The Battalion • Page 11
Thursda;
L ast year , I decided that
I would kinda like to run
a marathon. Twenty-six
miles sounded like a long way
sure, but at the time the dis
tance didn’t seem real. At the
time it was only a thought. It
faded as quickly as my eyes
shifted from an advertisement
with the stick figure runners.
Somehow that thought blossomed
into a goal. Finishing the marathon
became a necessity. For an entire
year, as I trained, I envisioned crossing
the finish line. The triumph ... the glo
ry... Each of my daily work-outs
brought the possibility of finishing
closer to reality.
Now just because I began to believe
I could actually run a marathon did not
mean that the population at large,
namely my relatives and friends, be
lieved that I (or any other human be
ing) could run 26 miles straight.
“You’re gonna do what? Are you
crazy?”
“You know that Greek dude, the one
with the torch... well... he died after he
ran 26 miles.”
“Should we wait for you at the finish
line with a coffin?”
The list of encouraging words was
endless.
Everyone focused on the distance,
the pain and the stress, the fatigue. No
one thought about the process — in
cluding myself. At the time, I thought
I was training for the sole purpose of
crossing the finish line.
So there I was at 7:45 am on Jan.
15, Sunday morning, at the epoch of
my training. Actually, I was freezing
my butt off in front of the George R.
Brown Convention Center in Houston
along with the oth
er 7,000 people who
would be my neigh
bors in the moving
insane asylum.
8:00 am. Bang.
We were off. Seven
thousand people
leapt forward si
multaneously into an awesome sprint.
“Chariots of Fire” bellowed in the back
ground, as we tore away from the
starting line. Well, not exactly. Actual
ly we didn’t even move for about two
minutes. Then we sort of rap/walked
for a mile and a half until the crowd
thinned out enough to move.
During the herding process, a woman
in front of me tripped on a speed bump
like slab of cement and fell. I proceeded
to tumble over her, crashing knee-first
into the pavement. My day of glory be
gan with a resounding thud.
For a moment, while staring at the
cement, ,1 wondered why exactly I was
doing this. Then I remembered all the
other cement. Cement I had pounded
back and forth across for an entire year
getting ready for this day.
A friend helped me up — the race
began. The sky was clear, blue glass
with those little whipped cream clouds.
The breeze was just cool enough to
keep my sweat glands under control.
But the thing that made the race dif
ferent any of my typical training runs
was the people. Everywhere along the
course there were people cheering the
runners on. In the midst of such sup
port, I felt a power grow inside me. I
was invincible, or at least I was run
ning really fast.
When I saw my parents, my sister
and my boyfriend cheering me on, I
was running away and coming home at
the same time. I was running some
miles for everyone I love. And other
miles I was just running for myself.
The thing about being in a constant
state of motion for a long period of time
is that your body gets to the point
where it’s moving but you can’t feel it.
This is runner’s euphoria.
During this time, I lived in my
mind. I ran back to birth and trotted
ahead to death.
The marathon is about suffering for
an accomplishment and struggling to
reach a goal. It is like life, but not real
ly. Life is much harder.
No one cheers us on every step of the
way during everyday life. We don’t
start our classes at the beginning of the
semester with the wave. We celebrate
at graduation. We normally don’t tell
the ones we love how wonderful they
are. No, we wait for a holiday or a fight.
Life normally lacks the intermediate
cheering process. We applaud the large
leaps and shun the steps.
In actuality, hum-drum, everyday
turmoil often wears on us faster than
tackling a large project. Think about
how many projects fail in the first
mile because no one is there to help
us when we fall.
I will always cherish this experi
ence. It was wonderful to have the
most important people in my life there
when I crossed the finish line, but it
was more wonderful that they were
there along the way.
Crossing the finish line wasn’t the
most important step of the marathon,
it just happened to be the last one.
Jenny Magee is a junior
journalism major
The Battalion
Established in 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
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EDITORIAL BOARD
Mark Smith
Editor in chief
Jay Robbins Heather Winch
Senior Managing Managing editor
editor for Business
Sterling Hayman
Opinion editor
Erin Hill
Asst, opinion editor
Agonizing Audit
A&M Administration must seek to avoid
future problems with new policies.
Texas A&M has received its fair
share of negative publicity in recent
months. The state audit results re
leased on January 6 have added even
more fuel to this never-ending fire.
The audit revealed that the University
has consistently ignored state
policies, procedures and laws.
Texas A&M has always
been famous for its “hon
or, credibility and in
tegrity,” but due to the
carelessness of some offi
cials, this image has re-
cently been somewhat
tarnished. \
Administrators and top
officials are appointed to their ^
positions not only with the expec
tation of responsible job performance,
but also to represent the University in
the most dignified and positive manner
possible. When these officials fail to ful
fill these requirements and waste mil
lions of dollars, because of mismanage
ment, they are not best serving the in
terests of the students, faculty or image
Texas A&M University.
The irresponsible maimer in which
the system has been managed has been
made apparent by several recent gaffs.
Ross Margraves, former chairman of
the Board of Regents, resigned while
being investigated by the Texas
Rangers for illegally purchasing alco
hol with state funds. A cogeneration
power plant, which was to cost A&M
up to $120 million, was scrapped be
cause of funding confusion. And
former vice-president for fi
nance and administration
Robert Smith was convict
ed of soliciting gifts as a
public servant.
Such actions of mis
management are inex
cusable and have allowed
scandal to embarrass the
the students and alumni of
the school.
If the University administra
tors expect the students to abide by
the Aggie Code of Honor, they too
should live up to these standards. By
being wasteful and irresponsible, top
officials do not set good examples for
the student body to follow.
Better management procedures
have been implemented, but this is no
sure guarantee that the same sort of
problems will not arise again. For
A&M’s credibility to be restored, exist
ing problems must be resolved and fu
ture ones avoided.
yez\.ce .
19-
Mail
O 11
Assailants, not victim
were wrong in actions
According to an article on January 17,
two men assaulted Shawn Williams for
not removing his hat in the MSC. By ex
ercising his freedom of expression, Mr.
Williams experienced a completely inap
propriate incident that never should
have occurred. I believe the aggressive,
offensive behavior displayed toward Mr.
Williams must not be condoned nor re
peated. He was not wrong in his action.
However, the assailants were.
Yet, I would like to pose a simple
question. Why not remove the hat? Af
ter all, what does the MSC stand for? It
stands as a war memorial to those who
have given their lives in defense of the
freedoms we hold so dear.
I realize that this means little to some
people, but put yourselves in the place of
those soldiers or their family members.
Men and women died for no particular
race not religion, but for the PEOPLE of
the United States of America.
Have we lost respect for the memo
ries of those who gave up everything to
defend this country and make it what it
is today? Let’s put this type of situation
in perspective. If, while visiting the
MLK Center, I saw a sign requestion I
remove my hat, I certainly would, even
though I have the right to wear it. Dr.
King was a great man. He deserves the
respect of all Americans. Do those ser
vice men and women who died for this
country not deserve the same?
Yes, it’s your right to wear a hat in
the MSC, but if you do, please consider
why you still have that right.
Tradition should be
respected from all
This letter is in regards to the “un
covering” incident with Mr. Shawn
Williams in the Memorial Student Cen
ter. Mr. Williams has joined a group of
Americans who believe their rights
take prescience over their duties as
citizens. I hate to give them the atten
tion they are desperately seeking.
However I feel they need to be remind
ed, especially a person in his leadership
position, that along with rights came
responsibilities and respect.
The persons commemorated by the
Memorial Student Center sacrificed
their lives for the rights of all Ameri
cans; Red, White, and Blue.
Jeff Strauss
Class of ’98
Racism, discrimination
didn't play a part
There is a large brass plaque in the
MSC which reads: “Greater love hath
no man than this that a man lay down
his life for his friends.” John 15:14 Un
derneath this statement are the names
of Aggies who have given their lives in
defense of our country in past wars. It
reminds me of part of a poem by the
African American Paul Lawrence Dun
bar called ‘The Colored Soldiers’.
“...In the early days you scorned them.
And with many a flit and flout.
Said these battles are the whiteman’s
And the whites will fight them out.
Then you called the Colored Soldiers,
And they answered you call...”
Are you, Shawn Williams, too proud
to bare your head for men whether
they be us or them, black or white, red
or yellow, brown or pink, green or
blue, purple or violet? Talk of your
racism and minority discrimination.
We know the truth.
Democratic agenda failed
Party lost elections because policies didn't solve problems
J ust when Bill Clinton
thought it was safe to read
the Opinion Page... Allow
me to introduce myself: I’m
your friendly voice of reason
from the Right. Yep, I’m a Con
servative writing for The Bat
talion (sit down and breathe
deeply if necessary).
Before finals, I went out to
dinner with a terrific young
woman (yes, I actually had a date). We spent a lot of time
talking about ways women tell men they aren’t interested.
She was amazed at how we men never seem to get the clue. (I
took mental notes because I knew my roommates would want
to hear this and because I wondered whether she was trying
to tell me something.)
My beautiful date got me thinking. Last November’s elec
tions seemed to me to be a great big clue... and many in
Washington still hadn’t gotten it.
Those of you from Beaumont may remember Jack Brooks.
He used to be your Representative. According to Mr. Brooks,
he lost the election because the people from Beaumont just
didn’t understand his message. I heard this explanation over
and over from Democrats who lost.
Message understood, send out your resumes.
Let’s face it, the policies and plans that these people have
championed for the past 40 years have landed us in a world
of hurt. Of course it is our generation that will get to fix this
mess and pay the bills. The people who have been running
things recently spent too much time setting up communes
and inhaling — well, most of them.
However, one thing they did that we should do more: they
got involved. Granted, they may not remember much of it,
but our parents’ generation changed things. Now it’s our
turn. I’ve spent some time thinking over some simple clues I
want to offer.
Clue one: Welfare... we give money to the poor; therefore,
we are doing something — therefore we care.
Remember, the 60’s were all about caring ... peace, love,
roll that thing tighter, etc. The result is that people have no
incentive to work. In fact, the percentage of population below
the poverty line now is about the same as when LBJ took-off
on his Great Society adventure.
The government has spent trillions on this failure of a
plan. (That’s 1,000,000,000,000+ — or enough to pay off my
n student loans.) Time for a new idea.
The Republicans’ Contract With America makes for some
interesting reading (Santa Claus gave it to me). The Con
tract, co-authored by House Majority Leader Dick Armey of
Texas, offers the Personal Responsibility Act (PRA). To sum
marize, the PRA transfers effective control to the states and
stops payments to deadbeats who can work, but won’t.
Clue 2: Crime.
Here’s a great plan to cure crime on the streets of America
— gun control. Everybody knows that if something is illegal,
it won’t happen. For example, my Celica has never exceeded
the legally posted speed limit, and gee, Wally, I’ve never been
passed by anyone else speeding either.
Remember that incident in front of the White House last
semester? I’ll remind you.
While out for a walk one brisk fall day, it seems that a
certain young man thought it would be a splendid idea to
have target practice on our esteemed New Democrat’s pri
vate residence.
Boys and girls, this incident never happened. Why, you
ask? Well for several years now personal possession of any
firearm has been illegal in Washington D.C. And we all
know that if they make a problem illegal then that problem
will go away.
By the way, did anyone else notice what kind of weapon
was used? It couldn’t have been an assault rifle... those were
just made illegal the previous month. It’s time to treat the
disease, not the symptom.
For the third clue let’s ask the elementary school kids in
Barrington, Rhode Island, about their Christmas pageant.
It seems the superintendent of schools found the word
“Christ” too offensive to be in the Christmas program. Our
hero therefore decided that the children could sing no song
with “Christ” in it.
Merry mas?
It seems that separation of church and state has become
the removal of all church from the state. What’s left when
you take away the values and morals taught by religion?
Ever hear of ethics? You know — those rules that Congress
men follow. Does anyone really think this country would be
better if we all behaved like Congressmen?
Is this what we want? It’s up to us. We can make a differ
ence, but we have to do something.
Right now, I have to figure out what my date meant.
David Taylor is a senior management major
David
Taylor
Columnist
Matt Stahman
Graduate Student
John Williams
Class of ’94