The Battalion
OPINION
Wednesday, May 9,1990
Mail Call
Opinion Page Editor
Ellen Hobbs
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Thanks from the Fish Lady
EDITOR:
Please allow me to use your forum to express my heartfelt
thanks to all the Aggies for their thoughts and prayers during
my recent hospitalization.
A very special thank you goes to the Corps of Cadets for
their “Aggie”-size get-well card — a scroll that measured 126
by 36 inches. The many messages expressing their love, mem
ories of our “fish table” and the good times we have had to
gether the past four years are very dear to me.
I believe I have the autographs of almost all of the Corps
of Cadets and my scroll is priceless.
A special thank you goes to James Phipps for keeping in
touch during my illness and for bringing the card to my
home. James has also given me his love and support this past
year by dropping by our table frequently. I know he was there
if I needed him.
I hope to be able to come to Final Review. We will have to
find the “fish table” a new home this fall as construction took
over our little corner. I pray daily for my strength to come
back.
My love and congratulations to the grads and to all of you
who make it to Final Review.
Love, best wishes and gig ’em.
Ruth Hunt
“The Fish Lady”
Barbie should be grateful for Ken
EDITOR:
Hey Barbie, Let’s get one thing straight, shall we? Who’s
been leading who on for the past 50 years? Ken has been a de
voted boyfriend ever since he was created.
I want to know why a woman would want to give up a man
that stays at home and takes care of the place while she
“brings home the bacon?” Is this not what the modern woman
has been striving for? Does she not want the responsibilities of
being the provider?
Barbie, you’ve come a long way in the past 50 years. You
are truly an inspiration to all women, but who is to say that
Ken has not been the driving force behind your success.
As the old saying goes, “Behind every good man, there’s a
good woman.” In this case it may very well be,“Behind a good
woman, there’s a good man.”
Let’s face it, he is intelligent. After all, he is smart enough
to live with a beautiful blue eyed blond that has kept a figure
from hell for over 50 years. And she is rich enough to support
the both of them comfortably.
People are wondering why Ken has not asked Barbie to
marry him. Can you tell me why Barbie would even want to
get married? Especially since she is so busy running all of her
businesses, and if getting married is so important to her, why
doesn’t she ask him to marry her? This is the 1990s. A woman
can ask the man to marry.
But before Barbie gets too snitty, she should look at Ken’s
track record. In today’s society, a person is fortunate if they
can find someone to love and someone that loves them. He
has been by her side since the 1940s.
He stayed with her through the sexual revolution when
the thing to do was have group sex, get high, watch the flow
ers grow and demonstrate against the Vietnam conflict.
She could dump him and start dating G.I Joe, but he is a
marine, and marines are notorious for cheating.
She could date one of the World Wrestling Federation
figurines, but who would want to go out with a man that gets
paid to act like a fool.
Ken is a good man, and Barbie is a good woman. They
were made for each other. They are the epitome of romance
and love.
Baxter Ekern ’90
Research, teaching important
EDITOR:
Reading your second article on undergraduate education
(“Research, not teaching receives top priority,” Wednesday,
April 25), it seems that the diverse opinions expressed on
whether A&M presently has good teaching or not are based
on different understanding. To some good teaching means
competency on subject matters, while to others good teaching
meas advising and spending more time with students.
Clearly enough, both the teaching and research aspects
are vital to good teaching, though not necessarily of equal
portion. For undergraduate education, more emphasize
should be placed on graduate courses.
Unfortunately, however, it is much easier to recognize the
quantifiable activities of the first aspect, such as number of
publications, research and amount of research funds, rather
than on the efforts of paying more attention to students.
Paul Nugraha
Graduate student
Student/faculty ratio is what it is
Pro-lifers should read the Bible
EDITOR:
This letter is addressed to the anti-abortion fanatics at
Texas A&M, especially those who consider themselves Chris
tians. Do y’all realize that God orders the slaughter of unborn
fetuses in the Bible? Isaiah 13:18. Check it out.
Michael Biek
Graduate student
EDITOR:
Barbara Bell seemed to answer her own question concern
ing how President Mobley determined the student/faculty ra
tion at Texas A&M. She said that Mobley ahd “divided the to
tal number of students at A&M by the, total number of
faculty, and has come up with the impressive ratio of 19 to
one.” This is certainly Mobley’s method, since the student/fa
culty ratio is mathematically defined as that quotient.
Bell’s assertion that the figure is misleading, however >
is not an accurate conclusion. All the statistic intends to
proved is a measure of how many students there are com
pared to how many faculty members there are. The average
class size cannot be determined by the student/faculty ratio
since it is not mathematically equivalent.
Bell has ignored the fact that some faculty members do
not teach or that many students have four or five classes each.
If each student had exactly one class and every faculty mem
ber taught exactly one class, her comparison would be valid.
Bell’s desire to assess instructional effectiveness “realisti
cally rather than statistically” is a little hypocritical. Statistics
can be a powerful tool in assessment when used correctly.
Bell’s misinterpretation of the student/faculty ratio, however,
is not a “realistic choice.”
G. Alan Cannon
Graduate student
Greek groups absent from Muster
EDITOR:
I am writing this letter concerning year’s Aggie Muster.
For those who attended, it was once again a very moving and
uplifting ceremony. Unfortunately, a very disturbing fact be
came apparent to me over the course of the weekend.
It seems that a large number of both fraternities and soro
rities were absent as a whole. After checking into why this oc
curred I was saddened to discover that these organizations
had deemed that campus Muster was unworthy of their time
and had planned social functions for the evening.
It completely disheartens me to think that many of these
people feel that this is just another Aggie tradition unworthy
of their time. It is both a sad and very ignorant attitude. I am
aware that one such organization attended Muster in San An
tonio, but this is the exception rather than the rule.
To me, Muster embodies the Aggie spirit which we cher
ish so much. It is a time for Aggies everywhere to gather to
gether and relive old times while remembering those Aggies
who have passed away in the past year.
Muster occurs in over 400 different locations and in over
40 different foreign countries.
I would think that when the time comes for us to remem
ber these current students, that they would appreciate the at
tendance of their former friends as well as current A&M stu
dents.
If it is a student’s personal belief that Aggie Muster is
unimportant to he or she, then that is their own perogadve.
But to incorporate this belief into the organizations is a se
rious mistake.
Why? A large part of the make-up of these organizations
are freshmen who have undergone rush the previous year.
By scheduling such social events on the night of such a sa
cred tradition they are promoting the idea that Muster is a
waste of time and trivial. Thus, these freshmen are never
given the chance to attend Aggie Muster and see exactly what
it is and what it embodies.
I have nothing against fraternities and sororities, but this
type attitude needs to stop.
The date of Aggie Muster is never open to question. It is
on the same day every year, April 21, the anniversary of the
battle of San Jacinto. Therefore, I see no reason why such
conflicts can’t be avoided.
True, Aggie Muster usually falls during the week, but this
does not mean that when the day comes when it does fall on
the weekend that it should be forgotten.
Next year, Aggie Muster will once again fall on the week
end and I only hope that by this time changes fall on the
weekend which will prevent a recurrence of this year.
Andrew M. Dale ’90
Milken’s been a bad boy
EDITOR:
On April 30, 1990, Andrew Matthews wrote an column
praising Michael Milken. In this column, Matthews claims
taht Giuliani indicted Milken on “frivolous technical account
ing infractions.” If Matthews had done his homework, he
would n that these “frivolous technical accounting infrat
tions” consisted of insider trading and swindling thousandsof
people out of millions of dollars. If Matthews thinks robbing
people of their life savings is “mere shoplifting” then he
needs to re-evaluate his values system.
Later in his column, Matthews claims that envy is the rea
son Milken was indicted on these charges. He claims thatsm
ciety is on a “witch hunt,” trying to cut down the “tall trees'
Well, Mr. Matthews, using your argument, we can claim thai
Hitler was condemned because people were jealous of him
After all, he was a brilliant strategist who almost conquered
the world. In addition, he had the guts, just like Milken, toex
cel in an area no one else had; namely, human experimenta
tion. Just think of all the knowledge and information that
could be gained by experimenting on our fellow man. But
Hitler was misunderstood. People were envious of him
weren’t they, Mr. Matthews?
Finally, let’s look at your “witch-hunt theory.” If what you
state is true, why aren’t we hunting Sam Walton and H. Ross
Perot, the two wealthiest people in our country? I’ll tell you
why: Because the witch hunt doesn’t exist.
The reason Milken was indicted was because he broke tht
law, plain and simple. People like Matthews and Milken, with
a warped sense of right and wrong, are the biggest threat to
our society. Their distorted belief system, like Hitler’s, create
pain and suffering for thousands of people if allowed to
flourish. Ironically, even after paying over $500 million in
fines, Milken will still have about $1 billion left from his illegal
acts. I don’t think justice has been served yet. But maybe ljust
misunderstand.
Irer
sine
was
Timothy W. King ’90
Make time for studies and tradi- •
36-i
tions
EDITOR:
I’m a faithful Battalion reader and I have noticed the con
slant battle between pro-traditionalists, those who are for tht
Aggie traditions, and pro-educationalists, those who feel that
in order to have school spirit education and studying must be
sacrificed. My question is are we here at A&M not well
rounded enough as individuals to both have respect for our
school heritage and still enjoy the academic excellence of the
University at the same time?
This is my first semester here at A&M. When I was littlel
used to hear all about the traditions — Bonfire, Silver Taps
and so on from my aunts and uncles. I was so in awe of the
spirit even though I really didn’t understand it yet. I thought
Muster was something to put on hot dogs! But now I’m the
Aggie and one of the many who have the responsibility to
carry on the traditions. They won’t live on by themselves.
Texas A&M has a nationwide reputation for its spirit and
friendliness. This isn’t portrayed by beautiful buildings, it’s
the people, the Aggies — us. So why don’t we enjoy the time
that we ahve here and carry out the traditions with pride?
Vicki Kyle ’93
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Adventures In Cartooning /^ „
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