The Battalion
OPINION
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Wednesday, March 21,1990
Opinion Page Editor Ellen Hobbs 845-33l| vW
Push for new library,
not events coliseum
Terence Krolczyk and 13 others, in a
letter to the editor (The Battalion, Feb.
6), expressed their opinion that Texas
A&M needs an events coliseum and not
the George Bush presidential library.
Mr. Krolczyk would like us to believe
that “big name” performers would pack
a new coliseum, such as the Summit in
Houston and, “ ... some of the SWC
basketball ... brought in here,” would
bring more revenue than the library
would. I disagree.
Michael P.
Gallagher
Reader’s Opinion
I suggest is that many more
millions would be lost if we do not
improve the research facilities at
A&M. Remember, we are here for
academics first, and anything else
is secondary.
Sure, George Strait recently
performed at G. Rollie White to a
packed crowd; filling G. Rollie White
for a “big name” performer happens
about once per academic year. Someone
might suggest in rebuttal to, “bring in
more entertainers.” This option sounds
nice, but it has not worked well in the
past. Since my freshman year in 1985, I
have seen this first hand. Robert
Palmer, who has filled coliseums around
the world, originally was scheduled to
play at G. Rollie. Not enough tickets
were sold, and the performance was
moved to DeWare Field House where
that facility wasn’t even sold out. For
those individuals that do not like rock ’n’
roll, let us switch to country music.
Several years ago, the Marlboro
Country Music Festival was playing to
sold out coliseums across the nation. In
fact, it sold out Reunion Arena in Dallas
and the Summit in Houston.
Unfortunately for them, they stopped
in College Station for a performance
headlined with T.G. Sheppard. I say
unfortunate because G. Rollie did not
sell half of its capacity.
Let us now switch to “some of the
SWC basketball.” I have been, and
always will be, a strong supporter of
Aggie athletics. However, we have not
been able to fill that facility for any
recent athletic event that I can recall.
This sounds like one big negative for
a new, first-class facility; 1 am in favor of
a new facility, but not at the expense of
either the Bush library or the expansion
of our present library. Mr. Krolczyk
mentions that A&M would lose revenue
if we were granted the privilege of the
Bush library, but I disagree. A&M
receives millions each year from
research. A presidential library would
lure scholars across the country to
Aggieland to use the resources
available. This, in turn, draws research
money. UCLA, USC, Duke and even
UT have received much money and
positive publicity because of research
breakthroughs. So what, you might ask?
Look at each school’s athletic
achievements in past years in football,
basketball or baseball. While 1 am not
suggesting that excellence in research
leads to athletic supremacy, it could be a
possibility. What I do suggest is that
many more millions would be lost if we
do not improve the research facilities at
A&M. Remember, we are here for
academics first, and anything else is
secondary. I, as are many others, am
tired of traveling to Austin for research
material.
Michael P. Gallagher is a graduate
student in business administration.
Mail Call
Learning should come first
then for someone who loves you.
Keep your future alive!
EDITOR:
I’m writing in regard to a very disturbing letter by Brad
Wehner and Todd Tomlin. In their recent letter to the edi
tor, they said that they “love Texas A&M almost as much as
(they) love the Lord” and that their “fathers attended A&M
and so will all of our children.” They also said that two-per
centers make them “vomit.”
Have these two students forgotten what a university is? It
is a place for people to become well-rounded, educated indi
viduals. A university makes tradition — not vice versa. My tu
ition is for my education; I’ve never seen a traditions fee on
my fee slip.
I appreciate the traditions of A&M, but that is not the rea
son I am here. And I am definitely not here to succumb to the
wishes of Mr. Wehner anti Mr. Tomlin.
Mr. Wehner and Mr. Tomlin, your zeal for Aggie tradi
tion is, dare I say, admirable, but your condemnation of those
who don’t support your views makes me vomit. And the fact
that you have already decided the f uture of your unborn chil
dren is even more vile. Please, do us all a favor and CHILL
OUT.
Russell and Eleanor Nicholson
EDITOR’S NOTE: Russell and Eleanor Nicholson are ik
parents of Linda Lancaster. The Nicholson’s have mailt;
the above letter to 1,000 colleges and universities acrosstll
nation.
Bring back priority parking
Ross Lambert ’91
Parents of victim speak out
EDITOR:
Students, you have plans for your life, goals for a brilliant
future ...
So did Linda Lancaster, a doctoral candidate at the Uni
versity of Maine. On February 18, 1989, the drunken driver
of a pickup truck struck her down as she and a classmate
walked along a sidewalk on campus.
Linda died three hours later.
All of her goals and plans for the future were wiped out in
one senseless moment of drunken violence, a violence our
legislature has yet to recognize as murder.
You have plans for your life, but take a moment as you
walk across campus to ponder your chances of becoming a
random victim of a drunken driver. We all carry the same
risk, as did Linda. But with your help we can and must keep
our streets and sidewalks saf e.
Take a stand. Refuse to ride with an intoxicated driver.
Volunteer to drive a friend home who has partied too much.
Write your congressman to initiate deterrent legislation
against drivers that are killers (no time off for good behavior,
no suspending half a sentence and no plea bargaining).
Do something positive, if not for yourself or for a friend,
EDITOR:
As a freshman in 1987, I had to ride the shuttle I
campus or park in the “fish lot.” I he parking lots werede$|
nated by class status. The upperclassmen were able to paiiiil
the front of the campus or the back of campus if their cm
were there. I he underclassmen had to park on the othersidt
of the tracks and that is how the “fish lot” got his name.
In 1988, the University made a great mistake incha
this system. They began to allow underclassmen to parkin
the other side of the tracks and walk across campus to get is
their classes. If you don’t get to campus before 7:45a.m.,yot
can’t park on the front of campus.
Most people are thinking that I should quit complainim
and schedule my classes in the morning. As as uppercb
man, 1 only have a few classes that I have to take and that
classes are usually after 8 a.m. Another thing that they
thinking is that underclassmen are paying the same price
a parking permit as the upperclassmen. A crucial point tk
they are missing is that as upperclassmen, we have doneom
time in this University. Also, the underclassmen willbeujr
perclassmen in a year or so.
As upperclassmen, we have lost one ol the privileges tk
we have worked for. We get to register early for our dasstt
and we can legally whoop; but we can’t park in the lots, ht
the students who have done their time at the University pari
in the best lots.
Bring back the Aggie tradition of the “fish lot" beingfot
underclassmen and upperclassmen having the choice of
where they want to park.
Kevin Wise ‘91
Hai/e an opinion? Express it!
Letters to the. editor should not exceed 300 winds in lenfrth The editorial stuff rmi
the right to edit letters foi \t\le und length, hut will nuike even effort to maintainti
author's intent. There is no guarantee that letters submitted will be printed.hi
letter must he signed and must include the i lassif nation, address and telephone mmte
of the writer.
TV is boring, repetitive, and it makes you stupid
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Recently, when I received my M.S.,
my grandfather wanted to buy me a
color TV as a gift. I had to explain to
him that the absence of the ubiquitous
box in my home was no accident; I had
never owned one and didn’t want to. He
was surprised, but understanding.
Surprise is typical. My favorite comment
on this came from a 9th grade student
of mine a few years ago. “You don’t
have a TV? You don’t have a TV? What
do you do?" Well, I read, study, talk
with friends, visit family, dance, sketch,
play raquetball and cook, among other
things. In short, I have a life.
I’m not really against other people
having TVs, if they really must; I even
watch it a little myself (at some folks’
houses, it can’t be avoided). I love seeing
Letterman (once a month, that is). What
I am against is the assumption that
everyone should watch TV; the
expectation that each home will have a
tube as surely as it has a kitchen sink or
an indoor toilet. That everyone watched
“L.A. Law” last night. That images of
fake people on a screen can be a topic of
civilized conversation for more than two
minutes (I have heard people talking
with great seriousness and emotion
about the “lives” of characters on
television serials, as though they were
real people.).
I want to make a short explanation of
this view; my own case against that
triumph of modern technology, the
cathode-ray companion.
1. TV is dehumanizing.
Some time ago I was at a friend's
house and saw the first few minutes of
Night Heat. I watched four people
spectacularly offed by gunshot wounds
to the chest. Not having a TV myself, I
find I can go without thinking about
murder for several days. But as soon as
Jeff
Farmer
Columnist
I turn on the box, here comes the blood.
Of course, it’s nice and clean on TV;
you don’t have to watch the rookie cop
throwing up, the ambulance driver
drinking later to forget, the friends
crying; mothers, brothers and lovers
spending the next weeks and months
trying to learn to live with their grief.
No, it’s very convenient to end a life:
Just pull the little trigger.
Then we watch it over and over again
until it’s meaningless. We have become
so used to sitting and watching the
images of violence and death that when
it happens in the news we just sit and
watch that too. We learn to get cheap
adrenalin highs from phony violence
and substitute that for our own
experiences and accomplishments.
2. TV is boring and repetitive.
The first few minutes of that show
also featured a lovely little exchange
between the two main cops. The young
cop says to the old cop “hey you
shouldn’t (smoke, eat, drink, engage in)
X, it’s bad for your health. Look, I
(smoke, eat, drink, engage in) Y instead
and it's much more healthy.” Then the
old cop glares at the young cop like he’s
crazy and the young cop grins in an
obligingly crazy manner. I had this basic
routine memorized by the time I was 12;
I guess the writers can't think of
anything else to use. Where are the barf
bags, please?
3. TV is unrealistic.
Of course we all have living rooms
that sparkle and shine, are
professionally decorated and filled with
all the proper products of modern
technology. They are always clean.
Good guys are always good and bad
guys are always bad. Beautif ul people
‘have beautiful sex in beautiful
bedrooms. Sure.
4. TV rots your brain.
I don’t know if TV makes people
stupid or if being stupid makes people
want to watch TV; it’s probably some of
both. This is frightening when you
think of the possibilities for positive
feedback: people watching TV,
becoming progressively more stupid,
and then wanting to watch more and
more TV.
whole lot more than two sides to them).
5. I V keeps the poor poor, the rich
rich and the middle class in debt.
Karl Marx called religion the opiate
of the people. We don’t really have
much religion any more, but we have
something far more scientific and
effective: television. The images on the
tube provide an effective way to silence
w,
hat I do suggest is that many
more millions would be lost if we
do not improve the research
facilities at A&M. Remember, we
are here for academics first, and
anything else is secondary.
you don’t need with money you don’t
have. So first you are made to feel
anxious, boring, inferior and ugly.
Then you hear the good news —the
new electric gospel: Power, status,
beauty, happiness and (most ofall)so
can be yours for a low, low price. Run
don’t walk to the nearest retail outlet.
Eight convenient locations. Easycredi
terms.
Please don't respond by saying that
there are a lot of high quality shows®
TV; of course there are, but that isn’t
why people watch it. People don’t buy
Playboy for the articles, either.
The simple fact is this: Watching I
is a form of social masturbation; real
human interaction is discarded infav
One might claim that at least the
network news is informative and
educational. I believe this is far more
appearance than reality. Personally, I
can’t stand having every Tom, Peter or
Dan telling me what to think (and more
importantly, what to think about).
Whenever those guys tell you about
some foreign country, they always put
up those little maps in the corner of the
screen. Does it help? NO WAY!
According to the National Geographic
Society, fewer folks than ever know
even the basics of geography. The
network news doesn’t inform, it
paralyzes. PBS is slightly better — they
at least give time to two sides of an issue
(never mind that most issues have a
the poor, keep them politically and
personally isolated, entertained and
uneducated; at the same time the bogus
images of prosperity raise expectations
that are then partially indulged by the
welfare state. “Look,” it says, “money
will make you happy, and here, we will
give you a little. Buy another TV.”
T he middle class, on the other hand,
responds to the anxiety and feelings of
inferiority generated by programming
and commercials by buying, buying,
buying. If you lead a life of personal
peace and fulfillment, it’s going to be
difficult to convince you to buy things
of passive observation of images. Lfc
sexual analogue, it may have its place;
but it cannot substitute for the realttii'
— that personal communion weca
language which has enabled homo
spaiens to lead a vastly dif ferent
existence from that of our primate
cousins.
1 issue a challenge to anyone whote
never thought of life after TV: Aiefc
days so empty that you must fill your
time with the mindless cacophony
generated by Hollywood? Do you real
believe that you are inferior to some
phony image on a screen? That your
friends are less worth listening to than
the voice of someone who doesn’t even
know you exist?
Find out. Get a life. Unplug the loo?
thing.
Jeff Farmer is a graduate student ii
mathematics.
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, City Editor
Cindy McMillian, Lisa Robertson,
News Editors
Richard Tijerina, Sports Editor
Fredrick D. Joe, Art Director
Mary-Lynne Rice, Lifestyles Editor
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