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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1990)
The Battalion OPINION Thursday, November 1 , 1990 Noisy construction disrupts classrooms The inconvenience of campus construction is a necessary evil, but work should not be allowed to interfere with our educa tion. Classes still meet in buildings under renovation. Workers are restoring the exterior of Francis Hall — using jackhammers, drills and other noisy equipment — while students are meeting inside. Performing well in the classroom is difficult enough when students can hear the professor. When the drone of heavy equip ment drowns out the speaker, learning is impossible. Many campus buildings are old and in need of repair. But students shouldn’t be cheated out of the tuition they pay by struggling to hear lectures in buildings under construction. Ren ovate the buildings, but hold classes somewhere else. The Battalion Editorial Board Mail Call Ticket scalping does steal income EDITOR: In regard to the October 23 columns written by Andy Yocum and Cory Moore, I would like to respond to a few of their questions regarding ticket scalping. The main question, in Andy’s eloquent words, was “How the is it possible scalpers are stealing income from the athletic department.” I’ll ex plain. The 12th Man Foundation generally gets the better seats on the West side of Kyle Field. Many members were giving up their tickets to scalpers and in fact some of them used their membership to buy a dozen extra seats and scalp them for themselves. Some fans had begun to realize that it was not necessary to pay the membership fee to the 12th Man Foundation in order to get the better tickets allotted for Foundation members. Accordingly, fewer people joined the Foundation and less funds were generated through the mem bership fee. All proceeds generated by the 12th Man Foundation go to the Athletic Department, and mere specifically, to fund scholarships for student athletes. This is how ticket scalping hurts the athletic department. The other question asked how could it be that Aggie football fans were be ing ripped off. Both gentlemen contended that ticket scalpers provided a “service” for those fans who chose to wait until the last day to buy their ticket. However, as the original article pointed out, groups such as Alpha Phi Omega in the MSG are providing the real service in that they have a free ticket ex change table where fans can buy and sell their tickets at face value. In fact, part of the reason I contacted the Battalion about the issue was to make peo ple aware of the free ticket exchange table. Thus the ticket scalpers are merely taking advantage of those people who don’t realize that the “service” is some thing that is provided free of charge. The final reason I contacted the Battalion with this information was to al low ticket scalpers to avoid trouble since the policy against ticket scalping was about to be enforced. Nonetheless, two ticket scalpers ignored the warnings and got busted this past weekend. Oh well, I tried. Respectfully, Ty Clevenger ’91 Student Body President Male Corps fish insult female cadet EDITOR: I was walking in front of a group of CT freshmen yesterday when a senior female cadet passed us walking in the other direction. I heard the CTs behind me exclaim, “STUPID WAGS!” in the most derogatory manner. This was only one of many occasions that I have heard such a statement. It seems to me that women in the Corps get very little or no respect from men in the Corps and no more from people outside the Corps. I for one would like them to know that they have my respect and admiration. Stephanie Fuller ’93 A good Ag would have stopped ... EDITOR: I always hoped that my first letter to the Battalion would be in praise of some noteworthy Aggie, but I am sad to say it is not. I recently sprained my ankle which put me on crutches. I had never been on crutches and was, nee dless to say, very clumsy. Monday, October 22, I was leaving the Biological Sci ence Building West and fell backwards on the stairs. I dropped one crutch and my books were scattered down the steps. A member of the Corps walked by, laughed, then left. He was less than five feet away and made no motion whatsoever to help. I managed to pick up the crutch and my books with some difficulty and moved on, but I was shocked by the attitude of that CT. I was led to believe that the Corps were always ready and willing to help, but his action followed neither of these fundamental principles. I certainly hope that this incident does not epitomize the routine policy of the A&M Corps of Cadets. Carolyn Tobey ’91 The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Cindy McMillian, Editor Timm Doolen, Managing Editor Ellen Hobbs, Opinion Page Editor Holly Becka, City Editor Kathy Cox, Kristin North, News Editors Nadja Sabawala, Sports Editor Eric Roalson, Art Director Lisa Ann Robertson, Lifestyles Editor Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-sup porting newspaper operated as a commu nity service to Texas A&M and Bryan- Colle^e Station. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editorial board or the au thor, 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 regu lar semesters, except for holiday and ex amination periods. Newsroom: 845-3313. Mail subscriptions are $20 per semes ter, $40 per school year and $50 per full year: 845-2611. Advertising rates fur nished on request: 845-2696. Our address: The Battalion, 230 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, Col lege Station, TX 77843-111 1. 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 77843-41II. Here’s how things really work DALI ptcy f y opei Elever ill kee hile its es thr ,tion. Judge 7 a PP' ws Sot How does this world work? How is power and money used and abused? How does it all flow? Bits and pieces of information, seemingly unconnected, are presented herein. Readers may draw their own conclusions. Just the facts: • Working for military corporations, Probe International (a consulting firm) gave good news for manufacturers of weapons of all types. Probe International says that even though the cold war has nearly evaporated, border claims, competition for resources, and ethnic and religious conflicts will continue to provide a market for military corporations. Several examples of conflicts in which the military corporations could sell arms and other equipment to one side or the other were given. The examples included a possible civil war in South Africa and religious and ethnic unrest in India, Pakistan, and Eastern Europe. • As the Guatemalan military continues to slaughter thousands of civilians every year, the United States continues to fund the Guatemalan government and supply and train its military. American aid has been increasing, and Guatemala ranks 10th among 90 countries receiving economic aid. So far this year, over 1,000 people have been either killed by military death squads in Guatemala or have ‘disappeared.’ Young children are not spared from abduction, rape, torture, and murder. • In Burma, military dictator Saw Maung continues to exterminate the people living in his country. After killing thousands in order to put down the democracy movement in his country, Saw Maung needed money to continue opressing and killing his people. Thai logging companies and American corporations such as Amoco, Unical, and Pepsicola have provided that money. These corporations have been giving Saw Maung’s regime money for the rights to log Burmese rain forests, drill on Burmese land, and use Burma’s human and natural resources in general. • The Mitsubishi Corporation continues to clear-cut the tropical rainforests of Borneo. The Pinon people, whose homes Mitsubishi is destroying by leveling the rainforests, have filed a court case against Mitsubishi. Because Mitsubishi may have to stop its logging of the rain forests, Mitsubishi is now logging day and night, 24 hours a day. They are clear-cutting over 1,000 acres of rainforests every day. • Less than five percent of America’s virgin forests remain. They hold over 10 million years of complex biological evolution and contain some of the last temperate rainforests on earth. The timber industry continues to clearcut these forests. • The U.S. Forest Service provides over $1.5 billion of free services for the timber industry every year. The Forest Service builds logging roads, burns slash, and controls erosion for the timber industry so that they can more easily log public forests. The timber companies do not have to pay property taxes for the forests that they cut down. The timber industry gives money to several key Congresspeople. • Cost of implementing the S&L bailout, per day: $148 million. • Percentage change, since 1980 of federal research spending on solar energy: -90 percent. Percentage of the Department of Energy’s proposed 1991 research and development budget that would be spent on defense: 42 percent. • Senator Bob Dole has two builders of small aircraft in Kansas, the state he represents. A proposal was made in Congress to charge a 10 percent tax on purhases of small aircraft. Dole worked to make the tax apply for only planes that cost more than $250,000, making most of the aircraft manufactured in his state exempt from the tax. Dole has received at least $4,250 from the two aircraft companies in his state. • The Republican Presidential Iasi Force has been mailing people fake}! checks. If the check is endorsed, the Republican Presidential Task Force then deduct $ 12.50 every month froi the account in which the check was deposited. The $25 are two ‘free’ months. The information about the deductions is mentioned in the midd: of the accompanying letter and in thf fine print on the back of the check. 01 out of five Americans cannot read. • The cost of school-based sex education, per pupil, per year: $135. The cost of public assistance for a chi born of a teenage parent, for 20 ye; $50,000. • The cost of prenatal care fora healthy pregnant woman for nine months: $600. The cost of medicalc for an extremely premature baby,p< day: $2,500. Prenatal care prevents low-weight births. Many women cannot afford prenatal care. A quarter of a million babies are born seriously underweigt each year. These babies are twoortl times as likely to be blind, deaf, or mentally retarded. • Tobacco companies spent $3.25 billion on advertising in 1988, severa hundred million of which was subsidized by taxpayers. Senate Republican Jesse Helms receives a substantial amount of money fromtt tobacco industry. • Most of today’s millions of homeless Americans are children family members, and working peopl • Of America’s 250 most profitabl corporations in 1988, 45 reduced tht tax liability to less than 10 percent, at 6 received refunds. • CropWalk is a program that donates money raised by a 1 OK wall fight hunger, both locally and in impoverished or war-torn nations.! Medicine Tribe, an organization on campus, worked a table at the MSC today (Oct. 31) to raise money for CropWalk. By 1:15 p.m. today, nod had donated any money to CropWal but many T-shirts had been sold at other tables nearby. Irwin Tang is a junior political scit' major. nvenie 20 mil erythii e. Dallas ednesc iled to editors he con ider tl 9 bil i87. Adventures In Cartooning by Don Atkinson Ji. TUeRE RP£ LOTS OF nmumGes to nemrm Ifte 6CR.IPT5 F0K ms STklP. FOR 6XRMPIC, GO RSK iMT GfRL OUT Oi/FR TteRC. excuse Me. xw Mfm is. OWJ. NOTV/MG TO GGF URSer fidoor. xu. jOsr Rem/rt Hen Reswuse GW... '~~7 /5 W^ Pes! XV L&/6 go our w/rp <rOo! /n FGex: X'LL PM FOR- vmn!"