The Battalion
OPINION
Tuesday, January 31,1989
uesday,
Mail Call
Traditions not followed blindly
EDITOR:
Whether it was intended or not, Todd Honeycutt’s Jan. 26 column
contained several erroneous underlying generalizations.
Mr. Honeycutt, first and foremost among these was your broad and
unsupported condemnation of the observance of traditions and of conservatism
at Texas A&M. Repeatedly, you state that A&M students (at least those who
observe traditions) do not rationally examine the faith they put into the
traditions they follow.
At the same time, you question the conservatism which drives these
traditions. Inherently, you are claiming that we conservatives who follow
traditions at A&M are unthinking idiots who need to be enlightened by yourself
and the Medicine Tribe.
Did it ever occur to you that perhaps students, liberal and conservative, have
rationally examined the traditions they observe?
Did it ever occur to you that students whom you call apathetic might merely
disagree with you as to the most effective method of action?
Did it ever occur to you that conservatives might actually think intelligently
about why they are conservative? Did it ever occur to you that students could
“. . . question their beliefs and morals and thoughts to determine for themselves
if they are truly correct in their thinking” without being informed by you or the
Medicine Tribe or Students Against Apartheid?
Obviously, by the tone and posture you assume in your column, the answer
to all these questions is “no.” Your patronization is especially repulsive
considering that it is indicative of the blindness you condemn.
In the future, do not ask for respect for your causes unless you are prepared
to show mutual respect for those you oppose. And perhaps you might follow
your own advice before applying it to others.
Brennan Reilly ’91
‘Convenience’ abortions are unnecessary
EDITOR:
In the Jan. 23 issue of The Battalion, I read an article concerning President
Bush’s denouncement of abortion, and I wondered how many women on this
campus were considering abortion at that very moment.
I recalled recent statistics I had read concerning this tragedy: 15 million
abortions in the U.S. since 1973 (more than all our war dead); one in three un
born children is aborted today, at least 97 percent merely for the reason of “con
venience”; and some of our leading cities actually have more aborted births than
live births.
How can we consider this as anything other than a tragedy? It’s important
that the decision which legalized abortion may be repealed soon, but we all
know that abortion may continue in back rooms and dangerous conditions.
We will only put an end to this shame when men and women are willing to
sacrifice their right to “convenience” in support of another’s right to live.
Really now, which seems more important? I understand that unplanned
pregnancy leads to many problems that seriously complicate life, but let me ask
you this: Would YOU be willing to GIVE YOUR LIFE merely to alleviate some
one of their problems?
Millions of unborn children have been forced to do just that. If you are a
woman considering abortion, I urge you, I implore you, I beg you to think, pray
and seek counseling if necessary, before you commit an act of “convenience.”
Richard Bohannon ’90
Accompanied by 22 signatures
Reversal won’t stop abortions
EDITOR:
I found James Cecil’s commentary of Jan. 26 favoring the reversal of the
Supreme Court’s decision in Roe vs. Wade both naive and superficial. I have a
I rather special perspective on the issue since I was adopted as an infant by a
i terrific couple and today have two wonderful daughters of my own, one of
which is severely disabled. If the woman who bore me had opted for an
abortion, I recognize that I would not be here to enjoy the wonderful family
that I have. I have also seen too many children neglected, abused and tortured
because they were born to people that did not want them or would not care for
them.
The gift of life is most certainly sacred, but where is Mr. Cecil’s
commitment, and that of the other so-called “pro-life” supporters, to protect
those children from a life sentence to cruel and unusual punishment?
Just a few weeks ago, a four-year-old girl was raped in a Houston daycare
facility by one of the staff. Doctors confirmed the incident and provided
supporting documentation of it. Although the parents begged the authorities to
file charges, they refused to do so because, in Texas, a child that age is not a
credible witness! Mr. Cecil, that’s what “states’ rights” is all about.
I am a white man, born and reared in the South. I have paid a “Poll Tax” to
vote. I was in Alabama in 1964 working with a man from Mississippi, when the
real “Mississippi Burning” was taking place. To those of us old enough to know
better, “states’ rights” simply means inequality, intolerance, injustice, bigotry
and prejudice.
Now I think abortions are wrong, too. I don’t think they should ever be used
as a remedy for irresponsible actions and unforeseen pregnancies. I know there
are better alternatives.
Reversing Roe vs. Wade will not stop abortions. They will always be
availiable in the hospitals for the rich (where they can be called
“appendectomies”) and the poor will simply go to sleazy, incompetent,
backroom butchers or perform their own abortions with chemicals and coat
hangers.
Mr. Cecil, if you and your “pro-life " supporters are going to demand that
unwanted, unloved children be born to people that don’t, won’t or can’t take
care of them, you have an obligation to get out here in the real world and help
us change the system. Roe vs. Wade was not about moral right or wrong, it was
about personal freedom and the right ol citizens of this country to choose what
is best for their family situation.
James K. Raatz
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tor
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MTV not suitable for childremu-
Every day, some 30 million Ameri
cans can be found in the same place: sit
ting in front of their televisions being
bombarded by an endless battery of
sights, sounds, and rapid-fire images.
The colors are dazzling. The sounds,
often deafening. The images are discon
nected and surrealistic.
No, these people are not guinea pigs
for some new form of aversion therapy.
This is not “A Clockwork Orange.”
For 30 million Americans, this is en
tertainment. Entertainment lovingly re
ferred to as MTV — music televsion.
Stephanie
Stribling
Columnist
powerful form of expression— rod
roll.
^amp
Some critics charge that the messJ
of rock ’n’ roll, in addition to its ubJ gy Dens S'
tous nature, is leading to the declint
Western civilization. People arguetk T^^ppvvRfi
its primitive beat and sensual natureu
leash in us desires and passions e Restructui
meant to be unleashed. ■ion at A.P.
see on television, I simply change the
channel.
But before any of you devoted MTV
fans start hurling accusations, let me
just say that I am also a fan of MTV. Not
very flattering — but true.
It is because I’m a fan that I am pre
pared to defend MTV to the bitter end.
But only under one condition — we
agree that the content of some music vi
deos is not suitable for children and
adolescents.
Young people don’t have the same
option. They are too easily influenced,
particularly by a medium that targets
young people as an audience and uses
the very powerful instrument of rock
music to get it’s message across. Of
course it’s appealing. It’s supposed to
be.
I was not exposed to MTV as a child.
MTV broadcasted its first music video
in August of 1981, when I was 18. For
me IV TV was an aquired taste, not one I
grew up with.
My parents kept hoping my fascina
tion with MTV was “just a phase” that I
would eventually “grow out of.” Much
to their dismay, at the age of 26, I am
still an MTV devotee.
But we all know the fine line between
fantasy and reality is not as easily drawn
when we’re children. Most of you were
teen-agers not so very long ago. Think
about all the time you spent immersed
in some little fantasy.
Its critics say MTV is too sexual, too
sexist, too violent, and too unreal.
What is music all about anyway? I« has creaU j’^
it an expression of passion that cant dm
be conveyed with words? It’s not jt U e position
rock ’n’ roll — Ravel’s Bolero hadii ( [ enl health
same effect on people. Has that pis Moore begat
weakened several centuries of
fiber? I suspect that’s not the case.
Music has always been the langt;
of the soul. That language simp
changes its dialect from generation
generation.
So the problem with MTV lies
just in its content, but in the way
packaged — for children.
MTV represents adult themes,
or of clini
hanges wen
However
president of
is working \
office to ma
for permane
“We’re ti
specification
suitable for
They’re right on. Studies have shown
that potrayal of sexual feelings or im
pulses comprise 60 percent of music vi
deo content.
Mall
in H<
leave
I suspect my parents’ feelings about
MTV are not very different from the
feelings of your own parents. In fact,
those feelings could be summed up in a
single statement uttered by my mother
the first time she laid eyes on MTV:
“It’s just like a nightmare,” she said.
And she turned away.
Since then, the subject of MTV is ta
boo at our house. I can only watch it
when Mom and Dad are not around,
lest I be given the third degree about my
choice of channels.
So what’s new? Sex on television has
always been a money maker. The reason
for it should be self-evident. I could de
velop a list of examples, but there’s
probably not enough space in The Bat
talion.
As for violence, right on again. Vio
lence and crime make up 53 percent of
the content of music videos. But this has
also been a very successful theme in tele
vision and cinema both. Look at the mil
lions of dollars the “Rambo” movies
hauled in.
There are many criticisms leveled at
MTV, and I’ve found most of them to
be true. But still I continue to watch it.
That’s the nice thing about being an “a-
dult” — you can do things that probably
aren’t very good for you.
Tl e problem is that 85 percent of
MT\’s 30 million viewers are between
the ages of 14 and 34, with the majority
being teen-agers.
As with everyone, I have lost much of
the naivete and exploitability of my
youth. When I get offended by what I
As for reality, MTV is about as unreal
as it gets. Ninety percent of the content
of music videos involves the presenta
tion of odd, unusual, or unexpected
representations of reality.
But let’s be reasonable. How real is
“All my Children”?
Much of what we see on televsion is
unreal — there lies its appeal. It is a
form of escape — it is fantasy.
The visual content of music videos
differs very little from what is portrayed
elsewhere on television. But MTV com
bines this visual content with another
feelings, and adult situations in a pad
age that is labeled for children.
It’s like buying a bottle of whiskev.
an adult, when I purchase thatbotllf
am expected to understand the risks:
volved with alcohol consumption.
But if the whiskey makers decide
package that bottle with Donald Du
on the label and sell it in toy stores,ik
they are specifically trying to sell wli
key to children.
Some things were simply notmea:
to be given to children.
It is the same with MTV. Children
not have the capacity to understand!* Asian teen-
the videos they are seeing will affeclii outside the
value system they develop as adults.
When I watch MT V, it is withint!i
context of a previously establishedvak
system that allows me to make my w:
judgment about what I see. Thisisi
the case with children.
Can we censor the content of Mil
because it may adversely affect ourcti
dren?
No, just as there are many things
cannot and should not censor.
the police ;
r » . holes,” sai<
1 want my M I V, but more importE police spok
I don't want it for my kids. When® The vict
kids turn on the television, MTV ism
going to be an option for them. Iflo: y ears °f a g
be allowed to selectively eliminate ik
MT V channel, then I will giveupcal
altogether.
HOUSTC
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Paul Pepe,
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Stephanie Stribling is a seniorj» I
nalism major and a columnist lor]
Battalion.
Bowling is just too strenuous
U3
When I started hanging around bowl
ing alleys, it was obvious that nobody
was giving much thought to the public
image of this ancient game.
I was one of the pinboys, a scruffy
mix of neighborhood kids, winos and
drifters. We worked the pits, scooping
up the ball and speeding it back on twin-
rails to the bowler, then tossing the pins
into the rack and slamming it down for
a reset.
The air was usually heavy with ciga
rette and cigar smoke. The bowlers’ lan
guage could be even heavier, especially
when they left themselves a tough split
in a money game.
Most places had a memorable aroma:
a blend of beer, sweat and smoke. This
was before the days of air conditioning
and armpit srays. Today’s health vigi
lantes would call in a federal agency.
Not that there was anything disrepu
table about bowlers. To the contrary.
They were working people, and bowling
league night was a major part of their
social lives.
But most bowling alleys were no-frill
joints. A bar, a short order grill, and
maybe a few pool tables. The paint on
the walls might be faded or peeling, and
neighborhood idlers might be hanging
around the pinballs, but as long as the
alleys were properly oiled, the drinks
honestly poured and priced, and the
pinboy didn’t get his head in the way of
the ball too often, the customers were
satisfied.
O course, this was long before the
bow. ing industry tried to gentrify itself.
It was before bowling alleys became
known as automation replaced the pin-
boy, forcing thousands of youths out of
the pits, where they developed agility
and strong backs, and into McDonald’s
burger assembly lines, where they devel
oped high cholesterol.
There’s no question that today’s bowl
ing centers are cleaner and more com
fortable than in the past. And I can’t
quarrel with the business motives of the
bowling proprietors. They now compete
with racquet sports, fitness clubs, jog
ging, VCRs, video games, and dozens of
other recreations that didn’t exist a cou
ple of generations ago.
But I think they may be carrying their
image consciousness a bit too far.
I say that because of the legal flap be
tween Mary Lou Retton, the former
Olympics darling, and a couple of na
tional bowling organizations.
After Mary Lou bounced into Ameri
ca’s consciousness, she signed a lucrative
contract to hype the bowling industry.
That’s the American Dream: You de
vote your formative years to perfecting
the world’s greatest backflip for your
country’s honor and glory. Then you
become a TV salesperson. If Thomas
Edison were alive today, he’d be on tele
vision pitching appliances. Alexander
Graham Bell would be telling us to let
our fingers do the walking.
Although Mary Lou was not known
for her bowling, that industry rented
her image of good, youthful, whole
some athleticism. But now they’ve
dumped her, and she’s suing.
The bowling moguls argue that she is
no longer a suitable spokesman because
her body has been “maturing.”
They won’t come right out and say it,
but it has been reported that she’s been
maturing too much from east to west. In
other words, she’s become kind of a
pudgy young lady.
That’s an image the bowling industry
wants to shake. They want us to think of
bowlers as lean and slinky. Sort of like
pro golfers with greasy haircuts.
It’s their industry, so I won’t give
them advice, other than to say that they
are kind of stupid.
They overlook the polls that say the
vast majority of Americans either weigh
too much or think they do.
They also ignore the fact that the last
place you would look for lean and mean
athletes is a bowling alley.
You burn off more calories havinji
dirty thought than by bowling a lines
two. The office cleaning lady getsmon
exercise than a bowler.
So if the bowling industry had af
sense, it would welcome the net
broader-beamed Mary Lou. The
would have her make a commercials
which she says:
“Hi, remember me, the famoit
Olympic athlete? Of course you doii;
I’ve been eating a lot of Quarter Pouti
ers with f ries.
“But, hey, don’t worry. Dowhatft
done. Forget the back flips. Forge
pumping iron and eating tofu. Justf
bowling. There’s nothing to it. Rollth
ball a couple of times, then sit dow
And if that tires you, let someone eh
keep score while you eat pizza.”
The bowling industry doesn’t realit
that it is going to drive away its trad
tional constituency — the overweijjhj
out-of-shape majority.
If they’re determined to drop Maf
Lou as their spokesperson, then the
sould get someone like my friend Slat
Grobnik, who was elected the the Pit
boy Hall of Fame for having been sin®
laneously hit in the head with aballaK
a pin, and not missing a rack.
Slats could articulate the three thitii
that make bowling unique among t
participation sports.
“Hi, I’m Slats and I’m a bowler. Wt
do I bowl? Because it is a great spot
You spend 99 percent of your time si
tin’ down.
“More than that, it’s the only spo' |
where the arena of competition pr
vides the players with ashtrays. Youevt
see an ashtray in an aerobics class?
“But best of all, it’s the only
where you push a button and a waitref
brings you all the beer you want. Bi
Martin should have been a bowler.”
My guess is that Mary Lou will"
her lawsuit. All she has to do is sett
canjeras in a few bowling alleys and fit
the athletes.
And not their faces.
Copyright 1989, Tribune Media Services, b :
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