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Opinion
Thursday, September 16,1993
The Battalion Editorial Board
CHRIS WHITLEY, editor in chief
|ULI PHILLIPS, managing editor MARK EVANS, city editor
DAVE THOMAS, night news editor ANAS BEN-MUSA, Aggielife editor
BELINDA BLANCARTE, night news editor MICHAEL PLUMER, sports editor
MACK HARRISON, opinion editor WILLIAM HARRISON, sports editor
KYLE BURNETT, photo editor
The Battalion
Page 13
oe used only ta
legiate athletics.
nent will appeal
mendment relat-
d expenditure o!
lally dedicated
institutions ol
N NO. 14
lLLOT
on 45 proposes a
;nt that adds a
•tide III, sectioi
.itution. The ne«
t, in addition to
I by subsections
400 million), and
n 49-h,
WORLD
•OPULAT
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EDITORIAL
High speed rail
Bullet train right track for Texas
issuance
gation bonds aid
the bonds for at-
r equipping new
including
i, and mental
ardation institn-
lir or renovation
hose corrections
ental retardation
nt also provides
subsection
the review ani
she provisions
49-h, relatingti
is a general obi
,o the manner
interest on tl
oonds authorize
lent will
icndment audio-
‘ up to $1
bonds
nues of the state
to facilities o!
ital health and
■stitutions.”
^ NO. 15
LLOT
i 37 proposes a
t that would an-
ssioners court of
>n to abolish the
r. The office of
aed if a majority
g in the elec-
f the office of
d, the maps,
records of the
nsferred to the
e designated by
ent will appear
amendment to
i county to de
led by the com-
Ther to abolish
urveyor in the
1 NO. 16
LLOT
i 44 proposes an
, section 49-i(b)
on, which cur-
pal amount of
e time for the
$25 million and
"prise develop-
Te amendment
mount limit for
nd to $100 mil-
mid also make
t for each fund
pal amounts of
issued or sold
ipal amounts of
time,
ent will appear
mendment au-
of $100 million
e issued or sold
iricultural fund
i assistance to
•ove, or expand
ssing, market-
js or products
imarily in this
al businesses
anatorio sobrt
a constitucittt
!a el dia 2 it
tied no ha re-
ne en espafwl,
■por llamar el
~ibir al Seen-
12060, Austin,
y of State
Jr.
The Texas High Speed Rail
Authority appears at last to be
the verge of constructing an
-new bullet train. Texas
TVG Corporation is the Ameri
can French consortium tasked
with the construction of this
system — a job expected to be
completed by the end of this
century.
The advantages of the sys
tem are obvious. They range
from simple convenience to
travel safety to new jobs.
Traveling by car, a trip to
Houston from Bryan/College
Station lasts anywhere from
one and a half to two hours.
Mas cannot be reached in
less than three hours.
By bullet train, a trip to
Houston would take an esti
mated 43 minutes, with a Dallas
trip lasting only about 70 min
utes. For those who make these
and other trips freouently, these
savings in time and lost produc
tivity make the bullet train a
very attractive option.
Projections suggest that
eventually this transit system
will be able to transport 14 mil
lion travelers each year. As a
consequence, automobile con
gestion on intrastate highways
will be significantly curtailed.
This reduction, in turn, will de
crease traffic injuries and fatali
ties and lessen the amount of
pollution in the state.
The design for this system is
the same as that used in France
on its well established, highly
successful trains. It is a design
that incorporates the latest in
efficient, speedy and environ
mentally conscious technolo
gies. The train would be pow
ered electrically and would
thus yield little to no environ
mental fallout. Capable of
speeds of 150 to 180 miles per
hour, this technology is inher
ently efficient, especially when
compared to the slow, fuel-guz
zling diesel engines of old.
This project would greatly
benefit the Texas labor force as
well. Reaching all corners of
this state and requiring thou
sands of hours to construct,
this project would necessitate a
massive work force. That is,
steady work would be created
for thousands over the rest of
this young decade.
The benefits are plain. The
electric Texas bullet train is a
superior concept that will lan
guish no longer. It is coming,
and Texas will assuredly be the
better for it.
Dominica: trouble in island paradise
Everywhere on Earth, someone has dumped trash there
JAY
ROBBINS
Columnist
I suffered through
most of the summer
right here in College
Station. Summer
school. Humidity. TV
reruns. Thank God for
three fantastic weeks T
spent with twenty oth
er Aggies on a little is
land in the West Indies
called Dominica.
Dominica advertis
es itself to tourists as
the Nature Island of
the Caribbean. Our
group traveled there to
study its ecology and
environment. Seeing
the island's one traffic light, millions of beau
tiful plants and one-in-a-million scenery con
vinced me that the name is well deserved.
Finding a car muffler in the coral reef, a
cookstove in a waterfall and a hundred stray
dogs in every alley convinced me that the
name won't apply much longer. A spreading
civilization is decorating the land with its
refuse. The mini-mall conquers more of the
natural world every day.
We stayed in an old house that overlooks
steep forested slopes and the sea. Many acres
around the place are devoted to research and
conservation. We measured, sampled and
photographed everything from 30-foot tree
ferns to ground mold. Sometimes we cleaned
up the trash other people left — when we
could carry it all.
One of my friends made the point that the
island could serve as an analogy to the whole
planet. Within a space smaller than Brazos
County, we found nearly every kind of habi
tat: rain forests, swamps, mountains, farms,
cities and nature preserves. As in the wider
world, we also saw nearly every way humans
can manage to rape their surroundings.
We discussed this problem with our guide.
He mentioned a recent talk with a farmer
who said, "God put these parrots on Domini
ca for us to eat, and no one can tell us not to
take what we want." Unfortunately, there are
fewer than 200 of these birds still alive.
Pure science didn't take up all of our time.
Some of us enjoyed roast rabbit with green ba
nana salad. Others drank local rum so strong it
stood up without a bottle. In desperation I
paid three U.S. dollars for a chocolate bar.
We toured colonial forts and went to Mar
ket Day. We hiked uphill both ways through
a volcanic zone called the Valley of Desola
tion. There we watched Boiling Lake bubble
up and send steam clouds over the peaks.
Another trip took us to a pristine national
park. A sign at the entrance reads: "Take noth
ing but photographs. Leave nothing but foot
prints." I wish the whole island — hell, the en
tire planet — received the same consideration.
The sign's request poignantly illustrated
the troubling undercurrent of our trip. No
matter where we went, we never found a
spot unabused by humans. The destruction of
that fragile, unique environment is well un
der way. My friend was right. Dominica is a
tragically appropriate analogy for our planet.
Trash dumping and ignorance are just the
obvious problems. Dominica doesn't possess
the resources to control the use of dangerous
pesticides and fertilizers. The unseen damages
wrought by chemical pollution might easily
kill off everything but the cockroacnes.
One day I watched a little boy take his
family's drinking water out of a polluted
stream. He carried it home in a container
which originally held a pesticide banned in
the U.S. for causing sterility and birth de
fects. From classrooms filled with asbestos to
ozone holes over the playground, all chil
dren face similar risks every day. Once
again, Dominica showed me a downsized
picture of the world.
Dominica also gave me hope that humani
ty might soon accept tire responsibility for
protecting its planetary environment. While 1
was there, I talked with an eloquent old man
named Randolph Paul. Mr. Paul invited me
and some other students to his farm where he
spent hours explaining every field and crop.
When we said goodbye to Mr. Paul, he
told us, "This century — the twentieth centu
ry — is the century of physicists. The twenty-
first century will be the century of dre biolo
gists. They will study microbes to give us
good water. They will fix up ruined land.
They will cure cancer."
When I heard that I nearly changed my
major, but I know I could never be a scien
tist. Instead, I used his words as an inspira
tion to apply to law schools that offer spe
cialization in environmental law.
There's no excuse for playing stupid
about threats to the environment. Recycle.
Don't ask for shopping bags when you don't
need them. Turn off the lights when you
leave the room.
Everyone can find ways to use their tal
ents to protect the land. After all, we're bor
rowing it from our children.
Jay Robbins is a junior English and political sci
ence major
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Editorials appearing in The
Battalion reflect the views of
the editorial board. They 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 letters express the
opinions of the authors.
The Battalion encourages
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Address letters to.*
The Battalion - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
■L TX 77\
Roommate problems? J7Z tell you about roommate problems
S oooo, you think
you have
roommate
troubles?
For better or
worse, a significant
part of college life
is adjusting to
dorm or apartment
life.
There are basical
ly two kinds of or
ganisms that have
to be dealt with in a
dwelling. Both can
be found in the
newspaper or men
tioned by friends.
Sometimes, when you're the added renter,
they are already occupying the room or
apartment.
If this is the case, it's usually a good bet
that you're being watched by the current
inhabitants for signs of future behavior.
Generally, they are most concerned with
how disgusting you'll leave their kitchen
and who's responsible for cleaning it up.
They never really ask if you're clean or
not, but be certain they're wondering.
FRANK
STANFORD
Columnist
Enough about roaches.
The second scourge of the home is the
filthy, creepy, dark and difficult human
vermin commonly known as the "room
mate from hell." This particular type of
beast exists in every student's life at one
time or another and is always terrific con
versation fodder on those occasional bad
days. Many a whiny complaint session
contains the phrase, "... and to top it all
off, my roommate keeps ... "
We've all heard or even experienced
the other possible endings to this phrase.
If the lodging involves women, the gripe
often ends with something like: "... leav
ing hair in the sink" or "... hogging the
phone" or, the ever popular cat-fight in
stigator, "... borrowing my stuff."
It has been my observation that female
roommates from hell seem to be worse
than males. Of course this could also be
due to women having a lower tolerance
for deviant roommate behavior and/or
relishing the opportunity to yap about it.
There's also a most puzzling charac
teristic about girls' rotten roommies.
When you meet them, often with prior
warning, they turn out to be some of the
nicest people you've ever met. Later,
your friend insists that her roommate is
never that nice. It must have been the
moon or something.
Guys, on the other hand, are really
quite tolerant of whatever minor differ
ences, if any, there may be.
First, guys don't borrow clothes from
each other. After at least 12 roommates
over the years, no one has ever asked me,
"Frank, I just don't have anything to
wear, may I borrow your T-shirt and that
"How bad could it be?" we
thought. An engineering
major? Education? Or,
heaven forbid, another phi
losophy wacko? Would
that we had been so lucky.
cool pair of dirty gym socks that go so
well with my sweat-stained sneakers?"
In addition, phone usage and bath
room cleanliness are usually pretty low
on the scale of importance — often just
above dusting the light bulbs.
As for the phone, who cares? They'll
call back if it's important, right?
So basically, there are only two ex
tremes to males living together: tolerable
and intolerable.
Everything from marginally annoying
peccadillos to fairly major personality dis
orders are sort of lumped into the tolera
ble category. Actually, I wasn't even cer
tain that totally unacceptable behavior ex
isted in a male multihabitation environ
ment. Wrong, very wrong.
This summer, my roommate, who
leased our house and thus assumed the re
sponsibility of obtaining renters, was so
distressed at the possibility of rent concen
tration that he threatened to take to the
streets in search of our fourth roommate.
"How bad could it be?" we thought.
An engineering major? Education? Or,
heaven forbid, another philosophy wacko?
Would that we had been so lucky.
Jerry was dropped off in our yard that
afternoon, drunk, dirty and stinking, with
a small suitcase containing all his belong
ings. He was nice — greasy nice — with
an ear to ear smile that never disap
peared.
"He's cool," my roommate said. "I
found him at a construction site. He has a
job and everything."
Jerry's job lasted about another week,
making him late with rent money. We let
it slide. Jerry was cool. After a week, Jer
ry mentioned that a while back he did
three years in the "big house," and asked
if we minded. Well, justice was served —
and Jerry was still cool.
Soon Jerry began bringing some unsa
vory individuals over to drink beer. Since
I've been the unsavory character myself
before, we decided to say nothing. By the
end of the month, my roommates and 1
discovered we were missing an electric
drill, a VCR, a gold watch and a new 10-
speed, not to mention the rent money. In
addition, Jerry's room had evidence of
crack cocaine usage.
We decided this was a little more than
we could tolerate, even though he rinsed
his dishes before putting them in the wash
er, and emptied the trash on Fridays. Jerry
was history. He didn't come back that af
ternoon and his suitcase was gone.
Three college students learned a great
deal this summer without even going to a
class. And when we get another room
mate, I don't think his major is going to be
quite so important. We'll even lend him
our dirty socks if they match his shoes.
Frank Stanford is a graduate philosophy major
tickets?
Put in your two cents:
pay PTTS in pennies
I can understand that A&M needs
some sort of parking enforcement; howev
er, the frustration of the students, I think,
comes from the hefty fine, as well as the
helplessness felt when handed the ticket.
The fines should be cut in half. Until
then, I encourage anyone that gets fined,
to pay it in pennies.
When I get ticketed, I have to dig
deep into my pockets to afford it. Gee,
all I can find is the pennies I've been sav
ing all these years.
If the PTTS is here to help us, then tell
me, what have they done besides write
, Warren Ferguson
Class of '95
Accompanied by 6 signatures
No Core Curriculum
bad idea for students
I am somewhat dismayed by the tone
of Eliot Williams' column on "time for
learning." It reflects an attitude that I
see too often among the students, not
just here, but in other institutions of
higher education.
Specifically, he feels he doesn't have
the time to do what he wants to do, but
instead of restructuring his "goof-off
time" to allow for other things that he
wants to do (e.g.-reading about chaos
theory. Right.), he wants to reduce the
time spent studying. At first I thought
he was poking fun at students who
refuse to let studying interfere with their
partying, but I've been assured that he
was serious.
I find it difficult to take him seriously
when he blames the University for his
problems. The people I know who are in
terested in self-learning have no problem
doing it and their schoolwork as well.
While Mr. Williams is only spending
22 hours a week in class and labs, these
people are carrying that many credit
hours plus many of them are raising
families besides. I can assure you that
they are as sane as any of the electrical
engineering majors.
I can understand, but not sympathize,
with his aversion to taking the Core Cur
riculum. As a student at Cornell Univer
sity, the engineering students I knew
had absolutely no interest in knowing
anything about the world around them.
History, literature, music, biological sci
ences, human society, etc. were anathe
ma to them. They saw no point in even
being aware that anything outside of the
physical sciences and getting blasted on
weekends even existed.
The fact that Mr. Williams seems to
dislike the Core Curriculum is one of the
best arguments for its necessity that I can
think of.
Daniel K. Miller
Veterinary Pathobiology