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The Battalion Editorial Board
DOUGLAS PILS, Editor-in-Chief
BRIDGET HARROW, Managing Editor
BRIAN BONEV, Opinion Editor i
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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TCA Cable
Get rid of flawed company
A change must be made in the cable
service in the Bryan-College Station
ichael Irving irea, including Texas A&M University.
The change is simple. TCA Cable has
s ranked tow? wo years to get its act together or it
tal salariest should get out.
The cities of Bryan and College
just a matter: Nation were recently
given a report by
vlunicon, a private
able auditor,
fcommissioned to
fexamine TCA. The
eport found 36 areas
n which the
ompany is lacking or
epitomeo;iB ailin § in its service to
89. Just to he area. The question
ather fnlkJpefore the cities of
:anthey'llsl» Bryan and College
11 falls over Wtahon should not be
how to improve the
existing service, but
vhat company will replace TCA when
ts contract runs out in 1994.
TCA, according to the report, is not
‘ven meeting the industry minimums
n many areas, both technical and
Bervice-oriented.
tJ Many of the 36 problems in the
II e P ort are ma j or - F or example, signal
juality is substandard, testing of the
ystem is irregular and most of the
ystem is filled with antiquated cable.
Also, a large portion of the report
mry Jones
asty. 1st
n the black k
our in
ter is
ually
receives
845
questions TCA's billing practices,
particularly those relating to Texas
T8S QiVeH Th* 6 re P ort states "the policy of
3 :harging college students $35 for
merely activating their outlets is an
xhorbitant charge in light of the
minimal cost involved."
The report sums up its findings by
stating that "there exists in the mind of
the consultant a major concern as
regards the company's sense of
responsibility, both as a cable system
operator and as the owner/operator of
a business."
But the students at
Texas A&M and the
citizens of Bryan and
College Station do
not need an
auditor's report to
tell them that. They
could either flip on
their TV's at home or
they could ask one
of the more than 100
people who
complained about
TCA at a hearing
two months ago to
find out how poor the quality is.
Subscribers to TCA are aware cable
service is often interrupted. And even
when the channels are on line, there is
often a "ghost" or there are
background sounds and images.
As customers, the citizens of Bryan,
College Station and the students-at
Texas A&M deserve better. We must
get what we are paying for and what
we want.
If service has not improved by the
time TCA's contract runs out, it will be
time for Bryan-College Station to
remove the franchise given to TCA and
replace it with a company that will
give the area proper service and
attention at fair rates.
MAR6DL1K
<5W2 THE fcEGORP
NEW JER4EY
Jimmy Carter
Former president sets good example
jmt
! Arts
i Arts
Hardships and strife are common in
11 the cities of the United States. It is
ot uncommon to see skyscrapers
reside slums and paper shack houses.
Yet, former President Jimmy Carter
one of the few past presidents trying
to make a difference. As president,
arter made many mistakes, but as a
inner president he is one of the best,
e is working hard to address the
sues of poverty in Atlanta.
Meanwhile, former President
onald Reagan made $2 million for
peeches in Japan. Like many other
armer presidents, Reagan is making
peeches and is "raking in the dough"
s quickly as he can.
On the other hand, former President
larter is doing something more
'reductive with his life. He has helped
rganize Habitat for Humanity, an
rganization that builds houses in the
ation's low-income neighborhoods
ind rural byways.
His Carter Center, located in
Atlanta, has founded the Global 2000
irogram to research agriculture and
lealth in the Third World. Carter's
enter has become a watchdog of the
vorld's democratic process. The center
observes the voting procedures and
authenticity of elections in many Third
World countries.
Carter has even been a mediator in
major international disputes.
Carter's most recent project, Atlanta
project, is focusing on the rich in
Atlanta to help the poor Atlanta. The
project seeks to incorporate the
business community, government and
poor residents of Atlanta to cooperate
and work together.
The business community of Atlanta
hesitated at first but have become
enthusiastic supporters of his new
program. With the 1996 Summer
Olympics preparations ,on the way,
many Atlanta residents seek an answer
to the increased violence and
homelessness in the city.
Carter's work will help find
solutions to those problems.
Unlike Reagan and the rest of the
former presidents, who've done little
to nothing in using their experience in
a positive way. Carter has been using
his knowledge and experience as
president to better the country and the
world.
He should be remembered for that.
Jokes on us
Aggie witticisms show others' jealousy of A&M's greatness
E very time I go home, my kid
brother tells me all the new
Aggie jokes he has heard. My
father does not help either. He laughs
along and starts remembering any he
has heard recently. I usually take this
in a very light-hearted manner;
however, some
of these jokes are
just stupid.
For instance,
have you heard
of the Aggie who
thought Taco Bell
was a Mexican
telephone
company ... or
how did the
Aggie break his
arm raking
leaves? He fell out of the tree. Do you
know what 1,000 Aggies parachuting
are? Air pollution. What about the
Aggie who stayed up all night
studying for his urine test.
The list of bad jokes goes on and
on.
Some Aggies get mad about these
jokes. They do not realize that the
jokes show how great this university
is. No other major university in
Texas, that I know of, is famous
because of its jokes.
These jokes are not confined to our
little brothers or sisters either, they
are everywhere.
Even the Texas Department of
Public Safety has poked fun at A&M.
Someone in the department made
a memo that floated around. It was
official in every way except what it
said. The memo was addressed to all
manufactures of automobiles saying
(in a serious tone), "Effective
immediately, all automobile
manufacturers of vehicles to be sold
in the state of Texas will have the
headlight dimmer switches near the
driver's left foot and not (repeat
NOT) mounted on the vehicles
steering column.
A recent accident investigation has
shown that 95 percent of all Texas
highway traffic accidents have been
caused by an Aggie getting his foot
caught in the steering wheel."
There are so many jokes that go
around. Here are some that I have
heard of:
an Aggie pilot and co-pilot are
bringing the plane in for a landing.
And once they have touched down
the plane stops abruptly. The pilot
says, " Man that was a short
landing." The co-pilot replies, "Yeah,
but look how wide it is."
Here is a crude joke.
Two Aggies go to a restaurao.t. At
a table beside them a man starts
choking to death. Everyone panics.
They don't know what to do. The two
Aggies run to help. One holds him up
while the other pulls down his pants
and licks his butt. The choking man
starts breathing, and everyone is
relieved. The manager of the
restaurant thanks the two Aggies and
asks them how they did it. The
Aggies reply, "Oh it was nothing, just
the Hynelick manuever."
How do you sink an Aggie
submarine? You knock on the door.
Aggie jokes have become so
popular that the July 1990 edition of
"Texas Monthly" asked some famous
and successful Aggies their favorite
jokes.
Herman Gollob (Class of '51),
senior vice president and editor-at-
large of Doubleday and Co. in New
York, told his favorite joke:
An astronaut wants to cool off
from the pressures and publicity of
NASA, so he drives up to a little bar
in College Station. The bartender
keeps staring at him for an hour and
then finally says, "Aren't you one of
those astronauts?"
The astronaut answers yes, but he
wants to get away from the publicity
and really doesn't want to talk about
it. The bartender says, "Well, we got
a couple of engineers who've been
building their own spaceship out
back. Why don't you take a look?"
The astronaut doesn't really want to,
but he agrees to go see it. It's a mess
of beer bottles, aluminum cans and
tamale husks.
The bartender says, "You fellas at
NASA think you're something, going
to the moon. But we designed this
old spaceship to go to the sun."
The astronaut shakes his head and
says, "I hate to tell you this, but this
thing will be incinerated before you
get within a few hundred miles of the
sun."
The bartender says, "Well, we got
that all figured out. We're gonna go
at night."
Houston City Councilwoman
Beverly Clark's (Class of'75) favorite
joke is: an Aggie was driving to
Dallas. He kept seeing signs along the
highway that said, "Clean Rest
Rooms Ahead," so he cleaned the rest
rooms all the way to Dallas.
Aggies might be portrayed as
ignorant fools, but Aggies know that
the people who make up these jokes
are either jealous or envious of our
great school.
The year is almost over, and soon
we will see the class of 1992 graduate
and become leaders of the working
industry. Some might argue with me
about the Aggies being that great or
smart. Yet, there is one joke that is
very true ... what do you call an
Aggie five years after graduation?
The Boss!
Ben-Musa is a sophomore
journalism and history major
Arts
ig
Mail Call
Batt fools change
meaning of letter
Obviously, some extremely irresponsible fools
are editing The Battalfon these days. They seem to
think they can write whatever they want to
sensationalize an article or letter. What was once
a humorous little feminist-bashing letter was
turned into an attack on basic rights.
This .was done by the all-knowing, all-powerful
Brian Boney because he felt like it. With the
stroke of a pen causing an enormous ruckus in the
A&M community, you really got off on that
didn't you big Bri. You must think about rape an
awful lot to title a letter about feminism that way.
And then we have Douglas Pils, the head
honcho who I suppose is in charge of Big Bri. Our
friend, Dougie thinks that Jan Parshell and
Patricia Ireland are two women who wrote in to
The Battalion about date rape.
Well, as you can see there is no shortage of
ignorance here. I have a suggestion for Boney,
Pils and the rest of The Battalion's crack editorial
staff. Pull your heads out of you butts and read
the article before you cut and paste.
Thanks for your attention.
Dimitri Filippov
Class of'94
Don't censor
library painting
This is in response to the article in the April 28
Battalion entitled "Students Petition to Remove
Art" as well as the Mail Call Editorial "Piece of
'Art' Blights Campus".
I am glad to see that the Desert Traders
painting in the library has shocked and horrified
other students on campus besides myself. It
restores my faith and respect in the human race.
And especially in those who are willing and ready
to start doing something about it.
However, I am greatly concerned about their
response to their feelings on this issue. The
revulsion this painting brings out in them is just
what the painting should bring out. The artist has
done nothing if not capture on the canvas an
attitude or disease that is relevant in society today
as it was in 1858, and for that reason alone should
remain exactly where it is so that others can see it
, so that they will have to confront this uglier side
of ourselves and just maybe realize that it's time
to fight for a change.
Art, be it painting, sculpture or photography,
simply points out our faults to us (it doesn't create
them) so that we can confront them and fix them.
But if it's not seen, then it can't be a motivator for
change. And we won't admit the problem exists,
in much more than a superficial way, until it's too
late. Every time we see this painting we should
be reminded of those feelings we felt the first time
we saw it and use that as a motivator to fight
against all the other problems we usually just
ignore and hope they just go away. Because
treating a symptom and not the problem doesn't
do much good. And if you think it does/well, just
try telling that to someone with an ulcer or cancer
or AIDS.
So don't hide something that motivates you,
but use it to do something worthwhile and good.
Censorship, no matter how good or justified
the intent, is still censorship.
Robert V. Gauper
Class of '93
Have an opinion?
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hearing from its readers.
Ail letters are welcome.
Letters must be signed and
must include classification,
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number for verification
purposes. They should be 250
words or less. Anonymous
letters will not be published.
The Battalion reserves the
right to edit all letters for
length, style and accuracy.
There is no guarantee the
letters will appear. Letters may
be brought to 013 Reed
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Mail Stop 1111 or can be faxed
to 845-2647.