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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 1990)
The Battalion OPINION 2J Friday, January 19,1990 Research on animals needed for medicine Putting an end to scientific research con ducted on animals threatens the lives of humans more than AIDS or cancer. Without the use of animals, important medi cal research would come to a screeching halt. Organ transplants, the creation of vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, polio and hepatitis, and the discovery of insulin are a few examples that have resulted from animal studies. Researchers are working to develop a vaccine for chicken pox, and they also are hopeful that AIDS research done on chimpanzees will prove valuable. Other research includes work related to drug addiction, arthritis, Alzheimer’s disease, emo tional disorders and heart disease. The list goes on and on. Some people supporting the animal rights movement hope to abolish animal research com pletely. They believe scientists can do adequate research by using computers and cell cultures. But they must realize that these methods cannot produce the information obtained from re search. Humane animal studies need to continue. Without this type of research, scientists will have no way to find cures for the diseases and illnesses that plague our world. The Battalion Editorial Board Lunch breaks hinder Pavilion operations The first floor of the Pavilion, except for the snack bar, completely stops operations from noon to 1 p.m. so employees can eat lunch, but students needing to register or pick up fee slips are unable to get help during this time. Even though there are signs to inform stu dents of the lunch breaks, they are not men tioned in the Directory of Classes, and it is espe cially inconvenient because the cashiers’ windows close at 3 p.m. Some students need to take care of registra tion matters, payments, etc. during this hour. Unfortunately, these students are out of luck. Staggered lunch breaks would be more prac tical. The line would move more slowly since a smaller staff would be working for two or three hours, but it would be better than not moving at all. The Battalion Editorial Board Phone registration deserves commendation “Welcome to the Texas A&M Student Infor mation System. Enter an action code ... now.” Texas A&M’s telephone registration system, since it began three years ago, has proven to be a boon to students, faculty and staff despite irritat ing busy signals and recordings. The system not only has eliminated many registration lines and much paperwork, but also has made adding and dropping classes quick and efficient. Students should appreciate the system, a lux ury that few universities have, and A&M should be commended for the improvements it has made in the system. Thank you for reading the Texas A&M Bat talion. Goodbye. The Battalion Editorial Board The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Scot Walker, Editor Monique Threadgill, Managing Editor Ellen Hobbs, Opinion Page Editor Melissa Naumann, City Editor Cindy McMillian, Lisa Robertson, News Editors Richard Tijerina, Sports Editor Fredrick D. Joe, Art Director Mary-Lynne Rice, Lifestyles Editor Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspaper 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 represent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, faculty or the Board of Regents. 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 Mc Donald, Texas A&M University, College Sta tion, TX 77843-1111. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College Station TX 77843- 4111. Opinion Page Editor Ellen Hobbs 845-33K pric MApam ncvyrcN Professor X should learn to stand up for his opinion Back in December, the opinion page editor and I decided that it was time to expand the breadth of opinions ex pressed on Page 2 to include people be sides students. It made a lot of sense, be cause we have about 70,000 potential readers every day and only 40,000 of those are students. We decided to hire a couple of new columnists to represent the faculty, the staff, the administrators and other non students. We placed an advertisement on the page: “Faculty members wanted to write columns.” And then one day I got a very interesting letter from a pro fessor explaining why there was no way in creation that any professor would ever write a column for The Batt. Here are the highlights of the letter, in italics, along with my comments: Dear Editor: I noticed your ads for a professor who would write a column for The Batt. While I applaud your efforts to engage faculty participation, I doubt that you received much of a response. That’s Mistake Number 1. We’ve got ten a good response, and the applicants cover the whole spectrum. Some seem like they would be great, others appear completely unqualified. That’s generally the response to any job opening. There are a number of reasons why productive professors who really have something to say about TAMU (not the good of boys who will tell you about “world class ” when we are not ranked in the top 40 in the nation) would shy away from publishing anything in The Batt. I would write a column describing these reasons if you would like. The Batt. Sounds fishy to me; must be a catch. If you do (print the column), then you have to agree not to publish my name, not to give it to the administra tion, regents, or anyone, and not to edit the letter. Hold the phone, here’s the catch. This person wants the opportunity to slander, slam and slime the powers-that- be, but isn’t man (or woman) enough to sign his/her name. What a gutless pig. This is not because I’m gutless, but becaiise those of us on the faculty with a future realize the type of response we would receive from the administration and especially the regents if we wrote If everybody with something intelligent to say spoke out, there is no way that the regents or administrators could fire everyone. To do so would be to commit suicide. All the good people would leave and go to places where their opinions would be respected, and we’d be left with the drones and the dregs, and the school would be dead in the But who is to blame? The admin/stra i tion? The regents? No, the blame falls on all those people who want to say something but don’t be cause they fear the consequences. Ifev-; erybody with something intelligent to Say spok,e out, there is no way that the regents or administrators could fireev- : eryone. To do so would be to commit suicide. All the good people would leave and go to places where their opinions would be respected, and we’d be left with the drones and the dregs, and the school would be dead in the water. Dis agreement is what academics is all about, so if you have something to say you should say it. I can imagine Professor X saying, “You’re idealistic because you’re just a kid and a student. Wait until you havea REAL JOB in the REAL WORLD, and then you’ll understand that you can’t al ways stand up for what you believe.” That’s bull. Anyone can stand up for something, as long as he is willing to ac cept the consequences. water. Wait a minute. This person says no prof will write for The Batt, and then turns around and offers to write for anything that they could construe as “not on the team. ” The letter was signed “Professor X.” The thing that really bothered me about the letter was that this professor felt that expressing an honest opinion was sufficient to cause him/her grief with his/her superiors. Maybe that wouldn’t have happened, but Professor X certainly believed it would, and there fore was afraid to speak out. This is sup posed to be a university, an institution of higher learning, where intelligent people come to be further enlightened. Instead, for this person and maybe oth ers, it’s a place of oppression and censorship. What a downer. And I’m really sick of hearing thal line about the real world. It’s just an ex cuse for people who have already sold out their own ideals. Everyone has the same choices. You can speak out and try to get something changed, and maybe risk your job. Or you can keep quiet, lei things stay the way they are, bitch about it in private and be unhappy. Or you can leave. That’s pretty simple, isn’t it: It all comes down to what is important to you. If you choose to keep quiet out of fear, then that just encourages your boss to try to intimidate you again in the fu ture to keep you quiet. So you brought this situation upon yourself, Professor X. You, and people like you, chose to be intimidated, and if you don’t like it, then you should try to find the backbone to work to change it. If you can’t, then you are letting someone else determine the course of your life, so you should justl shut up and wallow in the misery andf oppression that you allow to be heapedl upon yourself. Scot Walker is a senior journalism, major and editor of The Battalion. Adventures In Cartooning by Don Atkinson Jr. Si in fc By N, OfTh Dr schoc from a stu 1 / L tive. Th schoc tics si ity fo dons’ ii\ 1 very drop they fairs Pn that t to su ways progi Pai stude sente ofem “If his s< going Th Texa: quire dfy st ping 61.7 who t Ac nally • ] one c • 1 low t. J