an
imon
The Battalion Monday, Nov.
1988
Page
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66
In keeping" with my promise to name a Hispanic to my cabinet.
95
Closed minds hurting A&M
I had originally planned to write this
column about my holiday experiences
with those dreaded, Godless, pinko-
commie Teasips. But since this is.one of
my last two columns as opinion page ed
itor, and I know the last one won’t be
read during finals week, I felt com
pelled to say something I’ve wanted to
say all semester.
Maybe I’ve just become more skepti
cal since becoming The Battalion’s opin
ion page editor. Or maybe it’s just that
as I’m approaching the end of my col
lege days, I’ve become more cynical
about the gullibility of the typical college
student.
Anthony
Wilson 7
Opinion Page
Editor
point home. Even police officers calm
ing a rioting quell aren’t allowed those
liberties.
Or maybe I’ve just opened my eyes
along with my mind and realized how
blind most of the student body here at
Texas A&M University really is. A
prime example is the way students
blindly follow tradition for tradition’s
sake without contemplating, or even
considering, the alternatives or conse
quences of their actions.
I’m not going to tell you that tradition
is stupid and has no place at our univer
sity. Certainly, tradition is one of the
things, if not the thing, which separates
Texas A&M from every other institu
tion of higher education in the nation.
What I do want to stress is the impor
tance of considering other people’s
points-of-view, being considerate of
those and being open and receptive to
change. Many recent incidents at A&M
have exhibited how Aggies continue to
practice beliefs that have passed out
dated and moved straight into ancient.
For example, recently discrimination
has been a hot topic of discussion on the
A&M campus.
Just last year, discrimination was
prevalent at the bonfire construction
site. A female photographer who was
there on assignment for The Aggieland
yearbook was harrassed and removed
from the perimeter area. Meanwhile
male photographers, who were simply
photographing the event for them
selves, were allowed in. At the time, Batt
columnist Debbie Jensen made a valid
point when she wrote, “If a tradition is
discriminatory, it should not represent
Texas A&M. It is not the image I would
want the University to have in other
people’s eyes.”
One cadet told The Battalion, “How
would you feel if somebody ran over
your father’s grave?” in reference to the
supposed sanctity of Kyle Field. As col
umnist Karl Pallmeyer appropriately re
plied in an article, “. . . how would you
feel if your father was buried under As
troturf? Why do football players receive
special consideration in running across
‘graves?’ ”
The running onto the field was silly
and practically asking for trouble. But
does the breaking of traditions justify
the use of violence to get two-percenters
to straighten up their acts and conform?
Maybe we should publicly whip and flog
people who sit down at football games,
or tar and feather anyone who won’t say
“howdy,” or use a red-hot iron to brand
people who dare to go where no man
has gone before — the MSC grass.
Another recent example of the close
mindedness of A&M students was the
reaction to the original apartheid shanty
built earlier this year. On Mar. 6, A&M’s
Students Against Apartheid built a
shanty on campus to raise student
awareness of the situation in South Af
rica. The Battalion was riddled with let
ters proclaiming the shanty an “eyesore”
and it was consistently torn down and
rebuilt for weeks. The climax of the is
sue came when on April 25 the paper
reported that two seniors were arrested
for placing crucified pigeons in the
shanty along with a sign reading,
“There will be no peace until there are
no niggers.”
One would have thought that after
this shocking turn of events, people
would have realized the importance of
the shack, but it was continuely dis
mantled.
the Confederate flag at bonfire. The
redneck who was sporting the flag on
his pickup truck stood up and pro
claimed that he loved the flag and the
statue of the Confederate soldier in his
hometown because, as he said, “I hate
niggers.”
He then called the two white males
“nigger lovers,” jumped on one of them
and hit him repeatedly in the face while
One of his buddies threw the other on
the ground and then kicked him in the
jaw.
Last week I talked with the wife of a
former student who didn’t appreciate
most of the articles on this semester’s
opinion page and questioned why I am
attending A&M. I explained that I came
to A&M not because of tradition, but be
cause of the educational opportunities it
offered. After all, this is my life and I’m
doing everything I can to get ahead and
be successful, I said. She responded by
saying I ought to “go to t.u.”
She also told me of how A&M’s mi
nority students now have more power
than its white students and about how
she didn’t want her daughter to come to
A&M because she believed that A&M
should’ve remained all-male and all-mil
itary. And that’s precisely the problem
with A&M.
Anytime I’ve heard anyone criticize
or question any aspect of A&M, and of
fer a different approach or unusual in
sight, he is inevitably greeted with
“Highway 6 runs both ways,” or “If you
hate A&M so much, why don’t you just
go to t.u.”
Great.
Just think how much better our
school and how much more cohesive
our student body would be if it just
opened its collective minds and closed
its collective mouths.
In Oct. of 1986, students also encoun
tered problems at the age-old midnight
yell practice. Several people ran out
onto Kyle Field and the junior cadets
got a little carried away and physically
beat them with their fists while others
used their helmets, just to drive the
Obviously, some of the students are
not only out of touch with sensitive, but
important, situations across the world
and in our own backyard.
At our most recent bonfire on Tues
day night, I witnessed an early morning
scuffle that started when two students
were arguing about the prominence of
Many of you are seniors who will soon
be leaving A&M’s hallowed halls and
I’m especially urging you to end your
college careers considering others’ per
spectives. And to you freshmen, don’t
allow yourselves to be brainwashed into
one vein of thinking.
As Battalion Assistant Sports Editor
Doug Walker once said when told he
wasn’t red-ass enough, “I’d rather be
dumbass than red-ass.” And if that’s
someone’s attitude, fine. Let them be.
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
^^sli^Gu^^nterminmentTLdito]^^
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.
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BLOOM COUNTY
St
Mail Call
Open mouth, insert 40,000 feet
EDITOR:
In an attempt to “hang” Jackie Sherrill and our football program, The
Battalion opened its big mouth Friday and declared that we deserve the “death
penalty.” I declare that we as students insert our 40,000 or so feet into their
mouths.
From further events, it has become obvious that George Smith is a low-down
bum and liar and will say or do anything for a buck. The only thing worse thana
person like George Smith is a group of people advocating “death penalties"
without ever knowing if a crime was committed, strolling around proclaiming tobt
faithful Aggies.
Maybe the Editorial Board feels that if they can play a part in destroying the
Aggie football program, students will be so bored they will be tempted to takea
serious look at the school paper.
Now, I strongly believe in the rights of any person to form his own opinion,!
I don’t believe in persecuting someone or some organization based solely on
allegations, especially when those allegations come from the likes of someone wit
the reputation of George Smith.
Gerald Don Hicks ’87
Graduate student
Baff in shabby state
EDITOR:
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Well, I believe The Battalion can pretty much open its mouth, reach in and
withdraw its foot. When I opened the Batt and read the demand for the “death
penalty” of our football program, I was shocked. Who in the hell died and made
you people the trial jury?
Watching George Smith on television the next night made me think abouty'all.
Here was a man tryng to make a quick buck at our expense, looking into the
camera and admitting he was a liar. The whole thing would not have irritated me
so much if you people were not so quick to judge Coach Sherrill. What ever
happened to the system of innocent until proven guilty?
Here’s a thought. Why don’t y’all try supporting our school instead of tearingii
down? The Battalion has really ticked me off this year. First Fish Camp, now our
football program — two of the best things about this school. Being a sophomore,
I’m looking forward to seeing what the Batt will be like in the next couple of years.
It sure couldn’t get any worse. Why don’t you so-called editors take your liberal
thoughts and head to Austin where you belong.
Oh, by the way, I know I speak for a number of others when I say, “Thanksfor
not reseigning Mr. Sherrill. You didn’t back down, you didn’t lower yourself and
we need a person with guts like you to stare down the others who are jealous and
are so willing to see us torn down. Keep it up, Jackie.”
Tim Smith ’91
Were the wins worth it?
EDITOR:
So, Jackie, are you proud of what you have done? When you arrived here,yo
said that you wanted to establish the Aggies as winners first by simply winninga
few games, then by winning the Southwest Conference title and going to the
Cotton Bowl, and finally by winning the national championship. These are
respectable goals, of course, but, what has this done for us in reality?
In reality, this has put Texas A&M’s football program on: 1.) two-year
probation with no SWC title or bowl appearance in the first year, and 2.) probably
more than that, to accomplish the goals you set for yourself (and the University)!]
1982, you could have done it the hard way, as Arkansas has done, but instead you
went down the quick and easy path. You cheated. You paid players. You broke
rules. And now Texas A&M is paying the price for your impatience.
You have disgraced this university, its students, faculty, alumni and yourself.
Even after the probation was handed down, you lied. And now everyone knows
you lied. The death penalty should come next. For the 34 wins in the four years
that 1 have been here, Texas A&M has to endure the humiliation of being known
as a cheater for years to come. Were the wins, the SWC championships and the
Cotton Bowls worth it, Prof. Sherrill?
Steve Murray ’89
One question becomes five
EDITORS:
This letter is in response to The Battalion Editorial Board’s comments and Hal
Hammon’s sports editorial in the Nov. 18 issue. I have just one question. Who
made you worthy of passing judgement on the whole Jackie Sherrill/George Sraitl
situation? Were you there? Do you know Jackie Sherrill or George Smith
personally? Have you been involved in any part of the current NCAA
investigation? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, please, by all means,
disregard my letter now!
Ne
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After all, one great thing about a so-
called “two-percenter” is that he has
guts — being one of few is much more
difficult than being one of many.
Anthony Wilson is a senior journa
lism major and opinion page editor for
The Battalion.
Now if you answered no to these questions, just what do they teach you todoin
order to become good journalists? I admit, I am not a journalism major, but it
seems to me that before you start writing opinions such as those I read in the Nov,
18 paper, you should have all the facts. Sure, you all read the Dallas Morning New
and noted it as your source. But just because they said it doesn’t make it true. Why
didn’t you hold back with your harsh judgements until y;ou checked their source
out? Don’t you think you should have tried to determine the real truth before you
ostracized Jackie Sherrill in front of the whole nation? I’m sure you are aware that
your opinions in The Battalion have been quoted by newspapers across the
country.
I am not condoning the previous, already proven violations that have
occurred. We were definitely wrong and deserved to be punished. I also am not
saying that everything which has come to light in the past few days isn’t true. IfitM
I believe the University should be punished accordingly, in addition to the
individuals involved. What I am saying is that the last time I checked, in this
country, one is innocent until proven guilty.
Cynthia Lowery ’88
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters forstj 1 !
and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author's intent. Each letter must be signed and must indudtt 1 1
classification, address and telephone number of the writer. L
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