Opinion
The Battalion
Fish's right not to vote
From an Oct. 3 Corps of Cadets public relations memorandum to
all commanding officers and 1st sargeants regarding freshman elec
tions: “Voting should be made mandatory for your freshmen.”
The memo informed commanding officers and 1st sargeants of
the procedure which needed to he followed for freshmen to vote. At
the bottom of the memo was a list of freshman cadets running for
offices. The commanders were to emphasize to the fish that they
‘have to memorize the names in advance” because “they can not
Dring a list to the polling site.” These procedures would ensure that
Corps representation in Student Government would be “overwhel
ming.”
That Corps Headquarters encourage freshmen to vote for their
fish “buddies” or that they want overwhelming representation in
Student Government is perfectly understandable and acceptable. Ev
ery other organization on campus would do and want the same
things.
However, that Corps Headquarters advise that voting be made
mandatory for any of its members is a violation of that person’s right
to choose whether or not to.
The Battalion Editorial Board
Mail Call
Straight ticket voting not smart
EDITOR:
We all probably accept the idea that casting our informed vote in public
elections is the highest form of expressing allegiance to democracy. The key word
here is informed. Straight ticket voting is a hold-over from the days when a party
boss could hand out money to the uneducated and instruct them to pull the lever
with the elephant or donkey picture on it.
Fortunately, most of us attending A&M don’t require a picture on the ballot
when we vote. Unfortunately, many of us have acted like we do in recent elections.
We have been the embarrassment of our district on these occasions by acting like
illiterate voters and punching the straight party ticket which impacts many local
offices.
Remember, there is no requirement for competence or honesty to get your
name on the ballot. Likewise, there is no assurance that an incumbent, whatever
his or her party affiliation, is competent or honest.
The only way to vote responsibly in a race is to be familiar with the candidates’
records or platforms. An uninformed vote is worse than no vote because you can
be responsible for tossing out a good official or failing to get rid of a bad one. Our
campus has been responsible for doing this in several past local races because we
are such a large (but temporary) population.
Remember, you don’t have to vote in every race. Vote with your convictions for
the presidential race, but if you don’t recognize the names of the congressmen,
judges, county commissioners or others, it is wiser to skip over those races. Let
them be decided by the votes of those students and other citizens who have taken
time to inform themselves on the issues.
Please don’t leave the rest of the county with the impression that Aggies are as
poorly informed as the illiterate. Remember, the permanent residents of the area
will have to live with any bad choices we make.
Bob Murry
Graduate student
Class of ’88 thanks Wilson
EDITOR:
On behalf of the Class of’88, I would like to thank Anthony Wilson for
reviewing the gifts we were able to give to Texas A&M. I am only disappointed that
it took an article such as his to finally give some attention to our University-wide
contributions. The Battalion had been invited to cover several of our gift
dedications and chose not to attend.
I would also like to clarify our reasons for giving the Kyle Field lettering. Our
seleciton of words welcomes visitors to our school and identifies our student body
as the original 12th Man. The lettering is a gift to the University and the students,
not the athletic department, nor is it intended to boost only football. Other events,
even non-athletic, are held in Kyle Field. Because of the coverage the lettering may
receive during television broadcasts, viewers will know the event is coming from
our stadium.
The lettering cost our class only one-fourth of the money we raised. Unlike the
classes before us, we wanted to give more than one gift with all of our money.
Lastly, Anthony, you left one significant gift — lighting for the World War II
hero plaques in the Memorial Student Center.
The Class of ’88 intended our class gifts to touch as many aspects of past,
present and future Aggie lives we could. I believe we have been successful.
Andrea Beshara ’88
Class of ’88 president
Iron Maiden’s a musical genius
EDITOR:
I would like to reply to some of the comments made by Roy “Royalty” Davis in
Friday’s Batt.
I like U2, Jimi Hendrix and Mozart. And despite evidence to the contrary such
as “Raspberry Beret,” “When Doves Cry” and “Little Red Corvette,” I admit Prince
has talent. Your criticisms of Iron Maiden, however, show poor taste. My CD
collection includes disks by Segovia, Rush, Malmsteen, Mozart, Van Halen and, of
course, Iron Maiden.
It is apparent to me that you have either never listened to them, or that you are
completely tone deaf. Their creativity, innovativeness and brilliant melodies easily
belie your attempts to criticize them. I suspect you wrote them off because they are
labeled “heavy metal” and never gave their music a chance.
To be frank, any musician would tell you their music is a lot closer in quality
and spirit to the work of a genius like Mozart than any of the artists you listed.
John Dumas ’89
Thursday, October 20,1988
Technology may be immorajlSa
on
Let’s take a brief look into the future.
The date is Oct. 20, 2008 and you’ve just
gotten home from a hard day at work.
Your spouse, who greets you at the
door, informs you that your nine-year-
old, test-tube son has been reprimanded
by his elementary school teacher for
shooting spitwads at another another
kid (some things just never change).
On your way up to your son’s room
you stop by to visit with your l 17-year-
old grandmother who is hooked up to a
machine that keeps her heart, lungs and
kidneys functioning.
Dean
Sueltenfuss
Columnist
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.
“How are you feeling, Grandma?”
She responds by making a wheezing,
gurgling noise.
“Good,” you say. “Glad to hear it.”
After sternly lecturing your son, you
are on your way back downstairs when
your genetically engineered pet dog
(patent pending) greets you by trying to
bite your hand off. You make it down
stairs, however, and sit down to a
scrumptious meal of soybean mush and
fried kelp burgers.
A bit overstated, you say?
Perhaps. But as our technology be
comes more and more advanced, the
ideas of a genetically engineered pet or
a person who can live only if hooked up
to a machine are becoming increasingly
more commonplace.
It’s situations like these that should
prompt us to ask the following question:
Does the fact that we have the ability to
do something mean that we should do
it?
is that better strains of domestic live
stock can be created and this would ben
efit consumers. Genetic engineering can
produce leaner pork and beef , chicken
meat with a higher protein content, etc.
It can also be used to produce labo
ratory animals that can be used in new
research on human diseases.
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
The only rational answer: No.
By way of example, let’s examine ge
netic engineering. The rationale for
tampering with the genetics of animals
So the genetic engineering of animals
can provide humans with a number of
direct and indirect benefits. These ben
efits, however, don’t make such genetic
engineering morally right. By tam
pering with millions of years of evolu
tion, mankind is running the risk of
making some huge errors.
The researchers who are conducting
genetic engineering experiments are
like children playing with fire. In many
ways these researchers bear certain simi
larities to those men who created the
world’s first atomic weapon — they
knew how to build the bomb, but they
didn’t really know what it would do.
Another area of ever-increasing con
cern is medical technology. While few
people would question the benefits of
new surgical techniques that can save
many lives, there are other areas of
medical technology that produce ques
tionable results.
Gate for the terminally ill is one of
these areas. Lately, an increasing
amount of research and time is being
devoted to technology that auowd
tremely sick people to survive. I
cases this technology doesn’t cure ifj
people — it just prolongs theirsii|
ing.
()ne example is the person whoissj
fering from a painful, incurablei
and is surviving only because of ajf
ficial life-support system. Manvj
argue that it would be unethicalloiJ
patients off of such machines-ii
feet "killing” them. On the
leav ing these patients on life-sun
machines for months or years:
is, in many cases, doing them a {’re
injustice than pulling the plug.
I here are no simple answersind
( al dilemmas such as these. The id
are complex ones that we havej
had to deal with before. Butwhct
is right or wrong we must realizeM
spending massive amounts ofmonti
technology that will benefit only as
few, we are neglecting masses t
undernourished people — indivs
w ho require only the simplest care jJ
der to lead produ<live,healthyIhriJ
Is it right to spend millionsofdtij
on fancy life-support machines!
thousands of people die fromi
malnutrition each year? Isitrigl
many poverty-stricken familiesdiJ
receive adequate medical careKtif
wealthy undergo medical pro
sue h as fac e lilts and lipOSUCtM^I
Perhaps before we spend tin*
money on such luxuries as these,«
ciety should insure that all of itsn
hers receive at least fundamental!
cal care. Only after these basic 1
been assured should we proceedloij
with the f rills of increasedtechnolop|
Dean Sueltenfuss is a junior p
lism major and co/umnist forTktli
talion.
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Life’s too complicated.
Remember the good old days when
the worst problems involved how to get
Play-Doh out of your ears and what to
do if Mom found the three-week-old
tvvinkie hidden under your bed? So
when did life get so complicated?
1 think college has something to do
with it.
Becky
Weisenfels
Managing Editor
1 thought things were tough when 1
was in high school. But I would give
anything now to go back to the days
when Mom did my laundry and all the
bills went to Dad (they still do, but now
he yells more). Now I am supposed to be
a responsible adult — but what do you
expect when I have role models like Pee
Wee Herman and Jackie Sherrill?
whiny idiot? I can add and subtract— I
passed elementary school. But when 1
try to do it in my checkbook, I lose any
ability with numbers that I ever pos
sessed.
Ever have a class with those
who finish their research pap
weeks before it’s due? 1 have-
usc-<l to hate it. Now 1 realize the*
pic- are overachievers who con
push themselves. They are the|»
who wi 11 get ulcers, lose their hat:
have vericose veins. They're sod
conscious that they were probahh
premature with a stopwatch in
little hands.
Signs of my inadequate attempts to
deal with life are everywhere. If you
don’t see them, ask my mother — she
has a particular talent for pointing them
out.
No one knew about my secret shame
with the bank book until 1 was charged
twice for a magazine subscription. I told
my Mom 1 had paid the bill, so she
wanted to see the canceled check.
Canceled check? Am I supposed to keep
those?
And what about those student
already have jobs before they grat
or worse yet. have started theiii
business. You know the ones
dress in clothes without stains or
They drive cars that were madei|
decade. They carry briefcase!
viously people who are trying to j* |
yuppie generation while they a *
get a tax break on that Mercedes
When Mom found out I don’t really
iron too many of my clothes at college,
she got upset (and no, my clothes are
NOT all polyester). She swears that I
would be a more popular and well-
rounded individual if 1 would just iron.
She was also upset because she knew
that everyone took one look at my
rumpled being and blamed her (what
will people think?). Yes, Mom, I started
a smear campaign against you and my
first official action was to stop ironing
my clothes. Your name will be mud be
fore you know- it.
I didn’t listen to w hat mom w-as saying
(quite loudly, if I may say so). I sat the
phone down and praised my lucky stars
that she would have to drive at least 4'/2
hours before she coidd do any physical
harm to me. By then 1 could have a
ticket to Jamaica.
I don’t need any of that stri
pressure. So what if 1 dress nil
Funky Brewster than PrincessDi
what if I oversleep every once in:*!
And so what if everything I eat|
from a vending machine.
I have consistently failed to bring any
semblance of order to my life for almost
four years. Every summer I pledge to
become more organized, develop a pur
pose in life and never skip a class. Fat
chance.
Mf I can’t be a slob now, whenfli
one? After graduation 1 reaM-l
deal with life. We’re talkingii*I
doctor hills and 9-to-5 workdays. I
1
T hen there’s my shoddy attempt to
keep a balanced checkbook. There is no
hell — only unbalanced bank books.
What is it about those stupid things that
can reduce an intelligent person to a
But I finally realized I don’t need to
bring more order to my life. And I am
doing just fine even though my only
purpose in life is making sure leftover
pizza is taken out of the refrigerator be
fore it develops independent thought.
Big deal if my life is a little J®
nized and goofy. I still ha«'
months to be a total derelict befok
into that tub of troubles called^
leave me alone if my clothesM
roned and my checkbook is t
— I’m perfectly happy.
I don’t need to be one of those up
tight people who take life so seriously.
Becky Weisenfels is a seniorsf
lism major, managing editonim
umnist for The Battalion.
Editorial Policy
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BLOOM COUNTY
by Berke Breatf
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