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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 1993)
Opinion rns n ance Press tawmakers 1 educati from p rc chool dis. Monday courthousf neet a r f order to /ailable to ' differi ily on state tax money aws passed i have beei !: One on j 'r district! "ich ones, vo gone to ired,” said ' director of 1 group of districts in- a rung court igh to give "a life lawyer A! can Ameri- Education- ts are dial t $71 distributed -ocal taxe? another S? inding sys y^ear, about ■ money ■ to richer :ording stricts. the state's ding grant, imits state re based on icts with a ise say it's s across the .yuire much s to try to 'e at least a in funding school dis- s, who add ; classroom eeds. iten to the 1 punched •aged pro- ed Soviet and "Out protesters ;o yelled • of them appeared he protest. ie protest- vrough the lumbered moved up ere over- could be mt crowd, other and larliament, ted. Much - air and it lyone had Monday, October 4,1993 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 11 bozis n’col*, e v‘c Hf... YlHAT pa yau PRO Pas & rHAT we COOL O ACCEPT "7 A PeMOCRATTC ■SOLOr'orJ, MY PPAP. At-BXMPPRf... 0N£ THAT LEAYgi WO 1.00 5? US'. EDITORIAL Reaction to Russia U.S. must support Boris Yeltsin The United States must stand behind Russian Presi dent Boris Yeltsin's efforts to resist a Communist-led cam paign to topple his govern ment and restore the Soviet Union. The Yeltsin administra tion has emerged as the only alternative to renewed Com munism or complete anarchy. The crisis in Russia began Sejpt. 21 when Yeltsin dis solved Russia's parliament. That action was designed to eliminate parliament's oppo sition to economic reforms and attempts to give itself ex ecutive powers. Yeltsin and the parliament have a history of conflict. About 110 of the 1,033 par liamentarians took up weapons and barricadesd them selves in the parliament build ing. The hara-line Communist and ultranationalist legislators called for a violent uprising to overthrow President Yeltsin. The situation worsened as about 1,500 demonstrators ex changed gunfire with security forces and smashed into build ings Sunday. At least one riot policeman died and 24 were injured in the disturbance. Yeltsin declared a state of emergency in Moscow to give police the power to bring un rest under control. Yeltsin anticipated a quick end to conflict and the surren der of armed protesters. Russ ian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II is mediating negotiations be tween representatives of Yeltsin and the former lawmakers. The Yeltsin government is committed to managing the country until democratic elec tions are held in December. His continued sponsorship of a new constitution and econom ic development contradicts fears that he will become a dic tator. Most members of parlia ment have already joined the Yeltsin government. The United States can maintain continued goodwill with Russia by offering ap proval of Yeltsin's control. De spite internal problems, Rus sia's nuclear capabilities con tinue to pose a serious poten tial threat to the United States. The United States is now in a position to play a positive role in the transition of the former Soviet Union. Diplo matic measures to support Yeltsin offer a means to aid the development of Russian democracy and reduce the risk of renewed hostility. Time for a new American revolution Citizens must demand that government redirect itself ELIOT WILLIAMS Columnist A little over 220 years ago, a group of gener ally affluent and very' smart men got together in a tiny, unobtrusive building in the middle of summer and laid out the plans for the great nation we live in today. They had a very lim ited objective: to estab lish a government that would work without forfeiting the natural rights of its citizens. Lit tle did they know that in less than 200 years, the ideal they had laid out for the nation would be perverted and destroyed by a shift ing paradigm of government il purpose to the welfare state. With this one swift move, the government sacrificed our liberties to bureau cracy, to the politics of race and poverty. Our generation has very little concept of what life is like in a truly free society. We have never been exposed to life without taxation. You and 1 accept without question that our salaries should be diminished so that people who don't work and rely on the government for their sustenance can easily survive in their non-productive lifestyles. Thomas Jefferson is rolling over in his grave. ITs time for a change. It's time to overthrow the massive infringement of our private and personal lives. ITs time to end the emphasis on cultural division. It's time to stop accepting every regulation, law, tax and social welfare policy. Its time to go back to our roots. Some may argue that a change this massive is impossible or at least terribly difficult. Think again. Most of you are familiar with classical Newtonian physics. It worked beautifully for many years explaining almost all natural phe nomena, or so scientists thought. Gradually, Newton's theories became inad equate. Classical physics couldn't describe cer tain things very well — like radiation or elec tron rotation about an atom. Luckily, Ein stein's theories were able to explain many of these things. The transition happened almost overnight. There is no half-Newtonian/half- Einsteinian theory of physics. One theory is shown to be inadequate, so another one takes its place. Well, the same thing can happen to governmental paradigms. Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for president under the balanced budget paradigm. Yet, he was elected to three more consecutive terms as a welfare statist. Clearly a shift took place. Can you imagine saying to someone on Nov. 21,1963 that within three years it would be pretty much understood that government should require preferential treatment for blacks. That would have been unthinkable by even a good Northern Liberal Democrat, al though we hardly remember that now. These massive shifts in government structure are possible if not common. So, how is the new paradigm shift going to come about in today's society? Simple. First, it must be established that the government is not functioning. Okay, so what's the hard part? Well, it's not as easy as it sounds. People must genuinely believe that governmental in tervention is totally detrimental to their lives before we can redevelop^ government. Vice President A1 Gore claims he has start ed us down this path to freedom with his re inventing government, but beware. The prais es he sings of privatizing parts of government are a facade to keep our minds off the inade quacies of the current system. We are, in a sense, victims of our own suc cess. Our government would have been over thrown years ago were it not for the success of the private market to overcome the horren dous burdens the government lays upon it. America's markets are so successful that given even half a chance, they will produce well in excess of what our government bums up in bureaucratic expenses and poor investments. Therefore, the only way to achieve total lib erty is for our markets to fail. Because this is not likely, the quest for liberty will be hard fought to prove that the current governmental paradigm is irrational. I overheard a fellow Ag talking to his friend the other day as their conversation turned to politics. He, obviously ill-informed on the is sue his friend had decided to discuss, said, "I don't really care about anything that doesn't happen on this campus. '' It is this mentality that is keeping us from returning to the system we governed ourselves with many years ago. If we collectively choose to ignore the harms the government does to our economy by subsidizing failure (welfare) and penalizing success (capital gains tax) we have no hope of restoring our liberty. We must fight for reason and rationality — the principles on which our country was founded. We must actively de mand a new governmental paradigm. The time has come for a revolution to restore our country, and it is our generation that must car ry out this revolution. Eliot Williams is a sophomore electrical engineering major Y/HAT'*r UP POC THE. -ST' LL GROWING f NOTHING OUT WEIGHTS GOtfERNMEiMT r 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, faculty or staff. Columns, guest columns, cartoons 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 - Mall Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77B43 Some instructors with racist attitudes insult, hurt students E very person has experi enced some kind of dislike at one point or anoth er in their lives. For each of us, it is dif ferent. Or it should be different. But for African- Americans, the only difference in experiencing dis like based on ap pearance is the manner in which we handle it. I am not beating a dead bush. Racism is still very much alive. It is everywhere, and this school is not immune. Several people that I have talked to have experienced blatant racism on this campus, not just at the hands of students, but faculty members as well. I have experienced it. For those who don't experience preju dice or discrimination or intolerant atti- TRACEY JONES Columnist tudes, it is hard to conceive that these be haviors still exist. Well, they didn't go out with the 60s. The people on the receiving end of these ideas are just that — people. They have feelings that can be hurt, ears that hear harsh and demeaning words, eyes that see distaste. Contrary to popular belief, not all African-Americans love violence or are just waiting to fight. What seems to feed this belief is a perfect right that every hu man being has to get angry when insulted. And believe it or not, there are words that are just as racist and derogatory — if not more so — than the word "nigger." For instance, I have an acquaintance who was terribly insulted by a depart ment head that she was speaking to about taking a particular class. He asked her why she wished to take this class at this time, and she told him that she felt like she could get an A in it. He looked at her and responded, "What makes you think that you can get an A in the class?" And then, "What's your GPR?" Shouldn't that have come first? And if you think that perhaps he was just referring to her ability as a person and not a black person, I will give you a personal example. In the spring semester of 1992,1 was forced to "no-grade" four courses due to medical difficulties. I, of course, provided numerous documentation to my college. She heatedly suggested that I drop out of school and get a job as my people often do. My people? I have no chil- dren .... But one particular teacher did not wish to give me the no-grade in her class. Throughout the course of a game of phone-tag and three actual conversations, she heatedly suggested something to the effect that I drop out of school and get a job as my people often do. My people? I have no children .... At the time, I was just about to start work on my senior honors' thesis, which was especially helpful to me because I am a psychology major, and it would give me research experience before entering any type of professional school. This "teacher" told me that she didn't feel that I was physically or mentally fit to complete my project. And the bad part of it was that I didn't understand whether she was calling me crazy or stupid. But whichever one, I reported her to her department. She received a written reprimand, and I received my no-grade. I am well aware that every issue is not a black and white issue. I am not para noid over racism. But I am realistic in the fact that I recognize it exists, and that it indeed does affect my life and the life of others like me. Suppose that at the time that I had the incident with her, I was truly not emotionally strong. Suppose I went the other way and took her word for it that I am not a person capable of completing college material. After all, she is a figure of authority, and there is a certain weight that goes along with that. She has no medical degree. She knew nothing of my medical condition or any other condition that I had. She assumed. And this hurt. It hurt because I respect ed her as a person, and she did not return the same favor. She saw me as belonging to a group that was not intelligent or moral or capable of handling important jobs. My purpose here is not just to point fingers and smear faculty members. I have had excellent, excellent professors. There are just a few that need to be cured of their bigotry and ignorance. This is in part a responsibility of African-Americans. If you experience racism from a faculty member, report it. You are not intentionally or unnecessarily making waves. You have been offended and insulted and in some cases, deterred from pursuing higher goals. This person has scorned your position as a thinking, feeling human being. And it is not a privilege for you to speak out about it — it is your right. Tracey Jones is a senior psychology major ITS cal Beutel staff works all day answering calls Recently, a letter was published in The Battalion asking when Beutel is go ing to answer the phones. In response, I would like to say that we, the staff and student workers at Beutel, answer the phones all day long. There have always been complaints that it is "too hard" to make an appoint ment at the health center. However, the problem is not that the phones are not being answered. One problem is that people do not re alize the volume of students that pass through the health center each day. Stu dents, especially freshmen, do not realize that there are 42,000 students enrolled at A&M. How many of those 42,000 do you think call or come in each day? Each student must realize that he or she is not the only sick person on campus who needs to see a doctor. Every morning at 7:30 when the ap pointment lines open, the constant ring ing starts. Two clerks sit at the appoint ment desk and do not get up for at least an hour and a half. The two lines are constantly busy. As for the recording, it is not an an swering machine. The appointment lines, like all phone numbers on campus, are connected to a system that automati cally states, "Your call will be completed as soon as a line is available, 409-845," when all lines are busy. I personally called while I knew both lines were busy and heard this recording. Students need to realize that the em ployees of the health center are only hu man. We cannot control the number of appointments available each day, and we cannot help it if you have to wait. If every student had to work in the health center for one day, he or she would un derstand what it's like to listen to every one constantly complain about the job you do. Angie Ready Class of'94 Ten more reasons for minorities to go here In addition to Mario Morales' top ten reasons minorities should consider A&M, here are reasons 11-20 from an "inexperienced and sheltered fish." 20. R. C. and Tony are on your side. 19. Be the lone representative from your socioeconomic group. 18. Upon acceptance, you're automat ically a two-percenter. 17. Republicans aren't racist. 16. The privilege to be a part of the liberal fad of diversity (as set forth by Batt columnist Eliot Williams). 15. You too may someday work for some ol' Ag. 14. The two people who say "Howdy!" to you around campus. 13. The chance to participate in long overdue debates on multiculturalism. 12. Those five WASPs who aren't con servative. 11. The convenient and extensive files of tests available to Cain Hall residents. Gig 'em! Rian Roberts Class of'97