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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 17, 1993)
ember 17 ounges of § and Kleben on call Wan :ues: genet, : (Great Iss® -or more ii 347-0925. cting non-pet for BBD jre for the o on the Zaclr niore inform [7-0887. of Mexican s & Scientist ■cl informatio 7:00 p.m. or more ini ,t 847-5288. Society: Gra t Day. Encoti nokefreefor ? t up forraoi ASA photoi .m. in 0 4 Opinion Wednesday, November 17,1993 The Battalion Editorial Board CHRIS WHITLEY, editor in chief [ULI 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 Computer censors Don't restrict Internet usage rnent Unilti Way s I tail of Fam a.m. Exhibit rlers and jiSet ,re informal:; 51 Economii riation: Caa and $3/n(!! le Field Pt« i n a blatant denial of First p.m. Amendment rights, the Univer- Vayneatf)fl 5itv - - ° - -- kicked a graduate student off its jreness W«(l com P uter network for express- and lecturei ing opinions that are inconsis- by Richardt tent with university policy. The student, Gregory N. Steshenko, who was deported from Russia for political rea sons in 1986, is suing for the right to discuss foreign politics on Internet. The university insists that Steshenko did not follow its uest lecture rules, which limit Internet use to exchanges related to coursework." Steshenko discussed Ukrainian and Russian poli tics, sometimes using racial ep ithets or implying "a homosex- relationship between Russ ian President Boris Yeltsin and Ukraine President Leonid Kravchuk." Despite the fact that some other users found Steshenko's statements offensive, he has the right to say what he thinks. According to Shari Steele, counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, court precedent has extended the constitutional requirement so that no laws can abridge free expression to "government- run institutions," including ireness W« 3 m 10:00 a. ding Sock fer, AWSD 7:00 p.m. in or more ini ce at 845-499 Services: li UV testing nformatiom Hack Stude ence (SBSL leeting for portation co in Rudder I Iriver's iicens ion call Brvi ?: Gospel C# itorium at 7: Jovember20 y choirs fro st: $4/stude: ids 12 and m i: mandatoi '3 Induction I. Guest speat scal-Hay. ’ II I liana at $ Battalion s« profit stude* and activity in advanced ;. Applicatiei tices are r lot be run lave any qtt® state universities. "The university has the right to tell its students what the facilities can be used for," said Howard Funk, acting ex ecutive director of the Internet Society. This may be the case, but apparently UTD has only in vestigated the user habits of students for which they have received complaints, such as Steshenko. This means it is only likely to take action against those who are perceived as trouble makers, and not against those who violate the rules without receiving complaints. The world of electronic idea exchange is one that has yet to be tested by law. For this rea son, Steshenko's suit is likely to become a landmark case that will either grant or deny students the right to say what they think on a state universi ty's computer system. The outcome could eventu ally affect Texas A&M students in their usage of Internet here on campus. Presently the Uni versity only disciplines a stu dent for sending harassing messages through E-mail. Let's hope that the courts find in fa vor of Steshenko and the First Amendment. Midnight Yell becomes Midnight Jail Aggie tradition a little too loud for some in Oklahoma MELISSA MEGLIOLA Columnist F riday night while attending a confer ence of Residence Hall Associations in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Chris Thompson, RHA President, was arrested for leading a Midnight Yell Practice. According to Thompson, every year the conference serves as a forum for the ex change of ideas and policies on RHA leader ship and also provides a place for RHA delegates to display their spirit for their schools. Although every school is enthu siastic, A&M continually stands put. Because the conference always falls during the final stages of Bonfire, A&M often has fewer dele gates than other schools. Even so, A&M contin ues to win the award for most spirited. In an attempt to share the Aggie Spirit with delegates from Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas schools, Thompson promised to demonstrate a real Texas Aggie Yell Practice at Midnight on Friday. He and four other students from A&M dressed in overalls and met in the lobby of the Holiday Inn to to lead a Midnight Yell. "The hotel asked us to move outside the building so we wouldn't disturb the other guests, said Thompson. After moving four times, the students assembled across the street in an empty field where their voices "projected into nothing." About 100 students from various schools athered to learn about the Aggie tradition. At st, the Yell Practice was very successful. The five Aggie "yell leaders" taught each of the yells, explained wildcats and showed the other students how to hump it. Everyone was visi bly motivated and having a great time. Thompson overheard comments like, "Ag gies have more fans at yell practice than we do at our football games." Just after practicing "Gig 'Em," some of the conference hosts came over to say that a near- : noise, ifil stay and take our chances on getting in trouble. We could go back to our rooms and go to sleep, or we could take shuttle buses to the Oklahoma State campus and con tinue Yell there," said Thompson, Unanimously, the students decided to ride to campus and continue the Yell Practice. "Everyone wanted to keep going," said Thompson. As the students were boarding the buses, a police officer arrived. He asked Thompson who was in charge of the group. Thompson replied that he guessed he was. The officer then informed him that he was under arrest. He admitted that he didn't see anything wrong with an Aggie Yell Practice but explained that because the complaint had already been signed, he was obligated to bring someone into the station. Watching the exchange, students from Stephen F. Austin, the University of North Texas, Oklahoma State and the University of Oklahoma began collecting money to post bail. "You shouldn't get in trouble for mofivating people," said the RHA president from Baylor as he donated a $20 bill. The other students followed Thompson di rectly to the station where they were able to re trieve their friend for $55. "The police officer was really cool about the whole thing," said Thompson. "He never even bothered to book me." Before returning to the hotel, the students wanted to collect a souvenir of the event. Luck ily someone had a camera. "The police officer took a picture of all of us in front of the patrol car. It was very good bull," said Thompson. Still in awe of what had happened, the next morning the delegates voted on the 1994 con ference site. "If this is what A&M is like, we want to go there," they told Thompson. Next November roughly 900 students will visit A&M for the Southwestern Affilia te of College and University Residence Halls con vention. They will again discuss news among residence halls, and they will again attend a Midnight Yell Practice. "I told them nobody can shut us out of Kyle field," said Thompson. When Thompson returned Saturday in time for the Louisville game, he was greeted by ad ministrators and students who wanted to hear the story. "We thought we were going to have to come after you," said Jim Reynolds, Director of the MSC Brian Walker, Student Body President, ad mitted that he was a little bit jealous. "I wish I could tell a story like that," said Walker. "What a great display of Aggie Spirit." Sometimes we forget how lucky we are to be Aggies. We forget that other schools are not bound by the friendship, camaraderie, tradi tions and pride that we call Aggie Spirit. We forget that things like Midnight Yell, Muster, Bonfire and Silver Taps are unique to Texas A&M. And then something happens that re minds us that we attend the greatest university in the country. Melissa Megliola is a senior industrial engineering major 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 - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Mail stop 1111 Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843 Fax: A09) 845-2647 Education means searching for the questions, not answers Yi ou ever won dered if it's worth it? We spend numerous years laboring over a seemingly infinite quantity of books emitted noM so that someday we can say we have an education. Yeah, so what? What is knowl- , . edge? Is it really - newsroom 11 that important to the grand scheme of the universe? When we pose these questions to win a free j out early ozen 1.50 wine parking , help with Party and theologians, we get all sorts of differing answers. Yet, because we live in a "ratio nal" society, we toss off these answers as just religious beliefs; prejudices fostered in an irrational, opinionated forum. So, let's take another approach in try ing to discover the value of knowledge — the history of education. We know that Plato initiated the first Academy in ancient Greece. The purpose of his school was to explore, through phi losophy and discourse, the true nature of reality. Yet, Plato was the student of an other well-known philosopher, Socrates. The main difference between the two is that Socrates spent his life always ques tioning the meanings behind the virtues of Athenian life, but never once did he of fer a definition. Socrates could argue with anyone, disputing and disproving their definitions. He always discovered what one person took for granted as fact was usually just an interweaving net of preju dices and opinions. Socrates never found answers to his questions. He just found more questions. Is it possible that all along he knew there were no true answers, no ultimate truth? Instead of stating this belief as a truth, could he have been illustrating this possi bility through his actions? Whatever Socrates' true intentions, Plato thoroughly screwed things up after Socrates was executed. Plato's later writ ings are filled with answers to these seemingly unanswerable questions. Love, Truth, Virtue and other terms gained ex act definitions thanks to Plato. A sense of an over-arching truth permeates Plato's writings. His opinions are written as fact. This tradition of making personal opinions sound like fact filters through 2000 years of logical-minded scholars and academics, ending up here in our laps. It is now up to us to question the basis of what we assume to know. First of all, it is important to remember that all disciplines in education are based upon unprovable theories. A theory, by it's own definition, is not provable. Theo ries can only be disproven. To prove a Socrates never found an swers to his questions. He just found more questions. Is it possible that all along he knew there were no true answers, no ultimate truth? theory, one must have undeniable proof that it is true for all time. It is impossible for anyone to know any particular thing for all time. Instead, we have sciences based upon probabilities, not proofs. A second point of interest is that with a complete study of the major disciplines in education, you find a basis of vacuous beliefs strung together to form founda tionless ideologies. For instance, geometry, a shape-based mathematics, has its origins in the point. Yet, if you confront anyone with a work ing knowledge of geometry, they will tell you that a point doesn't really exist. It is just a theoretical assumption; a spaceless position without mass. Yet space is then said to be constructed from an infinite number of points, points that don't even exist. Geometry, like all mathematics, is based on a theory, and as we know, theo ries can't be proven, only disproven. Another example is history. The study of history is not the retelling of absolute facts that form our past, rather it is a col lection of individual interpretations of cer tain events that some opinionated person deems significant. History is not a study in facts, but a collection of interpretations. At this point, we find the basis for the downfall of knowledge — interpretation. In language, we always have a difficulty with interpretation. Words are just sym bolic representations of ideas, similar to metaphors. As with all symbols and metaphors, there are no ultimate truths that are represented, only individual in terpretations. What we think we under stand is really just an interpretation of what is being communicated. Words can only be defined by other words or communicative processes — like the pointing of a finger, both of which are metaphorical representations. This means that our language is just a network of meaningless words faced with interpretative problems. It is through a leap of faith that we believe in an ultimate truth belying our attempts at true com munication. The only value of education, then, is to pass down a series of cultural beliefs that permit us to operate in a social context. While geometry is only based on a theory, bridges are still built. While history uses opinions as its glue, cultural lessons are still learned. Education does not, as it is popularly believed, illuminate some over arching, grand truth. Just as religion is be based on belief, the truth of science and philosophy is also achieved through a leap of faith. Maybe Socrates was right. We can ask the questions, but we should never expect to find the supreme truth. John Scroggs is a senior English and philosophy major £ KVtf A V Battalion trying to make A&M look bad If The Battalion wasn't, free, I would have to accuse Juli Phillips and the edi tors of the Batt of trying to sell papers. What the hell is the deal with the head line covering the front page of the Nov. 10 Battalion? Is Miss Phillips' goal in life to write for the Dallas Morning News? With our hearing in front of the NCAA Infractions committee just days away, I was appalled that the Batt is making our own university look bad. The headline itself is inaccurate. No one knew that Mr. Warren Gilbert was paying players illegally. He men tioned that he thought that Greg Hill was working for him when one of the other boosters said that Hill was working for Mr. Eldon Jaynes. The others at the meeting questioned whether he was seri ous or if he was just "blowing smoke." They discussed the situation with Mr. Gilbert, and he assured them that he would check into the situation and make sure everything was okay. Mr. Gilbert is a big boy and shouldn't have to be checked on by those other boosters who were at the meeting. The article did nothing except try and dig up something that's not there to be gin with to make A&M look bad. I can't believe that The Battalion was so irresponsible! I suggest that an apolo gy to all those mentioned in the article be issued immediately by the editor. Tim Fricke Class of ‘95 Aggie dad says keep up good work, Batt After reading several issues of The Battalion, the thought occurred to me that not many Aggie parents write to you ... based on a review of the Mail Call column. I'm not sure why. They are probably too busy keeping up with their kids and paying the bills scattered between College Station and the home station. First, I want to say I like your conserv ative slant and editorial courage to stand as such. Keep it up. Also, you have an adult appeal in the format and blending of commercial ads with editorial content and .other newsy items. I like that, and it appeals to me when I come to campus to see my daughter. I can quickly scan the latest issue and get a feel of current issues. Keep up the good work. Art Mullan Tyler, Texas