Opinion
Page 8 The Battalion Wednesday, April 7,1993
The Battalion Editorial Board
The Battalion
Steve O'Brien, editor in chief
$LsJak
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
100 years at
Susan Owen, lifestyles editor Darrin Hill, photo editor
Texas A&M
Questionable election
Re-vote only solution to debate
The Student Government Judicial
Board's decision Monday not to
hold a re-vote following the discov
ery that ballots were altered during
last week's student body elections
casts a shadow of doubt over the
entire election process.
The confusion centers around the
ballot for senior yell leader. Ac
cording to an appeal for a re-vote,
the instructions were vague, which
resulted in many students filling
out the ballot improperly,
Election eom=
mission officials
said they were
concerned that if
the ballots were
not altered, 10 to
40 percent of
those ballots
would have been
discarded be
cause they could
not be tabulated
by computer.
Two appeals
were filed - one called a re-vote for
the entire election, another called
for a new senior yell leader elec
tion.
The appeals cited the following
problems with last week's election:
•Vague instructions for the se
nior yell leader position on the bal
lot.
•Election Commissioners "inter
preted" individual votes by erasing
and remarking ballots.
•Ballots left unattended.
•Sample ballots and voting in
structions were not posted at all
polling places.
These are significant breaches of
what is supposed to be a fair and
secure election process.
Worse yet, one election commis
sioner admitted that ballots were al
tered in the 1992 races, which com
promises the integrity of last year's
election.
But on early Monday morning,
the Judicial Board ruled there
would not be a re-vote because the
Election Commission acted in good
faith. Does this mean its OK to vio
late rules as long as one's heart is in
the right place?
Further, the Judicial Board ruled
that these violations did not affect
the outcome or
integrity of the
election. Thijjb
point is certainly
debatable be
cause no member
of the Judicial
Board is an ex
pert on mass
election process
es.
In fairness, the
Election Commis
sion is faced with
a tremendous burden in holding a
large-scale election so mistakes are
understandable.
Still, Student Government is
faced with a serious perception that
the election was unfair and incom
petently handled.
This issue must be addressed.
Candidates and voters deserve stu
dent body elections that are han
dled fairly because these positions
provide students with their only
"official" voice in the A&M System.
Student Government must accept
the burden of proving that the elec
tion process was equitable, and a
late-night promise from the Judicial
Board won't cut it.
The only way to remove any
doubts is to hold another election.
Campus
Elections
Time for a change in attitude
Education, awareness break down stereotypes
T his semester has been full of
changes for me. One of the
most enjoyable, and obvious, is
that I'm writing for the Battalion.
Even though this has been the most
visible change, it is matched in im
portance by numerous other gradual
and subtle changes.
I gave away my pet cat in January.
I watched the inauguration of a presi
dent that I voted for, and then I
watched the nation's response to the
president I voted for.
Yet, there is one significant change
that I am just beginning to fully real
ize: I got a new roommate. Matt, in
January.
Yeah, sure, in a college town like
this people are always getting new roommates. Some peo
ple I know change roommates as often as they change their
underwear. No big deal, right? Well, this time it was a big
deal, at least for me.
We have our regular roommate differences and similari
ties: He's a neat-freak while I'm just a shade better than a
slob, and neither of us could boil water if our lives depend
ed on it. But we still don't register as the normal Aggie
roommates. The fact that he's straight and I'm not ex
cludes us from the realm of "most A&M roommates."
Originally, I was quite worried about having a straight
roommate for this semester. Up to now, I have been lucky
enough to have all gay roommates. It would be the first
time that I would share a house with a heterosexual.
A billion fears crossed my mind. Would he be gay-
friendly? Would he bring his "girlfriend" over and pub
licly display affection in my living room? Would he throw
the Bible at me? Would he ask me to color coordinate his
outfits? Would he try to "convert" me? Would he be able
to get along with my boyfriend? (oh. Hey Weazler!)
Living with Matt was going to pose all sorts of new
problems. Don't get me wrong, straights aren't bad people
... some of my best friends are straight, but hets, as we in
the homo-world call them, can be so unpredictable.
But I soon decided to give it a try, because Matt met all
the important prerequisites — he could pay bills.
Since the time he moved in, I have begun to realize that
the issues I thought usually separated the gay and straight
communities were quickly dissolving. Sexual orientation
became the great non-issue.
Matt was OK with my being gay, and I was OK with
him being straight.
But now, upon reflection, 1 have begun to realize the
greater social significance of this endeavor. Matt and I are
just a microcosm of a social universe that is full of change.
Discussions about homosexuality and related issues are
now commonplace.
People are coming out of the closet left and right, and
the neat thing is that nobody really cares, k.d. lang, Lily
Tomlin, Elton John, comic-strip characters, and any num
ber of military officers are stepping out of their closets and
into modern America.
Yet, the reactions of modem Americans is almost in
significant compared to society's reactions to open homo
sexuals 30 years ago.
Times have changed.
I suppose that education has been the greatest influence
on changing people's view of homosexuals. That brings us
to the fact that this week is Gay Awareness Week, spon
sored by Gay & Lesbian Student Services (GLSS) of A&M.
Most students at A&M think that Gay Awareness Week is
primarily for the homosexual community. I have never
seen it that way. This week is a perfect chance for the het
erosexual community to get involved with and learned
about what homosexuals have to offer.
Gays and lesbians on this campus are not here to con
vert anyone or promote some elitist political agenda. We
are here to get an education and, like every other student,
to have fun.
Through the education of homophobes, we hope to
break through the stereotypes and fears that prevent us
from being able to enjoy college life to its fullest. And that
is what the Awareness Week is all about — cutting through
the fear and the lies of stereotypes.
Once the stereotypes are destroyed and homosexuals are
seen just as ordinary people, homosexuality will become
the great non-issue. At that point there will be no need for
GLSS or the Awareness Week, and the prejudice against
homosexuals will be eliminated.
Yet, I suppose the sword of prejudice is sharp on both
sides. I definitely learned my lesson. My fear and anxiety
over living with a heterosexual was just as irrational and
prejudiced as a heterosexual's fear of homosexuality.
I guess I owe Matt a thank-you for showing me my own
ignorance. I also owe him for this month's rent.
It's just a thought.
Sexism through socialization, an invisible process
What do you do
when the dish
washer breaks
down? You slap
her... And on
that note, the Unit
ed States has made
great strides in re
ducing the gap of
inequality that sep
arates women and
men. It's a great
thing that we can
turn the dock back
100 years and see
the progress that's
been made. We can
only imagine how
"backwards" the
mind set of 1893 piust have been.
I'm grateful that we've evolved since
those ol' days. However, this is where
my praise stops. The truth is that in 2093,
our great-great-grandchildren will be
writing this same article. They'll be say
ing the same thing. In 2093, our grand-
kids will be able t^> imagine how "back
wards" the mind set of 1993 was.
I'll give it to you straight: In this coun
try, we are socialized to treat women as if
they are second-class citizens. That's
right. You, me, our relatives, bank tellers
of Idaho, employees at Freebird's - all of
us are socialized to treat females as if they
are inferior. The reality that results from
this socialization is the society of inequal
ity in which we live. Why does this con
tinue to be our reality?
The socialization process is mostly un
conscious; therefore it is extremely dan
gerous. By and large, the above attitude
towards females is standard procedure. It
is sad because it is what we know. It is
sick because it is the thought of the day -
the social norm.
With the exception of cave dwellers, no
one can fully avoid society's general mes
sage. From day one, gender is defined for
us. We are tola what it means to be a girl.
We are told what it means to be a boy. As
we develop into mature adults, we are re
minded of the separate paths that men
and women should travel. The outcome
is that we have our present situation -
mature society of inequality filled with
women who desire equality and men
who are constipated with emotions that
society says should not be expressed (but
that's another topic).
To support these abstract generaliza
tions, let's talk about the influence of the
socialization process that we know as pop
culture. Its influence is inescapable.
Take, for example, the Doe twins, Jane
and John. Like most of us, they were
raised in a house with a television. They
grew up watching an average amount of
television. A general image of women
was portrayed through the tube. As the
twins aged, this image was consistently
pushed into their heads.
Now the J. Doe twins are 22 years old.
They have seen more that two decades of
females portrayed as puppets, something
to look at, or as pieces of meat. To be
sure, they have also seen Murphy Browns
on the screen. But for every Murphy,
there's a body of bodaciously big-chestea,
redominantly blonde, brainless and
imbo-roled babes posing aside a macho
man with the beer of his choice. This is
what the twins know to be the norm in
t.v. land.
If they are like most of us, it does not
hase them to turn on the box and find
udweiser's bikini-fitted body parts sell
ing brew. They might even completely
buy into the message: John salivates in
front of the television, and Jane fulfills her
self-esteem through Maybelline Cosmet
ics. Or, maybe they are like myself. The
truth is finally registering that television
is feeding us a lie.
A likely reaction is to think, "Oh, come
on Lance, lighten up, man! It's just an im
age." True. I'm glad you said that. It is
this image that holds three options for a
person. A person can either be for,
against, or apathetic about the image.
The first option is that of the salivator, the
second is that of the lie-rejector, and the
third is that of the innocent by-stander.
Most of us are innocent by-standers. It's
not are fault that we don't view the lie as
a lie. It's simply what our vulnerable lit
tle selves have always known.
Recently, I've realized that for most of
my life, I have lived like an innocent by
stander. I'm finally being honest with
myself in realizing that I have innocently
accepted the lie. Last, I was fortunate to
have the opportunity to go to topless and
nude beaches in France. The French ex
perience was a bit different from the old
spring break experience at South Padre.
In France, I did not see the pieces of flesh
that my socialized mind had always seen
at Padre. I was not participating in a
horny parade. There were no gyrating
women that shed their tops and cupped
and pressed their huge breasts together
on top of a tan-line contest platform.
There were no hormones dressed as peo
ple. It was simply a bunch of naked peo
ple passing time on the coast. There were
no cages, so there was no reason to howl.
The process of socialization is very
much like an undetected disease that
slowly spreads throughout the body. In
the end, they both amount to an incurable
situation. All of us are lucky because it is
not the end. I myself am in the process of
treating the disease that society has
passed on to me. We have to continually
remind ourselves to throw away the
garbage that society has dumped on us.
We have to fight the sickness oefore it is
incurable. I know that the writer of 2093
will look at Lamar Harris in 1993 and
imagine how backwards he must have
been. Someday, I'll be able to make the
same reflection.
And on that note, what do you do
when your dishwasher breaks down?
You slap the — it rhymes with 'astard'
and begins with a 'b.'
Harris is a senior speech communication
major.
LAMAR
HARRIS
Guest Columnist