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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 26, 1994)
April 26,1| inis mem L an Teri Foj|| fiey, andftBi. rniaq fini^ h respective n strong 4 Heen Won stanv), L "Iwasta Performed ii placed fiH [ jump will /4. un and Lis i and sixit; Ion. tandle, one c hlete's, y etitiononi: 7-3; out Opinion ffuesday, April 26, 1994 The Battalion Page 11 The Battalion Editorial Board JULI PHILLIPS, Editor in chief j MICHAEL PLUMER, Managing editor KYLE BURNETT, Aggielife editor BELINDA BLANCARTE, Night news editor DENA DIZDAR, Aggielife editor I HEATHER WINCH, Night News editor SEAN FRERKINC, Sports editor j TONI GARRARD CLAY, Opinion editor WILLIAM HARRISON, Photo editor JENNIFER SMITH, City editor . "he garatk ;ers and Tea for Mod d because ot started b her. ■ made unfit ight d 5 p.m. oned the it fielder 04 in the stat- More memories than Watergate ing )ina Citytr make hisfe irance the th 33 is the No, in thfjiifl ed oulf* ned the seas® 1 i, theiop ory. ,f the way for /Ve’re 223 EDITORI Tum:::. r' Nixon remembered Former president Richard ixon will be laid to rest to- aorrow, and he deserves to be membered for more than Wa- rgate. He has harsh critics and launch supporters, but as a ormer president, all he de- erves as we remember him is € respect. Although he was the first resident to resign from office, was also the first president to lomany other things. He was ^ C f“ r "ljj | he first president to warn the ™ountry of a possible health- :aie crisis. He doubled the size ijlhe food stamps program and ’rated the Environmental Pro- iction Agency. /Nixon was not ust the president who resigned disgrace — he was also an as- ute statesman and a man who von the presidency with more lopular votes than any of his iredecessors. Nixon was the first man to ealize the power of television nd the role it would play in modern politics. For Nixon, it vas not an easy lesson to learn, over yd' )ositio l,1(l i Now, on theft' either. His loss in the 1960 pres idential election was due in large part to his nervous and un healthy appearance in televised debates with a younger, more comfortable John R Kennedy. Later he would curse the me dia, saying the press would not “have Nixon to kick around any more” after his defeat in a race for the California governorship. But he came back and won the election for President of the United States in 1968. He left quite an impression there, too. In the books he pub lished after resigning the presi dency, he accepted blame for Watergate and regretted what it did to the country. It is time to accept his regret and remember Nixon for his accomplishments. We should remember the man for his high points as well as his low points. Richard Nixon has endured our criticisms, and now as we lay him to rest, it is only fitting to show our respect and keep the criticisms to ourselves. He’s still growing and growing and Family, friends unsympathetic to late growth spurt • • • H ere it comes again. The pain in my chest has returned, and my legs go numb at the drop of a hat. I thought it was over a long time ago, but the cold, hard truth is I’m getting taller. I’ve had two major growth spurts in my life. The first one shot me up to six feet the next one stopped five inches later. I’m scared to see where this one is going to end. When I was small I wanted to grow to be seven feet. That way I figured there was no way I wouldn’t play in the NBA and be come a multi-millionaire. But at 1 8 my growth plates closed, and I was forced to go to college. I dread what’s going to happen to me when I tell people they are opening up again. Tm afraid it will not be a pretty sight. Dad (6’2”): “Let me get this straight — you are growing again. Two years out of high school and you are growing again! Why couldn’t you have done this in high school, boy, and got a basketball scholar ship? I could have already retired! Instead, I’m busting my butt so you can to college. Don’t come home this summer.” All right, maybe my dad wasn’t the right person to tell. He’s still mad at the fact that I’ve been taller than him since I turned 14. I’ll tell Mom. She’ll understand. Mom (5’8”): “You are the most selfish person I have ever met, growing like that again. I guess you are going to want us to buy you some more clothes and a bigger bed. Well, its about time you learned you DAVE WINDER Columnist don’t get everything you want. You can wear high waters for the rest of your life for all I care. Don’t come home this sum mer.” I guess my mom wasn’t such a good choice either. She’s still mad we had to get a bigger automobile to fit my legs. I’ll go to my loving girlfriend; she’ll be there for me. Girlfriend (5’3”): “I give you all my love and all I get in return is you telling me that you’re still growing (crying). How is that supposed to make me feel? You don’t care about me. All you care about is your stupid height (hysterical crying). Well then — grow until you’re 10-feet tall, because I never want to see you again. And I espe cially don’t want to see you this summer.” What was I thinking going to her? She never really loved me in the first place. I’ll go to somebody in the family who knows what it feels .like to be tall. Uncle (6’7”): “I guess you feel like a big man since you’re growing again. Well let me tell you something, big man, no body in this family is ever going to be taller than me. So if you have any plans on growing soon I suggest you stop before you get in an unfortunate accident (punch es hole in wall). After this summer you better be no taller than you are now, you got me, boy?” That was a stupid idea. He never really liked me. He’s been jealous of my height potential since the day I was born. A total stranger will understand what I’m going through. Stranger (5’ 1 ”): So, I hear you are grow ing taller. Well I just want you to know I’m not going to let people like you stand in front of me at parades any longer. I bet you think all those short jokes are funny, don’t you, punk? You better watch your back, tall boy, because if I ever see you with a Randy Newman album you are dead. I’ll even be watching you this summer.” After those enlightening conversations, my body still refused to stop growing. It seemed the pain got worse the more I tried to make it quit. I was at a loss on what to do. Nobody I knew would help me, and I couldn’t go to anyone else. There are no self-help groups for tall people. Me: “Hi! My name’s Dave and Tm six- foot five and still growing.” Audience: “Hi Dave!” (Thunderous ap plause) The only thing I think of is stunting my growth by smoking. I might as well since I got plenty of time to waste this summer. Dave Winder is a sophomore journalism major HoW MATvjy Tl ME5 CAN A NUM TORN Mi6 MPAP-, anc? hoT To Hear peopie cry,,,^ ®ot> PYi-A/0 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 opinions of the authors. The Battalion encourages letters to the editor and will print as many as space allows. Letters must be 300 words or less and include the author's name, class, on si columns. Address letters to: ItfV The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Mail stop 1111 Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843 Fax: (409) 845-2647 ' ' : . Regio begin 1 s can < Is that your hair or is there a ferret on your head? ay. i 011 itiofli 11 e gotte ,rkeep losing' ivanR f fee, gpyOU jntnity hourt' finost leifl* 0 iovvI 0 lakei* nigW ! ’I Abe bad hair day has become a cliche I around these parts, but very few JL know I am the origin of this cliche, ind a 24-hour period of less than perfect air seems positively tame compared with toy experience — a bad hair adolescence. At age 14 (up until then I wore braids ach and every hour of my life) I took the Bt step of a journey that is not yet finished the quest for a hairstyle that both looks jood and requires low maintenance. I gave pdf a square inch haircut. This nickel- izedbuzz took all summer to grow out, so wry time I emerged from the swimming ol, my shadow looked like a rooster. Then came a special orchestra trip in 10th grade. I bought a new dress and my irst pair of high heels and as part of this ul- imate beauty spree, I decided to get my mgs styled. But before I could tell the wnat I wanted, I blinked and my hair 'Vis gone - literally. My bangs were less than a centimeter jh and the bus for the field trip of a ifetime was leaving in an hour. Hello, teadbands! Since scissors didn’t seem to like me, I ERIN HILL looked for alternatives to cutting. I (Eure ka!) realized hair needn’t stay the same color all the time. With my best friend in tow, I tried food coloring, peroxide and even nail polish remover but to no avail. While her hair turned red, mine stayed light brown. Though to all who observed it seemed I was doomed, the pursuit for a hairstyle didn’t stop then. I merely became less suc cessful with each try. I made jokes about hair styhsts secredy hating me, but nobody laughed. They were too amused by my hair to hear what I was saying. Despite warnings, the cutting option looked good once again in my senior year and I made an appointment for a haircut. My family guessed temporary amnesia concerning me and beauty salons had set in. To our collective surprise, the cut actu ally went well. With my new bob, I felt like I had fi nally arrived in hairstyleland. But with a “style” came responsibility to maintain it, and as a freshman in college I main tained the cheap way — beauty college and stylists-in-training. At the beauty school, my first clue that something had gone terribly wrong was my roommate’s expression in the mirror behind me. The second was when the hairstylist asked me to clarify what a “bob” was ... exactly. “Um .... let me get my supervisor,” she said, and my room mate passed out. Nothing could disguise the tension! One thought propelled the butcher-girl back toward my chair: Damage Control. She cut, snipped and shaved until I begged for mercy — all for only two dollars. (It was two-inches-for-two-bucks Tuesday.) Seeing how easy it was to both make money and have fun with scissors, I started spreading rumors about my own hair cut ting ability. With only my imagination to guide me, I began restyling the world, starting with the friends who were too cheap to hire a real styhst. I thought it was going well, but without any repeat cus tomers I just couldn’t build a clientele. My first clue that some thing had gone terribly wrong was my roommate’s expression. The second was when the hairstylist asked me to clarify what a “bob” was ... exactly. Just last fall, I fell once again into the clutches of a bad hair semester. In my panic I must have stumbled into an ex pensive salon, because I woke up to find myself wrapped in a white cloak with my head in a sink. After one of those to- die-for shampoos at the salon, which left me incapacitated to make a wise de cision, the woman suggested dying my locks. “How about a lovely honey wheat?” she asked. In typical zombie fashion, I said, “Sure, anything!” . I spent the following hour and a half un der a paintbrush and a dryer. It was only as I was writing out the check that it hit me — my hair was already “honey wheat.” That was just the fancy salon name for light brown. I had been duped. Only a fool would do what I had just done: spend a bundle coloring one’s hair the color it is naturally. No one could tell the difference unless they peeked into my checkbook. But had it turned out any dif- ferendy, I would have been suspicious. No, this hair is my fate. I’ve accepted it now — wavy, light brown, to my shoulders. Neither blond nor brunette, curly nor straight, long nor short. I guess even my bad hair days are kinda boring. Erin Hill is a senior English major Registration process makes life miserable Fellow students, am I the only one who’s ling screwed by the registration process? Was happy enough when schedules came a whole week before my registration, ^hen the day for registration came, you ^ imagine my ecstasy at spending approx- totately five hours on the phone registration s y$tem. I have always had some trouble reg- teing, but apparendy the people who de- these things felt students could register ^easily in the past. I guess that’s when they decided to allow only two designated days per class (as op posed to three) and have summer and fall registration on the same day. Well, their plan worked on me. Maybe, though, five hours still isn’t enough. Maybe they should give us only one day per class — for the whole year — and give out schedules only that day. Hope this suggestion helps the registration people out. Jeff Chase Class of ‘96 Mark Hall Class of ‘94 Letter demonstrates guest column’s point I would just like to clarify something for anyone who might have misread my ardcle on feminism. Nowhere in the text did it state that abortion should be legal. I did say government would never be .able to regulate it — there’s a difference. My column did make a point however, and you demon strated it very effectively. Elizabeth Nicol Class of ‘95 Abortion and theft not a good analogy I am writing this letter as a response to Christopher Binovi’s letter. His sarcastic comment for legalizing stealing, because like abortion, it has always existed and al ways will, is "comparing apples to or anges.” I myself believe abortion is wrong. However, if one is to take a historical ap proach to this problem, they would see that in the years when abortion was illegal, the number of abortions did not decline. In stead, they moved from the “safe and ster ile” doctor’s office to the back alleys. By making abortion legal, at least one life will be saved. Since saving hves seems to be the most important issue, this would seem to be valued greatly. Many clinics which offer abortions pro vide information and counseling about al ternatives, such as adoption or raising the child themselves. No such counseling will be found in the “alley” abortion clinics. As to his cynical comment, “May femi nists rule the earth!” Well, Christopher, if feminist ruled the earth, social ills such as pornography, strip joints (undeniably a form of prostitution), sexual harassment of workers, etc., would surely be cured. Jeriad Zoghby Class of ‘95 Men’s tennis team lauded for SWC win Last week while The Battahon was busy gossiping about the Gay, Lesbian, and Bi sexual Aggies participating in the Kiss-off and fighting in Cain Hall, the Aggie Men’s tennis team was winning a SWC champi onship title. Mark Weaver and Bernardo Martinez won first place in the SWC #1 doubles, and Chad Raymond and Ricardo Rodarte won first in the SWC #3 doubles. The team beat TCU (ranked fifth in the na tion) to tie with TCU and t.u. for the SWC Championship. We would also like to thank the coaches, trainer, manager and all the fans for such a successful season. These elite team participants deserve recognition for a job well done. We would hope that in the future our paper would bring newsworthy information instead of tabloid news. Jane Oliver Class of ‘95 Accompanied by 24 signatures