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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 1989)
A he B The Battalion upimon Thursday, AprH 6 ? 1989 ; . i 2 Mail Call thur! J (jl Locks won’t solve problems EDITOR: * I am a resident of a northside modular dormitory, and next fall will mark the beginning of my third year of living on campus. Since my first semesterin tfie dorms, rent has increased by $86 per semester. When I walked into my room yesterday a few days ago, I found a letter from my old buddy Tom Murray at the housing office, who just wanted tolet me know that as “part of a University-wide commitment to provide greater security from Texas A&M residents” the exterior doors to my dorm would be locked 24 hours a day starting next fall. This reassuring statement was followed by an impressive list of heinous crimes from which I would now be protected, based on the assumption (I suppose) that the facts would speakfor themselves. OK, Mr. Murray, I have a few facts of my own. Residents let strangers into the dorm without a second thought. 1 know. 1 live in the dorm. I see them do it every day. When I try to prevent this phenomenon I amcalledall sorts of names. Locking the doors 24 hours a day is not going to solve the problem. If Texas A&M is so committed to my safety, why doesn’t it spenda little of its resources to install a check-in desk at the main entrance to my dorm? My friends who go to other Texas schools can’t believe we don’t already have some sort of receptionist arrangement, and frankly, I can’t believe it either. My parents can’t believe they’re shelling out an extra $86 each semester to build more dorms without effective security plans. That’sa pretty big bundle of disbelief to be overlooking. Locking the doors doesn’t keep the boogie man out. It just means 1 have to hike downstairs to get my pizza. Jennifer Maloney ’91 Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the light to edit littm for style and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signetm must include the classification, address and telephone number of the writer. lyFiO Faff Pale; irship nost s< he Mi« west Re told a g Step Politics leading Series 1 Peace c “Aut said, “j build i state f'c and pe dons ui Cute trustin] raeli re “Isra ians re; R. Si By A Shot 1 America become an Aryan Republic? a Todd Honeycutt Columnist I w f as sitting in my room one fine Texas springtime day, feeling kind of hot because of a lack of air conditioning, when I caught myself thinking of how great our campus is. We have grass and tre s and new parking garages and v - id i -s status and fine professors. ; was looking out my window and no ticing the people. Most of them were white. That reminded me of an article I had read in a recent issue of The Battalion about a man who goes by the name of Louis R. Beam Jr. I wish we had more political and social leaders like him. Beam has had an intriguing history, which is sad when you think about the quality of this man. He’s been in the Ku Klux Klan since the ‘60s, and he became the Grand Dragon of the Houston area. Later, he was listed in the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List. For what? Probably the main cause was for his unpopular ideas, along with his minor bending of various rules. Beam, you see, wants to form a na tional state for the white race, an Aryan Republic. The United States has been infil trated by inferior peoples. And because of this, we are having difficulties with our education, our political state, our economy, and our society in general. It is because America’s population is im pure that America is falling into the same status as other nations and failing to keep its former stature. For precisely these reasons, w r e must form a new nation of only white people. They art the superior race. In creating an Aryan Republic, we would not only save American values of justice and equality, but also return America to the greatness it once had. Think about it. By having an all-white nation, we would be better able to edu cate our youth, without having to slow down the rate of learning because of in ferior races’ educational problems. We would eliminate racial strife and vio lence which is predominant in today’s America. And we ourselves would not be discriminated against, a problem which has occurred because of those Communists who call themselves United States Congressmen. What better choice do we have than to create a nation of only the Aryan race? But there is a problem, you may say, of who to call white and who to call non white. That is simple to answer. Non white is obviously any person who is not of northwestern european descent. This includes Hispanics, blacks, Indians (both “native” American and Asian), Slavs, Poles, waps, Greeks, and Orien tals. But it is not limited to just those peoples. Non-white also includes athe ists, Communists, hippies, peace-lovers, and liberals. And God is behind the idea of an Aryan Republic. It says so in the Bible, I’m sure. The Jews are not God’s chosen people, nor are the Muslims or Hindus or any of those other Christian-hating religions. Everything points to an all-white na tion, superior to all others -— powerful, patriotic, pure, good. Tell me now, what’s wrong with this picture? All of the above is dry sarcasm, used to point out a grave wrong which is oc curring now, in this land of America. Mr. Beam really does want to create this Aryan Republic within the United States. This is racism, Nazism, — all fu eled by hate. Racism is a product of diseased minds who do not see anything wrong with ha tred against another human being, es pecially if that human being has a dif fer ent skin color or cultural background. The perceived differences between various peoples is not caused by inherent inequalities or inferiorities, but by the wrongs of our social and po litical class system. I do not want to run racism into the ground. It has been discussed a great deal this semester. But can you actually overexpose an issue about wfiich noth ing has been done? Racism is still predominant in our cul- fusing to acknowledge its existence, by ture, whether we are blind to it or not. saying that you don’t do it, you allow the And the fault of its existence is not due ^ ire lo continue to burn, solely to those who blatantly pat tit ipate Someday you’ll wonder how the in racism. Racism is to be blamed on all Aryan Republic came about. The possi- of us. By allowing racism to occur, by re- bility is not that improbable. If you are true to yourself, you will know wholo blame. Todd Honeycutt is a sophomorepsy chology major and a columnist for Jk Battalion. Differences between leaders will force changes in Cuba The biggest news on the international front recently has been Mikhail Gorba chev’s visit to Cuba for meetings with Fi del Castro and other Communist Party leaders. Because of the ideological dif ferences between the two comrades-in- arms, watching Fidel give a “bear-hug” to Mikhail, watching the Gorbachevs ride through the streets of Havana with Castro, and watching Mikhail shaking hands with the other Cuban leaders was very amusing. Although Castro greeted Gorbie with a warm-hearted, “welcome-to-the-oasis- among-capitalist-imperialist-scum” hug, Mikhail just didn’t seem to care. It was almost as if Gorbachev wasn’t sure who this Castro guy was. He remained stiff lipped and cold during his tour of Ha vana while Castro had an uncharacteris tically large, tooth-showing smile and was enthusiatically waving at mobs of cheering spectators. It looked as if Castro was bending over backwards to promote Cviba and its people as a sort of Communist Disney land. Obviously, he wants to impress Gorbachev and keep this visit on an en thusiastic, jubilant note, and avoid any of those uncomfortable, confrontational feelings that were rumored before Gor bachev arrived. Castro and Gorbachev don’t see eye to eye when it comes to Communist re form. Castro, as can be expected, let his opposition to perestroika be known. Yesterday a group of Cubans wanted to assemble in front of the Soviet Embassy to ask Castro to adopt some of Gorba chev’s reforms. Rather than state his reasons for not accepting perestroika, Castro simply had those people thrown in jail. He doesn’t see any reason to change the system he has been building for 30 years. The Cuban people seem to be content — not necessarily happy, as is obvious by the large number of dissi dents, but they do seem content. Castro has worked for years to acheive this level of content in his country, and doesn’t want to jeopardize it. Gorbachev, on the other hand, has a different story. The Soviet Union is in an economic deadlock, experiencing no growth while its resources diminish. The people are unhappy and see noth ing great in the future for their children or country. So despite his facade of wanting world peace, Gorbachev had no choice but to reform the Soviet eco nomic and social system. He had to give people a sense of some freedom and move the economy’s focus away from building weapons. Nov/, Gorbachev comes to Cuba to es pouse some reforms for communism to better their countries. But Castro doesn’t buy it; he thinks Gorbachev’s re forms are too much like capitalism, the institution Castro has spent 30 years brain-washing his people to hate. Be sides, he likes the way things are in Cuba, and why fix something that isn’t broken? The Soviet Union is clearly different from Cuba, and what works in one country may not work in the other. Bui the main difference Castro forgetsli look at is that Cuba is on the Sort Union’s payroll. Cuba is given $5billion a year by the Soviet Union to supportis system. This makes Castro the recipienl of the world’s largest welfare died With this kind of outside support itsni wonder the Cubans are content. Who gives the Soviet Union financial support like ihat? No one — that’s win they’ve been caving in economicallfi and Gorbachev has been forced to re form. Because Cuba has a $5 billion shekel from the economic erosion communisis causes, Castro feels secure with thesp tern there, even though he does owe! Soviets a mere $20 billion in defaulted loans that they are never going to see Without that safety net, Cuba woul face worse turmoil than the Soviet Union has seen. Castro doesn’t stop to ask himselfwb he needs all this continuing assistance!! his Communist structure is so great. He doesn’t want to change his system be cause there aren’t severe problems rigb now, but this system can’t support itself it can’t work without sucking monel from another country forever. Whl so great about that? Gorbachev can’t afford to maintain! failed economic system in his own cone try, but Castro expects him to keepCu ba’s system propped up. What will Got bachev do? Most likely he’ll cutbackon this perpetual financial aid, and tbf Communist system Castro has beconif so fond of will have to be reformed it Cuba. James Cecil is a senior economic major and a columnist for The Battal ion. 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 mmmm s? i r m rmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 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 rates 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- JegeStatiornra7784^1^^^^^^^^^^^^^ BLOOM COUNTY by Berke Breathd TH15 C0UU? 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