IT'S
Opinion
Monday, September 23, 1991
The Battalion
Page 11
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EDITORIAL
Editorials expressed in The Battalion are those of the editorial board and do not
necessarily represent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, faculty or the Board of
Regents.
Reported assault taints
reputation of Corps
Twelfth day enrollment figures show a slight increase of women on
this campus. The majority believe this is a positive step, considering at
one point women were forbidden to attend Texas A&M. Obviously,
The University has come a long way since.
Unfortunately, ignorance still lives and there are those who believe
women still have an appropriate place in society — and one of those
places isn't the Parsons' Mounted Cavalry.
The reported assault on the female member of the Texas A&M Corps
of Cadets does several things for this institution of higher learning —
none of which are positive.
First, it is a clear example of how one act can tarnish the reputation
of an entire organization. The Corps has forever boasted of its dedica
tion to discipline, honor and goodwill. Clearly, accosting a woman is
not a sign of any of those characteristics. If anything, it shows how
some men feel threatened by women wanting to take on higher roles. It
shows ignorance in that some men still use physical means to reach an
end. Lastly, it shows the lack of growth and stale mentality that some
men still possess on this campus.
Secondly, this act could very well deter other women from seeking
higher offices or joining male-dominated organizations. Violent acts
like this show that anyone is susceptible to hate crimes.
And what are victims supposed to do? Hide and live in fear? Or
fight back? Hopefully, this appalling incident will open the eyes of the
administration that more time needs to be spent on promoting an anti-
discrimination campus.
For now, it seems appropriate that these individuals and the organi
zation should suffer the consequences. If it had been a fraternity and a
hazing incident, the entire organization would receive punishment, de
spite the fact that only a few may have participated in the act.
In the past, the Corps has always stuck together. Now members
have a real test ahead of them. How can the Corps expect female
members to feel part of this large, influential organization if they could
be its next victims?
The Battalion Editorial Board
Life at college vs. high school
Compare A&M experiences
to life at home with parents
A s those of you who are incoming freshman are
beginning to realize, and as those of you who
have been here for a while probably
remember, life at home in high school and life
here at Texas A&M are, though obviously relat
ed, distinctly different. Td like to explore some
of those differences in this column using the
simple analogy form you'll remember from your
SAT. High school is to Texas A&M as:
• Diet Coke is to black coffee.
• computer class is to B AN A 217.
• shopping for school supplies with Mom at
Wal-Mart is to chipping in with your friends on
a Sam's membership to buy condoms wholesale.
♦ sneaking out before the pep rally is to
passing out before Yell Practice.
* No-Doz is to ephedrine.
• sneaking cigarettes is to buying three
packs of Marlboro Mediums so you can get a
free T-shirt.
• going to "away" games is to taking road
trips to New Orleans.
• parent-teacher conferences is to bumping into your
TA at Duddley's.
• Miller Lite is to Shiner Bock.
• having fantasies about a "Latin lover" is to joining
the South American Student Association.
• "parking" is to hanging a towel on your dorm
room doorknob.
• dressing up as the school mascot is to having a
class with Reveille.
• fighting with your parents is to fighting with your
roommate.
• the family doctor is to the quack shack.
• trying out for the team is to thinking up a name for
your intramural bowling team.
* shopping for underwear with Mom at tire mall is to
ordering bras out of the Victoria's Secret catalogue with
your new Visa card.
• going off campus for lunch is to inviting everybody
Ellen
Hobbs
Hobbs is a senior
journalism
major.
over for barbecue.
• getting friends to buy you beer is to having a fake
ID made at a flea market.
• PE is to KINE199.
• going to the ASPCA to look for a family
pet is to buying a lobster at Kroger for your
aquarium.
• getting an advance on your allowance is to
applying for a short-term loan.
• having a part-time job is to having three
part-time jobs.
• renting porno films is to going to Adult
Video.
• having your parents help you with your
homework is to paying a tutor by the hour.
•• being frustrated with your guidance coun
selor is to being frustrated with your undergrad
uate adviser.
• faking illnesses to get out of school is to us
ing self-inflicted injuries to avoid taking exams.
• hoping for a fire drill is to phoning in
bomb threats.
• skipping school is to sleeping in.
• recording soaps on your VCR is to arranging your
class schedule around "Days of Our Lives."
• being grounded is to parking tickets.
• getting to bed early for school in the morning is to
afternoon naps.
• driving around drinking beer is to putting the keg
in the bathtub.
• Student Council is to Student Government.
• the principal is to President William Mobley.
• the cosmetology department is to Charles and
Sue's School of Hair Design.
• a letter jacket is to 400 different Aggie T-shirts.
• going to the school library is to riding the library
shuttle to Austin.
And finally:
• applying to college is to applying to graduate
school.
Mail Call
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Where does money
from interest go?
Clevenger's Top 40 A&M questionable
fees:
❖ Where does all of the interest accrued by
student organization accounts in the MSC
Student Finance Center go?
Every organization on campus has an
account at the finance center. Many of these
accounts contain considerable amounts of
money. They obviously earn interest; however,
none of this interest is given to the
organizations themselves.
The University should stop absorbing these
hidden assets and return them to the student
organizations which rightfully deserve them
Chris Razvley '92
❖ My friends and I are curious: Where do
we take our IDs to get the $4 maintenance
done? The F’avilion? Heaton Hall? The
University Maintenance Office?
My ID needs a lot of work. And yesterday
my wife's ID broke down. Please help!
Tim Batt '93
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Let students park
on public streets
❖ I am a fifth year senior attending Texas
A&M. On September 14,1 attended the A&M -
LSU football game. I parked my car on Dexter,
located opposite George Bush Drive in a
residential area.
I thought nothing of since I had done the
same thing last year. But when I returned after
the game, I had receive a parking ticket.
College Station had turned that area into a no
parking zone.
Why? Is it just another way for the City of
College Station to squeeze money out of us
students? From all the other cars parked near
me, I estimate the city profited close to $1000
that afternoon. Not bad for a day's "work."
After talking to a College Station city
official, 1 thought maybe my initial reaction
was wrong. He told me the residents on that
particular public street were upset because
people were parking on it during football
games.
Is it that inconvenient to have people park
around your house for three or four hours, five
or six Saturdays out of the year? Need I
remind you the streets belong to the tax
players, not the people who own the houses
next to it.
Something needs to be done about this.
How can people living off-campus support the
Aggie football team if we are not allowed to
park for the game! Please give us our parking
back!
Patches Fleming '91
Hobbs' column may
be misunderstood
❖ I liked Ellen Hobb's column in the Sept.
16 issue of The Battalion.
Although the tactics used to disrupt the
Pennsylvania shoot were classic "animal
liberation," she was right about this being a
case where there's broad-based, rational
opposition.
It's important to clearly state (as she did)
drug abuse is a more pressing social problem
today, but the shoot's slogan is like asking
people to rob rather than rape.
Since she will no doubt get some
reactionary trophy hunters writing in in self-
defense or some sport hunters who aren't
careful enough readers to figure out she wasn't
attacking them, I thought Td write in a line of
support.
Gait/ Tanner
assistant professor
Humans don't have
hunting instincts
❖ I recently finished reading Kevin
McDaniel's response to Ellen Hobbs on the
subject of hunting in last Thursday's Battalion.
He wrote that she attempted to disguise an
attack on hunting and it offended him.
McDaniel wrote that hunting was a "time-
honored tradition."
"Howdy" is a time-honored tradition, not
decapitated heads which hang on people's
walls. Your attack on animal rights activists
showed nothing but pure ignorance.
I know what it is like to hunt. I grew up
doing it. It was only in the last few years 1
have matured and realized that those are not
man's true instincts.
And finally, you wrote of "the aesthetic
values which encompass a hunting trip."
There is nothing aesthetic about hunting.
Eddy Wylie '95
A&M should teach
computer literacy
❖ I was an assistant teacher for a freshman
computer science course for five semesters. It
is interesting to note that often the computer
science majors are outnumbered by non
majors in CPSC 110.
Why are all of these non-majors taking the
course? Sure, some art genuinely interested in
learning a programming language (Pascal in
this case), but most of these people are there to
satisfy the computer requirement of the core
curriculum.
In my opinion, some of these people have
no business being in a course like CPSC 110.
Even though it is a first-semester freshman
course, it is not trivial. It is designed to
prepare computer science majors for their
sophomore-level classes.
Many of the people come into the class
without ever having touched a keyboard, and
they are expected to be writing programs
within the first week or so.
The lecturer can't slow down the course for
them, so a lot of people soon get left behind.
Most of these non-CS majors, especially those
in non-technical majors, will likely never have
occasion to write another program after taking
this course.
Part of the problem may lie with
undergraduate advisers, who probably have
no idea what the various computer classes
involve.
Beyond that I think the main problem is
that the University initiated the computer
usage portion of the core curriculum without
first considering what the needs of the
students would be.
For example, an English major does not
need to know how to program in Pascal, but
he or she probably would like to learn how to
use the major word processors.
The majority of the students who get non
technical degrees are sure to use computers to
Hove on opinion? Express it!
The Battalion is interested in hearing from its readers.
All letters to the editor are welcome. Written letters must be signed and include
classification, address and daytime phone number for verification purposes. Anonymous
letters will not be published.
The Battalion reserves the right to edit all letters for length, style and accuracy. There is no
guarantee letters will appear.
Letters may be brought to 013 Reed McDonald, sent to Campus Mail Stop 1111 or can be
faxed to 845-5408.
some extent later on, but probably in the
capacity of using word processors, databases,
spreadsheets and the like.
What A&M needs is a "computer literacy"
course for those who are not interested in
programming. A lot of people are afraid to
come near a computer.
A computer literacy course would be
designed to de-mystify people about
computers, teaching such fundamental things
as how to use the operating system and
various major applications (word processors,
spreadsheets, databases).This would be a lot
more useful to these students than would a
programming course.
To their credit, some departments have
their own computer courses tailored to their
particular majors, but as far as I know, no such
course exists at A&M that is open to all
students.
I would encourage the University to
arrange for such a course and to let the
advisers know the course is available. In the
meantime, advisers need to become a little
more familiar with what is now available.
Tim Thornton
graduate student
Don't use others to
promote your cause
❖ Understand that on the subject of
Bonfire, I am one of the pitifully apathetic.
I feel the trees would most likely be
dumped and unused if Bonfire didn't provide
a use for these victims of strip-mining. But
there might be a more productive, less smoke-
filled outlet.
However, there's no denying it makes a
helluva spectacle.
Instead, I'm writing about one of the tactics
an anti-Bonfire person or group is doing.
They have had an ink pad stamp made
saying, "Stop Bonfire" and used it to stamp
leaflets posted on bulletin boards, most
notably on the second floor of the Harrington
Educational Building.
These leaflets were posted with a purpose
to notify of upcoming events or the sale of
computer components, probably without a
thought to the Bonfire situation.
It is wrong to use other groups'
advertisements as a social or political spring
board to forward your own beliefs. It is also a
form of graffiti.
There is a small chance some of the people
in these groups do not share your ideas and
might actually resent being used for your
purposes.
Jerry Carol '92.