Opinion
The Battalion
p r iday, Dec. 2, 1988 P39®
••
St
Mail Call ,
Dockery: Saff's style appalling
EDITOR:
I was appalled at the speed and ferociousness with which your excitable staff
pounced on Coach Jackie Sherrill when the Dallas Morning News ran its most
recent condemnation of the Texas A&M football program. Your editorial board
further demonstrated a predisposition to mindless sensationalism.
I wonder if, in stating that A&M “deserves the death penalty,” you gave any
thought whatever to the economic consequences of such a punishment. Besides the
loss of an estimated $25 million in revenues that otherwise would accrue to your
school and the local economy, the loss in national recognition for A&M would be
incalculable.
It’s unlikely that it crossed your minds, any more than it crossed your minds to
question the News’source — a quirky, self-admitted opportunist and hardly a
responsible source for building a case against the school’s head coach.
Yet your staff was quick to second the accusations, thereby summarily trying
and convicting Coach Sherrill. While purporting to be guardians of the truth, you
clearly let personal feelings of outrage (and vindication) influence your journalistic
judgment.
This reminds me of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes saying “The Constitution
guarantees freedom of speech and press, but does not guarantee the right to yell
fire in a crowded theatre, and the Constitution guarantees the privilege of
freedom of the press, but also requires respect of that freedom of the press, and
my heart is heavy that you have chosen to abandon that freedom.”
I find that a sad commentary on the state of journalism at Texas A&M.
Rod Dockery ’66
EDITOR’S NOTE: Rod Dockery has been banned from association with the
A&M Athletic Department after being linked by the NCAA to violations con
cerning former A&M star quarterback Kevin Murray.
Readers’ arguments weak
EDITOR:
After weeks (or even months) of following the furor surrounding the football
program here at A&M, I was finally compelled to write a letter in response to some
of the letters that appeared on the opinion page and the From the Bleachers
column on Nov. 29.
• “Baft’s crap annoying” by Bill Frawley.
In this letter, Mr. Frawley requests a “semi-logical thought process” regarding
the dismissal of Jackie Sherrill. Here it is:
1. If Jackie Sherrill is doing his job as athletic director, he should know of any
improprieties in the Athletic Department and should take positive action to correct
them.
2. If Jackie is not doing his job as athletic director, he should be dismissed from
the position.
3. If someone else acts to correct improprieties within the Athletic Department,
it can only be because Jackie either did not know about them or did know about
them and failed to take action himself.
4. The football program was placed on probation by an NCAA committee after
being found guilty of several misconduct charges.
5. Therefore, Jackie Sherrill should be dismissed from his position as athletic
director.
There are some intermediate steps in the argument that I have left out. It is,
however, a valid, logical argument. Notice that it concerns not whether Jackie has
been proven guilty of any misconduct related to his job as football coach, but
rather whether he deserves the A.D. position. As A.D., he is an administrator of
Texas A&M University and should be expected to correct misconduct in his
department, just as a department head would be expected to act to deal with
incidences of misconduct such as plagiarism or cheating on exams.
By not doing anything, either he is admitting that he does not know what is
going on around him or he is implicitly condoning illicit activities. If he did not act
because he did not know, he should lose the A.D. position and someone more
capable for the position should be hired. If he did know and still did not act, he
should be dismissed from all positions he holds at this University.
• “ ‘Stonewall’ Sherrill a cancer” by Sandy McDouglas.
This letter states “The only way to clean up the athletic program (is to) get rid
of all the cancer. And that goes for the entire Athletic Department.”
The entire department is not the object under scrutiny. The current problem
rests with the football program and that is the program that needs to be “cleaned
up.”
• “Don’t be so negative!” by Greg Bankston (with 42 signatures).
Mr. Bankston feels that Hal Hammons “being a journalist, should know about
accusation and constitutional rights.”
I did not realize that a law degree was a prerequisite for admission to be a
journalism major. Being a journalist, the only constitutional right Hammons can
be expected to be very familiar with is the right to free speech . . . and that is the
right he exercised when he wrote his editorial.
Chad Whitacre ’89
Has Jackie been loyal?
EDITOR:
This letter is in response to Greg Nolan’s letter appearing in Mail Call on Nov.
30.
• Mr. Nolan, in your recent letter, you so graciously provided a definition of
loyalty to Hal Hammons. In doing so you implied that he should not jeopardize
the strong bond of the student body at A&M by writing articles about the recent
muck the football program has had slung at it.
Well, Mr. Nolan, Jet’s try to clear some of the fog here, because behind that fog,
you will find standing the one and only “loyal” Jackie Sherrill.
Let’s also, for a moment, forget about the recent George Smith fiasco and
remember back to earlier in the semester. The NCAA found the A&M football
program guilty of certain wrongdoings. Jackie Sherrill stands at the head of that
program.
Mr. Nolan, was Jackie Sherrill “loyal” to us Ags when he lied to the NCAA,
cheated at football by unfair recruiting practices and stole some of our Aggies’
dignity.
I think not, Mr. Nolan, for you should have read a bit more of Webster since
faith is defined as “loyalty — good (or bad); faith (in) sincerity; (dis)honesty.”
Mr. Nolan, if anyone has failed at being loyal, it’s been Jackie Sherrill.
Richard Noorlag ’90
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 AJensen,
Denise Thompson, News Editors
Hal Hammons, Sports Editor
Jay Janner, Art Director
Leslie Guy, Entertainment Editor
Editorial Policy
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resent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, fac
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... KuV UP INTO THE 5TAWS
A A/P F1A/P US A VOWkmt.
7LA1EK.
A few lessons I’ve learned
before I bid A&M adieu
Every semester, the opinion page edi
tor (Anthony “Media Darling of the
Texas Press” Wilson in this case) calls all
the columnists together and sternly
warns them that if they write any “I’m
leaving and here’s everything that hap
pened during my last four years at
A&M” columnns, he would see to their
firing.
ling along with people. Even wiihalllk
desegregation plans which have bw
put into effect during the last decade
many high school graduates leaveliiji
school never knowing anyone of aai
race or socio-economic backgrouai
other than their own.
This means that most college fresk
men are experiencing a major cultuit
We
say
still
COLLEGl
The 1988 dr
down hard c
riculture, ar
helped only
of the state.
And accor
outlook by t
Service, the
not likely to
cy’s Decemb
forecast call:
cent chanc
rainfall for
Deep South.
Dr. Zerle
tor of the T
tension Ser
front duri
dropped sea
central cour
the state’s
and up to ‘
counties of c
The Iron
cant precip
areas, he sail
Following
that readier
Winter Gan
of San Anti
Houston art
dry soil t
ranges, past
j quick halt ii
plains count
[ tral region.
Carpente
Service is
I producers o
sic acid (cy:
[ lowing frost
other sorglr
He said it
five or six i
fore turnin
type of sorg
watch them
Carpente
vesting is n
Panhandle ;
is about 25
cold weathe
tenance fe
though ran
still in fairly
In West (
nance feedi
spread beca
pasturage, f
winding dc
So this semester, I just assumed I
wouldn’t write one of those mushy col
umns. But the eagerly anticipated lec
ture from Anthony never came, and I
started thinking that since I am the only
graduating columnist (14 days until the
big day) I really should write one of
these columns.
cause by then I’ll be a multi-millionaire
and can retire.”
It’s my duty, after all, to write the
type of column everyone has been wait
ing for all semester. Finals, graduation
and leaving town just wouldn’t be the
same without it. (Besides, he couldn’t
fire me anyhow.)
Well, if you look at the number of
multi-millionaires in the world today,
you’ll notice a few things. First, there
aren’t a whole heck of a lot of them. Sec
ond, most of them made their money
doing something they enjoy. Third,
many of them still work, at least part of
the time, because they simply enjoy
what they do.
shock when they begin their colie
reers. They have to learn to get
with different kinds of people;
adapt to people with different cultur/
values.
Being exposed to people front)!
walks of life is perhaps the biggest lean
ing experience there is. College pn
vides a great platform on which
learning experience can take place.
Geez, all this education, and p
didn’t even know you were getting it!
So here we go.
The paper you are reading is the last
one which will have my name in the staff
box. This is the last time you will have to
look at my outdated picture. This is the
last time you will have to read my ram
bling monologue. So while I still have
you. I’d like to just tell you a few things
I’ve learned during my four years at
A&M.
Look around, take some courses that
interest you, find out what you really
want to do with your life. That’s when
you’ll want to study, because you’ll really
want to know the information, not just
because your professor wants you to spit
it back up.
The first and most important thing
I’ve learned is that it doesn’t matter how
much money you can make. The only
thing that amounts to a hill of beans is
happiness. If you aren’t going to be
happy with the work you will be trained
to do when you graduate from A&M,
STOP NOW!!! (I should know — I’m
majoring in math?!?!?!?!)
The next big lesson I’ve learned is
that college is the place you learn about
things that aren’t necesarily taught in
the classroom. Most college students
have never lived away from home for
any extended period of time before they
enter the sacred halls of A&M.
But enough of this serious stuff.EvH
since 1 have been writing for the
everyone I know has asked me to
their name in print. Yet, since it doesil
exactly add to a journalist’s credibilitftf
talk to their friends and then passtte
interviews off as random, I haven’t to
able to make my friends’ wishes
true.
But now’s my chance. Everyone,
like to introduce you to my some friend*
of mine. Some of these people asked it
have their names in print, othersIjni
threw in for the heck of it.
Make sure you are trained in some
thing that you can profit from person
ally as well as financially. It’s great to
say, “It doesn’t matter if I hate what I
do. I’ll only have to do it until I’m 30 be-
They learn not only about homesick
ness and long distance services, but they
also learn nifty things like waking up by
themselves, cooking for themselves, jug
gling their own finances, sharing a
home or even a bathroom with someone
other than a brother or sister, and
studying on their own accord. All these
valuable lessons and more can be yours
for the low, low price of four years of
your life.
Introducing: Ben, Rachelle,
Stephen, Daniel, Eric, Adam,
Michelle, Mark, Catherine, John
Celeste, Vonda, Hal, Charlie, !
Chris, Rachelle, Scott, Seanna, B
Adrian, Debbie, Sharon, Jack, Kay
chelle, George, Richard, Tony,
Ron, Rachelle and Liz.
With that, so long! Oh yeah, hi Mot
and Dad!
But perhaps the biggest lesson I’ve
learned during my college stint is get-
Lydia Berzsenyi is a senior math M
jor and editor oTThe Battalion.
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