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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 1995)
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Not valid with any other coupon Valid only at participating stores ^ Late Night ^ Special One Large One Topping $C99 11p.m.-close Thurs. - Sat.. Additional toppings on large 990 extra, x-tra large $1.25 extra. Not valid with any other coupon.Valid only at participating stores Page 4 • The Battalion Aggie life c* Wednesday • October Gay and lesbian students deal ay with discrimination on campu feclne By Wes Swift The Bat i align T he writing is on the wall. “I just kill queers,” one says. “Beat the hell outta faggots,” another screams. Still another says, “Dykes are unwelcome a) at Texas A&M; b) at all; c) in this restroom.” These comments are not scrawled on the walls of a dirty truck stop. These are scribbled on the bathroom stalls of cam pus buildings and are only a sampling of the discrimina tion and prejudice toward homosexuals at Texas A&M. Jeff Anderson, president of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Aggies and a graduate stu dent, said discrimination at A&M can take many forms, ranging from the hardly notice able to the frightening. “It can be something as sub tle as not being able to admit you’re gay,” Anderson said. “It can also be things like verbal abuse. And there have been some incidents of physical abuse that have been reported, although they’re not common.” One homosexual former student said he has ex perienced discrimination several times on campus. Sam Stamport, a former horticulture major, said he quit his on-campus job because, among other problems, he was harassed by his boss. Stamport said he has seen discrimination through discussions or lectures about gay topics. Stamport, who called the prejudiced people at A&M a “vocal minority,” said he sees some subtle discrimination when he walks around campus with t-shirts promoting his sexuality. “Whenever I wear my t-shirts, I get a lot of curi ous looks,” he said. “Of course, most people are polite enough not to say anything to my face, but who knows what they say when I leave.” The prejudice against homosexuality has gar nered an infamous national reputation for A&M, Anderson said. A national gay magazine recently published a list of places and activities that homo sexual people and heterosexual people take part in. Texas A&M was listed as a university for hetero sexual people. Anderson said the reputation does not end with the magazine. “Texas A&M has an image of being a place wl# you wouldn't want to be a gay person," he said. 1 there are a lot (homosexuals) here.” Anderson said there have been problems*?, participation in GLBA because some members afraid of discrimination. “I don’t know how many times I’ve hes ‘Well, we can’t do that here,”’ Andersonsaii “The (gay) community hereisvi cautious, because you neverki what may happen.” Wesley Beard, a gayra activist from Jacksonvilj Texas, urged homosexuals a speech i\iesday to fight end the discrimination. “What you're fightii for is not special righ . but equal rights,” Bea said. “These are thin you deserve.” Stamport said the key! ending homophobia is more a posure to the gay community, “Education is the key,’la said. “GLBA has panel discussionsaii lectures that present the facts versus the myths When people can see a real, live homosexual that’s very important.” The gay-supporting homosexual population be another significant weapon to combat discrimir; tion, Anderson said. “Coming out is not just for homosexuals," “It’s for those who support homosexuals asw “If all straight people who arc 1 sympatheticwi come out of the closet and speak up when some® tells a homophobic joke, then people may notchang their minds, but they will start to think twicebefe they say something like that.” N Mi Discmmmmn a t A&M This article is the second in a series tl will run through Friday and explore different kinds of discrimination students experience at A&M. VUTt! Out of MNt),; Skin Deep explores campus racial tensions By Rachel Barry The Battalion Skin Deep, a documentary about race relations on college campuses, will be shown tomor row in Rudder Theater at 7 p.m. Four A&M students are in the film and will be at the premier. Francis Reid, who was nomi nated for an Academy Award for the documentary Straight From the Heart, wrote and directed the film. Reid said she wanted to make the film because she had become aware of incidents occurring on college campuses. “I was disturbed and curious as to why that was happening, and I wanted to explore it,” she said. Sheri Schmidt, coordinator of Diversity Education at A&M said she met Reid at a profes sional conference about two Students from colleges across the nation allowed their candid convei sations to be filmed for the production of Skin Deep. The studentsmfl in California, where they became acquainted with one another. years ago. Reid approached Schmidt about finding students at A&M who would be interested in partic ipating in the film. Schmidt said Reid was interested in using stu dents from A&M because the school had been in the news. “The school had the reputa tion of talking about this issue,” she said. Reid first came to A&M in the fall of 1993 to scout the campus and to attend a U-ACT retreat. On her second visit, Reid brought a film crew with her and interviewed students. She also followed students around campus and filmed their interactions with their peers. She even followed one student to an A&M football game. Tammy Early, a Class of ’95 computer science graduate, was one of the students Reid inter viewed. She said it was hard to get used to having a camera fol low her. “I felt silly,” she said, “but I felt more normal than I thought 1 would.” After conducting her inter views Reid invited the students to California for a weekend to meet the film’s other partici pants and to discuss the issues face to face. The students had roundtable and one-on-one dis cussions about the effects that multiculturalism has had on them and their campus. “My biggest fear about bring ing the students together was that they wouldn’t be open to talk to each other and would be afraid of offending someone,” she said. “I was pleased to find that wasn’t the case.” She said the hardest part of making the film was having to sit back and not participate in the discussions. “As a filmmaker, you become to a certain extent a voyeur,” she said. “You are going through the experience with everybody, but you’re not ing an active role.” Reid said she wanted student who participated in the projects listen to people with different per spectives and learn from them, “I hoped everybody wop come away with an experienci that was somewhat transforma tive,” she said. She said she hopes the can be used in freshmen orienta tion programs to help studenls because they can be affected by! campus that is so diverse. “Suddenly they have to g with these issues that they b® never had to before,” she said. Duane Thomas, a senior dustrial engineering major, was another of the students inter viewed for the film. He si was interested in the opporh nity’to educate himself and ott ers about the issues discusseil in the film. “I hope that people will waid it, and their minds will rolling, and they will discuss these issues with everyone around them,” he said. TRANSMISSION 4 LESS YOUR DISCOUNT TRANSMISSION OUTLET The highest quality work, for the lowest possible price! 12,000 Mile Warranty Available We’ll Beat All Competitors Prices On Comparable Work FREE LOCAL & DISCOUNT OUT OF TOWN TOWING WITH JOB •FINANCING AVAILABLE QUALITY WORK AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICE •TRANS 4 LESS* BR »^ E 7 1,(°A» HOUSE OF TIRES 1401 W. TEXAS AVE.