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The Battalion
Established hi 1893
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.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Mark Smith
Editor in chief
jay Robbins
Senior Managing
editor
Heather Winch
Managing editor
Business
Sterling Hayman
Opinion editor
Erin Hill
Asst, opinion editor
I-’I >llORIAI
Take a deep breath
Breathalyzer law violates rights and presumes
guilt with license revocation provision.
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ed,
Under the guise of stricter laws and
sentences for drunk drivers, the Ad
ministrative License Revocation (ALR)
will suspend the license of any driver
who is pulled over under suspicion of
driving while intoxicated and refuses
to take a breathalyzer test. It can be
argued that there is a need for stricter
penalties for DWI. However, the re
fusal clause of this law is a threat to
two of our Constitutional rights.
According to a press release from
Texans For ALR, a law enforcement of
ficer must determine that there is prob
able cause and reasonable suspicion to
stop a motorist under suspicion of DWI.
This is not a problem.
If the officer deems the driver im
paired and the driver fails a series of
field sobriety tests, the driver is arrest
ed for DWI and taken to the police sta
tion, where he or she will be asked to
take a test to measure blood alcohol lev
el. This is not a problem.
If the driver refuses to take the test
(usually a breathalyzer), his or her li
cense will be suspended.
This is a problem.
The problem with this law is that it
treats refusal to take a breathalyzer
test as if it were an admission of guilt.
In fact, the length of suspension is
longer for refusing to take the test — 90
days for a first offense — than for tak
ing it and failing, which only mandates
a 60 day license suspension.
Suspects are allowed to request a
hearing and to appeal a ruling, but they
should not be placed in that position for
refusing to take the test. This provision
comes dangerously close to violating our
constitutional rights to freedom from
unreasonable search and seizure and
self-incrimination. At best, the refusal
provision is intrusive and violates the
spirit, if not the actual words of the
Fourth and Fifth Amendments.
The new law could have quite an im
pact on Bryan-College Station — a town
with an overwhelming student popula
tion and dozens of frequented bars. It is
important to note that this law will not
only affect those who drink. Anyone re
fusing a breathalyzer test for any rea
son will be subject to the license revoca
tion — under the influence, or not.
Perhaps no one would refuse this test
unless they were trying to hide some
thing. While this line of reasoning sup
poses guilt, it does not prove it. Ameri
cans must remain vigilant against al
lowing our desire to control a criminal
behavior overshadow the rights and
freedoms of society as a whole.
Older, not wiser
Ideas, fads of youth slip away with age
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E very Christmas I
seem to come up
with some great is
sue that occupies my
thoughts for most of the
holidays. I always re
turn to school deter
mined about what I’m go
ing to do differently for
the new semester.
Apparently, the break is too long if
I’m thinking like this.. Last year, the is
sue of the holidays was deciding on (and
staying with) a major.
I chose journalism, and her I am, a
columnist for The Battalion only one
year later. So, of course, since I need
ed ideas for my first column, nothing
seemed to hit me as overly important
over the break.
Then I started thinking about how
many people my age are getting married
(or are already married), or have kids and
a career, or are getting divorced. Even
though I am nowhere near any of these
landmark events, I am on the same path
as them. Ready or not, we are all enter
ing the adult world, and that scares me.
One trip to karaoke night was enough
to assure me that most people our age
are still living up the young life. But we
are all changing. Everyone is just trying
to squeeze as much fun into four years as
they can before entering the real world.
It’s not that everyone is getting mar
ried and moving on that scares me. I
am looking forward to getting a job and
starting “the rest of my life.” What
scares me is that many of us are start
ing to think like adults, and I don’t
mean in a good way.
How many times have you and your
friends had the discussion about what
you will do when you become parents? It
seems come up more and more, and the
views get a bit more radical every time.
I have friends that don’t want to let
their kids out of the house until they are
16 years old. And while these poor kids
are locked up, they won’t be allowed to
have contact with the outside world
through television.
I can understand the desire to shelter
children with the current state of the
world but I remember when we used to
have these conversations in junior high.
We were going to be “cool
parents” and let our kids
do anything. We now re
alize this isn’t such a good
idea, but I hope we never
completely forget what we
thought at that age.
And how many times
have your and your
friends laughed at what
kids are wearing these days? Have we so
soon forgotten the days of parachute
pants, checkered vans and fluorescent
shoe laces? These make the latest teen
fashions seem pretty tasteful.
I caught myself in the midst of this
mental change while buying my
nephew’s Christmas present, a Power
Ranger doll that cost me $40. All I could
do was complain to anyone and everyone
about how ridiculously overpriced this
doll was, and how he should at least be
able to do some neat karate moves for
that price. I also had to whine about how
the doll would be discarded as soon as
the next fad enticed my nephew.
I realized the error of my ways when I
found four Cabbage Patch Kids in the
back of my closet, collecting dust. If my
memory serves me well, they cost about
$40 each, and they certainly don’t have
any talents (although they do have that
cute signature on their rear-ends).
This reminds me of the scene in “The
Breakfast Club” where the janitor advis
es the principal “The kids aren’t chang
ing, you are.” That this movie is 10 years
old makes me feel even older.
I don’t mind the fact that I’m becom
ing an adult. Like I said. I’m looking
forward to it. I see that I am already
starting to lose my open-mindedness, or
my memory, I don’t exactly know which.
But what I’m losing is something that is
important to me. I hope that this visit
from the ghost of my future can help me
mend my ways before it’s too late.
That’s what I’m determined to do this
semester—to not let the forces of aging
ruin my open mind.
And maybe next Christmas my grand
revelation will concern something really
useful—like employment.
Amy Uptmor is a junior
journalism major
Uncover Acs
Debate over wearing hats in MSC continues
When Shawn Williams, a
Texas A&M junior, entered,
the Memorial Student Cen
ter on the evening of Janu
ary 8 to check his mail, he
knew that by wearing a hat,
he was defying a long
standing Aggie tradition.
What Williams did not
know is that, by doing so, he would unmask another.
The first amendment grants the unalienable right of free
dom of choice and expression to each and every citizen of the
United States of America.
As a full-fledged citizen of this country, Shawn Williams is
allowed to exercise this right, as it long as it is within the
bounds of the law.
He is free to double strap his backpack if he chooses. That
is not against the law.
He is free to walk down the street with his shoes un
tied if he chooses. That is not
against the law.
He is free to put ranch
dressing on everything he eats
if he chooses. That is not
against the law.
He is also free to wear his hat
in the Memorial Student Center
if he chooses. Believe it or not,
that is not against the law.
I do not know if Shawn
Williams double straps, walks down the street with his shoes
untied or puts ranch dressing on everything he eats.
I do know, however, that Mr. Williams wears his hat in the
MSC. By no means am I advocating, endorsing or supporting
his practice. I am merely defending it.
It is, courtesy of the First Amendment, Shawn Williams’ un
alienable right to wear his hat in the MSC. By doing so he is
not breaking any law of this country, this state, this county,
this city or this university.
He is breaking the code of a time-honored tradition at Texas
A&M University, but he is not breaking a law. While it is
Williams’ choice to wear his hat in the MSC if he so desires, it is
also Williams’ burden to face the consequences of doing so (i.e.
verbal confrontations with tradition-abiding students).
Like Williams, a tradition-abiding student is also entitled to
exercising his or her First Amendment rights. He or she has
the right to express his or her opinion to Williams, concerning
his choice to sport a hat in the MSC.
The tact with which a student might express his or her opin
ion to Mr. Williams is not governed by law, but by morals.
Like a tradition, a moral is not a law. Unlike a tradition
(in the sense of the word as it is used at A&M), a moral is
not necessarily something that is uniform in its expression.
A moral is something personal, governed by an individual’s
feelings or beliefs.
After Williams’ encounter in the MSC with two tradition -
abiding students Who expressed their opinions to him concerning
his hat wearing practice, Williams understands, all too well, the
feelings and beliefs that govern their morals.
In defense of the tradition these two students hold so close
ly to their hearts, one of them told, not asked, Williams to
take his hat hat off and “show some respect for the Aggies
that died for your black ass.”
When Williams refused to remove his hat, it was removed for
him. An infringement on Williams First Amendment right, or
just the duty of A&M’s self-empowered tradition police?
If a tradition is not a law, a tradition does not need police to
protect it. Starting to sound like an infringement on Williams’
First Amendment rights?
Williams was upset, and rightfully so. Had the two stu
dents not taken it upon themselves to react to the situation
physically, they would have remained well within the
bounds of the law by merely expressing their opinions ver
bally, a First Amendment right.
Although I do not condone the vocabulary employed by the
tradition-abiding students, it is
not against the law for them to
speak in such a manner.
Williams tried desperately
to verbally defend his defiance
of the time-honored Aggie tra
dition, but despite such ef
forts, his opponents refused to
cease from expressing their
opinion — an unalienable
right they were not going to
deny themselves the opportunity to exercise.
The situation demanded it of them: a near empty MSC in
the secluded post office section, two white students stern in
defending an Aggie tradition and one African-American stu
dent, stern in defending his right to defy an Aggie tradition.
Three students having it out in a scuffle that has transcended
the tradition in peril. All three fully exercising their First
Amendment rights. What a country!
One of the white students made a suggestion to a seemingly
stubborn Williams: “Why don’t you go to another school where
they like your kind. I heard Prairie View is a nice school.”
Both sides enraged, the battle continued. Verbal punche —,
not physical ones — were thrown.
No laws, save the one act of infringement on Williams’ rights,
were broken, but a tradition was.
In trying to defend one time-honored Aggie tradition, the two
white students exposed within their words and within them
selves another ... the time-honored tradition of racism.
Perhaps less practiced than kissing one’s date after an Aggie
score, or honoring our fallen students at Silver Taps or taking
one’s hat off when entering the MSC, it is, nevertheless, still a
tradition practiced on this campus.
Remember, a tradition is not a law. It is your First Amend
ment right to choose not to follow one.
Drew Diener is a junior English major
It is, courtesy of the First Amendment,
Shawn Williams' unalienable right to wear
his hat in the MSC. By doing so he is not
breaking any law of this country, this state,
this county, this city or this university.
JVlAIL
Cat t
Student's refusal to take
off hat angers many
Shawn Williams says, “When he took
my hat off it became a racial issue.” Stu
dents remove their hats in the MSC in
honor of the fine Aggies, black and white,
who made Mr. Williams’ free speech pos
sible. Although I am unaware of the
severity of the altercation, removing a
fellow Aggie’s hat is not a racial state
ment. It is a subtle reminder of the re
spect that all Aggies deserve.
How ironic that Mr. Williams aims to
build consideration for minorities
through the promotion of a Multicultural
Awareness class, yet he cannot complete
the menial task of removing his hat to re
vere his own kind — Aggies. Unfortu
nately, whomever removed Mr. Williams’
hat fell into his trap.
Is it merely coincidence that the sto
ry of this “racist” incident shares the
front page with Martin Luther King,
Jr.? Dr. King’s dream stresses mutual
respect to ease race relations. Mr.
Williams’ showboating is disrespectful
to Aggies dead and alive. My apologies
if Mr. Williams was treated disdainful
ly; I am sure that the squabble height
ens his cognizance of the insult caused
by his insolent actions.
Did it ever occur to him that when
the men told him to go to a school
where he was wanted that they were
not referring to the color of his skin? If
they are like most Aggies, they are re
ferring to the fact that he was not be
having with the pride and respect char
acteristic of all true Aggies, regardless
of their skin color.
Sarah Lowe
Class of ’98
•Mr. Shawn Williams, president of
the A&M chapter of the NAACP, must be
a very confused person. He believes his
refusal to remove his hat in the MSC to
be a “racial issue.” Tell me, how does his
refusal to follow a certain tradition tie in
with his ethnic background? He said his
First Amendment rights were violated,
but I don’t believe race is mentioned in
the Bill of Rights. Is it a racial problem
simply because he is black and he doesn’t
feel like doing it?
He is correct in that I don’t fully un
derstand his reasons for not removing
his hat in the MSC, other than the
fact that he is emotionally insecure,
and breaking an honored tradition is
his petty way of asserting his man
hood. I’m sure I needn’t remind him
that the very men the MSC was dedi
cated to died fighting an empire whose
ruler wouldn’t think too highly of his
civil rights.
Yes, the First Amendment says he
doesn’t have to remove his hat in the
MSC. But I, too, am protected under
the First Amendment — and it allows
me to state my feelings just as plainly.
If he is so insecure as to blatantly dis
honor the deaths of those who fought
for him and then try to conceal his inse
curity with some vague reference to big
otry, then he is not worth the spittle I
would like to throw at his feet.
Quentin N Ellis
Class of ’95
Accompanied by 32 signatures
Aggie helps another
to recover lost wallet
As I was dragging myself back to my
dorm after completing the Houston
Marathon, I unknowingly dropped my
wallet (packed with $62, credit cards
and IDs). About five minutes after I re
turned to my room, a great Ag named
Brandi Bender called and informed me
that she had found my wallet. I am ex
tremely proud to attend a university
filled with honest and trustworthy peo
ple like Brandi.
Shea Sellers
Class of ’95
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