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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 1994)
• September 16, day* September 16, 1994 Opinion The Battalion • Page 7 ; ■. ■ jearing in The Battilij >f the editorial board.!., ly reflect the opinions! taff members, the Tel y, regents, adminisfcj st columns, cartoonsi'j )pinions of the authors. L inion editor for infomi* j i columns. ipirit does not a good Ag make [vowed two-percenter still believes spirit of Aggie Code of Honor CONSTANCE PARTEN r ac ver the last four years I’ve been accused of be ing a “two-percenter” lore times than I can remem- r. These accusations stem Bom the fact that I can count Be number of football games I’ve attended in the last four years on one hand, and that I’m not particularly fond of Bonfire . , (although I did actually go one i nterventifime—whoop). B So, there it is — I’m a Bad y of Haiti to their* 0r am I? s the appallingnati« 1 take Silver Taps and Aggie re Haitians’ plight. ■ uster ver y seriously, irninistrationhasinfl And I’ve never even contem- s with the dilemiBated walking on the grass or e of action on thefl«earing a hat in the MSC. ■d States, dependeniB But above all, I’ve never bro- -power role in worl: ken the Aggie Code of Honor. 1 out its threat oft You know - that little thing ids to maintain ihi: that says “Aggies do not lie, nd military credit: cheat or steal.” iw can the Un::p Gene Zdziarsky, director of States make demsHtudent Life said he takes the of other nations ! Aggie Code of Honor very seri- cannot even Jjusly also. tie unrest™ Zdziarsky has seen to it that just outshflliany students have been sus- borders? Staclp Schrajl JL spokes:| ■j*" for the l| embasi; ''' Haiti, t| , CNN yeilf day: “Thefil in Haiti is I fight for the soJ Haitian people.'; ummation contairi: s for invasion. The If; nly power that caul lumanity in Haiti.! worn to solve the pi lended from the University Iven for first time offenses. I Last year there were 41 cas- Is of lying (usually cases of pro liding false information), 12 , • i , Jases of cheating and 74 cases ust act if it intent, I f stealing Zdziarsky said . € r° e ,° SU n perp0 W O ur of these students were ex- as^ahied UeDa gelled and six were suspended gin with? Apparently the up per classmen on this campus aren’t instilling in new stu dents the importance of holding the Aggie Code of Honor in high regard, because theft in partic ular is a growing problem. Just this summer I was ripped-off by an Aggie thief. After the lecture in my History 106 class ended (I finally broke down and took that course), I went to the front of the room to discuss the final with the pro fessor and left my backpack and umbrella at my desk. When I went back to my desk, my backpack was there but my umbrella was gone. Now, this wasn’t just any umbrella. My uncle, Class of ’43, gave it to me when I first came to school at A&M and just like many seemingly minor things that are stolen, it held a lot of sentimental value. By the way, it’s a maroon, heavy canvas umbrella with a curved, blonde wood handle and blonde wood tips at the Maybe the threat of listing the perpetrators' names in The Bat talion would deter students from lying, cheating or stealing. Guest Columnist is the only option le: Although this seems like very few offenses for a campus f 40,000 students, it’s actually a lot when you consider that all offenders are not caught. And aren’t Aggies supposed to be above such crimes to be- ends of the frame. If you see anyone carrying an umbrella fitting this description, grab the umbrella, beat them repeat edly on the head with it (care ful - don’t break the umbrella) while screaming at them what a worthless heathen they are. Then return the umbrella to The Battalion, room 013 Reed- McDonald. You will be duly rewarded. Obviously I’m still not over the loss. You should see me on rainy days scoping the horizon, searching longingly through a sea of maroon umbrellas for my kidnapped little bumbershoot. This incident not only made me very sad, but also very aware that theft really is a problem on this campus. So what are we as Aggies to do about this problem? Well, the first step could be to request tougher punishments for all the students who break the Aggie Code of Honor. Maybe the threat of listing their names in The Battalion would deter students from ly ing, cheating or stealing. Or, maybe if we beat the hell ’outta thieves, liars and cheaters (as I suggested earlier) instead of t.u. and Tech all the time we could have a lower in cidence of crime and academic misconduct. For all you good Ags - and there are a lot of you out there - thank you. I have heard countless stories of students being tracked down to have their senior rings returned to them. I’ve seen signs all over campus for “found” objects, and have even had a twenty dollar bill that I dropped between classes returned to me. These acts of goodwill are all indicative of what it means to be an Aggie and to carry the Aggie spirit. See - it isn’t about winning the Southwest Conference Championship or watching a funeral pyre burn for a cow named Bevo. It’s about camaraderie and the love of honesty and loyalty we share that creates the Spirit of Aggieland. Constance Parten is a senior journalism major we (zeopp? NEW Mail Call Football deserves spotlight Upon picking up my copy of today’s Battalion, I was astounded that our football team failed to re ceive front-page recognition. Instead, I read about endangered species and Harris County’s death penalty rate. I do recognize that these are impor tant issues, but what about something more local. After all the hard work that Coach R.C. Slocum, his staff and the Aggie football players have put in, shouldn’t they receive a little more recognition than this for beating the hell outta of O.U.! The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Football Team deserves to be in the spotlight for everything that they bring to this place we call Aggieland. Scott Thacker Class of ’96 End religious-secular bickering Josef Elchanan’s views were very offensive in his column (Sept. 13) on religion and freedom in America. Separation of church and state in the Constitution has, recently, been pushed to the lim its. Our forefathers meant that the government should not impose a set religion for everyone, not for there to be no religion. Elchanan crossed the line when he said that re ligious groups trying to defy the Constitutional guarantees that ensure separation of church and state offend and threaten every American. I am an American, and I am not offended or threatened. “Outright prayer in classrooms” is op tional and voluntary, so he should not feel threat ened. Saying that the ideas of Creationism were “backward and illogical” was too much! How can Elchanan look around at nature and at the stars in the sky and say God did not create these? Elchanan said that those who say this country was founded on religion, lie and tamish the names of those who sacrificed their lives for it.” God let us win the war(s) for this country, and He appar ently did not want or need those people (who died in the wars) on Earth anymore. Even though it is hard for us to handle death, we have to accept God’s plan. The Bible says, “Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one an other” (Romans 14: 13a). Let us stop this constant bickering between the “religious” and “nonreligious.” Jason O’Neill Class of ’98 The Battalion encourages let ters to the editor and will print as many as space allows. Letters must be 300 words or less and include the author's name, class, and phone number. We 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- mi Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: Batt@tamvmt.tamu.edu during a Civil War battle during which a North Carolina brigade refused to retreat. It was as if they had tar on their heels. uNW EBSVTf (oENTtF'CATtON Sfc3 or apologized for, influence to that, America portant issue of ; state in the issue. need and insist legislator, nister should have 3 body. This is le only defense ever, because of his topic, I will list joint. is conference opulation. There the world t desperately fora, >rtion activists ! children born ould be forced to •nancy, facing offering, then the e placed in a hllions of perfect hunger, sticking its nose es are saturated / American )f the church’s n spite of this holds a position of s; but that ica should run ows abortions. 1 it, and it has i few countries itionally ing drunk ild wield its istantly. The of our society, no ited, must be : fought tooth and le international ie face of close- Two forms of student 1 11 4.99 Hat, one size fits all. Men’s T-shirt, M, L, XL, 100% cotton. I . «MTne MIMIE in I raniMCII Imtsismimiiwmsmtsl $fismraII mmn ©IMO ca IN ASSOCIMIOl WITH M INllflillNHINI INI @ INI 1)111 IHIIIKIHUINI liar English maj° r OPENS FRIDAY SEPTEMBER P AT A THEATRE NEAR YOU.