Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, October 7, 1987
Opinion
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Sondra Pickard, Editor
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
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. 216 Reed McDonald, 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, 216
Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College Station TX
77843-4111.
Down but not out
Judge Robert Bork’s nomination to the Supreme Court is in
trouble, as is evidenced by the Senate Judiciary Committee’s
Tuesday recommendation that he be rejected, but now is not the
time for his supporters to lose hope.
In the past week, growing numbers of senators have de
clared opposition to Bork, prompting some Democrats to de
clare the battle won and urge President Reagan to withdraw the
nomination.
But Bork’s supporters, while admitting their task will not be
easy,'insist the issue will be decided on the Senate floor, where it
should be. As White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater put it,
“We’re disappointed, but we’re pushing ahead.”
Bork’s supporters have not given up hope — nor should
they. The debate over Bork’s nomination has expanded into a
debate over the role of the Supreme Court and the validity of
judicial activism vs. judicial restraint. That debate will continue
when Bork’s nomination reaches the Senate floor later this
month. Issues as vital as these must be decided not by a Senate
committee or by rumors of opposition but through honest and
open debate. Withdrawing Bork’s nomination now would be a
grave mistake for both the administration and the nation.
Mail Call
History. Cow Hop style
EDITOR:
Who did Melissa Hohlt talk to to get her information for the “Boom or
Bust” article in Thursday’s At Ease? I am referring specifically to the
statement that the Cow Hop Expansion used to be the Sundance Club.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
As recently as last year, the Sunset Grill was doing business in that space.
Before that, it was occupied by Backstage, a fine coffeehouse where singer
Lyle Lovett got his start. A lot of fine music was played on that tiny stage.
Backstage featured a mural of Rudder Auditorium as seen from the stage,
with the audience composed of such notables as Humphrey Bogart, Richard
Nixon, Mickey Mouse, the Beatles and many others. The mural is still there,
behind the chipboard. Sadly, the connecting door between the “old” and
“new” Cow Hop was cut right through that painting.
The Sundance Club is at the Hilton
Corrie Bergeron ’84, ’88
Editor’s note: The error in At Ease was discovered after the issue had gone to
press. A correction ran in Friday’s issue o/The Battalion.
Anti-gun hysteria
EDITOR:
Regarding Sue Krenek’s anti-gun hysteria column in The Battalion, I
must say she surely has a negative view of the future and very little faith in an
armed populace.
If she had done any form of journalistic research she would have found
that states that have passed similiar “open carry” laws have had crime rates
that dropped considerably.
Furthermore, the legislation in Florida received the endorsement of
many major police organizations both in the state and nationwide. The drug
culture in Florida has kept the honest citizens of Florida in fear for too long,
and the law-abiding people of that state have a right to defend their lives and
property against any violent threat.
In regard to Texas and our attempts to pass a permit to carry law here,
legislation will be introduced again this year to provide a means by which
honest citizens may obtain permits to carry firearms for protection.
Furthermore, according to the Texas Uniform Crime Report, more than
11,000 Texans last year alone were arrested for carrying a firearm. These
were law-abiding citizens who were afraid and exercised their right to arm
themselves in defense of their lives. They made the decision that they would
rather be tried by twelve than carried by six!
Mark Bateman ’91
How about professional circulation?
EDITOR:
One of the many things I enjoy about attending Texas A&M is The
Battalion newspaper. It’s usually well prepared and in many respects rivals
the local paper, the Eagle.
But the paper has a serious problem with regards to circulation. Simply
stated, it stinks! I used to be impressed when you published figures indicating
a daily readership of 30,000 to 35,000. Perhaps you print that many, but not
nearly that number are distributed around campus. I realize the paper is
free, but I thought you were trying to run it like a professional newspaper.
Who distributes the papers anyway, people on crutches? I can see the list
of qualifications for delivery personnel now: must be very disoriented and
have short memory (this prevents papers being consistently distributed to set
locations), must have uncontrollable fear of sharp instruments (this ensures
delivery people won’t carry anything with which to cut bundle strings), and
lastly must be completely unfamiliar with A&M campus (this ensures papers
won’t make it to all buildings).
At best, your paper is available in larger buildings around campus such as
Blocker, Zachry, and the vet school about twice a week. Just where do all
those papers go anyway? Is The Battalion being run like a newspaper or like
a volunteer community newsletter? How about organizing circulation a little
better? You’ve got a good paper, now how about making it available to its
readers?
Mike Jaffe
graduate student, computer science
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff resei-ues the right to edit letters
for style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and
How America deals with All
reflects national character
When Pope
John Paul II was
ending his visit to
the United States
last month, he told
an audience that
America’s
character as a
nation would be
measured by the
response of its
citizens to the
abortion issue.
Sue
Krenek
I think our response to the AIDS
epidemic will be a much more valid
measure of our national character, and
so far we don’t measure up well.
It’s not that we aren’t aware of the
disease. American institutions from
Newsweek to Hollywood have
addressed the AIDS issue, making it
seem that we’ve made progress in our
attitudes toward the disease. But as
much as Newsweek’s photo gallery of
AIDS victims brought home the reality
that people — people we have met, or
know, or are related to — die from
AIDS, it didn’t reflect a fundamental
attitude change. And Hollywood’s
preoccupation with “safe sex” in the
movies represents no great change in
mindset among the American public.
AIDS may have become part of our
national mentality, making regular
appearances in news stories, movies and
David Letterman’s monologue. But our
reaction, for the most part, remains one
of apathy or paranoia. No middle
ground. No in between.
When it comes to our beliefs about
AIDS, we are frighteningly
schizophrenic, managing in one 1986
Newsweek poll to favor both
confidentiality in AIDS testing and
quarantines for those with the disease.
Some try to ignore the epidemic,
ignore the 1.5 million Americans who
are infected with the virus and ignore
the estimates that 179,000 of those will
die within the next five years. These are
the people who believe AIDS won’t
reach them or anyone they know. These
are the people whose eyes are closed to
the reality of what AIDS can do.
The reality of AIDS is terrifying and
not to be taken lightly. AIDS attacks the
immune system, the body’s very
protection against disease. And work
toward finding a cure is progressing
slowly.
More frightening is what remains
unknown about the spread of the
disease. Amazingly, there still are those
who view AIDS as a “punishment” for
homosexuals and intravenous drug
users, the major AIDS risk groups.
These people manage to ignore the
plight of those who contract AIDS
through blood transfusions. Worse,
they are blind to the disease as it
appears in other countries.
AIDS in Africa is no “homosexual”
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disease. There are 50,000 reported
AIDS deaths in 11 African countries,
and the World Health Organization
estimates that most African AIDS
victims die without ever knowing what
disease they had. In Africa, AIDS is
spread primarily through heterosexual
contact. In some cities, such as the
capital of Burundi, one in ten adults is
an AIDS carrier.
But the tragedy of AIDS in Africa or
among high-risk groups remains
remote for most people. It is easy to
ignore the disease that somehow can’t
strike close to home. But AIDS does
strike close — one of the faces in
Newsweek’s gallery of AIDS victims is a
man from Bryan. And still we as a
nation try to ignore AIDS.
Or we overreact. We become blinded
by the fear that leads to quarantines and
mandatory blood tests. Those who
advocate such measures in their own
way avoid dealing with the disease.
Segregation of victims, though it may
violate morals, ethics and civil rights, is
easier than the search for
understanding or the search for a cure.
These reactions are born of lack of
knowledge, of misconception and
falsehood.
There is still no evidence that AIDS
can be spread through casual contact,
no evidence that AIDS can be
contracted from a mosquito bite. The
Associated Press reports that hospital
workers, even those who are directly
jabbed with an AIDS-contaminated
needle, have a 0.13 percent chance of
contracting the disease. The Center for
Disease Control has determined that the
AIDS risk is so minimal that the benefit
of keeping an AIDS-infected child in
school almost always outweighs the
potential risk to other students.
The citizens of Arcadia, Fla., might
be interested in that last bit of
information. Arcadia is the city where
500 citizens showed up for a “Citizens
Against AIDS” rally after CliffordRa
got a court order allowing his threesom
to attend school. The boys, who are
hemophiliacs, contracted AIDSdurinj
blood transfusion. They are hf the
category that troubles even those who
consider AIDS a plague or punishmeni
— they are innocent victims, infected
through no fault of their own.
But the citizens of Arcadia sawnot
innocent boys but threats to their
children. Half the children boycotted
school. The school received bomb
threats. After the family’s house was
gutted by a fire, the Rays moved on,
trying to start over in a new town. A
family that needed understanding
instead met with terrorism.
The citizens of Swansea, Mass.,
reacted differently. In 1985,eighth-
grader Mark Hoyle found hehadthe
disease. The school district briefly
considered kicking him out of school
but decided to let him stay. A petition
drive and boycott both fizzled quickly,
and the community rallied in supportof
Mark, who was both popular anda
Little League all-star.
The Mark Hoyles of the world:
deserve support from the community
But so do all AIDS victims, even those
who aren’t Little League all-stars.
Shutting AIDS victims away from
society is not the answer. Educating
people about the disease’s dangersand
searching for a cure are part of the
answer.
Whether they contracted the disease
sexually or through a blood transfusk
whether they are drug users or theta
next door — or both — they have
contracted a terrifying disease,ad
for which there is no cure. Until wi
a cure, they deserve our concern. They]
deserve our understanding,
they deserve our help.
Sue Krenek is a senior journalismfW 3 !!
and opinion page editor for The
Battalion.
Dog days without Catfish
I was out of
town for a few
days, so I took
my dog.
Catfish, the
black Lab, over
to a friend’s
house.
I came back
home Tuesday
Lewis
Grizzard
night. Wednesday I got a call.
Catfish and Vader had broken out
of my friend’s fenced yard sometime
Sunday. My friend called the pound
Monday and found his dog.
“I hate to tell you this,” he said,
“but there’s been no sign of Catfish.”
He’d been missing for 48 hours. I
figured the worst.
I love that dog. He’s been with me
nearly four years. He ate the house I
had before the one I’m in now. The dog
chewed up my house and ate it, along
with numerous pairs of eyeglasses,
remote controls for the television, shoes,
books and anything else he could get his
teeth into.
He got over a lot of that as he got
older. He still does a few annoying
things from time to time, such as
barking at me an inch away from my ear
at 5 in the morning to tell me someone is
stealing our garbage.
But he’s basically a good dog with a
sweet nature about him, unless you
happen to be a squirrel.
His lifetime ambition is to catch a
squirrel. It’s something he’ll probably
never able to do, but he presses onward,
despite the fact the squirrels in my yard
get his attention and then leap into a
tree where they look down at him and
laugh.
I’ve had some bad luck with dogsin
the past. My first dog was a little white
puff named, appropriately, Snowball
Snowball caught pneumonia and
died., 1
When I was 8, I had a dog named
Edna Butch.Edna Butch ran after cats
One day she caught one.
I lost a bassett hound in a divorceand]
then lost another one in a similiar
circumstance. I vowed never to pwna
dog again, until I saw Catfish.
I decided to try the pound
again.Catfish was at the pound. Hehad
lost his ID tag. I drove him home,
hugged him, scratched him and talked
to him like he was a child.
I said, “You scared me to death.”
He barked and licked my hand.
I love that dog.
Copyright 1987, Cowles Syndicate
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