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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 1994)
September Hj *tl Droad Programs: Aninlon mid at 10:15 a.m. in 251B alion call Jenny Hanks alft ima: Our first meeting ollt»» 5.45 p.m. in 601 Rudder. Fock \my Kacal at 776-1476. icy Care Team: A general in . in 301 Rudder. Formoranb- 260-1676. si: Our professional casual u J ollege Station Conference Ci i call Beth McCauley at 69Mft| 96-7703. allsts Association: Ourfnljil eld at 6:30 p.m. in 003 Reecy lion call April Arias at 8452K; I /ednesday • September Id, 1994 QP1NION The Battalion • Page 9 en also must fight date rape MAfWIK 0i«?4- me p&m> NEW JEfMirY fiends don't let lends get hurt - f hurt others MICHAEL LANDAUER ithollcs: Learn moreaboul esented by Deacon Bill$w : Church at 9 p.m. In the Ih s Chapel. A general meeting with and committee positionsr jdder. For more informal *18. iloglsts: A general meelingi of the Anthropology Building any at 847-2186. pha: Donate books to 'I African American Literature'll >C or at cube #10 in Koldus f| lyanza Davis at 846-0547 ggles: A mandatory aid from 7-8:15 p.m. in 110 l/Koldus (if you attended the(r*| * not need to attend this one) anessa at 847-0687 orShenii 'e’ve heard it all before. “Think of the five women closest to you. One of them will be raped.” Although 20 percent seems high, sta tics have never really affected me. Of iurse, date rape is an issue that doesn’t ally affect me directly. But recently I (as telling a freshman she had to be iful when she goes out in college. She took my warnings about as seri- sly as I took all the literature I’ve ard since I’ve been at A&M. It’s hard to ok at a sign that says “Friends Raping riends is Bad Bull” and really be struck ith the importance of the issue. I’ve only been here a year, but I’ve Htiown people who have been raped by 0 p.m. in 404 Rudder Fa., lends or almost date raped by rangers. When you know someone who as been raped, the literature and ad •wipaigns mean a lot more. m institute of Ftorai Detigw Maybe my friend didn’t take my ad- 'utture'Building^ormorcifT ' ce ^ ()0 ser i° u sly because I’m a guy. Al- Ann Boney at 778-5902 plough guys get just as angry when ley hear about someone being sexually ssaulted, date rape still seems to be a “furl” problem. But girls are not the ly ones who care. A friend of mine from another [chool got very serious one day when ere swapping party stories. He told e a girl who hung out with his fra- rnity had been raped at a party by a y they could identify. Unfortunately arges never were pressed because e girl was afraid her sexual history ould make her look bad. mtlyat 847-0111. Thursday Columnist My friend and his fraternity brothers plan to find this guy and make him pay in not-so-legal ways. Although he is not usually a violent person, he would not think twice about inflicting pain on the scum who raped his friend. My friend’s violent desires are not just a macho display or even an at tempt to punish a fellow guy because he made our gender look bad. Guys are just as disgusted at the idea of date rape as anyone else. Maybe rapists aren’t intimidated by a Maybe date rapists aren't afraid of the law and feel they can prove that the girl was a "slut." But he will answer to her friends when the time comes. »Association: Agenefalrn#) in 401 Rudder. For more infcn it 846-9632. >ha: Donate books to‘Er \frican American Literature'a C or at cube #10 in Koldus. ftn yanzn Davis at 846-0547. sexual Aggies: OurfirslRacG: 302 Rudder For more 7-0321. Inlng: A free cookoutand •Id from 6-8 p.m at the part Building (look for the sign), something MORE are welcome ! call Julie at 846-1935. forlty: An informational meetrc| p.m. in 145 MSC. Formoreirt '-1883 on: Free Czech languageiesstnf 3-9 30 p m. in 421 Evans Lfr* 1 call David Chroust at 268-1 IOC Motivate You (ARMY): Ann Id at 7 p.m. in 601 Rudder. Fcrpj iron Metcalf at 847-7584. attalion service that lists iw f Ity events and activities. Iters tied no later than three daysr osired run date. Application Ricos are not events and will re . If you have any questions,^ rn at 845-3313. girl saying, “No.” Maybe they aren’t afraid of the law when they feel they can prove that the girl was a “slut.” But they should be ready to answer to a girl’s friends when the time comes. This goes against my belief in law and order, but I wish more rapists would get the crap beaten out of them. Although it could never come close to inflicting the same amount of pain and humiliation as their crime, it might make give a rapist one more thing to think about. It might even make him do the right thing. Girls are all very open with each other ing? rough jement >ider. when they give each other advice - stay in groups when you don’t know people at the party, don’t drink too much when you’re with a guy you don’t know too well, don’t be afraid to press charges and know the law is on your side. But the only advice guys get is, “Don’t rape some one and “No means no.” Well guys, here’s some more advice for us. Guys should not try to persuade a girl to have sex while they are mugging. If a guy does then it could end up being rape. She might say no the first time a guy asks and then give up arguing, but that is not a green light. I believe if you haven’t talked about sex in an unroman tic setting, then you should just wait and avoid any confusion. Also, guys need to know that the law is not against them. Guys joke all the time about the public relations cam paigns and the laws aimed at stopping date rape. This idea is also a dangerous trap. The jokes have to stop when you’re at a party and you see a friend taking advantage of some one. You can’t just laugh it off and hope that your friend will do the right thing. Step in and make sure he does. Also, be sure to let your female friends know that you are there for them. Watch out for them without being afraid that you’ll be act ing like their dad. Sometimes they may need you, and you will need to be there for them. We may joke about the signs we read or scoff at the statistics we hear, but they do make an important point. Date rape is not just a girl’s problem. Guys need to help prevent it, too. Michael Landauer is a sophomore journalism major OHf PM'T 1V0RRYf ^ ee me ClihlTort ^ NiSTRATioMfj The Battalion Editorial Board i&mmm -rr Belinda Blancarte, Editor in chief Mark Evans, Managing editor Jay Robbins, Opinion editor Jenny Magee, Assistant 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 information on submitting guest columns. A&M NEEDS DAY CARE Proposal should also look at student-parents As the third largest university in the nation, Texas A&M desperately needs a day care center that would provide child care for both faculty and students. A plan proposed by the Faculty Sen ate calls for day care services to meet the needs of the faculty. However, with the growing number of student-parents on this campus, the University should consider their needs as well. Excluding Bay lor and TCU, 90 percent of other major universities in the state, includ ing the University of Texas, provide and support day care facilities for their student bodies. With a student population of nearly 42,000, it would make sense to establish such a program at Texas A&M. Furthermore, students with chil dren are at a far greater disadvantage than faculty members. Faculty gener ally have more financial resources available and more time to arrange day care for their children. Students, on the other hand, generally lack both time and money and would benefit immensely if a University program helped to fulfill this need. A day care facility should certainly be available to faculty, but it rightly should strive to serve the students as well. One of a university’s top priorities should be developing progressive programs, such as day cares, that provide for faculty and student’s non-academic needs in order to facil itate education. Unfortunately, A&M lags behind in this area; most other colleges and employers already provide such services. Various plans for a University day care center have been tossed around for seven years. None have ever been implemented, for several reasons, including the lack of a campus facility and the general satisfaction with local day care. However, times have changed and A&M must make it a priority to meet the changing needs of students. Texas A&M provides many stu dent services, but the needs of stu dent-parents have been overlooked. If this proposal is passed in the Fac ulty Senate it should take into con sideration the needs of the students - the individuals who would benefit from the program the most. Fear, risk of violent crime warp lives of people throughout America ust 1995 3 year er ',onsideft [ H ear ye! Hear ye! Naked man streaks through the Quad at top speed. Serious as they may be, some of the offenses in Police Beat can be downright comical. I have occasion ally found myself chuckling along with friends as we read aloud the more hilar ious exploits. Since College Station is enowned for having one of the lowest crime rates in the country, we can af ford to chuckle, right? Wrong - dead wrong. AJA HENDERSON Columnist All chuckles stop when crime, violent or nonviolent, reaches past the confines of the newspaper or television and chokes the life of you or someone you love. All laughter ceases when violence crushes you. The day of the memorial service for Crystal Miller and Reginald Broadus, two A&M students who were murdered last summer, was a doubly somber one for me . On that same day, I found out that one of my closet friends from my home town had been carjacked. Fortunately, he had not been seriously injured, but both his car and his trusting spirit had been stolen. Oh, yeah - and he was also slightly shaken up about the ;gun that had been pointed to his head. I wonder what created the kind of monsters that take the lives of those we know, and what we can do about it. I real ly haven’t discov ered an answer yet, and neither have the leaders of our country. Is harsher pun ishment the key? I know a number of people from the Middle East, and they are always yap ping about how the crime rate in their countries is so much lower than that of the United States. I have been told that in these Middle Eastern countries, even relatively minor crimes are swift ly and severely punished. Now, I can’t say that I could swallow the idea of a person receiving 300 lashes for snatching a purse, but I bet their women don’t have to clutch their purses (or Mace) so tightly! So, is that sort of punishment needed in the United States? What about an eye for an eye? Something has to be done; it is obvious that the present system is not working. We have more people locked away than any other advanced na tion, and we still live in day-to-day fear. I don’t know of one person who feels really safe from crime, even here in white bread College Station. Some people may think that’s just life, but I think that’s just sad. Children shouldn’t be afraid to go out to play or have to wonder if their next breath will be their last, but they do. My aunt shouldn’t have to worry that someone will kidnap my brand-new baby cousin in a public place, but she does. I shouldn’t have to look over my shoulder as I I hope everyone on this campus is aware that crime is real, and it's out there. We do have our Aggie Code of Honor, but scum will be scum. head to my car in the evenings, but I do. Our self-defense class shouldn’t be one of the hardest ones to get into, but it is. Yes, I continue to look over my shoulder, be cause I know that crime can sneak up anywhere, at any time. After my friend got carjacked, all he could say was that he didn’t think it could hap pen to him. I am sure that Crystal and Reginald didn’t think something like that could happen to them either. Nonetheless, a tragedy stuck, and it struck hard. I hope everyone on this campus is aware that crime is real, and it is out there. Yes, we do have our Aggie Code of Honor; but scum will still be scum. Police Beat can occasionally give you some real kicks, but for every “naked man streaks” tidbit there is another story in which a crime has really victim ized someone - really hurt someone. So, this sad story continues day after day. When will it stop? When will the criminals of the world find their sanity, and stop all this needless pain? I hope with all of my heart that we find the answers to the perplexities of vio lence before violence captures and consumes us. One of the most detrimental responses to crime is apathy, which seems to be a growing trend these days. Adults and children alike are bombarded with gruesome images of violence by the media day in and day out, causing a numbness, a silence. We must look at the deathly misfortune that hit two of our strongest students and scream. Perhaps then, violence will listen. Aja Henderson is a sophomore finance major Aggies forget freedom of political choice Election time is a miserable period of time for me at A&M. Being a Demo crat at a Republican university isn’t the problem. The jokes and kidding that come my way aren’t the problem. The twisted looks on people’s faces when they find out I’m voting Democ rat aren’t the problem. My problem is the sadness I feel when my car van gets graffitied because it has an Ann Richards sticker on it. The problem is the sadness I feel when I’m called a “Hippie Liberal Faggot” and told to go to t.u. because I was wearing a T-shirt that poked fun at the Republican can didates. I’m not sad because these things happened. I’m sad because these things happened here. I’m sad because my fellow Aggies forgot that hundreds of other Aggies gave their lives for the freedom of choice. I just hope that before the election, my fel low Aggies will have a chance to take a long walk around the Memorial Stu dent Center and remember that they are very lucky to have a say-so in who leads their country. Mike Morris Class of ’93 Visitors block 'contract only' garage entrance I don’t understand the thought processes of some of my fellow Aggies. I paid - OK, so my parents paid, but let’s not lose sight of the real matter - $200 for a parking space in the Northside parking garage. I am one of the lucky people who gets to use the “contract only” entrance. Between the garage and Block er, there is a one-way street (Ireland Street) leading to a parking garage en trance. Three lanes, one-way, two en trances to the garage. The entrance on the right flashes “Contract Only” and the one on the left is for “Visitors” (off-cam- pus drivers). Usually the garages are full so “Visitors” must wait for someone to leave before they can enter. This causes a horrendous line to form down Ireland, University and even in the left turn lane off University. My problem is the people who have not paid $200 who insist on waiting in the far right lane so that ABSOLUTELY NO ONE can get into the contract en trance. You could sit and honk your brains out at them, but I’ll bet they aren’t going anywhere since no one can go in the garage, and certainly no one is going to back out onto University Drive to let a little red Civic into the garage. Maybe they just don’t understand. PTTS should notice the problem. Maybe we need big orange cones or something. Or maybe one of these days the contract parking fairy will wave her magic want and make all the doggone cars in my way disappear! Kasey Cooksey Class of ’9 7 The Battalion encour ages letters to the editor style, and accuracy. Address letters to: The Battalion - MaB Call space allows. Letters must be 300 words or thor's name, class, and We reserve the right to edit iettfers for length. 77343*1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: Battfeiatnvml .taimxedu