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r-i,. "c, m ■; ssifsi ^pinion
Boil it, bake it or even barbecue it
Simple cooking rules outline the skills necessary for making great meals
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Ve been writing
columns for The
Battalion for FRANK
over a year now STANFORD
and have tried to
comment on as
many topics asl’m Columnist
able. I’ve been
preparing occasional
meals for my fellow
staffers for almost that long. However, no matter how much
strain is put into my writing, how long it takes, or even how
spent I feel after giving birth to a column, they definitely
appreciate my culinary efforts far more than my journalistic
ones. Except for my roommates, most readers are stuck with
having to read my stuff instead of getting to eat it.
My three roommates and I get along surprisingly well
and always show at least a cordial interest in each other’s
endeavors. Although they always ask what my next column
topic is going to be - and are often full of suggestions -
The Battalion
Editorial Board
or a term paper,
im Wellington,Nevi
Debate of 1992.
ject.
Here is my easiest, simplest meal:
Chicken and (Pasta Stuff
Buy boneless chicken breasts, cream of
chicken soup and some pasta. I like fettuccini
noodles, but any pasta will do.
Boil enough water for your pasta to swim
freely when you stir. Add some oil or butter to
make the water a little oily. Most pasta takes
about 17 minutes, but scoop some out
occasionally and test by eating a piece, not
throwing it on the wall.
When the pasta is done, drain the starchy
water, add cold water, stir the pasta and drain
again. Add a little oil and stir it up. This insures
your pasta wont stick together like a second
grade art project.
Now chop up whatever vegetables you like
into whatever sizes you like, put them on low
in a skillet with butter or oil, salt and stir until
vegetables are soft. I like onions, mushrooms,
green, red, and yellow bell peppers for color.
When the vegetables are ready, add
spoonfuls of cream of chicken soup (not
the ready-to-serve kind) and dribbles of
milk, water or white wine and stir until it
looks Hike vegetables in a cream sauce. If
your sauce is too thick add more liquid; if too
runny, cook a little longer or add a flour-water
paste and stir until thicker.
A few dollops of sour cream or heavy cream
can be jidded to make it whiter. If you stir in
grated parmesan cheese your goop will taste like
Alfredo isauce. Cheese must be added right
before you serve or it will clump.
Mix the pasta with the vegetable stuff,
cover and set aside.
Start boiling or steaming some other fresh
vegetable like broccoli or asparagus now.
Throw in some carrot peelings if your vegetable
is green.
In another container, melt some butter or
margarine with lemon juice and some parsley
flakes and set aside.
Put your chicken breasts on a cutting
board, place plastic wrap over them and
pound out the thick part of the meat Use your
fist or a thick mug if you don’t have a hammer.
Now your chicken will cook evenly.
Dip the meat in flour or bread crumbs
and set in a hot, oiled skillet and torch it
for about thirty seconds on each side.
Turn the heat to low and flip again. Let it
cook slowly until the chicken is FIRM to
the touch. By searing the meat this way, the
outside constricts and traps the juice. No
more chewy chicken breasts. This method
keeps pork chops from drying out also.
The pasta and sauce should still be hot,
otherwise microwave it and put it on the
plates. Put the chicken breast - whole or cut
up - on top or next to the pasta. Add the fresh
vegetables and spoon on the butter or lemon
mixture. Melt enough of this stuff to spoon over
the chicken as well.
With some salad on plates in the fridge
and French bread in the oven, you’ve made a
meal grandma would be proud of.
The best thing about this dish is it's versatility.
Substitute rice for pasta or spaghetti sauce for
cream sauce or shrimp or scallops for chicken,
and it’s a completely different dinner.
It’s important to remember this is
supposed to be fun, so have a friend or two
over and drink cheap wine while you cook.
they tend to change the subject when I start babbling. The
most common examples of such dialogues are:
“Haah yew doo-in’ Fruh-ank, whut’cha wraahtin’ own?”
(he’s from East Texas)
“Well Ed, I’m glad you asked. It’s about the relationship
between the concepts of ...”
“Hay, bah thuh way, wuhtzfer supper?”
Sometimes they even read my work and comment:
“Oh, I read your column today, Frank.”
“Really?! Did you like it?!”
“Um, it was OK. When are you makin’ dinner?
Or, even more often, words of encouragement from my
illustrious editor:
“Are you done with your damn column yet? ... blah, blah,
blah ... do you want your pay docked again? ... blah, blah ...
are we gonna drink beer and eat at your house tonight?”
Since my parents are the only people who always like
my writing. I’m not going to philosophize this time, but
instead include a few simple cooking suggestions that even
someone who burns toast could pull off.
First, we must understand that
strict, written recipes — for the most
part — are only good for cookbook
publishers and rigid accountant
types (shudder). Not only are there
too many directions and exact
measurements to remember, but
following recipes is just like painting
by numbers. The creation is always
the same and you never really learn
to paint artistically.
Luckily, I have only a few simple
RULES:
1. When making fancy desserts
or baking anything, follow the
recipe to a tee or disaster will
ensue.
2. Chicken and seafood are
universally interchangeable.
3. Everything that tastes good
has onions or onion powder in it.
4. Spaghetti sauce - bought or
homemade - goes with all meats.
5. All pastas are your friends —
everyone can boil water.
6. Steal a long, wide-bladed knife
from home and keep it sharp.
Obviously there’s more to
remember than onion powder and
spaghetti sauce, but once you get
started and gain some confidence in
yourself every meal will be a
learning experience that gets better
each time.
Mark Evans, Editor in chief
William Harrison, Managing editor
Jay Robbins, Opinion editor
Editorials appearing in Trie Battalion reflect
trie views of trie 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 information
on submitting guest columns.
Outlaw assault weapons
Ban will increase effectiveness of Crime Bill
Frank Stanford is a graduate
philosophy student
A House-Senate Subcommittee
passed an amended Crime Bill
Thursday in a move toward curbing
the escalation of violent crime in
America. The bill stipulates more
federal funding for law enforcement
and anti-crime education, but more
importantly, bans the sale of semi
automatic assault weapons.
This provision, more than any of the
others, is vital to preventing more loss
of life to violent crime.
The bill calls for 19 specific types of
semi-automatic weapons to be banned
from sale to anyone. Semi-automatic
weapons are “rapid-fire” guns
which fire each
time the
trigger is
pulled be- ^
cause of an
automatic
reloading
capabili
ty. Auto-
m a t i c
guns fire until
the magazine is exhausted once the
trigger is held down.
Many varieties of guns come in
semi-automatic and automatic ver
sions. These guns most often make
the newspaper headlines because of
their popularity in drive-by shoot
ings and gang-related murders, not
because they make hunting more en
tertaining or efficient.
The gun control section of the crime
bill also limits the size of ammunition
magazines used in a variety of guns.
This stipulation is an attempt to limit
the number and size of bullets shot
with any gun. Common news stories
detailing bloody deaths from multiple
gun-shot wounds demonstrate the log
ic behind this item.
Representative Jack Brooks, D- -
Beaumont, an opponent of the bill, vot
ed against the ban on assault weapons
stating that it was “an affront to
hunters and other legitimate weapons
owners.” The vast gray area of “legiti
mate weapons owners” has left many
people dead by swift and deadly as-
, sault weapon fire. If assault weapons
were not a threat to anything but
deer, there would not be a bill be
fore Congress to ban them.
Single-fire weapons are not in
cluded in the ban for a rea
son: when turned on humans
in crime, there is a high
er rate of sur
vival from a
single gun
shot wound
than from as
sault gun fire. Assault
weapons were developed to neutralize
enemy troops during wartime only, not
to kill children, bystanders personal
enemies during peacetime.
The other provisions of the crime bill
before Congress are designed to limit
crime by providing more law enforce
ment and crime prevention, but until
those aspects begin to work, there is no
way to prevent the occasional crime of
passion. The ban on assault weapons, if
finally approved, will hopefully im
prove the odds against sudden, violent
and bloody death.
; of the information
about Gopher is tol
. to use it. Gopher is
u have a VM, Open
agging on type Go-
. If you're a student
X'ESS to create one.
i access Gopher from
mputer labs on cam-
nected to the campus
the Gopher software
Original Aggie shared tradition of turmoil
list of menu options
inti 1 you come across
ran use VERONICA
local or world wide
if words.
iopher, or if you, your
ild like to make infer-
send e- mail to
tman at 845-6903
S3
Baptist doctrine follows
Bible, not interpretation
Unfortunately, the society we live in
has decided that freedom of speech
means freedom to misspeak (and be be
lieved) as well. In her July 28 column
Ion the feminist movement, Elizabeth
I Preston states that, “One of the reasons
that this attitude [the idea that women
I are less deserving of respect than men]
|is so rampant is religion.” She then
mentions several doctrines and their
I positions on women’s roles to support
[her position.
Preston’s statement that the Baptist
? denomination teaches an interpretation
| of the Bible that men are the spiritual
[head of the household is simply wrong.
[This teaching is NOT an interpretation
[at all, it is literally what the Bible says.
[Ephe ians 19:23 states, “For the hus
band is the head of the wife as Christ is
the head of the church, his body, of
which he is the savior,” (New Interna
tional Version). The King James ver
sion says the same thing, and the origi
nal Greek also teaches the same princi
ple. In no way is this teaching an “in
terpretation” of the Bible.
If this teaching makes Preston un
comfortable, perhaps she should read a
bit further where in Ephesians 19:25
the Efible says, “Husbands, love your
wives, just as Christ loved the church
and gave himself up for her,” (NIV).
What greater love can a husband show
for his wife?
I cannot speak for the other reli
gious doctrines mentioned, but the
Baptist doctrine, based on the Bible,
speaks clearly of the equality and
equal value of men and women. Hus
bands are told that their wives are “...
heirs with you of the gracious gift of
life ...” 1 Peter 3:7 (NIV). The Bible
does not say heirs after you, or heirs
before you, but heirs WITH you.
The Baptist denomination is not giv
en to basing its doctrines upon inter
pretation. Doctrine is based solely upon
the inspired word of God, the Bible.
Can the love the Bible teaches be
such a bad standard to live by?
Robert L. Betts
Graduate Student
From first to last, John C. Crisp
fought for honor at different, but
familiar, Texas A&M
WILLIAM
HARRISON
Guest Columnist
“I am proud to
be worthy to
suffer for the
cause of right and
truth for my
young and
gallant comrades
and my beloved
alma mater.”
The Battalion encour
ages betters to trie editor
and wilt print as many as
space allows, letters
must be 300 words or
less and include the au
thor's name, class, and
phone number.
Wc 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
E-mail:
Battglamvml .tamu.edu
— John Clayborne Crisp, 1879
W hen cadet John Clayborne Crisp first walked on
the Texas A&M campus, his feet did not touch
anything concrete. On the “A. and M. College” -
little more than a small plot of pasture in its inaugural
year of 1876 - Crisp would spend three and a half years
of his life trying to earn a degree, not of
accomplishment, but of respect.
By his own account, he was the second student
matriculated at A&M, making him one of the time-
honored “Original Six” who showed up on the campus’
doorstep to begin the first academic year.
And in three years, he would be the eye of a storm
that threatened to shut the faltering school down.
In that time, Texas A&M’s problems were 118 years
different from those of our modem day University. The
“College” barely held enough funds for anyone to even
dream of misappropriating them; the few hundred
students in A&M’s all-male, all-white and all-cadet
classes posed much more of a diversity problem; and
instead of campus crime, the cadets had to contend with
wolves and other wildlife that could approach in the
night and skulk undiscovered in the high weeds
surrounding the campus.
Discipline problems abounded in the cadet ranks. In
those days, A&M’s military emphasis attracted not only
genuine students, but also unruly boys whose parents
sent them to A&M to be “straightened out.” The
administration could not contain these problem
children, and the cadet leaders were left to maintain a
policy of rank discipline — enforced by fists. The cadets
were in charge of their own in these matters.
From this atmosphere. Crisp rose through the
ranks and earned respect from his classmates, who
would compliment him in the student newspaper for
his “good conduct, stability of character and free
mode of thinking.”
In his third year at A&M, Crisp commanded
Company B. He compiled an excellent scholastic record
with no demerits as the captain of this company, and as
was the tradition, Crisp would be nominated to the
captaincy of Company A for his fourth year, the highest
position a cadet could attain. A faculty confirmation was
only a formality.
But Thomas Hogg, an ambitious A&M professor of
“pure mathematics,” stood in his way.
A feud erupted between Hogg and A&M President
Thomas S. Gathright after Hogg instrumentally
negated Crisp’s confirmation in a five-to-four vote of
faculty members.
During the summer, Crisp remained on campus to
study German, and also wrote postcards to friends,
seeking testimonials and backing to bypass the faculty
and lodge a formal complaint against Hogg at the next
A&M Board of Directors meeting.
Crisp charged Hogg at the meeting of being a learned
mathematician, but an incompetent teacher. He went
Old Main, on the site of the
Academic Building.
Right: Thomas S. Gathright
Bottom: John Clayborne Crisp
These photographs were taken
in the late 1870s and were found
in the collection of J.C. Crisp.
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further to criticize Hogg’s lack of discipline and
character, saying Hogg told Crisp that he could mark
his own grade if he would grade and keep the record for
the rest of Hogg’s class.
Hogg and his faction retaliated by leveling their own
charges against Crisp, claiming he was a discipline
problem and contributed to “regular annoyances.”
Hogg sent this letter to Gathright to sign and
bring to the Board, recommending Crisp be
sent away from the College.
Gathright sent it to the Board, but
without his signature. Gathright’s
vote fell with the four faculty in
favor of Crisp, and his support did
not waver. Later, Gathright
testified that Crisp “... is as good
a boy as [Gathright] ever knew,
and entitled to promotion in
view of all the noles, methods
and customs of governance.”
Hogg confronted Crisp and
asked him to quit his war of
correspondence. Hogg denied
that he was seeking to kick
Crisp out of A&M, but would
immediately request that
Gathright remove him.
A headstrong and
“imperious” educator,
Gathright backed Crisp and
pulled no punches as the
affair divided the faculty and
the city of Bryan. In personal
accounts, Gathright lashed
out at Hogg as “... unfitted, by
reason of some fatal
peculiarities, for instruction of
youth,” and criticized others with
equally vivid descriptions. (“I
would prefer a reeking corpse in
the College to —” and “— is a
parody on men and professors.”)
The president and all concerned
made enough of a disruption for Texas
Governor O. M. Roberts to call an
emergency meeting of the Board to investigate
the matter. The meeting made the front page of the
Galveston Daily News.
All the participants, including Crisp, submitted
testimony. With a petition of 97 out of 120 cadets
advocating Crisp and Gathright’s cause and divisive
testimony from the Hogg faction, the only thing clear
was that conditions couldn’t remain as they were at
Texas A&M.
On November 22, 1879, Ftoberts demanded the
resignation of the entire faculty of A&M, including
Gathright. The faculty would retain their jobs until they
trained a new group to step in. But Crisp would remain
a student, his honor upheld by the Board’s decision and
the students’ support.
Afterwards, Gathright moved to Henderson,
enduring a hard and bitter life before dying from a
liver ailment.
Crisp stayed one more term at the
College before leaving without his degree
to pursue a long and varied career as a
teacher, journalist, lawyer and judge.
He died in Beeville on February 27,
^ 1920, at age 63.
John Clayborne Crisp is my
great-grandfather. For me, he is
only one of 14 immediate
ancestors, but certain aspects
of his life have proved to be
similar to my own
experience, as I and my
family have found from
piecing together his life from
various accounts.
Crisp was a staffer of
A&M’s first newspaper, The
Texas Collegian, and had a
great knack for getting
himself into trouble. One of
the newspapers he founded
after leaving Texas A&M
was rumored to have been
torched by landowners
angered by one of his
editorials.
I have had my own scrapes
at Texas A&M, sat in a very
grave president’s office and seen
my own scandal published and
broadcast in the media. I have also
been very critical of A&M, political
organizations and leaders.
But in one way I find myself most
similar to my great-grandfather. In trouble,
I have stood on the edge of ruin and people
have helped me overcome adversity, much like
Gathright and the Corps helped pull Crisp through.
I can equate our similarities with those cadets from
another time who settled their disputes with fists and
anger, but backed up one of their own when it counted.
Stick together, but don’t pull any punches.
William Harrison is a graduate teacher’s certification
student and writing his last student column