Tl
The Battalion
OPINION
Tuesday, March 20,1990
Opinion Page Editor
Ellen Hobbs
845-5
Irwin
Tang
Reader’s Opinion
Native Africans
should govern
themselves
Many people these days are trying
with all their might to contrive
excuses for why the Native Africans
(blacks) of South Africa should not
receive complete, unshackled
freedom. Sometimes, it is a result of
these people’s subconscious or
conscious racism. Other times it may
be their need to bend reality to suit
their right-wing beliefs.
Whatever the reason, Andrew
Matthews provided readers with a
perfect example of this phenomenon
in his column on Feb. 22.
First, Matthews stated that Native
Africans will not necessarily govern
Native Africans well and claimed that
Nelson Mandela and the African
National Congress (ANC) would be
harmful in office.
If Matthews opened his eyes, he
would see that the ANC is supported
by most Native Africans, Asians and
non-racist whites. People do not
support those who would be harmful
to them. Besides, the ANC supports a
democratic form of government in
which all may vote — if an
administration is harmful, it can be
voted out of office.
Matthews then argued that the
new South Africa must be completely
free from government economic
regulation. Does Matthews know that
economic regulation in the U.S. is
what prevents extreme polarization
between the very rich and very poor?
Sheer logic tells one that not many
things would change for Native
Africans without economic
regulation. What would make the
powerf ul white businessman pay
blacks as much as whites? What force
would push the economy to create
jobs or improve housing? In a
regulation-free economy, a Native
African might legally live in
Johanessburg but would only be able
to afford the same grotesque shanty
as before.
Matthews also complained that
Mandela calls for a “one person, one
vote” system. What Matthews doesn’t
seem to understand is that Mandela
supports the rights of all people —
African, European, Asian, whatever
-and calls for these rights to be
guaranteed in the constitution.
In fact, even 27 years ago, while
being persecuted by the white
supremist government, Mandela
proclaimed that he fought against
both white and black domination.
I have just rebuked three basic
arguments often used to prevent
freedom in South Africa. I ask now
that the reader rethink his position
on South Africa. Is it logical? Is it
fair? I have heard too many people
on this campus irrationally saying
that freedom must be limited or that
Mandela should be shot.
Irwin Tang is a sophomore
political science major.
.Mail Call
It-
Williams rally coverage slanted
would think these facilities could at least be adequate. Fhese machinesneedil
be operational or be removed.
EDITOR:
Although the The Battalion’s general coverage of the Clayton Williams’
rally was good, there was an important factor that had been leit out. The vast
majority of Williams’ protesters were wearing nazi armbands. Many of them
shouted “seig heil” during the rally. 1 find it sad that I had to turn to the
Houston Post to see that mentioned. Since three of my friends and I attended
the rally, we had expected that The Battalion would have had the common
sense to cover that. Obviously not. Nowhere present in the picture of the pro
testors can one see the Nazi armbands, although they were present in abun
dance. We are not asking The Battalion to condemn Williams’ protesters, but
we would like to see the entire story covered. Those responsible for omitting
Nazism from the story have the same poor taste as those who came as Nazis.
Stacy Miller ’92
II i
llea-«dl
1 no i-i
1 cam
[per;
Ii
[Nov
Students come for education, not traditions
Jeff Franl ‘91
accompanied by two signatures
Computer facilities need help
EDITOR.
I recently had an opportunity to use the Learning Resources Center on
the sixth floor of the library. I needed to make corrections on a paper I had
typed at home on my Apple lie computer. In the center, I found a compatible
computer, the Apple He. The problem is not with the computers themselves,
but with the printing facilities. The Epson printers are a waste of valuable
time. The paper claspers must be held in place by hand since all of the springs
are missing. After two hours of “f iddling” with various printers, one actually
began to print. I discovered that it was not even compatible with the Apple-
Works word processor. It couldn’t underline, calculate page numbers or cal
culate characters per inch. With a $36 a semester computer access fee, one
EDITOR:
Of all the narrrow-minded, intolerant and downright stupid letters 1 hanl
read in The Battalion over the years, the letter b\ Brad Wehner and
Tomlin appearing in the February 26 edition is. In far, the worst. 1 don'thaii
traditions, I just hate what they make people become. Wehner and Tomlr
are sad results of an institution that places too high a value on traditions.Si
why don’t I leave, Wehner and Tomlin ask. Gee, it wouldn’t be because I camtj
here to get an education, would it? The whole philosophv of "1 lighvvav timid
both ways” is so basically flawed that 1 can't believe people actuall) professii
Since when has this been a countrv that was intolerant of dissenting opinions
It seems to me that America was founded on principles of tolerance and wit
ingness to change. Why can't A&M be the same way? 1 here is no best vvayio
do things, only a better way. Any institution that ref uses to change forthebti-
ter simply because “that’s the way it has alwavs been done" is destined todk
That is why open-minded Aggies will continue to f ight closed-minded Aggies
We don’t hate A&M. On the contrary, we lose it. And our los e is much mort
valuable than Wehner and 'Tomlin’s lose because our los e is not blind.
ithe
T
I Lou
j Evic
the
trasl
! Ilan
[trasl
B
I and
fere
Oth
neai
[ outs
Si
I ture
ther
only
and
1 lead
B
I duri
Ken Fontenot ’91
Have an opinion? Express it!
Letters to the editor should not exceed 100 words in length. I he editorial staff resen'es the right t»niitiillr l
for style and length, but will make ei'eiy effort to maintain the author's intent. There is no guarantee(ki
letters submitted will be printed. Each lettei must he signed and must include tin < lass//nation, flitdmui |
telephone number of the writer. All letters mas be brought to 21 (r Heed \ (i Donald, in sent to ( a infills.\k [
Stop 111!.
GMAT catches student’s brain on vacatioi
1 took the Graduate Management
Admission Test last Saturday. You
know, the GMAT, it’s kind of like a SAT
for graduate business school. And yes, it
was last Saturday — THE Saturday of
Saturday’s. The Saturday of spring
break.
Can you believe that the Educational
Testing Service scheduled the GMAT
on the Saturday of our spring break?
Don’t they have a copy of the A&M all-
University calendar? I can’t believe that
they didn’t even take into consideration
that A&M, (and many other
universities), had spring break last
week. How inconsiderate of them.
And to make matters worse, my brain
was still on spring break. No matter how
hard I tried to get it to come back, it
wouldn’t cooperate. It kept sending me
little messages: “Hi, this is your brain. I
can’t come to the GMAT right now. So
leave your name and synapse number at
the tone and I’ll call you back. Thanks.”
(My brain never was one for creative
messages.)
I kept calling, and kept getting the
same message. So finally I just decided
to wing it without him. I figured that the
Stanley H. Kaplan course that I took last
year might help me some, but it’s been a
long time and I proved to be a little
rusty. (And little is an understatement.)
When I arrived at the testing center,
the monitor asked if I was Swedish. I
quickly tried to f igure out if that was a
trick question or something. I mean, I
don’t look Swedish, or at least I don’t
think that I do. Brown hair, brown eyes
and Swedish? I told her no, that Arhos
is of Greek origin, and she answered
that there weren’t many Swedes around
here anyway. I guess that I answered
the question OK because I got in.
It turned out that my seat was at the
very front of the room right beneath in
front of the test monitors. This can be
beneficial when you need something,
(like the pencil that 1 forgot, or that my
brain forgot to bring back from spring
break with him). But it can be
detrimental, or even dangerous at
times. Here’s what I mean:
Picture yourself racing furiously
against the clock, try ing your hardest to
Finish the section you are working on.
Your nose is pushed up against the
bubbles of your Scantron sheet w hile
you vigorously try to determine the
answer to the question, “What is the
tenth root of 400x39846583908765.”
The sweat is pouring down your face,
your pulse is soaring and suddenly this
SCREECH comes from above you
proclaiming, “STOOOOOOOOP!!!!
Damon
Arhos
Assistant Opinion
Editor
probably do this to see if your attention
will stray while you are reading the
passages, and then you'll either get all of
the questions wrong or waste all of your
time going back to the passage. I think I
did the latter.
YOUR TIME IS UP!!!!” It gave me
heart failure every time.
And, boy, were those reading
passages interesting! I seriously think
that the people who w rite standardized
tests try to find the most BORING
passages that exist in the world. T hey
It is amusing that many questions
about these passages ask about the
authors general attitude toward the
subject. They always give you choices,
like: (A) benevolent and interested, (B)
synergetic and holographic, (C) extreme
and radicalistic, (D) bored and
uncaring, (E) overenthusiastic anti
malevolent. And invariably you won’t
understand the words in the choices.
The math sections always seem to be a
little bit more reasonable. A little bit.
They give you a /ew“gimmie” questions
(not to mention that they givevoua
chance to use all of that algebra arid
geometry you have been anxiousl)
saving since high school.) At leastthe
give you a little more time before/k
slam you. There is something to ben
for being slammed starting with
number two instead of number one.
When it was all over, when theta
“S LOP” had been screeched and thel
Scantron collected; after I had rubba
all of the lead off of the end ofniynm
and gotten a hold of my vacationing
brain; when it was FINALLY time to
run out of l hat room, out the frontdo
and down the street doing cartyvl
/ remembered.
The GRE is on April 21.
AAA&5UU&S
UCVttH R3ST
Adventures In Cartooning
by Don Atkinson Jr.
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, Gity 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 vear 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, 1'X 77843-11 11.
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.
]
I
Tl
I