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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 1992)
Opinion Page 6 Editorial Forests for sale Strip mining public land a shame Last week the Bush administra tion unveiled a new policy toward strip mining on public lands. According to a new Interior De partment plan scheduled to be im plemented shortly after election day, coal companies will be given au thority to mine coal lying beneath 40 million acres of national parks and protected lands. In order to prevent the strip min ing, the government would have to buy the mineral rights from the original owners of the land. The current debate centers on the cost involved in allowing the coal interests access to the land. The Interior Department esti mates the value of the coal to be $11 million, while the cost for the gov ernment to buy the mineral rights to prevent mining in the parks would be in the hundreds of millions. The government argues that though mining interests commit public relations suicide by consider ing strip mining the parks, the mere threat of such mining mandates that the government fork over the big money for the mineral rights in or der to prevent strip mining on the land.This dilemma results from a loophole in the original federal strip mining bill passed 16 years ago. That law prohibits mining in na tional parks and forests except to those who hold a "valid existing right" to the land. Unfortunately Congress never bothered to define who actually has a "valid existing right." Until that right is specifically de fined, this debate will continue cost- In the face of harsh budget cuts, A&M fiddles while Rome bums xTe It started Set 22, 1992. headline read, "$5 billion state deficit threatens further cuts. Uni versity pre pares."^ The arti cle went on to say, "Future op tions for Univer sity cutbacks in clude: * tuition in creases * reductions in or elimination of student activities and services GUEST COLUMN JEFF MAGILL ngs, don * eliminations in new program de velopment * reductions in library support * eliminations in student employ ment ... Oct. 1 headline: "Student Senate ap proves agenda." They propose: 1) an on-campus day care system for chil dren of A&M faculty and staff; 2) the installation of electric door openers for handicapped students; 3) the comple tion of repairs on a sidewalk located near the Kleberg Building; and 4) awnings over all campus bus stops. Oct. 5 headline: "Business adminis tration to relocate its faculties." The Story read, "The College of Business Administration and Graduate School of Business... will be located on the west campus ... on Agronomy Road. The four-story, 190,000 square foot building is expected to cost $23.5 mil lion." Don't forget that most large construction projects usually end with a higher price tag than initially pro jected, and that this building comes unfurnished. So let's say it's going to cost closer to $30 million. Have I missed something here? Since when do the Student Senate pro posals and the new $23.5 million building constitute spending cuts? Are all these items to oe donated? I think not! Are the students once again going to be the victims of a higher ed ucation system that clearly has a disin centive to save, resulting in continual ly increasing budgets? I think so! Families are on limited budgets. When money is tight, families have lit tle choice but to forego luxuries and concentrate on necessities. There is no feasible way for most families to in crease income.in the short-term in or der to offset losses. Unfortunately, universities are in such a position that any budget over runs can be easily distributed among the students through a tuition in crease, much like a tax increase. The new building, the electric sities. We have done without them up until now, and it wouldn't hurt us to do without them a little longer. Con venience has a price: when you can't afford it, you do without it. I know how to use an umbrella. Crowded classes and old buildings don't bother me. Faculty and staff members can find an outside day-care center, and people can find a way to go around a shoddy sidewalk. Not only is this cheaper than what is being proposed, it's also not that darned in convenient. Before we begin concen trating on "new conveniences," let's fix "old necessities." Of all the complaints about this campus, there is one that towers above the rest: the library. We have a first- rate university with a third-rate li brary system. People constantly com plain about the numerous amounts of outdated material. Not only does it make research dif ficult and absolutely frustrating, but aged material doesn’t cut it in today's world where up-to-the-minute infor mation is not only available, but also necessary. The $23.5 million for the new build ing and the funding required to com- S lete the programs suggested by the tudent Senate could drastically im prove our dilapidated library. A tenth of that would do wonders and would be much more appreciated than the wasteful conveniences that the Uni versity now seeks. Companies across the world are re structuring. They are down-sizing, improving quality, productivity, and cost effectiveness. They are living ex amples that efficiency is much more beneficial than wastefulness. Universities need to take this ap proach because their collective burden on tax and tuition payers is becoming increasingly painful. Are there special interests involved in the construction of this new build ing? Or is A&M's administration real ly lacking that much common sense? Who knows? But here's what will probably hap pen. Come next year, when this new building is standing nice and pretty, when there are electric doors on every building, when you will see little kids running to their new day-care center, and when there are nice little maroon awnings over all the bus stops, you'll get your tuition and fee slip in the mail, and there will be this new line on it that reads: Another Unjustifiable Fee. I can't wait! Magill is a junior marketing and management major id 1 Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of the opinion page staff and editor in chief only They do not represent, in any way. the opinions of reporters, staff, or editors of other sections of the newspaper. Columns, guest columns, and Mail Call items express the opinions of the authors only. The Battalion encourages letters to the editor and will print as many as space allows in the Mall Call section. Letters must be 300 words or less and include author’s name. Social Security number, class, and phone number. We reserve the right to edit letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters should be addressed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald /Ma8 stop 1111 TaxMA&M University College Station. TX 77913 The Battalion Friday, October!),H ing taxpayers money in court pro ceedings which decide existing rights. Until that right is specifically de fined, this debate will continue cost ing the country acres of protected lands as the government forfeits the land to the mining interests — which will undoubtedly result if this policy is implemented. Unfortunately, the "environmen tal" president is more concerned with protecting the profits of the mining interests than protecting these national forests. Unfortunately, the "energy" pres ident is less concerned with finding new, cleaner-burning fuel sources than with preventing strip mining for coal. Unfortunately for us, that is. Women true political outsiders Female candidates offer us better representation Stu 'anl P erhaps you've heard it's the "Year of the Woman." As far as I can tell, all that moniker means is that a lot (relatively) of women are running for political of fice this year, and some are likely to win. OK, and ...? I'm not sure what to make of this so-called phe nomenon. The feminist and the skeptic in me are at war over whether or not electing women will improve our political prospects. Will a woman, by virtue of gen der, be a better public servant than a man? There, I've already given my self away by choosing the words "public servant" over the word 'politician." My prejudices are in full view: I do hold to the SHAWN RALSTON Columnist belief that women are, on the whole, better elected officials than men — Lena Guerrero notwithstanding. Having said that, I am obligated to defend it. But first I have to disassociate myself from the Marilyn Quayle "es sential nature of woman" crowd — those who believe that a woman's essential nature makes her want to bake cookies rather than develop a career outside the home. I don't think women have an "essential nature," as a matter of fact I find that idea pretty darn ...er, um... Victorian. At least Victorian is the only descriptive I can use in this paper. Personally, I think it's my essential nature to lie on the couch all day drinking beer and eating marshmallows — probably not what Mrs. Quayle had in mind. In reality, most women are working to pay the bills, married or single. Not to mention the fact that most women probably think it’s no sin to find cookie-baking as a voca tion more than just a little bit dull. What does Mrs. Quayle know anyway? She married Vice President Quayle after all. So, if it's not a woman's "nature" which makes her a better candidate, what is it? In my opinion, it has to do with womens 1 position in our society, indeed, in the world. A United Nations report indicates that women do the ma jority of work, manual or otherwise, being done in the world, and that they earn only a tiny fraction of the wages and wealth. Much of American political discontent stems from peo ple feeling like their interests are not being represented.., and they're not. Take a look at Congressional Weekly, and you'll quickly see whose interests are being represented.! won't even mention George Herbert Walker Blueblood's ties. Having established women as outsider candidates more likely to be receptive to their constituents' needs, I haveto mention the exceptions. Women politicians may bejustas mercenary as men. Margaret Thatcher and Jeanne Kirk patrick come to mind. Also, if I disallow women's "essen tial nature," I can't very well suggest that all men are lousy politicians driven solely by self interest; it's just that so few of them have proven to be anything to the contrary lately. Perhaps it's a pipe dream to present women, and minor ity candidates as well, as political saviors. The money it takes to get to Washington, or to any capital for that matter, makes a candidate overly beholden to more than the people who elected him or her. However, what type of candidate would be more likely to limit contributions and reform the electoral process? I know one thing for sure: it's not going to be the old boys who have been there for 20 years. Its time to remind those old boys — and the corporate inter ests that pay for their free rides — that this is still a democ racy. What women candidates can do and have done is to provide more appropriate and responsive representation for each segment of our population. However, I hopefor even more from women candidates. I hope they don't slip into politics as usual. I hope women can bring much need ed reform to our electoral process. I hope, perhaps beyond hope, that they and other outsider candidates can rejuve- , nate American democracy. Thi writte ocean < he wc ty ani acuity irealize s the 'OU t irayei uide mce a ivho ci taff n hend tuden or edv ettinj house A&M. Ralston is a graduate student in English ,ome c woul ude a nembi Wal gras For 1 P]ing 1 4emor refuse When even p he ree hose s ashior tions. Mik omme pint, c omme The 1 ends b raditic those v 'in the i anythir Battalion was wrong; coed dorms bad idea We are writing in response to the ed itorial written on Oct. 2 favoring the Commons turning coed. Yes, there is a definite demand for more coed housing on this campus, and yes, converting two of the Commons halls would provide many more coed spaces. However, there are many more fac tors that need to be considered. The most important is security. With 470-plus residents and four doors in the Commons-style hall, as opposed to only 250-plus residents and two doors in the coed modular halls, being able to dis cern who the actual residents of the hall are is virtually impossible. Sexual assault is a major concern of residents already, and we feel that these incidents would only increase if the Commons were to turn coed. It also places a lot more responsibility on the resident advisors, having to keep track of both male and female residents in a hall that size. Secondly, one of the reasons the Commons halls were proposed to turn coed is that a cheaper alternative would be available to those who can't afford a modular. However, the Commons rent is only $20 less per semester than the modu- lars, so this really is not a viable alterna tive for those many students who can only afford balcony-style or cheaper. Thirdly, concerning the retention rate ... why is it important to retain resi dents in the Commons? Yes, these halls are predominantly freshman halls, but so what? Most freshmen desire to live around other freshmen. The main reasons that residents move out of the Commons is to either move off-campus or move into a modu lar, regardless if it is coed or not. Another fact to note is that during the polling of the Krueger vote, resi dents who would consider staying in Krueger a second year very adamantly said that they would not if it turned coed. So we feel that turning the Commons coed is not a determining factor of the retention rate. When considering an issue like this one, all factors need to be thoroughly looked into. We hope the editorial staff will re member this in the future. Mystery meat cause for food privatization I have been casually following your T( recent stories about Texas A&M cials not allowing private food services ald'< (such as McDonald's and Pizza Hut)on campus. Casually, that is, until 1 got food poisoning from the MSC Cafeteria three days ago. About an hour after eating some mystery beef (stroganoff?)/ I became violently ill, and stayed that way. The next day, the doctor in formed me that I had gotten food poi soning. The MSC Cafeteria is supposed tohe the best place on campus to eat? I doni think so. I do think it's time wehada few choices concerning what we can eat on this campus, however. Personally' would be overjoyed paying $1.89 fora Big Mac rather than $3.50 for a Hulla balloo Burger. I realize that letting pri vate food companies on campus tfi)' cut down on University profits, but it would undoubtedly increase food qual ity and service. A little competition might put Food Services on their toes avoiding problems like the one I experi enced. Maybe A&M officials have just had their hand in the cookie jar for so long that they've forgotten what' J ab service is all ab out. Tim Downri Class of'l Dionna Deardorff Jessica Lesser Class of '95 The Battalion on Sept. 10 reported 0 Texas A&M was accepting privatizatii* proposals — Editor.