The Battalion
OPINION
2
Th
W<
Wednesday, September 20,1989
Mail Call
Don’t burn the hell outta the cows!
EDITOR:
Every year someone proposes to move bonfire, as Scot
Walker did in his Sept. 18 column. I agree that bonfire poses
a fire hazard in its present location. However, the vague
solution of moving bonfire “across the tracks” to somewhere
on all that “undeveloped land over there” is not a solution at
all.
This way the present bonfire site can be turned into a
parking lot for all of the off-campus students whose parking
spaces were given to the increasing number of on-campus
students.
Vivian Rojas ’90
Thanks from our Chinese friends
EDITOR:
I cannot think of a single acre between the tracks and
2818 that isn’t put to use. The “undeveloped land” that is
always mentioned as a new site for bonfire happens to be the
classrooms for the College of Agriculture (Remember what
the A in A&M stands for?). Agriculture must be taught in a
practical situation. It cannot be taught by books alone.
After the June 4 Beijing Massacre, the China Club (the
Association of Chinese Students and Scholars at Texas A&M
University) established a “friends of Chinese students
foundation” and several donation-collecting stations in an
effort to raise money to help the families of our brothers and
sisters who laid down their lives for China’s democratic
In addition to serving as a teaching facility, the land is
used to raise a variety of domestic and exotic animals, crops
are raised to feed these animals, new experimental crops are
grown, new pesticides are field tested and the land is used for
even more. Just because land does not have a building on it
does not mean it is undeveloped or unused.
movement.
Moving the traditional bonfire to a place where bonfire
presents less of a safety hazard is a good idea. However, the
question is where should bonfire move to? Perhaps this is the
major reason why our University administration will not
discuss moving the bonfire site.
Since June 6, a total of $8,815.96 has been collected,
including $2,000 from the Texas Agricultural Experiment
Station. The China Club wishes to express its sincere
gratitude to those American friends and other friends of
Chinese students for their moral and financial support. The
warm hands you stretched out to Chinese students greatly
helped ease their suffering and sorrow and made them aware
that they are not alone in the struggle for democracy and
freedom, thus strengthening their resolution to strive for
final victory.
Donna J. Wallace
Vet Student
Parking on bonfire site?
EDITOR:
This is regarding the editorial about the bonfire site on
Monday, Sept. 18.
I completely agree with Scot Walker. Bonfire is an
imposing fire hazard and it should be moved across the
tracks.
Chinese students and scholars at A&M held a meeting on
July 8. At the meeting, a five-member executive committee,
whose duty is to take care of the fund and send it to the
families of Beijing Massacre victims, was elected. Another
committee has been formed to supervise the work of the
executive committee; and some regulations have been
established to ensure proper use of the fund.
There is, however, another reason why bonfire should be
moved. Bonfire has on reserve a large vacant lot (the bonfire
site) that could be turned into a much-needed parking lot.
Texas A&M boasts of being one of the largest campuses in
the nation, as far as acreage is concerned. Well, let’s put those
acres to use and move bonfire to that undeveloped land
across the tracks, away from business and residential areas.
Due to the current situation in China, it may take years
before this fund can be safely sent to those who need it. With
all the difficulties ahead, we Chinese students and scholars
are determined to fulfill this task, and also aid China’s
democratic movement.
Tianhan Xue
China Club
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 classification, address
and telephone number of the writer.
Adam says ‘real’ student body
holds key to A&M’s future
^ ' r " * ■ . * o
There has been an avalanche of inter
est in traditions lately. Because of an
abundance of well-publicized attacks,
many are concerned about the status of
certain traditions at Texas A&M. There
have been articles bashing bonfire and
others questioning the sanctity of the
Corps. People have expressed dismay
that individuals can hold these opinions
at good of A&M.
from the same areas with similar back
grounds and similar amounts of money.
Monotonous? The entire course of stu
dent life was monotonous and simple to
control.
Adam
Mathieu
Columnist
I do not see these as isolated attacks,
but as an indication of the changing
composition of the University. I also be
lieve that the voices behind these attacks
will control campus policy within a few
years.
I resent the way the Corps per
sistently bullies the rest of the student
population. This desperate group has
attemted to manipulate the thoughts of
the student body as it did in the 1940s.
However, in 1984, the Corps rep
resented a paltry 5.7 percent of the total
University population. This was part of
a 10-year decline from 10 percent in
1974. I do not believe that there has
been a significant increase in Corps en
rollment since that time.
same reasons that other people belong
to fraternities and sororities. The only
difference is that Corps members pay
for their membership with a loss of per
sonal freedom and time, while those in
sororities and fraternities pay with ac
tual money.
There is now a joy to this school that
lies in its newfound diversity. Women
constitute roughly 41 percent of the stu
dent body. The minority and interna
tional enrollments are increasing. The
percentage of graduate students in
creased one-half of a percentage point
last year. A&M ranks in the top 10 in re
search grants, total endowments and in
coming National Merit Scholars. The
purpose of this list of statistics and
trends is simple. People are coming to
A&M for educational reasons.
However, fraternity and sorority en
rollment has increased tremendously in
the last 10 years. By conservative esti
mates, today there are approximately
3,000 Greeks at this University, which
amounts to about 7.5 percent of the
population.
Both the Corps and the Greek groups
are organizations of roughly similar
people with roughly similar aims, and I
think that the analogy between them is
both reasonable and accurate. However,
campus opinion is most clearly opposed
to those in Greek organizations assum
ing the dominant role in student life. In
essence, the Corps is simply a large, co
ed fraternity. Why, then, should we al
low one large, co-ed fraternity, the
Corps, to control virtually every occur
rence on this campus?
There are a large number of people
who are totally unaware of the old tradi
tions. This is not bad. Many traditions
will be retained with all of the old fer
vor. Many will not. If this new, dynamic
group loses interest in a tradition, then
let it die. The good ones will be retained
and bad ones will be replaced. Tradi
tions are at one time made. The time
has come for the real student body,
what we now call “non-regs,” to decide
for itself what the future holds for
Texas A&M.
Only a small percentage of Corps
members actually use the Corps as a
first step to a military career. For the
rest, it is essentially a social support
structure. The difficult initiation draws
the individuals together. They live and
socialize with the others who endured it.
They profit from the superior experi
ence of older members. In short, they
belong to the Corps for many of the
There are Corps members on tele
vision. There are Corps members on
this University’s prospecti. There is not
a sporting or university-life event the
Corps does not dominate.
Adam Mathieu is a senior chemistry
major and a columnist for The Battal
ion.
Mattox: from oolitica
pussy cat to polecat
r
lit
Texas political folks were holy-cowin’
and gee-whizzin’ up a storm all weekend
over the results of the new Richard
Murray poll for the Houston Chronicle
that puts Jim Mattox a dim and distant
third in the Democratic gubernatorial
primary, behind both Ann Richards and
Mark White.
Murray, the state’s most-respected
pollster, puts Richards at 35 percent,
White at 23 and Mattox at eight percent,
with 25 percent undecided. A poll taken
this far out is not usually much of an in
dicator of how a political race will turn
out — it reflects mostly name recogni
tion — but as Murray himself said,
“These are very bad numbers for some
one as well-known as the attorney gen
eral.” And they should help Richards’
fund-raising efforts considerably well.
ma
twc
as
Molly
Ivins
Syndicated Columnlr
ear
I
Pas
kill
Bill
I
a series of articles about just whoamoi
our very fin state lawmakers has bet
living high on the money in their car.
paign funds — especially those,
Schlueter, who have never even ha
opponent.
Mike Sharlot of the University of
Texas Law School predicted that Mat
tox’s reaction to the bad news would be
“No more Mr. Nice Guy.” A bet placed
on that premise is likely to be a sound
investment. Now we get to watch Mattox
get mean, and he ain’t been playing
patty-cake to this point.
The morning after the first articles:
peared, federal agents — IRs accords,
to souixes, Treasury according to
— were in the Secretrary of State’sd
free crawling all over Schlueter’s cat
paign-contribution records. Schluett
announced his retirement a few da
later, attributing it to his concern fort
two young sons. “I need to spend
time with them,” said Schlueter
was divorced four years ago. “That’su
No. 1, primo reason.” And, he addec
“I’ve go to get out and start makingaiii
ing.”
A smarter move for the A.G. would
be to take a chunk of that big war chest
he’s got and to put a bunch of ads mak
ing him look cuddly all over television.
Of course, when Mattox is being amia
ble, his resemblance to Buddy Hackett
becomes even more noticeable.
Not to take anything away froi
Schlueter’s affection for his kids, bii
what we have here is hardly a coil
cidence of timing.
In a coda to last week’s Mattox-
inspired flap over the alleged spy alleg
edly planted in his campaign by some
minion of the opposition, a group of
about 30 Ann Richards campaign work
ers went to have lunch in the Chinese
The Dallas Morning News manage:
to publish a farewell interview will
Schlueter, full of what Billy Waym
Clayton would call “heart-rendering
quotes about his concern for his ciii
dren, without ever mentioningtk
proximate cause of his resignation
restaurant in Austin at which the al
leged spying occurred. They were all
cleverly disguised in identical Groucho
Marx nose-glasses-and-eyebrows masks
and they slunk into the restaurant sur
reptitiously so hardly anyone noticed
them at all, really.
Lest you think the lobby is desok
about the impending retirement ofsud
a true-blue pal of'theirs as Schluett:
comes word from the ungrateful men
bers of the Third House that many
them are not in the least unhappy tose
Schlueter go, on accont they were tire:
of getting hit up by the guy.
On the Republican side, the Murray
Poll puts Kent Hance well ahead with 33
percent, Clayton Williams at 12 percent,
Jack Rains and Tom Luce way behind,
but with a much larger pool of unde-
cideds — 51 percent. That reads like a
name-recognition list.
Ap;
ney
hav
den
ney
S
phe
dec
tion
P
ley
tern
old
nos<
phe
was
P
Cha
two
nev<
Ir
I
c
t
By
Of
wh
nes
thr
On to other matters, the power of the
press is seldom evident in an “A-causes-
B” sense —and there is even a per
suasive case to be made that the press
doesn’t actually have much power, but
every now and then, cause-and-effect is
too obvious to overlook and, so let us
pause to salute the Austin American-
Statesman for the recently-announced
retirement of State Rep Stan Schlueter
of Killeen, easily the most-feared mem
ber of the Texas House for the past few
sessions.
In fairness to Schlueter, it shoukfi
noted that he was always one of tin
brightest and most able members oft
House, and as chairman of the 1
Ways and Means Committee, he
times performed the most thanklesstai
in all of government, writing taxi:
crease bills, in 1984, 1986 and 191
Since he is about to depart, I pass in
lence over the rest of his record.
In other news, the funniest reactii
to the Statesman’s series on who us
campaign funds for living expen:
came from poor Bill Haley of Center
new state senator who may have r
aged accidently to violate a state
while proceeding in what he thoug!
was good faith.
Bagged him, is what the Statesman
did. That’s one they can put right up on
their wall. The paper has been running
Haley, who has an East Texas acce:
thick enough to cover a parking lot,s»
he put down the first article in the sen;
and announced to his wife, “May-ry,
are real nice folks, but we are goin
jay-il.”
How does this large fraternity retain
the authority to govern this campus?
The answer is one simple word: tradi
tion. Texas A&M could easily maintain
tradition in the “Of Army” days, be
cause there was a relatively static, homo
geneous population. Members of the
same families came here, as did people
Unaware, The 'Happv-Go-Luckv" Stodcnts Did Nor
See The Drerded 'First £xrm" Monster Sneawng
Up On Them Until Ir k/ps loo Urrer...
Sm
ten
day
ers
inn
nes
for
Let
ist:
tok
Del
whi
pro
fin;
bus
I
con
nee
pel:
Act
fori
dor
par
nes
1
cati
con
65
trie
dus
sm;
srm
our
/
is i
Spr
suit
De\
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Scot Walker, Editor
Wade See, Managing Editor
Juliette Rizzo, Opinion Page Editor
Fiona Soltes, City Editor
Ellen Hobbs, Chuck Squatriglia,
News Editors
Tom Kehoe, Sports Editor
Jay Janner, Art Director
Dean Sueltenfuss, Lifestyles 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, ediung 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 SI7.44 per semester, S34.62
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
lege Station TX 77843-4 111.
MAN/ WHAT PiN
SEMESTER. I WfWIA 6CT _
SOME BEER. AMD PRRT^: