July 26,1994
Cardinale
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Tuesday • July 26,1994
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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-
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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,”
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