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The Battalion
Editorial Board
Mark Evans, Editor in chief
William Harrison, Managing editor
Jay Robbins, Opinion editor
EditoriaU 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
letters express the opinions of the a
Contact the opinion editor for
on submitting guest columns.
Act against AIDS
Texas A&M should develop research efforts
une in to
of Woodstock
wentysomethings must find own defining moment, not emulate hippies
ense
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ters: 7
ermen:
veryone has probably heard about
this "new Woodstock” thing. A
bunch of bands are getting together
q perform for people, just like in the
rand old 1960s.
Right?
This isn’t the 1960s anymore. Has
nyone considered the fact that a
[edone Woodstock is just kind of a
ham? After all, it isn’t about peace or
reedom or any of those other abused
iut lofty words. Instead, it is about
rofit and greed, a more familiar
■oup of words for the ’80s generation.
Tune in, turn on, and drop out. This
ite phrase captures the essence of what
our hippie ancestors were trying to
ccomplish, if they were not dying in
fVietnam at the time. It means tune in to
the world, turn on to drugs and
[experiences and drop out of society. Hey,
■whatever floats your boat, man.
| Now, I decided to try to understand
phat everyone sees in all this ’60s
revival. First of all, hippie-type
[clothing is now “in.” But, the whole
idea behind hippieness is that it is
[supposed to be “out.” In other words,
what is supposed to be cool is
something that no one else is doing,
[not something that Cindy Crawford
pears on a Vogue magazine cover.
I Second, people have been doing the
||rug thing for a while. How many times
are people going to have to get screwed
[up in order to figure out that drugs are
[stupid. Let me spell this out for all the
n Hccnito miccinn slow learners in the audience: DRUGS
)3, despite missing ^ BRAm CELLS _
Third, dropping out of society doesn’t
work for very long. It is great to do your
xpenence and has own thing and to go out and find
Iknerica. It’s even more exciting if a
person can find a way to see some of the
ast two seasons, world and meet new people. I do not
[believe that anyone would mind if a
'person wanted to leave civilization
JOSEF
ELCHANAN
Columnist
behind and spend time with nature. On
the other hand, everyone should
remember that the vast majority of those
’60s communes Eire closed down and that
the people who used to run them are now
bank presidents and lawyers. Or even
worse, many of them now have to get on
national TV and tell the whole world
what they smoked and why.
We are supposed to stand on the
shoulders of giants, not steal their
clothes and shoes and run around
making the same mistakes. Yet, that
We are supposed to stand on the
shoulders of giants, not steal their
clothes and shoes and run around
making the same mistakes.
is what so many of our fellow college
students are doing. Some of them
want to use 15th-century religion to
solve 21st-century problems. Some of
them want to use 19th-century society
as a basis for modem race relations,
Unfortunately, very few twenty-
somethingers want to go out there and
find out who we really are.
I guess that might be kind of
gruesome, since so many of our
generation are skinheads or Klansmen,
and so many are shooting each other in
cities across the country for drug money
and so many killed themselves when
they were 14 or 15. Growing up, I really
knew people in Plano, Texas, who hung
themselves and blew their chests out
with pistols.
Yeah, I guess it must be much easier
for all of us to lie to ourselves and melt
our brains away rather than thinking
about that fact that most of our leaders
are liars and thieves and that the world
did not get much better, whether our
fathers went to war or whether they
stayed here and protested against it.
Instead, lets act like hippies. Nope, it
won’t be quite that easy. There will be
security at this Woodstock and lots of
electronic equipment and no Jimmy
Hendrix. Why go? It isn’t some
community get-together, but a cheap way
to capitalize on a name.
The real question here asks when we
all are going to discover our own
Woodstock, our own defining moment.
Can’t we do something a
little different, something
that suits our needs as the
generation that is supposedly
disenfranchised from the
American Dream?
The other day I rented a
copy of “Easy Rider.” The
whole point of the movie is
that two guys are doing
something they want to do, without
harming anyone else. In the end, they
die, just like many of the dreams of
their generation, crushed under the
stresses of their times. To have
wisdom is to learn. Instead of making
the same mistakes, as well as showing
the same kind of poor taste, let us all
try something different from
ourselves, but also something original,
and a bit more productive.
Josef Elchanan is a senior
business management major
Texas A&M should devote more
effort to AIDS research.
Of the 50 publicly funded AIDS re
search projects in Texas, Texas A&M
is supporting none, while other Texas
schools such as Texas Tech, Baylor,
UTMB, and University of Texas cam
puses in El Paso, Arlington and Dal
las are participating in these studies.
As a major research university
and a public institution, Texas
A&M needs to actively work to
solve the AIDS crisis. The
University has the resources
and the capability to be on
the forefront of AIDS re
search in the state
The opportunity to
contribute to the
fight against this
epidemic deserves
action.
Science and medi
cine are not the only
fields which can foster
AIDS research. Education,
psychology, communication and
management can contribute to
halting the epidemic, while other
disciplines search for a cure.
It is extremely important that re
search continue. When budgets get
tight, research is often the first thing
to go. This attitude is extremely
short-sighted. The future depends on
the research of today.
AIDS research benefits more than
just AIDS patients. The knowledge
gained from this research can bene
fit many people in many fields.
When research is conducted in pur
suit of a specific goal, often the
knowledge gained finds application
in numerous other places.
For example, the effort to put a man
on the moon developed countless inno
vations — from satellite communica
tions to Tang — that are widely used to
day. AIDS research has similar po
tential. With all the resources and
efforts being put into finding a
cure for this deadly disease,
there is a wide range of fu
ture applications of this
work which cannot yet
even be imagined.
Another benefit
of increased re
search is increased
awareness. More re
search and education
about the AIDS virus will
cause people to realize how
AIDS is transmitted and will
reduce the fear of working
alongside people with AIDS and
reduce activities which cause the
spread of the disease.
More tolerance and understanding
for AIDS patients and less people
with AIDS are certainly good things.
Fewer people will die, and money will
be saved in trying to find a cure.
Texas A&M should be a part of
this effort. It is time for the Univer
sity to do its part to combat AIDS.
Jordan joining the peace process, a
will has fallen in the Middle East...
size of the defe
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nave the great
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vans Library periodically provides magazine-reading ‘fix’
ERIN
HILL
Columnist
e library gets a bad rap. We love to
rip on old Sterling Evans often and
furiously, and undoubtedly there are
sons for the attacks. It seems ridiculous
t so many of us have so many problems
re, myself included.
Most of my complaints have to do
... , ., ivith other students who don’t return
rts with kids nooks on time and make the rest of us
e best in Americ3 ve ^ we have time or not. To
temedy this problem, the library could
.pgin charging fines after a book is seven days
- Mark Siiii|y erc j- ue This would fix the problem. They ought
and Brian Coi 0 implement it. It’s that simple.
Other problems, like funding, are perhaps out of
idministrators’ control, but I have the feeling that
otne serious reevaluation is in order so to make the
sive line will be Sforary more useful and accessible for students,
issley said. “We'f But problems aside, I have some good things to
e to stop the ruf a y about our library. In fact, the periodicals section
it people and no jone of my favorite places to hang out.
> everyone off th I used to pretend I went there to study, and even
t.” wt notebooks on the desk to fool myself. Somehow I
said the mai'iave to justify my frequent visits because every time
ie defense for thf enter the library, a magnet pulls me to those glass
1 be the linebackdoors at the back of the first floor. I always give in.
returns sophomorf It’s no use pretending anymore. I am addicted to
), who was selectetaagazines and the periodicals section provides a big
2 second team aM
bur games, with 1*1
>f bulk.
Craig Swann u. .
ankovich return^
roles after surgi
3 injuries. 5
our main concert)
ms the linebacke^
ossley said. “Thai
e our strength P
fix. When I first
came to school I
experienced
withdrawal
symptoms. At my
home, it seemed
that my family
bought a new
subscription every
time a
neighborhood fund
raiser came to the door. I was used to having
magazines handy whenever I wanted one.
As a student who moves frequently it can be
inconvenient to have subscriptions, so I went
without. But it didn’t take long before I fell behind in
my horoscope and knowledge of who was marrying
whom in Hollywood. I lost track of which fashion
look was hot - I may have even worn what was not!
On a more intellectual note, I missed John
Leo’s opinions, George Will’s columns and Hints
from Heloise.
Things were tough then. It was the periodicals
section that made recovery possible. The 7,000
magazines (newspapers not included that total)
were there for me when no others were. For that
I’m thankful.
Once upon a time I had to do a research project. I
located a relevant article in a periodical called The
English Journal, of which I had never heard. The
article was great, so I looked for more in back issues.
I found them dating all the way back to the 1940s. I
found so many interesting articles in The English
Journal that I spent a small fortune making copies.
I knew that I spent too much time with The
English Journal when my roommates started
leaving my phone messages on its shelf. But it was
time well spent. From The English Journal I learned
It's inconvenient to have magazine
subscriptions during college^ so I
went without. But it didn't take long
before I fell behind the hot fashions.
subtleties about being a high school English teacher
(my chosen profession) that I couldn’t pick up in any
college classroom.
Some of my other discoveries were The New
Republic and Mother Jones. It is fascinating to read
well-written pieces from that side of the political
spectrum. And I try to give equal time to The
National Review. I get a new spin on issues, maybe
even expand my views. What more could I ask for?
Esquire does the same thing by helping me to
better understand that misunderstood creature —
the modem American man. You, too, can learn what
motivates him, what drives him crazy, what he’s
wearing and why he’s lazy.
And if you can’t handle the cologne inserts, go
to the Microtext files - scent-free and just as
interesting.
Through reading the New Yorker I am able to
keep up on the arts in New York City. Though I’ve
only been there once and have no plans to return
soon, it seems important for me to know who’s
starring on Broadway and what show tickets cost.
The New Yorker also has great poetry and
prose. And Texas Monthly keeps me updated on
the Lone Star State.
So no matter what people say about the library,
Ill always have a soft spot in my heart for the
periodicals section. There’s lots to do there. Go
practice your language skills in the foreign
publications or keep in touch with our neighbors to
the north by reading McLean’s from Canada.
It’s worth your time to check out what they have
to offer - and the price is right.
Erin Hill is a senior English major \ ■
idary should a<ier>
second team/Readers argue current
hus R frce7aWvt' :>ers P ectives of feminism
el Artmore and i l • j would like to commend Elizabeth
Parker anchor ^Bsston. Her July 28 column on the femi-
•ositions, while movement has given me renewed
eill will take tbtof^Bence in my opinions and beliefs,
spot. Feminist groups have about exhausted
- Mark Si#
every argument imaginable. I am happy
to see that Preston’s column was neither
passive nor militant. With an issue as
touchy as this, there can be no ambiguity,
but a little understanding and patience is
not too much to ask.
There are participants of the women’s
movement, who at one time or another,
expect that this nation should halt the
evolution of society as we know it and im
plement laws and legislation that auto
matically give women certain inalienable
rights. And there are also opponents to
the movement who believe that the dete
rioration of our society rests solely on the
shoulders of those women who chose to
work instead of stay home and raise their
children properly.
Blame is not the issue here. We cannot
correct the mistakes our ancestors made,
but we can learn from them. If we would
spend less time pointing fingers and
more time developing solutions, maybe
harmony is not an impossibility after all.
I am not idealistic enough to believe
this will happen overnight, nor will this
one letter in a college newspaper in a col
lege town make a monumental differ
ence. However, if just one woman reads
this and realizes that no one’s place in so
ciety is defined as absolute, including
women, including racial minorities and
including homosexuals, then it has made
a difference to someone, and that’s really
what the movement is all about.
Stacy Stuart
Class of ’94
• As a former student returning to
College Station for a medical school ro
tation, it is refreshing to see that de
spite all the changes on campus in the
past four years, the Battalion Opinion
page remains steadfastly committed to
its pursuit of knee-jerk liberalism.
Elizabeth Preston illustrates this
beautifully in last Thursday’s attack
on religious institutions and defense of
a woman’s right to' sexual promiscuity
and other traditionally male behav
iors. I’ve seen firsthand the effects of
women’s sexual liberation - AIDS,
herpes, sterility, abortion and single
motherhood to name a few.
Women of our generation have made
great strides towards achieving equality
with men and have adopted many “male
behaviors,” among them the right to
smoke cigarettes, abuse alcohol, be sex
ually promiscuous and neglect family in
pursuit of career. The problem with
feminists like Preston is that by seeking
to achieve equality with men they have
set their sights too low!
Matt Poling
Class of ’90
The Battalion encour
ages letters to the editor
and will print as many as
space allows. Letters
must be 300 words or
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thor's name, class, and
phone number.
We reserve the right
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Address letters to:
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