iber 11,1993
Ult
at he initiated
i't resist. Mur-
:t concocted a
e because she
jissolutionof
ge.
tells you that
nake a right
jrphy told the
ation of John
rong. The sec-
abricationol
aer husband's
said, she
threw the sev-
r window,
the grass
nine-hour op-
1
-e 1
rril 16 letter to
or John David
er, re-entered
• received
xas A&M sys-
mti the Texas
nts."
/e asked
ecause officials
n believe
lishing has the
hat can genet-
for the Athletii
er dated
a Dave South,
•ector for mar-
of Dockery
ng members d
e the original
>nsulting Co
■r proposal ex-
<WL was ver
ad received th
with their net
xt day Docker
Opinion
Thursday, November 11,1993
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 13
EDITORIAL
Hall harassment
Sometimes traditions go too far
Although tradition is part of
what makes Texas A&M great,
some people carry it too far.
Bonfire enthusiasts have re
peatedly harassed a resident of
Aston Hall after he wrote a let-
t.
er yell leade
om associatin'
because of a
8 he imprope
Aggie quarte:
with a carat
ng compan
ding and wa|ter to The Battalion complain
ing about the excessive noise
made in his hall early on
weekend mornings to wake
people up for cut.
Chad White has received
threatening phone calls, a pen
tagram drawn in shaving
ea, in parflcream on his door and a cup of
for A&M an urine left outside his room,
ation fromlt|Th ese kind of tactics must
stop. Apparently, there has
been no punishment at all for
the perpetrators although the
victim is clearly in the right.
The Residence Hall Hand
book states that “use of exces
sive force in the hallways to
wake up Bonfire participants is
not permitted. These methods
include, but are not limited to,
banging axe handles on doors,
loud stereo, air horns, chain
saws, etc."
In spite of this regulation,
yellow pots and crew chiefs
continue to yell and bang on
students' doors for up to 30
minutes, starting at 6 a.m.
It seems hall officials permit
these practices as long as no
one speaks out against them.
Rusty Thompson, advisor for
the yellow pots and coordina
tor of Residence Life for
Northside, said he has re
ceived no complaints. He ad
mitted, however, that people
are probably hesitant to say
anything. Considering what
White has been through, this is
not surprising.
Bonfire is supposed to be
about developing fellowship
between Aggies. But it's hard
to build camaraderie by yelling
at students to help build Bon
fire and attempting to intimi
date them when they don't.
"The intention behind the
wake-up calls is to get people
excited," said Thompson, "but a
lot of people are getting turned
off, and this is creating a nega
tive impression of Bonfire."
With all of the focus on
A&M right now, it's important
to show off the positive aspects
of traditions here — especially
Bonfire. Incidents of harass
ment should never occur. They
are an embarrassment to the
University and everyone asso
ciated with it.
When a dog is more than just a dog
Sometimes we forget the meaning behind the symbol
FRANK
STANFORD
Columnist
I must confess I was
a little concerned
over the health
problems of our papal
pooch last week and it
got me thinking about
how people give spe
cial meanings to other
wise ordinary entities.
I have never been
the type of guy to be
overly concerned
about his college mas
cot; but as a freshman
in the Corps during
Reveille's first year,
her presence inspired
me. She was the most
famous image of Texas A&M, and I connect
ed with her. We all connected with a dog.
Being in college for the first time, a fish in
the Corps and a little brainwashed as a re
sult, T accepted this dog as one of reverence -
not to mention higher ranking. It was a
charge to walk past her on the quad. Just see
ing her bark at games gave me a sense of
pride and the feeling of Aggie spirit. All of
that emotion came from a dog.
After my first year, however, she sort of
slipped into the image of a regular dog - a
gorgeous dog with a title, mind you - but a
dog nonetheless. I decided the emotion must
have come from me; the yap-happy pup was
only a symbol and oblivious to her own im
pact.
Reveille is certainly a special canine to
many of us here at A&M for obvious reasons.
She is the symbolic representation of the
wayward mutt some cadets ran over and
nursed back to health in the 1930s. She's also
of a beautiful, personable breed and impecca
bly trained. Of foremost importance howev
er, Reveille is an idol for a certain bunch of
people. A demidog if you will.
If we delve into the workings of our cul
tures — be they Aggie, national, racial or reli
gious — we find ourselves idolizing all sorts
of ordinarily insignificant beings. Not only is
it the nature of humanity to deeply love sym
bols, but all too often we allow these symbols
to actually become the meanings in and of
themselves.
For instance, in the recent past there was
an enormous hubbub over the issue of
flag-burning as a desecration of America.
Hogwash. Unless it is someone else's proper
ty, a flag is Just a symbol — a symbol of shed
blood, freedom of conviction and unity. Cer
tainly those who fought and died for the ide -
ologies of America are worthy of the utmost
reverence; however, a burning sheet of ny
lon, cotton and ink is just that. The remem
brance of sacrifice and ideologies lives on
permanently and unscathed.
We have all seen and owned numerous
objects with our national symbol displayed.
Sweatbands, checkbooks, bumper stickers
and even panties have all been widely used
to promote our national symbol- Ancf even
though they are similarly constructed of ny
lon, cotton and ink, surely no one would ob
ject to burning a pair of "patriotic" panties.
Colors are an excellent example of unsub
stantiated sy mbolism as well and exist as
such in every culture of the world. The most
prominent examples are those of black and
white. Just try to imagine the Lone Ranger in
black, with a'black beard and riding on a
black horse. He rescues a black woman in a
black dress held hostage by a blond man
with a white hat, a white horse and white
clothes — who answers to "Whitey." Fat
chance.
As evident in a traditional wedding dress,
the color white has been associated with pu
rity and goodness for centuries and black as
a symbol of filth, evil or remorse. The exam
ples are endless. It's no wonder the African
race has al ways struggled for equality in
Caucasian cultures.
Likewise, a tight-fitting red dress worn in
China exudes happiness and festivity and is
proudly worn in weddings as well. The same
dress in other cultures is one of harlots, or at
the very least connotes sexual enticement.
Red lights or lanterns are also viewed in
much the same fashion. Although it's the
same Lone Ranger, the same flesh, the same
dress and the same bulb, they radically
change meaning based solely on symbolism.
Unlike the Native Americans who glorify
life-giving rain, or the Shinto religion's wor
ship of fertility, most symbols have only the
significance ot what people give them. Any
innate value of a symbol can only be the use
of it's material make-up, or in the case of an
animal, its very life. Because symbolism can
be both negative and positive at the same
time, it's helpful to know of a symbol's ori
gin, and equally important to be aware of the
actual intent.
As for Reveille and her timely retirement,
I wish her well in doggie Leisure-Land.
1 just hope she never reads this.
Frank Stanford is a graduate philosophy student
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 oh submitting
guest columns.
Address letters to:
The Battalion ~ Mail Call
Ot 3 Reed McDonald
Mail stop 1111
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843
Fax; (409) 845-2847
Remember veterans
Please take the time on this veterans'
day to remember the millions of U.S. ser
vicemen and thousands of Aggies who
have served in wars and have given the
ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom.
Shane Hemby
Class of '97
French did fight back
against Nazi invaders
Robert Vasquez needs to take more
European World War II history classes,
especially pre-World War II. "They (the
French) should have resisted."
Well, they did. Rather them face one of
the most devastating armies of the centu
ry, the French citizens chose to perform
sabotage with "the French Underground"
or the resistance. This resistance gave the
Allies much-needed information for the
later defeat of the Third Reich.
Denmark chose to be open during the
war. Did this mean that they gave in,
too? No! Overnight the Danish under
ground moved over 5,000 Jews in small
Danish fishing vessels to neutral Swe
den. Who helped in this courageous feat,
facing certain death if captured? The
prince of Denmark. Sure, he let the Ger
mans in, but in public he openly defied
the Nazis by riding his bicycle instead of
riding in a Nazi Mercedes.
Those you think rolled over and
Splayed dead happened to inflict more
pain to the Germans by passive resis
tance rather than mass suicide!
A side note — those French and Danes
who collaborated with the Nazis were
shaved and paraded through the streets.
Many were later beaten and killed.
Niels Oldenburg
Class of'93
Multiculturalism will
seem negative, it is important that we
keep things in perspective. That perspec
tive being that we, as Aggies, will conquer
the negativism created by this situation
and continue to achieve "locally" and
"globally" as we always have. Only now
with a better understanding of our
publics. Gig 'em, Ags!
Raymond Boney
Class of'96
'World class' school
must think globally
This is my first letter ever written to
Mail Call, and I'm glad it is my first. The
topic I wish to address is Mark McEl-
wain's open letter to Dr. Gage, encourag
ing Dr. Gage to vote "1^5p" on the Facul
ty Senate's proposal ror multicultural
classes here at good-old-boy Texas A&M
University. .
In his letter, Mr. McElwain makes the
correlation of why taking multicultural
classes would not affect getting a job
with IBM. Obviously, Mr. McElwain
knows nothing about IBM, because if he
did then he would know that IBM is a
multinational company with offices in
many different cultures. IBM strives and
expects its employees to be aware of the
many different cultures that exist in the
business world.
Mr. McElwain also makes the point
that all of America's history is taken in
History 105 and History 106, again Mr.
McElwain demonstrates an ignorance that
is found in some people that are of Anglo-
Saxon background. When I took History
105 and History 106 here at good-old-boy
Texas A&M University, not once was the
name George Washington Carver men
tioned. If you don't know who this person
is, just remember the peanut butter and
jelly sandwich that you ate the other day.
One thing I do agree with Mr. McEl
wain, is yes. Dr. Gage is responsible for
the student's history. In fact ALL stu
dents' history whether they be white,
black, brown or yellow. If Texas A&M
University is going to be a "World Class"
University then it must understand the
world in which it exists.
Robert Raglin
College Station
mean opportunities MSC doesn't fund student groups
Texas A&M University is on its way
to international prominence. Many of
you have heard that A&M is already a
world class university, and in many re
spects this is true. Monday afternoon,
however, the Faculty Senate opened new
doors and possibly created many new
opportunities for the students of Texas
A&M University. The passage of the
multiculturalism proposal and institu
tion of a multicultural curricula will only
have positive ramifications for students
and the university community.
At a commencement ceremony this
past spring, Vanessa Gilmore, chairman
of the board of directors for the Texas
Department of Commerce, stressed the
imperative nature of a graduate's ability
to "think globally and act locally."
This multicultural proposal will af
ford future graduates the opportunity
to do just that. In a society as diverse
and ever-changing as ours — with a
vast number of international opportuni
ties — it is of ultimate importance that
we distance ourselves from other grad
uates when it comes to international re
lations. A study in multiculturalism
will greatly span that distance.
While the ramifications of this proposal
As with much of the information coming out regarding the
role of the Memorial Student Center relative to University poli
cy, the information Frank Brown presented Nov. 10 regarding
the source of funds to certain groups is totally inaccurate.
The Department of Student Activities grants mon
ey, through an application process, to the organi
zations mentioned in Brown's letter.
The MSC does not allocate money to stu
dent organizations as Mr. Brown would
have you believe. However, the MSC L.T.
Jordan Institute for International Aware
ness, through its Enrichment Fund
(which comes from an endowment),
grants funds to student organizations
and academic departments for interna
tional programs through a competitive
process.
Heather M. Hartman
MSC President
Class of '93
MSC speaker policy
meant to open students' minds
I am writing in response to the two letters written by Curtis
Neason and Jennifer L. Hollingsworth concerning a MSC council
speaker policy that they feel violates the First Amendment rights
to speak freely and to peacefully assemble. It is nice to know that
Curtis and Jennifer are concerned with "the other education"
here at Texas A&M University, but perhaps they are forgetting
the main reason that the majority of the student body is enrolled
here at Texas A&M: to receive an academic education.
This education is one of objectiveness, whether it be in
forest science, civil engineering, economics, political
science, etc Jennifer, why would the College
Republicans want to have a controversial
speaker in the MSC if it wasn't for political
reasons? Curtis, why would Oliver North
and Dan Quayle speak here if there
wasn't an underlying political motive?
College Republicans, I am not trying
to attack your organization. If members
1 of Aggie Democrats or another political
group had written similar letters, the
would be questioned by me in the same
manner. Perhaps it is time for some stu
dents to spend more time observing soci
ety and less time trying to inflict their sub
jective political views upon the student
body.
Unfortunately, most students at A&M
choose not to broaden their education, but rather
to minimize it to meet their own beliefs. Thus, when
the University attempts to make students open their minds
(multiculturalism), it meets stiff resistance. So, Curtis, Jennifer
and anyone else with narrow views, please, open your minds.
Matt M. Murphy
Class of 96