Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, December 9, 1987
Opinion
Suffering from pre-holiday stress syndrome^
I thought I
would be the last
person to get it.
But I’ve got it.
And I’ve got a bad
case.
It’s 16 days until
Christmas, and
I’m suffering
from pre-holiday
stress syndrome.
cited about the holidays each year.
When Dec. 1 rolled around, I’d be mail
ing cards or buying gifts or making coo
kies, crossing the days off on my cal
endar until the long-awaited day
arrived. But the realities of life started
eroding my Christmas spirit. Bit by bit,
year after year, the magic of Christmas
diminished.
I t
enough
bad
fi rst
Tracy
Staton
grade when Greg Hand told me Santa
Claus didn’t exist. We were in the school
cafeteria; I was calmly eating my green
beans when he sprung the news. The
foundation of my world was shattered. I
immediately ran to my teacher, Mrs.
Krafka, and tearfully asked if it was
true. She said no, of course, and re
stored some semblance of normality to
my childish beliefs.
But the niggling doubt was there; I
watched carefully Christmas morning
and determined that Santa Claus was a
fake. Christmas would never be the
same.
Somehow, I managed to remain ex- It was such a gradual process that 1
Democrats are masters
of campaign cliches
Paul (the poli
tician , not the
singer) Simon be
gan the evening by
saying: “'Phis is an
exciting and im
portant night.”
Right there I knew
we \yere in trou
ble. Paul Simon 1
telling you that
something is going
to be exciting is
Donald
Kaul
like the dentist telling you, “This won’t
hurt a bit.” A little subtitle appears in
your mind’s eye: “He’s lying.”
And, as it turned out, he was. He was
speaking at the Jefferson-Jackson Day
dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, where all
six Democratic presidential hopefuls ap
peared, paying homage to the Iowa cau
cuses. Such meetings are not meant to
be exciting or even important in a dy
namic sense, of course. They are instead
ritual gatherings of the clan designed to
express solidarity and reinforce the
myths of the party. (The chief Republi
can myth is that they know how to man
age things; Democrats insist that they
are compassionate.)
Party meetings provide a way for
Democrats and Republicans to stand in
front of a mirror and say: “Each day in
every way, we’re getting better and bet
ter.” It doesn’t do any harm and it keeps
them off the streets.
But it is no place to talk sense and
with few exceptions, no one did in Des
Moines. I counted the cliches uttered by
each of the candidates, and it was a job.
They came so fast and thick that it was
difficult to decide whether you were lis
tening to a series of single cliches or a
single, multiple cliche.
As nearly as I could make out, Sen.
Simon and Rep. Dick Gephardt of Mis
souri finished in a dead heat in the
cliche contest, with Sen. Albert Gore Jr.
close behind.
Gephardt, however, got marks for
courage for mentioning the name of
Jimmy Carter (Carter could have been
president of Albania for all the mention
he gets at Democratic meetings) while
Simon got special credit for originality.
He actually made up a cliche:
“It is time for the President of the
United States to fill leadership posts
with champions of the needy rather
than cronies of the greedy,” he said.
Jesse Jackson would have done better
in the cliche department but he tends to
disguise them in rhymes.
Who did himself the most good at the
dinner? A1 Gore, no question.
The name of the game in the Iowa
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wasn’t aware it whs happening. I finally
started realizing it when my family was
here for Thanksgiving. My mom asked
what I wanted for Christmas — I asked
her to pay off my MasterCard bill. And
all I could think about while they were
visiting was how I should be working in
stead of playing Trivial Pursuit.
came, I immersed myself in gift lists,
Santa letters and Christmas carols. My
brother and I spent hours arranging
and rearranging the nativity scene.
dl
It started when I went to college and
missed the annual tree-trimming at
horpe. I called my parents during dead
week, and they were decorating the
house. I was studying and eating cold
pizza; they were singing Christmas car
ols and drinking eggnog.
Christmas baking was the next thing
to go. Since I had a job over the holi
days, I didn’t have time to fix slice-and-
bake cookies, much less bake from
scratch. One more tradition down the
tubes.
And m
just can’t
Then I started neglecting television
Christmas shows. I missed “Rudolph the
Red-nosed Reindeer” three years in a
row. And I haven’t seen “How the
Grinch Stole Christmas” since I was 16
years old.
w the process is complete. I
bring myself to get excited
about Christmas when I have four pa
pers, three finals, two projects and an
exam to wade through before then. Not
to mention the gifts I need to buy with
the money I don’t have and the seven
hours I have to drive to get home.
Now my mind is occupied by a story I
need to write for The Battalion, the
clothes I need to wash, and the massive
amounts of studying I need to do. 1 am
looking forward to the holidays — but
only because I plan to sleep a lot. Prepa
rations for Christmas have not even
crossed my mind.
It’s not just me. Almost everyone I
know is so worried about finals; they
haven’t even thought about Christmas
shopping. Or the holiday itself has be
come unimportant compared to their
ski trip to Utah or their plans for New
Year’s Eve.
And I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I
haven’t been thinking about buying pre
sents for my family. I’m sorry I’ve
missed the lighting of the Advent
wreath at church. I’m sorry I haven’t
had time to decorate a tree or send
Christmas cards.
Christmas is a good time to evaluaie
my priorities. I’m hoping that 1 havetht
courage to stop for a few moments over
the holidays and examine what all ol
this means. I hope I can find the appre
ciation for the “Christmas Spirit” (and
related items) that I’ve almost lost.
I know 1 won’t turn into Father (or
Mother) Christmas overnight — 1 don!
want to. I do want to stop concentrating
on my financial and social and educatio
nal problems long enough to help my
mom wiap presents and cook turkey. 1 oajorfr
want to stop being so self-absorbed that* 011
I forget to speak to Mrs. Crockett at
As tl:
ootball
Texas p
or the
jiampic
nth her
irayers
She is
church. I want to watch football with my j n g» p
dad and play Monopoly with my
brother without thinking I
doing something else.
I know that stress is a part of life—it’s
should be | here’s s
‘exas si
It’s all a question of priorities. When I
was a child, the year revolved around
Christmas. I dreamed and plotted and
planned all year for that one day, waited
anxiously for the family Christmas party
and church pageant. When December
I his Christmas issue is just one more
episode in a saga of mixed emotions and
unclear priorities. I’ve been wondering
lately what’s more important — my
grades and my job or my friends and
family, my ambitions or my mental
health. When I was younger, these
choices were obvious. Now I’m so in
volved in thinking about the future that
I’ve forgotten about the present.
the natural accompaniment to myambi j |, atw j n
tious career goals. But when it becomes
the main theme instead of a minoi dis
cord, it’s time to draw the line.
No more pre-holiday stress syn
drome. I’m changing my focus as
soon as finals are over.
Tracy Staton is a senior journalism m*
jor, a staff writer and a columnist for
The Battalion.
caucuses is not so much to win but to ex
ceed expectations. What Gore did last
week was to reduce his expectations in
Iowa to zero. If he gets seven votes in
Iowa next February, the political com
mentators will say he did much better
than he had any right to.
Pursuing a Southern strategy, he at
tacked the whole idea of the Iowa cau
cuses. “There is something wrong with a
nominating process that gives one state
the loudest voice and then produces
candidates who cannot even carry that
state,” he said.
“Iowa is a competitive- state. Yet we
have not been able to win it for the past
23 years. We have lost four of the last
five elections. Last time, we lost 49 of
our 50 states. The time before, 45 of our
50 states. Isn’t it time for a change?”
It was the closest to sense any candi
date came all evening, but Iowa’s Demo
crats greeted him with an enthusiasm
usually reserved for bubonic plague.
Change the Iowa caucuses? What, and
quit show business?
The Democratic field has been char
acterized, unfairly I think, as a group of
dwarfs or lightweights. They’re not that.
They share a certain lack of foreign pol
icy experience but other than that they
are bright and remarkably well-in
formed.
Their collective problem is more sub
tle. Rather than projecting the image of
national leadership, they seem to be
running for the post of Brightest Kid in
Class.
If that’s the case, then Bruce Babbitt
is the winner. Listen to him closely and
you’ll find his ideas fresher and more
thoughtful than those of any other can
didate in either party, also more candid.
“If we care about the progressive
agenda, then we’ve got to be honest
about the deficit,” he told the 8,000
Democrats assembled in Des Moines. “If
we won’t say what we’ll defend, where
we’ll cut, who we’ll tax and how we’ll
pay, we’ll never be able to look America
in the eye and say why we’re Democrat-
s . . . I’m going to say it straight —
we’ve got to raise taxes and cut spend
ing. We’ve got to apply a needs test to
the budget so that spending cuts reflect
our priorities. We’ve got to consider a
consumption tax that’s progressive to
pay for the programs we need.”
That sounded good to me. It remains
to be seen whether the country is ready
for a president who reminds you of
Henry Alrich, however.
It wasn’t exciting; it wasn’t partic
ularly important. But it was interesting.
How it will all turn out, God knows.
Copyright 1987, Tribune Media Services, Inc.
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Mail Call
Nuke Old Sarge
EDITOR:
Tom Key ’89
Bring back old yell leaders
This “Old Sarge” mascot really bites the big one. I
think it should be nuked. With this letter, I’ve sent 1,323
signatures on a petition that states: “We as students feel the
‘Old Sarge’ mascot is an embarrassment to the school.
Please don’t ever display it in public.”
Eric Wilke ’91
accompanied by 1,323 signatures *
EDITOR:
Selfish use of traditions
EDITOR:
I certainly agree that the old Sarge mascot is an unnec
essary and undesirable addition to Aggie games. There are
logical alternatives to this proposal, like having Rev spend
time on the west sideline since the team is over there any
way. But I can hardly say I’m surprised or shocked at the
thought of a copycat mascot considering the cavalier treat
ment of tradition in recent years.
I’m not saying that people who refuse to conform are
bad or anything of the sort. What I’m saying is that stu
dents and groups, including student government, use tra
dition when it suits their purpose. Consider the oxymoro-
nic pitch for the Big Event, “a NEW TRADITION”, and
the use of “RELOAD” by seniors in one of the yells. If
ycu’ll listen to one of the Aggie Band’s records from the
mid-1970’s, you can hear two or three people yelling “RE
LOAD” during the pause of the yell in question. Sounds
like the origin of a “NEW TRADITION” to me.
As far as the Old Sarge mascot goes, I completely agree
with Doug Beall: it is a bad idea. The whole pin pose of the
new mascot is so the old alumni can participate in yells at
the game; but the costume itself does not portray the tradi
tional image of Old Sarge. That is why it has been so un
successful with the students. Beall is completely wrong in
saying that the old Ags have done their yelling, and if tliet
want to participate now, they have to sit in the students’
section. Show a little respect Beall. There are other alter
natives to the new mascot. If the old Ags are really serious
about wanting to show their Aggie spirit, why not open the
idea up to them? Why not have the old yell leaders from
years-gone-by get dressed up in their old “whites” and get
down on the field to do yells? I honestly believe that there
would be a list of old Ags ready and willing to come back
and lead yells. They would most likely consider it an honor
to participate once more. I think our old Ags are worth it
How about you Beall?!
Julie Brieden ’90
accompanied by 11 signatures
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length The editorial staff re
serves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will make every effort to main
tain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and must include the classified
tion, address and telephone number of the writer.
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