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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 7
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US- SOCIAL SAFETY MET
EDITORIAL
Greener pastures
SWC has nothing more to offer
Should A&M leave the
Southwest Conference? It
can't be denied that the quali
ty of the conference is drag-
Aggie sports down. lt v s
Massimino j
he sign.'
the wings,
s, and I
m this week
difficult to get national re
spect for the football team
jwhen the conference is con
sistently stomped by other
teams in the Top 10.
A&M could play
a tougher sched-
ule, but when
seven of the
eleven
a m e s
played
jeach sea-
ison are
against
other SWC
teams, it's
hard to do
that. Only two
of the games
played this season
were against ranked
opponents: Louisville and
Oklahoma.
For the last five years,
A&M football has gotten re
cruiting classes ranked in the
top five. It's unlikely that
new recruits will want to
come here in the future if the
school doesn't start getting
some recognition.
The Houston Chronicle
reported that a new league
is in the works that would
include Brigham Young Uni
versity, the Big Eight Con
ference, and every SWC
team except Texas Tech.
However, the guidelines for
the new league could be so
expensive that Houston,
Rice, SMU and TCU
would have to bow
out of the com
petition.
So what is
stopping
A&M from
joining?
Apparent
ly, the
Texas Leg
islature is
pulling its
purse strings
to keep A&M
and UT from
leaving the SWC.
Since these two
schools are the ones that
bring the real revenue to the
conference, the legislators
will do their best to keep
both universities from leav
ing for another conference.
The legislature should al
low Texas A&M to do what
is best for its athletic pro
gram — leave the Southwest
Conference.
Looking to the future through the past
Students can be conservative without blind acceptance
i | Texas A&M has al-
I ways held a para-
JL dox for me. Now,
don't go thinking that
for my last column I'm
gonna blast A&M's
good name to
smithereens or lam
poon the University as
some archetypal farce
of backwoods learning.
I really do admire
my soon to be alma
mater. I have enjoyed
my years here and truly
feel the maroon pride
coursing through my
veins. It is just that
there is one fundamental, almost structural
of
-confused. I
Texas A&M University, a bastion of higher
education and supposed leader of free
thought, prides itself as being one of the most
conservative, tradition-based schools in the na
tion. How can this be so?
For a moment, erase from your mind the
popular political definitions of conservative
and liberal. Our two main national political
parties have skewed these words by associat
ing them with both personality types and eco
nomic theories. Let us reassign the terms to
their synonymous meanings within the so
cial/philosophical field.
Conservative thought structures are based
upon authority. This authority rests within the
traditions of the past. Religion seems to play
an important role within this power of authori
ty also, A conservative paradigm always looks
to some perfect past and longs for the return to
those standards or values.
On the other hand, liberal thought struc
tures look to the future for improvement. Basic
tenets of the liberal paradigm reside upon po
litical and social freedoms and the idea of con
tinual progress. Also, just as religion plays a
role in conservatism, so does science play the
same role in liberalism. Science, being founded
upon an ideal freedom of thought, strives,
through knowledge, for a better tomorrow.
At this point, 1 always encounter a seeming
contradiction. How does education get applied
to these apparently opposing philosophies?
A conservative education would necessari
ly be restricted to studying the past; preserv
ing the good old days.’Some authoritative hi
erarchy would be essential to ensure that only
topics deemed as non-threatening to the stan
dard norms be pursued. Any area of knowl
edge that might lead to a downfall of the con
servative beliefs, i.e. conflict with past values,
would have to be in some way suppressed.
We have witnessed throughout history how
dangerous traditional authorities can be as
they prevent the progress of views contrary to
their norm. The struggles of the Copemican
Revolution or Galileo testify to the need for
freedom of educational pursuits.
It would then seem that education is more
suited to the advancement of liberal philoso
phies. With the freedom of thought inherent in
liberalism, one could easily question and study
which ever field was of interest, regardless of
political or social threat.
As a prime example of this, we can look
to the role of major universities in our re
cent pash Most social and political reforms
can trace their births to some college cam
pus grass roots organization. College stu
dents have long been recognized as liberal-
minded, future-oriented individuals who,
through education, hope to change the
world into a better place to live.
Yeah, it's quaint and idealistic, but stereo
types usually have a basis in truth. This stereo
type pegs college students as a group with a
fairly liberal thought structure.
Yet, most A&M students find a sense of
pride in holding just the opposite view.
Doesn't that seem to go against all logic?
The only answer I can find lies within the
origin of Texas A&M's conservative values. If
the conservatism is based on dogmatic beliefs
passed down and forced upon each new gen
eration, then the conservatism blinds the real
truth of education. With this method, new
learning is never achieved; Only the regurgita
tion of past knowledge occurs, just as if alche
my were still considered a viable science in to
day's post-modern age.
But if conservatism is chosen, through the
process of education and personal belief devel
opment, then the blind acceptance of dogma
can be avoided. Once presented with unbiased
information on all possible viewpoints, any
choice made would be an educated choice and
pass beyond the realm of dogmatic doctrine.
This is where I hope Texas A&M is today . I
wish to believe that the extremist conservative
viewpoints on this campus reflect a true exam
ination of the viable alternatives available in
stead of just being a mindless party line
spewed forth from the conditioned minds of
malleable drones.
Of course, at this point the conservati ve
thought structure becomes legitimately at
tained through a liberal configuration. Texas
A&M students are then free to look to a future
of following tradition.
John Scroggs is a senior English and
philosophy major
Editorials appearing in The
Battalion reflect the views of
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not necessarily reflect the
opinions of other Battalion
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staff.
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Contact the opinion editor
for information on submitting
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Address letters to:
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Texas A&M Uni versih
All I want for Christmas is ... leg warmers and jelly shoes
ice in a
ye your oi
t Billy Raj'
itled'W
Y esterday,
while on the
phone with
my grandmother in
Tennessee, she hit
me with the in
evitable December
question: "What
would you like for
Christmas, honey?"
Like always, I in
sisted I really don't
need anything and
will be happy with
any gift that she
chooses. In truth,
my mother has
been doing all of
my grandmother's shopping since I can re
member. The conversation was strictly a
holiday formality.
Once off the phone, I started to remem
ber my Christmas lists from the past.
Strung together, my wish lists would make
me a top contender for the People's Worst
Dressed in the Twentieth Century Award.
In first grade at Prestonwood Elemen
tary, you simply were not cool unless you
MELISSA
MEGLIOLA
Columnist
wore jeans with embroidered patterns
across the back pockets. For Christmas
that year, I yearned for a pair with a tube of
toothpaste stitched across my rear.
The disco look may have been on its
way out in 1980, but in second grade, my
friends and I held on to images of John Tra
volta and disco balls, with those little
metallic gold belts that resembled thin,
tightly wound slinkies.
Although by third grade I had figured
out the secret about Santa, still equating let
ters with gifts, I wrote Santa for a ripped
sweatshirt and a pair of leg warmers. The
Flashdance Look. If my parents wouldn't
allow me to see R-rated movies, at least I
could dress like I belonged in one.
Fourth and fifth grade passed harmless
ly. The fashion faux pas were kept to a
minimum. But sixth grade made up for it.
To celebrate the musical brilliance of
Michael Jackson, I requested a pair of para
chute pants and a single white glove to go
with a copy of "Thriller." My mother
bought me a new pair of mittens.
As a hip seventh grader, I felt compelled
to roll bandannas and tie them around my
ankle. Right leg meant you were single.
Left leg meant you were going with some
one. Weird. Even so, you can guess what
filled my stocking that year.
Eighth grade brought sweaters from the
Limited. I updated what my Mom thought
was a classic by wearing it backwards and
exposing my tank top covered back. Un
fortunately, the tag always scratched the
front of my neck.
Strung together, my
Christmas wish lists
would make me a top con
tender for the People's
Worst Dressed in the
Twentieth Century Award.
At some point in junior high, jelly shoes.
Jams, and fluorescent clothes all made my
Christmas list.
In high schools across the country, girls
are required by national law or order of the
homecoming queen to dress for class daily.
Thus the four years before I entered college
remained rather tasteful.
With my freshman year at A&M, came
the beginning of my fear of computers,
hatred of exams and my love affair with
running shoes, sweat pants and mis
matched socks. Boys in engineering are
thrilled to see a girl no matter what she is
wearing.
Sophomore year, my Christmas list
stayed fairly free of fashion items I would
later regret. Somehow, I passed on the
clown suits with the big collars, puffy
sleeves and baggy legs that reduce college
women to 4-year-old Barbie toting chil-
1 dren. The mega bow look never got me ei
ther. Having something seemingly ex
plode out of the back of my head has never
appealed to me.
However, last year as a first year S.B., L
folded under pressure and took part in the
ritual of clutching my wrap skirt for dear
life whenever the wind started to blow.
The skirts just started appearing in my
closet. Long, short, chambray, cotton,
wool, plaid, floral and striped: they all fly
open.
Finally, as a senior, I have become more
practical — buying my first navy suit may
have changed my life forever. TTiis year I
am simply requesting workout clothes. Al
though I own a few pairs of the obligatory
spandex shorts, after a few laundry-less
weeks, I find myself sporting unevenly cut
off long underwear adorned with pink and
green snowflakes.
This request is not exactly safe from a
fashion disaster. Mom might fail to notice
that it is almost impossible to find a leotard
with a butt. The workout industry has
somehow found a way to satisfy people's
desire to wear a thong without being
thrown out of the house. And the look
works — for about one out of five aerobic
instructors.
As for those of us who work out in or
der to improve our less than perfect bodies,
designers forget that a single strap of cot
ton will hardly camouflage our resem
blance to Miss Piggy in certain areas.
Even if I am forced to wear ballet leo
tards for the rest of my life, it is going to be
a great holiday season. See ya at the Cot
ton Bowl.
Melissa Megliola is a senior industrial
engineering major
Don't talk unless you
know what's going on
I can't believe you published that trash
by P.B. Deignan (Dec. 7). What does P.B.
stand for anyway? Peanut Butter?
Well, Peanut Butter, before you go
slandering the fine men that run this
paragon of institutions, I suggest for you
to check the facts. And if you know more
than the SEC or Texas Rangers, step for
ward. If not, SHUT UP!
Ronald Lorenzo
Class of '95
Student service is not
a priority for library
This semester the Student Services
committee of the Student Senate has met
many times with various staff of the li
brary administration to voice concerns
about the cutback in midterm library
hours.
Neither the petition signed by more
than 100 students, who wanted the li
brary to be open at least 'til 2 a.m. as in
previous semesters, nor the articles in the
newspapers about students fighting for
seats in IHOP and the Kettle seemed to be
of concern to the librarv administration.
They stood by their reasoning that the
library posed security problems between
midnight and 2 a.m. and that students
spilled drinks on books. How was the
security maintained in the past 'til Fall
'93? Was it that difficult to get security
for two hours?
Suggestions given by the Student Ser
vices committee were not heard and the
library administration asked us to check
with Food Services to see if they would
let students study in Sbisa at night.
It did not seem to occur to them that
this facility used to be available to the
students until this semester, and a stu
dent who messes up the library valuables
could as well mess up the food machines
serving thousands of students in Sbisa.
I wish that they had been there when
the library closed to hear students sur
prised and upset as to why the library
was closing earlier than in previous se
mesters and that the 2 hours made a dif
ference.
After all the discussions we had with
the library administration, without any
good coming out of them, one can come
only to one conclusion — that the li
brary administration is totally indiffer
ent to the concerns of the students and
that it is one department at Texas A&M
where service to students is not a prior
ity.
Ranjan Natarajan
Graduate student