Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, November 25, 1987
Opinion
Why can’t football fans act like human beings?
So here we are,
gearing up for
bonfire and the
big game with
Texas. And here I
praying I
a m
don’t kill anybody
at the game.
You see, it’s not
that I’m such a ra
bid Aggie fan that
I set out to decapi
tate any orange-
them.
Sue
Krenek
blooded types who have the audacity to
venture near Kyle Field. It’s just that
I’m growing sick of football fans.
Not just Aggie fans, mind you — all
football fans. What I’ve Figured out in
four years of spending Saturdays at
Kyle Field is that most of us are fair-
weather fans at best and hypocrites at
worst. We expect other teams’ fans to be
well-behaved toward us, but we reserve
the right to be crude and offensive to
The LSU game this year was a prime
example. Some LSU fans got a little out
of control and a lot intoxicated. Being
rowdy college kids whose team had just
won a big game, they stormed the field
and promptly got themselves arrested.
Some others made nasty remarks to Ag
gie fans. Come Monday, the population
of Aggieland was irate and The Battal
ion was flooded with letters about what
a disgrace the LSU fans were to their
school and how we Aggies would never
show such lack of respect for our oppo
nents or their schools.
Hogwash. I remember the Texas
game my freshman year very well,
partly because A&M pulled off an upset
win and mostly because we acted like
complete jerks about it. After the game,
there were Aggies all over Sixth Street,
and I watched a lot of them say nasty
things to UT fans. I watched three or
four of them pick Fights with UT fans. It
Mail Call
'Slander about Arabs'
EDITOR:
The Battalion published on Nov. 19 a most disturbing and insulting
interview with the consul of the Israeli Consulate in Houston. The topic was
terrorism, but it would have been better labeled “Slander about Arabs.” How
this interview passed the review of the editorial staff is incomprehensible.
The staff has seemingly lost that most valued of news-reporting qualities,
objectivity. It is mentioned that the consul was in town “to meet with several
groups and discuss international terrorism ...” The Battalion did not bother
to cover this event or even to mention which groups he met with but leapt at
the opportunity to meet personally with him and quote word for word foolish
untruths about Middle Eastern society and politics, going so far as to say that
terrorism is an integral part of Arab society and that Arabs have been used to
it for hundreds of years. That is preposterous! Furthermore the stafFs
slanderous intent is made further obvious by its highlighting of one of the
more ridiculously sensational of the consul’s statements. The Battalion
appears to be losing its sense of responsibility for reporting news and events.
This man’s opinions are better placed on the opinion page or even better in
the sewer. An apology from the Battalion staff for slandering the Arab
people everywhere would appear to be appropriate at this point.
Tarek Dahdah
grad student
Behind the times
EDITOR:
Hitler had once mentioned that the first step in exterminating a group of
people is to dehumanize them. This concept had resulted in some of the
ugliest atrocities of this century. Ironically, some of the people against which
this principle was applied are utilizing the same principle to achieve their own
means. On Thursday, in an interview with the Israeli counsul general in
Houston published in The Battalion, dehumanization of Arabs was the main
objective. Arabs were portrayed in a highly racist and stereotypical manner
resulting from a mentality full of hatred and intolerance. In the article’s
headline, The Battalion suggested that the counsul general had some
answers to some of the world’s problems.
What really shocked us is that the article causes more problems than it
solves. It is really disturbing to read such remarks coming from what we
expect to be a respected diplomat at times when he should be talking of peace
and mutual co-existence. No matter what the future holds, the Israelis will
have to live with the Arabs side by side under some format. Such an attitude
shown by an official representative of the Israeli government doesn’t help
much in fostering any chance for promoting peace and co-existence. We are
sure that any person with some common sense is capable of distinguishing
that what was reported is nothing but low-level name-calling and racist
slander that is totally unjustiFied and serves no useful purpose.
What disturbs us even more is The Battalion's sensational portrayal of
such remarks. The Battalion, as a newspaper that projects and serves the
intellectual environment of this University, should promote an environment
of tolerance and tranquility, not racism and stereotypes. As a part of both this
University and the Arab community in this town, we were really shocked and
offended by this article. We would hope that The Battalion would be more
forthcoming in promoting intellectual and useful dialogue rather than
sensationalizing slander and racism.
Wael A. Massarweh
grad student
accompanied by four signatures
Editor’s Note: Two headlines were printed with the article on the Israeli
consul. One said, “Israeli suggests solutions to world problems,” and the
other read, “Consul discuses causes of terrorism. ” Nowhere did The
Battalion suggest that Shmuel Ben-Shmuel had the answers to the world’s
problems.
The Battalion was given the opportunity to interview a prominent official
considered an expert on the Middle East. Whether the official was Arab or
Israeli was not an issue — either one would have received equal coverage.
Because of the controversial subject and to ensure objectivity, The Battalion
chose to use a question-answer format, which clearly distinguishes the
reporter’s questions from the consul’s answers. The statements made by Ben-
Shmuel are his own opinions, not those of the writer or of The Battalion. The
publication of the article was in no way aimed at any particular group, and its
intent was to promote an exchange of ideas on a controversial subject, not to
slander any group. An apology from The Battalion to the Arab people is
unnecessary and far from appropriate.
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.
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwestjournalism 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-
» Texas A&:M and Bryan-College Sta-
didn’t make me feel too proud.
But what’s sad is that it wasn’t an iso
lated incident. And our disrespect ex
tends not only to the other team’s fans,
but also to the other team, the referees
and sometimes our own team.
Last year I spent the entire First half
of one game trying to keep myself from
throwing two senior cadets over the con
crete barrier to the First deck. It was
tough. The gentlemen in question were
having a tough time with the ofFiciating,
i.e. the refs were calling the Aggies for
penalties we were committing.
“*&*£*&#%(£ refs!!!” they would
yell. “Go back to the 8c#8c%t<f8c%
Southeast Conference!” Or: “Ref, get
your *0*&y# head out of your 8ct*8c<t
and call ’em right!”
During halftime, these two intellec
tual powerhouses decided the refs were
obviously incompetent and incapable of
calling a game correctly. When the sec
ond half started — you guessed it — the
penalties all seemed to be against the
other team.
“Way to go, ref!!” they yelled. “Way
to call ’em!!”
Don’t get me wrong: I don’t like to
see the Ags called for penalties any
more than any other fan. But if we did
it, it’s our fault and yelling at the ref
only makes you look like a fool.
So, for that matter, does the horse
laugh. Like I said, I don’t like seeing the
Aggies get penalties. But even though I
know how much I don’t know about
football, there are plenty of times when
I see the foul they’re calling. And I Find
it ridiculous that some yell leader who’s
had his eye on the crowd and not the
game can decide to get 70,000 people to
yell at a ref for what may have been a
good decision.
I used to go along with the horse
laugh in situations like that. Not any
more. This can cause problems, like at
the Arkansas game when I refused to
“hump it” for an unjustiFied horse laugh
and the guy behind me said, “Hump it,
Ags!” in a highly menacing voice two
inches from my ear.
The Arkansas game brings to mind
another obnoxious fan: the guy who’s
out for blood. One of these was a few
rows behind us at the game, screaming,
“BREAK THEIR LEGS! BREAK
THElR LEGS!” Luckily, one of the guys
I was with loudly proclaimed, “What a
sportsman we have here!” eliminating
the need for me to say something that
would have gotten my face broken.
I know, I know, that stuff is all in fun.
But I’ve had too many friends who
played football somewhere along the
line to be comfortable with people who
gloat when the other team has an in
jured man on the Field. I was brought
up to believe that this is a game, and that
if you’re any kind of fan at all you hope
everyone stays healthy so they can play a
good game. I don’t want to be around
the kind of people who can cheer at an
injury that could end a player’s career.
But worst of all are the fans who are
all too quick to engage in player-bashing
as soon as someone has a bad game.
And the best example I can think ofis
Graig Stump. You remember Craig, the
miracle quarterback who came in after
Kevin Murray broke his ankle three
years ago and led the Aggies to some
great end-of-season victories. Jackie
Sherrill even publicly debated about
who would start for the Aggies next sea
son. But Stump remained the backup
until Murray left.
So what happens at the beginning of
the season? The fans label Stump in
competent, boo him; and cry for him to
be replaced. Nice fans, those. But begin
ning two weeks ago, Stump made a
comeback, and once again he’s the fans
golden boy. 1 think it’s great
Stump’s playing so well, and I can’t wait
to watch him help beat up on the Long
horns. But those fair-weather fans reall^
irritate me.
1 have to admit there have been times
when I haven’t cheered for Craig
Stump, but that was back when 1 was in
high school and a Port Arthur Jefferson
team led by Stump and Shea Walker
regularly pounded my beloved LaPorte
Bulldogs. I think that’s a pretty good ex
cuse. But come Thursday night, I’ll be
out there yelling for the Aggies — not
yelling at the refs, not seeking the other!
team’s blood.
Now, if I can just refrain from blud
geoning any other fans . ..
Sue Krenek is a senior journalism ma
jor and opinion page editor for The
Battalion.
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MARStfUfS
Get those cute pets outta here!
Pet peeves.
Just about ev
erybody has one.
Some have many
more. I have two.
No. 1 on my pet
John
Jarvis
Guest Columnist
peeve list is the word “cute.”
Cute is such an innocent little word.
Trouble is, I can’t stand to hear it.
I guess I’ve gotten burned out on the
everyday use of the word cute. Stop for
a minute and think about how it’s used.
How do people usually describe a
puppy? Or a baby? Or anything small,
for that matter? That’s right, you
guessed it — “Oh, it’s so cute!”
Cute is defined as being attractive, es
pecially in a dainty or delicate way. In
that sense, describing babies or puppies
as being cute is very appropriate. But
think about this: how many times have
you heard a small car or truck described
as cute? “Oh, that car’s so cute! I want
one!” If I had a nickel for every time I
heard that phrase . . .
My No. 2 pet peeve is how people act
around pets. What is it about pets that
turns otherwise normal adults into bab
bling idiots?
I have a theory to explain this, and an
example to support my theory cropped
up in the newsroom of The Battalion
one night.
A friend of mine was sitting in the
newsroom with her cocker spaniel, Se
bastian.
In the space of less than Five minutes,
I saw four people either talk baby talk to
Sebastian, run around the newsroom
with him, or bark at him.
I know I was amused. And I guess it’s
just our way of trying to relate to Sebas
tian —and to pets in general.
It seems nobody’s faultless on this
one. I’ve even babbled to animals a time
or two. But we usually don’t need an ex
cuse to talk like babbling idiots — at
least not here in the newsroom of The
Battalion. The pressures of working on
stories and going to classes at the same
time do that well enough.
I’m curious, though; what exactly is it
that makes humans think they have to
babble for pets to understand? I’m sure
that if Sebastian could have spoken,
he’d have told people to speak cohe
rently, because nobody could under
stand what they were saying to him.
But when I think about it, it makes
sense not to make sense to animals. The
darned things can’t understand us any
way, can they?
Before the animal lovers string me up
by my thumbs for saying that, let me de
fend my reasoning.
Take Sebastian as an example. About
the most that dog understands is, “Blah,
blah, blah, Sebastian, blah, blah, blah
.” You get the picture, right? Words
don’t mean a lot to him.
But Sebastian does understand the
tone in the voice that’s talking to him
He does know if he’s been a good dogoi
a bad dog. That’s what’s important. And
believe me, Sebastian found out both
ends of the good-bad spectrum man)
times when he was in the newsroom.
But I guess I can live with my pet
peeves. When I think about it, it was
kind of humorous when everybody was
going wacky with the dog in the news
room. And though I hate to admit it
actually enjoyed it when I heard some of
the people who were talking to Sebas
tian. I wish you could have heard them
too. They sounded so cute!
John Jarvis is a senior journalism ma
jor and managing editor of The Battal
ion.
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