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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 1988)
Page 2/The Battalion/Monday, September 19,1988 Opinion The Bear wouldn’t have been scared So the University of Alabama Athletic Department decided not to send its football team to College Station Saturday. The official rea sons given were “the continuing uncertainty of the effects of Hurri cane Gilbert and adverse weather conditions in Alabama at the time that the Crimson Tide team was to depart for Texas.” After studying the matter all weekend the editorial board has come to agree with ’Bama officials. We are positive that it was not because Alabama Head Coach Bill Curry didn’t want to get in the way of an A&M football team angry over recent penalties from the NCAA, a two-game losing streak and having an extra week to think about it all. Nor was it because of the knee injury that would have kept start ing quarterback David Smith out of the game. The fact that bowl bids will be extended before the rescheduled Dec. 1 game date is purely coincidental as well. It didn’t even have anything to do with the Tide’s punter being 6- 5 and having to drop the ball more than two feet on each punt at tempt during heavy winds. It was, pure and simple, a decision made to maximize the safety of Alabama athletes. Bill Curry ought to do Isuzu commercials. The Battalion Editorial Board TOO BAD TUE /VCAA TOOK AWAY TRos£ ~P A A ' extra scholarship IT ■HOW '“T the £r f ;ven | V he )>! race )ri« Bonfire occupies potentially useful, risky spo lr DA >f thi As I a p - proached the top of the stairwell on the fourth floor of Moses Hall (a.k.a. Moses Empire) I heard the distinct sounds of a young RAB (“Real Amer- i c a n Boy” for those of you who still believe in the Easter Bunny) *|S5r* •i a r Anthony Wilson Students’ biggest problem this semes ter has been the lack of parking spaces because of residence hall construction on Southside, residence hall renovations on Northside, the delay in the opening of the parking garage and the abolish ment of green parking stickers. Unless you arrive on campus at 8 a.m., finding a parking space is a frustratingly impos sible task. ... POTENTIAL FIRE HAZZW, TH REJT TO LOCA L PKO PE-KTi, TRAFFIC HAZZARD, Hot TO R\T-HT\OH SE.XUAL HARRASS’AlEAfT... softly sobbing. A lonely fish was sitting in the hallway, the remnants of a once- preppie haircut in his hands and a beau tifully sculpted “E” positioned atop his head. An unpaved parking lot was graveled behind the University Police Depart ment where the married students hous ing was formerly located. Ahhhh, bonfire time is upon us again. But this spot is an inconvenient loca tion at best. It’s so isolated from the rest of the campus that walking to class has ceased to be a leisurely stroll and has be come a quest for knowledge. r con Trasli. -A J[ ?V] -T\ ^lave | And like every other bonfire for the past umpteen years, a controversy has risen faster than the centerpole. Last year it was women being har- rassed inside the perimeter area. Before that critics argued that bonfire is a tradi tion that should be discontinued be cause of the tremendous number of trees sacrificed each year. Another parking garage is scheduled to be built on Southside following the completion of the new residence halls. But parking spaces are needed now and bonfire site is logistically the best place. It is in a central spot on campus and cer tainly much closer to any classroom on campus than the spot behind UPD. Bonfire controversies have become as much of a tradition as bonfire itself.But the validity of this year’s controversy can hold its own. Although the parking problem is in convenient for most students and build ing a parking lot would help to appease the grumbling masses, the biggest justi fication for moving bonfire is safety pre cautions. Because of recent developments on campus and past occurences concerning bonfire, the time is right for the site to be moved. There are arguments for why bonfire shouldn’t be moved, the chief one being tradition. And of course tradition is right up there alongside cleanliness and godliness in Aggieland and is a hard thing to break away from. Rumors are circulating that because no one actually checks to see how high bonfire is, centerpole reached a height of 96 feet last year instead of the regula tion 80 feet it is supposed to be. Because bonfire is growing each year, the sparks from the fire are traveling farther and farther. Because bonfire is located in a pop ulous section of town and draws large crowds, a great amount of damage al ways occurs to cars and houses. T he houses across the street from bonfire have to be painted every other year and a layer of ashes and smoot ruin many paint jobs on cars. I’m not suggesting that bonfire be moved to Snook or North Zulch. After all, Texas A&M has the largest campus in the country — most of it unused land across the railroad tracks on the west side of campus. That land would be a perfect spot for bonfire. not populated, making firealcssei ard. The only other point I’ve heard about why bonfire should stay put (and it’s a weak one) is that if it were moved, the Corps would be inconvenienced. Cadets would no longer be able to step out of their dorm, cross the Quad and be at bonfire site within a matter of seconds. It’s just a matter of time before some of those sparks land on the dry roof of one of the houses in the residential sec tion across the street from bonfire. If bonfire were moved to a more iso lated space, these would no longer be worries. There’s plenty of room across the tracks to accommodate the masses of people that bonfire attracts, parking space is more abundant and the area is And since the site would be on; pus, it would still he accessible loan wanting to work on or attend bonii] it would just he* minus the dangeni problems the current site offers. Anthony Wilson is a seniorjoi I ism major and opinion page edit'' The Battalion. BLOOM COUNTY by BerKe Breath In fact, many College Station resi dents forgo Thanksgiving vacations so they can stay home and water their houses. But face it, the Corps of Cadets is so gung-ho about bonfire, they’re going to work on it no matter where it is. And because of the cramped accom modations on campus, especially on the south side, the space occupied by bon fire could be put to better use. If an unwatered house were to catch on fire, it would undoubtedly burn to the ground. The traffic on Texas Ave nue and Jersey Street is so congested on bonfire night, it would take at least an hour for a fire truck to arrive at the scene of a blaze. The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Lydia Berzsenyi. Editor Becky Weisenfels, Managing Editor Anthony Wilson. Opinion Page Editor Richard Williams. Citv Editor D A Jensen. Denise Thompson, News Editors Hal Hammons. Sports Editor Jay Janner. Art Director Leslie Guy. Entertainment Editor Editorial Policy 7Vic li.in.ilion i-. a non-pi nth. sell-supponin” newspa per operated as a i on mum it \ servke to 1 e\as AXM and Br\ an-( •ollet>e Slat ion., Opinions expressed in I he liMl.hion are those of the editorial board or the author, and do not necessarih rep resent the opinions of I exas AXM administrators. I.u- ult\ or the Board oi Regents. /Vie liiill.ilinii also series as a laboratory newspaper for students in report inti. editint> and photographs ( hisses within the 1 )epat intent of |ournalisin. rile II.ill.tliiin is published Monday through Friday during Texas AX-M rcgul.n semesters, ext cpt lot holidas and examinatitin |>et h ids. Mail subscriptions ate k 17.1 I pet semester, 'villi'-’ per school seat and Viti. I I pet full seat. Adsciiismg tales f in nishe d out ei|iicM Our address: I he ll.itluliiin. 2311 Reed Mi Donald. Texas AX-M l niscrsils. ( ollegc Station. 1 X 77N 13-1 II I . Second class posiane paid at College Station. I A 77S Id. 1’OSTM A S I I R Send add I ess changes to I he ll.iu.it- ion. 21b Reed McDonald. I exas AX.M ( inset sin. ( oh lege Station 1 \ 77s I ’>- I I I I. BLOOM COUNTY by BerKe Breatlift