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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«
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7:00 p.m. in
or more ini
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Services: li
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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