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Friday, April 8, 1994
The Battalion
Page 9
PRO
CON
Does gangsta rap go too far?
ROB
CLARK
Guest columnist
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The reality in rap may not be real
ity in College Station. But then
again, the war-torn towns in Soma
lia and Bosnia aren’t a local reality
either, but people are concerned
with those conflicts. Ignorance of
problems due to proximity is still
ignorance.
Rappers are also the victims of a
major double standard. Take the
movie “Boyz ‘N’ the Hood” for ex
ample. This critically acclaimed film
harshly depicted life in the ghetto.
Despite the movie’s violence, John
Singleton was nominated for an
Academy Award for best director.
But when rappers talk about the
same topics, people freak out. Why?
Rap is simply the musical version of
“Boyz ‘N’ the Hood.”
Many rappers are accused of pro
moting violence. But when you
come from a world of violence,
what else can you talk about? You
can’t expect Ice Cube or Ice T’s mes
sages to be thoughts of love and
happiness — they are representing a
world of frustration and anger.
Rap may not be something we
want to hear, but we need to listen
to those voices. We cannot ignore
“the message.” Perhaps the attention
rap is getting will increase awareness
and understanding of these prob
lems. If we silence rap, we only si
lence the voice of reality.
Rob Clark is a junior journalism major
A yelled obscenity, the sound
of a gunshot and a scream.
No, this isn’t a movie. This is
America’s nightmare — rap music,
1994. And America is scared. Scared
of the “Home Invasion” as Ice T so
aptly put it. Rap music has invaded
not only the Billboard charts, but
the homes of most Americans.
It’s a shock to the system. Many
people aren’t used to hearing such
violent songs. But rap has always ex
pressed this ghetto anger. Chuck D.
of Public Enemy has said that rap is
“black America’s CNN.” Although
gangsta rap is undeniably violent, it
is simply a reflection of violence in
the ghetto.
Even in the early ‘80s, Grand
master Flash and the Furious Five’s
“The Message,” said: “It’s like a jun
gle / Sometimes it,makes me won
der how I keep from going under.”
While this message has been in
tensified in recent years, the theme
remains the same. The frustrations
of the street are transferred to song.
The shocking revelations in rap
compare even to Upton Sinclair’s
book “The Jungle.” Sinclair used the
book to expose the horrible condi
tions of the meat-packing industry
in the early 1 900s and led to the
Pure Food Bill in 1 90 7. While it’s
unlikely that rap will affect any leg
islation, today’s rappers are follow
ing Sinclair’s example by exposing
and increasing awareness of a prob
lem ignored by most of the popula
tion.
The shocking revelations
in rap compare to Upton
Sinclair’s “The Jungle.”
Today’s rappers are fol
lowing Sinclair’s example
by exposing and increas
ing awareness of a prob
lem ignored by most the
population.
MELISSA
MEGLIOLA
Columnist
M uch like Nazi literature is al
lowed in the United States un
der the constitutionally guar
anteed freedom of speech, gangsta
rap is a protected channel of expres
sion. The aggressive images of black-
on-black crime, explicit sexual refer
ences and use of vile language are
protected by the first amendment. Al
though legal, gangsta rap lyrics are
considered offensive by much of the
American public and have caused
many people to question the validity
of the medium.
Rappers become role
models even though
many of them stay in
trouble with the law.
The brutal violence and
expletive language are
used to increase sales
rather than to enhance
artistic impression.
Supporters claim that the lyrics
serve as a functional outlet for a seg
ment of society that faces low em
ployment, high crime and escalating
violence. Opponents say they con
tribute to the moral decline of society
by romanticizing inner city problems.
Others argue that the lyrics are merely
a byproduct of carefully researched
commercialism.
Labeled the voice of inner city life,
gangsta rappers claim that their lyrics
are a realistic depiction of life in their
neighborhoods. They say they rap
about life as they see it. Undoubtedly,
life in central Long Beach, California,
home to many of LA County’s most
g owerful gangs and the neighbor-
ood where popular rapper Snoop
Doggy Dogg grew up, was full of vio
lence, anger and fear.
“One of the reasons that we in the
black community tended to ignore
some of the harsh language in the
lyrics was that it reflected the anger of
young, black disenchanted folk,” says
Nathan McCall, a reporter for the
Washington Post.
McCall beheves rap has evolved from
a poetry of the streets to a powerfully
negative influence on society. As a for
mer teenage criminal who snot some
one in order to emulate “The Godfa
ther,” he knows about the strong influ
ence of entertainment on youth. Rap
pers become role models even though
many of them stay in trouble with the
law. The brutal violence, misogyny ref
erences and expletive language in rap
music are used to increase sales rather
than to enhance artistic impression.
Gimmicky references to sex and power
are employed to shock mainstream
record buyers, who (according to
Newsweek) make up the greatest per
centage of the rap audience.
That marketing plan is working.
Youth in both the projects and the
suburbs love rap. Snoop Doggy Dogg
sold 800,000 copies of his debut al
bum, “Doggiestyle,” in the first week.
Such success is more often attributed
to a talented marketing staff rather
than talented musicians and promotes
continued and heightened use of vio
lent and sexual language.
Although gangsta rap certainly can
not be blamed for the current state of
our inner cities, and is within the
boundaries of the law regarding ob
scenities, it is a national embarrass
ment to exploit the turmoil that
plagues urban America.
Melissa Megliola is a senior industrial
engineering major
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Making sense of Whitewater mess
Por the clueless, a listing of key political players
W hat is Whitewater? And who really
cares? I gather that not many people
have a clue what it’s all about or why
the press is fussing over it so much. I have a
faint idea, thanks to spending hours reading
through past issues of Newsweek and Time.
Researching Whitewater is like reading a bad
novel — I constandy had to go back to the be
ginning to look up the characters’ names.
To clarify it for all those interested, I shall
list a cast of the performers in this twisted
play along with a brief description of their
roles. Here are the biggest characters in re
cent news:
MADISON GUARANTY SAVINGS & LOAN
was the bank that the Clintons’ business part
ner in Whitewater, James McDougal, owned.
Madison’s failure cost taxpayers $47 milhon.
It is under investig.ation, which will probably
shed light on the alleged flow of money be
tween it and Whitewater.
ROSE LAW FIRM is the firm in which
Hillary Clinton and many others involved in
this mess were partners, including VINCE
FOSTER JR., who was in charge of the
Whitewater files before he killed himself. De
spite a clear conflict of interest, the firm rep
resented the FDIC in a suit against Frost & Co,
the company that had audited Madison Guar
anty. The suit was settled for $1 million, $59
million less than the FDIC had hoped to col
lect. The parmer who represented the FDIC,
WEBB HUBBELL, is now the “number three
man” in the Justice Department under Janet
Reno. Political favoritism?
JAMES McDOUGAL and his wife were
equal parmers in the Whitewater real estate
venture with the Clintons. McDougal claims
that the Clintons never invested more than
$ 1 3,500 of their own money into the land
deal. The Clintons currendy claim a loss of
LYNN
BOOMER
Columnist
$47,000. It also turns out that they may have
helped Madison, his savings and loan, by
keeping state and federal regulators at bay
when it failed. McDougal hired Rose Law
Firm at a $2,000-a-month advance against
services to be performed, and then created a
plan for preferred stock to raise money for
Madison, his thrift.
BEVERLY BASSETT was serving as
Arkansas commissioner of securities at the
time of Whitewater. She approved of Mc-
Dougal’s stock plan in spite of a subordinate’s
question of whether it was even legal in
Arkansas to allow a thrift to sell preferred
stock to the public. Her approval was out
lined in a personal letter to Hillary. The stock
sale never occurred.
DAVID HALE is a former Little Rock mu
nicipal court judge facing trial on charges of
fraud and conspiracy. In exchange for le
niency in his sentencing, Hale is offering
testimony on Whitewater. Hale used to run
a federally-backed finance company and
charged that in 1986 Clinton personally
asked him to loan $300,000 to a firm
owned by McDougal’s wife. Of this money,
$ 1 1 0,000 was funneled directly to White-
water. Hale’s credibility is shaken a bit by
the fact that he secretly owned 1 3 of the 5 7
companies to which he made loans.
JAY STEPHENS was developing a case
against DAN ROSTENKOWSKI, the chairman
of the very powerful House Ways and Means
Committee, when Clinton fired Stephens and
the 92 other US. attorneys Bush appointed.
Rostenkowski was accused of diverting tax
payers’ money to personal and campaign
funds. He is also Clinton’s pivotal ally in the
fight for health-care reform. Stephens claims
that Clinton fired all of the attorneys to get
rid of him without drawing attention to it.
Stephens is now heading a civil investigation
of Madison for the Resolution Trust Corpora
tion (RTC), a federal agency created to deal
with the S & L crisis.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS is Clinton’s
most trusted political adviser after Hillary.
He and White House deputy chief of staff
HAROLD ICKES purportedly made heated
phone calls to JOSHUA STEINER and
ROGER ALTMAN in an effort to get
Stephens removed as investigator of Madi
son. Steiner is Treasury Chief of Staff, and
Altman was head of the RTC until recently
disqualifying himself from dealing with
matters related to Madison. Stephanopoulo$’
aides claim Stephens is a “right-wing
zealot” out to get the President. The White
House asserts that Stephanopoulos or Ickes’
(it is unclear which one made the state
ments) words were misinterpreted as trying
to get Stephens fired.
None of this even starts to touch on
Hillary’s dealings with some suspicious cattle
futures or on the scores of more minor, yet
relevant, characters in the drama. So I leave it
to all of you to do your own research into
this Whitewater affair. I started out thinking
it was trivial, but pow I’m not so sure.
Lynn Booher is a sophomore English and psychology major
Editorials appearing in The Battal
ion reflect the views of the editorial
board and are not necessarily the
opinions of other Battalion staff
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regents/administration, faculty or
staff.
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Contact tne opinion editor for in
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Faculty Friends ad
unacademic, stupid
I would like to contribute to the ongoing
“Faculty Friends” debate which seems to take
on more significance as hard core, fundamental
Christianity leaps from the pages of The Battal
ion at an increasing rate. Separation of church
and state is a basic American tradition that has
deep historical roots and a logical foundation.
The effort by this group of pious professors to
praise Jesus with ads in The Battalion each se
mester is, in my view, a glaring violation of
that tradition, because many of those listed oc
cupy positions of academic authority at a state-
supported instimtion.
It is also, from my perspective, a truly dis
gusting violation of global academic tradition
in that this group of ‘faculty” is claiming one
metaphysical truth to the exclusion of all oth
ers.
I am sure that these folks have good reason
to proclaim their faith this way and, as indicat
ed by L. Murphy Smith, this grotesque display
of small minded parochialism — like similar
pronouncements from the Ku Klux Klan —
might be protected by the US. Constitution.
These advertisements are not, however, aca
demically correct, although they certainly
might be politically correct in that individuals
able to make or break promotions are among
this select group. At any rate, I see the “Faculty
Friends” as something allied to Bonfire and
other archaic “traditions” of this institution —
unacademic, anti-intellectual, and fundamen
tally stupid.
One is, of course, always seeking intellectu
ally and spiritually satisfying answers to life’s
most important questions. Why, for instance,
are items like “Faculty Friends,” Bonfire, evil
secretaries, etc. so much a part of everyday life
at A&M?
I feel that these bizarre local phenomena are
probably attributable to the strong inbreeding
tradition of Aggieland. As indicated by the re
cent replacement for Dr. Koldus, TAMU has no
problem violating an ancient academic taboo
and regularly hiring faculty with academic ex
perience that does not extend beyond this cam
pus. Cultural inbreeding in an academic set
ting, like its biological counterpart, tends to
produce anomalies and perversions like reli
gious pronouncements from an academic fac
ulty.
To test this notion, I started checking degree
sources of those listed as “Faculty Friends”
against the faculty listing in the most recent un
dergraduate catalog. While other matters forced
a diversion from this test of my hypothesis, I
quickly discovered that quite a few of the “Fac
ulty Friends” are not listed as TAMU faculty.
Thus, if this group of believers is united by
a common search for truth, I hereby suggest
they would take a big step in that direction by
changing their name.
Hugh Wilson
Professor of Biology
Three cadets agree
When we made Rush limbaugh’s show, we
realized that this soap opera on the Quad had
gone too far. After the last week of mudslinging
in the media and around campus, we are aware
that there are more than a few in Aggieland
who consider at least one of us three to be a
complete jerk. In retrospect, this is understand
able. For our own individual reasons, we each
felt that we were in the right, and rather than
work it out in a mature manner, we allowed
our personal disputes to become public knowl-
edge, giving Texas A&M, the Corps and our
selves a black eye in the process.
After a lengthy discussion, we have talked
out our differences and have come to respect
each others’ points of view. Despite the appar
ent severity of the situation, we can now laugh
together at the foohshness of our actions. Each
of us is in complete agreement with the follow
ing:
Will Haraway is definitely no public rela
tions expert. He allowed his personal feelings
about the Corps to cloud his better judgment
when he signed the memo and interviewed
with The Battahon. He, more than anyone on
campus, realizes his mistakes.
Ross McGlothlin, who is enjoying great
popularity on the Quad these days, regrets al
lowing his political position to jeopardize
friendships within the Corps.
Mark Rollins, who just can’t seem to let yell
leader go, apologizes for involving himself in
an election in which he wasn’t even running
for office.
We all realize the folly of saying damaging
things about people when we didn’t mean
them and consider this situation resolved. We
are tired of seeing our names in the paper every
day. Gig ‘em.
Will Haraway
Class of ‘94, Corps Commander
Mark Rollins
Class of ‘94, Head Yell Leader
Ross McGlothlin
Class of ‘94, Student Senate
Evans library must
improve regulations
Approaching exams bring hoards of stu
dents into unfamihar territory: the library. Un
fortunately, many students fail to distinguish
between story hour and the purpose of a uni
versity facility. There are designated group
study areas, but no part of the library is safe
from noisy social gatherings.
Complaints about the library are common.
So are abuses by students and faculty, abuses
that are encouraged by library policies. Current
lax regulations limit the availability of materi
als. The undergraduate loan limit of two weeks
should be applied to all users, without excep
tions, and renewals ended. The current faculty
loan limit of four months is outrageous. Any
faculty member who would defend this privi
lege can’t expect students to read more than
one book per semester. Recall is uncertain and
unsatisfactory and could be eliminated with
stricter loan limits.
“Books three months overdue may block
you from future library privileges. You will be
billed for books that are six months overdue.”
These threats are too lenient and, evidently, no
deterrent. Journal articles neady excised with
razor blades, entire issues removed from bound
volumes, and books unaccountably missing,
are common. These abuses condemn others to
endless searches of the copy rooms, waits for
interlibrary loans and visits to bookstores. Evans
doesn’t have to be an Aggie joke. Meanwhile
keep it down.
Mary Catherine Wilheit
Graduate student