Page 2/The Battalion/Thursday, August 11,1988
I Mail Call
Fire in a crowded library?
EDITOR:
Now that Dr. Hoadley has had an opportunity to respond to Dr. Hick
man’s letter, I would like to bring up a couple of issues on behalf of a friend
who is employed at the Evans Library. Both involve serious safety concerns.
As most of the public knows, the outside of the library is being repaired
because of safety — the adhesive used to attach the bricks to the outer struc
ture of the library retained moisture and caused the superstructure to dete
riorate. In short, the brick facade was falling off. To prevent possible injury
to passersby, a barrier was erected around the part of the building covered by
the bricks. The facade problem is limited to the new portion of the building,
the Evans Library, as opposed to the old portion, the Cushing Library.
Erecting a barrier probably seems like a good solution to this problem,
but some serious side effects have been overlooked. If you go to the fifth
floor of the library, where one cannot access Cushing, and look at the fire
exits, you will find that all four fire exists have signs that state: “DO NOT
USE THIS FIRE EXIT.” Hmmm. Well, what fire exit is available then?
None. The only option is to use the central stairway, which is too narrow, con
sidering the amount of use the fifth and sixth floors get. It is a serious safety
hazard, fire or not, because worse yet, one of the fire exists on the sixth floor
is not marked. Meaning someone might get all the way to the bottom only to
find himself trapped. All of the fire exits let a person go into the fire stair
wells, but none allow access back into the main floors of the library.
From what my friend has told me, no one seems to know if the doors on
the ground floor leading out of the fire stairwells are locked, or at least none
of the other staff members asked seem to know. Does anyone? The reason
nothing has been said about this is that there hasn’t been a fire alarm (false or
otherwise) since the signs were put up. Someone needs to do something
about this. Are you sure that you would take time to read a sign during an
emergency? People in crises tend to be irrational. Is the library administra
tion ready to deal with the litigation and public outrage that will occur about
this if a fire were to occur, especially during heavy use when people might
conceivably panic?
Secondly, what happens if there is a fire in the Evans Library while all this
scaffolding is up? What are the fire fighters going to be able to do with all that
stuff in the way? Not many fire departments are equipped with cranes to
move six stories of scaffolding out of the way.
Think about it. These problems need solutions, and my friend and I be
lieve that it will take a public outcry before anything is done.
Cathy Ruedinger ’78
No problem. We’ll put it out
EDITOR:
Ms. Jennifer Jones, Ms. Cara Murray and Ms. Lorri Walker, in reference
to your letter entitled, “Keep your fire to yourself,” I would like to defend the
firemen. Yes, the firemen do take up some of the limited parking spaces. So
do parents, visitors and students who choose not to buy parking permits. As a
staff member, I pay at least $50 more than you for my permit, but you don’t
hear me whining.Bringing up parking, however, who gets ticketed when stu
dents are moving in and out? Staff members who have to park in unautho
rized places because the students are in our RESERVED parking lots. Of
your own accord, you stated that you would rather walk across campus in
stead of using the shuttle. Firemen are only human. Remember, perversion is
in the eye of the WEARER. If some female students did not wear such sug
gestive clothes (mini mini’s and too short shorts) they would not have to deal
with the harmless whistling of the firemen. After working with the firemen
for more than two and a half years, I have come working the realization that
they are harmless. It is no different than with construction workers, fraterni
ties, or any large group that drinks (not excluding~women.) During the sum
mer, each group of firemen is here for a one-week period. They are here to
keep people like YOU alive. They work their rear-ends of all week, including
a night class on Monday. The fire service is a composition of very dedicated
and caring humans beings. They are to here to save lives; they do not dis
criminate whether it is a good-looking woman’s or an ugly man’s house.
Another thing to take into consideration is the economic impact the fire
men have on Bryan-College Station and Texas A&M. You might want to give
the Restaurant Association or the Hotel Association a call and ask their opin
ion of the firemen, not to mention the University itself. My point is, what if
they did discriminate? What if the volunteers did not volunteer? We would all
be up the creek wiohout a paddle! I would like to suggest that you three la
dies re-evaluate your priorities. Would you rather listen to some harpiless
whistling or have your home (or dormitory) burn down?
Susie Quattlebaum ’89
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.
Opinion
Get that Commie filth out of hen
Recently, I’ve
been appalled to
find the writings
of Jill Webb
haunting the
pages of what was
last semester a
great opinion
Eric
Ritzenbaum
Guest Columnist
page. Last semester we had very inter-
estings and thoughful columns written
by Brian Frederick, but now, instead of
his wisdow, we are left with the half-
baked, formless ramblings of the femi
nist Miss Webb. In response to her dull-
witted and often boring opinions rang
ing from such topics as how evil men are
to how evil men are, I offer the follow
ing perspective.
Women belong in the home. That is
where the Almighty deemed it nec
essary for them to stay. They are fit only
to cook, clean and bear children of their
master, the man of the house. Women
don’t belong in the work place any more
than monkey carcasses belong at the
controls of a nuclear power plant. Both
episodes can cause disaster.
obviously a front for the communists to
soak us with their righteous, left-wing
state philosophy. We can’t stand for
that. America wasn’t built on pansy say
ings and labor unions and welfare. We
were built out of hard work, toiling the
ground in the dead of winter just to
grow enough food to live on. We were
built on revolution, on fighting. Ameri
cans are survivers. American men know
how to survive — it’s in our blood. But
recently, organizations like N.O.W. and
feminists like Jill Webb have been suck
ing that survival instinct right out of us.
They want to change the Consititution
from “all men are created equal” to “all
people are created equal.” Well, give me
a break. Women and men are not cre
ated equal. Men were created to be bet
ter, to provide for the women and to
make sure that the family that is natural
to have should survive.
ism. Now it’s feminism. Is that wh
want, men? Communist filth thatpi
der to the liberal left minority? 1 dJ
think so.
It seems that nowadays, with pansy
liberals flirting around in the govern
ment, nobody has the guts to say what
most men in America really feel. Charlie
Kerfeld, a pitcher for the Houston As
tros, came out and talked like a man. He
hit the nail on the head. N.O.W. is a
blowhard organization; just look who’s
involved in it. We can only hope that
there are more people on The Battalion
staff like Anthony Wilson who had the
decency to write a real column about
Kerfeld’s knowledgable remarks.
Why are there so many divorces now-
days? Because women aren’t listening to
their husbands. They are not obeying,
that’s why. If women learned once again
to shut up and obey, we wouldn’t have
any problems. Women were so content
in the early years to sit back and knit
and cook and have babies that they
didn’t have time to even think about ri
valing men’s jobs. And women won’t be
happy until they learn that that’s what
they really should be doing. Just as it is
in our genes for men to hunt and pro
vide and take care of our women, so is it
in women’s genes to be submissive, at
tentive and caring of their men.
So we must get tough. Get tough |
these limp wristed liberals in C
who shy away from real confrontatiJ
with the women’s voter’s block. ItwJ
mistake to even allow women thevti
just as it was a mistake to allow won*
to scar our sacred halls at A&M. It’stijj
for a change. Ronald Reagan lool
like he could offer such a change, 1
since his time in office is nearly up
guess he couldn’t fulfill our drears
This time, WE need to make 11
change, men. We need to escape i|
communists filtering our world throJ
propaganda like N.O.W. The Si a<ont
are insidious; the women in N.0.W.<ft ctei
merely their puppets. It’s time we
the strings and returned to what(
made America great.
I hope what I have written hereil
make Jill Webb think twice beforeil
puts her communist filth in Thefcj
ion again. She should take a fewn/
from Richard Williams (it’s abouttiirl
MALE was the editor again. Thepap(
was going downhill ever sinceil 1 p ect
women took over) who writes
insightful columns about the tu® race
Bn
f\
Although I see N.O.W. as much more
than a bunch of lesbians. The group is
Feminism isn’t new. It’s just another
old philosophy under a new name. Af
ter the Russian Revolution it was called
Marxism and Communism and Social-
condition at A&M. The respecttk
lack for Jill Webb and her commiec?
nies in N.O.W. I give fourfold to I
Williams. I think Miss Webb should
her little women’s group and
with the Russians and see what it's real
like. Then maybe she’ll agree it
America is the greatest place on eartk
it weren’t for people like her.
Eric Ritzenbaum is a sophomore
chanical engineering major.
Te:
€>l<?g8 HCWZH fW
Ram bo
Rowan and another bullet for national gun contro
Clarence
Page
Pardon my
limp. I just came
back from a pool
party at Carl Row
an’s house. Sorry
about the blood on
the carpet.
Heh, heh. Just
kidding. What the
heck ? Might as
well do my part to
add to my es-
teemed syndicated
column-writing colleague’s misery. Ev
eryone else is.
Poor Carl has been taking it on the
chin from the pundit brigade ever since
the wee hours of June 14, when he used
an unregistered handgun at his home to
fire a “warning shot” into a young prow
ler’s wrist.
Now that Rowan looks like the biggest
hypocrite since Jimmy Swaggart hired a
woman to meet him in a Louisiana mo
tel to play a game of you-show-me-
yours, his conservative rivals are cack
ling that “Rambo Rowan,” alias “Calam
ity Carl,” is at large.
And the gun did not have to be regis
tered, Rowan claims, since it belonged
to his son, a former FBI agent whom
District of Columbia officials said was
not required to register it under local
law. Carl Jr. loaned the firearm to his
dad after Rowan received death threats,
which controversial columnists some
times receive, especially when they come
out against handguns.
But a larger, non-legal question re
mains: Is Rowan an ideological switch-
hitter? Is his motto “Let my conscience
be your guide?”
Well, as much as you might think
gunslinger Carl should appreciate the
support he has received from handgun
advocates everywhere, he still believes in
the need for stronger national handgun
control laws. Until that comes along, he
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
Curds Culberson, City Editor
Becky Weisenfels,
Cindy Milton, News Editors
Anthony Wilson, Sports Editor
JayJanner, Art Director
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.
The Battalion is published Monday through Friday
during Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday
and examination periods.
Mail subscriptions are $17.44 per semester, $34.62
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.
Second class postage paid at College Station, TX
77843.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battal
ion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, Col
lege Station TX 77843-4111.
says, he see nothing hypocritical about
protecting his family under laws that ex
ist.
Laws that eliminate handguns in a
crazy-quilt fashion, in one municipality
or state without affecting the one next
door, may be ideologically satisfying to
some but are, as a practical matter, ridic
ulous, considering the 40 million to 60
million handguns believed to be in cir
culation today.
But it is possible through uniform na
tional laws to make it harder, at least,
for people like John Hinckley, who shot
President Reagan and his press secre
tary, Jim Brady, to get handguns with
out banning ownership by law-abiding
purchasers.
An amendment to the Omnibus Drug
Bill pending in Congress would require
a national seven-day waiting period for
the purchase of all handguns from deal
ers, to allow local police a chance to
make criminal background checks. It is
called the Brady Amendment after
Brady and his wife, Sarah, now a lead
ing anti-gun lobbyist. Had it been in ef
fect, it could have caught Hinckley, who
bought his $29 handgun in a Texas
pawnshop after lying on his purchase
application.
Of course, the National Rifle Associa
tion, which never met a gun control pro
posal it didn’t hate, hates it.
But the NRA is standing pretty much
alone on this one, as it did on armor
piercing “cop killer” bullets, plastic guns
that can’t be detected by security X-rays
and the private pruchase of machine
guns. The bill has the support of the
Fraternal Order of Police and the Inter
national Association of Chiefs of Police,
among other prominent groups.
Even President Reagan, no friendi
handgun bans, announced his supp®
in June for waiting periods and bad
ground checks.
Sure, the law wouldn’t stop all cria
nals from getting handguns. But'
states with similar laws, hundreds
criminals have been nabbed. Inspitf
gun lobbyists’ claims that criminals^
easily avoid them, waiting periodsai
background checks nailed 1,515 cm
nals trying to buy guns in California!
1986 and 732 others in Maryland.
At the same time, the Rambo Rom
can rest easy. Private transactions,sue
as those between father and son, won!
not be affected, and people, like Rom
who have reason to believe that did
lives are in immediate danger canobiai
waivers and get their handguns imniei
ately.
Copyright 1988, Tribune Media Services,Inc. \
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breath*