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The Battalion
OPINION
Wednesday, Novembers, 1989
Racist acts not
tolerated here
Once again Students Against Apartheid has built its shanty,
and once again racial slurs have appeared on it.
Although racists should have the right to voice their opinions
— the same as those opposed to racism — it is when those racist
opinions translate into racist acts that toleration must stop. If peo
ple want to express racist beliefs, they should choose non-violent,
non-destructive methods to do so. Vandalism, harassment and dis
crimination have no place at A&M.
The Battalion Editorial Board
The continuing saga of Aggies Against Everythin!
Gi
EDI
The meeting of Aggies Against Ev
erything, the governing body over all
A&M protest organizations, was drag
ging on longer than I’d expected. After
hearing the entire committee of Aggies
Against Life had committed suicide,
the president called for a short break.
People were finally beginning to retake
their seats and the group started quiet
ing down.
The president took his place at the
front and said, “Now let’s hear the first
report from the new sub-committee,
Aggies Against The Wall.”
A man stood from the audience and
said, “We had our first few meetings
and are still not sure what the purpose
of our group is. But we all unani
mously agree that it’s a really cool
name for a protest organization. When
we do finally latch onto a cause, we’ll
inform the rest of you.”
Timm
Doolen
Asst. Opinion Page Editor
Against Violence asked “What if peo
ple are inside of the building at the
time?”
The AAA thairman responded,
“Well I guess it’d be pretty hard for
them to give any more abortions, now
wouldn’t it?
mittee, ripped apart, talked about, pas
teurized, memorialized and finally
buried under ground. We think that
was a great lack of accomplishment.”
He continued, “We did, however,
agree by general consent that the direc
tion of our group was solid and should
not be changed, and we passed a strict
resolution that we are definitely going
to have a nine-hour, marathon meeting
on Saturday. We hope to discuss seve
ral things, including when our next
meeting will be, the quality of the hors
d’oeuvres and if the wallpaper in the
meeting room is conducive to good
meetings. We hope to get nothing do
ne,” the chairman said.
The president went on,“Next we’ll
hear from Aggies Against Abortion.”
The chairman of that sub-committee
stood up and said, “In response to the
liberals of this University, who insist on
claiming their own rights and not let
ting us do it for them, we’ve begun tak
ing steps to impose the right way of
doing things on others.”
The president asked “What have
you planned so far?”
“Because they have no respect for
the life of unborn cells, we have de
cided to take actions against the well
beings of those who advocate, perform
or receive abortions. We’re already tak
ing steps to blow up some abortion fa
cilities in the local area.”
“Also, if we find out that a woman is
going to get an abortion, we plan to
beat her up.”
A member of the audience asked,
“Isn’t that kind of defeating the pur
pose?”
The AAA chairman replied, “Well,
not in the long run. Maybe she’ll think
twice the next time she’s getting preg
nant.”
An obvious member of Aggies
The president said, “Let’s move to
the report from Aggies Against Get
ting Things Done.”
The AAGTD chairman said, “We
had a string of five meetings last week,
and I’m happy to report they all were
amazing successes. We had very low at
tendance at all the meetings which
means we didn’t have a quorum and
couldn’t approve anything. Despite
this, we brought up several pieces of
business, all of which were debated, ta
bled, brought from table, sent to com
The President said, “We’re glad to
see everything’s going fine for your
group. Now we’ll hear from Aggies
Against Problems in Other Countries.”
A young man rose and said, “As
many of you know, there have been
famines in several African nations and
people are being oppressed in many
countries whose names are hard to
pronounce. In response to these atroci
ties that are not of American interest,
we are taking drastic action.”
The president asked, “What exactly
are you doing?” , ^
The chairman replied, “We are cur
rently building shacks all over campus
and planning a sit-in at the MSG. We
think this is the best way to directly
help the victims in other countries.”
The president asked “Why are you
going to hold a sit-in at the MSG?”
The chairman responded, “For seve
ral reasons, but mainly because it’s very
visible to the students, the chairs are
comfortable and food’s not too far
away.
“We’re also boycotting the products
of Zambonia, because of the way the
government treats its citizens.”
An audience member asked, “What
products does that boycott include?”
The chairman answered, "We’re
boycotting Zambonia’s main export,
which is fruit-shaped refrigerator mag
nets. We have written letters to the
Board of Regents, the Chancellor,
A&M’s president and the Battalion
asking them to boycott fruit-shaped re
frigerator magnets. So far they have all
been unresponsive, so we’re going to
build another shack and march on the
Chancellor’s office.”
It seemed anybody who latched
onto a cause and could motivate
a few people to follow him could
start an “Aggies Against”
organization. Maybe even I could
start something for a cause near
to my heart: Aggies Against
Protest Groups.
The president said, “Thanks for that
report. It’s getting kind of late, so I
think we’ll move on to the new business
part of the meeting and hold off on the
rest of the reports until next meeting.”
The reaction to this announcement was
mixed, to put it mildly.
The president continued, “next
meeting we will hear from the
f ollowing organizations: Aggies
Against Thinking, Aggies Against
Athletics, Aggies Against JellOjAgm
Against Aggies, Aggies Against
Anonymous Gay Sex in Restrooms
Aggies Against 1 hr Battalion, A$r
Against the Wind, Aggies Againsttij
Corps, Aggies Against Greeks, Aggis
Against Non-regs, Aggies AgainstFj
Chicks on Mopeds, Aggies Againstfj
Guys on Tricycles, Aggies Against
University Lower, Aggies Againsttkj
Drinking Age, Aggies Against Sbisa
Aggies Against Tradition, Aggies
Against Call Waiting and Aggies
Against the World.
“Now let's move to passing
legislation. We have several piecesoij:
business for consideration,” saidtht
president.
Random members of the group
started yelling, “I’m against itfl’m
against it!”
T he president banged his gavel. f
haven’t even brought anything upyq
Quiet down!”
Af ter unanimously voting down
several bills, the president movedfot
adjournment. Everybody voted agar
adjournment, and it looked like the'
might be there forever so I left.
I went home, stunUed at some of i
things I heard. It seemed anybody
latt hed onto a cause and could
motivate a few people to follow him
could si-art an “Aggies Against"
organization. Maybe even I couldstaij
something for a cause near to my
heart: Aggies Against Protest Gro
Timm Doolen is a junior compuit
science major and assistant opinion
page editor for The Battalion.
Drinking age law just a bunch of sour grape
My roommate^ celebrated his 21st
birthday on Halloween (and subse
quently acquired about 750 new
friends). For at least a month prior to
the long-awaited day that ended the
draught, he informed me of how he
would be a legal drinker three months
before I and what a joyous occasion
this particular birthday would be.
I played along with this for a few
days until I couldn’t take it anymore.
“It is no big deal anyway,” I said, as he
looked at me in a bewildered manner.
“It won’t change anything.” This was
not a case of sour grapes (or even fer
mented ones) on my part, I just real
ized that being 21 is really of no conse
quence, because the drinking age law is
a miserable failure.
It is readily seen that the law is a fail
ure, but almost as visible is the fact that
the law is quite unfair.
The logic of the drinking age law es
capes me.
Matt
McBurnett
Columnist
As far as my past dictates, the drink
ing age law has been blatantly ineffec
tive. On many occasions in my past, the
law was simply disregarded by retail
ers, restaurants and me. I am asked to
show identification only about 50 per
cent of the time I try to purchase alco
hol.
Never mind the example: “If I can
go to jail, or fight for my country, I
should be able to drink.” This argu
ment is often effective, but overused.
The bottom line is that, beginning at
the age of 18, we are considered re
sponsible, free-thinking adults. At 18,
we are able to make our own choices
and accept retribution for the bad ones
we make. Alcohol should not be re
moved from this realm of choices.
If an individual cannot legally be
intoxicated, and if he is severely
punished if he drives under the
influence of alcohol, then
absolutely no purpose is served
by an additional statute
regulating adult consumption of
alcohol.
For example, last Thursday I went
out to a local establishment with my
roommate and some other friends. My
roommate ordered a pitcher of beer,
and so did I. Both of our IDs stayed in
our pockets. Had I been asked to show
mine, I simply would have had to tell
the waitress to forget the beer. Then,
of course, I would drink my room
mate’s.
If someone actually attempts to
uphold the law, numerous methods ex
ist to skirt it. Minors are not too hard-
pressed to find a willing 21-year-old,
especially in this town, to act as a sup
plier. For those more willing to take
things in their own hands, a good fake
ID will work most of the time. No mat
ter what method is used, the result is al
ways the same. Anyone who wants to
drink can do it quite easily.
Either the legal drinking age should
be lowered, or the legal adult age
should be raised. Only in our system
can an adult be a “minor.”
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Scot O.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
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per operated as a community service to T exas A&M and
Bryan-College Station.
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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.
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I like beer, not because it makes me a
jolly good fellow, but because the taste
appeals to me. I am especially fond of
imported beer. Sadly, laws dictate I
cannot have beer, so I break the law. I
really do look forward to my 21st birth
day this January, though. I cannot wait
to see this Saul to Paul conversion I will
undergo in the matter of minutes be
tween my 20th and 21st years. One
minute I am a youth, naive and unable
to make rudimentary choices, the next,
I am responsible adult ne’r to err
again.
Texas presently has laws which ban
public intoxication. These laws are
fairly well-enforced, and I have no beef
with them. The Lone Star State also
does not allow open alcohol containers
in automobiles and has very strict driv
ing-while-intoxicated laws. 1 am a
strong supporter of both of these stat
utes. The problem lies with the overkill
As is the case with most states, Texas
raised its drinking age to 21 in re
sponse to pressure so generously sup
plied by our federal government. The
pressure was in the form of federal aid,
which would have been withheld from
us had we not complied with the fed
eral government’s request. Blackmail is
nothing new, though.
Apparently both parties failed to ap
ply any brainpowerto the subject.
R<
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dilemma supplied by the drinkim. |
law.
If an individual cannot legallybcl
toxicated, and if he is severely]
ished if he drives under the iiillm I
oV aAcoYwA, then ahsoLueVy nopw'fj
is served by an additional statutereftl
fating adult consumption of alcobij
The damaging effects of drinkin|||
regulated l>v other law’s.
II
Though I am quite aware of theM
rible f acts surrounding alcohol abw
am also aware the drinking agela* 1
definitely worth whining about. 1(4]
not conceive two different dasses
adults with unequal rights. I guess I* 1 1
have to buzz over to the store and pH]
up a beer or two and further p
this precarious predicament.
Matt McBurnett is a junior cltt®
cal engineering major and a colu0 j
for The Battalion.