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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1995)
^The Battalion Opinion ) P Cai] Monday ^ grar eptember25 ’ 1995 ;rcj a king tilt j ’KR, N.Y. 1 team stunned t| 8 Kv takings. les Sunday to) P for the firstr] 7 going into tJ ■mod like a Iocsf States. -'d in singlesp e year Europefc ugh victory in 1’hilip Walton.i man to qualify! in team, distance at No. ntch againstd In rope had \\\ ' Cup. Ison defeated! sson in the lay, ma ^2-13 1/2. 'am needed to i the 12 sinpis id ay to keep] y Mickelson, is liOve andCe o it. Fred Con nt for halvii n Woosnam. 'an team goti m Howard nes, then ca die of its linen rd, Colin Me k Faldo andfd laying in mat nine 13 en Crenel)! nge and ctively. r gave Europe first time si:| in 1985 by sh icans in Sund: y the same 7 id Sunday aP Hub. >ans won againl it the Cup win lefore losing!) ie United Stati ; series 23-6 w: since the ’85 vie: : it is 3-2-1 infav fantastic will d. “It just shot; gth of golf in El bigger and bigjj Two Well within our rights College Republicans should be afforded free speech W Kimberly L. Rogers Guest Columnist "hat do the former USSR, communist China, and North (Korea have in common? They are all places [where you might expect to [have your right of freedom [of expression censored. But for this to happen on [the campus of one of the largest and most prestigious universities in the United States seems unbelievable. Texas A&M College Republicans intend to valiantly defend something most Americans in this day and age take for granted ... free speech. On Wednesday Sept. 13, 1995, the Texas A&M College Republicans were brought up on general charges of violations of the Policies and Procedures for Recognized Student Organizations. Specifically, the College Republican’s actual rule breaking was stated as not following fund raising guidelines (How does one violate a guideline?) and not upholding the highest ideals and standards of Texas A&M. The 95-96 Policies and Procedures manual states [that “it is important to coordinate all fund raising efforts so that the private support Texas A&M receives is not jeopardized. As a guide line, any new fund raising effort an ticipated by any group ... should be coordinated through the director of student activities ... “ As for the specific request for coordination, A&M Col lege Republicans have al ways submitted a copy of |the mailouts. So, what terrible crime did the A&M College Re publicans commit? They simply saw conflicts between time honored, conserv ative traditions of A&M and a dis- iturbing trend of liberal policies ; pushed through by the faculty and ad 1 ministration, and chose to point out those blatant contradictions. A&M College Republicans, disturbed by many of s the things going on at the University, sent out an m- 1 formative fund raising letter to a number of the Uni- Iversity alumni. At the heart of the letter was the | multiculturalism issue. The Texas A&M College Republicans simply wished to right a blatant injus tice they saw on their campus. >N (AP) - M. cored on pitchff l’s throwing entf inning, and tb tos stayed ek* ird chase Sundii; etory over the St als. is began the da; behind Los# race for thee! Pf spot. Til ing to catch Cd- NL West, open* series with f fonday. .ers Mike Ham; on and Donova’ the Cardinal i>es late into U Ipens decided it , a pinch-hitter one out in tlif Hunter followed ler to the-trigW ound that Deb looked toward ten threw w se. Thompsi)!' play, which was t for Hunter and eLucia. “tgraves (2-01 the first tirnf ring from food 3t the final out ■r the victory, oitched eight in wed six hits, one k out seven, ive up three hit' ngs. He walked k out four. II owed a runner base in each of innings, giving He permitted .hereafter, icaped a bases- in the third, off with a single unter Died on 1 - ?gio struck out. nd Mike Simms ■nc retired Ton)' a full-count id the inning. 2tired the next ore leaving for o The College Republicans’ stance remains the same: We believe that multiculturalism courses should be there for students who wish to pursue learning of those topics included, but that this re quirement should in no way be forced on those who choose not to participate in those classes. But, it appears that Dr. Ray Bowen, Texas A&M president, got his job by promising that he would sign the multiculturalism requirement into effect. The only reasonable explanation for the fact that this multicultural proposal has sat unsigned Wi (yysV 'cA -?anc. Y ^ jOf>V ridV-^AxC. Overlooked education CRs are blind to the benefits of a multicultural education on his desk for almost a year and a half is that he was waiting until he could do it with nobody . looking. The letter also revealed the proposed speech codes recommended by a Faculty Senate Committee and a very misleading and controversial class insert ed as a health requirement. The College Republicans simply wished to right a blatant injustice they saw on their campus. And since partisan organizations are not allocated Uni versity funding, the students requested help from alumni in the form of not only verbal, but also mone tary support. Immediately, calls came in to Dr. Bowen from concerned alumni worried, just as the College Re publicans, about their beloved University. This constructive criticism of the University ad ministration and support of the College Republicans did not sit well with the University officials. What other possible reason can there be for the fact that A&M’s College Republicans has been sending out fund raising letters for the past five years and there has been no criticism of their methods or any reference to violated poli cies of the administration? Perhaps it was simply that the University did not like the “content” of this partic ular letter and did not like being held accountable for some of their more controversial policies. In retaliation, Texas A&M University is labeling the right of free speech guaran teed by the Bill of Rights as a right that “does not up hold the highest ideals” of the University. Free speech is one of the foundations of our nation. How can it be considered anything less than of the highest ideals and standards? In fact, the State Republican Ex ecutive Committee passed a resolution Sept. 16 in support of the Texas A&M Col lege Republicans’ right to free speech. The resolution upholds the College Republicans’ stance on multiculturalism, calls for an apology from the University to the College Republicans and for a “swift investigation into how people’s rights can be violated like this.” The Texas A&M College Republicans intend to fight the charges brought against them by the Stu dent Organizations Hearing Board. The hearing, originally scheduled for Friday Sept. 22, has been delayed for 30 days after a drastic change of heart by the administration. The College Republicans’ request for a delay was suddenly granted on Wednesday of last week. Perhaps somebody from the administration decid ed to check their so-called “facts” and got scared that the College Republicans have a valid argument, or worse .... They realized the College Republicans had the right to mail that letter out. Kimberly L. Rogers A&M College Republicans member Class of’96 Texas A&M NAACP Guest Column I n light of recent events, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People wants to take a stand on the actions of the College Republicans. Again, College Repc cans have shown its con tempt and lack of respect for the minorities on 1 ns campus, minorities throughout the nation and minorities throughout history. There are several statements in their letter to for mer students that exhibit nothing more than racism and ignorance. Although many will say that these statements stem from misinformation, we believe that they represent the true beliefs of the College Republicans. Several times the Texas A&M chapter of the NAACP has tried to explain the purpose and the need for multicultural classes. Obviously, we did not succeed in that task. The idea of multicultural classes was not spawned by some radical Faculty Senate members, but by scholars who understand the importance of learning aspects of different cultures to help bridge societal gaps. The purpose of implementing the classes is not to explain the / atrocities that white America has dealt to minorities that reside in this country. The main focus of these classes would be to educate students about positive con tributions made by minori ties in this country. There are many inventions and dis . , coveries given to society by \ % minorities that are never \^J heard.about. The multicultural ism classes would change this. We do believe that there should be more teachings about slavery than are currently discussed in classes. Again, this is not to condemn modem white America. It is to inform America about events that have taken place in the past. We would hope that with a more intensive lec ture, others would have a better understanding about the fears and concerns that African Ameri cans have. Also, we believe that this type of lesson holds true for other minorities in this nation. Furthermore, the fact that any student group would refuse to partake in learning the history, lit erature, religion or social behavior of a particular race, for the reasons that the College Republicans have given, is nothing more than racism. It should be the goal of students to learn all they can to make themselves well-rounded persons able to function in a multicultural society. The addition of multicultural classes to the curriculum will not add hours to anyone’s degree, nor would it turn a conservative into a liberal. Hopefully, the classes would help educate stu dents about the plight of minorities in this na tion. The only plausible reason for a person to refuse to take these courses is because that per son feels there is nothing valuable to learn about or from a minority. One should also realize that it is not the mission of the multicultural classes to promote a political agenda, but to enlighten students about facts left out of many history books and literary studies. It is important that Americans learn not only about the oppression suffered by minorities, but also to understand the contributions made by minorities in this country. Several statements in the College Republicans' letter exhibit nothing more than racism and ignorance. Is it politically correct to be ignorant of impor tant knowledge? Also, it should be noted how unjustly the Col lege Republicans have attacked members of the Faculty Senate and the president of Texas A&M. The College Republicans have made re- » marks about these people that it knows to be untrue and supported by lies. What ever happen to the Aggie Code of Honor in which we don’t lie, cheat or steal? Now it has asked for and received postponement of its hearing in order to find docu mentation on the comments made in Lydia Percival’s let ter to A&M former students. The problem with this is that no period of time given will be long enough, because no such documentation exists. If they find anything support ing Percival’s statements, it will more than likely be propaganda that has its origins in the College Republicans organiza tion. Why can’t the College Republicans understand that multicultural courses will enhance the quality of education at Texas A& M, not champion a liber al agenda? The College Republicans can claim it was in the right by citing former Aggies who support their con servative agenda, but this claim does not make them right. And the former Aggies who are providing fi nancial support to A&M until the views of the Uni versity reflect their own personal views are few and of little significance. Is this issue really that confusing or are the Col lege Republicans just that blind? Texas A&M NAACP Executive Board Octevia Evangelista /Class of ’97 Ferleshare Starks /Class of ’96 Cheezz Washington /Class of ’9 7 Mail Fraternities add history to A&M Matthew Merrill thinks he’s got fraternities figured out. They are blatantly un-American, unpa triotic and a shame to A&M. Let’s review how un-American and unpatriotic Greeks are: • all but two U.S. presidents since 1825 have been Greek • 63 percent of all presidential cabinet members since 1900 have been Greek • 76 percent of all senators and representatives are Greek • and 85 percent of supreme court justices are Greek What a disgrace! How can those Aggie Fraternities live with themselves when, on the most chaotic day of their semester, they miss the lowering of the flag that is taking place behind them? I was out there at Bid Day, along with my “rented” friends. I was one of the “unruly mob ... car rying on with reckless abandon.” I apologize for not seeing the flag lowered. We missed it. We were distracted. We’re sorry. But throwing out labels like un-American, unpatriotic and shameful is unwarranted. And “tarnishing the University’s repu tation”? That’s ridiculous. The real reason there is an anti-Greek sentiment is that even though Greek fraternities have been in America since 1776, they are a relatively new addition to Aggieland. You know, “No Frats - a tradition since the beginning (1876),” ... along with women, blacks and non-regs. Furthermore, like it or not, the corps is a fraternal organization. Male dorms are kind of loose, pseudo-fraternal groups. Enter Greek fraternities and voila ... you’ve got competition. Perhaps the rapid growth of Greeks at Texas A&M caused resentment. Perhaps the Greeks out on Bid Day were too excited to notice what was going on behind them. But we are far from un- American, miles from unpatri otic and not even close to being a shame to A&M. We are Aggies first. We are not elitists who think that our way of life is the only way to exist at A&M ... that distinction goes to others who think their way is. Travis Stiba Class of’97 Retroactive fee increase ridiculous The recent fee increase in the general use fee is amazing to me, both because the Board of Re gents’ audacity to enact an in crease after we’ve already paid for this semester and because this event generated so little hue and cry among the students. The Board of Regents is telling us exactly what they think of us by calling for a retroactive fee in crease with such little notice. To do so on top of this semes ter’s hefty tuition increases is just a slap in the face. Where’s the ac countability? The checks and bal ances? Where else can a fee legal ly be raised after it was paid? If I were to take any other type of classes, such as scuba lessons or defensive driving, and the fees went up after I had paid, I would n’t expect them to go into effect until the next time the class is of fered. To do otherwise is both un fair and unethical. Tye Bolting Graduate Student Sarcasm, rudeness not good writing In David Taylor’s Sept. 21 col umn, he began by stating that he is a conservative with conserva tive views. Fine, good, wonderful. It is not Taylor’s views that I found disturbing. What was insulting and tired was the way Taylor expressed his views. He used sarcasm and poor analogies to demonstrate facts that would have been more effec tive stated directly. I found myself agreeing with several of Taylor’s points. At the same time, however, I was un happy with how he treated read ers who may not have found any common ground with him. One’s beliefs should be strong enough to stand on their own. But people are more likely to respect and agree with you if you treat them as people, not idiots. Barbara Barrera Class of’96