Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 16, 1993)
Opinion Wednesday, June 16,1993 The Battalion Page 5 — rTpfs-r-rSN You submitted this claim JO-12 'ttocIcs ;uicl you still liawn't gotten a rosponso? rin Sorry, what’d you say ycnxv uamo r mis? GENERAL MEDICAL 1NS - AN ^^JC3' nillary RmUiam Clinton. Strout VKWW. E7 IN OUT '.\AR6Ul*lZS in n\e prsctp \ivi irp'f't iMoRALi^ Rose THE AotiTiSi. WMT5 To Oo You w£i TIGHTS, «t HOSEXCM] The Battalion Editorial Board Jason Loughman, editor in chief Mark Evans, managing editor Stephanie Pattillo, city editor Kyle Burnett, sports editor Dave Thomas, night news editor Anas Ben-Musa, Aggielife editor Mack Harrison, morning news editor Billy Moran, photo editor The Battalion 100 years at Texas A&M 45-5139. Editorial John B. Connally 1917-1993 Terrible and tragic can only de scribe Tuesday, the day former Texas governor John B. Connally, Jr., 76, died from a fatal bout of pneu monia and complications of pul monary fibrosis, the scarring of the ung tissue. Although Connally is well known for that fateful day, Nov. 22, 1963, when he almost died with John F. Kennedy, it is Connally's ac complishments, bravery and duty o the state of Texas and the United States that can never be overlooked. Connally survived the bullet that ripped through his right lung and fractured his wrist to become a three- term Texas governor. As a leader, Connally in fluenced many people. “John Connally was a man of courage, great lead ership qualities, a powerful personality," Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen said; "He was per suasive in his point of view and my friend." Born on Feb. 27, 1917 in Flo- resville, Texas, Connally was raised working on the farm his father rent ed. After his fair share of farm work, Connally went to the University of Texas at the early age of 16. Eventually Connally became stu- Connally dent body president, dean of his le gal fraternity, president of his law class, and chairman of the board of student publications that directed U.T.'s student newspaper. The Daily Texan. After earning his law degree inl941 at U.T., Connally went on ac tive duty in the U.S. Navy. He was awarded the Legion of Merit for his conduct aboard the air craft carrier USS Bennington and the Bronze Star for bravery as a fighter-plane director aboard the aircraft carrier USS Essex. After leaving the navy in 1946, Connally went on to establish a new radio staion, KVET, in Austin. But, the navy would again be a part of Connally's life. Fifteen years later, he was appointed Secretary of the Navy by President Kennedy. The next year, Connally won the election for Texas governor. Within ten years, he would serve as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury for President Richard Nixon. Sen. Phil Gramm said, "At every major milestone of contemporary Texas, John Connally was there, standing tall, leading, making a dif ference, making history." Texas will certainly feel his ab sence. Freedom: a value for all or none Gay bashing ultimately undermines liberty for all MATT DICKERSON Columnist W hen I came to Texas A&M in 1984, Bible in hand, I became involved with a movement to keep homosexuals from forming a university-recognized organization. In my efforts at this task, I put into motion a series of events that nearly culminated in a riot, and finally real ized something about freedom. The embryonic homosexual stu dent group, the Gay Student Services Organization, or GSSO, now goes by Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Aggies. The favored method of opposing GSSO was petitioning A&M for a stu dent referendum, though that was not successful. "Business" was brisk. I would stand out in front of Sbisa as hordes of students would stand in a line and sign the petition on my back. In any event, the University refused to recognize the GSSO, even going to court in a vain fight to stave off recog nition. In an incredible stroke of luck, I and others heard that another group, SWAMP (the acronym, I am told, never stood for any one thing), was going to stage a sit-in on the MSC grass protesting A&M's refusal to recognize GSSO. SWAMP's name was a satirical take off on OASIS, a fun damentalist or evangelical student group 1 was in that has changed its name a number of times. It was also known as Great Commission Students, and now goes by A&M Chris tian Fellowship. I went from dorm to dorm asking everyone to show up at the MSC, interlock arms and "keep SWAMP and the gays off the grass." When the day arrived, there was a near riot. Opposition to SWAMP and GSSO was fierce, and the MSC was virtually encircled with enraged students. Police in riot gear and police vans had to be called in. Not a pret ty sight. That so many students emphasize trivialities at A&M has not changed. Witness the teeth-gnashing furor over students refusing to behave properly by wearing hats in the MSC. Or the woman who received death threats for ques tioning the primacy of the Cadet Corps. Both incidents oc- cured within the last semester, and border on the surreal. The main opposition to the GSSO came from evangelical and fundamentalist groups on campus — no surprise. The level of indoctrination in some of these groups stupefies; both Great Commission and a group called Maranatha, whose members were also active in opposing GSSO recog nition, are widely recognized as cults by cult researchers. Homosexuality is regularly demonized as the ultimate per version. A delectable irony: Great Commission (under a different name) itself fought for recognition at Iowa State University, a case that went to the Supreme Court. Apparently, too many people want freedom exclusively for themselves. I cannot casually dismiss my actions over the MSC inci dent. My fear-mongering was irresponsible; the incident could well have erupted into violence. I deeply regret my actions in this whole episode, as well as my efforts to block GSSO recognition. Since this time, I have obviously changed. Knowing and having gay acquaintances was instrumental to my finally accepting gay people. In fact, a couple of the people in the fundamentalist group I was in turned out to be gay, and I had roomed with one of them. I now feel comfortable with gay people, and hope to see them enjoy the many freedoms that so many of us take for granted, like marriage. Perhaps, before I was truly capable of knowing gay peo ple, I had to jettison the petty notion that fundamentalists just happened to be in sole possession of The Truth. It is unfortunate that fundamentalists do not exercise their prodigious talents at divining evil within themselves; hence, fundamentalism ultimately blinds itself with its own rigid forefinger. If I learned anything during my years as a gay-basher, it is that freedom is a seamless garment: an attack on the freedom of my neighbor is an attack on my own freedom. To invite the State to dictate "heterosexual sex" is to invite the State to dictate sexual mores — to everyone. Dickerson is a sophomore economics major Replace Koldus? You'd sooner find a needle in a haystack The following is an open letter to the Search Advisory Committee for the Vice President of Student Services. Yours is a daunting task. Hey gang, face it: you ain't gonna replace "Koldus." Search high and low, day and night; good luck. Personally, I give you folks better odds on finding the Holy Grail than find ing a soul who is more dedicated to and who better personifies what Texas A&M is all about than Dr. John Koldus. It seems that Dr. Koldus has stepped down, in what for he and Mary Dell is a most timely fash ion, hopefully to pursue more leisurely and personal ac tivities. Having done so, he now leaves a significant void in the Spirit of Ag- gieland. Now before you begin thinking that I was paid to write this or that I am just an old sycophantic student leader type GUEST COLUMN JAY HAYS with starry eyes, let me assure you I am not quite ready to nominate Koldus for sainthood, although that is not out of the question. However, in the candi date rating criteria outlined in the search for the new vice president of Student Services, odds are that there will probably not be a category de scribed as "attention to individual stu dents above and beyond the call of duty." A&M is no doubt one of the most challenging and rewarding environ ments to administer to the needs of a student body in. Koldus has neverthe less balanced the "big picture" aspects of dealing with discipline problems, budget cuts and overall student life concerns with the challenge of truly working to enhance the educational ex perience of all students attending Texas A&M University. Most importantly, in what could be a far removed, upper administration position, he took the time to pay atten tion to the one-on-one aspect of caring about those individuals who either sought out or were fortunate enough to be directed across his path. Koldus never was one of those ivory tower kin- da guys. As Texas A&M once again comes to grips with the changing dynamics of demographics, politics and finances, it is more important than ever to select a person that is capable of dealing even- handedly with those involved in the emerging factions that are influencing student life on this campus. With the ideological specters of multicultural- ism, conservative fundamentalism, po litical correctism, gender biasism and all of those other isms pervading acad emia today, it is not unforeseeable that A&M might fall into the paralyzing morass that is currently engulfing other institutions of higher education in the United States. Come on, if one of the great debates on campus is about a few folks wearing their damn hats in the MSC, I gotta wonder what is going on here. Texas A&M is different. We must believe that, otherwise why would so many young people from diverse back grounds choose to come to this place that not so long ago was forsaken by many a hardy settler. Hey, last I heard this school was started as the result of a bet in a card game or something like that. Now stay with me on this. Could it be that students attend Texas A&M to receive instruction in an academic dis cipline and hopefully an education? Perish the thought. OK, OK, I know that is not always the reason, but surely they don't all come here because we can now Beat-the-Hell Outta' t.u. in football. It simply seems that the greatness of Texas A&M is often overlooked. Be lieve it or not, this place, in spite of all of its critics, is a melting pot of sorts. The overriding tradition of being an Aggie, regardless of its origin or A&M's past, is one of crucial impor tance for the future of this institution. Forget the Highway 6 b.s.; there is room at A&M for everybody. As sim ple as it seems, the trick is for every body to agree to be Aggies first and then whatever the hell else they wanna be second. Many times the vice president for Student Services is called on to be the Muse that can perform this magical feat of bringing everyone together un der an umbrella of "Aggieness." The next vice president for Student Services need not be magical, however, if she or he possesses the qualities of fairness, empathy and dedication — that should suffice. I really and truly have no candidate to tout or ax to grind; I offer only the musing of what Dr. John Koldus has meant to Texas A&M and how impor tant a role his successor might play. My only hope is that the graduates of the year 2000 and beyond still hold the same fondness for A&M as those of the previous century. Okay, I lied — as a member of a re cently formed untoward group of A&M Former Students, I am pushing hard for a One Eyed, One Horned, Fly ing Purple People Eater for the new vice president of Student Services ... not! Hays is a graduate of Texas A&M, Class of '88, and was Student Body President for 1988-89. Editorials appearing in The Baftdior. reflect die views of die editorial board. Tbey do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other Battalion staff members, the Texas A&M student body, regents, administration, faculty or staff. Columns, guest columns, and Mail Coll items express the opinions of the authors. The Battalion encourages letters to the editor and will print as many as space allows in the Mail Call section. Letters must be 300 words or less and include the author's name^ class, and phone number. Contact the editor or managing editor for information on submitting guest columns. We reserve the right to edit letters and gwest columns for length, style, and accuracy. Letters should be addressed to; \ The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald /Moil stop 1111 Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843