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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 4, 1995)
Thursday • May 4, 1995 ■■■■ ■ The Battalion AdiosAdrM Words of wisdom on school, life and fun Mark Smith Editor in Chief , S ince the age of eight I’ve wanted to be an Aggie. My father was an old Ag and something about Texas A&M just seemed to call to me, a voice in my head. “Mark, Mark, come to A&M,” the voice said. “We have cheap beer and beautiful women.” The great education just sealed the deal. In the Fall of 1990 I arrived. My time in college has been memorable, and I sometimes think back to those early days when I was freshman. “Hey, Erin what the heck is Silver Taps, anyway?” I would ask. “Is it that a new dance troupe?” Erin, rolling eyes, “Stupid freshmen.” I’ve spent five years here and in those five years I’ve done a lot of things. Bon fire, The Battalion, Intramurals. I’ve grown as a person and learned a lot about myself and the Simpsons (not O.J.). But, I’ve also spent five years not do ing anything — or so it seems. I look back and think, “I really wish I’d taken the time to do that?” There are a number of great organi zations here that work to improve the campus, life and the community. I look at what these people do during func tions like the Big Event and say to my self, “Mark, you are a lazy S.O.B.” I hate to think about how life would be if I didn’t commit myself to an organization like The Battalion. I wouldn’t have any marketable job skills and I would definitely not have gotten the job I did. A&M is big on the “other education” — those outside activities that put into practice the theories presented in the classroom — and there are a number of groups on campus that can give you a good experience working with people. But, college isn’t all about school and organizations. It’s about growth and re sponsibility and learning to deal with people. What’s the best way to learn about responsibility — being irresponsi ble. The best way to know not to do something is to do it. Then you have first hand experience. Hangovers are a prime example of this. After graduation, you have to be able to look back at your college days and say, “What was I thinking? I’ll never do something that stupid again.” My advice to all of you who remain here in Aggieland is to do as much as you can while you can. I spent too many days vegetating in front of the TV — which is why I am so familiar with weird cartoon characters. D’oh! There was so much more that I could have done but lacked the initiative to do it. Remember — sleep is something that should be reserved for the grave. Here are some things that you should, nay must, do before graduation. Stay up all night talking with your friends about life, the universe and everything. Go on a road trip to no place in par ticular for no good reason what-so-ever. Rent a movie the night before a test, just to say that you did it. Cow tipping. Enough said. Explore the crevices of the O&M building. There is a certain, unusual acoustical effect. Of course, there are several things you should try to avoid. Do not ever play truth or dare with people you work with — and absolutely do not take a dare. Showing people your old prom pic- ture — or your ID for that matter — is usually a bad idea. It could give you no end of grief. Tell people at a party that you can drink anyone under the table. Several times in the past couple of weeks, people have asked me if I’m go ing to miss college. My answer was quick and simple — yes and no. College has been a special time in my life, as it is for everyone who attends. I’ve made friendships that I hope to have forever. I’ve had mentors and ro mantic interests (no, seriously). I’ve lived, and I’ve grown up. But there is a lot about college that I won’t miss: homework, tests, biology, research papers, tests. (You said tests twice.) I hate tests. The real world does have some ad vantages. None of these dreaded things will rear their ugly heads. The pay is better, and the hours are better. This is a normal transition, I guess. Learn from my triumphs (Ha!) and mis takes (That’s more like it). I’m outta here Aggieland. As a noted humanitarian once said: “Excellent. Everything is falling into place.” — C. Montgomery Burns, Springfield Nuclear Power Plant Owner Mark Smith is a senior journalism major President has credibility problem O ur president has a credibility problem. For some reason, a number of people seem to think that President Clinton just doesn’t figure into anything happening these days. Both houses of Congress pretty much do what they want and then tell the president about it later. For example, remem ber that sweeping baseball-reform legislation the president tried to send through a few months back? Yeah, so do I. But Bill Clinton is relevant, just ask him. Fortunately, someone did — at a news conference that only one net work even bothered to carry. So Clin ton said, “The president is relevant.” Oh ... I was just wondering. This reminds me of a line from Hamlet that I had to memorize in high school. To paraphrase — “Me- thinks he doth protest too much.” Actually, for a while there, I was almost impressed with Clinton. After the Oklahoma City bombing, for the briefest of moments. Bill Clin ton acted, well ... presidential. For a day or two, I was worried that I might have to revise my opinion. Clinton demonstrated genuine con cern for the victims and an unhesitat ing willingness to support the local au thorities in whatever way necessary. Leadership — what a concept. Of course, the real Bill Clinton was bound to show his face eventually. In stead of simply focusing on catching the bad guys, Clinton found it neces sary to point fingers. On April 24, Clinton blasted those he called the “purveyors of hate,” who fill the airwaves. He rambled on, “They spread hate, they leave the impression that, by their very words, violence is acceptable.” Yep, Bill is back and is better than ever. In one fell swoop, our president has de termined that each and every one of us who has ever listened to a con servative talk radio host is prone to blow-up random fed eral buildings. In the immortal words of Richard Dawson, “Good an swer, good answer (clap here). Is it up there?” All week long I have searched for some explanation for my inability to get focused for Finals Week. At last, now I understand that my deep-seed ed longing for pyrotechnics interferes with my thought processes. I am sure that if only I could spend my time lis tening to the “purveyors of love” in Washington I would long to plant daf fodils and eat Caesar Salad all the days of my life. Or, on the other hand, we could re turn to reality. I cannot claim to support every ut terance of Rush Limbaugh, but he does not have an audience of 20 million peo ple because his listeners wish to submit themselves to mind control. Rush Lim baugh simply says what many people already believe. If Bill Clinton spent a little more time listening to the people of this country and a little less time in sulting their intelligence, maybe 20 million people would listen to him, too. Well, maybe not. Anyone who has ever heard Rush Limbaugh on the radio — and most of his critics probably haven’t — knows there is absolutely no credence to the idea that he, or most other conserva tive commentators for that matter, encourage, condone or even feel any thing except sincere remorse and em pathy for the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing. It should be obvious that a belief in less government is not the same as the desire to destroy govern ment. Questioning the bounds of ex ecutive agency power — be it in the ATF, the FBI or the IRS — does not mean that the employees of these agencies should be targets of mad men. In fact, the very foundation of conservative ideals rests on a re spect for the law and the Constitu tion on which the law is based. Murder must be punished. Disagreeing with Bill Clinton’s policies, however, is not murder, nor is it against the law. The last time I checked, the dis agreement with flawed policies is not only a good idea, but the re sponsibility of an inforiped elec torate. I seem to recall a certain man who managed to get himself elected to the Office of President who spent quite a bit of time dis agreeing with government policies while in his youth. President Clinton may well have indicted himself with his ramblings. After all, according to his own log ic, if these conservatives are responsi ble for the federal building bombings in Oklahoma City, isn’t Clinton re sponsible for the bombings and de struction of both life and property that occurred back in the ’60s due to the pervading sense of rebellion fos tered by liberal protests? Sounds pret ty ridiculous, doesn’t it? No, just in- credi-Bill. Yep, the president is still rele vant. Heck, if Bill Clinton weren’t around, we would probably have to spend our time debating real issues and solving actual problems. How boring. David Taylor is a senior management major Mail Oll Hostility to minorities doesn't fit with ideals April 28 was a sad day at Olsen Field, but not because the Ags lost. What coach who fails to send someone to warm up when the starting pitcher gives up seven runs in the first two innings deserves to win? It was a sad day because every time the only African-American player on the UT team came to bat, the corporate cheer coming from the student section was “one-Fat Albert, two-Fat Albert ...” eventually preceded or followed by “hey, hey, hey ...” I was at first puzzled by this; the player was neither fat nor did his name resemble “fat” or “Albert.” I asked the baseball fan nearby if the reference might be some historical baseball character or event. And then from behind me I hear, “Get that nigger out of here ...” How ironic that the Aggie parent I was seated by had told me minutes earlier that his daughter came to A&M because everyone is so friendly. All the “yes ma’ams” and “no ma’ams” in the world cannot excuse the racist chants heard on Olsen Field last Friday. Whether such behavior is motivated by ignorance or hatred is irrelevant. For whatever the motivation, the mes sage is that Texas A&M is hostile — certainly not friendly — to minorities. It’s not exactly the kind of reputa tion most respected universities have. Jan E. Leighley Political Science Professor Republicans believe in great American dream My bleeding heart cries out to Ja son Carr. This is not a perfect world. Government can’t provide everything for everybody and never ever run out of money. Facing escalating deficits and a seemingly insurmountable na tional debt, government can’t afford to pacify every whiny interest group with tax money. Government isn’t a huge bottomless trust fund, and the Republicans understand that spend ing cuts must be made. Carr talks about a Democratic president who cut the deficit. Maybe there’s a Democratic president we don’t know about — certainly not the one who financed the debt with short term loans while claiming that his spending cuts brought about recovery. Also, just like the orphanage idea doesn’t represent all Republicans, I will happily note that all Democrats don’t resort to name-calling and make ignorant one-sided judgments like Carr. If he had taken the time to care fully read Percival’s column, he would’ve discovered that Republicans stand for less government, personal responsibility and responsible spend ing. The voters last November under stood that. Eva Darski Class of ’98 • I was very disappointed with the letter written by Jason Carr in The Battalion on May 2 in which he trashed both the College Republicans and their president, Lydia Percival. Carr makes it seem as if Republi cans advocate jailing large numbers of citizens at random, but this is simply not the case. Believe it or not, however, most Republicans believe in holding peo ple accountable for their actions and that if they break the law, they should pay the price. Quite a novel idea, huh? People in this country are granted equal oppor tunity, but once they break the law, they should be punished as the law stipulates. Also, he mentions the Republicans’ “hypocritical” notions of wanting to downsize government, while at the same time wanting to increase the size of the police force on the streets. With many people having to think twice about venturing out into the streets, an increase in the police force will both create jobs and be a positive step toward making our streets safer. The Republicans more than com pensate for this proposal of increasing the police force by supporting bills that cutback on other failing pro grams, such as welfare. “But wait,” liberals will exclaim. “That’s just another example of stereo- typical, upper-class Republicans trying to take money away from the poor.” Well, allow me to retort. The poor do not need to be handed money from the government. They need to become self-reliant and escape the liberal-in duced mindset of willingly accepting government handouts instead of working and striving with some pride. This, fellow Ags, is what I, as well as other Republicans, stand for. James Barricklow Class of ’98 The Battalion encourages letters 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, clarity and accuracy. Letters may be submitted in person at 013 Reed Mc Donald. A valid student I.D. is required. Letters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call Fax: (409) 845-2647 013 Reed McDonald E-mail: Texas A&M University Batt@tamvm1.tamu.edu College Station, TX 77843-1 111 Think Twice Decision about sex personal^ weighty Elizabeth Preston Columnist S ex is an endlessly discussed topic in American society. If it isn’t be ing explicitly shown on television, talked about on radio shows or written about in magazines such as Cosmopoli tan and Gentleman’s Quarterly, then it is being constantly brought up among friends. Newsweek even had a recent cover story on the resurrection of virginity as a popular choice among teens, but sta tistics abound about the “frightening” rise in sexuality among the younger generation. It is true that teen pregnancy, promiscuity and abortion rates are rais ing at shocking speeds, and also true that something needs to be done to help children and teens who turn to sex be cause they are not getting love from their parents and family. However, the average Aggie does not fit into these categories. A few had some wild teenage years and some are still using sex as a substitute for parental affection, but the majority are just try ing to successfully navigate the scary years of raging hormones between 16 and marriage. The messages about sex are both con stant and confusing. Churches and reli gious leaders preach to us that sex without the sanctity of marriage is not only wrong, but in defiance of God. This is a pretty halting threat to many. Open defiance of God is a scary proposition for many who believe strongly. This guilt often serves a useful pur pose. Many teens who would have raced into something they would have regret ted later stopped because of the weight of a lifetime of guilt they had been taught. Parents often seem to act as if they have never even thought about sex, much less had it. This is good some of the time, because the mere thought of parental sex is enough to turn the strongest person’s stomach. It is also negative because they teach their chil dren that sex is not only unmention able, but something to be ashamed of. Parents — at least some of the ones in my experience — tend to treat sex as an enormous sin. Instead of teaching their children about how to make safe, healthy and happy choices, they simply preach “Don’t even think about it.” This is fine until we all turn 16 and the hormones hit. Then our bodies begin arguing with everything we have been taught up to this point. This is when we need the talks, the openness and the experience of our parents. This is when we need friends who can share their feelings and their frustrations. This is when we need the strong moral base that has hopefully been pounded into our heads for years. One of the most important decisions of your life is when to have sex. It is be tween you and your partner only, yet the actions of those around you during your entire, life are the foundations of your decision making. Ultimately, only one thing matters, and that is how you feel in your heart. The choice to have sex has every thing to do with guilt, emotions, lust, religion and morals, but the single most important thing is to be at peace with whatever road is chosen. Sexual experience has such a stigma in American society. If someone chooses to have sex without marriage then they are — depending on who is speaking — cool, neat, promiscuous, loose, easy, a slut or a free spirit. Virgins are stereotyped to be better, religious, frigid, boring or unwilling to just “let go.” In truth, none of these stereotypes matter. Virgin or sexually active indi vidual, all you have to worry about is what you, your partner and your God — if you believe — feel toward your actions. No one else should have any say in this personal decision, though the advice of those close to you should be considered. The decision of when to have sex should not be taken lightly. It is a frighteningly large decision, and the possible consequences are enormous. However, if sex is decided upon, birth control, consequences and emo tions should all be considered. If sex is not something the person is ready for, they should not be afraid to make this very clear about this decision to their partner. If a person’s heart is truly at peace with their decision about their own sex uality, then the heartbreak associated with sexuality will be greatly lessened. Elizabeth Preston is a junior English major