Page 2/n'he Battalion/Friday, July 22, 1988
Opinion
It isn’t that easy being the cat woman
I am a cat per
son. Cat people, as
we are often ref-
ered to, are often
stereotyped as be-
ing neurotic,
strange, obsessive,
introverted her
mits that live and
breath for our
cats. Now, sensible
persons know this
not only to be false
Barbara
Jones
but not even close to the truth. Why is it
that self-confessed cat lovers are treated
with such malice? Cat people are often
taunted by those who do not share our
interest and amour of these lovely beasts
with an array of methods.
There has not been a Christmas or
birthday that I have not been blessed
with receiving books, manuals or cal
endars of the latest in cat-torturing tech
niques. Friends take pleasure in sending
me cards with sayings like “10 things to
do with a dead cat.” My question is: Why
don’t you ever see “dead dog” comic
paraphernalia? If a dog is man’s best
friend, what does that make cats? Man’s
favorite things to torture and mame?
I hate to generalize, but I have found
that men in particular delight in telling
me their multitudes of cat horror sto
ries. With a boyish gleam in their eyes I
have heard guys’ confessions of throw
ing cats out of windows, putting them in
mail boxes, swinging them by the tail,
throwing them out of moving cars, run
ning them over with bikes, hanging
them from trees and my favorite — try
ing to run them over with cars.
I am always striken with horror when
I hear such stories and ask why they
would ever do such things to any crea
ture of such beauty. Their reply is
usually ironic: “Cats are mean and they
are too independent.” Well I certainly
don’t understand why a cat would not
want to be loving and dependent upon
such a person who gets his kicks from
torturing cats. Who ever said that cats
are dumb?
I am living with three cats; two are
mine and one is my roommate’s. I find
cats to be very enjoyable roommates and
minus the litterbox, quite easy to take
care of. Cats truly enjoy only three
things in life: eating, sleeping, and play
ing. My utopia! Perhaps in another life I
could be reincarnated as a cat.
Many people believe that all cats do is
“lie around”. Well, not my cats. They
have bursts of incredible energy when
they go ripping from room to room with
this incredibly possessed look in their
eyes that says “You better get out of my
way, sister!” Which I promptly do. They
will run into and out of a room like a bat
out of Hell then run straight up the cur
tains in my living room and just hang
there. It is as if they have been occupied
by some evil spirit with which I have no
connection. Then suddenly they will
stop, look at the startled look on my
face, then yawn and go back to whatever
activity they were doing before this fit of
energy. My theory is that my cats enjoy
freaking me out.
Cats love to play games with your
head. Being a rather jumpy and par
anoid person myself, these little “head
games” are particularly effective. I am
scared of all small and moving things:
mice, bugs, spiders, beetles, lizards,
snakes, frogs, bees. You name it, if it is
small and moving I am scared of it. Yes,
indeed I am a joy on camping trips. My
cats unfortunately love to play with such
Mail Call
Keep the library open
EDITOR:
I would like to call your attention to an up and coming World Class Uni
versity. I am talking about none other than Texas A&M a university that
can afford to spend millions of dollars oh btiilditigs each yeaf, keeping them
air-conditioned and lighted all day and all night, even when they are closed to
the public, a university that can afford to repaint a water tower twice in four
years with not one or even two, but three coats of paint and two coats of
primer. This is the same university that can keep its library open 24 hours a
day for two weeks before finals during the fall arid spring semesters but can
not keep it open past 8 p.m. even the night before finals during the summer
session.
I have attended this university for four years and have come to accept
many of the changes. This includes the Quack Shack, which now only has
doctors available in the building from 8 a m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays instead of
24 hours a day seven days a week. I understand this is because of budget cuts,
even though I am paying more now than I used to. I understand that build
ing use fee and computer access fee are spent for something or the other.
I would feel much better if they could use just some of this money to keep
the library open for a few more hours, the week or even day before finals.
Admittedly, I could have gone to the MSC or Rudder to study, which I did.
But even these buildings close down at 11 p.m. and were packed with stu
dents. I don’t think I am the only one who has this complaint. After talking to
my roommate I found that there was a student sitting at the entrance of the
library counting the number of people who complained and what their verbal
reactions were. I doubt many of their reactions were fit to print, I know mine
was not.
Puneet Sharma ’88
We’re not all that bad
In response to the column written by Jill Webb entitled “Let’s think before we
judge,” I would like to encourage everyone to think before they judge all
Christians. Not all Christians think AIDS is from God. AIDS is a transmittible
disease that is passed through homosexual activity and also through intrave
nous drug use. Similarly, not all television evangelists are power hungry and
greedy. To judge the motives of all preachers based on the acts of a few indi
viduals is not fair.
Christians are accused of being narrow-minded. True Christians desire to
please God and live pure lives. To do this they make every effort to avoid
what the Bible defines as sin. Society perceives the Christian as narrow
minded because of the refusal to conform to the ideas that are not of God.
Christians oppose drug abuse, crime, and abortion, and stand up for holi
ness, purity and honesty. They are interested in ministering to people
through love and compassion while introducing them into a relationship with
Jesus Christ. Christian churches around the world are responsible for social
programs that touch millions of lives.
Not all Christians claim to be perfect, but there are many of us who are
striving to serve God the best we can. I am not ashamed of being a Christian,
rather, I find it a joy to serve God. God fearing Christians stand up for what
is right knowing that one day everyone will have to give an account to God for
the things they have done, I still find it disturbing that people who don’t be
lieve in God or His Word seem to know more about God than Christians who
are actively seeking Him and are interested in what he says.
David Van Dyke ’90
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Richard Williams, Editor
Sue Krenek, Managing Editor
Mark Nair, Opinion Page Editor
Curtis Culberson, City Editor
Becky Weisenfels,
Cindy Milton, News Editors
Anthony Wilson, Sports Editor
Jay Janner, Art Director
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little creatures. I had one cat named
Sydney who would frequently proudly
deposit the decapitated body of her lat
est victum of her daily hunt at my feet.
On nights when I am alone in the
apartment my cats often put me “on ed
ge,” which for me is not usually a diffi
cult task. All the sudden they will all
turn and intently listen for some mys
terious (or perhaps imaginary) noise. It
is as if they are saying, “Uh oh! What
was that?” I feel like they are trying to
warn me about some invisible presence.
I am usually so startled I answer them,
“I don’t know, what do you think is
was?” By now my heart is racing, but the
cats have promptly forgotten it and
have returned to their play.
My mother often says, “You’ll never
find a husband with those damm cats!"
My friends tell me that 1 am going to
end up being one of those old spinsters
who weighs 250 pounds andhas2fij
crawling all over her counters. lon j
that cats are wonderful, graceful,
and beautiful creatures that shoull
treated with respect and love. And!
spend the rest of my life with cats,si
it.
Barbara Jones is a senior joum
major and a columnist for The Blips
ion.
Homosexuals, please go home
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Without Biblical
scripture to back
him up, even the
most devout hu
manist can discern
that the homosex
ual act is unnatu
ral. Just as beas-
Joe
Hyde
Guest Columnist
tiality, incest and the entire host of
perverted sexual acts are amoral and a
great disservice to mankind. These
amoral sexual acts have recently become
the funeral dirge of the human race.
AIDS has swept the globe, and without a
cure on the horizon, it has killed more
than the equivalent of two-thirds the
number in killed in Vietnam. I am not
asserting that homosexuality continues
to be the only culprit of the AIDS epide
mic today. The disease has spread to the
heterosexual world through the more
perverted bisexuals (Why can’t they
make up their mind?) and through our
national blood supply. My greatest sym
pathy goes out to those who have been
infected by blood transfusion. They are
victims of the homosexual, bisexual, and
“beast-sexual” promiscuity that has
risen to the ranks as a legitimate mi
nority compliments of the Supreme
Court. No matter how much our gov
ernment spends on the President’s
Commission on AIDS, they will not find
the answer until they admit the truth
about AIDS. Sexual revolution in the
1970s and early 1980s, which cultivated
the homosexual movement, destroyed
the Judeo-Christian morals and ideals
that are the basis of our Constitution.
Now we are paying the price, and even
you may be the next AIDS victim.
was in full swing. Marco Roberts, a pro
fessional student, was the president of
the GSSO — the Gay Student Services
Organization. They fought in the courts
and won the University’s recognition as
a student organization. Good ’ol Marco
was a student before I entered A&M in
June 1982, and he was still there after 1
graduated in 1986. He probably is still
around coveting his University recog
nized decadent gay dating service. If
AIDS has surfaced at A&M, the first
place I would look for the infected mos
quitos would be the GSS. The sad part is
that a portion of each and every Aggie’s
dollar paid to the administration sup
ports homosexual activity through the
Student Programs Office.
kiss my a . . . Why doesn’t Texas AS*
an institution responsible for creaB
the world’s greatest leaders, soldien®
businessmen take the lead from®
vard, Yale and t.u. and denouncef;
funding of gay activity by ourschoolfe
ministration?
I
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Tex;
its ii
As Americans, we have the rigl
question the actions of our Go 1
even the Suprl
ment’s leaders
Court. If you believe what I am sad
and I f eel a majority of youdo, geil
and do something about it! You!
protest at the Memorial Student Ceil
or refuse to pay that part of yourtj
that is funnelled to the GSS. These!
your rights.
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Uni'
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Ir
joint
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I owe Texas A&M an apology. Even
though I was radically against A&M fol
lowing the example set by other “world
class” universities by recognizing a gay
organization, I sat on my rear end and
let this travesty of justice occur right un
der my nose. Besides a humorous letter
I wrote The Battalion labeling the GSS
as “a bunch of contaminated little fruit
flies” (I was labeled a Nazi in a liberal re
buttal), I resigned to apathy about the
whole situation. The gays had the U.S.
District Court on their side. T hat was
too much for one outspoken C.T. to
combat.
By being apathetic to thegayrw
movement, even though youareajp
it, is contributing to their cause,
apathetic primarily because I was
busy getting my degree to devoteitj
time to the opposition. My side of:
battle did not have a “professional
dent” like Marco Roberts, who
drop out of school at his convenient
fight the battle. Nor did we have
funding of the Socialist organist |
called the American Civil Libeit i
Union.
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During my tenure as a student at
Texas A&M, the gay rights movement
What 1 did not realize then was that a
vast majority of my fellow Aggies also
felt that recognizing the GSS was a dis
grace to Texas A&M; and it still is! We
were brainwashed into thinking that not
recognizing the GSS was was a barrier to
becoming a “world class university.” My
'friends, if becoming a world class uni
versity means cultivating amoral organi
zations with institution funds, you can
Perhaps one day America will rei
that homosexuality is wrong, thatim
rality is wrong and does not deservt
title of a legitimate minority. Hopei
we will chi so before we fall as theRffi
Empire did centuries ago. It is nose
that widespread homosexuality
morality preceded the fall of the R®
Empire. It is funny how we ignore
lessons history teaches us.
san
hai
I welcome you questions and!
ments.
Joe G. Hyde is an ’86 graduate.
BLOOM COUNTY