i
Opinion
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up
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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*!
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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