Tuesday, February 1,1994
The Battalion Editorial Board
JULI PHILLIPS, Editor in chief
MICHAEL PLUMER, Managing editor KYLE BURNETT, Aggielife editor
BELINDA BLANCARTE, Night news editor DENA DIZDAR, Aggielife editor
HEATHER WINCH, Night News editor SEAN FRERKINC, Sports editor
TONI GARRARD CLAY, Opinion editor WILLIAM HARRISON, Photo editor
JENNIFER SMITH, City editor
EDITORIAL
Thin ice
Harding shouldn't go to Olympics
Tonya Harding is skating
Ion very thin ice.
She recently admitted that
■ although she had no prior
■ knowledge of the attack on ri-
Ival skater Nancy Kerrigan,
■ she did know shortly after-
Iwards that people close to her
I had been involved in the inci-
Ident.
Based on that information
lalone, Harding should not be
■ allowed to be a member of
Ithe United States Figure Skat-
ling team.
In the aftermath of the at-
Itack, Harding breezed
■through press-conferences ca-
Jsually dropping "I would
e Serbswhzve kicked her butt anyway"
<an*e(u<lone a liners at will.
However, as the investiga-
1 rcgotoltion wore on, and as Hard-
theastei] i n g's "Rambo-esque" attitude
wore thin, rumors about the
degree of her involvement be
gan to emerge.
None of the rumors stuck
until the skater's ex-husband,
id Croat Jeff Gillooly, allegedly made a
deal with the District Attor
ney's office to name Harding
as a conspirator before the
fact.
Only then did she come
forward with her heart
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wrenching, if not ill-timed,
confession.
Allowing Tonya Harding to
represent the United States
now would tarnish the image
that the United States
Olympic Committee has tried
so hard to maintain.
By not coming forward,
Harding forced Nancy Kerrig
an to fear for her life, not
knowing if the attackers
would be back to finish the
job or if the attackers would
go after her family. Harding's
non-action in this respect is
deplorable.
Removing Harding from
the Olympic team is the best
solution to a complex prob
lem. Allowing her to compete
would create a no-win situa
tion. If Kerrigan doesn't win a
medal, it could be blamed on
Harding's upsetting presence.
And should Harding win a
medal, it will look all the
worse for her.
Whether or not prosecutors
build a criminal case against
Harding, the damage may
have already been done.
Harding's dream of Olympic
glory, along with the ice be
neath her, is slowly beginning
to crack.
Opinion
The Battalion
Page 11
Welfare reform is a cultural crossroads
Clinton must move the welfare issue to the forefront
S enator Daniel
Patrick Moynihan
wrote an essay on
the dangers of illegiti
macy 25 years ago.
Since then, the illegiti
macy rate has nearly
tripled. Approximately
30 percent of American
children are bom out of
wedlock today, yet we
are still reluctant to
bring the issue into the
arena of national de
bate.
The Nov. 22,1993,
issue of The New Re
public stated, "The as
sociation of fatherlessness with poverty, wel
fare dependencies, crime and other patholo
gies points to a monstrous social problem. Yet,
as the problem has grown, it has been system
atically redefined by the culture... as simply
another lifestyle choice."
President Clinton, however, has a differing
opinion. "Would we be a better-off society if
babies were born to married couples?" he
asked. "You bet we would."
We must become more responsible with
our power to create human life in order to put
dents in the destructive cycles of poverty and
crime. One way to foster this responsibility is
to destroy incentives for sexually irresponsible
behavior.
Conservative writer Charles Murray pre
sents a radical idea: eliminate welfare. He says
the system acts as an incentive and "pays"
women to have illegitimate children, "the sin
gle most important social problem of our
time."
Clinton said Murray's essay was "essential
ly right," although he doesn't believe welfare
should be completely abolished. He does ad
mit, however, that some problems stem from
our welfare system, one of them being illegiti
macy. We can't escape the glaring fact that
something has gone wrong with welfare in
America.
Since the late 60s, our government has giv
en away over three trillion dollars in various
entitlement programs — theoretically enough
to bring everyone above the poverty line —
yet people are still poor and the situation is
worsening. Something does not compute.
PJ. O'Rourke writes, in "Parliament of
Whores," that a frustrating paradox prevents
the purposes of federal aid from being accom
plished: "You can't get rid of poverty by giv
ing people money."
If he's right that money given without train
ing or job opportunities isnt terribly effective,
then we must rethink federal aid. Welfare is
necessary for many Americans, no doubt
about it, but a lifetime on the dole is inexcus
able. Tire government isn't a basket of prizes
at a restaurant, waiting for us to reach in and
grab what we want. Such a paradigm traps its
participants.
Clinton's promise to change welfare "as we
know it" — rushing in where other politicians
feared to tread — was one of his campaign's
most popular aspects.
"We are at a cultural crossroads," stated
John Leo referring to Clinton's willingness to
grab a ten-foot pole and touch the welfare sys
tem.
But Clinton put his reforms on the back
burner at the beginning of January, and it
seemed we hadn't arrived at that crossroads
yet. Health care received most-favored status
on the administration's agenda when advisors
decided that pushing two bills on Capitol Hill
concurrently could be detrimental to their re
spective success in Congress.
But America is suspicious. The budget bill
included tax hikes, and the health care plan
will cost us. We need an indication of Clin
ton's fiscal responsibility before allowing him
to attempt the most ambitious piece of social
engineering since Johnson's Great Society.
So our president brought welfare reform
back to the forefront in his State of the Union
address. He promised to introduce legislation
by spring and initiated a new trial welfare pro
gram with increased emphasis on employ
ment training in Florida.
Hmm ... Clinton has taken many dizzying
detours on the road to welfare reform, but per
haps he has finally reached that crossroads. If
he's really serious, then he needs to make wel
fare reform his first priority. Someone needs
to sit him down and say: "No, Bill. Absolutely
no playing with health care until you do some
thing with the entanglement we call entitle
ments."
If Clinton were able to cut waste from the
welfare program, we might be more support
ive of adding another cook to the health care
soup. Politically, it's risky, but with the in
creased risk comes increased reward.
We elected Clinton because he said he
would fix things that were broken, like the
welfare system. Now is the time to do that,
not after the health care bill is passed.
Erin Hill is a senior English major
' ° o ° b 'O-
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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,
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the opinions of the authors.
The Battalion encourages
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Contact the opinion editor
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Address letters to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
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Fax: (409) 845-2647
You have just entered the TV zone — prepare to be shocked
^"Tlick!
"Today, on the
Oprah Winfrey
show we will be
bashing men for the
' 1,378th consecutive
I show" (standing
ovation). Click!
"Please welcome
i to the Geraldo
show, Sam and Tra-
! cy. Sam is a 34-
; year-old virgin
while Tracy is a 31-
: year-old virgin.
; They are joined on
stage by Dr. Brian Hyatt, who is an expert
| on human sexuality." Click!
"Today on the Ricki Lake show — vio
lence against distant relatives." Click!
"Women who like to bash men but
I couldn't get on Oprah — on today's Sally
| Jesse Raphael." Click!
"Children embarrass their entire family
DAVE
WINDER
Columnist
with dark secrets, next on the Montel
Williams show." Click! Click!
"Men bash other men, right after this
break on Donahue." Click!
"Next, on the Jerry Springer show —
schizophrenic Nazi cheerleaders who like
to play Crisco Twister while watching
French versions of 'Saved By the Bell.'"
Click! Click!
"Well, Oprah, I have a very good reason
for sleeping with my husband's best friend
(standing ovation). For our sixth wedding
anniversary, he gave me a pair of diamond
earrings and a dozen red roses while we
were vacationing in the Caribbean. I just
had to get back at him for treating me like
that" (standing ovation). Click!
"Yes, Montel, there is something I want
to tell my parents that I couldn't tell them
in the privacy of our own home. I'm preg
nant, and the father is either my swimming
coach or Woody Allen. I just thought you
and the rest of the world should know to
gether." Click!
"I just haven't ever found the right
woman, Geraldo. I want that first time to
be special. I want it to be with somebody
like Tracy." Click!
"Yes, Phil, I'm calling from Long Island
and I would just like to say — I'M BUCK
NAKED." Click! Click!
"That's when my mother walked up
and told me that my fourth cousin's
younger stepbrother had been seriously
killed. It hurt so bad, Ricki, I had to stop
playing Sega for a couple of minutes."
Montel, I want to tell my
parents something I
couldn't tell them in priva
cy. I'm pregnant, and the fa
ther is either my swimming
coach or Woody Allen.
Click!
"I was going to tell this to Oprah, but
since she wouldn't let me on her show, I
guess I'll have to tell you, Sally. Two years
ago I had an affair with my boss, Jim, and I
became pregnant. He refused to marry me,
so I was forced to tell my husband. My
husband agreed to take care of the baby,
but then got selfish when I tried to name
the baby Jim, Jr." Click! Click!
"Thank you, Montel, for letting me de
stroy my family's reputation on national
television. Mom, Dad, I just signed a two-
year contract to play point guard for the
Dallas Mavericks." (Dead silence falls over
the audience.) Click!
"I've had boyfriends and stuff, Geraldo,
but nothing really serious. I never dated
anybody who was as nice as Sam." Click!
"My marriage started breaking up for
the same reasons, Oprah. But the main
reason Ed and I split is because he kept
playing those damn Ray Stevens videos at
all hours of the night. You can only hear
'The Streak' so many times before you go
totally nuts" (standing ovation). Click!
Click!
"Don't you find it interesting, Jerry, that
there are seven talk shows going on simul
taneously and not one of them involves pit
bulls on crack and the women who love of
them." Click!
"Geraldo, there is a very simple expla
nation why Sam and Tracy chose to go to
the Holiday Inn during the last commercial
break. It's what we in the human sexuality
business call 'extremely homy.'" Click!
"Oprah, I'm starting an organization
whose sole purpose is to kill men (standing
ovation). We feel that the sooner we got all
the men off the face of the earth the sooner
we can all live in happiness" (standing
ovation). Click!
"Yeah, Phil, I'm calling from Manhattan
and I have a comment for your guest panel
- I'M NOT WEARING PANTS." Click!
"Montel, I also have something to tell
my parents that will have them contem
plating suicide. Mom, Dad, I don't get my
extra money in college by working the
night shift at Burger King like I told you. I
get my money by writing an opinion col
umn for my school newspaper" (both par
ents shriek in terror).
Dave Winder is a sophomore journalism major
In't H
jartid
es
r
T
►
>
ize!
Students should not
tolerate harassment
This is to the pitiful excuse for an Aggie
that yelled from the top floor of Hart Hall:
"Blond b—, blond b —, come up here, and
suck my d —!"
I do not appreciate your comments. I'm
sorry if you are sexually frustrated.
Sounds like a personal problem to me. I
also know that the female student and her
mother who were visiting our grand cam
pus didn't appreciate your vulgar scream
ing, because they told me so!
I think other male Ags would agree
that you are dumber than Bevo's butt (and
that's being nice), and if you want lovin', I
suggest you think of a better pick up line:
It's time male and female students stop
tolerating all forms of sexual harassment
on our campus!
Melissa Green
Class of '95
Aggies send thanks
to the Rustlers. Not!
• Having read the letter from Calvin
and the Texas Rustlers, I am very much
ashamed. This group of nice young men
had only the noblest intentions at heart
when they took Reveille into their care.
This just proves how in touch with their
feelings student at the university are, in
sharp contrast to the back-stabbing and
selfish Aggies. As Calvin says, "..only an
Aggie would turn against one of his own."
He is right; Longhorns are above the
petty and childish concept of tradition and
pride. I feel it is my duty as a sensitive
and caring man of the 90s to renounce my
tainted Aggie heritage and don the burnt
orange of freedom and democracy. No
longer will I take part in Bonfire, stand up
at football games, say howdy, or clap to
the sounds of the Aggie Band; I will now
be more concerned with the environment,
buy lots of flannel and wear beads. Win
ning football games will no longer be im
portant to me — just "a friendly rivalry
based on good sportsmanship, and of
course good humor."
Many thanks to Calvin and the Texas
Rustlers for upholding the standards of
morality and decency, while at the same
time showing Texas A&M University to
be the inferior institution that it is. I go
now to fill out my transfer application.
Hook 'em horns!
Keith Stubbs
Class of'96
• I'd like to thank Calvin and the rest
of the Rustlers for the recent letter in
The Battalion. The fact that they need to
spark spirit of t.u. is really no concern to
me, but by stealing a mascot? In the
history of A&M, we have also taken
Bevo on an "inter-university exchange
program," but we pride ourselves on
tradition. Aggies show their pride by
Aggie Bonfire (which I'm sure many t-
sips attended and various other activi
ties. Spirit is one thing, but try develop
ing pride that will continue throughout
the years.
The Rustlers' winter escapade shows
the insufficient spirit at texas University
and a lack of continuity. They did what
had never been done before, too bad it
only took them 63 years to do it.
I tip my hat to Cadet Lively and hope
that he still holds his head high, because
he has no reason to do otherwise.
Robert Stewart
Class of'97