Page 2/The Battalion/Tuesday, November 10, 1987
Meeting
When I was in
kindergarten, our
teacher brought a
chrysalis to class.
For several weeks,
we watched the
shiny green case,
anxiously waiting
for the butterfly to
emerge.
Our teacher
taught us about
the life cycle of the
butterfly. She warned us that we should
not try to help the butterfly when it
struggled to escape its green womb. If
we were to assist it out of a sense of pity,
it would never be able to fly.
The struggle was necessary to
strengthen its wings in preparation for
flight. Its maturity would come through
adversity.
People are much like the butterfly.
We become strong through the adver
sity of experience.
We subject our bodies to the hardship
of aerobics and weight lifting to offset
the effects of our sedentary lifestyles.
We recognize that without the pain of
exercise, we cannot receive the benefit
of fitness.
Brian
Frederick
Opinion
the challenge of adversity
This principle also holds in the other great suffering upon me. I suspected him with his buddies. It makes a man of
areas of our lives. It is said that true that I should not have taken it as I had him and gives him the satisfaction of
character is forged in the furnace of af- not had calculus or trignometry in high having achieved a difficult end.
fliction The trials of life serve to school. But my placement scores gave Many who seemingly feel their man-
strengthen us mentally, morally, and me marginal admittance, and I did not hood is threatened by the spectacle of
spiritually if we are willing to face and want to be a semester behind in my en- boys becoming men in the Corps often
overcome them They will not benefit us gineering math sequence. malign it as an archaic organization that
if we flee. A lack of adversity in our lives j soon f oun d myself sinking, scoring hinders the development of our Univer-
cripples our mature development just as a 4? on the first ^ as l str S ggled t ° sity and abuses its members.
y learn calculus and trigonometry simul- Yet that “abuse” is part of an experi-
Adversity further provides us with a taneously. But I worked hard the rest of ence that few cadets would trade. The
challenge to face and a victory to win. the semester and earned a C without a “Corps experience” develops valuable
There is little more satisfying in life curve. maturity and character necessary for
than facing a challenge and overcoming j am prouder 0 f t h a t C than I am of life but all too often lacking in college
it with one s own efforts. any of my many A > s ancl scatte red B’s, graduates. Cadets should be respected
College is replete with such chal- for I had to give my all to earn it. The for taking challenges from which their
lenges. We are faced with tough courses feeling of accomplishment that C gave critics flee.
and tough professors who seemingly ex- me was much greater than that I re- Unfortunately, too many Americans
pect the impossible from us. We have a ceived for many easy A’s. today shun the challenges of life. We are
choice, either to remain weak by avoid- perhaps even more than other chal- flabby and complacent, afraid of any-
ing the challenge as many do or to profit lenges at Texas A&M, the Corps of Ca- thin g tha t might disturb our comfort,
by accepting it. dets develops character and gives a feel- We P a y the price in personal and na-
Though the effort be painful, the ing of accomplishment. For years young tional weakness and miss out on the ex
feeling resulting from successfully men have made the commitment to join hilaration of superlative achievement,
meeting the challenge more than com- the Corps, voluntarily subjecting them- As students we avoid tough courses
pensates for the pain. Being handed the selves to the motivational exercises, the and instructors; as adults we avoid
trappings of success without having ex- harassment, and the early morning runs tough jobs, seeking rather the easiest
pended the effort to earn them, how- of which soft civilians complain. work for the highest wage.
ever, gives us no real satisfaction. This advers ; *y toughens the cadet We do not rest there. Feeling guilty
Math 151H was a course that inflicted physically and m. tally while uniting for the affluence we know we have not
head-oil
earned, we seek to help those “lessi
tunate” than ourselves, voting them|
sorts of government assistance.
But in so doing, we murder theirl
tential. We send them the message* J ac j
they are incapable of facing andoM^j
coming the challenges of life ontM n j te(
own. We steal from them the joy ofl et *
complishment, and the character dt attend
opment effected by adversity. Bg 011
■ Th<
It is one thing to extend a hand;|kgt‘ s £
help a fellow overwhelmed by lifetoll mer
back on his feet. This we should do.*
it is altogether another matter todedM at r;
he is incapable of properly living wi||o rS e
out our help and thus justify holdingl An
hand throughout his life. Our i*ked
guided compassion destroys his ab* is re
to soar free just as it does the butterflw 1 ”^
Adversity is a fact of life. Whikl r .^
causes us pain and suffering, it alsoina^e
fords us our greatest joys and triuiKjhe a
and plays an essential part in our df'^iard;
opment. Lacking it, we are as impiwydc
erished as a butterfly without theustP 11 ’ 1 ®
his wings. I
Brian Frederick is a senior history rloldt
Russian major and a columnist fof fT" 5
Battalion.
Phite
Ho
Mail Call
The air smells of hypocrisy
EDITOR:
This letter is in regard to the behavior of certain “gentlemen” at the
bonfire site. The purpose of bonfire is to bring together the student body
rather than dividing it against itself:
“The bonfire is exciting because it brings every kind of Aggie together to
help with it. When you see what you’ve worked so hard on having this kind of
effect on people it makes it all worth it and gives you a special feeling about
A&M and what it stands for.”
—J. D. Steward, 1987 Aggieland, page 32.
Doth not the air smell of hypocrisy? The years I worked on bonfire, this
attitude toward the women did not exist. Maybe some of you “gentlemen”
should have stayed in kindergarten.
Scott Kirkham ’86
Soy howdy first dammit
EDITOR:
For all you Aggies who think that saying “howdy” is a thing of the past, let
me tell you a little story. I was walking across campus, I mean all the way
across campus, at 4:30 one afternoon and this is what happened: I was a
“howdy” fool. I said “howdy” or “hi” to anything that moved. Without
exception, everyone that I spoke to gave me a nod or a smile and returned
my “howdy.”
Aggies will always say “howdy.” It’s just that maybe you have to be the one
to say it first. Gig ’em.
Patrick D. Brown ’88
A&M ignores apartheid
EDITOR:
As president of Students Against Apartheid, I would like to articulate my
appeal to Texas A&M regarding apartheid and divestment. This includes R.
Smith, who promulgated his “devil” mentality in his Oct. 30 letter saying, “ . .
. how can we protest the government in South Africa? It doesn’t recognize
the blacks as individuals having any rights, so no human rights are being
violated. . . .”)
Apartheid is a white devil construct in South Africa! Period! From a
Christian perspective, the Bible indicates that Satan’s goal is to kill, steal, and
destroy (John 10:10). Since South Africa was colonized by whites, blacks have
been systematically KILLED without any just cause! Furthermore, after
apartheid was legalized in 1948, blacks’ rights to own land were severed.
Remember, blacks dwelled in South Africa centuries before whites knew it
existed. Hence, apartheid has STOLEN real estate from the original black
inhabitants. Thirdly, black males in South Africa are under duress to work
nearly 365 days per year in ignoble coal, diamond, and gold mines without
seeing their family. Also, blacks receive low wages which cut production cost,
resulting in accentuated return on foreign (particularly U.S.) investment.
Hence, future investment is enhanced and apartheid grows!
Renowned institutions such as Harvard, Yale and the University of
Houston have divested (a PROVEN economic strategy that will crumble
apartheid). Texas A&M has not. WHY?
W. Collins ’87
Learn to spell
EDITOR:
It figures. You finally carry through with a vow to write to the editor of a
newspaper. You even go so far as to type it because your handwriting is
illegible. And what do they do? They misspell your name! My last name is not
Turner, Taylor, Tamer or any other corruption of it. It is T-A-N-N-E-R ! As
in one who tans leather. One’s name is a very important part of one’s self-
identity. Please do your utmost to get names correct.
Nancy Tanner ’88
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.
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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
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^ r
The rescue team
did Gudh a heroic
job pulling' little
Jessica McChire
out of the
that Fd like to
invite those
brave 'workers
to the
White House-
A good ’ol boy beer drinker
finds nonalcoholic stuff isn’t bad
Lewis
Grizzard
I’ve been a beer
drinker for many
years. I especially
like beer when I
am hot and very
thirsty.
It goes down so
smoothly under
those conditions.
It quenches the
thirst and then
finds a nice warm
spot in the belly.
The more beer I drink, the more in
telligent, funny and good-looking I be
come.
I used to think I could drive an auto
mobile better when I had had several
beers. I don’t think that anymore, thank
God.
I don’t have any particular beer that
is my favorite. If it’s cold and runs
downhill, I’ll drink it. I also will go to
great lengths to find beer when there
isn’t any that is readily available.
I once attended a cocktail party
hosted by The New Yorker magazine.
The New Yorker is a very sophisticated
BLOOM COUNTY
magazine that carries articles I never
quite understand. There was no beer at
The New Yorker’s cocktail party. They
had white wine and bottled water, which
is what very sophisticated people drink
these days.
I left the cocktail party, walked across
the street to a convenience store, bought
a six-pack and brought it back with me.
The bartender was nice enough to
put the beer on ice. After I’d had three
or four of my beers, I began talking to
the very sophisticated people around
me, and said aloud, “I have no idea what
y’all are writing about in The New
Yorker, but I love your cartoons.”
Everybody thought I was intelligent,
funny and good-looking. I took a cab
back to my hotel after I had finished my
six-pack.
I bring all this up to establish the
premise that I dearly love beer and it
has been an integral part of my life for
some time.
Given that, it may be a surprise to
you, like it was to me, that when I tried
the new non-alcoholic beer recently, I
really liked it.
I don’t want this to be a commercial,
so I’m going to mention the name of!
new product just once, Kalibur.
A man who works for the compi
that makes the non-alcoholic beer $
“We hope designated drivers will dfi
it.”
“Drinking is mostly a social thingai
way, and this is a great substitute
you’re at a bar or a party, and you ki<
you have to drive home.”
A friend of mine who is a bigger be
drinker than I am also tried the
product. He tried it six or seven timet
“This is great,” he said. “I’ve
this beer and I can still talk and wa!
and I won’t kill anybody driving home
“Another thing,” said the man frd
the company, “is if you’ll mix in onei
ours between regular beers, you 0
drink a lot of beer and not become so(
toxicated.”
I’m not going to lie to you. I’ms!
going to drink my beer. But the non!
coholic route is out there now, and the!
are times I think I’ll take it.
I don’t have to be intelligent, fuiU
and good-looking all the time.
Copyright 1987, Cowles Syndicate
eveN IF you ALL Ptt? 3€HFVe
UK6 ft mOB OF FttPlCfiL,
sFReap-me-weFLTH
LABOR LOONS, (N6 FRO FU
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VERY
MPORFFNA
THINS '
by BerKe Breathed