SPORT!
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Parents should take more
responsibility around children
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Football
SCREENS!
Y-
le
ials 8-10
I am one of the
people who
sees a small
child in a grocery
store and oohs
and aahs for sev
eral minutes. I
can not resist chil
dren. I don’t care
about their color, age, size or mood. My friends
are occasionally even annoyed by my obsession. I
am convinced that every child is bom perfect.
And that is why I am insanely, overwhelmingly,
incredibly furious at some of the events reported in
the media recently.
Before I begin, I want to say that I realize that
the comparisons between these two cases end with
the fact that both were parents who murdered
their children. One was involuntary and the other
was deliberate and evil, but the current trend of
murdering children is revolting and infuriating.
The thought of Susan Smith pleading insanity
makes me weak with anger. I can’t read the sto
ries about her watching the children die without
tears welling up in my eyes. Over-emotional?
Maybe, but I can’t calm my anger because I can’t
explain her actions. Children speak to me. Their
innocence and purity is all encompassing. No part
of any child is evil. Watching children die — your
own children, by your own hand — is unimagin
able.
At least she can claim insanity.
Today, I opened my Battalion and read that an
other child was murdered by her own father.
Robert Crabtree, a man caught in the throes of
power that come when you hold a gun, shot and
killed his daughter as she played a childish prank
on him.
For those of you who missed the story, Crabtree
is one of the gun-toting Americans who is frantic
at the thought of someone invading his “castle.”
His 14-year-old daughter hid with one of her
friends in a closet, then began making noises to
scare her parents as they came home early last
Sunday. Granted, their small town had had eight
burglaries in the past month, but trigger-happy
Crabtree did not even pause to see who it was
jumping out of the closet. As his daughter, Matil
da, jumped out and yelled “Boo,” he shot and killed
her.
Not only is this a painful, tragic, needless
death, it is additional proof that gun control is
sorely needed in the United States.
Gee whiz, one of my friends might jump out and
scare me. There has been a rash of crimes in the
Bryan/College Station area, you know. Maybe I
should carry a gun in my backpack. No, now that I
think about it, maybe we should all carry guns in
our belts. What if someone flips us off, or ap
proaches us in a manner that might be construed
by our overanxious minds as threatening, and we
don’t have our handy .357 in instant reachable dis
tance?
Maybe we would find out they were just trying
to play a prank on us.
If Mr. Crabtree hadn’t had a gun in the house,
Matilda would be alive and still laughing at the
funny trick she had played on her parents. In
stead, her father is mourning her death and she
and everything she could have been is lost forever.
Children should be treasured and loved each
and every second they are alive. Anything that en
dangers children, from guns lying around the
house to mothers who do not appreciate their chil
dren, should be removed with haste.
I know that it is trite and has been said hun
dreds of times before, but I truly need to know:
Why on earth do you need a license to drive, to
vote and to hunt defenseless animals, but any ordi
nary person was created with the organs necessary
to produce another living being?
Someone should have been able to stop Smith
from having children, or at least from keeping
them. And anyone who thinks that it is necessary
to keep a loaded, easily accessible gun in the house
where young kids are playing — I’m not even go
ing to touch using it on them — does not deserve
to have children in the first place.
The next time I see a child, I know
that I will still feel warm inside and
make goofy faces at him/her, but my re
action will have changed. Now I will
wonder if their parents hug them and
tell them how perfect they are. If they
take care of them and encourage them
to develop their personalities. If they
are secretly planning to drown them, or
if they have a gun around that goes off too easily.
Why can’t children be kept free from the
tragedies that surround adult life?
Elizabeth Preston is a junior English major
ELIZABETH
PRESTON
Children should be treasured and loved
each and every second they are alive.
Anything that endangers children should
be removed with haste.
Aggie tradition gone awry
Historian gives tips for taking care of campus statues
CHARLES R.
SCHULTZ
Guest Columnist
F irst there was Lawrence Sulli
van Ross; known far and wide
as Sully. Then along came
the venerated Twelfth Man. Now
James Earl Rudder has come.
Three wonderful bronze statues for
three giants in Aggie history and
tradition. Aggies everywhere love,
adore and honor all three, more
than students anywhere else love the giants of their insti
tutions. It is a widely accepted truth that Aggies, whether
they are current students or former students, love every
aspect of their school more than students from any other
college or university. And they demonstrate that love
through gifts of money and services.
Add to these statues the bronze sculptures of the Cen
tennial Eagle, the Victory Eagle, the Arch 602 (the student
with his dog), the Silver Taps memorial, the base of the
flagpole in front of the Academic Building and the Robert
J. Kleberg statue and you quickly realize that A&M proba
bly has more bronze sculpture on its campus than just
about any other academic institution.
Most outdoor sculptures have been largely ignored un
less they were the victims of malicious or mischievous van
dalism or some natural calamity such as a storm. Howev
er, this has not been the case at Aggieland. As early as
1927, Aggies have been showering their love, affection and
energy on Sully by polishing him to a high gloss.
Recent studies by professional conservators have provid
ed convincing evidence that the neglect suffered by many
bronze and other outdoor sculptures throughout the United
States has caused them to suffer decay. This lead to a na
tionwide survey of the condition of outdoor sculpture coor
dinated by the Smithsonian Institution and conducted by
volunteers in every state and virtually every county. The
study in Brazos County shows that the sculptures here,
nearly all of which are on the A&M campus, have fared
quite well although many of them do need some attention.
However, the attention that is needed is different from
what they have been receiving.
Through a variety of experiments and studies, museum
professionals have learned that bronze sculptures need reg
ular attention to preserve the original patina that the
sculptures give them and to protect them from acts of van
dalism as well as from the hazards of occasional bird drop
pings and polluted air.
The treatment needed to best protect and preserve
bronze sculpture includes regular washing with a special
soap followed by a thorough rinsing with copious amounts
of water. This should be followed by an application of a
special paste wax that is applied with brushes. A modest
polishing with an old T-shirt or some other soft cloth brings
out a nice shine to the sculpture. Treatment of this nature
about every six months will assure that each bronze sculp
ture will retain the dark, rich patina provided by the origi
nal sculptor. It will also assure a shiny but dark appear
ance, which bronze is supposed to have. Bronze was never
intended to glitter like gold.
Thus, I issue this plea. Please Aggies, no brasso on Gen
eral Rudder, and no more brasso on Sully, the Twelfth
Man, the Silver Taps memorial, the base of the flagpole at
the Academic Building or any other piece of bronze on cam
pus. Instead, give each one a good scrubbing with appro
priate soap and water and then a protective covering of
wax. Such action will show true love, devotion, affection,
attention, and whatever else you want to show to these gi
ants of Aggie lore and will. But at the same time, assure
that they retain the appearance that the original sculptor
intended and that they will always remain clean and beau
tiful for both students and visitors to enjoy.
In spite of the copious amounts of brasso and other pol
ishes that have been applied to Sully in the past six
decades, he can still be restored to his original appearance
with the help of a professional bronze conservator. Texas
is fortunate have one in Dallas. Since 1994 is the 75th an
niversary of the dedication of the statue of Sully, what
more fitting birthday gift could Aggies give him than to re
store him to the original rich, dark patina he had when he
was dedicated.
That original hue is readily evident of the photographs
taken when the statue was unveiled. Those and many oth
er pictures of Sully and all the other outdoor sculptures on
campus are available in the collections of the University
Archives in the Sterling C. Evans Library.
Charles R. Schultz
Professor and Clements Archivist and Chair,
Brazos County Historical Commission
The Battalion
Editorial Board
Belinda Blancarte, Editor in chief
Mark Evans, Managing editor
Jenny Magee, Opinion editor
Sterling Hayman, Asst, opinion editor
''"r :
Editorials app
the views of the edi
necessarily reflect the
Battalion staff me mb
student body, regents, «
or staff.
Columns, guest columns, car
letters express the opinions of the au
Contact the opinion editor for ir
on submitting guest columns.
Guilty as charged
Former A&M VP convicted of soliciting gifts
Jurors found Texas former A&M
Vice President Robert Smith guilty
of asking Barnes & Noble Book
stores, Inc. to pay for his wife’s air
fare, meals and entertainment dur
ing a June 1993 trip to New York
City. Smith’s conviction is rightly
justified as he sold out Texas A&M
and its students, and his actions
Should be viewed with the same dis
dain West Point students felt about
Benedict Arnold.
Smith’s conviction sets an exam
ple for other A&M administrators
and faculty that the community will
not tolerate abuse from administra
tors, nor will they permit free reign
over the school’s financial perks
without enforcing punishment.
Students should serve as watch
dogs for the A&M community and
care about administrator’s actions,
as it is their money that is being
used in illegal ways. These adminis
trators invest little if anything fi
nancially to this institution, and
abuse will not be tolerated. Aggie’s
do not lie, cheat or steal, unlike
Smith. To rid the University of
those administrators who do, Aggie
Mom’s and the Former Student Asso
ciation should continue to actively
serve as watchdogs.
Smith’s conviction was triggered
by an anonymous letter which was
sent to Gov. Ann Richards, leading
the Texas Rangers and FBI to con
duct investigations. Without such
watchdogs and concerns, A&M has
the potential to be exploited and
abused. All that is required of stu
dents is that they keep their eyes
and ears open, questioning things
that seem unusual.
Students should become curious
and inquire where their money is
sent. They should inquire about the
salary of their faculty, and realize
that it is their money which helps
keep this University functioning.
This University is also funded by
grants and donations from corpora
tions, and that financial source
should not be risked by the abuse of
administrators.
Texas A&M should be investigat
ed thoroughly, with the support of
the students, to rid the school of all
administrative illnesses. By doing
so, Texas A&M will be able to move
forward into the 21 century competi
tively and retain the reputation it
has built throughout the years as a
fine and outstanding University.
A&M cannot continue to bear the
burden of greedy administrators.
lisp
GLBA deserves funding
at both A&M and SFA
I am proud of the article you ran on the
front page about the Gay and Lesbian Stu
dent Association at Stephen F. Austin
University, and the accompanying editori
al on the opinion page in Tuesday’s Batt. I
hope it serves to remind people that dis
crimination is still occurring all around us.
There are a few points, however, which
I would like to be perfectly clear. First,
when SFA’s student government stripped
the GLSA of a mere Si06 which had al
ready been allocated while leaving other
organizations’ funding untouched, it was
obvious that the action was discriminato
ry. There is no other explanation. Sec
ond, the GLSA president states that 10-
percent of SFA’s student body is homosex
ual. Finally, at no time during the GLBA
meetings here, nor the meetings of the
GLBA when I was at the University of Al
abama, nor do I imagine at SFA, did any
one advocate violating the law. You don’t
believe me? But to the student govern
ment at SFA, and its sympathizers here,
don’t deny us due process. And don’t
deny us funding to which we are entitled
simply on the basis of our name. To do so
only demonstrates the depths of discrimi
nation which still exists around us all.
Frank Thomas, Jr.
Graduate Student
Student is fed up with
unequal treatment
If you are a minority, you could have
gone to the Student Counseling Center
on Thursday afternoon for “walk-in
counseling.” I am a non-minority. I
have been on a waiting list in the Stu
dent Counseling Center for over a
month, with no hopes of getting in any
time soon. Not only does having a
walk-in time keep non-minorities wait
ing, but for some reason, it appears that
a minority’s problems are more impor
tant than a non-minority’s. Can we say
DISCRIMINATION? My money that
goes to support the service is just as
good as a minority’s, or is it?
Chris Bradford
Class of ‘95
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