Page 2/The Battalion/Friday, September 25,1987
Opinion
The Battalion
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John Jarvis, Managing Editor
Sue Krenek, Opinion Page Editor
Rodney Rather, City Editor
Robbyn Lister, News Editor
Loyd Brumfield, Sports Editor
Tracy Staton, Photo Editor
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Load, ready, aim,
Have you ever
asked yourself
what makes a
university great?
Is it the student
body? Is it the
campus? Is it
tradition? Is it a
R. Lee
Sullivan
Guest Columnist
Strike two, you're out
Well, well. For the second time in five years, the National
Football League Players Association has gone on strike against
the owners — but this time, the association says, the issues are
different.
In the 1982 Walkout, which lasted 57 days ? the players
sought a piece of television revenues. This year the key issue is
free agency, a system that in effect would auction players to the
highest bidder for their services.
Players who think the owners will agree to free agency may
have taken one too many hard tackles. Free agency would cause
salaries to skyrocket and allow the Bears and Raiders of the
league to field great teams at the expense of the Packers and
Bills.
Many of the players on the picket lines are there to show
team unity — they couldn’t care less about free agency, guar
anteed contracts or pension benefits. There is nothing wrong
with solidarity, but when the players earn an average annual sal
ary of $230,000, their efforts seem greedy at best.
The owners show little inclination to strike a deal — they’re
bringing in free agents to ensure that the season continues. And
the strikers’ behavior — throwing rocks at buses carrying free
agents and brandishing shotguns at players who cross the picket
line — hardly enhances their standing with the public.
The players may claim to have a noble cause, but this is one
fight they can’t win.
nationally-ranked football team? Sure,
all of these things are important in the
making of a truly unsurpassed
university, and Texas A&M possesses
these critical qualifications in spades.
Even better, the distance between
A&M and other well-known institutions
is getting smaller with each passing day.
The milestone addition of new
buildings like the parking garage (not to
mention Clayton Williams’ donation of
the largest jewelry store located on any
college campus in the Western world)
ensures that soon nobody will be able to
say that A&M doesn’t have it all. Or do
we?
Hold on a minute; I know what
you’re thinking: “Oh no, here comes
another cheap shot at A&M for not
having one of those guys running
around on the sidelines at football
games dressed up like a cartoon
mascot.” Get real. Where would we find
anybody willing to wear a ten-foot collie
costume? No, there’s something much
more disturbing missing from A&M,
and its absence opens up a space
between us and other nationally
recognized universities.
Having the only pet cemetery on any
college campus in the United States is
not enough. We must redouble our
efforts to make certain that A&M is
recognized as being in the same
category of corporate excellence as
super-achievers like Lee laccoca,
Welcome to beautiful Bermuda
HAMILTON,
Bermuda — A few
months ago, I
visited Bermuda
and did not have a
very good time.
Someone at a
local private golf
course made some
rather crude
remarks
concerning my
shorts being too
Lewis
Grizzard
I wasn’t sure what to expect, so I got
off my plane at the Bermuda airport
dressed in a disguise. I wore socks.
I got to my hotel, the Southhampton
Princess, without incident. I checked
into my room, bolted the door and
remained there until the next morning.
It was then I ventured out of my
room for the first time and went down
for breakfast, which was no longer
being served.
I asked for lunch.
I attempted to pour myself a cup, but
a waiter snatched the pot away from me
and told me to sit down, he’d bring me
the coffee.
I did, and he did, and in a few hours
I’ll be on a plane out of here.
short, I got irfto a shouting match with a
hotel doorman becapse I called to a taxi
without consulting him first, and a hotel
bartender threatened to punch me out
when I mentioned 15 minutes was a .
long time to wait for a drink.
I wrote a column about my bad
experiences here and received mixed
reactions.
Several readers wrote to tell me how
they also have been treated rudely in
Bermuda.
Others, including the Bermuda
tourist agency, suggested I be thrashed
by irate cricket players for my remarks.
The Hamilton newspaper even rap a
story and headlined it, “Negative writer
returns to island” — which is the subject
for today’s effort.
I have indeed returned to Bermuda
to make a speech, for which I shall
receive a check.
“Lunch isn’t served until 11:30,” I
was told.
In conclusion, may I say I have not
experienced half the hassles in
Bermuda as I experienced before, and
that may or may not be directly related
to the fact I have spent a lot of time in
my room, have never complained about
a single thing, and have sat down and
shut up whenever anybody told me to.
“Then I’ll just have a Coke,” I said.
“No C6ke',”‘ I wks told: “The bar
doesn’t open until 11:00.”
I went into a news shop to buy a
paper.
Had I had the same attitude any of
the three times I’ve been married, one
of them just might have worked out.
Copyright 1987, Cowles Syndicate
“All we have are yesterday’s papers,’
the clerk said.
Lawrence Taylor, Oliver North and
Hollywood Henderson: world class.
The autobahn to the top of the
intercollegiate Fortune 500 lies in mass
marketing. Being world class, by
definition, means being more like the
rest of the world. Look how much A&M
has grown since we let the opposite sex
in and further allowed students of both
sexes to join organizations devoted to
something other than mechanized
slaughter.
The success associated with this trend
is beyond dispute. Growth is the
operative of success here, and don’t you
forget it. More students and bigger
bucks are what is at stake. By becoming
more and more like the other world
class universities, A&M will be more
readily accepted by the entire country,
get more publicity, sell more caps and
T-shirts and get on national television
more often. A broader market for A&M
means a broader market for Aggies in
general. And hey, that helps all of us.
T here is one area, though, where a
gap has developed between us and the
other world class aspirants. We’ve got
almost every important element they do
at the other schools right here at A&M,
except for one thing, and I’m not
talking about a college of fine arts. I’m
talking about something infinitely more
crippling. The reason we missed this
one, I think, is that we thought we had it
covered already.
When the Albritton bell tower went
up two years ago, it seemed there was
nothing left between A&M and world-
class status. Well, we were wrong.
Leaving off the digital time-face was a
minor mistake compared to what I’m
talking about. Think. Think hard about
what’s missing from our bell tower.
I’ll give you a hint
t.u.
By Mary-L]
Staff V
Along
1 hat’s right. A sniper. OurbelJ
1ms II" Mlipci l mil we getonew^thwestern New
small | >< -t.id ics. What would it cosd’toric pueblo ruin al
(ouplrof lives, that’s all. butstopc is gradually being
think what it w i mid mean: nutp!: understood.
nati-Mial. but wo, Id-wide exp0Sllltfl Ever y summe 0 r
lo\as \.v\l l ni \ ei siiv. This is tx -‘y ears ’ A ' v
. . ,. T , come to the site
than a 11 a 11 o 11 a 1 < ha tn |)t<inship. l.S; school and i
the big time. It vm, saw “Full Met Intheology and tl,
).u ket. \ou know what fmtalk:";|ans, the students i
about. Ifoout themselves.
So who do we get to immortafe taught me a
< 1 C, h - \\ ell. when Mr.A!h ;ion 1 (,t archeology a
. I,,, . iii,.
. . h says. I think it wa
t, w as his monev and he wasentifeML.g p ve ever p, ac j
as( u any way he wanted to.Tha:.l What began as a
here, toi. 11 some fish over intlrfspect some arehei
is getting I I apped out like docks 4'aeveloped into an
inKing out of mechaniM 0 j ect -
■ngineering and happens tohavcjM l n the beginnin
^ftive about what v
says Dr. Harry Sha
. . . Jr of anthropoloB
'I’"" '" ll hr s entitled tmm. *<. MlIllhl ( . s /.Hd*
v he wants. I hink of it: AacMprM
permanently endowed repuuttocH‘‘But now, after
14 with a Star
match-loadet
wt
light scope andsoik]
rounds, welldfshii
tl
irt
kv avsassin becomesanuncijunassed so much
)f Aggie lore: P* re at t ^ ie P 0 ‘ nt '
Stop that and start v
“Beat the Ever Lx)vin! »“We’ve got to h;
Ever Livin' 1 . ^process the inform;
Fightin' 1 <• \a> .Aggie Ofe-. amount of material
Fightin’ Texas Aggie Defense
Fightin’ Texas Aggie Coach Jackie
Sherrill!
Fightin’ Texas Aggie MascotWl
Fightin’ Texas Aggie Class of Nint
Eighty Eight!
Fightin’ T exas AggieSNIPEIJ
Hell Outa t.u!
Whoop!
K. Lee Sullivan is a graduatestuit
b u si n ess a dm in is tra lion.
|ch season is consi
| Houses, tools an
been recovered, as
mark” of the Mim
tailed painted potte
11 “It's a reference
sgical materials ai
iocess all that stuf
ything gets catalo
inventoried,” he sa;
Mail Call
“We want to t,
past life ways an<
about the people a!
“Once we begin tc
<ange through fu
understand and e
anges are taking
AIDS paranoia uncalled-for
EDITOR:
I just heard something in a management class that really disturbedme
We were discussiqg the v; \rjyVt s WBf itUlUpfs ciiiployers may ask
potential employees to take, and the AIDS teMwas- mentioned.
The instructor noted that recent court rulings have prevented
discrimination against those who test positive for AIDS. When the student!
heard this, they were outraged. Their sentiment was, “Who cares abouttki
rights? We (the coworkers) don’t want to become infected.”
It’s amazing to me the lack of knowledge this class of juniors andsenion
has about AIDS. AIDS cannot be spread through casual contact. AIDS
victims are still human beings and still apart of society. They need jobs tnott
than ever to help pay medical bills, and they do not deserve to be outcasts
because they are sick.
I’m not downplaying the seriousness of the disease. AIDS is a definite
threat. But ignorance about the disease is an even bigger threat.
Julia Rosprim ’88
The Mimbres
.aided by Natk
Earthwatch and cc
bers interested i,
Shafer says. He est
I
Double vision for No. 9
EDITOR:
It has been brought to my attention that the Aggie football teamisunif
in another aspect — we have two No. 9’s, and the one I saw on the field
during punt and kickoff returns was not Craig Stump. I apologize if I have j
brought any undue attention to Mr. Stump or to the other No. 9. Again,! 9
apologize for my mistake: my anonymous callers were right; I should have I
checked my story. One cannot, however, fault the honesty of my sentimental
trying to thank someone.
Nadine Miller ’87
I
I
Shhh!
EDITOR:
It would be a disgrace to resort to placing monitors in the library,
reminiscent of grade school, for the simple reason that an intolerableniin;t<'
of supposed adults amazingly have not learned that noise mustbekepttoa
minimum in one. The level of noise consistently present in any areas wilii
tables virtually destroys their potential as study areas, even with earplugs!! 1
extremely childish to disregard a library atmosphere, presuming ittobea
social hangout and not an academic facility.
Serious study involving book retrievals requires a reasonable degreeo!
silence. Please, if you are not intent on studying in the library areas notsei
aside for discourse, don’t trash them for other people. You might be onei®
need that silence yourself, assuming you don’t flunk out. There areplent’
other places where you can socialize all you care to.
D.S. Stevens ’86
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right tod
fonstyle&n4 lengtf,;by.t jvilLt#ake every effort to maintain the author's intent. Each letter must hesi^'B
must include the classification, address and telephone number of the writer.
BLOOM COUNTY
“When do today’s papers come in?” I
askeef. '
by Berke Breathed
“Late tomorrow,” was the answer.
I went back to my room.
Later I ventured out again to play
golf. This time I went to a public course
and nobody made fun of the way I was
dressed, except my playing partners,
who thought my shorts, which came to
just above my ankles, overdid itjust a
bit.
JUMP ltd'
JBH05APHAT f
^ IMHO Me
x vntl 5v
Full Time Jew«
Most repairs dc
KNOWING MY PSYCHf l
pew ^ecom m
peep in p/RtiNtm.
TURN INTO "MftRm i
peNrupe inbarbr:
hot uve fop we /it®
MOMENT, 1 " M 1
HUMfNS SAY's
Largest select
have diamond:
have a large st
Otherwise, I wouldn’t have returned
to Bermuda.
We maintain a
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