Opinion
Wednesday, June 16,1993
The Battalion
Page 5
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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.
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