Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 1993)
30,1993 i Opinion Tuesday, March 30,1993 The Battalion Page 9 at Ag- Jt links PS, Stu- 7 other i talk a hat you 'ou that :nt the no one iM like it body Aggie ■nis#2 nd Gig or yell live in- 1 Fight- ; Ever- a who le foot- eyball irsday, Owen eader, >d Ag” )ld the cama- A&M in the priv- r yell OAg- re are vorld 1 and these n my el the 1 and Scott i best ig> mting and I up to e for three i who who those hap- nake rAg- icy’re 1AKE vote aallot inga i the efee “When I heard on the car radio that Hillary Clinton’s health panel was tcryiru^with cost controls, I nearly plowed my Mercedes into me wine cellar on my yacht!... ” The Battalion Editorial Board Steve O'Brien, editor in chief Jason Loughman, managing editor Todd Stone, city editor Stacy Feducia, opinion page editor Susan Owen, lifestyles editor Kyle Burnett, news editor Dave Thomas, news editor Don Norwood, sports editor Darrin Hill, photo editor The Battalion 100 years at Texas A&M Student body elections Walker wins editors' endorsement On Wednesday and Thursday, stu dents will have the opportunity to in fluence the University through the stu dent electoral process. In the past, vot er turnout has been extremely low, rep resenting less than 25 percent of the student population. The apathy of the past has no place at the A&M of today. With the specter of state budget cuts facing the Univer sity, it is imperative that students elect candidates who can adequately repre sent University issues in Austin. As multicultural and gender debates cir culate through campus, students must question the positions of the candi dates to determine their capacity to confront these issues. While A&M stands at the crossroads between the traditions of the past and the realities of today, students must decide whether they want a progressive or traditional approach to campus politics over the coming year. These are the biggest issues facing both the candidates for student body president and the campus he will serve. Before the student body presi dent can tackle these problems, the stu dent voters must tackle them to deter mine which of the candidates can best serve the needs of the campus commu nity. Of the five men running for student body president, Brian Walker has demonstrated that he is the most capa ble candidate in the field. He has three years experience with the Student Sen ate, serving this past year as Senate Speaker. Particularly important in his platform is his realistic approach to campus issues, particularly the bud getary situation. Walker seems to be the best pre pared to deal with the state budget cuts that threaten the University. Though next year will be an off year in the state Legislature, Walker is for ward-looking in his assessment of stu dent needs on the state level. He was the only candidate to broach the possi bility of a special legislative session that could discuss budget cuts for higher education. This position is one that takes the reality of Texas politics into account, when others would be content to ignore state-level politics in an off year and focus solely on the campus itself. With respect to multiculturalism. Walker is again realistic in his program which is planned to shock students into realizing and appreciating the dif ferences between people. His sugges tion to focus on the incoming freshmen is again forward-looking, by targeting students when they are still open to new ideas and new experiences in col lege. Given his practical and realistic approaches to these and other subjects, Brian Walker is best qualified to repre sent the campus as student body presi dent. Neither Walker nor his competitors, however, had formulated a specific plan with respect to sex and gender is sues on campus. This lack of attention with regard to issues such as sexual ha rassment and rape affecting over 40 percent of the student population is troubling. It is interesting that no women or minorities are running for the position of student body president. Because mi nority and gender issues have gar nered a great deal of attention on this campus over the past years, the dearth of minority and women candidates is significant. Nevertheless, voters on Wednesday and Thursday are faced with a field of extremely qualified candidates with an array of innovative and intelligent plans. However/based on his experience and his realistic and innovative ap proaches to problems at the Capitol in Austin and at home in College Station, Brian Walker is the best man for the job of student body president. we "intolerant" drivers just move over and give them more room? Personally, I feel sad when my friends do things that endanger their health. Second-hand smoke, more than just hot air Dr. Anton van Bakel feels that we "in tolerant" non-smokers should allow sec ond-hand, unfiltered, foul-smelling, can cer-causing cigarette smoke blown around us because we "pollute by dri ving cars anyway"?! Sir, apparently your nasal organ does not function at 100 percent capacity. That awful smell is not easily "tolerated. Do you roll down your car window and smile as you inhale a good 'oT whiff of skunk? Not to mention the small fact that cigarettes are linked STRONGLY to cancer. You state that the smoker is not smok ing to make your environment smell bad. Sir, they smoke because they are addict ed. And that's real sweet that you "are glad that some of your best friends smoke cigarettes." What do your not- best friends do? Drive drunk? Should Shauna Wells Class of'94 Aggieland's in B/CS, not all over Texas This letter is in regard to all this name changing business that's been going on. For those of you who don't know, some other colleges in Texas are trying to change their name and make it Texas A&M University (Corpus Christi, for ex ample). Not only that, but they want us to be Texas A&M University at College Station. They also want to be allowed to get their senior rings to look EXACTLY like outs! No difference whatsoever. Doesn't that make you angry? A little motivation goes a long way Professor turned novelist proves inspiring to us all O ver spring break, I read an article in the Dallas Morning News about a man named Robert Waller. He interested me not only because of his back ground, but also because of his pre sent occupation. Let me explain. Waller played college basketball, earned his doctorate in economic theory, and became the dean of the college of business at the University of Northern Iowa. Yet despite all these achievements, he felt dissatis fied. He had an "artistic yearning" that he felt his present job didn't permit him to express. He felt as if he had to shut down his artistic aspirations, and this frustrated him. One night, while teaching, he felt so frustrated he shouted," Didn't anyone here ever want to be an Ama zon River captain?" Everyone looked at him as though he were crazy. Was he crazy? No, he wasn't. He just had a vision, an "inner need for expression" that he felt could not be fulfilled in his line of work. Now in his 40s, Waller has begun to write. A couple of years ago when I was searching for a oc cupation to pursue, I talked to Dean Wyrick, a vocation al counselor in Dallas. Wyrick said many people like Waller go through mid-life crises because they discover they haven't done what they wanted to do; what they were motivated to do. Wyrick said a surgeon came to him once because he hated his work as a doctor. You see, the surgeon thought messy hands were dis gusting, and unfortunately, he could not avoid this pet peeve. He pursued this line of work because of the pres tige. Soon after being highly successful as a surgeon, though, he couldn't take dealing with the mess any longer. Fortunately, he was able to get a medically relat ed job that enabled him to work with people without getting messy. He loved his new job since he liked working with people — this is what he was motivated to do. Sometimes, when I think about what motivates me, I take out my baby pictures, look into the baby's eyes, and wonder just what I was created to do. What can I do in a better, special way that is different from anyone else? What is my destiny? I believe that every person has something he or she can do better than anyone else. I believe this is what brings people satisfaction: doing what they are motivated to do. When I first came to Texas A&M, I was a nutrition major. I think becoming a nutritionist was just some thing I haphazardly decided on in order to answer the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Later, I asked a nutrition counselor what she did during a typical day. After she told me, I said I thought it sounded boring, and she agreed. That is why she said she decided to go back and get her Ph.D. After this con versation, I began looking for other majors. To find my goal in life, upon Wyrick's suggestion, 1 wrote a list of all the things I was proud I had done — even if they meant nothing to anyone else. I included winning races, collecting 100 locust shells, giving speeches and writing papers. Then, Wyrick and I listed the motivational factors that were important to me. We included items like setting goal, involving people, ana lyzing situations and most importantly communicating ideas. I had avoided this last factor because as one jour nalism major put it, "people look down on journalists." One of my math teachers encouraged me to become an engineer. Granted, it was tempting to be thought of as a logical, smart individual who could earn big bucks. Certainly this career would be far more secure than writ ing. However, I began to realize that although a journal ist's pay and the prestige may not be high, I am motivat ed to do it because I like it. Right now as students, we are making decisions con cerning our future careers. It takes guts to ignore soci ety's value system of what is a "good job," you know — the doctor, lawyer and engineer bias that exists today. When you add up the amount of hours on the job, though, it makes sense that a person should choose what would make him or her happiest in life. The choice is up to you. Do what your motivated to do. Oh, by the way. Waller ended up writing a romance novel entitled, "The Bridges of Madison Country." The novel has been the top seller on The New York Times best-seller list for the past three months. It's amazing how well people do when they love their work. Holder is a senior journalism major. For one thing, there is only one Texas A&M University and this is it. Other schools think they can adopt our name and immediately gain the respect and ad miration that A&M has worked so hard to earn and rightly deserves. The idea of us becoming Texas A&M University at College Station is completely insane. Secondly, there is only one Aggie Se nior Ring and the only people who should be allowed to get one are those people that attend Texas A&M Universi ty. The Aggie ring distinguishes A&M alumni and seniors from everyone else. If every school had a ring like ours, it would lose the qualities that make it so special. Thirdly, the reason that most of us have chosen to come to A&M is because of the unique spirit that binds us all to gether. Our traditions and our desire to be the best are not things that other schools should be given just because they adopt our name. Let them start their own traditions and gain respect in their way instead of riding on our coattails. Finally, I would just like for everyone to think about why you're here and what A&M means to you. Do you want A&M to become as un-special as t.u., who has branches all over Texas? I sincerely hope not. Don't let the spirit and specialness of A&M go by wayside. Think about it. Martina Maceo Class of'96 Religions offer more than moral codes In his column of March 24, Mike Mor ris states that all religions are essentially moral codes, with remaining elements relegated to the categories of "rituals and superficial beliefs." We find this view to be a gross misrepresentation of religious belief. For the purposes of this discus sion, we will ignore the moral codes an take a look at these "superficial beliefs," focusing on Islam and Christianity as ex amples of two significant world religions. Both Christians and non-Christians alike regard belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ as essential to Christianity. Re gardless of one's beliefs about Christ, it is incorrect to state that Christ's role is irrel evant or "superficial" to Christianity. Let us examine what Islam and Christianity teach us about Jesus Christ. In surah 19:35 the Qur'an states that it is insulting to suggest that Allah would beget a son in a procreative fashion, yet Mark 1:18-20 records that Mary's child was the product of the "Holy Spirit." Re garding Christ's death and resurrection, the Qur'an in surah 4:157-158 firmly states that Jesus was neither killed nor crucified and that someone else died in his place. If Jesus did not die, there was no need for him to be resurrected. Yet Mark 15:24, 15:37, and 16:6 clearly indi cate that Jesus was crucified, died, and was resurrected. Obviously these conflicting views of Jesus Christ cannot be reconciled; they I directly contradict each other. Yet Morris : still says that "no religion is wrong." Morris' assertions are examples of an un thinking universalism. We encourage readers not to adopt the easy road of un thinking universalism and instead to rec ognize that all religions are not the same. We encourage the thinking universalists to fully evaluate the mutually exclusive claims made by different religions, espe cially Christ's biblical confession that "...I (Jesus) am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6, NIV) Daryl L. Biberdorf Class of'91 Lorenz M. Schmiege, III Class of'96 Edftorrais appearing in The Batlakon reSect the views of (he editorial board. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other Bottakon staff members, the Texas A&M student body, regents, administration, faculty or staff. Cobmns, guest columns, and Mail Call items express the opinions of the authors. The Battalion encourages letters to the editor and w* print as many as space alows «i the Mai Cal section. Letters must be 300 words or less and indude the author's name, dass, and phone number. Due to space restrictions, guest columns w4 not be accepted unless the author contacts the opinion page for prior approval before submitting columns. We reserve the right to edit letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters should be odcbessed to: The Bottakon - Mail Ca8 013 Reed McDonald /MaJ stop 1111 Texas A&M University Colege Station, TX 77843