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Opinio
[Monday, April 20, 1992
The Battalion
Page 7
The Battalion Editorial Board
DOUGLAS PILS, Editor-in-Chief
The
Battalion
BRIDGET HARROW, Managing Editor
BRIAN BONEY, 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
Good Friday
Should the day be treated
as a school holiday?
PRO
5-1 los
ret Valera, 6-3,
between ththnl
han three hours |
id coach Bobk
s team wasncl
enough tonialfj
■ tournamentpii;
CON
I I think it's
important to
first point out
that in no way
am I debating
the fact that
Jesus Christ did
indeed die for
Brour and my
sins, but that is, in fact, the reason I
am taking part in this debate. I feel
quite strongly about my beliefs and
that is why I believe Good Friday, just
like every other holiday that holds
a tough dele;!.j any importance, should be observed
we matchedupJ in celebration with a day off.
hem today,’litsH When 1 was offered the chance to
roung teamaniMakg p art i n this, I immediately began
to try and come up with different
arguments to support my case, just
like I would with any other debate.
1 Then, I realized this was like no
ordinary debate but instead a
erience form,
looking fora:
■ith a talented
/ers say.
ir the rightsH
II, vice cnai:
nittee, whoKsi
the relationsfe
rovell said."ft|
:nd our relate
?lp MJ
hwould be: Good Friday is a day
hristians represent as the day Jesus
was crucified on the Cross at Golgatha
and that is the day he sacrificed
ihimself to give us that believe in Him
the chance to everlasting life.
Just as we celebrate the birth of
Jesus in December, it is only proper
that we celebrate his death in April.
Though Christians' true victory is
in the fact that Jesus^rose on the third
lay after hfs crdcffi?<ion, and we
elebrate that event on Easter Sunday,
finals willo’ we would have no victory if he didn't
ie.
tantwilltakfiffij argument against the
d the rentfWjbservance of Good Friday with a day
>6 split betwtej off might be that it is not a holiday
.observed by all religions or people
ouldn't really remember what the
ay is in observance of.
Well, that comparison could be
made with the observance of
hristmas, Memorial Day, and other
Iholidays that are observed with a day
off.
People have often overlooked the
alsobeelil meaning of Christmas and replaced it
ic ( With the purchasing of gifts and other
items. Memorial day, which is the
observation day made for the
country's veterans, is often a day
Jmade to relax and to beautify the yard
or summer.
It is disheartening that such would
occur, but those days allow for people
1 j, who wish to celebrate or do
lit Guf something in remembrance of the
holiday, to do so.
Such a day of remembrance should
be made for those students that
trophy A
. MDA h
money, a
;ds from
be split beW
4 DA.
Iso said
to the pineal:
for It*
i microwave o’
ebon net Coif
•f golf clubs.
d cleat
a long wayw^ 1
I'm on a:
ent from
not really s'*'
>o, Smith can*
fit in.
v&M, Ijustff
otton Bowlai*
3st recognize
outhwest," 1*
happy to con*'
the Aggie
turned Me*
r the pastW
? for Smith 1 '
> up the \0
l You cam#
anything,' , , _ , _ . .
you believe it i-celebrate Good Friday.
1 I respect the administration and
our state government for their
decision to require that students
attend class on Good Friday, but now
p admonish them to just respect me
and my God and allow me that
opportunity to celebrate one of the
most important days in my religion
o a school h |with a day of leisure and celebration.
I celebrate the death of Jesus and
the resurrection of Christ on the third
day, and the administration should
allow me to celebrate it without being
penalized for missing class.
Williams is a sophomore
journalism major
Speculation
over the
possibility of a
state holiday last
Friday that would
have freed all of
us repressed
college students of
the onerous
burden of going to class seemed to be
the hot topic of conversation last week.
Ah, yes, springtime; and the sounds
of whining are in the air.
Turns out Gov. Richards passed the
buck on to university presidents and
heads of state departments and gave
them the opportunity to reach for the
mantle of the Grinch who stole Good
Friday by leaving the holiday to be or
not to be decisions up to them.
President Mobley artfully dodged the
Grinch bullet by passing the decision
on to departments or professors.
Thus, our instructors became either
"cool profs" or "mean old hard asses"
depending on whether one received a
walk on Friday.
Now there were certainly those who
must have felt the necessity of
attending church services Friday
morning. It is not to them that I refer
when I challenge motives or throw
around the word "whiner."
However, I am of the strong
suspicion that such people were in the
minority when it came to complainers.
Far more numerous were those who
wanted to get ripped Thursday night
and sleep in Friday morning, or who
simply wanted to get an early start
abandoning College Station as if it
were emitting deadly radiation. Of
course, it wasn't their fault they
weren't in class in the morning. That
so-and-so (professor, university
president, governor) should have given
us the day off.
Welcome to America, home of the
instant gratification society. We have
elevated whining to an art form, based
on the oft-demonstrated principle that
the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Regardless of whether for religious
or personal reasons, a holiday for Good
Friday is neither warranted nor
prudent.
Acknowledgement of Good Friday
by the state as a holiday amounts to
"respecting an establishment of
religion," a clear violation of the
concept of separation of church and
state. Yes, Christmas is a recognized
holiday, but it has grown beyond
purely religious significance for many.
It has also been a day off for hundreds
of years.
And Texas A&M is a state school,
not a Christian one.
We might as well just face the facts.
A day off from school just means that
either the semester is a day longer or
that students are forced to cram an
extra day of lecture into their heads
later.
And a paid state holiday just means
that taxpayers pay state employees for
work that does not get done.
If all our days aren't vacations and
all our drinks aren't free, well, you
know how tough life is.
Suck it up and drive on...
Loughman is a senior
journalism major
THE F&ccpp
New
Aggie Muster
Remembrance goes to heart of what it means to be an Aggie
Michael
Sullivan
The night, like the day it followed,
was dark and dismal. Rain came in
fits. Wind whipping around the
buildings and through the trees.
Metal scraping against concrete. The
shuffling of bodies. Wind and rain
fading to a dim buzz, present yet
absent. Silence.
The sudden,
overwhelming
blast of rifles.
Once. Twice. Three
times. The somber
strains of distant
bugles. My own
voice from three
years ago echoing,
"Sir, silver taps is
that final tribute
paid to an Aggie
who, at the time of
his/her death, was
enrolled ..."
A handful of people walking
quietly back to their dorms or cars.
This was, as adequately as the
written word can accommodate, what
I felt and noticed when I attended
Silver Taps in February. Our last Taps
before Muster.
Something really hit me after that
Silver Taps. And hit me HARD. Why?
Because fewer than 300 people had
come out. Maybe it's because I'm
graduating in May. Maybe it's
because tomorrow is Muster. Maybe
both. But there really is something
special about Silver Taps and Muster.
TTiey're the same, really.
I can't tell you the score of the first
Aggie football game I attended. I
don't know remember the name of
my first English prof. The faces of the
many of the people I have met here
have faded into the recesses of my
mind.
But I remember my first Silver
Taps like it was last night. My first
Muster like it was yesterday. I can
smell the smoke of the RV's rifles. I
can hear the names of the departed
echoing in G. Rollie White as clearly
as the momenLthey were uttered.
As Aggies, Muster is important.
But as students. Silver Taps is a
necessity.
The first Silver Taps I attended was
for a man I had met only once. He had
been a senior in the Aggie Band the
year before I became a student at
Texas A&M. As my upperclassman,
my buddies and I gathered at the
Academic Building, I saw the tears
and looks of anguish cross the faces of
the men and women who had lived
under him.
"Don't forget this, fish Sullivan" a
senior had said to me later, "it's what
being an Aggie is all about."
Now I'm a senior, my time in the
Aggie Band and at Texas A&M is in
the final stretch.
I can't count how many times some
yell leader said, "Don't forget to say
'HOWDY!'" And every comment
made about people who do not go to
Yell Practice reverberates in my mind.
But I do not really remember hearing
anyone say, "Get out to Silver Taps."
Well, I am.
If you can leave your dorm room
and go see a movie, then you can go
to Silver Taps. If you can make it to
campus for a football game that takes
four hours, then you can be there for
Silver Taps. And don't tell me about
study time. Because if you had time to
read a magazine, watch a sitcom, talk
to your current love or play a game of
pool, you had time to go to Silver
Taps. Everyone acts like it is such a
big waste of time, yet no one seems to
mind going to the Hall or the Tap
each Thursday night come hail or
high water.
And Silver Taps lasts 30 minutes
once a month.
The weather is no excuse. A few
minutes in the wind and drizzle of
February or the humid stickiness of
spring and early fall will not hurt
anyone. I see 40,000 students playing
mud football in pouring February
rain, standing with an umbrella and
overcoat should be no problem. And
anyone can handle being in the
mugginess of early evening for a few
minutes, especially considering the
numbers I see roasting in the sun
outside every dorm on campus.
But why? What's the point?
Take away Yell Practice and the
12th Man. Pull down Sully's statue
and walk on the MSC lawn. Even (pay
attention to this) disband the Corps.
Do all that and we will still be the
Aggies.
But take away Silver Taps, just let it
die, and we are nothing.
Have we grown so big that the life
of a single person means nothing to
us? Dear God, l pray not. The world is
full of that; this is supposed to be our
home. Maybe it's not a "world-class"
notion, but it is human.
You do not have to know the
people being honored to go to Silver
Taps. Since my freshman year. I've
only known two, and then barely.
I've only known one oT Ag
honored at Muster.
In fact. Silver Taps and Muster are
not really about those who are gone.
Not really even about death. It's about
those who are still with us. It's about
life.
Every time I leave Silver Taps I
look around at the 11 guys who are
my best friends and silently thank my
Maker that I still have them. 1 realize
just how tenuous a thing life is. It is
something that can not be taken for
granted. I wonder if it may be one of
my buddies I will honor in 30 days
time or on the next Muster Day.
Or they who will honor me.
I am not going to rant and yell,
saying things like "two-percenter," to
those who do not go to Silver Taps
and Muster. I just ask you to consider
this. When you talk to that friend in
your next class or go out with your
Aggie sweetheart, think about how
you would feel if they died tomorrow.
And everyone was just too busy to
care.
Remember the words to the Spirit
of Aggieland: We are the Aggies, the
Aggies are we, true to each other, as
Aggies can be.
Tomorrow night we salute the
passing of fellow students and
Aggies. We thank God for the lives
we have been given. I am not asking
much, only that you take the time to
go to G. Rollie White for Muster. Then
at the next Silver Taps join about
40,000 others in front of the Academic
Building, it will be the best use of
thirty minutes since coming here.
Silver Taps and Muster. Don't
forget this, it's what being an Aggie is
all about.
Sullivan is a
senior English major
Center takes
precautions
Recently, there have been many
sexual assaults occurring in College
Station. Along with these reports have
been a proliferation of rumors and
misinformation. One such rumor
concerns the occurrence of two
assaults at the Methodist Student
Center. It is the intent of this letter to
ensure that none of these assaults took
place at the Methodist Student Center.
We take every precaution to ensure
the safety of all those who attend our
activities and use our facilities. Since
the report of these assaults, extra
precautions have been taken to better
secure this area. We want everyone
who use this center to feel that
everything possible is being done to
protect them.
Tom Teekell
Class of'92
Cow column
lacked taste
In regard to Mark Evans's
charming little piece "Beleaguered
Bovine" in the April 14 Battalion, I
was immediately amused, because
like Mr. Evans, I also thought of the
"if cows thought Brenham was
heaven, what do they think now?"
anecdote. As I read on, however, I
saw that the joke really went too far. I
realize that the article was meant to be
humorous, but I can't help but think
what a Brenham resident would say
to the belittlement of human suffering
in comparison to the "scarred lives" of
the Blue Bell cows.
Scott Miller
Class of '93
Have, an.opinion? Exer.egsJt
The Battalion is interested in hearing from its
readers. All letters to the editor are welcome.
Letters must be signed and must include
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for verification purposes. Anonymous letters will not
be published.
The Battalion reserves the right to edit all letters
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that letters will appear.
Letters may be brought to 013 Reed McDonald,
sent to Campus Mail Stop 1111 or can be faxed to
845-2647.
MAftS-aiK