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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 4, 1990)
2 Opinion Tuesday, December 4, 1990 The Battalion Opinion Page Editor Jennifer Jeffus 845-331 Women must fight to overcome sex discrimination 1 hree women at Texas A&M have begun a campaign to make students realize that women are discriminated against in advertising. Unfortunately, their message seems to have been met with resounding non-response. 1 saw one of the fliers distributed by the group, which calls itself Members for Ending Discrimination in Advertising, and it was quite disturbing. But it hasn’t surprised me that there has been little evidence that their ad, which ran in The Battalion on Nov. 19, and fliers have made any impression on the student body. There’s a reason for that. It’s that women on this campus, like many women in the United States, have decided they aren’t victims of Ellen Hobbs Columnist discrimination anymore. The attitude of many women seems to be that discrimination doesn’t exist for them in this day and age. They separate themselves from feminism and say their fights for jobs and promotions don’t have anything to do with women’s rights, just their own talents, job skills and drive to achieve. Me any college women believe the job market won’t be any different for them than it will University shuttles end parking complications yls a faculty member who was offered a reserved parking space, 1 want to respond to a complaint about the campus parking situation which has been mentioned repeatedly on this opinion page: that parking lots reserved for faculty often stand only three-quarters full while students sit in their cars waiting for spaces to clear in the student lots. My response is simply this —the vast majority of students and faculty should stop driving to campus and start riding Texas A&M’s shuttles. The usual complaint is that riding shuttles is frightfully inconvenient. But if the alternative involves waiting in long lines to get into a parking lot, or having to go to campus much earlier than you would like to, 1 fail to see that the bus is inconvenient. In my own case, I find I save time riding the bus. From my apartment in Bryan, it takes about 12 minutes to drive to campus, whereas it takes about 20 minutes to get to campus by bus — five minutes walking to the bus stop and 15 on the bus. But for those 15 minutes on the bus, I am getting work done: reading, writing or editing while my friendly bus driver does the driving. So the extra eight rpinutes actually constitutes a gain of four minutes in work time. Gary Varner Reader’s Opinion The only respect in which the shuttle system is genuinely inconvenient is that buses do not run on weekends, but this could be corrected easily and efficiently. Although ridership undoubtedly would be low, by making routes like Reveille and Center Pole run only once per hour on the weekend, one bus could cover as many as four routes. Center Pole and Reveille are combined into a single half-hour run after 6:1$ p.fh. on weekdays. If it were changed and these routes ran every hour on the weekends, one bus could cover Reveille and Center Pole in one half hour and one or two other routes in the second half hour. The shuttle system runs to within a half mile of the vast majority of homes and apartments in Bryan-College Station, meaning the majority of students and faculty members could save money and time and could lighten the load on the environment by riding the shuttle. So although most faculty do not need reserved parking spaces, students should stop complaining about the time they spend waiting for parking spaces. R, We Jding the bus also saves money and is environmentally sound. Although the reserved faculty parking space I was offered would have cost no more than a two- semester bus pass, 1 will save about $72 on gas in the course of the school year by saving 30 miles per week at current gas prices. Riding the bus also reduces wear and tear on my truck, and it lightens the load I place on our common natural resources. e all should support the Gniversity’s progressive attempt to develop public transportation rather than encouraging use of personal cars. If everyone who lives within a half mile of an A&M bus stop would ride the bus instead of driving, the University’s parking problems would be solved. Instead of just refusing to build more parking lots, we probably could afford to tear a few out. Gaiy Varner is a visiting assistant professor of philosophy The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Lisa Ann Robertson, Editor Kathy Cox, Managing Editor J ennifer J effus, Opinion Page Editor Chris Vaughn, City Editor Keith Sartin, Richard Tijerina, News Editors Alan Lehmann, Sports Editor Fredrick D. Joe, Art Director Kristin North, 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- College 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 daily, except Saturday, Sunday, holidays, exam periods and when school is not in session during fall and spring semesters; publication is Tuesday through Friday during the sum mer session. 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 77843-1111. 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. for their male colleagues. They don’t seem to think there’ll be a problem getting jobs that pay them the same salary as men for the same work. But statistics show otherwise. According to the 1980 CJ.S. Census, working women — on the average — earn 60 cents to every dollar men make in the same job. For women in professional jobs, the average is slightly higher — 63 cents. Sure, a decade has passed since those numbers were collected. It might very well be that when the results of the 1990 Census are tabulated, those averages could be higher. But it’s not likely to change that much. Between 1970 and 1980, when the women’s movement in the United States was in full swing, the average woman’s salary increased only two cents to every dollar made by men. That means if the increase from ! 980 to 1990 is seven times higher than the increase from 1970 to 1980, women still will average less than three-fourths of the average salary men make for the same work. And those professional women who are making 63 cents to every dollar now? In 1970, they were making 64 cents. Women today are victims of discrimination, in their search for jobs, in their paychecks and in their education. But the biggest enemies women have today are themselves, because of their self- perpetuated ignorance and denit of oppression in our society. houj www- I Airlines Mr omen must realize the, Empire J still have to fight for their rights, f ro m ere and they have to stand up and a whelmed the way they are portrayed in surging l advertising, as well as in movies llt “i \ on T.V. and in magazines, is unfa; n banki They’ve got to fight the portrayal; J ton, Dei women as objects and in 11 The film Co sterotypical roles because that organize portrayal affects the perception: in I9f women as a whole by our societf, Texas a But if women can’t face upto l airline h the fact that they are victims of discrimination, the fight won’t begin and they won’t ever real considered equal. Ellen Hobbs is a senior journalism major. <9iW> me new MM Without The President ; tal filed amid a t airline’s i The fi scrap un cost repl ers. It al: | bankrup more dif Texas elude Et that carr judge i ■ trustee. R Chapter Mond I; fifth lar; i financial ■ because If and slug “It be- R raise me |: : : before t H nental c news o ' “Being 1 | not bar 1; costs at t As pa || based c B sell its R; route to Gc UK pe Mail Call t-sip behavior was offensive EDITOR: Upon attending the Texas A&M vs. t.u. game, I realize how much I appreciate A&M and how many millions of dol lars you’d have to pay me to go to t.u. About 10 of my fellow Ags and myself left College Station and arrived in Austin in time for yell practice. We promptly were greeted at the capital with rotten eggs thrown at us, along with someone standing in the middle of yell holding up the Longhorn sign. If it had not been for seve ral CTs that said killing him was *bad bull,” then he would have been flattened. We attended Saturday’s game, and afterward were ridi culed and shoved as we left. Both young and old t-sips shoved us, saying, “Beat the hell outta A&M.” Losing by one point is hardly a whipping, and the game proved how much spirit A&M has since we went for the win rather than take the certain tie. Texas certainly is a university with no class! Go Miami! Beat the Hell Outta t.u.l Andy Smith ’93 AUS" 'Texas i sonnel - ation ir alerted - support Persian said. The 1 | alert du |announ No d to be ca! The 149th I transpo combat r- Soldiers request letters EDITOR: Howdy Ags! I am the adjutant of the 27th Combat Engi neer Battalion (Airborne) from Ft. Bragg, N.C. My unit was the first non-divisional combat engineer battalion to deploy Aug. 23 on Operation Desert Shield. Currently, there is no ro tation policy for our return to the United States. We hope we return by June. We are located in the middle of the desert. We are proud of our lineage and colors and are proud to represent the United States during this time of need. Two months before we were sent to Saudi Arabia, we just had returned from a 100-day deployment in the Honduras. Many soldiers have been away from their families, friends and loved ones for the majority of this year. It has been, and will continue to be, the love and devotion of those same people that encourage our soldiers to do their best in all they set out to do. Soldiers within the unit receive a letter or two a week — some addressed “to any soldier.” These warm and thoughtful letters do much for our soldiers stuck in such an austere envi ronment. I would like to extend sincere holiday greetings to Texas A&M students and citizens of College Station. We are going to be away from our homes during Christmas and for many days thereafter. I’m enclosing our unit’s address. We would welcome any letters your readers wish to send our soldiers. Kenny Crawford ’85 1LT(P) Kenny Crawford Attn: Tiger Soldier 27th Engineer Battalion (CbLAbn) 20th Engr Bde APO, N.Y. 09657 Longhorns have no class sa» was EDITOR: I never realized how obnoxious t.u. fans are until them in action at Saturday’s game in Memorial Stadium. As an incoming freshman, throughout the semester amazed at how eve?yone at A&M truly hated t.u., but 1 didn> understand why. I always thought A&M and t.u. were almost identical uni versifies; and at one time, I even considered attending Uj Mow I’m embarrassed I applied after what I witnessed in Aus tin this weekend. The yells and gestures for each team are fine —it’s ail p of the rivalry. But when their student body throws chunks oi ice at our band — that’s when a good rivaliy becomes a bitte hate. 1 was proud of the way the band did nothing to retaliate, After the game, t.u. again showed their “true colors" t? harrassing yell leaders and the A&M student body. If A&fl had won, I am certain that the Ags would have shown mot! class and respect for the other team. Ultimately, I hated for A&M to lose the game; but it madt me realize what little class t.u. has and how lucky I am to in a “good ol’ Ag.” Lee Briggs ’94 Have an opinion?Express it! Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial stt reserves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will make eueryef^ to maintain the author's intent. There is no guarantee that letters submit will be printed. Each letter must be signed and must include the classifier tion, address and telephone number of the writer. All letters may be brought 216 Reed McDonald, or sent to Campus Mail Stop 1111.