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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1993)
2,1993 deve|. ell this setter/ ^dwith the ball n han- uthiffl h "Ht H sinct Bowl, r s plus a true in hall there- portani Senate ucatios e bill -0. sure 0! ate, but auseo: ; A&M Steve tuden! slative v'e Og- sion o: passec n com : to the Easter, :as. ■ialstc iblicari i Fred I Com- ^epuh ant Bill :tedto nbers. udesa an veil- 5. For aret at d li on, ige 'ook ir$e (ties Opinion Friday, April 2,1993 The Battalion Page 7 AIM CREAfAERK 3 I Trij our DaWd KoresM Spec fa I: A 8,^7 .Scoop oR /At Urmel Lfrh EXTR!\JVutef( // The Battalion Editorial Board Steve O'Brien, editor in chief Jason Loughman, managing editor Kyle Burnett, news editor Todd Stone, city editor Dave Thomas, news editor Stacy Feducia, opinion page editor Don Norwood, sports editor Susan Owen, lifestyles editor Darrin Hill, photo editor The Battalion 100 years at Texas A&M Editorial Klan rally flyer false Battalion does not endorse KKK As journalists. The Battalion edito rial board adamantly supports the First Amendment granting freedom of the free press. We also support the rights of people to speak freely and to assemble and march. So when members of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan come to College Station on April 24 to hold a rally to "speak on issues of major concern to America's young White people," we won't be calling on, our local police force to run them out of town. Actually, the KKK should be al lowed to express themselves no mat ter how offensive their views may be. But a few things need to be clari fied concerning the contents of a fly er used by the KKK to notify media outlets of the upcoming rally. Printed in the two-page flyer is a Battalion cartoon from last fall that depicts a small, yapping dog at the heels of an A&M boot. The cartoon criticized state representative Ron Wilson for what many people thought was an abuse of his powers. First, every piece of material printed in the Battalion automatically falls under copyright laws, and for an outside publication to use any of the material, permission must be granted. The KKK never asked for permis sion to use the cartoon. Second, even if the KKK had taken proper legal steps and had asked permission to use the chrtoon, the Battalion editorial board would have denied the request. The cartoon was never intended to be racist. The use of it by the KKK , however, is both racist and inappro priate. A sentence that runs with the cartoon — a sentence that did not ap pear with the original cartoon — states: "You've heard Ron Wilson talk about how bad Whites are at Texas A&M. Now hear what we have to say. The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, We are here to speak out for Whites!" Furthermore, groups like the KKK increase membership only by feeding on people's fears and spreading lies. For example, the flyer asks whether A&M students like the fact that European (White) cultures are excluded from International Week and from Cultural Diversity Week. Actually, a Europe Club does exist and many of the different white cul tures from European countries are represented. During last month's International Week, there was a booth representing western European cultures along with booths from Africa, Asia and other parts of the world. The flyer also suggests that there is an overwhelming number of minori ty scholarships given away, and whites are left with no financial aid. In reality, close to 25 percent of white students at A&M receive re ceive scholarship money, and close to 25 percent of minorities are on schol arship. The Battalion is in no way associ ated with the KKK and finds the group's racist propaganda de plorable. Democracy at work in B-movies Oscars may slight women but these classics don't E ven before the night when Hol lywood toasts itself came to a close, someone was at it. This time that someone was Barbara Wal ters, complaining about the role of women in films. Although definitely not the first, Walters argued that women have been slighted in every aspect of the film industry — or something to that effect. But I'd already had enough of movies for the evening and decisive ly left my apartment. On the way out, my neighbor yelled down from his balcony, "Hey Rich, wanna see a movie over here?" My God, I thought, hasn't every one had enough of movies for one night? Can't we just let it go? "No thanks," I yelled back, "I already know the secret of The Crying Game. The woman is actually a man." But in the back of my head, something clicked — the movies that the Academy has been awarding all evening have not yet made their pay TV rounds; there is hope. Ascending the stairs three steps at a time and running through the already open door, I joined my neighbor in what was to be a frolicking evening of pay TV viewing. And like so much in my life, it came in a split second vi sion. 'Intimate Stranger.' I listened attentively as my fellow film freak read from the Bible of B-movie hounds — a well-thumbed copy of TV Chronilog: "Deborah Harry, James Russo. Policeman helps stranger stalked by phone-sex killer." Exactly, instead of moaning about the woes of men in the film industry. Barb should click over to The Movie Channel and check out this flick. The lead is played by a woman in this thriller which explores the problems faced by stalking victims, most of whom are women. I almost forgot what I was there for. For our pre-view- ing knowledge, the Bible had rated 'Intimate Stranger' with no stars. There lies the answer. It's not that movies are discrimi natory, it's that movies with big names are discriminatory. Not only is the lead a woman, but it's a woman who has been having job troubles since the early '80s. Deborah Har ry, as the discriminating music aficionado will gladly tell you, is Blondie of "Heart of Glass" and "Rapture" fame. As the movie began, my thoughts wandered. True, maybe not all movies are as democratically written and cast as some would like, but B-movies are perfectly democ ratic. You don't even have to be a good actor or actress to land a B-movie job. I could see that my colleagues in the world of journalism had lost touch. Instead of arguing that the roles of women in movies are too difficult to be found, they should look to a field where women are arguably more in demand than men. In fact, those most adamantly opposed to the lack of roles for women in the film industry should lobby to create an awards show to highlight the roles of some of the brightest actresses around. Then it all came to me: The Buds. The name "Bud" lacks some of the flare of the name Oscar — but face it, so do B-movies. The Buds could run after the Academy Awards at around midnight, a prime-time for movies of the 'B' sort. Actor Jim J. Bullock - Monroe of "Too Close for Comfort" fame - could host the presentation with pre senters such as "Up All Night" Hostess Rhonda, Don Rick ies and William "TTie Greatest American Hero" Katz under him. Categories would range from "Best Screenplay Adapted from a Harlequin Romance Novel" to "Best Use of Cloth ing Torn By a Monster and/or Slasher to Expose a Breast." But the big wait of the evening would be for the Life time Achievement Award. As the crowd would sit in ner vous anticipation, Martin Mull of "Dance with Death" might make his way to the podium. The audience teeming with B-movie faves like Charles Grodin, Tracy Lords and Erik Estrada might gasp as Mull described the honoree, "Known for her miraculous por trayals of strippers, prostitutes and all other professionals of the underworld, this year's Lifetime Achievement Award goes to .. . Shannon Tweed!" As thoughts pelted my head, I looked up at the movie. On screen, women outnumbered men 10 to one. What a great thing B-movies are, I thought, and cracked open a cold one to celebrate my ideas for making this country a better place to live. Henderson is a sophomore political science major. RICH HENDERSON Columnist Mo heir i our our the ) of- s at Duld id it i the &M Balancing act makes student's day bright Thanks to the man who walked with his books on his head and kept his hands free while walking on campus today. It helped me smile when things were down. Idiosyncratic slants on the every day help people endure and enjoy. Joey Sawyer Class of '93 All Aggies should uncover in the MSC I've read in a long time. Why doesn't she just advocate urinat ing on the Washington monument the next time everybody visits Washington, D.C.?! I'm so sorry if its too much trou ble for people to remove their hats when they enter the MSC. Heaven forbid they have to incur an inconvenience by removing the bows from the backs of their heads. I'd hate to think some "ladies" would have to go through this great trauma! And just think, the only trauma our old Ags had to encounter in order to become a piece of the history of the MSC was death. Kind of makes your sacrifice seem pretty triv ial doesn't it. Gig'EmAgs!! John Pierce Class of'94 • In response to the letter written by Sandy Hernandez regarding whether ladies should have to uncover when they enter the MSC, I must say that her argu ment is one of the most ridiculous things • In response to the question "for whom does the term 'uncover' apply?" I have this answer: My mother, who is a feminist once told me that with equal rights come equal burdens and that should earn equal respect. After reading Sandy Hernandez's let ter, I remembered what mom had said, and I think it applies with one excep tion... uncovering is not a burden! Un covering is a privilege, plain and simple! It is a way to honor and respect fallen Aggies and to respect the institution we attend and the traditions that represent it. As such, the convenience or ease of un covering is not an issue and never should be. It's a really small gesture to honor people who gave their lives for this coun try and therefore all the students here. We ALL should feel privileged to be able to uncover. Andrew J. Tomczeszyn Class of'94 Create newspaper recycling program As I watched a friend of mine throw away a large stack of newspapers the oth er day, an idea hit me. At last, I have dis covered a cause for the environmentalists to pursue while leaving Bonfire - loving individuals such as myself out of their criticisms. How many trees end up in garbage cans as used\Battalions? Not to mention the myriad of flyers littering the ground surrounding the newspaper box es across campus. Certainly an organized campaign aimed at recycling all of these paper products would save many times as many trees in one year than abolishing Bonfire ever would. It's just something for you to ponder while you throw away your paper. Brian Murrell Class of'95 Clarifications on Ramadan and Allah I would like to commend the Battalion staff for running the picture "Ramadan ends for Muslims" showing the Muslim community of Bryan-College Station in prayer on Eidul Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan. This month of fast ing commemorates when the first verses of the Holy Koran were first revealed to Prophet Muhammad over 1,400 years ago. I feel that the accompanying photo caption may mislead some readers be cause of the unfamiliarity of the word Al lah. Allah is simply the Arabic word for God, and not some exotic, mystical, ori ental object of worship. Cultures throughout the world have a word in their native languages denoting God. This is evident within the United States. For example, the Hispanic population when attending worship services will of ten use "Dios" in reference to God. Simi larly Muslims use Allah in their prayers and in their everyday references to God. Past personal experience at my previ ous university leads me to believe that some confusion and misconceptions exist about Islam. At my previous university, my neigh bor at the student housing once remarked that Muslims pray to some god called Al lah. She was really confused for she thought Allah was a stone god. I was able to explain to her that Allah is simply God, the source of all creation. I want to thank the Battalion staff for acknowledging the presence of the Mus lim community in Bryan-College Station, and I hope that the next year there will be an in-depth article on Ramadan and Eid accompanying a similar photograph. Cynthia Estrada Graduate Student Editorials appearing m The Battalion reflect the views of the edtond board. They do not necessady reflect the opinions of other Battalion staff members, the Texas A&M student body, regents, adminislration. faculty or staff. Columns, guest columns, and MaJ Ca8 items express the opinions or the authors. The Battalion encourages letters to the editor and wS print as many as space allows in the MaS Cal section. Letters must be 300 words or less and indude the author’s name, doss, and phone number. Due to space restrictions, guest columns wl 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 addressed to: The Battalion - Mail Cal 013 Reed McDonald /Mai stop 1111 Texas A&M University Cdege Station, TX 77843