30,1993
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Opinion
Tuesday, March 30,1993
The Battalion
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“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
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