Page 2AThe Battalion/Monday, April 27, 1987
Opinion
No, her boyfriend didn’t dump her — it’s just spring
I like spring just
as much as any
body else. The
warm, sunny days,
the mild nights,
the blooming
flowers, the grow
ing grass, and the
leaf-covered trees
are a welcome
sight after the dull
months of winter.
But for me, and
millions of people
Paula
Vogrin
like me, the mere
mention of the word spring summons
images of sneezing fits, runny noses,
scratchy throats, and itchy, watering
eyes. You see, I have hay fever. I don’t
know how I got it. In my family of six, I
am the only one afflicted.
WHY ME?
Every spring, for about two weeks, I
feel miserable, look miserable and am
miserable to be around. I am a walking
advertisement for Allergy Relief Medi
cine. I could be the star of any antihista
mine commercial. My eyes have that
red, watery, glazed look, my nose runs
like a faucet (as my mother would say),
and my breathing has a raspy, wheezing
quality, all perfect qualifications for an
allergy medicine spokesperson.
Pollen is the culprit responsible for
r»y annual suffering. How can some
thing so small, so invisible to the human
eye, cause so much trouble? Plenty of
those little pollen particles will fit on the
head of a pin — with a substantial
amount of elbow room left over.
Pollen is measured in hundreds per
square inch, for gosh sake. Just think
how many pollen particles inhabit the
three square inches of air in front of
your nose!
I’m an outside person. I like to jog,
ride my bicycle or just sit outside, espe
cially on warm, sunny days. But for two
weeks in spring, I’m a pollen magnet. I
can’t even leave my apartment without a
box of Kleenex, and the box is rather
bulky when you’re trying to ride a bike.
What am I supposed to do with the used
tissues outdoors? Since I ‘Don’t Mess
With Texas’ there isn’t any place for me
to put them.
Jogging isn’t quite so bad. My feet
have company because my nose runs,
too.
As a hay fever sufferer, my social life
is considerably impaired for two solid
weeks every spring. Backyard barbeques
and cook-outs are fun for everybody but
me. No matter where the barbeque or
cook-out is, the plants capable of pro
ducing eight million pollen particles per
square inch will surround the area for
miles. I stand around alone with my box
of Kleenex and wish I could smell the
steak and hamburgers broiling. Nobody
wants to talk to the girl who sneezes and
blows her nose continuously. It might be
contagious.
Then there are the times when I get
invited to the lake. I pack food, towels,
beer and my trusty box of Kleenex,
wondering all the while how I’m going
to hold the ski rope and blow' my nose at
the same time.
After walking across a pollen-infested
campus, even sitting in class can be a
major ordeal. 1 have to blow my nose ev
ery five minutes or so, and I imagine the
people sitting around me are thor
oughly grossed out. When I’m sniffing
and rubbing my red, watering eyes, I
can read the minds of everyone around
me, and two major thoughts surface ev
ery time.
1. “Her boyfriend dumped her.” Far
and away the most popular thought
among people when they see a teary-
eyed female, but wrong in my case. My
classmates must think I get dumped a
lot during those two weeks in spring.
2. “She failed a test.” Wrong, also. I
avoid F’s like the plague. I’ve only failed
two tests in my college career and both
were a long time ago in Chemistry 101,
the class that convinced me to change
my major from zoology to journalism.
Right attitude
but wrong body
“So, how do you
look w ith your legs
shaved?” he asked
I could only
imagine.
“Well, I don’t
really know, but I
might be able to
talk my girlfriend
into loaning me a
pair of pantyho
se,” I said.
Mike
Sullivan
He laughed, and I realized I was a
victim.
Not a victim of cruel humor directed
at a desperate job applicant, but a victim
of tradition — toss in a pinch of discrim
ination if you must. But I can’t blame
him.
I was calling about an opening his
company had for a receptionist. No, I
don’t have a full head of blonde hair —
my hairline is receding (slightly) — and
my voice isn’t high and happy — I have
trouble hitting a high C.
But I can answer a phone and take a
message right along with the best of
them. And if there’s one thing journa
lism school has taught me, it’s how to
type.
“I admire your attitude,” he told me,
“but, unfortunately, some things are
dictated by tradition, and this job is one
of them.”
He gave me some good advice about
launching my career, I thanked him for
his time and there it was. After three
years at a school where tradition is said
to be the unifying hub of the student
body, 1 was stabbed in the back by it out
in the cold, real world. Some might call
it poetic justice, considering a few of my
ideas about the Corps of Cadets.
But I call it a shame. And why is it a
shame that a 22-year-old male college
graduate can’t nail down a job as a secre
tary?
First of all, I could do that job. But
most of all, I could really handle the job
it might lead to. I’d make a great ac
count executive, but, as anyone trying to
Find a job in the world of advertising
knows, I might sooner be hired to feed
the whales at Sea World. (I don’t know
anything atiout big fish.)
But I haven’t been defeated. No, I
continue to mail out my cover letters
and r£sum£s. I listen to all the bad news
— horror stories people tell about get
ting canned by an agency they had been
with since they w'ere mere tots. I listen
attentively to the advice my professors
give me, bless their hearts.
And I continue to hear about the
lucky young lady who just happened to
be the receptionist at the ACME Ad
Agency when they landed a big account.
They made her an account executive,
hired another female receptionist and
the cycle churned on. It makes me bite
my nails — that’s OK for men.
Sure, there are other ways to get an
account executive position. “Be at the
right place at the right time” is a favorite
cliche. It’s not my favorite saying, but
that doesn’t matter. I’m never there.
Maybe I’m never at the right place be
cause I’m wasting my time trying to con
vince someone that my phone voice
won’t scare off new business. Really, my
Mom says I have a nice voice.
But whatever the case, I’m for break
ing tradition. And what better place to
start than at an ad agency — the very
heart of change in America and even
the world? Please don’t give me the ar
gument about whether advertising
changes the world or merely reflects a
changing world. I’ve heard it all before
and it has nothing to do with the recep
tionist.
I’m talking about setting trends here.
I’m ready to be a trendsetter, a mar
tyr for the cause of men who want to get
their feet in the front door of the ad
business any way they can.
I’m pumped, I’m ready, and I’m se
rious. So if there are any ad men listen
ing out there who need a receptionist,
give me a call. If I’m not home, talk to
my roommate. He can take a message,
too.
Mike Sullivan is a senior journalism
major and the Opinion Page editor for
The Battalion.
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
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Nobody ever thinks I might be suffer
ing from hay fever. One guy came close
when he asked me if I had taken any
thing for that nasty cold, but no one has
ever hit the nail on the head and real
ized it’s hay fever.
Of course, I take any hay fever/al
lergy medicine I can get my hands on,
but these don’t always do the trick. Be
lieve me, I’ve tried every antihistamine
ever invented.
I can tell you which ones cause drow
siness, upset stomachs and double vision
and which ones don’t. A certain brand
will work for a day or two sometimes,
then the hay fever germs figure ow
what’s going on and become immune to
it. I just can’t win.
So, all of you people not afflicted witli
hay fever have mercy on those of us who
do. We may be unrecognizable at the
height of the affliction, but we’re not
contagious, and after a few weeks we’l
be our old selves again.
Achool
Paula Vogrin is a senior journalism
major and a columnist for The Battal
ion.
U.S. ■will grant patents to new forms cf animal life
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Time to think about change
EDITOR:
Successful drive
EDITOR:
Concert in
With Finals approaching, I realized that I have just
about Finished my First year here at Texas A&M. I can’t
help but remember some of The Battalion’s columns that
sparked such great responses from the student body. I am
talking about Karl Pallmeyer’s column dealing with
civilians walking on Kyle Field and Mike Sullivan’s column
about abolishing the Corps of Cadets in order to become a
“world university.” I love A&M and all of the traditions —
I just hope students become more involved with what goes
on around campus. Now that our enrollment is growing
rapidly, I hope students voice more opinions on what
happens.
On behalf of the sisters of Omega Phi Alpha, I would
like to thank all the Aggies who donated clothes at
McDonald’s. The items collected at the four McDonald's
locations filled at least 100 leaf bags. Your support is truly
overwhelming and very much appreciated.
About 1,
bankets or
>n the lawn
in evening
The clothes collected have been taken to Twin City
Mission Inc. where they w ill be distributed to those in
need.
Just this past semester, I have encountered some
problems that worry me when I look into A&M’s future.
Some of my professors are having a hard time Finding a
classroom to accommodate us for study sessions. What will
happen when the enrollment increases? (39,000 students
projected for Fall 1987.)
Will we be holding class out on Kyle Field? I wish this
was my only worry, but I just found out that the library
will be cutting back the number of journals we receive by
10 percent. Their solution to the problem is to drive us
down to the University of Texas. Now please! That is the
last place I want to go. Rather than worry about A&M
becoming a “world university,” I wish someone would
worry about how we are going to adjust to our increasing
enrollment. If there are any former students out there
wanting to make a donation to A&M, please make it out
for new classrooms or to the library. Let’s make as few
trips to the University of Texas as possible and let all of
the future Aggies enjoy this great campus.
Julie Brieden ’90
You have proved that Aggie spirit runs deep, not only
on campus but also in the community. This project could
not have been a success without you.
Jan Becker
Vice president of the clothing drive for Omega Phi Alpha
service sorority
Hot time on campus
EDITOR:
Last November, the hot water in our Haas Hall room
stopped working, so we had to take 50-degree showers
every day. T he resident adviser and head resident both
reported the problem to the maintenance office, but it was
not Fixed until February.
Fur
uni
Last Tuesday, our air conditioner broke, and now we
can only get heat. Modular dorms have very small
windows, so we get very little air circulation. Once again,
the R.A. and H.R. have reported the problem, but we are
still sweating in our 90-degree room.
Different strokes
EDITOR:
Another girl on our hall recognized the maintenance
man who had repaired her air conditioner last fall and told
him about ours being broken. He was amazed because the
maintenance of fice had not informed him, and he
personally promised to Fix it the next day.
Thank you for printing Albert Babin’s letter. Never
have I seen more open-mindedness and conviction put
into print. If everyone at Texas A&M, and indeed
everywhere, could accept alternatives in religion and ways
of life even though they don’t possess these beliefs
themselves, then God’s will is already nine-tenths of the
way done.
There is so much derision in the world for things that
we don’t know or don’t understand — political beliefs,
religious convictions, sexual lifestyles — that simply to
recognize them without scoffing or cracking a tasteless joke
would be a giant step forward for mankind.
In short, there’s a reason why humans have different
chromosomes that goes beyond evolution. Let’s try to
appreciate this fact, while at the same time glorifying in
who we are ourselves!
This laxness on the part of the maintenance office is
utterly ridiculous. We have read about funding cuts and
realize that the maintenance staff is overworked and
understaffed. But we Find it hard to believe that it really
took them three and a half months to Find the time to fix
our hot water, when it only took them 30 minutes to
actually repair it. If the maintenance office intends to wail
another three and a half months before they decide to send
someone to fix our air conditioner, then they also had
better plan to refund part of our housing fees. Modular
dorms are not cheap, and college students are not rich.
Why should we pay full price when we’ve spent most of the
year without a full room?
Karen Owens ’89
Chris Anderson ’89
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorialslrfl^
serves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will make every effort to
tain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and must include the classift 1 '
lion, address and telephone number of the writer.
B