By Mel
• Lord, thank you for finally letting Alabama get here.
• Thank you for the wonderful weather.
• At the end of the game, let the score reflect the hard work of the Aggie team
and Jackie Sherrill.
I thought this was in VTRY poor taste. I realize that the “Hurricane Bowl”has
become a big joke around here and it has been fun to laugh at Alabama. Butl
believe these statements were totally inappropriate for an invocation.
They made a mockery of what should be a solemn, unbiased prayer.
I am embarrassed that such a tactless invocation was given at an Aggie func
tion.
I Heroes are
Ihere bystarr
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Bonfire night,
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Graphic suggests racism
EDITOR:
I’m writing in response to the article written in last week’s At Ease on poverty.
Desiree Keenon presented a well-written informational story that explained
Locals enjoy more than car|
greasing during Christmas
In a week or two, many of you will be
gone. You’ll be in your respective home
towns with your family and friends. Do
you ever wonder what happens here
while you’re away? Do you ever ask the
burning questions,
“Where does College Station go for
Christmas?” or “Is there life after stu
dents?”
Stephanie
Stribling
Columnist
around waiting for that of school bell to |
ring, kind of like teenagers waiting for
mom and dad to go out of town. When
they’re absolutely certain all of you are
gone — let the fun begin.
efforts of the Bryan-College Station community to help the poor make endsmeei
That’s great. But I have some quarrels about how the black member of povertyd
depicted in the graphics that accompanied the article.
This racist graphic composed by Lynn Lytton displays her ignorance
concerning the typical black person living in poverty. I’m sorry, hut just becausea
person lives in poverty does not mean that they cannot grow an adet]uate amount
of hair or has hair that sticks straight up as if they have been scared to death.
Hell, I couldn’t even tell whether this person was male or female, eventhougli
he/she/it (it looked like an alien to me) was holding a doll.
Ms. Lytton, please go into a local poverty-stricken neighborhood andtryto
find someone who looks anything remotely close to the black person in your
graphic. Let me know if you do.
I’m very aware that discrimination exists on this campus, but it should notstaitl
the pages of our school newspaper, which serves the “entire" student body.
Cherita Montgomery ’90
MARSHAL
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Super Aggies save the day
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Because I’ve been a “local” far longer
than I’ve been a student, I feel qualified
to give you the somewhat elusive an
swers to these questions.
party commemorating a student’s de
parture. Don’t get me wrong, they have
plenty of parties. Some of our profes
sors look better in a lampshade than we
do.
Some of the “locals” relish the
thought of being able to drive unim
peded right down the middle of Texas
Avenue at 5 o’clock. On any given day,
it’s not unusual to spot two or three cars
planted smack in the middle of Texas
Avenue, just driving up and down, up
and down . . .
The locals can’t pack up and go home
for the holidays — they’re already here.
This isn’t a tourist resort that closes out
of season. College Station doesn’t be
come one of those ghost towns like the
ones you see in Hollywood westerns,
with sagebrush blowing lazily across
Texas Avenue, and the sound of creak
ing double doors coming from the
Chicken.
To my knowledge, there has never
been a rap session where our professors
sat around laughing at all the stupid
things we did last semester. They are
too discreet for that. Although, I have
heard of “faculty get-togethers” where
some of the more obnoxious students
were given the honor of being the bull’s-
eye in a friendly gante of darts.
Others like to go to the most popular
restaurant in town on a Saturday night,
request a table for twenty, get seated im
mediately and then get up and leave —
just because they can.
EDITOR:
I was driving through Wichita f alls on my way to my grandmother’s housefor
Thanksgiving when I suddenly had a blow out. This situation was alarmingsinctii
was 1 1:30 p.m. and I was all alone in a strange city.
1 pulled into a nearby 7-eleven only to encounter a group of loyal Ags having
yell practice in front of the store!
Two fine Aggies, Anthony and Thomas, changed my tire right away. I was
soon hack on the road after briefly joining their yell practice for “Farmers Fight."
Thank you Anthony, Thomas and your other Aggie friends for helpingme
out of a bad situation, f know I’ll always remember your good deed.
Debbie Byars ’88
■ere is a pos
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|pirin.
“It’s the flu
lising a lot of a
She said sh
ley should n<
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According t
Itive director
Sex is a battlefield
EDITOR:
Then there are those who frequent
Northgate. They like to buy a pitcher,
pick a table and sit down, drink one
beer, then move to another table —just
because they can.
In response to Ms. Gilliland’s letter concerning AIDS and morality, 1 would
like to point out a few things to Ms. Gilliland.
She states that “we need to be reminded of what a sexual relationship was
intended to be from the beginning of time: complete and total oneness between
two people who make a solemn promise to love only each other until death.”
While you’re home making merry
with family and friends, so are the lo
cals. But they don’t have to leave to get
there. They even have relatives from
out of town leave their own homes to
spend Christmas in College Station.
Truth is stranger than fiction . . .
Now, there may be some of you out
there saying: “I know what the locals do
over the holidays. They go down to the
Gulf station and watch ‘em grease cars!”
There is absolutely no truth to the ru
mor that the locals pick up stray stu
dents over the holidays and impound
them on the drag in Austin. Quite the
opposite. They provide deluxe incarcer
ation facilities — I mean recreational fa
cilities — where an abundance of bread
and water is shared by all. In addition,
you can sit back and enjoy the easy-lis
tening sounds of Frank Sinatra while
you catch up on all those “Masterpiece
Theaters” you missed last semester.
NOTE: For those of you interested in
local trivia, here’s something you may
want to know. It’s entirely possible to
walk the full length of the Dixie Chicken
without touching a single person. How
ever, this should never be attempted
while school is in session, as you may
find yourself violated — more than
once.
Real funny. But you couldn’t be more
off-base, buddy. I think they deserve
just a little more credit than that. They
are not so easily entertained. Although,
if you’ve ever had the opport unity to ob
serve the intrinsic beauty of a mechanic
in action . . .
The locals have never broken into
your dorms or apartments for the pur
pose of having a party. That’s not it at
all. They just want to get a good look at
some of your personal items.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: For those of
you who have never seen more than the
back of someone’s head at the Chicken
(I can personally testify to that), in addi
tion to tables and chairs, there are also
items of decor on the walls. It’s a “must
see” if you ever get the chance.
Despite what you might have heard,
life in College Station over the holidays
can become a virtual mecca for those
who choose to make it so. There are lots
of things to do — fun things. There are
even some things they do that have
nothing to do with Texas A&M Univer
sity.
Contrary to popular belief, there is
still running water and electricity in Col
lege Station over the holidays. The lo
cals periodically stock up on canned
goods and other non-perishables, but
they don’t mind. Houston’s not that far
and it’s a lovely drive.
Then there’s my personal favorite.
Because I’m a student as well as a local, I
like to pick a nice sunny day, get in my
car, drive to campus and park in every
single lot at least once —- sometimes two
or three times!
Ms. Gilliland, only a casual reading of the Old Testament brings forth many
examples of polygamy. And as any scholar will inform you, it was Jewish lawthati
man had to take in his brother’s wife and have children by her if his brother died
i without leaving children. No doubt these Jews of the Old Festament came before
the beginning of time, so let’s look at the Christian societies and see if they
practiced the morality that you find so desirable.
It is well documented that many early Christians interpreted Christ’s message
I of universal love to not only mean spiritual love, but also physical love. These
Christian sects practiced what was known in the 60s as “free love” and mighthare
influenced western Christianity if they had not been quashed by a patriarchial
church that labeled their ideas “heresy” and crushed them. (Gee, isn’t it funnylio«
often true Christians, f illed with love for all mankind, feel compelled to oppress
anyone who has a different idea of what the Bible means?) However, the sameid6
has come up again and again in history — most notably during the Protestant
ref ormation and in the Oneida colonies here in the United States during the IW
century.
As always, these groups have been viciously persecuted by tire “true”
IChristians, but the point 1 wish to make is that isn’t it funny how differentpeoplt
can read the same book and come up with completely different ideas about what
God said about sex.
First, let me tell you what they don’t
do. I think it’s important to dispel any
myth that may exist. Then I’ll tell you
what they really do.
Last but not least, locals have the ut
most respect for students and their tra
ditions. They never once put horns on
“Sully”.
Last but not least, some poor fools
who are particularly desperate gather
together at the Gulf station — for those
of you who’ve ever had the opportunity
to observe the intrinsic beauty of a me
chanic in action . . .
Ms. Gilliland, take off your blinders. The morality you speak so glowinglyo(
(has never existed for any length of time in any society. One need only read
Chaucer to see what kind of sexual morality Europeans of the Middle Ages
practiced. Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” points out the hypocrisy that inas
many as 40 percent of all marriages during that period of American
independence, the bride was pregnant.
Sex is something that few people ever will be willing to give up. So for Gifs
I sake and their own, they had better learn how to be safe.
Richard Bender
A&M Research Foundation Staff
Now you know what they don’t do, let
me tell you what they do.
There has never been a city-wide After finals, they’re just sitting
Stephanie Stribling is a senior jour
nalism major and columnist for The
Battalion.
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BLOOM COUNTY
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