Wednesday
October 25, 1995
^Ti ii Battalion
Opinion
The Battalion
Established in 1893
Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the views
of the editorials board. They do not necessarily reflect
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Editorials Board
Rob Clark
Editor in Chief
Sterling Hayman
Managing Editor
Kyle Littlefield
Opinion Editor
Elizabeth Preston
Assistant Opinion Editor
Opening Lines
The new telephone registration
changes are steps in the right direction.
Texas A&M students will
find registering for Spring 1996
classes a little easier, thanks to
changes implemented by the
administration. These changes
should be the first in many im
plementations to come to facili
tate the process of registration.
Students will be able to
check for registration blocks
and account information over
the phone before they register
to eliminate further frustration.
Also, the University has
added 30 telephone lines for
registration, and has extended
registration to 24-hour blocks
of time.
These changes will make it
easier for students to register
on time, and will decrease the
number of times students will
have to dial 260-3212 only to
hear “Sorry, all telephone reg
istration lines are busy,” before
being allowed to register.
These welcome changes will
noticeably benefit students, but
the University could do more to
simplify registration.
For example, operators
willing to help students with
registration problems would
make a clarification of the
problems easier.
With this, students might be
able to avoid running around
campus, from their adviser to
the Pavilion, trying to find out
why they are blocked and what
to do about it.
An alternative to register
ing over the telephone would
be registration via computer
terminals at various loca
tions on campus.
With the number of com
puter terminals on campus, a
system could be established
to allow students to register
through them, eliminating
the hassles encountered with
the telephone.
Still, the measures the ad
ministration has taken so far
will be useful.
The positive effects of easier
registration should encourage
the administration to do even
more to make this often-frus
trating and confusing process
less of a hassle.
10 reasons to j oin College Republicans
T hat’s it, the bell has
rung, and the gloves are
coming off.
I feel it is my obligation to
speak on the behalf of all those
individual organizations and
local bands competing for flier
space with the College Republi
can propaganda machine.
I am not saying the College
Republicans have less of a right to post fliers
around campus. However, it always seems
that other organizations’ fliers are continu
ously being covered by layers of brightly col
ored College Republican propaganda.
In an effort to curtail this endless bar
rage, I have decided to provide the College
Republicans with some free publicity.
Here are 10 reasons why an individual
might want to affiliate themselves with the
“best party on campus.”
1. Because I feel like being an insensi
tive little hate monger. The College Repub
licans have the ability to be quite offensive.
For example, last year the College Republi
cans placed fliers on campus which said
something to the effect of, “less-qualified
minorities would get jobs before a qualified
white person.”
2. Also a member of the pathological liars
anonymous society. The College Republicans
have recently come under scrutiny due to
“allegations of violating University fund
raising guidelines.” In other words, it told
some tiny white lies.
3. So I don’t have the time to think for
myself. Continuously, the College Republi
cans follow some national figure’s opinions
without actually thinking through the issues
themselves. Ditto Rush!
4. Because I’m somewhat shallow and inse
cure. There is a tendency by the College Re
publicans to bash differing ideologies and then
label them as some hostile liberal agenda. For
example, affirmative action is portrayed as
some giant monster designed to
maintain a liberal agenda.
5. I suffer from a rare psy
chological disorder — Change-
aphobia. College Republicans,
it seems, are afraid that the
implementaion of multi cultur-
alism will destroy the conserv
ative fabric of A&M and pro
duce a Cal-Berkley. Yeah, and
Mick dagger has small lips.
6. Two words: “Christian Coalition.”
Needless to say, that’s a whole other col
umn. However, this might be the second or
ganization you
might think
about joining.
7. Because
you believe
Ronald Rea
gan was the
greatest presi
dent ever. Yeah
and Ross Perot
has tiny ears. I
am sure former
President Rea
gan has his good
side. However,
let’s not forget
that small inci
dent having to do
with the Contras
and some arms deal.
8. You opened a fortune cookie which read
“end world hunger, feed them the poor.” The
College Republicans strongly side with pro
posed Republican social reform issues, such
as significantly reducing Medicare benefits
for the elderly as well as reducing financial
aid for us poor college students.
9. Because you are so arrogant, you are
never wrong. Albert Einstein once said
something to the effect of “today’s problems
cannot be solved with yesterday’s solutions.”
Unfortunately, College Republicans believe
past ideas which made A&M great will
promise the same for the future.
10. Because you feel it is the only way to
fit in at A&M. Although A&M is largely a
Republican school, make some friends, drink
a few beers, loosen up and relax. Try to view
the whole scope — there is bound to be
something for you out there.
Let’s hope these 10 reasons offered will
help any interested individuals make a re
sponsible decision regarding their affiliation
with the “best party on campus.”
But on a more serious note, College Re
publicans should begin to take responsi
bility for the offenses it
has committed. Such
as the fliers which
. pressed racial is
sues last year as
well as the re
cent incident re
garding the
| fund raising
letter which
apparently
broke universi
ty guidelines.
Instead it in
sists on hiding
behind the de
fense of being mis
understood.
However, the more trou
bling reality is it seems that the financial
and political support the College Republi
cans obtain from alumni provides it with
immunity from University guidelines.
When is this organization going to be held
accountable by the University as well as by
the student body for its actions? Let’s hope
sometime soon.
Juan Hernandez is a senior
psychology major
Student Senate has
Aggies in mind
I am a first-year senator reply
ing to Lydia Percival’s column
bashing the Student Senate.
It is not the Senate’s duty to
recognize minorities at Texas
A&M, but to act in the interests
of the student body.
We encourage any student to
voice their opinion through the
proper channels and speak to
their representatives.
The authors of the “Truth in
Representation” bill set out to ob
tain opinions of the student body
on on the original Cultures bill.
They forgot to mention to the
15 or so students at A&M that
cared that a new bill would follow
the old one if it was repealed.
They had a bright idea, but
went about it the wrong way.
The authors of the bill should
have held forums and talked to
constituents first, then written a
bill to express these gathered
opinions. Then we could have
held a meeting to decide if we
should table it.
It was the sequence of events
that confused everyone and com
pelled them to act “purely in the
interest of uselessness.” This is
the most controversial issue fac
ing modem society, and not even
the United States Senate has
been able to resolve it.
President Bowen is the ulti
mate authority on what cultures
classes will be required of the
Class of 2000. He might take our
bill into consideration. He might
also come up with his own plan or
follow advice from the Regents.
Mike Reining
Class of ’95
Stidvent's cynicism
overwhelms reader
Chris Stidvent usually writes
about matters of significance.
Also, he usually writes with con
viction so I can respect him even
if I disagree. But the column
about which products should bear
the A&M seal went too far.
Why is he concerned if Aggies
wish to be buried in caskets with
the symbol of their school? No
one is asking him to buy one,
and his money does not go to
ward their production.
Also, it was disrespectful to
trivialize death. His cynical out
look on our University and life
in general is sad.
Kristen Lawrence
Class of ’98
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4 You have the right to remain silent ’ ;
U.S. citizens, students too trusting of people in authority positions
I was just standing
there helpless.
The front of my
car was in pieces all
over Villa Maria, and
my nerves were shot.
My first instinct,
after rear ending this
large car, was to hand
the passengers a de
posit slip from my checkbook, so they could
contact me. They smiled politely, then asked
for my insurance information.
“Oh, yes, right. Sure, right.” I took the
card out of my wallet with a shaky hand. I
didn’t really know the accident ropes, having
never hit anyone before.
I was crying and must have been quite a
sight when the police officer pulled up. He was
businesslike and matter of fact, taking no time
to explain to me what I needed to do.
I asked him about the citation he had just
handed me, and he pled the fifth. I asked for
approximate amounts of the fines, and he
pretended like he had never heard of the city
of Bryan, or its municipal court system.
“I really have no idea, ma’am.”
“Oh yeah? Then why are you working for
the city?” I wanted to say.
It was in that instant that I realized how
easy it would be for these people to take ad
vantage of me, or to treat me unfairly, or do
the same to anyone, for that matter.
You hear bad things about the Los Angeles
Police Department. You hear deservedly bad
things about the LAPD. Their history of racial
discrimination has led to a total breakdown of
the trust held by that city’s minorities.
However, such trust-breaking occurrences
~~ also take place in Texas and the police
departments in Anytown, U.S.A.
k Take the recent occurrence in my
hometown. “Eileen” was hit while going
F 5 * through a green light by a car who had
run a red light. After telling the officer
what had happened, he walked away
Hi muttering, “You’re probably lying.”
9M| Did he say this because he was in a
bad mood, or because she was a woman,
or because he likes to intimidate people?
All three reasons are possible. No matter
what the reason, his snide comments and at
tempts at intimidation were inappropriate.
But inappropriate or not, such an incident
could easily happen.
And anyone could imagine the helpless
ness of being stopped by an officer whose in
tentions are less than honorable or treat
ment less than fair.
Of course, police are only human. They
are no better or no worse than any of the
rest of this nation’s citizens. Since they are
a subgroup of the larger pool, they possess
the same flaws and imperfections of the so
ciety as a whole.
Still, we tend to trust people in power.
And when we trust too much, dangerous sit
uations can arise.
It would be easy for instances of discrimi
nation to occur in situations where one of the
people involved is in a position of power,
whether it be corporate power, government
power or power stemming from knowledge.
I experienced the same fear of authority
when I started thinking about filing an in
surance claim. This, too, was a world with
which I was not familiar.
Now perhaps I was a bit frightened about
the whole idea of insurance claims because
of reading John Grisham’s The Rainmaker, a
novel about a corrupt insurance company
who bulldoze over the little people and grab
for their money in the wreckage.
Because of this novel, I saw greedy, op
portunistic thieves behind every Prudential
rock. I didn’t want those big All-State hands
touching me nor State Farm to be there.
As an ignorant college student, mooching
off of her parent’s insurance policy, I had no
idea of my rights, hence my concern. I
wouldn’t know if something wrong was going
on. Would you?
Too many citizens, especially students,
have no working knowledge of their rights. We
don’t read, or don’t understand the ‘fine’ print,
you might say.
A police force is not one of our constitutional
guarantees, nor is easy-to-understand insur
ance. Individuals are ultimately responsible
for their own personal safety and well-being.
Police protection must be recognized for
what it is: only an auxiliary general deterrent,
says Peter Kasler, in his essay “Police Have
No Duty to Protect Individuals.” And in that
same vein,we must think of powerful people in
other institutions as mere human beings.
If we trust too much in other people, in
stead of carefully monitoring our own lives,
then we set ourselves up to be taken advan
tage of and ultimately hurt.
It all became painfully clear when I was
told to have a man with me when I talk to
the mechanic who fixes my car to make sure
I get a fair price.
Erin Hill is a graduate
pursuing a teaching certificate