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Opinion
Tuesday, September 21,1993
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
EDITORIAL
NCAA ruling
A&M must accept consequences
The NCAA announced on
Sept. 10 that five Texas A&M
University football players
would be suspended from play
for accepting payment from a
12th Man Foundation booster
for work not performed. These
suspensions vary commensu
rate with each individual's dif
fering levels of knowledge, par
ticipation and moneys received.
During the course of the
NCAA investigation, each ath
lete indicated that little or no
work had been performed.
Some were paid, for instance,
while employed full-time else
where. Another was paid
while in College Station partic-
ipating in football practice.
This investigation and the
resulting punishment followed
on the heels of an in-house in-
vestigation initiated by the
University in January. Texas
A&M was correct in acting
swiftly and decisively on this
issue. However, A&M's rec
ommendations for punishment
would prove later to be insuffi
cient in the eyes of NCAA En
forcement and Eligibility rep
resentatives.
This whole matter is an em
barrassment to Texas A&M
University. Even now, after a
legacy of Jackie Sherrill and
Kermit Davis, it seems that ours
is an athletic program unable to
function, either on an institu
tional or individual level, ac
cording to NCAA regulations.
Therefore, it is disgraceful
that Interim President Dr. E.
Dean Gage is "angered and
disappointed about the actions
taken by the NCAA ..." These
players knowingly and willful
ly broke the rules. How then in
good faith can Texas A&M, a
university purportedly com
mitted to integrity and compli
ance, question the NCAA?
As with anything, if a
wrong or injustice is commit
ted, one must expect to answer
to a higher authority. Likewise,
Texas A&M must expect to an
swer to the NCAA for these
wrongs.
Gage, saying that "we un
derwent a vigorous ... self-ex
amination," went on to call
A&M's findings and recom
mendations "appropriate."
Texas A&M University,
however, is not its own judge
and jury. The NCAA is. We
must recognize this fact and
accept the consequences.
Acquaintance rape:
The Battalion Page 11
Always look on the bright side of life
People must learn to deal with what they can't change
// A Terrible
Z\ Horrible
JL jLNo Good
Very Bad Day" is one
of those phenomenal
children's books that is
written for kids, but is
really aimed at adults.
I am not by any
means trying to mini
mize the perils of sand
box fights and Cracker
Jack boxes without
prizes. But really, let's
face it, most college
students would kill for
the opportunity to
worry about how to
get out of taking a bath as opposed to ... just
looking at a syllabus.
The problem is not that the crises that
plague our lives now are any more traumatic
than when we were five; the problem is that
along the way somehow, we inherited a
ghastly and evil mental characteristic — an
attention span.
Seriously, look at children. At one mo
ment they are prepared to end their lives
over the demise of a 6-inch plastic turtle stat
ue and the next moment they have forgotten
that the world frowned on the life of their
beloved possession.
Now, take an adult who breaks her mani
cured fingernail or witnesses his favorite
football team get shamelessly beaten, and we
are looking at a two week mourning period.
As adults we have spent time and energy at
perfecting many skills in our lives, and some
how, we all ended up experts at milking our
bad days for all they are worth.
Well, I was having one of those "terrible
horrible no good very bad days" myself this
summer. I mean this was a record-breaking
bad day. I had ants in my britches and
smoke spewing out of every hole in my head.
Upon reflection, I am not exactly certain
what I was so upset about. 1 was certain
however, that my world was crumbling
around me, and I was absolutely, thoroughly
and deservedly miserable.
In the midst of contemplating ways to
seek retribution on every living organism
daring to inhabit the earth that day, 1 noticed
a rather plain navy blue Accord drive past
me. With an air of nonchalant innocence,
neatly attached to the left rear bumper was a
simple black and white bumper sticker. It
read "Good Happens."
It was like a slap in the face. At that mo
ment I realized how incredibly easy it is to be
negative. Most people have seen the more
popular and cynical version of the "Good
Happens" bumper sticker. I guess it was the
rarity of this positive outlook that made an
impression on me. Honestly, I was embar
rassed for myself. I was embarrassed that I
had allowed myself to fall helplessly into the
hypnotic effects of negativeness.
l am not sharing this experience of self
revelation in the hopes of producing a cam
pus full of cheery college students who dot
their i's with hearts and belong to the smile
Gestapo. But, I learned that being negative is
a trap. It does nothing but magnify and post
pone the problem.
Being negative is the truest basic instinct
that most people ever actually act on. It all
goes back to the first time we were ever de
nied a cookie. In an eerie and perpetuating
twist of fate, we all learned the power of
whining, crying and all-out temper tantrums.
And by golly, the fact that it worked once
was reason enough to file it away deep in our
subconscious as the best way to deal with any
of the little booby traps life sets in our path.
We all need to come to grips with one ba
sic and unchanging truth — life is not fair. It
never has been, and it never will be. And
every time life delivers a personal reminder
of the unfairness doctrine, we are faced with
an option. We can scream, yell and go into
mourning, or we can shut up and get on with
our lives.
If there were one productive way to
regress in adult development, it would be to
loose that nasty appendage called an atten
tion span. It's like dealing with zits. If you
just acknowledge the fact that they are there
and then leave them alone, it looks a lot bet
ter than when you spend hours in front of
the mirror hashing it out with unmovable
mountains.
With all our incredible skills and intellec
tual ability, there are many things that exist
outside the realm of human control. The
only thing that preserves our sovereignty of
self is the ability to control our reactions.
But when we allow the negative reaction
impulse free reign over our lives, it is so easy
to miss any good in the world — even when
it is driving right past you.
Jenny Magee is a sophomore journalism majot
JENNY
MAGEE
Columnist
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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
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 i n format ion on submi tt i ng
guest columns.
■ Address letters to;
The Battalion - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald
Mail stop lilt
Texas A&M University
College Station, XX 77-843
Crossing the line between 'yes 7 and "no 7
E verything
seemed per
fect for Jen
nifer. It was her
first semester away
at college. She had
joined a few
groups that inter
ested her. She had
met a lot of friends
and was going to
parties where the
guys were interest
ing and the beer
Was tree. One guy
seemed particular
ly interested in Jen
nifer.
David was a good looking guy. He
had talked to Jennifer at one of the par
ties. Jennifer had even told one of her
friends about him.
"He's tall and strong," she said. "He's
got these massive shoulders. And he's
got the cutest smile. I swear, if I don't
iisshim tonight. I'll go crazy."
That night at the party David paid
dose attention to Jennifer. And she loved
it He held her hand like he had before,
and he brought her beer. And more beer.
And more beer.
"He looked cuter every time," she said.
"I was dying to kiss him."
Finally, she did kiss him. It was get
ting late, and everyone was wandering
off into their corners of the house. David
suggested that they too find a private
place to talk. Jennifer liked the sound of
it and walked with David to his car.
David's room was cold and dark so it
felt good when he came to sit next to her.
He sat awfully close. And then he kissed
her. Just like she had hoped. And then he
grabbed her.
Jennifer wasn't sure what she should
do. Maybe it was an accident, she
thought. Maybe he didn't mean to do
that. She had jumped a bit when he did
it, but she tried to shrug it off. She acted
as if nothing had happened. And then he
did it again.
Maybe that's what they do in college,
she thought. But she knew she wasn't
comfortable with it. Jennifer pulled away
a bit.
David pushed closer.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing," she said. "I'm getting
tired."
David smiled. He kissed her again.
ROBERT
VASQUEZ
Columnist
She tried to enjoy it. But it wasn't the
same. Jennifer pulled away and told
David that she wanted to go home.
"What's wrong?" David asked.
"Doesn't that feel good?" He gently
rubbed her back and held her firmly in
place when she tried to move.
David said they should lie down, rest a
There had been no scream
ing. She hadn't fought
him. She hadn't tried to
get away. She had been
very quiet and didn't stop
his advances. Who would
possibly call that "rape"?
little before driving her home. She was
tired. He was driving. He was insisting.
Why not?
David lay down first. And then she,
on the other side of the bed. He scooted
up next to her. And then he kissed her.
It was only a kiss.
Jennifer was tired. His kisses felt
good.
But this isn't right, she thought. Some
thing's wrong.
"David ... stop," she said. Her voice
was so quiet, so soft. David didn't stop.
He gradually removed all her clothing.
And he massaged her. And he kissed
her. And then he raped her.
There had been no screaming. She
hadn't fought him. She hadn't tried to
get away. She had been very quiet and
didn't stop his advances. Who would
possibly call that "rape"?
Jennifer would. And she did. She
wasn't sure how it happened. She just
knew that she didn't want to have sex
with David. She had told him "no." And
he took it anyway.
Jennifer is not one isolated case, but a
representative of thousands of women
who have been raped by someone they
thought they knew. One study found
that one out of every five college students
in the United States has been a victim of
sexual assault.
Dennis Reardon, a coordinator in the
Department of Student Affairs, said fe
male freshmen are the most likely to be
come victims of acquaintance rape.
Between the first day of school and
Thanksgiving, incoming students are es
pecially susceptible to new influences.
This freedom to test the limits of excess,
mixed with the driving desire to fit in
with the new crowd, often leads students
to make crucial first-time decisions at a
point when their judgment has been dis
carded with reckless abandon. The conse
quences are sobering.
Texas A&M has organized a program
to help rape victims. Whether it be ac
quaintance rape, attempted rape, or any
other type of sexual assault, counselors at
the Center for Drug Prevention and Edu
cation in the Beutel Health Center are
there to help. The service is free and
completely confidential. If you would
like to talk with someone or simply have
a question, call 845-0280.
In the dark hours of morning, under
the hazed influence of alcohol, the defin
ing lines between right and wrong — be
tween "yes" and "no" — blur all too'
quickly.
The rude awakening comes when day
light separates gray affairs into black and
white. And the players find themselves
on the wrong side of the line.
Robert Vasquez is a senior journalism major
It's A&M, not NFL
I could care less about who wins the
National Football Championship or who
is the starting quarterback. Nor do I care
what the AP voters think.
The point is that Texas A&M has a
damn good football team that has not lost
a season game since Tulsa ('91).
Screw all you wannabes bitching about
one season loss in three years. You prob
ably weren't even at the game — not to
mention down on the field in front of
wall-to-wall Oklahoma fans.
Remember, this is not the NFL — the
athletes are here to go to school.
Dan Setters
Class of'94
MAPS not necessary
We students continually wonder why
our fees keep rising annually. An exam
ple of the problem can be observed with
the article in Thursday's Battalion, "Stu
dent Government to implement MAPS".
What our student government plans to
do is venture into the local high schools
and "inform" them about different cul
tures. Whether this knowledge is good or
bad is not the issue. The problem: money
collected from our tuition and fees is fun-
neled away from the people who front it.
What's next, a MAPS fee added to our
bill? Let's stop this before the program
gets out of hand.
David W. Britt
Graduate Student
Freshmen not at fault
for decline of Howdy
In response to Cecil Bleiker's sugges
tion that the Class of '97 is unaware of
the traditions such as Howdy, we would
like to speak up for all the freshmen who
do uphold this fine Aggie tradition.
We can only wonder how Mr. Bleiker
came to the conclusion that the Class of
'97 was the cause of this decline in
friendliness on the A&M campus. We
were not aware that a survey was taken
to establish that the Class of '97 does not
say howdy.
As a freshman, I brought back from
Fish Camp all of the pride, spirit and tra
ditions I learned from our counselors,
speakers and fellow freshmen.
Since classes have started, I too have
been amazed at the blank looks I receive
when I greet someone with a howdy.
But I have been more amazed that it is
the upperclassmen not returning my
greeting just as much as "fish."
After many visits to the A&M campus
last year, I could not wait to be a part of
A&M and carry on its traditions. Imag
ine my disappointment upon my arrival
here this year that people cannot return a
simple howdy.
I understand and share in your disap
pointment at the declining friendliness
on campus, but it is unfair of you to label
the Class of '97 as the cause.
Attty Kohler
Class of '97
Accompanied by 13 signatures