The Battalion
OPINION
ST
Friday, Ju
Friday, June 23,1989
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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
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for
CORPUS
rier has be<
because his
ily harm” to
live for the
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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
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