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
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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.
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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.