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Opinion
Thursday, April 21, 1994
The Battalion
Page 11
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 ERERKINC, Sports editor
TONI GARRARD CLAY, Opinion editor WILLIAM HARRISON, Photo editor
JENNIFER SMITH, City editor
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Howe, yet.
We are the Aggies, the Aggies are we
Despite outside scrutiny, A&M badge shines bright
Problems abound
Bowen inherits full plate
P c ,
ing an increasingly hot ticket item
in Texas, and the recent appoint
ment of Dr. Ray Bowen, interim
president of Oklahoma State Uni
versity, is no exception. Although
the University is in need of a per
manent president, there are many
issues Bowen will have to deal
with in order to undo some of the
damage Texas A&M has sustained.
One of the main issues need
ing attention is the ongoing mul
ticultural dilemma. Dr. Bowen
will have to come up with new
ways to attract minority students,
and at the same time new ways
must be found to make the pre
sent minority students feel more a
part of the University. Using a
'bull in a china closet” technique
where new classes are arbitrarily
required in order to bring about a
greater understanding of other
cultures may not work as well as
intended. An alternative may be
bringing together the minority
groups on campus together with
other groups and exchange ideas
of what would make the minority
students feel more accepted.
Athletics is another sensitive
area that must be dealt with. With
the recent trouble concerning the
athletic program, Bowen will be
charged with the task of restoring
a maligned reputation. An up
coming transition into the Big
Eight has to go smoothly, and ath
letes must be made to follow the
rules set down by the NCAA.
Bringing more research dollars
into the university is an high pri
ority issue, but perhaps an even
more important issue is the hir
ing of good instructors. A&M
needs to find a balance between
the professors that want to re
search and the ones who prefer to
teach. The distortion of research
funding must be examined as
well. Some of the smaller majors
are in desperate need of money
that in the past has gone to larger
programs.
Bowen has a big challenge
ahead of him, and there’s a lot
riding on how quickly the more
pressing issues can be dealt with.
The student body needs to see
that a person in a position of
power in the administration can
be trusted and helpful, and it will
be up to Dr. Bowen to prove it.
O h, to be hated. Isn’t it great? Some
friends and I were skating at the
Galleria in Houston during a spon
taneous road trip one Saturday night when
we decided we could not leave the ice
without leaving our mark as Aggies. The
football team had just been put on proba
tion and it may not have been the best time
to be an Aggie. But we were all proud and
we decided to have a small yell practice in
the middle of the skating rink.
After our first yell another Aggie joined
us and asked if we would do another. With
all eyes focused on us, we bellowed out an
other yell. Just as we were leaving the ice, a
woman skated by us and scornfully mur
mured under her breath, “A&M sucks!”
My friends and I laughed it off and
headed for our car being sure to say
“Howdy” to everyone we passed. We all
agreed the weird looks we got back made
being friendly the Aggie way all the more
worth it.
I didn’t always like the scrutiny. People
would ask me why I was “going THERE
and not a good school,” I would always get
offended and then knock the junior college
they were planning to attend.
About 30 percent of my class was going
to A&M, so at least I had allies. But I felt
like we were at war with the 20 percent go
ing to t.u. They would always rag on us,
asking things like: “So, are you going into
Agriculture or Mining?” and, “Weren’t
your scores high enough to go to UT?”
I always took great pleasure in pointing
out that my scores placed me out of t.u.
MICHAEL
LANDAUER
Columnist
I got even more scrutiny when I said 1
was going into Liberal Arts here. Not many
people think of A&M as a good liberal arts
school. Most people assume that if we have
a liberal arts faculty at all, then they’re here
to teach the engineers and farmers how to
read and write.
With these common misconceptions in
mind, people could not understand that I
chose a school based on spirit. Some of my
t-sip friends even had to go look up the
word in the dictionary.
But I don’t mind when people look down
their noses at A&M. They’re usually misin
formed and could not possibly understand
the spirit. When people say they hate A&M,
it’s usually because they don’t understand us
— or sometimes it’s because we beat the hell
outta them every year in football.
Now with the football team on proba
tion, the whole SWC has lined up in their
bad feelings about Aggies. And I, for one,
welcome their scrutiny. I find it more than
a little amusing that t.u. tried to have next
year’s game moved to Sept. 1 7. Do you get
the idea that they wanted to be the Grinch
who stole Bonfire?
But bonfire will burn, and probation
will not last forever. The only thing that
will outlast probation and endure so many
cheap shots is the pride we have in being
Aggies.
It is when people put down our school
that we should be most proud of it. Who
wants to go to a school that just processes
students like canned Spam?
People always ask why we stand during
football games, or why we have so many
traditions and rules. They rarely understand
the answers, but they sometimes reach an
understanding about how much Aggies
care about their school and each other.
When I went to my first Silver Taps, it
amazed me how many people came out to
show respect for people they probably did
n’t even have the pleasure of knowing. But
those in attendance did know they were
there for fellow Aggies, and that is all that
matters.
So when I hear those rifle shots echoing
out past Kyle and into the night, I think
about how much respect and spirit there is
at Aggieland. People who aren’t Aggies can
never experience that feeling. And when
they have bad feelings about A&M because
they don’t understand us, I just feel sorry
for them. After all, “Some may boast of
prowess bold, of the school they think so
grand, but there’s a spirit that ne’er be
told.” And we all know what that is.
Thank God we’re Aggies.
Michael Landauer is a freshman journalism major
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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,
cartoons and letters express the
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The Battalion encourages letters
to the editor and will print as
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must be 300 words or less and
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Contact the opinion editor for
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columns.
Address letters to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
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College Station, TX 77843
Fax: (409) 845-2647
Keeping the world together happens one piece at a time
T he litde margay crouched on the
limb of the tree in the center of
its tiny enclosure. He looked at
me with his deep, sad eyes and I strug
gled to hold back tears. Seeing him there
was like seeing a small child in prison.
Unfortunately, setting him free would be
a death sentence.
This margay, a small wildcat native to
Texas and highly endangered, was confis
cated by the US. Fish and Wildlife Service
from a flea market and sent to Fossil Rim
Wildlife Center. Fossil Rim is a a popular
drive-through “safari adventure” in Glen
Rose, Texas, as well as one of the most
prominent research and captive breeding
facilities in the country. Here I came into
direct contact with many species that will
probably disappear from the world forever.
Katie, a manned wolf, licked my hand.
I fed an orange to a baby rhino. A cheetah
paraded six feet in front of me.
Cool stuff, right? I go away for a week
end and come back to normal college life,
right? Extinction is sad, but there’s not
much we can do, right?
MARY
MATELLA
Guest Columnist
Wrong.
I know not everyone can afford to do
nate money to the World Wildlife Fund.
And I know not everyone is going around
shooting black rhinos for their horns or
destroying the grassland habitats of the
manned wolf. I know many people are
not particularly interested in wildlife and
will never write to their representatives or
senators about it.
All I ask is this - I ask you to care.
Not just about endangered species, but
about our natural world. The world that
extends beyond our nice air-conditioned
homes, offices and classrooms. Care
about the rain forests, the mountains
and the rivers you may never see.
Whether you know it or not, these
things make your way of life possible.
I Tike to think of the analogy of a gi
ant airplane carrying the world popula
tion. There’s a range from first class to
coach, but we’re all there. When each
species goes extinct, one bolt falls out.
When each river is polluted, a fuse
breaks. When each acre of rain forest is
slashed and burned, the oxygen content
of the cabin drops. Unless we start re
pairing it, the plane will crash. It’s just a
matter of time.
So why are things moving so slowly?
We can tie many environmental issues, if
not all, to one thing: politics. And if you
haven’t noticed, what college student
around here (who’s not running for stu
dent government or majoring in politi
cal science) believes his or her vote real
ly makes a difference? Most people sim
ply don’t care.
I say we’re here at college to learn to
care. That’s because, to be trite: “What
goes around comes around.” Air pollution.
Contaminated water. Ocean dumping.
A student from Norway sits next to me
in my geography class. He told me the
other day that Norway uses hydropower
and doesn’t pollute their air. A coal-burn
ing plant in Russia is responsible for
much of Norway’s air pollution. It’s too
We can tie many environ
mental issues, if not all, to
one thing: politics. And if
you haven’t noticed, most
people in college simply
don’t care. I say we’re here
at college to learn to care.
bad that most of Norway’s gorgeous lakes
are sterile because of acid rain that origi
nates somewhere else in Europe.
What goes around comes around. And
somebody has to pay.
Are we going the way of the Romans?
Many people say yes, but we have some
thing they didn’t. That, as a friend of
mine says, is “an understanding of histo
ry.” So I asked him — what can we do in
this world of exponentially expanding
population, declining natural resources
and burgeoning pollution problems?
He proposed not a solution, but an es
cape. ‘ Let s colonize Venus or Mars and
just leave.” Ah, I think — trash one planet
and start on another ...
But I like this one. And I care about it.
Even if it means I have to come into con
tact with that distasteful world of politics,
I will not be silent or passive. We, the
people, are the ones who pay when the
time comes. It doesn’t matter if our lead
ers are to blame.
We are all here at college to learn, to
become educated. When we’re adults in
the working world and social, political or
environmental problems stare us in the
face, I hope we, the educated, don’t look
away first. The future of the world de
pends on us.
Mary Matella is a junior wildlife and fisheries science
major
Sinful desires no
cause for boastfulness
I agree that homosexual couples have
every right to participate in the United Way
Kiss-Off However, it saddens me that they
would choose to do so. You see, I believe
that homosexuahty is an inborn trait. In the
same way that greed, envy, deceit, malice,
violence, hatred, racism, and lust are in
born traits. They are all manifestations of
the dark side of human nature known as
sin.
Granted, not everyone is homosexual.
But some of us have strong racist feelings,
some struggle with greed, some have vio
lent and hateful urges, some are perpetual
liars, etc., until everyone is included.
My own personal struggle is with
lust. I happen to find women extremely
attractive. Yet it is a sin to have sex out
side of marriage, so I choose not to. I
did not choose my nature or my desires,
but I constantly choose my behavior.
Homosexuals do not choose their nature
or desires, but they, too, choose their
behavior and the consequences that go
with it. That is their birthright as human
beings.
Whether it is a KKK rally or a homosex
ual couple kissing in public, what saddens
and repulses me is not that people chose to
sin so much as the fact that they are proud
of their wickedness and want the whole
world to know about it.
Eric Pddicord
Class of ‘97
In Luckenbach, they
know our name well
I’ve been speaking lately with John
Raven, the editor of the Luckenbach Moon
— a monthly newsletter based in Lucken
bach, and he has told me how the manage
ment of Luckenbach feels about the Aggies.
It seems that some Aggies went down to
Luckenbach for a Robert Earl Keen concert
on March 5 and did their best to make
A&M look bad. Let me quote some of Mr.
Raven’s letter:
“Luckenbach dropped all the Bryan-Col-
lege Station addresses from the mailing list
after the March concert riot. Seems some of
the Aggie faithful stole the historical marker
and generally behaved in a socially unac
ceptable manner.”
I am not writing to preach the evils of
alcohol. I have had a few beers at Lucken
bach myself, and I was at the March 5 con
cert, and I was quite drunk. But at no point
did I curse the management or get out of
hand. And I certainly didn’t steal anything. I
was embarrassed and ashamed I had to
apologize for the behavior of fellow Aggies.
Luckenbach does have a great bar, and
they do not care if you get drunk. But
they do care if you get violent or disrup
tive. If you can’t control yourself, or you
don’t have friends that can take care of
on, then don’t bother going to Lucken-
ach, because they don’t want you there.
By dropping the Bryan-College Station ad
dresses from their mailing list, it seems
that Luckenbach is hoping the Aggies
don’t come back.
It has been said before that everybody
hates the Aggies, but we don’t have to make
it a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Dave Thomas
Class of ‘93
Bigger problems are
being overlooked
Tm glad that the Aggie mothers are
concerned about the school; they cer
tainly have many valid reasons to be. But
does the 1 0 percent faculty discount at
the bookstore really deserve to be one of
only two issues getting repeated atten
tion in the press?
No one could imagine that the facul
ty, in Liberal Arts at least, is treated too
well here.
I would be concerned, more impor
tantly, about having a better bookstore
(one worthy of a university, and not a t-
shirt shop), a better library, and better-
supported faculty, and about encourag
ing students to use these resources.
Dr. John R. Lenz
Visiting Assistant Professor
Classical languages