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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 16, 1994)
16, Thursday * June 16, 1994 est iand eputatic; -ed State /erythit; msic ati /ears, ti lievein' /nge The ‘/oust 8 atS loothbii rass mt ant as Loungi able at tar play e guitai gnitari: ited mi ting git' Kir- vhen ip in rthe (and gold they the ther unt, ing" lues aust heir aeir two- lake and the and tern tal’s the the this 1 as ! be an- % mu on, hat ’ot- ;m, bly m’t i it. ral ion an- fer ise ou ive an Page 5 Volunteer for homeless learns importance of giving ELIZABETH PRESTON Columnist E ve Koopmann began last year as a volunteer with Border Links, a program in Arizona where she taught English to immigrant Central American children. She moved to San Antonio in August with plans to live in the slums and work for a Catholic Worker House (CWH). Eve and the three other volunteers had complete responsibility for running their own household, the homeless shelter, a soup line that operated five days a week and all of the responsibilities that were a part of maintaining the operation. The first few months were very intense and lonely for her. She often called me in tears, missing family and friends and unsure that she could handle the tasks she had promised to take on. All of the other volunteers, Sandy, Elizabeth and Kristin, were college graduates. She felt inexperienced, out of her element and alone. I hated to hear the sadness and uncertainty in her voice and I had doubts about her ability to succeed in that environment. Soon she proved me, and herself, wrong. Eve and I grew up together. We met in prekindergarten and cemented our friendship during the formative years of elementary school. We have since lived far apart, but the bonds formed between runny-nosed school children has proved impossible to break. She was accepted into Penn State’s engineering program, but began to think about taking time off to do volunteer work in May of her senior year in high school. I was worried about her future and I feared if she left school she would never return. She discussed and researched the idea and finally decided that was the path she wanted to take. The first time she confronted an abusive man at the shelter she called me, scared but elated at the same time. She and the other volunteers had decided to ask the man to leave because of the way he treated his wife and others. After he left, she and the volunteers sat up talking and getting to know each other. The other women took Eve under their collective wing, and from that point on she blossomed. When I went to visit her, I was surprised by the cleanliness of the CWH. The living room was bright and cheerful, and the children were playing peacefully as Eve supervised them. As I watched Eve in this environment, I realized that my friend was growing up, and learning things I would never grasp as a student at Texas A&M. She handled the children with care, and the adults listened to her with respect and treated her as their equal. The volunteers would wake up at 6 a.m., fix breakfast and take the children to school. Then they spent the day organizing, cooking and serving the soup line. After dinner, the donations and budget had to be calculated, the residents needed help with their job searches or homework and someone was always stopping by to ask for help or food. Eve would fall into bed exhausted at 1 o’clock The homeless people were not dirty, lazy, cruel or dumb. The chil dren were loved, the parents were looking for work and everyone helped out around the house. in the morning, then begin the whole routine again five hours later. She and the other workers were a support system to take care of all of the traumas that make up everyday life in a homeless shelter. They received $40 a month and took one day off a week, if they were lucky. Eve learned much about herself that year. She fell in love with a homeless man, searched for food in garbage dumpsters behind grocery stores and realized the importance of giving everything she could to others, while saving time for herself. The homeless people I met when I visited did not fit any stereotypes. They were not dirty, lazy, cruel or dumb. They were regular people with some large problems that had caught them unawares. The children were loved, the parents were looking for work and everyone helped out around the house. The volunteers all did their best to give these people a good temporary home, a way out and help for the future. Today Eve has just finished her first year at Pennsylvania State University. She is a mechanical engineering major with straight A’s besides a B in chemistry. Her life is now back on the expected track as planned before her detour. But sometimes she still calls me to talk about the people she misses and the letters she has received from them. She often thinks about the people she did not get the opportunity to help. When she comes to Texas, we always drive to San Antonio and she spends the day in the soup line helping the new volunteers and remembering her time there. There are Catholic Worker Houses across America, as well as many other shelters, soup kitchens and volunteer programs. A year seems like a long time to donate, but Eve swears the benefits outweigh the costs. The maturity in her eyes tells me that she’s right. Elizabeth Preston is a junior English majot JlQ^ubo Fbd Ifco/ding gatt pismamues nv trape: BACRIERS // Dittoheads ignore opposing views Americans should preserve free-thinking independence, consider issues J. STERLING HAYMAN Guest Columnist L ast month, after taking on a second job so that I could pay TCA’s cable- activation fee, the people at their office failed to mention that their programming just wasn’t geared towards night owls like me. After midnight there just isn’t a damn thing on. The other night I was sitting on the couch, flipping through the quality late night programming. After passing up the Gilbert Godfrey movie of the week, the Amazing Discoveries food processor/tooth whitener, and some militant blonde screaming for me to “Stop the Insanity” (ironic?), I finally settled down on the Rush Limbaugh show. Usually I don’t like to watch the show, probably because it makes me feel out of place. I like my sheets without eyeholes, and I’m not aware of any swastikas on my body. But perhaps my main reasoning for avoiding Rush is that I like to think for myself. This habit of making up my own mind was all I could think about while the man ranted and raved. Our society is becoming more and more dependent on the thoughts and ideas of others. We have increasingly assumed the role of the follower in the game of “Follow the Leader.” My assumption seems to be supported by the skyrocketing popularity of celebrities such as Limbaugh, especially in this town. I would venture to say that “Ditto” stickers outnumber the population of College Station. It is rather disconcerting that so many people can say nothing else but “ditto” when addressing politics. It’s much easier than researching, learning about the issues and arriving at your own conclusion. But is this mass following in the best interest of our society? Does a “ditto” chant each night before bed fulfill our duty as citizens of a democracy? Probably not. I really don’t have a problem with those who agree with limbaugh. Certainly everyone is entitled to their own views. The people that bother me are the ones who accept Limbaugh’s orations as “The Gospel,” without even thinking twice about the issues. This practice supports conformity, while suppressing knowledge and independence. Molly Ivins, an Austin columnist, wrote about one such naive Limbaugh follower. She overheard the “dittohead’s” comment at a coffee group in Weatherford, Texas. “Why, I agree with Rush that racism is dead. I just wonder what the niggers are going to find to complain about now.” This example obvious shows a person who knows nothing about the issue of racism, yet has accepted Limbaugh’s suggestion that racism no longer exists. Any person who studied the issue of racism, rather than readily accepting the opinions of another, would definitely discover that racism is a tremendous problem that continues to plague our whole society, not to mention each of us. Perhaps I’m picking on Limbaugh too much. But the truth of the matter is that the lack of free thinking can be found everywhere, among liberals and conservatives. Republicans and Democrats. Close-mindedness stands out as a reason for so much straight-party voting in political elections. It is also the reason our government has such a high rate of incumbency; people tend to vote for the more familiar name. We must start focusing on issues rather than the names of candidates. Name-recognition voting dominates the upcoming Texas gubernatorial election, despite the fact that George W. Bush has virtually no political experience, he trails incumbent Ann Richards by only eight percentage points. The same holds true for Oliver North, who admitted to lying to Congress while under oath and is running a close Senate race in Virginia. Every citizen has ample information available to make informed opinions. The media provides us with facts on every side of any given issue. Yet many people tend to disregard opposing viewpoints. We need to halt that practice. Our society works because of individualism. We don’t have to embrace the same opinion as everyone else. If we did, we would all be characters in an Orwell novel. The next time you hear the almighty Limbaugh preaching late at night, think about what he’s saying. Much of what he spews forth is either out of context or just plain wrong. However, if you agree with him ... that’s great. Just be able to support your beliefs. “Ditto” is not the answer to all of the world’s problems. It’s not even close. •J. Sterling Hay man is a junior political science major wammgumm Wm Editorial sympathizes with homosexual agenda' The June 14 Battalion editorial “Still Asking, Telling” sympathizes with the homosexual agenda, not the feelings of the majority of the military. In a 1991 speech to the U.S. Naval Academy, 4,000 midshipmen gave Defense Secre tary Richard Cheney a standing ovation when he defended the ban on homosex uals. Also, the American Legion and the National Guard Association are among the groups that opposed lifting the ban. Retired Col. David Hackworth, the most decorated living American veteran, said he “... cannot think of a better way to destroy fighting spirit and gut U.S. com bat effectiveness [than to lift the ban].” How would you like to shower and bunk in close quarters with someone of the same sex that might be attracted to you? The opinion that opponents of racial integration in the armed forces used the same argument as opponents of homosex ual integration is wrong. Colin Powell ex plains this misconception. “Skin color is a benign, non-behavioral characteristic. Sexual orientation is perhaps the most profound of human behavioral character- The Battalion encour ages letters to the editor and will print as many as space allows. Letters must be 300 words or less and include the au thor's name, class, and phone number. We reserve the right to edit letters for length. style, and accuracy. Address letters to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 The Battalion Editorial Board Mark Evans, Editor in chief William Harrison, Managing editor jay Robbins, Opinion Editor Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflert| the views of the editorial board. They do notf necessarily reflect the opinions of other’: Battalion staff members, the Texas A&Mf| student body, regents, administration, faeui;yj| or staff. Columns, guest columns, cartoons a" I letters express the opinions of the authors. Contact the opinion editor for inforrriationr'' on submitting guest columns. Aggie Wranglers Dancers help rebuild A&M's public image This Friday during the halftime show at the World Cup in Dallas, the Aggie Wranglers dance team will perform for a national audience, and hopefully restore some glitter to Texas A&M’s badly suf fering public image. Maybe it isn’t a ma jor coup for Texas A&M’s beleaguered public image, but it certainly is a two- step in the right direction. Sending the Aggie Wranglers to the World Cup defines what we want the world to see about this university. With more attention- getting changes and shakeups every week, now is a critical time to present a confident face. Most recently, new policies in reporting suspicious activi ties at the University resulted in numerous investigations and arrests at the end of last semes ter. Chemistry experiments to turn lead into gold, the national story of the “trash-bin baby,” bad press about rigged stu dent elections and oth er exposures of Texas A&M’s bureaucratic underbelly have left us badly in need of some positive headlines. Hopefully, the Aggie Wrangler’s per formance will help bring A&M out of this miasma of bad press. The Wranglers have appeared on The Nashville Network and participated in numerous contests and activities. They also play a major role in the cultural education of most Aggies by offering heavily-attended jitterbug and country and western dance lessons. With such a positive track record, they should serve the University well as public relations ambassadors. It will be a nice change to see a Texas A&M organiza tion connected to terms other than internal audit, state investiga tion, or Attor ney General. The World Cup soccer tourna ment attracts teams and fans from all ovei* the world. Fri day they will see some of the best A&M can offer. For once the headlines won’t announce scandals among regents and ad ministrators, li brary funding problems, NCAA violations or other embarassing news. When the Aggie Wranglers whirl their way across the television scre en* Aggies everywhere will be proud to say, “Hey, I’m from THAT university.* , t£chno- Buto-ier. istics.” Sexual orientation is so profound that male rape is a reality. Military service is NOT a civil right, rather it is a privilege. People are reject ed from the military on the basis of height, size, vision, age, citizenship, low IQ and health problems. The purpose of the U.S. military is national defense, not political correctness. Heidi Voges Class of’95
