The Battalion
OPINION
Thursday, February 2,1989
Mail Call
Abstinence is unrealistic
EDITOR:
In response to Mia Moody’s Jan. 30 column concerning abstinence from
sex, I am pleased to hear that you can abstain from premarital sex or at least
feel guilty about it. I am not being sarcastic.
I have many friends who abstain from sex for reasons other than the fear
of sexually transmitted diseases. I admire their faith in what they believe and
their will to practice their beliefs.
However, you have shown everyone of your readers that you have a
fundamental misconception of the moral codes of other people.
By your morals, a band of gold, a promise and God’s blessing is the only
way to achieve your conscience’s permission to become sexually active.
I do not disagree with this behavior. Unfortunately, you believe everyone
does agree.
Look again, Mia!
As you said, it is true that many parents do not teach that premarital sex is
wrong. This is not because “everybody is supposedly having sex.” It is
because they believe it is okay.
To say that all members of the student body who are sexually activefeel
guilty about premarital sex is wrong. To say that many people can’t study
because they think about sex too much is also wrong. It is OK to say you think
that unmarried, sexually active people should feel guilty about their sex lives;
however, I find it hard to believe that many people will.
Alan Kutach ’92
Nothing wrong with sex
EDITOR:
In reference to Mia Moody’s column I would like to say “Bravo!”
Never before have I seen such a perfectly executed avoidance of a
realistic solution.
Miss Moody had donned her angelic robe and grasped her gavel to pass
judgment by saying “. . . people who have sex know that it is wrong.”
Some of us radical liberals happen to believe that it’s not so wrong to
share something that is extremely special with someone you really care about.
Please speak for yourself.
Another statement that is grossly exaggerated is, “Many people can’t
study because they think about the sex they could be having.”
Well, let’s eliminate every single distraction in the whole world. Let’s get
rid of television and night clubs and restaurants. The next thing she’ll be
saying is that people can’t study because they are thinking of the pizza that
they could be eating.
Yes, distractons are rampant, but we are made whole persons by learning
to discipline and control ourselves.
There is a real problem in our society with the ghastly appearance of
AIDS, but a realistic approach in the best means with which to combat the
disease. This is the real world and people are having sex. Instead of passing
judgment on them, we should educate them as to the dangers, precautions
and responsibilities that come along with having sex.
Chad Nusbaum ’92
Morton not entertaining
EDITOR:
This letter is in response to Timm Doolen’s column concerning the
Morton Downey. In the true spirit of his idol Morton Downey: Shut up, you
worm!
If I had a slime like you in the White House, I’d puke on you! You
pablum-puking, right-wing, neo-fascist sensationlism junkie!
There, now didn’t that make a cogent, incisive point?
Morton seems to win becuase it is his show and he can always get in the
last word. He also seems to win for you because the “most logical” arguments
within “his frame of mind” are inevitably from the point of view of young,
white, neo-conservative college males who are either already wealthy or
hoping to be.
It’s too bad that society has “biased” everybody else with the illogical views
of women, the poor, hungry and those unfortunates with neither a Mercedes
nor a yacht to their name.
At least Ronald Reagan had the grace not to rant and scream at his foes
when he was telling his constituents that greed, selfishness and jingoism were
fashionable again.
Steven K. Baum
Department of Oceanography
Abortion is personal decision
EDITOR:
I am amazed at how someone who will never have to face the prospect of
an unwanted pregnancy can “urge, implore and beg” women not to consider
abortion as an option.
In his letter to The Battalion on Jan. 31, Richard Bohannon made some
very valid points. First and foremost, making abortions illegal will not stop
them from happening. And secondly, abortions done out of “convenience”
are a terrible tragedy.
However, I am realistic enough to know that the definition of the term
“convenience abortion” will vary from person to person. I seriously doubt
that Richard’s opinion would correspond very well with that of a woman who
was having to deal with an unwanted pregnancy. Without actually being in
that situation, you can’t judge someone for the decisions they make.
Therefore, I personally urge, implore and beg Richard Bohannon and
others like him to realize that everyone is entitled to their opinions — and
that includes a woman’s right to make decisions about her own life.
Don Atkinson ’91
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.
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The Battalion Editorial Board
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Leslie Guy, Managing Editor
Dean Sueltenfuss, Opinion Page Editor
Anthony Wilson, City Editor
Scot Walker, Wire Editor
Drew Leder, News Editor
Doug Walker, Sports Editor
Jay Janner, Art Director
Mary-Lynne Rice, Entertainment Edi
tor
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Opinions expressed in t he 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.
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classes within the Department of Journalism.
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Do we know what love is?
ilso
The days have of late felt like the
coming of spring, but winter has not yet
left us. Even so, love and life fills the air
and burdens the thoughts of old and
young.
Love can be between man and
woman, man and man, or woman and
woman. Physical ideals do not need to
be involved; love also encompasses emo
tional, intellectual, and spiritual aspects.
Todd
Honeycutt
Columnist
difficult. Love is easy to pretend to
giving nothing and receiving the sat
But is that love?
Some have that type of illusion«
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as infatuation (the initial high betwea
two people which falls quickly), exploinl "We’re just
lion (the use of one soul by anotherfotwther things,
It is easy to show your love, at least
for most people, but it is an entirely dif
ferent experience to create love. Who
can even say exactly what love is? Who
has the courage to boast that they have it
in its entirety?
Perhaps that is too cynical a view,
though.
Love is ever eluding, ever changing.
It is not something that you can nec
essarily seek out, catch with a butterfly
net, chase down and wound with an ar-
No, love is much too fleeting for
sness turns to lifelessness, decay
emerges, followed by death, and death
comes unnaturally to those who crave it.
Rooms with locks become stale and
static. Cobwebs form on the curtains
and the hinges find themselves rusty. Is
your door locked? Do you have a key?
Perhaps it is more relevant to ask if
someone else has it.
on to show t
ective rnethc
lancy and (
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The resole
lot mandate
that. But though a search is futile, the
pain in waiting for love to come upon
you is tremendous indeed.
In fact, a large part of love is pain —
pain from loneliness and loss, from de
cay and death, from display and refusal.
And the pain hurts, but it is necessary.
Through pain one can grow to greater
heights in love and things other than
love. Sometimes I feel that pain is the
only way one can grow. As Bob Dylan
sings, “You give something up for ev
erything you gain.” Every time you
hurt, you are giving up part of yourself.
If you never hurt, never feel pain
from love, perhaps you are not growing,
perhaps you are not loving. Loveles-
Love for another is impossible with
out self-love. And what is self-love —
greed, selfishness, egocentricity? In an
extreme, yes, but that would be consid
ered narcissism. (All things taken to an
extreme deviate intensely from their
original design and purpose.)
Self-love is a belief, a power, a drive
in one’s self to do and to be! It is a pride
in one’s accomplishments and abilities
and desires. A positive emotion, without
sell -love there can be no love for others.
One can only share what one has in
one’s possession. And there are no limits
in the sharing of love, as love is not a fi
nite, inexhaustable quantity. You cannot
lose it through sharing.
Is love a surrendering of the self? Not
quite, it is rather a displaying of the self
and an exchange between two selves.
The problem with this concept is fear —
the fear that makes love so distant and
specific need or goal), or dependen
(the need for one to be with anotki
without whom life would be “unbeaii
le” when there is no substance in
relationship). A fantasy relationshipi xistingsexe
an easy existence when compared loth bill that wc
challenge of love. bstinence cu
Love reejuires effort and discomfon | U iring abstii
a stripping of the sdtil. Fear of nald
ness is the root of fantasy and imagi
lion, for living life is Irving naked.
Perhaps the best, most concise ex
nation of love comes from a sociol
class 1 had in high school. Loveisatm
change, a sharing of one’s inner sel
f reely, without demands or goals.
And to bring another into our Ijfeii
love, we must rid ourselves of certaii
needs: the need to be always right,
need to be first in everything, the need
to be constantly in control, (he needtf
be perfect, the need to be loved byet
eryone, the need to possess, the needii
be free of conflict and frustration,
need to change others for our needs
the need to manipulate, the need
blame, and the need to dominate.
Love is a constant, growing process,
is to be experienced in every way, andi
day without love is a day lost.
Todd Honeycutt is a sophomoreps]
chology major and a columnist for Ik
Battalion.
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TV’s going down the tubes
I can’t take it anymore. It’s asinine.
Last year I splurged and bought the re
mote control to give me more power
over it, but the novelty has worn off.
Now, I rarely even look at it. Of course,
I’m talking about the television.
Everyone says it at least once when
they turn it on: “I can’t believe it!
Thirty-five channels and nothing to
watch!” Between the major networks
and Cinemax, I can have my intelli
gence insulted or watch something I saw
eight times last summer. Oh, decisions,
decisions.
James
Cecil
Columnist
This is where the remote control
comes in. I can switch through the chan
nels quickly enough so that my intelli
gence is insulted with reruns in a
shorter time period. No, it’s not some
thing I really enjoy, but it can be relax
ing, and it motivates me to study so that
I can avoid becoming an imbecile like so
many of the characters they show.
There are a few enjoyable shows.
Some of the syndicated network reruns
like “Cheers,” “MASH.” “The Cosby
Show,” “Family T ies” and “Night
Court” are classics and always entertain
ing; they even have a little character de
velopment. Even better, some of these
shows are on five times a day.
But then there are shows like “Webs
ter,” “Funky Brewester,” and “Different
Strokes” where little obnoxious, smart
mouthed brats have a world revolving
around their every whim. These shows
are offensively predictable, but I doubt
they are aimed to please people like me
anyway. They are made to give small
children a skewed idea of what their
home life should be like.
Television’s lack of quality has even
spread to other TV events besides regu
lar network programs. I think most of
us saw that display of . . . well, I don’t
know what it was. But they called it the
Super Bowl halftime “entertainment.” I
haven’t quite decided which I liked best:
the cheesy musical performance or the
tacky, very ordinary uniforms being
worn by the hundreds of people cover
ing the field.
Because the routine itself was artisti
cally and musically void, they broadcast
part of it in 3-D. I thought it was a joke
at first, but I think it says something
about the aesthetic appreciation of the
people who put it on.
Oprah, Phil, “Geraldo,” “The
Club,” “Attitudes,” and Regis
These types of shows can he interesting
sometimes bordering on sensational
tic, hut amusing.
Since the new year several late-nigki
talk shows have emerged as well, bull
wouldn’t bet on their longevity. B)
sically, these are Letterman wannabe)
who aren’t. Pat Sajak’s hour of raucous
unbridled wit could cure even the worst
cases of insomnia.
It’s not all doom and gloom thougk
T he Arts and Entertainment networt
usually presents quality movies thai
aren’t seen on the major networks. Of
casionally PBS has something interest
ing and entertaining. But actually, mos>
of my viewing time is spent on CNN. I
know, it’s not terribly exciting, but it)
real and it’s not offensive — and I kink
of like absorbing information. I admit
that sometimes 1 can he found watching
something mindless like “Gilligan’s It
land” or “Bewitched” hut I don’t enjo)
it, really.
I don’t watch much television, mayi*
an hour a day when I figure I ought
make use of a $200 box connected to)
$30-a-month cable system. By the waf
Cinemax is gone as of today. I highl * 1
recommend it for anyone who likes con
centrated programming of western*
and World War II films.
In recent years television has been hit
with a barrage of personality talk shows.
We have the daytime variety with
James Cecil is a senior economic 1
major and a columnist for The Battal
ion.
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