Page 2/The Battalion/Friday, October 23, 1987
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 A8cM administrators, faculty or the Board of Regents.
The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper for students
in reporting, editing and photography classes witnin 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.
Pressing questions
Nervous investors across the nation waited Thursday for
President Reagan’s scheduled news conference. They were hop
ing Reagan would soothe their fears about the jittery stock mar
ket — and he may have done so. But it’s unfortunate that it took
a stock market crash to get Reagan to hold his first press confer
ence in seven months.
The idea of a head of state meeting with the media really
isn’t that unusual — it only seems so in an administration where
press conferences have become all but extinct. For many jour
nalists, reporting on the White House has become a race: Can
you yell the question before the president gets to the plane/heli-
copter/car?
This journalism of the shouted question, la Sam Donaldson,
has created friction between the press, the president and the
public. At an awards ceremony for educators, the award recipi
ents and reporters got into a shouting match, with the educators
saying the press had ruined the ceremony by shouting questions.
Perhaps the ceremony was ruined. But it’s important to keep
in mind that the president, not the reporters, is responsible for
the situation. Since the last press conference in March, negotia
tors have closed in on a possible arms-control treaty with the So
viet Union, the United States has begun providing protection
for oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, the Iran-Contra hearings
have been held, and Robert Bork has been nominated to the Su
preme Court.
Events such as these affect all Americans, and all Americans
should want information on them. Our elected officials answer
to us by way of the media. When the questions are shouted and
the answers minimal, we all lose.
Mail Call
Education, jobs go hand-in-hand
EDITOR:
Brian Frederick in his Oct. 20 column about students and academic
apathy makes some interesting points, but I would add that students, for
their sake, need to be aware that:
Education without job potential is a waste of a good mind (and pretty
hard on day-to-day existence after graduation).
A job without a true education could end up being just a job without a
career.
Therefore, I hope students will pursue both an education and a job from
the first day they arrive on campus. I now regret giving insufficient attention
to either while I was in college. When I graduated and finally found a job, I
found myself working and corresponding with some people who had done
both well. Engineers from all over the world could obliterate me at corporate-
style conferences and social hours with their knowledge of literature,
languages, sciences, and the American political scene. People like this are
everywhere in today’s professional environment, and they’re your
competition. That “job-first” or “education-first” mentality that sometimes
divides a student body could stunt your ambitious future in ways you and I
never imagined.
M.L. Creamer
graduate student
A tradition unknown
EDITOR:
In reply to a letter submitted Oct. 21 about the “time-honored” tradition
of not walking on the All Faith’s Chapel grass, we at Law Hall have this to say:
The majority of the residents just across the quad from you had no idea of
this tradition. We realize that it is a long way to vocalize this wish, but we feel
confident that even you at Puryear can accomplish this. If we had been
informed of this tradition, we would have treated it as we do all the
wonderful traditions that make Texas A&M unique. Until then, Puryear, we
think you should practice a little of what you so fervently preach.
Jim Fisher ’90
accompanied by 65 signatures
Where's the punchline?
EDITOR:
I have been following your new comic strip, Joe Transfer, since its
introduction to The Battalion at the beginning of the semester. During these
two months I have been observing several strange features of the strip, such
as the lack of that part of the nose which should separate the characters’ eyes.
Also, all males depicted have exaggerated muscles, and all females are quite
ugly. Further, despite the Aggie tendency to be clean-shaven, most of these
males have facial hair. In fact, the only clean-shaven males in the strip have
even more grossly-exaggerated muscles and even more closely-squashed eyes
than the rest. And, of course, none of the strips ever ends with a recognizable
attempt at humor.
The only logical explanation that I have deduced from all this is that the
author has written one very long and extremely complicated strip which had
to be broken into many installments, due to space considerations. (I see no
other reason why The Battalion would still carry it.) At some future date, the
author will tie all of these strange features together to create a gigantic
punchline, which will probably be the talk of the toWn for months. So that all
my weeks of reading the strip are not wasted. I am extremely anxious not to
miss this great event. I therefore ask you to please advertise the date of the
punchline in advance.
Joseph Kachmar
graduate student
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves 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
must include the classification, address and telephone number of the writer.
Honest-.there’s not a word in here about inyokingf the Vfer Powers^
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It’s too late to halt opening
of long-awaited faculty club
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In February,
Texas A&M
faculty members
finally will get a
long-awaited and
well-deserved
treat: a club on
the top two floors
of Rudder
Tower.
The Tower
Dining Center
will be closed to
the public and
made exclusive to
A&M faculty,
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unnecessary waste of Student
Government’s time. If it doesn’t trust
previous faculty surveys, which
included in-depth and unbiased
questions, then how can Student
Government expect A&M students to
trust its own slanted results?
st udcnt s t<ns ai cl ah ohol on campu: 1^ : ,
i nr l j ■said he v
aren t important at this point, vvenac U, test i n g
We lost. They had their; gem y.
he latest a
our chance
They won. It’s unreasonableandimd
too late to intervene in their affair:
Sondra
Pickard
A brief explanation on the survey
says the results will “assess the actual
demand for a lounge/club in Rudder.”
Actual means factual. The survey
clearly is not based on any fact;
therefore its results cannot be factual.
I don’t doubt Student Govemmi!
intentions are noble, but its timingd
methods leave a little to he desired lii
happy that the representatives of the
student body are standing up for
something they think is wrong,butrft
now? T he formation of the facultydh
administrators and their guests.
The news comes as a surprise to
most students, and some are shocked
to discover that their beloved Tower
Dining Center, with its scrumptious
delicacies and scenic view of campus
rooftops, soon will be a thing of the
past.
But, as is known, tradition dies hard
at Texas A&M. In response, one
student group has decided it must put
a stop to this absurdity. A survey was
sent to faculty members asking how
they feel about the club and if they will
use it when it opens.
As one professor put it, the survey is
nothing but a “skewed instrument.”
The same professor went on to say he
hoped such a survey wasn’t prepared
by someone from Texas A&M,
especially not someone “professionally
engaged in research.”
No need to worry, sir. The survey
was not the work of professionals, but
rather a belated reaction by Student
Government to stop something that
has been in the making for years. Why
the survey’s authors failed to identify
themselves on their own survey is
obvious — I wouldn’t put my name on
it either. The survey ventures to ask
faculty members 10 questions that are,
for the most part, biased.
The survey is labeled “Demand for
Faculty Club in Rudder Tower
Survey.” This alone says Student
Government didn’t do its homework.
Over the past 12 years — and probably
well before that— faculty members
have indicated they wanted such a club.
Besides the most recent survey
conducted by the Faculty Senate,
several others have revealed that there
is an obvious and clear-cut desire for
an A&M faculty club.
Conducting another survey is an
One question asks if faculty are aware
of the limited parking area surrounding
Rudder Tower. This question is
completely unrelated to whether there
is a demand for a faculty club.
didn’t just happen overnight. There*:
nothing sudden about it. It studentski
wanted to intervene on the facultvs
attempts, they should have
ago.
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Police said
Besides, faculty will use the club
mainly during the day. Most will choose
to walk, and those who drive either will
have to park in a nearby staff lot or park
illegally. And the faculty are aware of
the parking problem on campus. They
have to deal with it every day, just as we
do. This shouldn’t stop them from
having a faculty club.
Details were initiated and workede
early last year in a series of Faculty
Senate meetings, all of which wereopc
to the public, all of which should hart
been attended by a Student Senate
representative.
Another question asks, “On a
traditionally dry campus, are you in
favor of the selling of alcohol in the
club/lounge?”
The club has long since been
approved by the Board of Regents^
President Frank E. Vandiver. The
Faculty Club’s application for
incorporation was signed Thursday.
The question first should have asked
if the faculty member was in favor of a
dry campus to begin with. The tradition
word was unnecessary, but as inevitable
as always. Student Government might
just discover that not everyone at A&M
is keen on tradition and not everyone is
keen on having a dry campus.
According to System policy,alcokol
can only be served in leased roornsor
areas, and the club must becomealtj
entity to sign a liquor license. TheBtf
originally implemented the leasing
policy years ago so lessees of KyleFiti
stadium boxes could have alcohol ^
faculty have taken all of the necessan
steps to get what most major
Universities had long ago.
In previous years, the issue of having
a pub in the MSC has come before the
Student Senate more than once but has
been defeated by students because
students favor a dry campus.
The members of the faculty decided
long ago they would like alcohol
available in their club. Without it, a
faculty club/lounge just wouldn’t be a
club/lounge. Serving alcohol to adults
on a University campus is harmless. The
moral and ethical feelings of A&M
And what about Rudder TowerH |;
nice place, but I won’t miss it. fi
there about three times in thefiveyt’ 1
that I’ve been here. But those whot 1 :’
the Tower Dining Center should
consider themselves lucky they were
able to use it as long as they did.
Gen. Earl Rudder originally inte^
that the tower’s top floor beuseda^
bar for A&M faculty members.
Sondra Pickard is a senior joum^'
major and editor of The Battalion
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breathi
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