Opinion
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The Battalion
Page 9
The Battalion Editorial Board W
W
CHRIS WHITLEY, editor in chief |
JULI PHILLIPS, managing editor MARK EVANS, city editor 1
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
fest Tex
iated Press
O - San As
School
md his camp;
y, ripped up
:ed by overr.
mmeled pan
Texas.
)it covers a:
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area were
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EDITORIAL
1 ruining a ni
dley said. [
tSedpi Maroon tape
oofs - occ.» JL
nd early , i ,
verestomfotudents are names, not numbers
No injuries#
wasanotheiui Bureaucracy rules. At least
■msatara.!;«h at seems to be the case at
ripped looiBp exas University al-
JPaynefcfcwecj two students to s i ip
Id was desto®, , ,, , £ ,, r
jst part ofitsfl hrou § h the cracks of the s y s "
■tem by error, and it seems as
its at Lakei Ihough the school made no ef-
cted by theiBort to help them.
ies were retool Wade Graham changed his
is weekandflnajor last semester from nu-
rooms fore clear engineering to business,
day. He said the College of Busi-
fortunate k ness assured him that they
aage thaUi ! wou j d process his class
a l n \}''j.lhanges. They didn't, and he
sS e Li eceived a11 failin 8 grades for
- and estima® he engineering classes he
1 thousand# tho ug h t he had dropped.
The irony is that Graham, a
that mustbij Corps member, was named
the pit cover guidon bearer‘for hvs"Outstand-
g, which Hu; j n g achievement hi^-first year,
irated, and; Another student, Chris
ent that had» a ] <u t )Cza k^ was forced to leave
Idmgs. because of poor semester
e grades he received after being
^Some of it hospitalized for two weeks
uring his freshman year.
When he went to the Col-
ege of Business to erase his
ades, advisers told him there
asn't enough evidence that
he had been hospitalized, de-
Some
ever find,
ck athletic«;
1, a football
pment."
•m hit near
an Monday
s departmen: S pj(- e doctor's notes and
ere werenou tujpng statements he pro-
,orts - Jduced
tral Texas, wr UULt;u '
mph hit elec
s Sunday nij
nts in West,
dthout power
t mostly limb-
said a dispatl
ice Departmer
;o fell in
No one ever told Jakubczak
that he could have withdrawn
from classes for medical rea
sons. Jakubczak said Les
Fiechtner, the director of un
dergraduate programs for the
College of Business, told him
that it would take too much
time and effort to wipe out his
file for that semester. Fiechtner
denied making that statement.
What can be done in the fu
ture to prevent more students
from being swallowed by the
system? Graham and
Jakubczak probably should
have double-checked adminis
trative work or gotten help at
the first sign of trouble. But is
it really fair to expect them to
have taken action when they
didn't know what options
were available?
The University needs to set
up a program during freshman
and transfer orientations to in
form all incoming students of
University policy regarding
changing majors, adding and
dropping classes and with
drawing from the University.
Texas A&M also needs to do
what it promises students
when they get here, which is to
treat students like individuals
and not like numbers.
Grandchildren: The parents' revenge
People have kids, but their folks get the most satisfaction
ROBERT
VASQUEZ
Columnist
C ollege students
are usually such
rational people.
They have their priori
ties and objectives in
all the right places.
Then they graduate;
and suddenly they're
overcome by this in
tense nesting urge.
What is it that
moves people to give it
all up for a bunch of
rug rats?
One bumper sticker
captured the delicate
relationship enjoyed
by parents and chil
dren the world over. It said, "Insanity is ge
netic. I inherited it from my children."
Over the weekend my father and I drove
to Kansas where my sister and her husband
have been working steadily to populate the
earth with as many male offspring as they
can possibly produce. In the last two years,
my sister has had two sons and — as my par
ents have noted — no daughters. My brother
and his wife produced their first son a few
weeks ago. This brings the total count to:
Grandsons: 3
Granddaughters: 0
In near desperation my mother turned to
me and asked, "Robert, when are you going
to have children? Maybe you can give us a .
granddaughter."
I just spent the last 48 hours with three
screaming, hungry, wet, tired, cranky babies
who spend half their time filling their bodies
with food and the other half, emptying them.
Their only means of communication is crying
at a decibel level reached only by 747s, DC-
10s and hungry babies.
And my mother asks when I'm going to
have children.
Can you say "vasectomy"?
I remember the days when my mother's
only advice to her children was a simple, but
solemn, "Don't get married,"
She tried so hard to save us from the
painful consequences she was forced to en
dure — namely, kids — by helping us avoid
making the same mistakes she made. The
simplest way to avoid the pitfalls, she fig
ured, was relayed in those three simple
words: Don't get married.
Then adolescence set in and, hormones
coursing through our bodies and rational
thought hovering just beyond our reach, we
subjected her to the horrors of parenthood
and instilled in her a deep desire to return
the favor.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.
Now, my mother is encouraging us to have
kids. And, as she watches her children strug
gle with children of their own, she now whis
pers three new words: "Revenge is sweet."
So my sister was planning to spend a little
time with the family and visit old friends.
Whereas once she could have hopped onto a
plane and been home in no time, she now
has two strollers, two car seats, a playpen, six
diaper bags, nine bottles and a million dia
pers to pack. Oh, yeah, and the kids.
So my dad and I had the pleasure of dri
ving the moving van all 370 million miles to
the middle of BFE just to turn around and
come back. The road trip was long enough,
but now we had two kids whose only mis
sion in life was to make mine miserable.
My oldest nephew, Christopher, is at that
special age that all children reach when they
are old enough to walk, in their cute little
way, across the house and stick their cute lit
tle fingers in the cute little electric socket.
Or they toddle to the edge of the staircase
and take that first little step down a winding
flight of stairs which ends rather abruptly on
the tile landing at the bottom. Meanwhile,
adults are scrambling to catch falling vases
which were placed so thoughtlessly atop del
icate shelves which nobody would have
guessed could be toppled so easily by short,
little twenty-pound monsters.
Whereas, Christopher once demanded to
be held and would screech when released.
Now, he flails endlessly, fighting to be put
down so he can run to the nearest open flame
or heavy-traffic intersection.
Exhausted after the thirty hour drive, we
finally reached home, ready to sleep for a
week or so. My sister carefully pulled
Christopher out of his car seat and handed
him to me, careful not to wake him.
"Hold him close to you, or he'll wake
up," she said.
As I walked gently to the house, 1
watched his face for any sign that I might be
disturbing his sleep.
His little round face was so calm and
peaceful. It was hard to imagine the little
devil who ran around screaming all day was
now resting quietly in my arms.
And then he moved. He shifted around a
bit. Then he smiled. His eyes never opened.
He just smiled.
And for a moment, I thought...
No, I didn't think anything.
Robert Vasquez is a senior journalism major
74
gl A / ,
-a.» GriTlife;
1
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besity no laughing matter to those with weight problems
eight is a
central is
sue in
. ome young men
counties in n c and women's lives.
I in several ci# s ome weight
roblems are ge-
etic. However,
thers seem to be a
earned behavior,
w g^n a sense it can be
in and Carls ^ consequence of
was report j ow self-esteem,
gelo and GfJ y 0 those of us
s-Fort Worth
were reports 1
as, the Natil
said golfballi
who have never
h,
Page 1
-ol. Jean-Rol
ad a problem
with obesity, large
people are funny.
[They ar
TRACEY
JONES
Columnist
ey are more or less a joke to us. It
seems hilarious that some people cannot
[ose weight because we imagine this huge
erson laying lazily on the couch with a
Haitians to rc^ bowl of chips on one side, a cake on the
( on Radio Mpther, a hoagie in the left hand and some
litians not t: cookies in the right,
d said ther I've joked about it. My friends have
control. joked about it. I've even heard Mama say
rmy headqirf
is not availab
le U.S. Embasj
the Aristide-'
: of having
nment witl
ting with fort
■mer Sen. Rey' :
gratulated G-
ing and tharf
ert Dole, R-V
D-Ga. ( foropjl
nerican invc
>ehind pierl
is last week 1 -
;hip from dod
T mission sotj
itler side
flowers to fort
ws confereno
ight sociolof
ialvo-Despei!
lessage for 1C
send boys, 7
bags."
something to the effect that "so and so
needs to pull away from the table. I
would have to hurt ya'll if you got that
big."
Just this weekend at Baylor, a friend of
mine made oinking noises at an obese girl
who passed by as we sat on the suspen
sion bridge.
There is a young man who I meet fre
quently now who has the most God-aw
ful shape. I laugh and joke about him all
the time, along with many others, because
it is humorous to us.
But below the surface, it is not a laugh
ing matter. I imagine it is not funny to be
encumbered with 35, 55, 75 or 100 extra
pounds. I imagine the high blood pres
sure, the aching feet, the heart complica
tions that may result from obesity.
And it is not a problem of just "pulling
away from the table." It is not a matter of
willpower. It is a matter of learning to feel
good about yourself. If the reason for the
low self-esteem is due to verbal and/or
emotional abuse, it is a matter of relearn
ing what you have previously been
taught about yourself and your worth as
a person.
We don't always eat because we're
hungry.
People often use the relationship be
tween themselves and food to compen
sate for feelings of emptiness, worthless
ness or guilt. Even fear.
Not everyone can be a size
five. It just isn't possible.
However, it is possible for
you to be the size that is
appropriate for your bone
structure and genetic
make-up.
A lot of times, we eat out of habit —
because we're bored, because we're de
pressed. Maybe we're studying and want
some popcorn, or maybe we didn't do so
well on our first round of tests and need
something to make us feel better.
It's important that the people who are
experiencing this problem know that
there are alternatives to eating. There
are activities such as speed walking, jog
ging, reading or talking to someone
about the problem that can relieve stress
and anxiety.
I can't stress this enough: Your weight
is not what is most important. It is the way
you feel about yourself. I've known large
boned people who would be considered
fat, but they always looked nice. They kept
their appearance neat and clean.
Not everydne can be a size five. It just
isn't possible, even though magazines
present this image. However, it is possi
ble for you to be the size that is appropri
ate for your bone structure and genetic
make-up.
Most importantly, stand up for your
self. If someone is saying things to make
you feel inferior or worthless, leave the sit
uation. Say, "Excuse me," and walk away.
It is not rude on your part to do this. You
are not obligated in any way to laugh at a
comment that hurts your feelings. You are
not obligated to stand and take it.
If you are experiencing health prob
lems because of your weight, consult a
doctor about what can be done to allevi
ate these complications. His advice is
something that is meant to help you. So,
in essence, you are doing something good
for yourself by losing weight. But the key
is to do it for yourself — not anyone else.
I guess I should say something to those
of use who have been guilty of poking
tun at obese people. They are people with
feelings. And while we are not responsi
ble for how they may look to us, we are
responsible for the way we treat them.
That's not to say that you have to make
friends with every obese person you see
or that you have to like him or her. Just be
polite and move on if that's the case. *
I can safely say that if the situation
were reversed, I wouldn't be happy. I
wouldn't think it was so funny.
All who can say the same thing, let's
try harder to consider the feelings of oth
ers who might be hurt by our words and
snickers.
Tracey Jones is a senior psychology major
• : x.
_ _
MAIL GALL
Courtesy impresses
visitors to Aggieland
On the weekend of Oct. 9, my husband
(Charles E. Wyatt, Class of '43) our daugh
ter, her husband and our almost 16-year-
old grandson, Jeff, came to A&M for the
A&M-Houston game. We came also to
show Jeff A&M. He hopes to attend A&M.
I am writing this letter, as I was so im
pressed with all the courtesy we received
from the students we encountered.
"Yes ma'am, no ma'am." "May I help
you?" "Excuse me, please."
Both my husband and myself are on
canes. The young people helped us every
way they could. We cannot express our
■ appreciation enough. What a joy to see
such young people in today's world-
Thanks, Aggies.
Mrs. (Charles) Joyce Wyatt
Bandera, Texas
There's a face behind
the parts you stole
To the person who stole my bike parts:
I am writing to attach a bit of humani
ty to the non-entity from whom you stole.
My name is Eric Madsen, and I'm a 24-
year-old graduate student in mechanical
engineering. I PAID for my bike, as well
as the handlebar extensions, the bike pack
and the repair tools with my meager as-
sistantship salary. That means Mom and
Dad won't be replacing what you took.
So, if your conscience is starting to
twinge, call me at 268-0234 or write me
via e-mail at epm5369. All I want is my
stuff back, and you can go your anony
mously merry way.
Eric P. Madsen
Graduate student
Please give credit to
events' organizers
This letter is in response to the arti
cle, "Officials at forum question bene
fits of NAFTA," written by James
Bernsen. I am the Secretary and one of
the many members of Texas Environ
mental Action Coalition (TEAC) that
worked hard to help bring this event
about. In the past two weeks, we made
flyers, a banner and manned two tables
in the MSC. Everyone in our organiza
tion participated in this event.
It is inconsiderate and unprofessional
to cover an event and not mention who
was responsible for making it happen.
The article made no mention of our advi
sor, Dr. Gary Varner, who put this whole
event together, or the three organiza
tions, the Brazos Sierra Club, the Rio Bra
zos Audubon Society and TEAC, who
sponsored this event.
In the future, please, be considerate
enough to mention the people behind the
events as well as in them.
James Rohrer, TEAC Secretary
Vanessa Traylor, TEAC President