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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 10, 1989)
The Battalion OPINION B; Tuesday, October 10, 1989 Opinion Page Editor Juliette Rizzo 845-33 Lesc Homosexuals deserve Mail Call respect, not prejudice Equality should start early ro EDITOR: Affirmative action has a place in today’s America, in Texas and at A&M.TU place is at the beginnings — the starting line. Last week I questioned the tolerance of the American people and of the read ership of this newspaper. Today I would like to test that tolerance by writ ing on a subject that I feel deserves im mediate attention, the question of ho mosexual rights. The time to view the homosexual as an acceptable member of society has come. I think that we have all seen the devastating effects of ignoring this im portant segment of society. The AIDS concern never reached full tilt until het erosexuals started being infected. The virus had already existed for several years among the (primarily male) homo sexual population. But then it was fine because it was simply killing “fags”. Some went to the absolutely ridiculous extreme and said that God was in some way involved. This ignorance is perhaps the greatest culprit in the spread of this terrible disease. Adam Mathieu Columnist do not choose their sexual orientations, just as heterosexuals do not choose theirs. Apparently, the roots of a ten dency toward homosexuality are pre sent before the age of six. Homosexual ity is as normal to a homosexual as heterosexuality is to a heterosexual. Homosexuals deserve equal rights. In fact, I do not see how we can deny rights to these people.//omosexua/ Behavior- A Modern Reappraisal states that be tween five and ten percent of all adult males in Western culture are homosex ual while between three and five per cent of all adult females are homosex- u a 1. These figures show that homosexuals by no means constitute a small segment of society. They are a group that demands consideration. This book makes another interesting, well-supported point — homosexuals I included the facts about the origin of homosexuality for the benefit of the less easily persuaded members of the readership. From a political standpoint, it is absolutely unimportant whether the homosexual chooses his or her sexual nature or not. Homosexuals should not be apologetic to anyone. Their lifestyle is not harmful to anyone, except them selves, thanks to an intolerant, puritani cal society. Society has no right to inter vene in the romatic affairs of two adults. It also has no right to make a loving relationship difficult. It would sooner allow a person of one sex to marry an abusive member of another than two al low two kind members of the same sex to perform the same act. This is a sad fact. It is far easier for a person to be abusive to his or her spouse than it it is fora person to be a homosex ual. When Nazis or the Ku Klux Klan march, they get less heat than when gays march to declare their rights. In many parts of this country, the beliefs of vi cious organizations like the two just mentioned are more acceptable than homosexuality. This is an excellent com ment on the state of American society. We live in one of those parts of the country where racism is more accepted than homosexuality. I would now like to salute, in this public forum, the 1 1 members of the Gay Student Services who had the courage to appear for that organization’s picture in the Aggieland. I think everyone, regardless of sexual orientation, should at least respect their courage. T hat these people would risk the terrible alienation and abuse that their action surely generated, impresses me. How’ can one say that homosexual ity is a trivial thing if people like these are willing to suffer grave consequences so that they will gainjust a modicum of respect? Homosexuals are deserving of all the rights of heterosexuals. They should be allowed to marry, share property, and generally live without discrimination. They are a significant section of the American population and should be accorded all the rights that this suppos edly entails. Adam Mathieu is a senior chemistry major and a columnist for The Battal ion. ife’s jicted aturt nday )avid ifessoi iversil livorc a jot Some Texas high schools are pretty good. More are pretty bad, andnotm® of the good ones serve predominantly black or Hispanic neighborhoods. Therct good case for easing admissions standards for students from such backgrounds despite all of the disadvantages, this student is anywhere close to ready to attend A&M, he or she probably has more brains and grit than a marginal prospectus had all the opportunities but made little of them. It makes sense to provide these students extra help in the summer beforetliti start and during their first year. After all, the state is just making up for its to provide a good secondary education the first time around. It even makessenst to provide financial help all the way to graduation. The wider world ofjobsand ^jjj, wealth has a poor record as far as fairness to blacks and Hispanics isconcernedl Scholarships can offset the damage this does to these students’ opportunitiesin higher education. So where is affirmative action out of place? At the finish line, of course.lt would be f arcial to extend the dubious practice of “curving” the grades of minorities on civil service exams into the classroom or the registrar’s office.Thetij is likewise no good case to be made for affirmative action decisions on promotion and pay for persons who have been on the job long enough f or their individual :rewe merits and weaknesses to show up. be si What this means for you at The Battalion is that you ought to reconsideryoinff^" 1 “merit only” policy for taking on beginners. You may well be missing somebody with more ultimate potential. As members of your staff mature, or fail todoso, you will be able to make decisions on the basis of individual merit. Douglas A. Hensley Professor of Mathematics es of fogy a filler . Elio dthn: What the e make Fencing needs higher priority Affirmative action justified Let me start by saying that I applaud Scot Walker’s courage in discussing an important issue like affirmative action and his willingness to share his own be liefs. Too often people are afraid to touch on such issues because they are afraid of the conflict it can arouse and afraid of saying the wrong thing for fear of being labeled. Charles Howard always be 10 or 20 who are “qualified” and should therefore be able to handle the work. EDITOR: Mr. T homas’s cartoon of October 2 has pointed out some of the many incongruities at Texas A&M University. The current condition of the fencing room and fencing in general are good examples supporting his pointed portrayal of funding priorities on campus. The University prides itself on its traditions,and yet a martial art sanctioned by the NCAA is treated, at best, as an afterthought. It is curious that the Corps carries sabres which they are not even trained to properly use, because the Athletic Department offers neither sabre nor epee’. As proof of this contention, one has only to look at the floor in the fencing room. The surface is slick, and therefore dangerous. Aside from the factthatit prevents students from practicing the sport correctly, it creates the potential for someone becoming seriously injured. The surface is in poor condition by any standard, and yet the only action the Athletic Department has committed itselftoi to stop waxing the floor! A look at our archrival, the University of Texas, is also instructive. UTisthe favorite whipping boy for the Corps and others, because it supposedly lacks tradition and spirit. While A&M continues to only adequately fund a few sports benefiting few, UT has hired a fencing master to provide full, well-rounded Julie 'he Ba Irgens. Lnfort program for the student body in general. It is a sad fact that ihany universitiestawd and the size of A&M provide much more varied and complete programs for the al p Mr. Guest Columnist His pro-affirmative action statement shows he has been willing to listen to and learn about minority issues. Cer tainly women and minorities are very much “stuck” in the secondary job mar ket (lower paying, less secure, less edu cation needed) as compared to white males who dominate the primary job market (better pay, more secure, more educational demand, more power). the positions which control the commu nity’s resources. If there is a pothole in a typical minority neighborhood and a pothole in a typical white neighboor- hood, which one will be filled first? One way in which we can loosen the grip of the white male club is to use af firmative action. But, as Scot Walker pointed out in his editorial, there is a feeling that this leads to less qualified people getting the jobs and also leaves white males feeling frustrated over the loss of job opportunities. It is particularly at this point where racism and sexism rear their ugly heads, as very subjective criteria are used to choose w'ho will be hired. In many cases the final ranking will be relatively arbi trary and in reality person number 20 can handle the job a well as person num ber one.By the way, this is where affir mative action usually occurs and so I must wonder if one can truly propose that less “qualified” or “unqualified” people are being hired as a result of af firmative action. student body in general. But again this is only proof of whatTvir. Thcffiias hinted - the Athletic Department, like several other institutions on campus, is for the alumni and not for the students. Lawrence Mott Graduate student A&M is family A model which has always helped me to understand the position of women and minorities in this country was put forward in the 1968 Civil Rights Digest by Robert Terry. In it he refers to what he calls the “white male club.” This club is firmly rooted in the infrastructure of our society by four strong forces. These forces are power, values, resources and control of resources. As a wTiite male I must admit that this was also my initial response. However, I have learned there are a couple of other points to consider when responding in this fashion. First, w hite males tremendously dom inate positions of power in this country. They are the leaders and administrators of both industry and government. Sec ond, white male values permeate our so ciety and are generally held to be supe rior to the values and beliefs held by women and minorities. First, there is a popular myth that ev ery job or occupation has a specific or unique set of qualifications. In fact any job or occupation can be approached and successfully completed in a number of ways by different types of people. When a position becomes open the per son responsible for filling that position makes their own judgments in regard to the qualifications needed to best fulfull the function involved. In regard to the frustration aroused by affirmative action programs I can only relate my own experience. I have lost an advancement opportunity or two because of affirmative action and I would like to think that each time it hap pened this society moved a little closer to true equality among people. Additio nally, it is more than likely that as a white male I had an easier time finding another job or school than the minority or woman w ho w r as helped by affirma tive action. Charles Howard is a doctoral stu dent in the Counseling Psychology Program and a guest columnist for The Battalion EDITOR: In response to Kevin Thomas’ article in the October 2 issue of The Battalm would like to say that not all traditionalists attend Texas A&M for its greattral tions. I am a Hispanic, non-reg, sophomore mechanical engineering major A| came to A&M to receive a top notch education. The fact that A&M has manygm traditions was just another selling point for the University. I have friends who all tend other schools and in no way do they experience the f eeling of family thatwl as Aggies feel for each other. You seem to think that traditions such as bonfire and Silver Taps are tokj movements we endure only because they are the “norm.” Well, let me set w straight on the feelings of many others who hold these and other traditionssacrfdl Many Aggies work on bonfire and attend Silver Taps because of our love for Ail and our love for each other. When we stand next to someone at Silver Tapsoj 'work side by side at bonfire, we feel the pain that often comes with the loss oil family member and the joy that comes from knowing a job worth doing is wonll doing well. Yes, Mr. Thomas, each and every tradition here at A&M has its own spcffil place in someone’s heart. For you to come out and slander the feelings of even pal of the student body is not only w rong but is bad journalism as well. The Battalm should realize that the purpose of the opinion page is to present the feelings I both sides of an issue. Michael Acosta ’92 Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit lettersp '. and length, but will make even' effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and must mduh\ classification, address and telephone number of the writer. of Third, white males possess most the resources in this country. For in stance, a few years ago it w r as found that the average w hite family had $40,000 in savings, while the average Hispanic family had about $1,200, and the aver age black family had about $400. Inevitably there are a number of sub jective decisions made that reflect the values and beliefs of the person who does the hiring. Of course it is more than likely that the person doing the hiring is a white male and/or a person who has accepted white male values as the norm. Lastly, white males control the coun try’s resources, because they both pos sess the resources and because they hold Additionally, once the “necessary” qualifications have been established there are usually a number of people who meet them. In other words, if 100 people apply for a job there will nearly 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 Bmtnlion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspa per operated as a community service to Texas A&M and Brvan-College Station. Opinions expressed in The Bullalion 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 anti photographs classes svithin the Department of Journalism. The Battalion is published Monday through Friday during Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holidas and examination periods. Mail subscriptions arc $17.44 per semester. $34.62 per school year and $36.44 per full sear. Advertising rates furnished on request. Our address: The Battalion. 230 Reed McDonald. Texas A&M University. College Station. TX 77843-1111. 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. -TMoMAS 'THU (cTj)