Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 3, 1989)
The Battalion OPINION <) Monday, April 3,1989 EVdKYoNE. KNCW THAT THIS LITTLE SAILOR WOULD BL f'Arrous OMP day. Sushi in the ballpark marks end of nation Parks and Wildlife Department improrieties must be corrected There’s been some controversy dur ing the past few weeks concerning the stocking of wildlife by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Apparently, wildlife were stocked on the properties of state officials at taxpayers’ expense. Elk, deer, turkeys and fish were transported to the property of House speaker Gib Lewis despite objections that his ranch wasn’t the proper habitat for some of the animals. In another inci dent, Louis Beecherl, a member of the University of Texas Board of Regents, had antelope stocked on his ranch. Ob jections that the property was not the proper habitat were again ignored, and within six weeks, 39 of the 40 antelope were dead. According to an article in the Austin American-Statesman, hundreds of rain bow trout were stocked in a pond be longing to the father-in-law of state Rep. Robert Saunders. Gary Matlock, director of fisheries for the TP&WD, said the fish were stocked in a research effort designed to test the heat tolerance of trout. In a story by the Associated Press, Matlock defended the move, saying “I planned to go back up there after the summer and see if any had survived.” Gee, that sounds like some serious re search to me. It must have taken weeks and weeks of planning to come up with that, elaborate research scheme. Of course I’m just a layman in the area of biological research, so I shouldn’t criticize the wildlife experts. If I ever had the pleasure of listening in on a conversation between two of these gentlemen, I probably wouldn’t under stand anything they said. Would you be able to follow a techni cal conversation like this? Wildlife Expert #1: “We're thinkin’ of doin’- some reesurch this summer. Mebbe gonna figgur out the heat tol- rurice of trout. Waddya think?” Expert #2: “Sounds good to me. Mebbe we could put ’em in a pond at the beginin’ of the summer, then go back et the end of the summer ’n see if any of ’em er still alive.” Expert #1: “Damn good idea! If the fish er still alive they must be heat tol- i % f Dean Sueltenfuss Opinion Page Editor runt. If their ded, they ain’t got no heat tolrunce. It’ll be uh damn nice little piece o’ reesurch.” Expert #2: “Plus we kin slip down there on weekends ’n do a little fishin’. We’ll have uh bang-up time, ’n git some reeserch dun tuh boot!” It’s easy to see how technical dis cussions like that could just slip right past the average person. But it isn’t too difficult for the layman to understand that some officials in the Texas Department of Parks and Wild life are in trouble —big trouble. In addition to the incidents already mentioned, various department officials have been involved in other questiona ble operations, such as using taxpayer money to stock quail on the ranch of commission chairman Charles Nash. The latest occurrence in this story is the indictment of the department’s di rector of wildlife, Charles Allen, on charges of illegally trapping and trans porting antelope earlier this year. In response to the recent scandals in the department, Nash has said he will do whatever it takes to ensure that the stocking of wildlife will be performed correctly from now on. It seems he has his work cut out for him. Although there’s little doubt the news media has blown some of the allegations out of proportion, it’s also obvious that everything in the TP&WD isn’t going perfectly. Some people claim the, news media has presented only one side of the story — the version that makes the TP&WD look bad. Maybe that’s true, but some improprieties on the part of TP&WD officials have certainly taken place. What’s been happening in the TP&WD is probably not much different than what goes on in many other areas of government. The only difference is that the I'P&WD’s problems were publi cized. As Parks and Wildlife Commissioner George Bolin of Houston said of the re cent problems, “I think just about ever- body knew that sort of thing went on, and probably always has in this state and a lot of others.” And although it seems like a bad situ ation, maybe some good can come of it. By fully prosecuting the people who are guilty in this fiasco, the state of Texas can send a message to others who use improperly use taxpayer money: “If you screw around with our money, we’re gonna bust you.” And that’s exactly what should hap pen. Dean Sueltenfuss is a junior journa lism major and opinion page editor for The Battalion. In a couple of hundred years, when historians study the decline and fall of the once-great nation known as the United States, they will pinpoint April 1989 as being the beginning of the end. No, it won’t be because of a nuclear disaster, the rise of Japan’s economic strength, the free flow of drugs and guns, the flood of illegal immigrants, the communist menace, the greenhouse effect, or even Dan Quayle’s IQ. They will find that the fall began with the deterioration of traditional values, the rejection of our heritage and the plunge into cultural decadence. And they will be able to look to South ern California to see where it began. More precisely, to San Diego. And even more specifically, to Jack Murphy Sta dium, where the San Diego Padres play baseball. They will find that in April 1 989 the San Diego Padres became the first ma jor league franchise in the long history of America’s great national pastime to sell — brace yourselves — sushi to the fans. Yes, sushi in the ballpark. Strips of raw or marinated fish, wrapped around a ball of rice with maybe a dab of fish eggs on top: the preferred snack of the yuppiest of yuppies. What will the San Diego fans be sing ing? Take me out to the ballpark. Take me out to the game. Buy me some sushi and I’ll feel fine. 1 might wash it down with a glass of white wine. I should be surprised, but I’m not. It was inevitable. Years ago, when the Brooklyn Dodg ers moved to Los Angeles, I told my friend Slats Grobnik: “This is a bad thing for the country. Some day they will be selling sushi in ballparks.” He said: “What’s sushi?” I said: “I don’t know. But mark my words, it will happen.” And now it has. And, as I feared, if it happened anywhere, it would be in Cali fornia, where they have no respect for tradition. For almost a century, a hot dog was good enough for baseball fans in New York and Chicago, Cleveland and St. Louis, Cincinatti and Pittsburgh, Brook lyn and Boston. A hot dog, peanuts and beer. It wasn’t merely good enough. It was baseball food, just as turkey and Mail Call Mike Royko Columnist dressing is Thanksgiving food. 1 you serve Peking Duck on Thants® ing? Maybe in California. Don’t dismiss the terrible significantt of what’s happening. This season, will be fathers in San Diego who wf take their 5- or 6-year-old sons to ballpark for the first time, as father! have been doing for generations-as sinning the surf isn’t up, which tab priority in that strange land. And 20 years from now, when have grown to what passes for manhood in that sun-kissed place, these ] men will recall: “Yes, I remember the first time In dad took me out to the old ballpark, remember the smell of the suntanl tion, the nubile young things in the halters. But most of all, I remembern dad buying me my first, sushi and Per rier. It was tuna with a dollop of caviar And soon I will take my son, Lance,to the ballpark and do the same for him However, I’ll recommend he try tk shrimp sushi, too.” A few years ago, I happened to men tion that San Diego was not deservingol a championship because (a) the fans had not yet suffered enough, except when they forgot to put on suntan lotion and (b) they were beach bums, quiche eaten and wine sippers. They were outraged. Many wept openly. And some wrote letters defend ing their manhood. As one of them said “I happen to be very macho and you art nothing but a puddle of poodle wee wee, so there.” Now they have sushi in the ballpark So much for their wet-eyed protests. Baseball lore tells us that the most fa mous stomach ache in sports history wai suffered by Babe Ruth, also knownk baseball scholars as the Bambino or tk Sultan of Swat. He got the stomach ache after eating a snack of 20 hot dogs. The Babe did not do things in a small way. It made headlines all over the coun try. And the national reaction tothishe- roic gluttony was: “What a guy!” I can’t imagine any such excitementif a San Diego Padre ever eats 20 piecesof sushi. If it happens, the response will be: “What? A guy?” Copyright 1989, Tribune Media Services,Inc, Recycling at A&M EDITOR: This is an open letter to all Aggies, professors, and staff members. The Texas Environmental Action Coalition and B-CS ReSOURCE, two new groups here at A&M, have begun a very important program on campus, and we would like everyone’s help with it. The program is recycling. So come on, Ags! Look for those bins for aluminum cans which we are putting around campus. (All of the profits from the cans are going to fund environmental programs in the B-CS community.) And let’s start using the paper-recycling facilities we have in town. We can change our country from being number one in energy waste back to just number one! Kirby S. Fry, President T.E.A.C. Accompanied by 17 signatures Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters for sde and length, hut will make every effort to maintain the author's intent. Each Letter must be signed and must include the classif ication, address and telephone number of the writer. by Berke Breathed The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Southwest journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Becky Weisenfels, Editor 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 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. The Battalion is published Monday through Friday during Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday and examination periods. Mail subscriptions are $17.44 per semester, $34.62 per school year and $36.44 per full year. Advertising rales furnished on request. Our address: The Battalion, 230 Reed McDonald. Texas A&M University. College Station, TX 77843-1 111. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battal ion. 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University', Col- ,lege Station TX 77843-4 111. BLOOM COUNTY by Berke Breathed