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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 1989)
The Battalion OPINION ST Friday, Ju Friday, June 23,1989 MAft&VUBS rUbe ^ sticking' to the higfh road in the ^overnor 5 ^ ,4 | Decision to censo, is individual right Univt By Kelly S. First we had the moral majority tell ing us what to watch on IV, now we have Big Brother — also known as Big Business — telling us instead. Surprisingly, some ol the same ideas which inspired the Chinese student movement for freedom are being chal lenged in America by corporate censorship. SENIOR STA As if we aren’t smart enough for our selves to choose what to watch or read, someone else is peering over our shoul ders and trying to decide for us. A recent letter campaign by a con cerned housewife to boycott sponsors of Fox Broadcasting Company’s program “Married with Children” has resulted in a bombardment of copycat boycotts by concerned companies. utes,” “Nightline,” “20/20” and Hours.” These programs have rti fined the meaning of investigative^ nalism, uncovering corruption; ing us valuable insight into our soot Perhaps it is this honesty and ii some companies fear. Mascot mistreatment must end Companies are fearful of a consumer backlash because of advertising during inappropriate programming or running columns of news figures who advertise products which have nothing to do with their writings. The faculty senate at the University of Houston showed their opposition to the replacement of the school’s recently deceased mascot with a new cougar through an unanimous informal vote Wednesday. The former mascot, Shasta V, was put to sleep on May 28 at the ripe old age of 9 years. She suffered complica tions associated with kidney failure. The faculty senate has the right idea. There is no humane reason to keep an other undomesticated animal penned up only to amuse the crowds at sporting events. Supporters of the plan to replace the animal have their reasons for wanting a new cat. Most often, they cite tradition. The university has kept a cougar mascot caged on campus since 1947. “The University of Houston has so few traditions, this is one that should re main intact,” Mikal Belicove, president of the UH student body, told a Houston Post reporter. Tradition is a nice thing. We know all about tradition at Texas A&M. But, a cruel tradition is one that should be stopped. The university will not be left without a mascot. They will still have a guy in a cougar suit to entertain the crowds and represent the Cougars at football games and other events. Sure, it may be cruel to dress a guy up in a cat suit and make him dance around on a football field in the heat of August, but at least the guy in the suit has consented to be there. The animal had no choice. Supporters also say that keeping ani mals at the school is no harder on the animal than keeping the animals in cap tivity anywhere else. Don’t tell that to Shasta V. Not that you could, since she’s dead at age 9. Cougars can (and do) live in captivity as long as 19 years. The average time a cougar spends at the University of Houston is 8.4 years — about the same amount of time a stu dent would spend in undergraduate and graduate school getting a Ph.D. Animal rights activists are fighting to stop the cruelty. The faculty senate has voiced an informal opinion, and will further discuss the issue to replace the cougar in the fall. But it will be students, both current and former, who will decide whether Shasta (may she rest in peace) will be succeeded. That’s because UH does not allow university funds to be spent to keep its mascot. Donations from students, former stu dents, and students’ families keep the animal alive, keep food in its cage and keep its cage from falling apart. And the school’s president, Richard Van Horn, has already said that a new cougar will not be purchased until a new, more “high-tech” habitat is built. The campaign for the new habitat has been going on for two years now, and the school has yet to raise the $125,000 needed for its construction. Donations are dwindling even more since there is no longer a live Shasta to put in it. That unbuilt, unfunded habitat may keep the university from getting a new cougar to represent them. And that’s certainly good news for cougars. It may not be such good news for those supporting the purchase of a fe line to replace Shasta, but college-edu cated people should have something better to do than gawk at a caged cat (safely, from the other side of the bars). Ellen Hobbs is a junior journalism major and editor of The Battalion. So instead of making carefully thought out and cautious decisions, companies are taking censorship into their own hands. We certainly don’t need another witch hunt to gun down freedom of the press and our right to choose for our selves what we want to see. That’s why we have channel changers and the abil ity to turn the page if we don’t like what we see. I sense that all these companbi trying to jump on the bandwagon censorship. For some people, freed! of the press applies only to views i t jj e f a n w | ier endorse, not views they oppose, have the valuable right to agree of agree publicly with the views of thef ernment, or powerful corporatioi This is what the American ideal of fii dom is all about, but there areata power hungry tyrants or misguidedst righteous zealots eager to take rights away from us. The Moral Majority recently banded, announcing it hadaccoi plished its mission of censorship suppression of opposing views. Ins of letting its fanaticism rest in p corporations have revived the min sness. Domino’s Pizza has stopped advertis- ing during the program “Saturday Night Live” because of the show’s risque (but relatively tame) humor. This com pany has the right to advertise (or not advertise) where it pleases, but ironically this announcement came out about the same time as the controversy hit Fox’s comedy. This Khomeini makes hell of fame week, several companies an nounced hit lists of programs they in tend to boycott. According to the Cable News Network, M&M Mars candy com pany has over 50 programs on its hit list. Pan American World Airways has boy- cotted Star Trek: The Next Genera tion” for some unexplained reason. And Mitsubishi has boycotted all programs dealing with World War II. Just by coin cidence, Mitsubishi was the company that manufactured the dreaded Japa nese Zero warplane that fought aerial battles with American planes during the While it’s true that we cannot vulgar language or perverted sen TV, we also cannot decide exactly* is or isn’t “proper” for other people As a subscriber to the Bryan-Col Station Eagle, I disagree with thef pany’s decision to discontinue the umns of Linda Ellerbee. She did compromise her integrity any than the Eagle compromises its owe accepting ads which appear as ne«t the business page. Also, an issue which has caused n debate on campus is The Battalion cision to run the Khomeneni men* service ads for the Society of 1[ JI Students. Although I deplore the''• fanaticism and hatred of the L priest, we must remember freedot the press means the right to msan The ad is a prime example of our j tern of freedom. Even though " e strongly oppose the views of After the University o died in May, quandary — $125,000 to cage for a ne the tradition as the holder Slowly, ur country that for a mascot lion, or LSI- placed them i imal or a pen mal, citing s reasons. UH dressed in a c games, but tl ered its rnascc The dilerr continuing th school down t said a decisio Suj for CORPUS rier has be< because his ily harm” to live for the Thomas Nueces Cot bond on th( Justice oi Zule on We It is the against sor mitted acqu ities said. AIDS, fo caused by c tern. In its i ble to fatal < The con war. The devil called his management staff to order. “Men . . . and women, of course,” he began. “Will you please take your seats.” The devil did not like the idea of women in management, but after months of pressure from various she-devil rights groups, he had been forced to relent and name female exec utives. “As you may have heard,” the devil went on as the room fell silent, “the Aya tollah Khomeini arrives in hell this af ternoon. “It is not every day we recieve some one with a background such as his. “What I am looking for from you guys — and gals, too, of course — are some suggestions regarding the appro priate punishment for this mad despot. “How about you, Ursor?” “I say we put the Ayatollah into the dung pit, head first, next to Hitler,” said Ursor. “I think not,” said the devil. “I want to keep Hitler alone. Being head down in a dung pit isn’t nearly as wretched if you know somebody else in there with you. “Not bad,” said the devil, “but it’s still Lewis Grizzard Syndicated Columnist not exactly what I’m looking for. Yes, Ms. Duralia?” The devil did not particularly care for Ms. Durbalia, whom he considered a troublemaker. It was Ms. Durbalia who led the other female executives to de mand that the devil end the rule that forced female employees to keep their tails covered while in the office or when out representing The Firm. But she did have an obvious mean streak. “I say we put the sucker behind the Door of Gore,” she said. “And?” asked the devil. “Put bamboo reeds under his toe nails,” said Ms. Durbalia. “Go on.” “And cut off his fingers one at a time with a dull butcher knife.” “I’m beginning to like it,” smiled the devil. Ms. Durbalia continued. “While we’re doing all that to him, we’ll make him listen to ‘The Satanic Verses’ being read aloud.” The devil heartily approved and thought to himself, “Perhaps women know a little bit more about how to tor ture a man than I gave them credit for.” Copyright 1989, Cowles Syndicate 1 iogiams such as “ The Morton Downey Jr. Show” and “Geraldo Rive ra,” which have become synonymous with sleazy tabloid T V,” were on the list. This is somewhat understandable, but nevertheless, regrettable. What doesn’t make sense is that award-win ning news programs with good reputa tions and respect from journalists have also appeared on corporate hit lists. 1 hese news programs include “60 Min- oppose they still have the right to spea America. If this right is taken a" 1 ' ther by a totalitarian government gious groups or corporations, e\^ most close-minded individuals" nally realize the value of fr ee 0 speech and freedom of choice As with all columns, °P‘ n ' 0 ^ pressed by Guest Columnists a necessarily those of The Batta sons interested in submitting^ umns should contact the Opi n,otl Editor at 845-3314. 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, Gity Editor Drew Leder, Chuck Squatriglia, News Editors Steven Merritt, Sports Editor Katny Haveman, Art Director Hal Hammons, Makeup Editor 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: Fhe Battalion, 230 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College Station, fX 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 77843-4111.