29,1
3 HI Monday, March 29, 1993
Opinion
The Battalion
Page 9
Should students vote for or against the
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iS library fee in this week's referendum ?
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"A good library
is an invitation to
learning."
— Sterling C.
Evans
This message is
inscribed on the
wall of the library
that Evans found
ed. However, to
day's Evans Li
brary does not
take these words
to heart.
Rather than an
invitation, the li
brary has become
a detriment to learning.
The reason is money. The Universi
ty, as a whole, has been hurt by the
state budget shortfall, but the library
has been dealt one of the worst blows.
Of the $8.2 million needed to keep the
library operating in 1992-93, only $5.6
million comes from the state. The rest
of the money must come from Univer
sity funding, which A&M cannot pay
in full.
As a consequence, Evans has been
passed in the rankings by many other
research universities.
A&M's library ranked 70th in the
country in total volumes in 1991-92. It
placed 57th in the nation in total oper
ating expenditures. To compare these
fieures, the University of Texas ranks
fifth in total volumes and 13th in ex
penditures nationally.
The students of this University
should not permit these trends to con
tinue any further.
The only viable way they can correct
this woeful underfunding is by passing
the library referendum on the student
ballot on Wednesday and Thursday.
The resolution calls for a $15 flat fee
to be assessed to each student each se
mester. The fee would go directly to
Evans Library.
Granted, it is yet another fee tacked
on to a list of many that students al
ready have to bear. However, in com
parison, this library fee will not be as
costly as others.
Students already pay $25 a semester
for use of the A.P. Beutel Health Center.
Starting in the fall, students will have
to shell out $50 a semester for the new
recreational sports complex.
Most students will get far more use
out of the library than either of these fa
cilities.
There is no doubt that a strong li
brary will benefit the students who use
it, but it will also help enhance research
and experimentation by faculty.
In order to attract the brightest and
best minds to A&M, it must begin with
improving the research facilities avail
able.
So students should vote in favor of
the library referendum on the ballot on
Wednesday and Thursday. A "yes"
vote could provide a new invitation to
learning on campus.
CHRIS
WHITLEY
Columnist
In this week's
"Hey - Someone's
Gotta' Pay for It"
file, voting on a
referendum on
Wednesday's
election will de
termine whether
students want to
add yet another
fee to their al
ready top-heavy
statement. The
referendum on
the ballot is based
upon the quality
of the Sterling C.
Evans Library.
While the library is in dire need of im
provement, increasing student fees be
yond the present level is ridiculous.
Student senators have devised a
plan whereby students would pay $15
per semester, beginningmext fall, to
help fund the library.
The argument made by those sup
porting the referendum is based upon
statistics comparing the libraries at the
University of Texas and Texas A&M.
Sterling C. Evans Library ranks 70th in
the number of total volumes, while
Texas' library ranks fifth. Simply put,
to increase the total number of vol
umes, the library needs more money.
Unfortunately, our student govern
ment has shown little creativity in deal
ing with the problem. By using a little
common sense, student government of
ficials could allow students to enjoy
greater parity with that other school in
Austin.
The reasoning that should be em
ployed is this: If UT can have enough
funds for a world-class research library,
why can't we?
The answer is: We can. By employ
ing the same standards for accessing li
brary funds that UT uses, A&M could
obtain a library of similar stature.
Other than private sources, possible
funding mechanisms for the UT Li
brary are the Available University
Fund (AUF) — money made available
to A&M and UT as land-grant colleges
— and student fees.
First of all, UT receives two-thirds of
the AUF per year, while Aggies are
stiffed with a paltry one-third. Officials
from the Ad Hoc Committee on Li
braries, as created by the Texas A&M
Faculty Senate, should investigate this
disparity. Although this money alone
would not be enough to increase dra
matically the number of volumes in the
Evans Library, it would be a nice place
to start.
Second, if government officials find
it imperative to use student fees to sup
port the library, they should find some
other fee to cut in efforts to gain the
funds needed.
Students should take the initiative to
vote against the referendum on
Wednesday and Thursday, and let stu
dent government officials know that
the days of adding fee after fee to our
statements are over.
RICH
HENDERSON
Columnist
Whitley is a junior journalism major.
Henderson is a sophomore political science
major.
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The Battalion - Mall Call
013 Reed McDonald /Mail stop Till
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843
Squid, snails and puppy dog tails
That's what malicious, modern menus are made of
I 'm kind of grateful for my rank
ing as one of the larger links in
the food chain. I wouldn't want
to be a head of lettuce, or a lobster,
or a snail.
Snails must be delicious. Why
else would someone knowingly or
der a slimy little mollusk that costs
as much as two Quarter Pounders
with cheese? I mean, I couldn't en
joy looking down at my plate and
thinking how my dinner once
dragged itself across the dirt in a
garden — where fertilizer is consid
ered desirable ground cover. No,
these aspiring appetizers didn't
walk, or crawl or even slither. They became one with the
ground, touching it with every slimy centimeter of their
butt-foot and leaving a gleaming trail of who-knows-
what to mark their paths, should they choose to come
back the same way.
Eating lobster raises other concerns. OK, so maybe
they did live in the ocean where millions of other, very
UGLY creatures live and breathe and eat and poop and
reproduce each day. And, yes, maybe they would rip
your big toe off if given the chance. But do they really
deserve to be conscious when dropped into a pot of boil
ing water? I mean, isn't there a more "humane" way to
kill a creature, simply for the sake of eating it?
Granted, sodium pentothal is out of the question —
anesthesiologists are too expensive. The price of lobster
is already outrageous. But a little sedative couldn't hurt.
Maybe we could marinate 'em in beer or a nice wine.
Get 'em a little sauced before dropping 'em into the big
bucket in the sky.
There are accounts of lobsters "crying" in the first few
seconds as they sink to the great beyond. Maybe it's the
blinding white light they see in the twilight moments.
Maybe, it's the huge tunnel and the pearly gates at the
end — oh, that would be the oysters, never mind.
Many say it's not the lobsters "crying" but their claws
scraping the metal pot as they fall to the bottom of their
boiling coffins.
Not that I have anything against the senseless (read
"cruel and unusual") killing of lobsters. In fact, 1, my
self, have eaten my share of poor, little, innocent sea;
creatures.
"Calamari" they called it. It sounded exotic, but 1 ;
didn't know what it was. So I consulted the menu. ;
"Ocean-fresh calamari, deep fried and seasoned to per- ;
fection" it said. What a great answer.
Stupid American: "What is 'calamari'?"
Devious Restaurant Owner: "Oh, calamari is cala
mari."
Stupid American: "Oh. Could you be a little more*
specific?"
Devious Restaurant Owner: "Um, it's delicious."
Stupid American: "OK, I'll have some."
For the record: Calamari is SQyiD, the snail's ugly,
sea-faring cousin. Like snails, squid are small and slimy,
and would appear edible, if it weren't for all those tenta
cles that taste like rubber....
So, yes. I've eaten squid. And, in all honesty, it really
wasn't that bad. Some people who have eaten "cala--
mari" never knew it and have responded with, "the
onion rings weren't bad, but they tasted a little fishy."
No, I don't feel guilty that I've eaten poor, defenseless
creatures. Maybe I should. There are those who would
argue that eating any meat is wrong. I've known people
who refuse to eat eggs or milk products because "the
eggs were supposed to become chickens, and the milk
belonged to a baby cow and not to the farmer who took
it away." To them I say, "more power to ya'."
People should have the freedom to choose what they
eat and don't eat. 1 refuse to eat hot dogs. I used to love
them. But I couldn't bring myself to eat another when I
learned that they were made from innocent cows and
pigs... and chickens... and turkeys... and the occasional
rat.
So, what? Should we eat meat? Is it wrong to kill ani
mals for the sake of consuming them? I don't know. I
prefer not to know what I'm eating. It's easier on the
conscience. I just eat at McDonalds, instead.
Vasquez is a senior journalism major.
Unhappy with Corps
handling of problem
Got a few questions
for ya'. Aggies
It's happening to me. Just like it's
happening to thousands of other Ags this
semester, whether we like it or not. We're
graduating. I'm down here at the ACC at
three in the morning with the rest of the
procrastinators, numb with the wonder
of it all. I have more questions about
A&M than I have answers. Bear with me.
Was the English Annex built on pur
pose?
What the hell do they put in that pud
ding at Sbisa, anyway?
Will the Battalion print the word
"hell" if used in the above context?
What is so complex about the "micro
phone on a neck-chain" concept that
none of my profs are able to understand
it? Just put it around your neck! Don't
put it around your neck AND hold it up
to your mouth!
What sort of person would leave un-
derthings in a dryer, on campus, unat
tended, in front of God and everybody,
for upwards of four hours?
How do they decide which CT stands
and blocks traffic while the rest run by?
Why are the sprinklers always on
when it's raining?
Who designed the drainage system for
campus? And when is he or she up for
parole?
Why does it always take the bus
longer to get to my spot when it rains?
Why is it the bus always drives off just
as I'm about to reach the stop, but never
pulls up just as I get there?
Why do freshmen get younger every
year?
But this is the one that REALLY gets
me. WHY, in the name of all things holy,
were bike lanes put on Joe Routt in front
of the MSC? When was the last time you
DIDN'T see a car, usually a University
vehicle, parked in the bike lane? Traffic is
forced left; bikers have to move into traf
fic; pedestrians have to come out from be
hind cars... It's just dangerous.
Well, I hope you've enjoyed my little
catechism. Keep looking up Ags, I love
ya.
Pat Dowling
Class of '93
In the past, the rape of the enemy dur
ing war was seen as a sort of reward for
the invading soldiers.
At that time rape was not seen as
much of a crime, obviously. It is also ob
vious to me that to certain groups in the
military, neither sexual assault nor sexual
harassment, are crimes worthy of punish
ment.
Two very recent examples are the
Navy, and even closer to us, the Corps of
Cadets.
Allowing the Corps to be judge and
jury of itself seems bad enough.
However, I believe that the decision to
leave it up to the Corps was even worse
since the punishment is merely the dis
missal of the alleged offender from this-
institution.
To me this depicts two problems.
First, that women do not have the confi
dence to to press charges leaves the of
fender free to do it again only with more
confidence. The second problem is again
our judicial system.
People who evade paying taxes have a
longer sentence in jail than rapists do.
Not only that, but here at Texas A&M if
you are in the Corps you can rape some
one and merely get grounded from A&M.
I bet you this harsh punishment will con
vince you not to do it again, eh?
Kristi Hamilton
Class of '96