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Opinion
uesday, March 31, 1992
The Battalion
Page 11 A
The Battalion Editorial Board
DOUGLAS PILS, Editor in Chief
The
Battalion
BRIDGET HARROW, Managing Editor
BRIAN BONEV, Opinion Editor
JASON MORRIS, Night News Editor
MORGAN JUDAY, Night News Editor
MACK HARRISON, City Editor
KARL STOLLEIS, Photo Editor
SCOTT WUDEL, Sports Editor
ROB NEWBERRY, Lifestyles Editor
The following opinions are a consensus of The Battalion opinion staff and senior editors.
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Lisa Cash
Vote for candidate with best platform, insight
We endorse Lisa Cash for student
■ body president because of her viable
• • Hplans for A&M, her efforts to make
student government more accessible to
r students and her oersonal manner that
students and her personal manner that
would positively represent her
constituents.
Cash shows the best ability to
represent students to the A&M
administration and the Legislature.
Her plan to have students vote for the
teacher of the year would give A&M
faculty members an incentive and
5possibly add more student input into
the system of granting tenure. Her
plan to initiate a letter-writing
campaign to lobby for A&M at the
state level is simple, yet effective.
While the other candidates have
only vague notions of solving
problems that concern this campus,
of theblamefc Cash has specific solutions to start
:womenontls right away. Among her many
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proposals, she would begin to solve
the problem of access to A.P. Beutel
Health Center by creating parking
spaces from the area left by the razing
of Law and Puryear Halls. She would
work to create a version of Fish Camp
for international students to help
welcome them into the A&M family.
Cash best articulates a true concern
for her fellow students. That ability
will help her when expressing student
concerns to those inside and outside
the A&M community.
Cash has spent two years in student
government. She knows what works
and what does not. She has shown she
can effect change and get things done
through that organization, and she
gives credit to those who help her
accomplish her goals.
With Cash as student body
president, A&M students can feel
confident their concerns will be met.
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The Texas A&M Student Senate
relieved eight senators last week for
violating the body's attendance policy.
The action has drawn criticism from
some of the affected senators.
However, the policy outlawing
unexcused absences’ is necessary to
ensure the Senate* detains responsible
representatives.
The Senate is an important and
prestigious institution at A&M.
Although it retains little explicit
power, the Senate is visible enough to
influence the opinions of the
administration and the student body.
Such implicit power should not be
taken lightly, and the elected
representatives who choose to ignore
their responsibilities have no claim to
a seat on the Senate.
Some Senate hopefuls appear to
want the job solely for its high
"resume factor" value. Indeed, the
position implies the student is willing
to bear leadership and responsibility
within a large body of people. But the
resume factor should be the last on a
list of goals for senator; they should
work to benefit their constituents and
the student population at large.
Student senators should actively
try to remain abreast of Senate
information at all times; they should
not be cajoled into going to senate
meetings.
Senate rules will not allow
representatives to run for next year's
Senate, a regulation that will prevent
some of the terminated senators from
running in today's election. This
policy should be lauded, not
condemned, as a means to keep
Senators involved and properly
representing their constituents.
The Student Senate is the major link
between Texas A&M administration
and the student population. Its
members must maintain active links
between their constituents and the rest
of the Senate.
Every member must put forth a
reasonable amount of effort in order to
accomplish the Senate's task.
Students who skip Senate
proceedings simply are not doing their
jobs as they should.
Right to choose
Endorsements help students make better -informed decisions
DOUGLAS
PILS
Editor-in-Chief
E lection time is a time of choice.
Voters have the choice to decide
who will be their voice in
political and legal matters. The need
for that undeniable choice formed
our nation and whether it was for the
right or wrong reasons, we have
fought many times to preserve that
choice, both here and abroad.
The choices of voters have a
profound effect not only on
immediate times but on history. The
effects of Franklin D. Roosevelt's
programs are still felt today. What
would the '60s and '70s had been like
if Nixon had won the close 1960
election against John Kennedy?
Would the Kennedy assassinations
and Watergate be benchmarks of
political life in the last 30 years?
The fact remains that the voter's
freedom of choice is central to our
democratic way of life. When we
start infringing on that right we
hover dangerously over a socialistic
— state. A state where a few with
a semblance of power attempt
to inflict their views upon the
population.
Not long ago a bill was
brought before the Texas A&M
Student Senate that was meant
to limit the number of choices
that the student body had for
student body president; only
= those seen fit by the Senate.
Fortunately, that bill never had
a chance after it was decided
that the choice should be left up to
the voters as to who was qualified to
be president.
However, last week brought more
scary news out of the illustrious
Senate. It seems a few junior senators
wanted to restrict a different kind of
choice basic to our democratic way of
life. A bill was brought to committee
that sought to keep The Battalion from
endorsing a candidate for student
body president.
, This in not only absurd, it is a very
poorly researched idea for a bill to be
voted into law. First of all it would
be unconstitutional to try and restrict
such an endorsement. Secondly, it is
a common practice everywhere with
in the newspaper industry.
Presidential candidates are
interviewed by major newspapers,
congressional candidates are
interviewed by papers in their
districts and sheriff candidates by
their constituent newspapers. These
interviews are not for stories, they are
for the much sought after
endorsement on the paper's opinion
page.
This bill never saw the light of
day, as it was nixed in committee.
Now, the Academic Affairs
Committee of the Student Senate
(what does Academic Affairs have to
do with this endorsement?) is
begging The Battalion to not endorse a
candidate for fear that it would
influence the student body.
The endorsement process consists
of an interview with each candidate
and what usually turns out to be a
lengthy discussion among the nine
members of the editorial staff. This is
not a perfect system, and we by no
means declare it to be perfect.
What it is however, is our
informed decision on who we think
will make the best student body
president for 1992-93. We are
afforded the opportunity to sit and
discuss each candidates platforms
and issues pertaining to the A&M
student body.
If the student body does not agree
with the decision we have made, I
urge you to "do your own research
and pick the candidate who will best
serve Texas A&M."
It's your right and your choice.
Pits is a senior journalism and
economics major
and is editor of The Battalion
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Mail Call
Don't follow only
Batt endorsement
The Academic Affairs Committee of the
Student Senate of Student Government would
like to address an issue that concerns our
committee and the campus as a whole. With the
upcoming campus-wide elections, much attention
is being focused on the election of the Student
Body President. This attention is well-placed
because of the extreme importance on finding the
best candidate for the highest student position on
campus. The Academic Affairs Committee feels
that The Battalion's policy of endorsing a
candidate based on an interview with the
Editorial Board interferes with the fair election
process.
The Battalion, as the official and only
newspaper of the Texas A&M student body, acts
as the main source of information for most
student about the race for Student Body
President. The candidate receiving The
Battalion's endorsement has an unfair advantage
over the other candidates. As the Battalion editor
has admitted, only two candidates in the last ten
years have won without the endorsement.
We are not trying to limit free speech, rather
we are expressing our opinion that each
candidate should be given equal press and an
equal chance. If each editor wanted to throw
their support to different candidates, it would
give the student body the positive and negative
aspects of each candidate and be much fairer to
all students involved. The endorsement of a
single candidate carries too much weight and
swings too many votes of students who are
willing to let others form their opinions without
researching the issues.
When the Student Senate was looking into
requiring the Student Body President to have
Student Government experience. The Battalion
editorial Board printed its disapproval of the
measure. They wrote that the policy "suggests
that A&M students are not smart enough to pick
a qualified president." They went on to talk
about elitism and exclusionary tactics. Needless
to say, the amendment failed. The Academic
Affairs Committee feels that these same quotes
can apply to the practice of the Editorial Board
endorsing a single candidate for the Student Body
President.
The Academic Affairs Committee sincerely
hopes that the Editorial Board will listen to our
recommendation and end its current practice of
candidate endorsement and strive toward
informing student voters without the attempt at
forming their opinions. If the Editorial Board is
unwilling to listen, we encourage the student
body to ignore the endorsement, do your own
research and pick the candidate who will best
serve Texas A&M.
Cody Don Burke
Dahna Hall
Academic Affairs Committee
Experience week
of gay awareness
Gay and Lesbian Student Service is a group
that experienced a struggle for recognition from
Texas A&M. The university acknowledged the
student group only after an 8-year-long lawsuit
that went to the Supreme Court where it was
refused to be heard. That left the 5th Court of
Appeals ruling for the university to recognize the
group to stand. University recognition of GLSS
was made June 6,1985.
This large-scale struggle for recognition is a
reflection of what most every lesbian and gay
male must go through individually. GLSS offers
support to individuals as they struggle with being
homosexual in a heterosexual world.
But GLSS and the individual members of the
group have an underlying goal. Many lesbians
and gays work toward creating a tolerant and
accepting world where it won't be necessary to
have a separate meeting in which it is OK for two
men to hold hands or two women to sit in a loose
embrace.
"I think we're a little behind the rest of the
world," said Brian Reinhardt, president of GLSS.
"But we're where we have to be right now,
moving slowly forward. A big thrust of our
group is toward the future and hope for change.
We also want to provide support for individuals
and help them feel better about themselves... One
of the ways people draw together is through a
common traumatic experience. I don't think
anyone can say growing up and being gay isn't
traumatic, given the non-gay world in which we
live. We all need support."
Being gay isn't just what the person is in the
bedroom. Being lesbian or gay impacts one's who
life. It affects who you have as friends and your
relationship with your parents. It can affect your
social life, where you shop and what career you
choose. It affects your behavior when you are in
public.
"We can't walk down the street and hold
hands," said Teri, a lesbian. "WeTl be in the store
and say something like, 'Honey, did you get the
bread?' and have to look around to see who
heard."
"I think I can dream if I want to," said Linda, a
lesbian. "The perfect world is being able to walk
don the street, holding hands with a girl and not
getting beat up... Basically my goal is to make the
community here better for lesbians and gays who
live here."
In the reaching out that GLSS has done,
members have often met with positive responses.
Panels of gays and lesbians volunteer to go into
classrooms to talk about their experiences, what it
is like to be gay and facilitate classroom
discussion. During Awareness Week GLSS
sponsors a variety of educative events. These
events are an opportunity for non-gays to learn
more about gay and lesbian people and their
lives. This greater understanding can lead to
greater acceptance which benefits us all.
Lucinda Sinclair-]ames
Graduate Student
Have an opinion?
Express it!
The Battalion is interested in
hearing from its readers.
All letters are welcome.
Letters must be signed and
must include classification,
address and a daytime phone
number for verification
purposes. They should be 250
words or less. Anonymous
letters will not be published.
The Battalion reserves the
right to edit ail letters for
length, style and accuracy.
There is no guarantee the
letters will appear. Letters may
be brought to 013 Reed
McDonald, sent to Campus
Mail Stop 1111 or can be faxed
to 845-2647.