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Opinion
Friday, April 2,1993 The Battalion
Page 7
AIM CREAfAERK
3
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//
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,
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Due to space restrictions, guest columns wl not be
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We reserve the right to edit letters for length, style, and
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Letters should be addressed to:
The Battalion - Mail Cal
013 Reed McDonald /Mai stop 1111
Texas A&M University
Cdege Station, TX 77843