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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 1993)
i Opinion -4 up 3f ) Monday, September 20,1993 The Battalion Editorial Board CHRIS WHITLEY, editor in chief JULI 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 9 EDITORIAL HUD hopes Fed takeover in Vidor good sign On Sept. 14 the federal jovernment finally moved to stop racial segregation in the or, Texas, public housing complex. After years of ig noring the problem, Wash ington administrators could no longer ignore local failures eliminate prejudice in the delivery of federal services. HUE) Secretary Henry Cis neros personally took control of the facility, promising to end dvil rights violations. "The United States govern ment cannot stand by when federal money is involved and hear stories about people \>emg afraid to move where want to," Cisneros an nounced. In August 1992, a federal district court ordered the de segregation of 170 public housing complexes in East Texas. Protests against integration broke out in Vidor, historical- 1 an all-white city and center for Ku Klux Klan activity. Lo cal authorities' attempts to comply with the order failed. In the past, despite the long waiting list for public bousing in the county, blacks have not lived in the Vidor project. Earlier this year, four olacks moved into the com plex. They left after months of racially motivated harass ment and threats. Federal officials arrived on the scene two weeks after the last blacks abandoned their homes in Vidor. Cisneros called for the resignations of the director and board mem bers of the housing authority. "They have failed in their responsibility to create a safe and secure environment for all people," he said. Cisneros outlined strate gies to enforce the court order and integrate the complex. The plans are designed to help tiring about lasting racial reconciliation and pre vent another failure of deseg regation. The events in Vidor last week stand in sharp contrast to the decades of official tol erance given to racial segre gation in the community. We hope this affair also signals the beginning of a renewed commitment from HUD to the idea of freedom and equality for all. 1993: Reign of the 'Condom Queen' Surgeon General uses post to advance political agenda ELIOT WILLIAMS Columnist T he old days of the tax and spend de bate are coming to an end, and a much more serious crisis is entering the fore ground. This new era was heralded recently with the confirmation of Dr. Joycelyn Elders as United States Sur geon General. Elders brings the concepts of liberty, in dividuality and moral ity to the forefront of political commentary. Dr. Elders emerged from the Department of Health in — guess where — Arkansas as presumably the coun try's most qualified public health official. Her reputation is based on an expertise in sexual education and the dubious honor of being termed the "Condom Queen." During her tenure in office. Elders in stalled more condom climes in public schools than any other state. Quite a record. What about the results of those clinics? The preg nancy rate rose in 10 of the 11 counties where she installed the clinics. Additionally, the AIDS/STD Division of the Arkansas Depart ment of Health reports that syphilis cases have risen 130 percent among Arkansas teenagers since 1989. Elders started her re forms in 1987. Besides her focus on condoms, Elders is also an advocate of sex education for grades K-12. This so called "sex education" has a deeper, more vicious intent than to educate kids about sex. Sex education as Dr. Elders defines it would mean one thing: systemati cally replacing the values and inhibitions that parents have taught their children with the avant-garde sexual revolution ideology of El ders. There is no other explanation. True sex education doesn't take 13 years; it doesn't even take one year. What takes 13 years is the systematic elimination of kids' in hibitions about sex so that they begin to ex cept the sexual revolution ideology — a tactic any reader of "Brave New World''would un derstand. Elders' shortcomings do not end with her radical views on sexual education. As Direc tor of the Department of Health in Arkansas, Elders admitted to handing out condoms that were found to have failure rates ten times the national average. Why would the nation's most qualified health official hand out defective condoms and not warn the public? Her explanation was that she didn't want to create a public health scare. Great theory — we wouldn't want the teenagers to stop having sex just be cause the condoms the state was giving them were defective. How would Elders respond to a teen who came to her confused as to how she acquired the AIDS virus when she had used a condom as instructed in her sex education class? Would Elders explain to her the statistical ad vantages of having sex with a condom that was faulty as opposed to no condom? This would be quite a comfort to a girl whose health and future have been de stroyed by an administrative attempt to save a program. Elders' decision to cover up the faulty condoms is a typical example of the bureaucratic tendency to relegate people to pure statistical numbers and make their deci sions for them. On CBS's "60 Minutes," Elders claimed that every girl should take a condom with her when sne goes out on a date. She may as well have said that all girls are expected to have sex when they go out. The Arkansas Gazette has reported Elders as saying that she has "no qualms about us ing her official position to promote abortion rights." Elders is clearly not a Surgeon Gen eral, she is a radical activist. Elders is on a rampage against values, against emotions and against ethics. She has taken sides in a cultural war whose victor will control the soul of the next generation. The policies she has advocated in the past are dangerously close to the ones Aldous Huxley laid out in "Brave New World." If she has her way, she will turn sex into an activity whose recreational value exceeds its biologi cal one. Elders will also add more social indoctri nation to schools that are already performing at their worst levels in history. As commenta tor Thomas Sowell noted: "One of the rea sons our schools have declined so much is that they have been turned into ideological indoctrination centers for the latest trendy notions. There are only so many hours in the day, and the time spent hugging trees, han dling condoms, or discussing diaries is time that is not being spent educating students." The new era in politics has started. No longer should we worry about our tax dol lars; we may soon be fighting for our chil dren's minds. Eliot Williams is a sophomore electrical engineering major THEY MUST fKCToRf, IN SoHE kind of Ro&ocrap You KhlovJ, that Mouie. wi... NO THCY'AE. " Mot! THey'ftE ToUAi^r*! 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, /acuity or staff. Columns, guest columns and letters express the • opinions of the authors. The Battalion encourages letters to the editor and will print as many as space allows. Letters must be 300 words or less and include the author's name, class, and phone number. We reserve the right to edit letters and guest columns for length, style, and accuracy. Contact the opinion editor for information on submitting guest columns. Address letters to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Mail stop Ijtl t Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77-843 Fax: 1409) 845-2647 To get the most out of life just be yourself — and have fun r o be the per son you truly are is not al ways easy. Some times you don't how enough about yourself to display it; some times you're scared, or circum stances prevent ex pression of a true and honest nature. So, no, being who you are is not always easy, but it isalways reward- ng- So just be your- If. It's fun. Try something new, do some thing "crazy." Giggle about boys the way you re member doing in middle school and ju nior high if that's what you feel like. It can' TRACEY JONES Columnist happen. Just the other night, three friends and I were totally immature. We didn't think about anytning serious or impending — just how we felt at the moment. The four of us had gone to the gym to work out. And really, most times, we are serious. We go in and stretch and work and strain. But this particular night/I don't know why we even bothered to go. This night, there was a unusually handsome young man there whom we laughingly appreciated I guess. While I was hurting to lift that bar, I gasped to my friends now cute he truly was and how I should go over and tell him so. Just to be silly of course. They egged me on. I thought it was funny. So did they. They thought it would be hilarious if I walked over to this guy and approach him in a dramatic, movie-like fashion and compliment him. They even gave me suggestions about what to say. And this line, looking back, was so STUPID! But at the time it seemed hilari ous. They told me to say to this young man, "Hey baby, what you doin' in here? You don't need to be liftin' no more weights because you fine enough already. They naven't figured out yet if I'm re ally bold or just crazy, but they thought it would be an experience. So, I sauntered over in my oversized shirt that covers me to my knees — that I had to pretend is a sexy evening gown to get my courage up — and tell him exactly that. They told me to say to this young man, "Hey baby, what you doin' in here? You don't need to be liftin' no more weights because you fine enough already." And then I broke out in giggles. We ended up waiting outside the gym for him because I wanted to talk to him. So we sat outside laughing and talking loud — I'm sure he heard parts of our conversation — trying to decide who would go in and ask him to come out. It was so silly, but it was natural, and it was fun. I obtained his phone number that night, too. So it worked. Developing into a full, reliable, self- satisfying person is understanding and doing things that you enjoy and that do not compromise any moral standards or values that you have set for yourself. This includes: Riding the stair stepper for twenty whole minutes, talking to a girlfriend, studying for a test. C&W dancing, listening to music,sit- ting by the fountain, reading romance novels. Eating ice cream, studying for a test, video games, getting ling m tne grass, ice skating. Praying, singing. Being married. Eating cheesecake late at night and watching comedies of the 1950s and 60s is a personal favorite of mine. Anything. Anything you enjoy. You are the one who is most important to you. Some of us find out the hard way, but trying to please people is challenging. Trying to please people you don't even respect is almost mind-blowing. Not only does self-esteem arise out of participating in activities that are pleasur able, it also evolves from letting people know how you honestly feel about things. This does not mean telling Mary to tell Julie that you're angry or screaming and hollering. It is just telling the person what is wrong. Because chances are, your friends are not in the mind reading business. Personal responsibility comes along with having and maintaining a good con cept of yourself. It is important to keep appointments, respect others' space, eat right, exercise your body and mind, sur round yoursel/ with positive people that you have things in common with, sepa rate yourself as much as possible from negative situations, etc. Do what is good for your well-being and development. Finding who you are is not always fun. Sometimes it can be a painful process. But doing so is worth it. Because you deserve it. Tracey Jones is a senior psychology major /O’* P White males already dominate curriculum 1 would like to respond to my fellow Aggies from the Young Conservatives from Texas about their concerns over the proposed multicultural requirement as part of the A&M Core Curriculum. If you're worrying about taking a class covering white males in U.S. Histo ry, may I suggest any of the freshmen or sophomore American history courses? I completed my undergraduate and mas ter's of arts degrees here at Texas A&M, and I can assure you that the deeds and words of many a white man have been permanently etched in my brain. For that matter, try any undergraduate or sopho more psychology, sociology, philosophy or anthropology class. I'd like to see my friends from the Young Conservatives of Texas produce a syllabus from any course at this universi ty which incorporates more than 10 per cent of its readings from black, Hispanic, Asian, Native thinkers, scientists, writ ers, etc. We can make them male or fe male. Fat chance. Mr. Ray, I'm puzzled over your re mark, "I can understand what a litera ture class might do for me but not a woman's history course." When was the first Woman's Consti tution of this nation written? Who were the leaders of the American suffrage movement? Do you know the name of the first woman to run for President? Mr. Ray, why don't you share with our friends the titles of some of the great works of American women writers from the 18th, 19th or 20th century? I suspect you don't have a clue. Bill Sparks Class of‘92 Criticism of College Republicans unjust On June 9, 1993, the Liberal Arts Council passed a six hour multicultural requirement mandating that all students seeking a degree within the Liberal Arts Department become multicultural. This fall the Faculty Senate will debate their own version of a multicultural require ment to be implemented university-wide. Over the course of the last few months, the debate over multicultural- ism has gotten out of hand. College Re publicans have been the targets of some very harsh criticism. We have been called racists, bigots, homophobes, intol erant, closed-minded, ignorant, short sighted and out of touch. The College Republicans are not op posed to acknowledging and celebrating cultural diversity, but are opposed to po litical indoctrination and historical revi sionism. Were it not for the protest and the ac tions of the College Republicans, the Lib eral Arts multicultural requirement would still be a narrow listing of only 19 Ameri can Cultural courses and not the 80 cours es now being discussed. Were it not for the College Republicans, the American cultural requirement would not include any Asian-American courses. Were it not for the College Republicans, the multicul tural requirement before the Faculty Sen ate would not have included as many as 100 courses from which to choose. To put it simply, were it not for the College Republican, the multicultural re quirement would not be multicultural. Jody L. Withers Class of'95