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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 14, 1988)
Opinion Mail Call Timmy wasn’t ‘foolen’ Royalty EDITOR: I never wrote before because I didn’t think you would publish what I had to say. But now I just have to answer Timmy Foolen's lame-brained rock-n-roll article. I know none of Tif fany’s music, but I do know Prince and Madonna’s music. To quote: “The decline in the quality of black musicians. . . .” What the hell do you know about black musicians or music? Nothing! I love Jimi’s (Hendrix) music, but I love Prince’s also. Prince is a musical genius and that is not just my opinion. Ask Dave Marsh of Rolling stone. Ask Bob Claypool of the Houston Post, one of the first men to acknowledge Springsteen’s greatness. To lump Prince into an inferior group is plain ridiculousness! Prince did exist before “Purple Rain” and not all of his songs are sex exaltations. “1999,” “Sign O’ the Times,” “Ronnie Talk to Russia” and “Daqce On” are just some of his protest songs. You should just love that. You didn’t mention U2, a truly great band, or Rock Hall of Fame member James Brown. J.B. has placed more songs in Billboard’s T op 100 than anyone with the exception of Elvis Presley and the Beatles. You did mention that bands such as Metallica placed great “musicianship” and “soul” into their work. I could grow a garden of pumpkinheads like you in that manure. I guarantee that Prince will be in the Hall of Fame. The members of Iron Maiden will have to pay admission. To say what you said is like saying that Yankovich is a genius and that Mozart is a never-was. Stick with computer science and leave music alone, nerdo! Roy “Royalty” Davis Jr. ’91 If anything, The Baft is consistent EDITOR: I must praise The Battalion for their consistency in letting terrible opinion columns be printed. Actually, it really stinks. Granted, I’m sure you guys are trying your best. And I am in no way saying you can’t have your opinion. But if you want anyone to read what you have to say, a little bit of knowledge on the subject you write about would be helpful. Also, a simple logic class wouldn’t hurt! Since attending A&M (only a few months), I have heard opinions such as, “The woman’s place is in the home as the Almighty deemed her to stay,” and “Fish Camp is a complete waste of time and money, serving absolutely no meaning,” to the latest claim, “The pope is a sexist bigot!” Someone may agree with any three of these assertions. But if they do and decide to write an opinion article about it, please have some sort of logical reasoning for your assertions. I thought this would end when all of the responses to the Fish Camp articles flowed in, but apparently it hasn’t. Anthony Wilson is the latest victim of a logic-lacking thought process that distorts the subject about which he writes. In his article about the pope and the Church, Mr. Wilson himself states that Jesus never conformed to social norms, so he must have had a reason for not choosing females as successors to Lead the Church. He says that, although this may be true, the Roman Catholic Church underscores the role of women in the bible. Must I remind Mr. Wilson that a major dispute in the turmoil of the early Church that continues today between denominations is the Church’s overemphasis of Mary’s role and leadership in the bible? This in itself is enough to show not only the weakness of your argument, but also how little you know about those you misrepresent. Our friend, Anthony, also says that women, because they can’t join the priesthood, cannot gain responsibility or leadership in the Church. Mother Theresa of Calcutta, an example I use because most people hopefully know of the great things she has done in India, is a great leader of the Church. She was given tremendous leadership and responsibility by the church, yet is not in the priesthood. Need I continue? Unfortunately, yes. The most insulting part of his article is his comparison that what the pope is to the church is a man ruling women. The pope is just a person, but he heads our religious group of men and women. He’s just our leader, not a male ruling women. Attack the need for a leader, but don’t distort the truth of the relationship between the pope and Catholics. I respect the right of free thought, but without structured analysis, or more blatantly, with ignorance of who or what you scorn (be it women, minorites, Fish Camp, or yes, even Catholicism), how can you expect anyone to take you seriously. C’mon people, quit wasting our time and paper. Andrew Nelson ’92 Deaver’s was not a square deal EDITOR: ' Michael Deaver owes his Tuesday night audience a grand apology. He came to A&M on the premise of giving a speech about presidential image-making. He instead chose to speak about “ethics,” using the occasion as a forum to defend himself against the allegations recently brought up against him. Mr. Deaver gave repeated examples of others who had done what he did — using the influence he gained as a public official for the benefit of private companies — but had not been accused of wrongdoing. It turned into a tirade launched against Congress — the so called nobility of Washington. Mr. Deaver’s speech had nothing to do with presidential image-making, the topic everyone present wanted to hear about (especially during this election period where images of American flags abound). He quoted Oliver Wendell Holmes as saying that “Men must turn square corners when dealing with government.” Mr. Deaver, I suggest you give a square deal to the people to whom you make promises. M. Travis Hurst ’91 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 Lydia Berzsenyi, Editor Becky Weisenfels, Managing Editor Anthony Wilson, Opinion Page Editor Richard Williams, City Editor D A Jensen, Denise Thompson, News Editors Hal Hammons, Sports Editor Jay Janner, Art Director Leslie Guy, Entertainment Editor Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspa per operated as a community service to Texas A&M and liryan-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 die 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 $36.44 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on request. Our address: The Battalion, 230 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-1 111. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battal ion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, Col lege Station TX 77843-4 111. Little League’s overemuhasis on winning damages childreiji It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game. That’s one of the golden rules you’re taught in kin dergarten. But when my teacher said that, I heard her snicker. And now I know why. That’s not the way the real world is. In the cold, hard, cruel real world, boys and girls are put on Little League base ball, football or soccer teams and told that they had darn sure better win. Sure, Mom would tell them that they should just relax and have a good time as they were dropping off at the young sters at the ball field. play. Some of them openly adracLj lack of talent and laugh at takes, while others think thevr™ athletes who s< >mehow got passd by the NFL draft. Lydia Berzsenyi Columnist baseball games, and although my par ents were never cowbell ringers or dis appointed parents, I saw plenty of these overgrown children at every game. And then there are the rest of] Little League leftovers whoarem good enough to be on one of the' fessional" Intramural teams, bull that they are the best playersoq team. Instead of laughing when theJ rolls between someone’s feet,tl But once the game begins, you can hear Mom bellowing, “Billy, you’d bet ter hit this one. You’ve already struck out three times and left four men on base this game!” So what happened to those poor little Billys that learned that winning isn’t ev erything — it’s the only thing? They came to Texas A&M and started playing Intramurals. “Jeez, can’t you evencatcbj #%$*#•% ball,” they bellow.' are you, an amateur athlete?Iii| late to trade her to Rice for a watfi tleand a seventh-rounddraftclioitl And you can bet poor Billy is proba bly so nervous that he can’t see the ball coming for the sweat pouring down his face into his eyes. And if it’s not sweat, then it’s tears. I know some people take Intramurals seriously. They decide to enter a team in the competition, and then they pick their members carefully after examin ing applications and evaluating possible player’s past performances and tryouts. It’s so dissapointing to a child to strike out when his mother, father, big brother or sister is watching him from the stands. And if he doesn’t hear that cowbell clanging for him when he leaves home plate, he hangs his head low. Once they have the best teams possi ble, they begin practices. The team soon is practicing as much as the Fightin’ Texas Aggie band and more than the A&M football team (although they won’t be getting paid as much). I nst ead of thinking it hi when someone closes their ejcsj misses the ball when it is throwndj to them, screaming all the wftj get red in the face, walk aroundi] cles muddling to themselves awl hi ing, “My gosh, are you blind oral threw that directly to you! 1’oiij open! Can’t you do anything right: After little Billy’s poor game perfor mance, Bill, Sr., takes his son outside in the back yard for some batting practice. “Come on, Billy,” William Sr. says, doing his best Vince Lombardi imper sonation. “You’ve got to be a winner. It’s not how you play the game, it’s whether you win or lose.” By the time their first game has ar rived, they’re ready. They march out on the field in their matching uniforms, athletic shorts and jockstraps, carrying their polished bats in leather Adidas bags. They know that they’re there to win, and they probably will. It’s people like this who suggest! nized batting practice on a niglij than game night, and it’s people P who yell at referees and umpifi making bad calls from 80 yardsa'J It’s people like this who,wb have their own families, dropttl of f at the ballfield, tell him i good time, and then go back ho®! their cowbell. I watched 12 years of Little League But, in all fairness, these aren’t the only people who play Intramurals. There are plenty of teams made up of people who really don’t know how to And so the tragedy continues. Lydia Berzsenyi is a seniorfflllj jor and editor of The Battalion, BLOOM COUNTY t>y Berke BreaM mM