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Thursday, March 24, 1994
The Battalion
Page 15
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 FRERKING, Sports editor
TONI GARRARD CLAY, Opinion editor WILLIAM HARRISON, Photo editor
JENNIFER SMITH, City editor
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Separate worlds
Self-segregation is self-defeating
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a
dream. Imagine what he must be
thinking today about the newest
:rend on college campuses around
:he country: ‘self-segregation.”
quite and Students have the choice to live in
the card< dormitories comprised of students
officers, i the same religion, sexual orien-
:ation or color. Now, the work to
ward reaching a common ground
:hat has been underway for
decades is being destroyed with
the effortless stroke of a pencil on
peace in housing application.
n Students today are in the posi
tion to meet students from all
ever the world and every cultural
background as well. Instead, this
jtrend allows students to isolate
themselves, rather than face ideas
nd cultures different from their
Of course everyone wants
to be able to go someplace where
they feel at home, but if this self-
gregation continues, then it
will become easier and easier not
to confront anything that falls
outside of preset comfort zones.
Students attend college to be
exposed to new ideas, new peo
ple and new cultures. What’s the
reason for attending a multicul
tural institution if you don’t take
full advantage of the opportuni-
ty? r ; , , ,
If students think they would
be more comfortable living with
people exactly like themselves,
then they can make those deci
sions; but no university should
promote widespread self-segre
gation. In a global economy, the
most successful businesses are
the ones that have expanded to
meet the needs of several differ
ent cultures. When students
don’t learn to communicate with
cultures other than their own,
the chances of succeeding out
side one’s own little world drop
substantially.
Our parents and grandparents
fought — and sometimes died —
to ensure a chance for equality
for all of their children. As a so
ciety, we are capable of accom
plishing more than anyone ever
thought possible, but it must be
gin with each of us.
If we can’t learn to live to
gether, and appreciate the differ
ences that make us individuals,
then the people who fought for
the right for us to live together
will have wasted their time. Dr.
King had a dream. This wasn’t it.
LYNN
BOOMER
Columnist
A ll the leaves are brown ... and the sky is
gray. I went for a walk ... on a winter
day.”
My sister and I repeatedly sang the words to
this old Mamas and Papas song in awful har
mony on our first trip to California. We visited
sunny San Diego expecting beach bums and
beautiful sunsets. We got more than that. We
got “Petit Louis.”
Our parents rented a motel room (if you
can call something with two bedrooms, two
baths, a kitchen and a living room a “motel
room”) in La Jolla for our stay. The first night
there, after watching the sun set over the Pacif
ic, we decided to eat somewhere within walk
ing distance.
This meant our choice of restaurants with
pretentious names and overinflated prices. We
chose one that looked like it had pretty good
ambience — the aforementioned Petit Louis.
As we walked in, the maitre d’ snidely glanced
at us and then proceeded to ignore us for as
long as it was covertly possible to do so. We
looked around the mostly empty restaurant
and decided a table by the window would pro
vide a nice view for the meal. He seated us
near the kitchen.
The young Californian waiter who finally
came to serve us obviously had been instructed
to speak with a French accent. It was more
than obvious that he didn’t know a word of
the language. He didn’t bother to hand us
menus until someone pointed out that there
was only one on the table and it looked silly to
have four people sharing it.
After perusing the small selection of en
trees, I chose the one called “poulet au
champignons” because it said something in
the English translation about having half a
chicken in it. Since my parents were paying, I
was hungry. My dad decided to go with the
special, perhaps because of its low, low price
of $ 14.
When the waiter brought out the wine my
parents had ordered, some 30 minutes before
we got our food, he had my dad taste it and
inspect the label. I found this event highly
amusing because of the combination of the
guy with the bad French accent saying in a
snooty voice, “Is it to your liking, sir?” and
my not-always-suave dad acting like this was
what happened every time we drank wine.
The best part was when our waiter tried to
make conversation. The sound of his speech
changed from French to British to American so
often that we had to wonder if he was multi
national. He tried to make it sound like normal
conversation when he asked my dad if we were
on “holiday.” I had to suppress a snort.
Soon after, we were brought a basket full of
bread in the shape of large pretzels. Old
crumbs and flour on the cloth in the basket in
dicated that we were not its first users. We as
sumed this was not a hint to leave because we
couldn’t have possibly scared anyone away as
there were no other customers in the restau
rant.
When our food finally arrived, it was just as
I had suspected it would be: virtually nonexis
tent. The chicken I had ordered obviously had
not lived to adulthood. My dad’s seafood spe
cial could have fit in a saucer.
Fortunately, I had ignored my parents’ pleas
to avoid eating the bread as it would surely
spoil my appetite. Trust me, that didn’t hap
pen.
As our waiter set the paltry amount of food
on the table, I envisioned someone along the
lines of Boss Hogg from “The Dukes of Haz-
zard” sitting where my dad sat.
“Son,” he would have said in his thick
Southern twang, “son, you and I both know
that you’re not French. So why don’t you stop
talkin’ in that silly accent. And bring me some
fries with that.”
It could have happened. We would have
been a lot less hungry after $ 1 00.
Thanks to Petit Louis and its friendly wait-
staff, my first impression of California was not
a pretty one. It took some effort to shake off
the image of all Californians as snobby, preten
tious and self-absorbed, especially since to
amuse ourselves during the drive, my sister
and I noted that every third car was a BMW,
Mercedes or Porsche. And almost all of their li
cense plates were personalized.
After three days of touring beautiful San
Diego, however, I changed my mind about it. I
think I’d like to visit California again. I’ll just
avoid French restaurants.
Lynn Booher is a sophomore English and journalism major
Editorials appearing in The
Battalion reflect the views of the
editorial board. They do not
necessarily reflea the opinions of
other Battalion staff members, the
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rural institution if you don’t take King had a dream. This wasn’t it. .1 I ^ aX: 045-2647
1 I —rcr— \ V
Our government: of the people, by the people, for the peopl
I went there as a student representative to sonnel and civilian analysts on how to main- The United States is il COlin- Things will only get better if I get involvec
the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee tain security in a world filled with nuclear ‘ ^ After the conference, I made it a point i
jOSEF
ELCHANAN
Guest columnist
W hile the sun was blazing and the
young people of America were frol
icking as far south as their cars and
credit cards would take them, I took more of a
north-eastern route to a place where one can
fed the world flow around him and history
energizes the imagination.
Washington, D.C., our nation’s capital, has
come under fire for 200 years for being a
place where our representatives sneak about,
dodging cameras and reporters. The city has
made headlines recently as a place where drug
dealers whip around the curves of dark alleys,
spraying deadly bullets at their economic ri
vals.
I went there as a student representative to
the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC), and I knew that I would come back
to Aggieland feeling worse for having proven
that all my impressions of the Capitol were
true.
Within moments of entering the hotel, it
occurred to me that I might have been wrong,
and severely so. Racing from room to room
came streams of Jewish adults and students,
2,000 strong, whose sole purpose was to as
sist a small country far away to retam its secu
rity, while bringing peace to that vital region.
I joined in enthusiastically, and found my feel
ings toward the world forever altered.
For two days, our total focus centered
around the discussion groups who presented a
variety of topics on the problems of peace in
the bloodied lands of the Middle East and how
tire Jewish community might be able to assist
in this process. We also looked at the world
wide rise of anti-semitism and racism. We lis
tened to impassioned speeches from U.S. rep
resentatives John Lewis and Major Owens on
the importance of black - Jewisn relations.
There were discussions amongst military per
sonnel and civilian analysts on how to main
tain security in a world filled with nuclear
weapons and unstable politics. I met Knesset
members and U. S. Senators. Vice President Al
Gore and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin,
two of the most respected and powerful men
on earth, each separately called on AIPAC
members to make some sort of difference in a
world filled with dangers and hatred — and
we listened.
The last day was reserved to meet our own
senators and representatives and to relay what
we had learned. I stood in awe of the great
buildings that hold die leaders of the free
world, leaders who are responsible to all of us.
We Americans are the final check on a gov
ernment — our government — that leads the
free world, and we are righdy distrustful of
many aspects of government. Yet I have to say
being in a room with the same people who
make laws to govern and better our country
was an exciting experience.
I have not always agreed with those indi
viduals’ policies, and I have not always be
lieved that they were morally correct. But they
are our government servants, and the large
try controlled by its people,
but only the people who are
willing to go out on a limb for
their beliefs. We are the final
check on our government.
majority are well-educated and articulate.
They told us of their grand schemes to im
prove the world and asked us, their awed em
ployers, what we felt was the best course to
take.
I was amazed at how any concerned citi
zens could simply walk into any of their rep
resentatives’ offices and make an appointment
to see these people to discuss important topics.
The United States is a country controlled by its
people, but only the people who are willing
to go out on a limb for their beliefs. I did not
get everything I wanted, and I realize that our
government has many problems which need
to be addressed, but it is my government.
Things will only get better if I get involved.
After the conference, I made it a point to
see some of the monuments that have been
placed around Washington to make us re
member who we are and where we have
been. I finally found my way to the Jefferson
Memorial. I have often wondered what Jeffer
son would think of what we have done with
his grand ideas. Would he still look out
proudly to the West, seeing a future filled
with equality and peace for all Americans and
the world? Or would he sit down and shake
his head, taking with him the Constitution so
that he could give it to a more deserving peo
ple, a stronger breed?
The AIPAC conference not only served
America and Israel by building better relations
and promoting peace, but it also helped to
give me a renewed sense of awe at our coun
try’s potential. While I can only hope that I
made some difference at the conference, I
know it made an impact on me and all my fel
low Jews and Americans who attended.
Josef Elchonon is a senior business management major
College Republicans
present truth as it is
As a member of the College Republicans, I
feel obligated to respond to die letter from
Matt M. Murphy. College Republicans, are
“rational Americans” and we spread the truth
whether it is good or bad. The truth can be
interpreted as an attack on one’s diaracter.
However, the truth stands on its own merit,
ind we, as College Republicans, do not fabri
cate it, nor do we create it. It is the result of
one’s own actions, and we merely put it to
he public for their judgement. We don’t, as a
group, subscribe to views which are merely
popular in diis age of “political correctness.”
We represent a segmen t of our population
which is changing America for the better
with beliefs in the American work ethic, fam
ily values and the moral constituency to
which this country was founded, and it is
these values which we base our daily lives on
and not the latest fad to which many people
associate themselves with because it is * politi
cally correct.” We are not only fighting for a
change in today; we are fighting tor a change
in tommorrow as well.
Richard Holt
Class of ‘97
In defense of Barbara
Can Katherine McCalmon and Kingsley
Ross find anything of substance to whine
about besides Barbara Bush? Every account
I’ve ever read of Barbara Bush by anyone who
knows or works with her is that she is a first-
class individual. That sentiment is even shared
by the majority of observers from the Demo
cratic party.
When the Republican party (justifiably)
criticized Hillary Rodham Clinton at their na
tional convention in 1992, Mrs. Bush quickly
came to her defense demanding that the cam
paign focus on Bill Clinton and not Hillary.
Mrs. Bush’s primary sentiment is that
choosing to be a homemaker is every bit as
honorable as choosing to be a lawyer. That
thought is repugnant to feminists, which
indicates a certain intolerance on their part.
Just because Mrs. Rodham Clinton has had
an apparently successful career as a lawyer
does not make her any more valuable a per
son than Mrs. Bush. Familiar liberal arro
gance implies that Mrs. Bush cannot think
for herself because she is not a career
woman. Publicly, the first lady should be a
supporter of her husband, even though she
may disagree privately. They also criticize
Mrs. Bush’s motivation in adopting illitera
cy as her personal philanthropy “as a cam
paign vehicle” to get her husband elected.
What was Mrs. Rodham Clinton’s motiva
tion for suddenly assuming her married
name to help get her husband elected? She
had gone by her maiden name for years.
Colin Killian
Information Rep II
Those funny Regents
There should be a weekly column or
maybe a cartoon in The Battahon called “The
Regents were drunk when ...”
This could be a regular litany on idiotic
decisions made around this campus. Surely
you can find enough good ideas to last 10 or
12 years. Also, Tubmarman should be ap
pointed to the Board of Regents as special car
toon representative. He seems very well-qual
ified to sit on that board.
William Godwin
Graduate student
Question, don’t ignore
student candidates
It is that time of year again. Texas A&M
has gained a reputation for having some
of the finest student leaders in Texas and
the nation. In an‘attempt to continue this
tradition of excellence in student leader
ship, I feel compelled to offer you all a lit
tle friendly advice.
During the next couple of days you
may be approached by an individual seek
ing to represent you in campus decision
making, and representing our fine institu
tion as an ambassador. Rather than taking
their flier and tossing it after they have
disappeared from sight, take a minute to
stop and speak with that person to see if
they are really willing to represent your
best interests. Furthermore, do not hesi
tate to question them. After all, they ap
proached you first, right? I have found
that there are two sure fire questions that
tend to provoke extreme thought for the
aspiring candidate: “How do you plan on
representing my interests?” and “What
makes you any better than the next guy?”
These are sure to get them thinking, and
for you candidates, now is the time to
brusn up on these kinds of questions.
A single undertaking such as the afore
mentioned only shows that you have a
genuine interest in who represents you —
and you should have an interest. Tell these
perspective candidates that you will per
sonally hold them accountable for their
actions when it comes to representing
their constituency. I encourage you not to
just vote, but to vote for the most quali
fied candidate. Don’t forget that elections
are March 30 and 3 1.
Raymond Boney
Class of ‘96