Monday • March 27, 1995
The Battalion • Page 11
Affirmative action draws scrutiny
Republicans attempt to annihilate much-needed proactive program
A ffirmative action gives
all the good jobs to
minorities. It keeps
the most qualified persons
from getting the positions
they deserve. It does noth
ing but create bias. It
should be abolished.
That is all I ever heard
about affirmative action while growing up. Everything I ever
applied for that a person of color received instead of me — be
it a scholarship or a job — was blamed on equal opportunity
programs the government created to make things “more fair.”
Then a study was published last week that blew “every
one’s” results right out of the water.
It seems that affirmative action isn’t nearly as much
about race as it is about gender.
The Labor Department discovered that, of all the minori
ties affirmative action is meant to help, it has helped white
women the most.
Nevertheless, congressmen are trying to abolish affirma
tive action because, as Bob Dole put it, “this race-counting
game has gone too far.”
I wonder if Mr. Dole and others will reconsider the
worth of this program now that is has come to light that
it has had the most impact on the while race ... even if
it is “just women.”
It will be a shame if this is the reason. But affirmative
action deserves a chance because it gives people who have
traditionally faced discrimination a better chance at getting
many things they deserve.
The United States has traditionally been dominated by
white men. This is no secret. Open any history book and
compare the number of white men you study to the number
of women and minorities. No blame can be put on anyone
for the past. But because of the past, women and minorities
still need extra help at times to overcome the obstacles that
remain in existence.
Affirmative action will be needed in some form as long as
bias exists in the work place, and that will most likely be a
long time. What needs to be changed the most are the mis
conceptions that go along with affirmative action.
Besides the fact that many people have always believed
that affirmative action is only for ethnic minorities, too
many people also believe that those minorities see affirma
tive action as a free ride.
While it may be true that affirmative action in some in
stances has been abused, most people affected by this pro-
Amy
Uptmor
Columnist
gram see it as an opportunity, not as a free ride.
As a woman, I see affirmative action as a safeguard that
will ensure me that potential employers will look at me and
see a qualified individual, not just a woman.
Affirmative action is not meant to take jobs away from
the “best applicant.”
It is meant to make sure that the opportunity to have
that job is equal for all qualified applicants.
And by saying “best applicant,” it is usually implied that
a male, usually white, is being denied. This means that a
bias is not being catered to because of affirmative action.
That is the idea.
Many affirmative action programs are voluntarily man
dated by businesses. This self-policing could be out of para-
As a woman, I see affirmative action as a
safeguard that will ensure me that potential
employers will look at me and see a quali
fied individual, not just a woman.
noia, but it could just as easily be done because many man
agers are beginning to see how biased many businesses are,
and they want to change it.
Affirmative action is by no means the answer to all the
problems of bias in the workplace, but it is a start.
Affirmative action needs to be closely examined and
changed to ensure that it truly does give equal opportunity
to minorities. But it is a necessary programs, and it should
not be done away with yet. Its good points definitely out
weigh its bad ones.
It is a shame that affirmative action is necessary, but
equality does not exist. White males are still paid almost
twice as much as white females and most blacks.
Women and minorities need affirmative action to contin
ue their advancement up the ladder of success — up to the
place where white males sit alone. This climb could take
years. But, opportunity-wise, women and minorities have
centuries of catching up to do.
Affirmative action is shaping up to be a key issue in the
upcoming presidential race. It will be interesting to see
what stand candidates will take on the issue. Hopefully, a
person will be elected that sees that opportunity without af
firmative action is not necessarily “equal opportunity.”
Amy Uptmor is a junior journalism major
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Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of
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Mark Smith
Editor in chid
Jay Robbins Heather Winch
Senior Managing Managing editor
editor for Business
Sterling Hayman
Opinion editor
Erin Hill
Asst, opinion editor
Editorial
Women’s Week
This achievements of women should be
observed on the A&M campus.
This week is Women’s History
Week. It is a time to not only reflect on
the past accomplishments of women,
but to also increase the appreciation of
the impacts that women continue to
make on our society.
It was not too long ago that
women only could attend classes at
Texas A&M if they were the daugh
ters of faculty members. This prac
tice changed under the Admin
istration of A&M President
James E. Rudder, and in
1963 A&M began to freely
admit female students.
Even so, it was years lat
er before women were al
lowed to join the Corps of
Cadets. It was later still that
they were allowed to march as
part of the Aggie Band. '
It was only last year that
Brooke Leslie became the first
woman to be elected A&M’s Stu
dent Body President.
And the current A&M System
Board of Regents has only three fe
male members.
Enrollment of women at A&M has
increased over the years.
However, women currently only
make up 41.5 percent of the student
population — a figure that lags be
hind the female population of many
other universities, as well as that
state and nation.
All of this indicates that A&M
still has a ways to go before women
are truly equally represented. How
ever, A&M is hardly alone. The dis
crimination against women is a
problem that is still prevalent
throughout our society.
Sexism is still alive and well
— in the workplace, educa
tional institutions and in so
ciety in general.
This year’s Women’s His
tory Week celebration empha
sizes the importance of the
women’s suffrage movement.
What is unfortunate is
that this is only the 75th an
niversary of women’s suffrage. Our
country is more than 200 years
old, and yet women have only
been allowed to vote for less
than half of that time.
Progress has been made. How
ever, we cannot truly say that so
ciety is yet gender blind.
Students should be encouraged to
participate in this week’s activities,
and the University should attempt to
better represent the female popula
tion of this campus.
MAIL
CALL
Story should have mentioned
location of A&M International
We have always thought that one of the first
lessons a journalist learns when writing an article
is to answer the who, what, when, where and why
questions related to the story.
However, on the front page of the March 20 is
sue of The Battalion a story entitled “Bill speeds
through Legislature, despite opposition” answered
all of the above questions except the where?
Although it was not printed, we know that
Texas A&M International University is in Laredo,
only because we are from there.
Yet, those Aggies not familiar with South Texas
were probably left wondering where.
TAMIU is located. Was the exclusion of a fact so vi
tal as the location done in error, or was it intentional.
Carrisa M. Mardiros
Andrea Ramirez
Class of ’96
Looking at pictures of nude
models compromises morals
I am writing in response to Deric Walpole’s and
Shelly Cormier’s letters on March 22.
I agree 100 percent that Playboy is “highly
detrimental” to those who look at the pictures of
naked women.
While looking at those pictures, one usually
lusts after the women. Looking at another woman,
besides your wife in a lustful way is just like com
mitting adultery with her.
This is detrimental to a relationship with a wife
or even a girlfriend because one is having an affair
in their mind with another woman.
A person may say they can stop when they get
a girlfriend, but I know that is not true because I
used to think the same way, and I was proven
wrong.
As for Cormier, if she thinks that the women in
Playboy represent art, then she should see the
beauty in it.
I assert that those poses are associated with
sexual acts and are very far from good taste.
Lust, pornography and orgies are wrong and are
not beautiful.
I agree that the presence of human bodies, a
husband and a wife alone, is a very beautiful
thing. However, when it is put out for others to
see, it becomes disgusting and perverse.
•Jonathan Snead
Class of ’9 7
Darla Levens
Class of ’95
Many differences can be found
in Smith, Simpson proceedings
Amy Uptmor’s column on March 20 was idiotic.
Is it possible that she really has no understanding
of and is perplexed by why people differ in their
opinions of O.J. and Susan Smith?
She obviously has no appreciation of our legal
system and no logic skills.
Susan Smith admitted to killing her two chil
dren. She said she did it. Why should we have
sympathy for her — regardless of her mental state?
She admitted committing a cold-blooded murder,
and she should be prosecuted to the full extent of
the law.
Simpson, however, says he is not guilty.
If Uptmor did not know, our legal system is
based on an “innocent until proven guilty” model.
This means that we cannot, in any fair way,
say the Juice is guilty when he, in fact, says he
is not.
We must take his word as true until it can be
disproven. This is what the court case is for.
People sympathize with Simpson because they
don’t want him to be guilty.
People hate Smith because she has admitted
guilt. It is Simpson’s right to be given a trial to de
termine his innocence.
We cannot prejudge him.
This premature accusation by Uptmor is typical
of her ill-informed half-truthed style.
M.P. Catalina
Class of ’95
Pat Robertson, Pat Buchanan
differ in political ideologies
In the midst of David Taylor’s long polemic on
liberal “closed-mindedness,” this liberal reader ac
tually found a statement with which he could
agree: “Gee,” Taylor writes, “not only am I closed-
minded, I’m kinda’ slow, too.”
No argument there.
How else can one explain Taylor’s slight confu
sion over the Republican contenders.
Last time I checked The 700 Club, Pat Robert
son was more concerned with spreading the Gospel
to those poor, godless Russians that with seeking
the Presidency.
Might Taylor have confused Robertson with fel
low-conservative Pat Buchanan?
Leave it to a liberal to make sense of things
here.
The protest a Buchanan’s coming-out party con
cerned Pat’s accusations that:
1) Washington is controlled by the Israel lobby
2) Figures for the number of Jews murdered in
the Holocaust are grossly overstated. Robertson
loves Israel and the Jewish people; he just wants
to convert them all.
Buchanan rarely smiles, even when he is happy.
Robertson always smiles, even when he finds our
moral decay troubling.
Buchanan has dark hair, Robertson has grey ...
and so on.
Taylor may want to read up on the facts next
time he writes a column.
Harry M. Klaff
Graduate student
A&M catered to Bush, Gramm
to promote true Aggie spirit
This letter is in response to Dwight Phillips’
March 21 letter about the peddling of the “Aggie”
title to “pseudo-Aggies.”
First of all, Phillips’ letter actually turned out to
be about his political conflicts with Phil Gramm,
and how Gramm compares with President Clinton.
Give me a break.
Instead of making tactless jokes about the Gov
ernor of Texas, a former President, a Presidential
candidate — originally from College Station,
please do not forget — as well as the man for
whom his alumni building is named, the Ross Vol
unteer Company, the Aggie Band, the Corps of
Cadets and even Reveille — who did also suppos
edly represent him at one time — he should have
addressed the issue, which was left loosely defend
ed at best.
However, my concern is for the apparent fact
that he graduated from this University without
grasping what the Aggie spirit truly means.
One of the most sacred traits of a true Aggie is
their ability to see the potential Aggie spirit in
another, without regard for political affiliation or
position.
He obviously missed the purpose of A&M’s “court
ing” the Bush family and Phil Gramm, which was
not to roll out the red carpet for some undeserving
politicians, but rather to pay respect to some fellow
Americans by whom we have paid respect.
The beautiful thing about Texas A&M is that we
readily accept people into the Aggie family, regard
less of what they can do for the University itself.
Which leads me to ask — forget about Senator
Gramm or President Clinton — what has Phillips
done for “dear ol’ Aggieland.”
Although these comments may read disrespect
fully, I mean no offense. For I do believe the Aggie
spirit is within him, but I believe it has been cor
rupted by his ever-increasing political education
and awareness.
Kristafer Y. Jarboe
Class of ’96
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