Friday, September 18,1992 Opinion The Battalion Page 7 MAflSt/WSS phx«? WN91 Tear Seri ! ^ urren hy/ a 38-page list of jour- rwskilii targeted to be cut from library Bmhelves is circulating among faculty i. |members. The library, like nearly Dintswjevery research library in the coun- ii haveMy, h as been forced to cut back on subscriptions as publishers f itslen*^ 56 costs an< ^ library budgets fall, s which ! Though library and faculty commit- traightaJtees have cooperated to choose iththetJpich publications will get the axe, legrees. the task is unpleasant for all con- mornin»emed. Even after most of the journals \i'/A\l on t h e 38-page list are cut, saving start at Approximately $350,000, the library pill still have a budgetary shortfall at 8:00 on the journals they h the hi# ill continue to 1 Texas subscribe to be- J pm, cause of another j|0% cost increase in aceonl Subscri P tj on rates ; over the past year. Ilopenf Unfortunately, lorninpit's too late to save estivitk 1 ': the journals. How ever, it is in every one's best interest jto begin planning for the future and avoiding further Ipudget cuts for our library. Our li brary already ranks abysmally low among American Research Li braries; if we continue to make cuts ve can only move down. Our many academic programs hat rank in the top ten in the coun- ry cannot continue to achieve such HarryS accesses if our library continues to eteriorate. As the library adds its two-mil lionth volume this year it is interest- g to consider the exact make-up of ur collection. The prices of books are going up along with serials prices. Obviously, the library ie Unitf loesn't cut books, but it is unable to it nans- L.B.T Library Austin ge5 ;ies we hings: an and meet all the acquisitions needs of a major research university. As a mat ter of fact, our library often buys surplus books from other major uni versities, including the University of Texas. Just because we have 2 mil lion volumes doesn't mean they are the most important, up-to-date 2 million. Interestingly, the library only gets approximately $4 per year from student fees, whereas students pay over $40 per semester for a comput er use fee. The library does receive donations from former students and the Friends of the Library, but its not enough to keep up growth. The state budget is not likely to increase significantly, so the future looks bleak. If the university does not direct funds from some other area to the li brary, things are unlikely to change. The problems facing our library may seem over whelming, but there are things that can be done. Former students or even current students can provide the purchase price of a book as a tax-deductible donation and have their name inscribed on a book plate inside the book. Books may also be bought as a memorial to a deceased family member. Student organiza tions could donate serial subscrip tions. Aggies should consider taking part of the responsibility for raising our university to world class status. A donation to the library may not be glamorous, but it is one of the most important contributions one can make to Texas A&M. 'Boer War III': alternate reality Columnist took liberties with history, responsibility A s I read Anthony C. LoBaido's column concerning South Africa on Monday, September 7,1 kept looking for the punch line to what I was sure was a tongue-in- cheek satire. To my horror, I realized about halfway through the piece that Mr. LoBaido was indeed serious. I honestly don't know which shocked me more: LoBaido's unabashed ad miration for the Afrikaners or his con voluted and often bewildering argu ments. In the past, LoBaido has shown a somewhat faulty grasp of history. A recent column of his claimed Alexis de Tocqueville was an observer of colonial America when in fact de Tocqueville toured Jacksonian America nearly sixty years after the United States had proclaimed its inde pendence. LoBaido's piece on South Africa shows a similar ignorance of or disregard for the historical record. LoBaido accurately notes that South Africa was a mem ber of the Allies during the Second World War. For that matter, so was the Soviet Union. However, he fails to men tion that no South African could be coerced to serve outside of South Africa during the war. Those who did volunteer to serve with British combat troops in Europe and North Africa were given red shoulder tabs to differentiate them from the rest of the South African soldiers who chose to re main inside the borders of South Africa (and out of com bat.) Granted, LoBaido is trying to distance the Afrikaners from inevitable comparisons to the Nazis. Yet, given the swastika-like emblem and Hitlerian race-purity rhetoric of the Afrikaner Weerstanbeweging (Afrikaner Resistance Movement,) a growing right-wing group dedicated to armed resistance against any liberalization of apartheid, comparisons with the Nazi are not only inevitable, but somewhat justified. Regarding the retreat of Cuba and the Soviet Union from Angola, LoBaido castigates NATO for failing to help push the Communist forces out of Africa. Of course, he rails to consider that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has no mandate to act outside the bounds of its members' terri tories (and neither South Africa nor Angola are members.) Furthermore, LoBaido's claim that South Africa was single- handedly responsible for the removal of foreign troops from Angola is patently ludicrous. Internal economic forces in both the Soviet Union and Cuba figured promi nently in the Soviet decision to withdraw from southern Africa. LoBaido's biggest historical inaccuracies occur when he compares the recent Los Angeles riots to the disturbances in South Africa. As events over the weekend demonstrat ed, South African security forces still do not know the meaning of the word “restraint." The horrible beating of Rodney King seems almost trivial in comparison to the ma chine-gunning of protesters in Ciskei. In addition, however disenfranchised and ill-served African-Americans may be by the American system, that system at least acknowledges their right to be included. Black South Africans are still struggling for that acknowledgement of inclusion. The logic LoBaido uses is at best convoluted and often rather confusing. I still cannot figure out what role he feels AIDS has to play in this Wagnerian scenario. As for his praise of South African pornography laws, I can named several other similarly "enlightened" governments that outlawed pornography: Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China. I doubt, however, that the Republican Party would like to get spokesmen from any of them to trumpet family values. Although LoBaido's anti-communist rhetoric makes one wonder if he has paid any attention whatsoever to the dra matic developments in eastern Europe and Russia over the past two years, what disturbs me even more than his cava lier disregard of the historical record is his tone. The entire piece, especially near the end, sounds like a paean to the necessity and desirability of a South African race war. While I would be the first to agree that free expression is an unalienable right that should be enjoyed by all, I would re mind you that as the editor of a responsible media organ you have the duty to ensure that the opinions of your edito rial staff are logical, factual, and above all responsible to the needs and concerns of society. If you were to print an edi torial advocating the use of force to overthrow a duly elect ed government (say that of Texas or College Station,) you just might find yourself charged with sedition or inciting a riot. The convoluted and often contrafactual ramblings of Mr. LoBaido make me wonder if your staff exercises any editorial control whatsoever. Snyder is a doctoral student in history GUEST COLUMN DAVID A. SNYDER School should offer a leal firearms course D [U I In the last couple of months, eight burglaries have taken place in my bartment complex. The management losted notices on our doors asking us to call the police if we see suspicious men walking around with TVs, VCRs, adise' ffice 0544 |tc. They allegedly sell these appli- Inces to support their crack habits. We Iso received a notice warning us of Newspaper salesmen forcing them- ielves into people's apartments. I For obvious reasons, I am concerned I or my safety and I am considering toying some type of firearm, most like- fa pistol, for my home. Riflery is currently offered at A&M is a kinesiology course but a class eaching the use, safety, and laws con cerning firearms in the home is not. Vlr. Jay Merkeley, my riflery instructor, >aid several students have come to him with these same concerns. He said he had brought up the idea in the past but there was not enough support in the department. I am proposing that the university consider offering a kinesiology course on pistol use and laws concerning the use of a firearm for protection. Since four kinesiology courses are required of all students, I think students snould at least have the choice to take a kinesiolo gy course that will be useful to them for the rest of their lives. Michele Brinkmann Class of '94 Bait interview biased against Clinton I am disappointed that Battalion cov erage of the North American Free Trade Agreement has been dominated by front-page interviews with pro-FTA Texas A&M marketing or-business pro fessors, but the Sept. 10 article went overboard by including asinine and highly partisan criticisms of Bill Clin ton. Economics professor John Hanson's statements that Clinton "has been ig noring the issue" and "has no excuse for not knowing what is in that agree ment" are idiotic. Hanson also said of Clinton: "when he says he hasn't read it, he is being completely insincere." How can anyone, particularly a pres idential candidate busy campaigning, be expected to read and digest a major treaty thousands of pages long, which has been kept secret by the Bush ad ministration during negotiations, in just the few weeks the proposal has been out? No person can accomplish this feat, a requirement for the thoroughly in formed opinion necessary for support or opposition. It turns out that in fact Clinton has endorsed the concept of the pact and his desire to make sure the FTA pro tects the environment, consumers, and workers. These are the issues which Bush is avoiding, just like he has been doing throughout his presidency. Congressional leaders have voiced their complaints about the FTA propos al so why should Clinton or anyone make premature decision until congres sional hearings are completed at the end of September? For the record I am not defending Clinton or the FTA, which is a primari ly a bald-faced movement by largely unaccountable American and multina tional corporations to exploit cheap nat ural resources, labor and the environ ment. Michael Worsham Aggie Republicans anger former student This summer I watched the Republi can convention as I'm sure many of you did. I was shocked at what I saw. I listened to Republican Pat Buchanan extol the virtues of a "Judeo-Christian heritage." The Republican Party plat form mentions the need to promote the "Judeo-Christian heritage" as well. A few days ago I stopped by the MSC for the first time as a former stu dent. As I entered the newly remod eled building for the first time in over a year, something caught my eye. There, adjacent to the Battalion newspaper rack, was the Aggie Republican. I de cided to take a copy to read at home. I began to browse through the pages and was shocked at what I saw. The Aggie Republican made references to the dan gers of "multi-culturalism." That's a shame. Aggies, ask yourself what they mean by "Judeo-Christian heritage" and be ing opposed to "multi-culturalism." If they are against multi-culturalism, then may one draw the conclusion they sup port mono-culturalism? I don't know about you, but to me that sounds like something you would expect the leader of the KKK to be saying. And what exactly is meant by "Judeo-Christian heritage?" Well, it certainly doesn't mean folks of African- American heritage or Asian-American heritage or Arabian-American or Na tive American heritage. Let's face it; what they're talking about is honest, hard-working. God-fearing white peo ple! If I were a member of a minority eth nic group in this country, I would be listening very carefully to what the Re publicans are saying. This is not some fringe group or David Duke talking, this is stuff in the national Republican platform. I am not a "yellow-dog" Democrat. I am able to cast a vote against a Demo crat whom I don't like; however, after reading the Aggie Republican and lis tening to the Republican convention, I will certainly never vote for a Republi can again. Greg Buford Class of '90 Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of the opinion page staff and eefitor in chief only. 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