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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 26, 1994)
July 26,1994 Cardinale BY JO Tuesday • July 26,1994 FE-EL-S THE t EVEN »tA/EvO \..'TO CCAlTlMDe erry oblem dg ers ;? CISCO (AP) - es Dodgers re- Strawberry to plagued associ- The Battalion Editorial Board Mark Evans, Editor in chief William Harrison, Managing editor jay Robbins, Opinion editor 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. Contact the opinion editor for infor on submitting guest columns. ‘ — ©CVyOg— ■>* Music reflects attitudes of youth Equal justice for all Findings of racism in sentencing need study The statistics seem black and white. Recent statistics indicate racial bias in death sentences in the United States. In the 18,000 executions in Amer ican history, 32 were white defen dants convicted of murdering black victims. Since 1976, 83 out of 95 black defendants were executed for Each generation hears its heartbeat in the alternative sound of new bands T he state of the world and how youths feel about it seem to be matched by trends in the music industry. Music recently considered extreme - grunge - is now the CHRIS S. COBB Columnist red Strawberry *8 still a prob- dgers, who got at the renewed the team he » in Monday jainst Hie San s. | , batting .310 ; runs and 11 m Pranci; contentioi rrival < mrst that < i within 1 3 ront-running •s of eight of ;d by signing [eith McCants rst-round draft last season. it end former Pitts- my Davidson t choices corn- id the Oilers overed their osition. Plus, mainstream. Some people wonder how music reached this point within the short span of the past couple of years. Although I was not around for the ’60s, I recognize that the trends of the decade are still part of our popular culture. The decade was one of major change and experimentation. Youths wanted to change their government and their lives. The musicians helped give them this revolution. The Jimi Hendrix Experience came and turned the music world on its ear. Hendrix took music to new heights by playing blues mixed with psychedelia. He is widely acknowledged as the most influential guitarist ever. Other bands also cried for change. One such band, the Doors, was jazz-influenced and brought this spontaneity into the popular music consciousness. The Who’s guitarist, Pete Townsend, showed his contempt for authority by smashing his equipment and playing at ear splitting volumes. Led Zeppelin, also deeply influenced by the blues, branched music out even more and are credited with inventing “heavy metal.” In the latter part of the ’70s, the major news was President Carter dealing with the hostage crisis in Iran. This was yet another decade of change. Rock and roll was still around with the likes of Black Sabbath and Van Halen, but the young wanted a change. Punk became one of the next steps. There are too many bands to mention, but the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, and the Clash played a big part in this music. There would be a resurgence of this type of music in the mid-’80s when many listeners tired of the popular music scene. Disco and funk were the main types of music in the late ’70s. Similar in groove and tempo, funk and disco eventually mutated and progressed. Modem popular music is a direct descendent of bands like the Village People and Funkadelic. Reaganomics came along and so did the boom and bust of the ’80s. Americans had huge wealth and rampant poverty like never before. Popular music seemed to go in two directions: radio playable Top 40 music, and hard rock or heavy metal. The first group changed as the second, instead of being eschewed, was slowly integrated into it. Top 40 became lighter and easier to sing with the likes of Madonna, Tiffany and other single-named women filling the airwaves. Hard rock became more technical with Whitesnake, Great White, White Lion and other bands that used the word “white” in their name ... Music became corporate, just like the decade it was wrapped in. When the two types of music melded together, out came pop metal. Bands like Poison and Motley Criie were more concerned with their hair and makeup, rather than actual musicianship. Music television played a large role in this process. Music could now be “seen,” and image became a part of music - bigger than the music itself. Along came the ’90s, and cotton candy-type bands still make “music.” Our generation, the one that grew up on all of this, and the one after ours - which “qualified” scholars have not yet labeled - are said to be restless slackers disinterested in life. We, much like the youth of the ’60s, are unhappy and dissatisfied with life and our government. A type of alternative music pops up and expresses how many of us are supposed to feel. Critics instantly label it as the music of our generation. It is a mixture of everything that has come before: psychedelia, punk, pop and metal. Mix in a heaping helping of angst and outrage, and you have what is called grunge. It is a backlash of the cold and technical hair bands. Going back to the basics, grunge relies more on “sincere” feelings and emotions. As soon as record companies saw that America’s young identified with these bands, they flooded the market with them. Big names like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots are played all over the radio and on television, but there are countless others in this genre. There is sure to be another kind of music to come along. It will probably be fueled by the young’s desire for change. Such is life - the only thing constant in this world is change. Let’s hope it’s for the better, not just in music, but in life. murdering whites. Of the 17 people executed in Texas last year, 11 were Hispanic or black. Of those 11, eight cases involved white victims. Harris county, who leads the state in death sentences, has lined up 60 blacks, 34 whites, six Hispanics, and three Asians on death row. based upon them. But if it is true that someone is more likely to be sentenced to death because of race, the Racial Justice Act is necessary. Statistics may be manipulated to support just about any position. “There are lies, damn lies, and sta tistics,” as the saying goes. Statistics indicating racial bias The provisions of the Racial Justice Act, a contro versial part of a crime bill now pend ing in Congress, would allow defen dants to “present statistical evidence of racial discrimination in sentenc ing as a reason to overturn a death sentence.” A closer examination of these sta tistics is needed before new laws are must be thor oughly studied to determine whether race is a significant factor in sentencing. If these statistics are misleading, we must not allow race to become an excuse for need less exoneration. Texas Attorney General Dan Morales argues that allowing ap peals based only on race would add to the time between conviction and execu tion, which is already too long and sus ceptible to frivolous appeals. But if it is found that among blacks and whites with similar con victions, a higher rate of blacks than whites receive the death sentence, this serious problem must be cor rected to assure justice for all. Chris S. Cobb is a senior English major ;s and 252 ’ coaches will le linebacker ) a pass-rush have to work ‘but we’ve got at solidifying Doin’ time’ sometimes serves as best way to pay fines , Pardee pa- roups during eratures soar i the field at s the players iaking inside ylon jerseys. ; rest of the ’ardee’s been rid it. L ate one September evening six years ago, Marlene (not her real name) had been visiting a friend hospitalized for attempted suicide. She drove toward home, crying for her friend who was very depressed. It was very late and few people were out, so when a stoplight turned yellow, she decided to go through it rather than stop. She JULIA STAVENHACEN Columnist xas heat i fullback at ’ardee trav- ites to Junc- Aggie coach t bused the 20 players iwest of San 11 drought- ■state 10. A&M crew n the days during 100 frowned on e-fourths of l from Junc- iid. played foot- high school aid through sted to the isked if he the weath- had been crying so long, her vision became impaired enough that she did not see the policeman. Marlene, at 19, had never been ticketed before and was unaware of the progression of events that follows a citation. The fine was too much for her to simply pull out of an already overdrawn account, so she let it wait until there was enough money to pay it. Of course, it sat too long. About a month later, a policeman called her at work to inform her there was a warrant out for her arrest due to a “failure to appear.” The deadline to appear before a judge and arrange payment of the ticket had passed. Horrified, \larlene told the officer she would immediately arrange to pay the $50. He laughed. The total fine with the late fees, court costs and 'ine for the failure to appear had increased Marlene’s amount owed to $207. Perfect reasoning, she thought. If someone does not have the $50 in the |5rst place, isn’t it completely logical to charge them more for that lack? A sophomore at A&M, Marlene was paying for most of her own schooling by working at the campus library. There was no room for unexpected expenses. Realizing this tight budget, she did not drive her car except for emergencies. Obviously, this cutback was too late. She stood nervously in front of the College Station municipal judge. “You have a $207 fine for a traffic citation and a failure to appear. How do you want to pay for this?” He glanced at her over his glasses. She replied to the judge that she could not pay; that she did not have any money. “You may pay in installments,” he advised. Marlene laughed nervously, saying, “Sir, I don’t expect to have that sort of money, ever. It’s still two hundred extra dollars, installed or not.” The judge sighed heavily, shuffling papers. “Look, this fine has to be paid. You could pay it through service to your community, maybe. That’s the alternative.” Feeling trapped, Marlene began to cry. “Sir,” she whispered, “I work about 50 hours a week, then go to school. I don’t have time to do community service. I never expected to — “Well, you did,” the judge grumbled. “What am I supposed to do?” He took off his glasses and leaned back in his leather chair. “My only other choice,” he intoned, “is to incarcerate you.” Throughout history, humans have indentured themselves to each other to repay debts, real or imaginary. The pre-colonial English and others were sentenced to debtors’ prisons where their debt was forgiven after being “incarcerated” in ill-managed institutions where disease or abuse often claimed them before their debt was paid. The only great discouragement to borrowing money was the fear of these houses. Mozart did not compose beautiful music just because he was particularly skilled at it, but also because he owed money and wanted to spare his "Look, this fine has to be paid," the judge grumbled. "What am I supposed to do? My only other choice is to incarcerate you." "How long do I stay in jail?" Marlene asked. family the embarrassment of being responsible for his debts. Long before credit cards, there was imprisonment - the fear shame of which kept most from overextending themselves. None of this occurred to Marlene as she examined her options. Her parents could not know; they were actually as poor as she and quite distant. New in College Station, she had few friends. “How long?” “I beg your pardon?” “How long do I stay in jail?” The courtroom gasped. Marlene finished her story: “I was sentenced one day for each offense, (two days in municipal jail), which I served, not quietly. I was not arrested, fingerprinted, handcuffed, nor housed with violent criminals. Isolation and intense boredom were my only real burdens, but it certainly was no picnic. I was mortified, yet I had chosen my own path to discomfiture. “It seemed that once the accompanying shame was removed, all that was left was the debt itself. The humiliation went away, but the debt did not. It was much easier to deal with that valuable lesson alone in my jail cell than with my parents waving bills at me. I would have been deaf to their cries unless I knew what two hundred dollars worth of physical deprivation felt like. “Never would I have been as careful with money as I am now. I understood a little better, after my stay in College Station Municipal, that with the burden of responsibility must come the ability to accept consequences, and to examine carefully what each debt is worth before incurring it. Julia Stavenhagen is a graduate anthropology student Childress, ilikely the o Junction, it the play- he went Mail Call layers out id, “they’d arking tickets should issued attentively dth worse The PITS has achieved a new level of -^competence. After my 2 o’clock class, I walked back to my car in the Kyle Field parking lot to find a little yellow ticket under my windshield wiper from Officer 267. Upon further inspection of the cita tion, the violation listed was “No permit displayed.” However, when I checked my rear view mirror there was my permit, plain as day. Whatever the real reason for this tick et, I do not have the money or the pa tience to pay $25 every time Officer 267 makes a mistake. In the future I would appreciate it if Officer 267 would pay more attention to doing this job correctly. Cologne accumulation tests allergy sufferer better than offending everyone within a 20-foot radius with your fragrance. Ken Lindberg Class of ’94 Today I had the pleasant experience of trying to concentrate on two tests while stifling off an allergic fit. Although I am not severely allergy- prone or chemically sensitive, the cu mulative effect of excessive amounts of perfume and cologne that emanated from my neighbors was making me physically ill. For those of you who are concerned about how you smell, a shower and some fragrance-free deodorant works Kathryn J. Krell Class of ’96 “holdmeal” and “evesnack”. When we became bored with this sub ject we concluded that all involved would have to say that “humpmunch” would be our favorite meal of the day. Lab picks favorite meal A. Blozinski Class of ’94 Over here in our lab at the Engineer ing-Physics Building, our staff of gradu ate and undergraduate students read with interest the article on the future trend toward a five-meal daily diet in America. We discussed fervently the im portance of the five stated meals: “daystart,” “pulsebreak,” “humpmunch,” The Battalion encour ages letters to the editor and will print as many as space allows. Letters must be 300 word* or less and indude the au thor's name, class, and phone number. We reserve the right to edit letters for length. Tbe 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX fac {409)345-2
