humanist tires 1 '
forcing beliefs on the young.
There is a difference between^
gious belief and scientific evidence d
hit ionary theory is based on the !a* i;
nature as best known and testedh®*
and is not some abstract belief that 01
be explained or proven.
There are a lot of unanswered f
tions in evolutionary theory,
much of the puzzle is completetha ll!!
easy to guess at the size of the nt^
pieces. But religion — all religion"
based on one great, unanswered f
tion. Religion is a puzzle that can 11
solved only by the heart and not I' 1 - 1
head.
r
(
Karl Pallmeyer is a journalism p
uate and a columnist for The BaP*