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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 1989)
£ The Battalion OPINIO Wednesday, November 15,1989 Opinion Page Editor Juliette Rizzo 845-331 Racial tolerance needed instead of racial apathy Of all the universities in the state, Texas A&M has the highest minority retention rate. Minorities comprise 18.7 percent of the 40,492 students at A&M. Harold Hodgkison, a noted demographer, says it is important to involve minorities in all areas of education, especially higher ed ucation. By the year 2000 he predicts one-third of the nation will be considered an ethnic minority. The fact that the University recognizes the need for equal op portunity to educate all students does not mean all of us are willing to accept this. Racial apathy exists consciously and subconsciously on campus. If we allow this apathy to continue, we as a nation will not be able to compete internationally because we’ll be fighting against ourselves. The increase in the number of minority student groups on campus and the establishment of the Multicultural Services Cen ter, which will soon become a department, has put A&M ahead of other schools. But although the University administration has made great strides toward eliminating racial bias, the impact has to be felt by the student body in order to be effective. For A&M to maintain its attractiveness to minorities, we need to upkeep an environment conducive to tolerance. The Battalion Editorial Board MAftaM how) And the wall came tumbling Somebody turned on the power. People — moving, streaming, breaking through, tearing down, embracing and cheering. Modern mass media spreads the ex hilarated atmosphere all over the world. Incredible... At this same time, you walk across campus; you go to Sbisa for lunch. Across the world, in the air, every where: “...thousands left...the wall is down...they just come over... free dom...” This unforeseeable development brought about widespread personal ex citement that I never experienced be fore in my life. Born after it was built, I knew the Berlin Wall and accepted it as a part of German life.» In the past, the one who questioned whether or when the wall might fall was suspected to be a dreamer. But now, the television news acts like a drug — every time I turn it on I get a flash. They celebrate with concerts from Beethoven to Joe Cocker. I wish I was there. Though I have no personal relations to the GDR, I feel the hearts dancing across the Atlantic. Even though I’ve only been here a year, l feel like I know the United States a lot better than East Germany. Now an old dream of a self-planned bi cycle tour in East Germany may corfie true. As soon as a conversation reveals my German accent, one issue comes up: reunification. The shattering of the postwar order in Europe and the two Germanics growing closer together brings reunifi cation up automatically. However, there are more things separating East and West Germany. East German leader Egon Krenz does not want to adopt the western sys tem. It has been called an “Elbow-So ciety” not only by old-fashioned com munists. The East German constitution states a right of work. On the other side, West Germans do not see a lot of reasons to modify their system. A relaxed soviet leader is cautiously observing allies and a good portion of people’s power, while the East German leadership is acting smart enough to keep up with the requested pace. For tunately, no retaliating violence against communist party leaders has been nec essary. The reunification entails talking about a peace treaty. Hence, many is sues will be brought up that have been Hermann Koch buried for a long, long time. And the concerns of our neighbors about an (economically?) strong Germany should be taken seriously. A French comment was heard: “Two Germanics are OK, I’d rather like to have three.” I can understand this. What does reunification stand for? I don’t need the feeling of coming from a “great country.” Since any step taken towards that would make other people suspicious, Germans should be very careful addressing that question. This is not the hour of nationalism, but of people’s power, freedom and democ racy. And there are still enough concrete points to be stressed: development from free travel to free movement, ac knowledgment of non-communist par ties, free elections with possible loss of power and liberalization from the hy drocephalic bureaucracy towards a market economy. I can well imagine two Germanics respecting each other as neighbors in a relationship as it has been achieved be tween France and the Federal Repub lic. In my opinion, free movement, in tensive trade, extensive tourism and different constitutions based on the same ideas of individual rights would form a satisfying solution to the “Ger man question.” Several questions remain with the opening of the inner-German border. There is a severe housing shortage in West and East. Many of the people moving to the west will not find a job. Those who do, will increase social pres sure in West Germany due to the stag gering unemployment, which reaches over 15 percent in some areas. down This might lead to individual dis pointment and frustration. Butallii does and must remain minor witlr gard to the achievements. Once! freedom of movement is establisi; some of the problems could be leva out by Germans moving from the* to the east, from where a lack ofli is reported. Even if this point turns to be fantasy, there are more solutki They might be costly and take time,! they must never tend to preventpeci from moving where they want. The Federal Republic could enco age East German citizens tostaybyi ing the restructuring of their econo: every step further in order to curbi gration would discredit the com: ment to freedom and democracy. However, aside from all the Ik and worry about the future one tli has been achieved that cannot be versed: The Fall of the Wall turne divided city into the greatest pari' the world (even bigger than theonei Texas where they say everythinj supposed to be bigger and better). But people in South Africa andl rea are still waiting to join the parts Hermann Koch is a graduate change student in mechanical d neering from Bottrop, Federal Ref lie of Germany. A referendum on spring ballot could halt bonfire A controversy regarding the annual Aggie bonfire has been lighting up the pages of The Battalion all month thus far. You may recall the Page 1 headline on November 2: “Aggies Against Bon fire organize; pro-bonfire group at tends meeting.” Letters to the editor supporting bonfire followed. An article in Tuesday’s Batt told of the Campus Ministry Association unanimously passing a resolution call ing for an end to bonfire as it now ex ists. On the same day another article described Faculty Senate action that es tablished a committee to review the tra dition of bonfire. These reports reflect a growing movement to abolish bonfire. Problems 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 ( - Jim Hayes Columnist with bonfire center around five con cerns. One involves the risk of injury to those who work on it. Many minor and a few serious injuries happen every year in bonfire-building accidents. Two deaths — in 1955 and 1981 — have also occurred. 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: 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 77843-4111. A second issue involves the threat of embers being blown from Duncan Field and setting fire to houses located in the residential area off Jersey Street- /George Bush Drive. This risk presents an obvious concern to residents of the area. A third issue involves the environ mental cost of bonfire. The deforesta tion of hundreds of trees has sparked much criticism. A fourth issue involves a concern that the time and effort students put into bonfire is wasted. Workers’ grades drop because of the time they put into bonfire. And a fifth issue involves the drunk enness of those attending. Aggies Against Bcnfire, the Campus Ministry Association and the Faculty Senate all touched upon one or more of these issues when voicing their com plaints. Despite these concerns, bonfire still has a lot of support. Letter writers who support the an nual tradition have stated that bonfire helps to cultivate personal character, work habits, and friendships.They also have expressed their deep devotion to the tradition. The thousands of students who work days and weekends cutting and stacking the logs used to build bonfire strongly support the tradition with their actions. And the tens of thou sands of people who show up annually to watch it burn boost the tradition with their attendance. Further, some alumni undoubtedly would oppose, for tradition’s sake, the idea of abolishing bonfire. The problems accompanying the bonfire are difficult to resolve; that is why the movement to abolish it is gain ing strength. Yet many people strongly support the tradition. How can these differences be resolved? Putting a bonfire referendum on the spring election ballot could help to re solve the controversy. Such action would establish a mechanism for mea suring student opinion regarding the tradition. Tradition assumes that students at A&M generally support bonfire. That consensus of support now seems ques tionable. Yet, no measurement of stu dent opinion regarding bonfire has been taken. The referendum could de termine student opinion regarding bonfire, and the controversy might be put to rest until the next spring or end permanently with the abolition of bon fire. Even if bonfire lost at the polls, the tradition would not necessarily have to die. Alumni, student organizations and controvers individual students could pool then ! sources to plan, fund, build and! ! an annual bonfire somewhere offoR pus. Given that this other option w be available, a bonfire referenj might seem pointless. Yet there is4 difference between a Texas AM sanctioned bonfire and a privately^ one. If it carries the school’s namf, helps to shape the school’s image. With a new environmental moj emerging that forbids resource" 1 ! holding an annual bonfire will 1 ! A&M’s image among growingnunj of people in the years to come. If a majority of voting student cides that bonfire needs to go^ this or other reasons — the req dum would allow this to bee known. The annual Aggie bonfire has^j an established tradition here fora)| years. Now that a well-fouti 1 ' movement to abolish it is emergin! could be witnessing the Last A! I Bonfire in a few weeks. Putting a bonfire referendum of spring election ballot would provid 1 1 important mechanism by which true student opinion of bonfire cat I found. Jim Hayes is a senior econo? major and a columnist for The ion. f \