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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 7, 1989)
The Battalion OPINION We Wednesday, June 7,1989 MARoo/es Hcvzwt* Mail Call Lost in the library EDITOR: The Location Guide is one of the most useful handouts (printed). The Location Guide attempts to help users of the Sterling C. Evans Library find what they are looking for. However, I find that the diagram of the Library, located in the back of this handout, is confusing and misleading for Library users. For example, only elevators on the six story building are shown, although the four story annex also has elevators. In addition, there is no indication where the study rooms and graduate/faculty carrels are located. Basic student needs, like the location of photocopy machines and restrooms, are not illustrated. I strongly encourage you to revise the current diagram. I understand that for the sake of simplicity, some details must be left out. However, too many details have been left out, and the current diagram is misleading and unhelpful. Ericka Gonzalez-Lima Graduate student Romping Rob gets three stars It took some doing, but I finally got my hot little hands on a copy of the infa mous Rob Lowe video tape. Or at least a part of it. Lewis Grizzard Syndicated Columnist story during convention week. Outside of Jesse Jackson stealing the shotv' from Mike Dukakis, it was a pretty dull affair, the 1988 Democratic National Conven tion. In case you’ve been off the planet, movie actor Rob Lowe currently is the focus of possible legal actions in Atlanta after he and a male friend met two young things in the Club Rio, an after- hours Atlanta spot, back in July during the 1988 Democratic National Conven tion. you how I got a copy of the tape, but I got one. I can tell you, however, I had the lesbian scenes between the two women edited out because it’s against the law to be in possession of a tape showing a minor involved in sexual acts, and I wanted to keep my arrest record unblemished. And while Tm running around looking for something fresh to report to the reading public, the only story of any real interest was taking place across the street at the Club Rio. Club Rio is across the street from the Omni and the World Congress Center, site of the convention. What I saw was Rob Lowe and his pal performing various acts on a woman, I certainly couldn’t identify. During the tape, her face rarely comes into play. After watching the version of the tape I got, I had a couple of unanswered questions: 1. What was Rob Lowe doing at the convention in the first place? Did he nominate anybody? I don’t think so. The foursome, so the story goes, re tired to a hotel room and somebody set up a video camera and there were all sorts of sexual maneuvering—and the rest is a dreamboat show for Geraldo. I invited some of my friends over to watch the tape with me because I know of their interest in current affairs — such as global warming, China and any thing where people take their clothes off. 2. Is all this going to hurt the Demo crats in 1992? One can almost see Lee Atwater’s mind at work. Turns out one of the young women was only 16 at the time, and that gets into the area of sexual exploitation of a minor. The tape was vile. The tape was filthy. My friends loved it. Some of their reactions: But there’s more. The other young woman is 22, and she and the 16-year- old are alleged lesbian lovers. ‘Can you believe that?” ‘What are they doing now?’ 3. Why didn’t somebody think to put the video camera nearer the bed so you didn’t have to get so close to the TV screen to see all the action? The tape of the ensuing romp through Eroticville falls into the hands of the 16-year-old’s mother, who is su ing Lowe. Then, the cops get into the deal, and there might be criminal action against Lowe, who was in France at the Cannes film festival when this thing hit the fan. France is a great place to be when the newsfolk back home are busy discussing your kinkiness. —“I don’t believe I’m actually watch ing this.” My eyes are still blurred. Copyright 1989, Cowles Syndicate Poverty isn’t prett I L< Summer is here but, sadly, vacation is over. To make this self-imposed, dread fully short recess as eventful as possible, a friend and I decided to make a road trip. Belushi would have loved it. Chicago was our destination. Both Kevin, my traveling partner, and I are big baseball fans and we wanted to see some good games. You may then ask “Why Chicago?” The answer is simple. We thought it would be cheap and fun. We batted .500 on that one. Matt Me Burnett Columnist G meti mate sity year hibil Arlington Heights is located extreme north side of town, whei Comisky is on the extreme south Kevin and I certainly had a great time but came back penniless. In fact, my next 1500 pennies are owned by his Master Card. Whatever the case, the trip was worthwhile. We visited both ball parks in Chicago and a few others along the way. The trip was a stunning success; moreover, it was a great but sad learn ing experience. Kevin and I overestimated the dr time and arrived at the park earl)' the park, we both paused and tooh of the wretc hed environment surroui ing us. D deni una 1 cont but of tf tion: A pria appi pro! for ■ unlc psyc 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 clas sification, address and telephone number of the writer. Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words. Kevin and I are both college students. He attends Rice and 1, of course, attend A&M. Early in our trip we realized there is more to this country, and life in general, than the sheltered atmosphere to which we are exposed daily. Never in my life had 1 seentruep erty or filthy urban slums. Across freeway from Comisky and extend for miles in both directions were^ eminent sponsored projects. Trash everywhere. The air even seemed smell foul. After our brief pause, went to the baseball game and esca| from reality for a few hours. C s After the game, we walked bad D foui imp reta 1 afte College students are not, at all, a group representative of society.Fortu nately, most of us come from middle class families. Another fact is that most of us come from suburban or rural areas. 1 am from a small town southwest of Houston. On occasion, I have been exposed to poverty stricken areas. By this I mean that I, and others living in the town with me, may venture into the poor section of town. Mostly, though, we lead our lives completely oblivious to the struggle many people face daily for food, clothing and shelter. Once the typical college student arrives at school, his blinders to reality become perma nently attached. our car which, luckily, was parkedrc and tively near the ballpark. It was my to drive and, of course, we gotlos took Kevin and myself on a brief tom the south side of Chicago. As had b pened before the game, we were shock. I thought 1 had seen poverty fore, but this was horrible. of Cl B com suit Lim com trail hen Dal It seemed as if everything waspos The projects were horrible sights clows were either open exposing rooms’ unsightly contents, or they boarded. The grounds were dirty the streets were in ill repair. Thepo were everywhere. E jury mai nar Chicago Was an eye-opener. As we ar rived in Chicago and searched for our motel, we were exposed to a city which was much different from anything we had seen before. About 80 percent of the buildings seemed old. Very old. An old building can be a beautiful anachronism reflecting bygone days. However, this is not the case in Chicago. The old buildings are run-down and filthy, reflecting only poverty. Each city has its poor. Many haven t|ni atively large areasWf poor housing even a few government projects, cago was different. An entire sideof town was poor. Chicago has morep« than San Antonio has people. I thj fit found my way back to the freewayr • Kevin and I went home and slept, had happened when we wentintoCot isky, we cast aside all thoughts oftheti | rible sights we had seen, choosiny dwell on more positive things. ® I goi Don’t get me wrong, though. In the good areas of town, many of the build ings are restored to their former splen dor. Unfortunately, the good areas are outnumbered by the poor areas. Sadly, our society is doing the sat thing. Poverty in America is a proM that many see but have chosen to |Coi nore. With college students, the“ of tomorrow,” the situation is won Jim Wright and Rob Lowe—quite a pair to draw to. The Republicans can have a field day. Our motel was in Arlington Heights, a wealthy suburb sprawled on the fringes of the city. This area had all of the conveniences of home such as malls, theaters, good schools, nice restaurants and a low crime rate. Naturally, we felt comfortable there. Our culture shock somewhat abated. Few are ever exposed to the very nBCac problem of poverty. Sadly, my blind! to this horrible problem were removf leaving me to draw the conclusiond America’s policies are failing. After two days and two games at Wrigley Field, we decided to go see a game in Comisky Park, home of the White Sox. We were lucky enough to catch the annual Windy-city Classic which sports the only meeting between the Cubs and the Sox. We seem to neglect our own in fa' of worrying about South Africa, ama and other areas which should beyond our concern. Chicago forced! to realize this. I hope others will see also. Matt McBurnett is a junior elecP engineering major and a columnist I The Battalion. —“Let’s watch it again to see if we missed anything.” © tT8H HOvtjth W ‘Can I have some more of that popcorn: I must say the threesome on my tape had vivid imaginations, but I’m not cer tain why somebody wasn’t seriously in jured. But enough background. I can’t tell What bothers me is how I missed the The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Ellen Hobbs, Editor Juliette Rizzo, Opinion Page Editor Fiona Soltes, City Editor Drew Leder, Chuck Squatriglia, News Editors Steven Merritt, Sports Editor Kathy Haveman, Art Director 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. 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