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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 1995)
T* IO The Battalion • Page 5: Thursday • June 15> 19951 Street brawl blurs definition of personal "1% /■” any of us consider our- I %/1 selves good citizens. It is- JL ▼ JLn’t until being a good citi- ■ zen conflicts with our individual j; ; notions of right and wrong that we • become aware of what we sacrifice j || to be good citizens. I witnessed two fights a few * days ago. Both were instigated by the same | 1 group of guys, who seemingly were just looking for iW a fight. Normally, I wouldn’t get involved, but it was ■ four guys beating the crap out of one guy. They i|! were kicking him in the face repeatedly while he !| was on the ground, and laughing while doing so. H I knew he was in trouble, so I told my friend to H call the police while I went over to offer help. By the time I was able to get to the fight, the . four aggressors had run away. The guy who had been kicked was bleeding from the mouth and ;! had a confused look on his face. He wanted to go after the guys, but I convinced H j him to stay and wait for the police to arrive. His friends showed up and tried to find the | guys who had beat him up. Within minutes, another fight had broken out on a nearby street. It seemed to be the same four 6 I'j guys that were involved in the first fight. But this time, they were working some other guy over with a metal object, while his friends des perately pleaded for help. It seemed like I was watching a “Cops” episode as the blood poured from his head. I felt sick to my stomach watch ing it happen, so I ran back to call the police again — they still were nowhere to be found. I waited for the police to arrive. But before they could get there, the guys who had started the first fight were ap proaching the area where I was standing. So here I was with a moral dilemma on my hands. The “bad guys” were getting away, and I — with all of my vigilante-esque thoughts — could stop them from escaping. It was all of the things that are drilled into us during childhood: “The bad guys should never get away,” “You should be a hero ... do something,” “Only a coward would turn their back on what just happened — you have a responsibility.” As children, we are bombarded with images of superheroes foiling the bad guys. Television shows like “Scooby Doo” taught us that average citizens could show the bad guys a thing or two. Books such as the “Hardy Boys Se ries” or “Encyclopedia Brown” implied that we could be vigilantes and take the law into our own hands. And with little consequence — television shows and books always had neat, happy endings. These childhood memories forced the testos terone dream into my head of delivering a blow to one of the aggressors. You know — the kind of punch you have your whole body behind, the kind where the person who’s been hit doesn’t wake up for a while after. The mere fact that I am a male and that soci ety’s view of the stereotypical male is one of strength, compounds the decision to do what is “right.” I can hear some of my friends right now saying, “Man, you should have whooped some ass.” It’s easy to talk in retrospect about what you would have done. So many thoughts were blitz ing around in my head: anger, excitement, fear. I wasn’t quite sure what was going to happen — I felt detached and out of control. And then there was another voice in my head: “You’ve called the cops; you’ve done what is ex pected of you as a citizen.” “Don’t get involved; this isn’t your problem.” I didn’t take any impulsive swings or try to stop them in any way that night. I would have been fooling myself. I probably would have only gotten hurt if I had stepped in. Sure, I might have been lauded as a hero if I had nabbed the bad guys. And I probably would have been arrested and chastised for being stu pid if they had beat me up and escaped. For the time being, I was satisfied with my minimal civilian efforts of calling the police. But shortly after, I regretted not decking one responsibility; of the guys as they passed me. I kept thinking of- the helpless guy they were kicking in the head. • They had already shown their penchant for fighting unfairly. Even in junior high, when I saw a guy throw a combination lock into the face of another guy, spraying blood and teeth all over the locker room floor, I wasn’t as sickened be cause it was one on one. It can be argued that I did nothing wrong, have nothing to feel guilty about and, in fact, did everything the way I was supposed to do. There were two wrongs that night — the cruel beatings that occurred and the fact that those responsible got away, which I feel was partially my fault. It can be argued that, as a responsible citizen, I did nothing wrong, have nothing to feel guilty about and, in fact, did everything the way I was supposed to do. But being a slave to the strong influence of the attractive, fictional world, I feel that I should have done more. Coming to terms with reality can sometimes be a real punch in the face. Kyle Littlefield is a senior journalism major The Editorials Board Established in 1893 Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views of the editorials 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. Jay Robbins Editor in Chief Rob Clark Managing Editor Sterling Hayman Opinion Editor Kyle Littlefield Assistant Opinion Editor Mantle’s Example Students should be aware of the effects of abusing alcohol. Baseball legend Mickey Mantle’s recent bout with liver cancer and subsequent organ transplant have succeeded in bringing badly-needed attention to the shortage of organ donors in our country. Perhaps more important to college students, though, is the reminder of the dangers of alcohol abuse. Mantle’s “four decades of drinking,” which began in his early 20s, undoubtedly helped bring about the hepatitis C, cir rhosis and liver cancer he suf fered from. Disturbingly, many college students are following in Mantle’s footsteps. More college students drink than people of the same age who do not attend college, and people who have had more than 12 years of educa tion are twice as likely to be drinkers than others. The degree of heavy alcohol consumption is shocking. In a re cent survey conducted by the Na tional Institute on Drug Abuse, almost four percent of all college students said they would drink every single day next month. A University of Iowa study reported that three percent of all 18- to 25-year-olds have experi enced alcohol withdrawal symp toms, even though it usually takes several years of drinking to develop such a tolerance and addiction to alcohol. Heavy alco hol consumption often leads to drunk-driving accidents and sex ual assaults. Obviously, most colleges, in cluding Texas A&M University, have problems with alcohol, and the immediate risks usually do not appear as threatening as the eventual dangers. Studies indicate that be tween 240,000 and 360,000 current college students will eventually die of alcohol-relat ed causes. Most of these deaths are preventable, and responsi ble behavior now can ward off future problems. Binge drinking and frequent drinking both can lead to chron ic alcohol abuse or alcoholism. Students should be aware of these dangers and shape their behavior accordingly. Mickey Mantle’s lifelong struggle with alcohol should make everyone aware of the con sequences of alcohol abuse, and he was one of the lucky ones. Many others face a similar situation but are not given a second chance. Hopefully, Mantle’s example will prevent many others from making the same mistake. \\ov/ Co'AE VE See^ to GET AtWviHfcfcf? fteVEK Dole not the first to attack rap, movies This is in response to Rob Clark’s column and the editorial about Bob Dole’s stance against the entertainment industry. Clark begins by saying, “The censors are coming.” May I remind Clark that Sen. Dole stated, “I am talking about citizenship not censorship.” Clark claims that Sen. Dole wouldn’t last a minute in L.A. Maybe not, but he does live in Washington, D.C., the crime capital of the U.S. Also, Sen. Dole has probably never lis tened to rap music, but you don’t have to smell garbage to know it’s trash. It is sad how some speech is considered obscene depending on who says it. Mai I- O 11 These groups can use lyrics filled with racial slurs, state ments full of hatred and sexist- language, and some consider it acceptable. But others would be reviled and persecuted if they made such statements. Rap artists are excused be cause they “are products of their environment.” Mr. Dole is not the first to make such an attack. Republi cans and Democrats alike have been saying these same things for years. Leaders such as Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, William Bennett and former Vice Presi dent Dan Quayle have all made similar attacks. Heaven forbid that a presi dential nominee say those things: he is just being judgmen tal and seeking political gain. President Clinton has dis cussed the same things, but where was the backlash against him? There wasn’t any, and nor should there have been. Where is the NAACP in re sponse to “gangsta” rap? The editors of the Battalion are right — there is a double stan dard. But not by Sen. Bob Dole. Jason Frasier Class of ’96 Ideas of McCarthy still plague society This letter is in response to Rob Clark’s column on June 8, “Dole’s duel with entertainment is misguided.” It seems that Dole and his golf buddies’ problems with rap music is deeper than sim ply disagreeing with songs about killing policemen and re jecting the law. Obviously, Dole sees this voice from the depths of society as threatening the traditional, American way of life — not the American way of life that he wants us to associate with, but his American way of life, the way of life of the status quo. Bob Dole, who has worked hard his entire life to inherit his comfortable position in American society, is concerned that the members of the lower class are pulling their way up from the muck by speaking against America’s so called “capitalist democracy.” Not too long ago, a senator by the name of Joseph Mc Carthy saw his cush position in America threatened by the murmur of communism — which proposed to elevate the working class to a similar sta tus as the ruling rich. In order to protect his way of life, he wanted to eliminate this idea from Americans. Dole brilliantly echoes that with his insightful “think what I think you should” philosophy. Matthew T. Krueger Class of ’94 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, and accuracy. Address letters to: The Battalion - Mail Call 01 3 Reed McDonald Bldg. Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: Batt@tamvm1 .tamu.edu T HE, Editorial Staff Jay Robbins, editor in Chief Rob Clark, managing Editor Sterling Hayman, Opinion Editor GRETCHEN PERRENOT, City Editor Jody Holley, Night news editor Stacy Stanton, night news Editor MICHAEL LandauER, Aggielife Editor Nick GeoRGANDIS, Sports Editor STEW Milne, Photo Editor Staff Members City Desk — Assistant Editor: Eleanor Colvin; Re porters: Katherine Arnold, Javier Hinojosa, Scott McMahan, Jill Saunders, Michael Sim mons, Wes Swift & Tara Wilkinson Aggielife Desk — Feature Writers: Amy Collier & Libe Goad; Columnist: Amy Uptmor Sportswriters — David Winder and Lee Wright Opinion Desk — Assistant Editor: Kyle Littlefield; Columnists: Elizabeth Preston, Frank Stan ford & David Taylor; Contributing Colum nists: Justin Barnett, Margaret Gordon, Alex Miller, Chris Stidvent & Mark Zane; Editori al Writers: Jason Brown & Alex Walters; Editorial Cartoonists: Brad Graeber & George Nasr Photographers — Mike Friend, Roger Hsieh, Nick Rodnicki & Eddy Wylie Page Designers — News: Kristin DeLuca; Sports: Robin Greathouse; Aggielife: Stew Milne Copy Editors — Rob Clark & Sterling Hayman Graphic Artists — Toon Boonyavanich & Melissa Oldham Strip Cartoonists — Valerie Myers & Quatro Oakley Office Staff — Office Manager: Julie Thomas; Clerks: Wendy Crockett & Heather Harris News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in the Divi sion of Student Publications, a unit of the De partment of Journalism. 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