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Page 2/The Battalion/Thursday, February 18, 1988
Mail Call
But we make contributions
EDITOR:
I am writing in response to Daniel W. Martillotti’s letter concerning the
faculty club. Mr. Martillotti attacked the fraternities and sororities of Texas
A&M stating that they should spend less time passing petitions to halt com
pletion of the faculty club and spend more time helping our community. Mr
Martillotti’s charges are incorrect.
The head “petition passer” is Student Body President Mason Hogan. Ma
son is not a member of the Greek system at Texas A&M. In the Student Sen
ate, only one member has spoken in favor of the faculty club. I am that sen
ator, and I am also the vice-president of one of the largest fraternities at
A&M.
On the issue of community service, fraternities and sororities do more for
philanthropies and for our community than any other group at A&M.
For example, my fraternity. Kappa Alpha, raises thousands of dollars
each year for the Muscular Distrophy Association through a haunted house,
football game and volleyball tournament. We are active with the Bryan Boys
Club, and we are planning on working with Special Olympics in April. My
fraternity is not alone in working to help others. Each fraternity and sorority
at A&M makes significant contributions to charities and to our community.
Daniel L. Sparks ’89
Watch your back
EDITOR:
To all of you “leaders” and aspiring officers presently in the Corps of Ca
dets and the Aggie Band who believe that it is correct and proper to deal with
unproductive surbordinates by “screwing them out” of your unit, remember:
Proper and fair treatment of your noncommissioned officers and your
enlisted men can, in times of combat, determine whether you end up with
copper medals on your chest or copper-jacketed 5.56 mm metal in your back.
John Diedenhofen ’90
Far from being female
EDITOR:
In reference to Wednesday’s “Lacking awareness” letter, first of all, I am
very far from being female. I would appreciate a small word or two in Mail
Call explaining such. As for Jeff Farmer . . . well. . .
Joe Shannon Bower ’90
An example of A&M’s failings
EDITOR:
Jill Galarneau’s account of her trip to the Rio Grande Valley is a painful
reminder of our institutional failings. Somewhere along the way Ms. Galar-
neau, a senior, missed lessons on accurate and responsible reporting (“Megan
told me . . . Mexican girls love to have babies . . .”), lessons on the nuances of
languages (“Swarms of Mexican students . . .”), and lessons on American plu
ralism (“I asked ... if we were still in America. Finally, I spotted one white
girl . . .”). She seems unaware of the dehumanization inherent in swarms.
However, before one recognizes the full implications of a term, he or she
must learn that words have connotations. Such an understanding is basic and
presumably one of the reasons most universities require students to take liter
ature and language courses in which this understanding is achjressed.
And what is The Battalion's editorial responsibility? Apparently the edi
tors missed these lessons also.
Although our newsworthy behavior often suggests otherwise, the fact re
mains that we do not live hermetic existences here at Texas A&M. If, as is
standard, journalism departments at universities throughout the US receive
The Battalion, we have once again sent a message to the nation that this insti
tution has not moved beyond the misguided notion of noblesse oblige. That
message perpetuates an image that is incompatible with the image of a “world
class” educational and research institution.
Robert Campbell
Department of English
Those vampires at Wadley
EDITOR:
Recently, I gave blood at our Savior’s Lutheran Church. I have O neg
ative, and on the news there was a desperate plea for that type. I am a campus
minister, and some of my students have also participated. While I was there
at the Lutheran Church, I learned that the blood I gave to The Blood Center
at Wadley in October for the campus blood drive was used for other pur
poses. The Red Cross nurse at Our Savior’s Lutheran informed me that Wad
ley sells my blood to cosfrietic companies, research labs and hospitals. I was
outraged. No one told me my blood was being sold for profit last October. I
certainly did not receive any gratuity nor do I want any. I give blood to bene
fit people — in some cases to save their lives.
Wadley grossly takes advarttage of the generosity and benevolence of the
students at A&M. Like the students, I thought that giving to Wadley was the
same as giving to the Red Cross. The Red Cross gives the blood freely to Bra
zos County people — A&M students are included. Brazos people do not have
to give blood in order to receive it either. The only charge is by the hospitals
for handling and administration. Wadley, on the other hand, gets approxi
mately $100 per unit from labs, corporations or from patients in the hospital.
In a four day blood drive, Wadley may get 300-800 units. That’s big money.
In talking with Emily Stiller, the Brazos Red Cross representative, I have
learned that it is extremely hard for the Red Cross to get on campus.
Why is Wadley allowed on campus? Students get T-shirts and beer coo-
zies from Wadley in return for valuable blood that is wasted on cosmetics and
profits people who are virtually stealing blood away from an area that could
use it to save lives. Someone at A&M needs to be held accountable for this
great injustice and misrepresentation. Wadley is draining the life blood away
from A&M students and the Brazos Valley residents. Support the Red Cross;
they are international and non-profit. The Red Cross saves lives. Boycott
Wadley.
Melvin G. Brinkley
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
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Sue Krenek, Editor
Daniel A. LaBry, Managing Editor
Mark Nair, Opinion Page Editor
Amy Couvillon, City Editor
Robbyn L. Lister and
Becky Weisenfels,
News Editors
Loyd Brumfield, Sports Editor
Sam B. Myers, Photo Editor
Editorial Policy
The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspa
per operated as a community service to Texas A&M and
Bryan-College Station.
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the
editorial board or the author, and do not necessarily rep
resent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, fac
ulty or the Board of Regents.
The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper
for students in reporting, editing and photography
classes within the Department of Journalism.
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during Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday
and examination periods.
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per school year and $36.44 per full year. Advertising
rates furnished on request.
Our address: The Battalion, 230 Reed McDonald,
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-1 111.
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battal
ion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, Col
lege Station TX 77843-4 111.
Opinion
Cultural disagreements
can occur with cats, cops C(
and dinner reservations
5B-27
ihool
In a society as
ethnically and ra
cially diverse as
ours, there are
bound to be occa-
sional cultural
misunderstand-
ings.
As an example,
consider the re
cent case of the
man, the cat and
the cop in Tulsa.
The policeman eventually prevailed.
He pinned the man down, while the cat,
its paw still in the man’s grip, clawed
and bit the man’s head.
preveniting the consumption of lambs,
ducks, rabbits and other little creatures,
Finally the cat-holder said: “I let cat
go, you let me go.”
He released the cat, which streaked
away, bounding over a high fence.
Mike
Royko
After handcuffing Mr. Nguyen, the
policeman asked: “What were you doing
with that cat?”
If you think about it, what animalis
nicer than a lamb? Has a lamb everbii-
ten or clawed a human? Yet, we eai
them by the millions. Or cute little
ducks? As you eat a duck, do you ever
think of Donald? And people not onlt
eat deer without regard for Bambis
memory, they go out and shoot then
for the fun of it.
An off-duty policeman was sitting
home one day when he got a phone call
from a neighbor.
Mr. Nguyen calmly answere: “I was
going to eat that cat.”
The neighbor said that she saw some
thing strange — a man walking down
the street carrying a cat by its neck. The
cat appeared to be unhappy.
Horrified, the policeman said: “You
were going to eat a cat?”
“Yes,” Mr. Nguyen replied, “1 was
going to eat that cat.”
In contrast, ii the average little cal
was the* size of a deer, it might gobbleup
its owner, or at least a
bor’s children.
*w of the neieh-
The cop hopped in his car and drove
a couple of blocks. Sure enough, there
was a man — later identified as one Huy
Van Nguyen — with a plump cat. But
now he was carrying the cat by its hind
legs.
Well, even in Oklahoma’s Dust Bowl
days, folks didn’t eat their house pets.
So the cop took Mr. Nguyen to the sta
tion.
Since this isn’t the way cats are usually
handled, the policeman became suspi
cious. So he stopped his car and ran up
to the man and asked: “Is that your
pet?”
At first they weren’t sure what
charges to place against him. It is
against the law to steal a cat, but since
the cat had escaped, they had no evi
dence that it was stolen.
Mr. Nguyen was just doing wbai
comes naturally. 1 le is from a partofibt
world where people think there is nolb
ing unusual about eating cats, dogs anil
anything else that isn’t quick enougbto
escape.
“Yes,” the man said, continuing to
walk.
And a glance through the law books
showed that it is an Oklahoma crime to
work an animal to death, but there’s
nothing to prevent anyone from dining
on a cat.
And in recent years, many Asians
have brought this taste with them. Afe»
years ago, there were so manydogsand
cats being stewed or sauteed on Califor
nia that the state legislature passedala»
against the eating of house pets. nit, the
“This
Idmini:
The
exas
Team,
omnn
id by:
at inv
Audi
inmpre
Bruci
jcn. de
Insorsl
I Hyvl
1983 ca
■Tool, -
rninistn;
|yspe
with the
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literally
Hyvl
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Irought
tention.
Prior
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pund o
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lead abc
The cop had his doubts, especially
since the cat was twisting around to bite
and claw the man’s hand.
So Mr. Nguyen was finally charged
with assault — trying to hit the cop with
a cat — and resisting arrest.
But nervous politicians with large
Asian voting blocs said this would dis-
criminate against their constituents,and
the bill was defeated.
It wasn’t clear what law the man was
violating, but the cop was sure he was
doing something wrong. That’s the way
cops think.
Apparently this incident created a bit
of a stir in Tulsa. A woman phoned me
from there and said: “What is this coun
try coming to when we have people eat
ing cats? I hope you expose this.”
I’m sure the story of Mr. Nguyen a
the cat will upset many cat lovers. I
find up
regnan
ithers
Tool t
hen yo
inistrat
redican
idn’t h
pings.”
11 u*\ should n-im-mbri that, eventually. I With i
all immigrant groups become assimi- |! tIlrn . un
lated and take to our ways. Another gen- ®' lls 1,1 1
So he decided to question the man
further. But before he got very far, the
man became agitated and swung the an
gry cat at the cop like a club.
The policeman managed to duck the
cat and grab the man and they fell to the
pavement, where they wrestled a bit.
And a man sent me news stories
aboiftfit with a note that said: “My wife is
afraid to let our cat out by itself. Why
aren’t there laws to prevent this sort of
thing.”
T he answer to that is if you make laws
forbidding the eating of cats, some veg
etarians will demand that there be laws
eration or so, and the Nguyens wont
even Consider eating a cat.
TheyTl become true Americans
eat something like a veal chop.
sNELL, I'LL HANE COFFEE- NO, MM<E lUCT TEN- NO,
TWW COFFEE AMP TEX-/vNP PUT StXiNtAW) CREAM
IT, MXWOUGH V UKE IT E*>CK tAUCH M4V0HL-
AND PUT tAEDONH TORSOAE ORANGE .JUICE- AND
GRAPEFRUIT JUVCE-ANUPPUNE JUICE-
ANDTOtAATO JUICE— HASH BROWNS?
SURE, I WANT HASH BROWNS,
BUT I WANTGWrS.TOO-
ANT> JUST BECAUSE l MAC/
SAC/TOAST" DOESN'T
MEAN THERE'S NOT ROOM
AT THtS GREAT TAELE
FOR'EASOUtTS" OP.
"MUFFINS”- NOW, l
DEFINITELY WANT
SCRAtABlEDEGGS,
UNIESSTHE POACHED
EGGS VOOK GOOD-
WHICH IS NOT TO
REJECT FRIED EGGS OR
BOILED EGGS, HARD OR
SOFT-AND IFNOW I'VE ASKED
F0RSAUSAGE IN THE PAST, AND
NAVEE CHANGED TO BACON, BUT A&
I'VE MATURED I’VE COME TO SEE THE
MERITS OF HAM- MAKE THAT STFfT - ■ s V?"
BLOOM COUNTY
-merxe wrvntN&
FROM ft BOVS S'
mv/tcy td HISTORY/
Poes ANYBOPY CAR£ ?
mete mu. it ysao /'
Heuo-?