The Battalion
Opinion
Fhursday
Dctober 26, 1995
13
orget polls —We, the people, elect president
“We, the people of the
United States of America,
in order to form a more
perfect union...”
-- The Constitution
he United States,
more than any oth
er country, is an
deal. We did not gradual-
y transform from some divine right of
dngs gradually into a nominal democ
racy. We have never had an emperor
lell bent on making the world into our
image whether it wanted to be remade
or not.
No, our “grand experiment” simply
seeks to find out what would happen if
the basic affairs of state were put into
the hands of the people. Our ideal is
our people.
The problem with ideals is in the
translation to reality. Perfect realiza
tion of an ideal almost never happens —
that’s why we call them “ideals.”
The United States, of course, is no
exception. From slavery to internment
camps, our nation has certainly come
up short at times.
But no nation in history has come so
close to an ideal.
The reason?
Simple: People.
When great leaders
are required, great lead
ers emerge. Whether it
was the blue-blooded
“FDR” during WWII or
the red-blooded Lincoln
during the Civil War, our
people can produce great leaders.
The caveat, however, is also the peo
ple. But Lincoln and Roosevelt were
elected by the people, and, in hindsight,
the people made some good choices.
But we can also royally screw things up
when we don’t pay attention. The bud
get deficit provides a great example.
For the past three decades, we have
listened too much to what our congress
men said without looking too closely at
what they did. The result: a monster
bill which our generation gets to pay.
Thanks, but I have enough trouble with
my own Master Card.
Fortunately, the people exercised
their power and chose new leaders.
Just in case you’ve been asleep in
political science, it’s about that time
again. To hear the political “pundits”
tell it, this election is nothing more
than a formality. (A pundit, by the
way, is someone paid to reveal their
own ignorance.)
If the election were held today, re
cent polls indicate Colin Powell, if he
ran as a Republican, would defeat Pres
ident Clinton. The president, apparent
ly, would defeat Sen. Dole by about four
percentage points.
Super. Now that we already know
who will win, we can go back to our dai
ly lives and start paying the bills Con
gress thoughtfully provided. It sure is
nice to have a purpose in this otherwise
mundane existence.
On the other hand, before we run to
the presses with “Dewey Defeats Tru
man,” we could try thinking for ourselves.
Bob Dole loses, right? Well, yes ...
by the margin of error of most polls. In
other words, Dole is in dead heat with
the president.
Colin Powell wins, right? Well, if he
runs as a Republican.
As of this writing, the general has not
released so much as a position on an is
sue, much less declared a party affilia
tion. We don’t know anything about Gen.
Powell except that he sure is a swell guy.
Shouldn’t we find out what he plans to
do with the budget, or Bosnia, or any
thing before we give him the keys to the
house on Pennsylvania Ave.?
We should learn a lesson from our
parent’s blind eye to Congress from the
past 30 years. I don’t know about you,
but my American Government Excess
Card (You can’t do jack without it!) is
pretty much maxed.
For you history buffs, just think back
to 01 B.C. (Before Clinton).
President Bush had approval ratings
normally reserved for the Deity. A cer
tain Gennifer Flowers had quite a
spread in a certain “gentlemen’s period
ical” almost never read by gentlemen.
nnifer Flowers claimed ... well,
,th ; a family student newspaper, but
the . Ttry about Governor Clinton and
hi erstwhile secretary sure caused a
di in the polls.
To summarize, former President
Bush now lives quietly in Houston and
dedicates libraries in his spare time.
So much for the polls.
Now we are pretty much back to
square one: The people.
Some'one — weTl call him Chuck —
fed me a line this past week about the
presidential polls.
Chuck said he did not really want to
vote for the president, but he just did not
care for any of the messages coming from
the Republican presidential candidates.
Being the ever-inquisitive journalist,
I asked what he thought of Lamar
Alexander’s position on educational re
form? Or Arlen Specter’s position on
abortion? Or maybe Alan Keyes’ ideas
on urban renewal?
My friend began to sound like Beavis
and Butt-head.
This would be funny, except for that
crazy, “we, the people” thing again.
It’s up to us to find out about the
candidates. Don’t expect to be told
everything in thirty-second sound bites.
We might be told about a middle-
class tax cut only to be faced with that
great ’92 campaign issue — homosexu
als in the military — as soon as the
election results are in.
Yes, we, the people can, and usually
have made the right choices when times
called for them. Now that it’s our turn,
let’s take the time to do it right.
David Taylor is a senior
management major
£1*7? pjf Z&zxp VGv :.eX^
First Amendment?
Aggieland ordeal not the same as CRs
I t’s time to put
on your dancin’
shoes, boys
and girls, and do
the First Amend
ment stomp.
But before we
do the Freedom
of Speech fandan
go, let’s set the
record straight.
The buzz around the campus is
that there’s a big double-standard
here at A&M when it comes to
freedom of speech, and it concerns
two of the University’s most
prominent organizations: the Ag
gieland and College Republicans.
It seems the Aggieland has
ruffled a few feathers with its de
pictions of homosexuality, racism
and drinking on campus.
Proponents of the Aggieland
say the annual should have every
right to publish whatever it
wants when covering A&M.
Around the same time, Texas
A&M College Republicans were
brought up on charges of violat
ing University fund-raising
guidelines by presenting “misin
formation” about the multicul-
turalism requirements and other
aspects of University policy to
prospective donors. The College
Republicans defense is built
around the argument that the
University should not tell stu
dent organizations what they
can and cannot print in letters.
Both seem to be pretty cut and
dried First Amendment issues.
Then why, you may ask, has
their been such a drastic differ
ence in public stances taken on
the issue?
The Aggieland got a thumbs
up from some for its bold look at
A&M. College Republicans have
been berated for their actions.
Kind of strange, huh?
Not really. Look past the
thin freedom of speech veil, and
the two instances become total
ly different.
College Fiepublicans broke the
rules. Whether the rules abridge
the freedom of speech is not as
relevant a point as it may seem at
first glance. If College Republi
cans had not been brought up on
charges, then doubtless they
would not have taken up the ban
ner of free speech.
It would have been one thing if
the College Republicans did not
violate University regulations
and the administration singled
them out because it did not agree
with its views. But the rules were
there, in black and white, for sev
eral years.
Not once did College Fiepubli
cans feel the need to fight for
their free speech rights that, ac
cording to them, were being
If only I had the time ...
Planning ahead allows college students the time to do a bit of everything
Jim
Pawlikowski
Columnist
abridged for sever
al years.
The Aggieland,
on the other hand,
followed all regu
lations and rules.
Everything in the
Aggieland was
done legally. It
just really ticked
people off, as can probably be ex
pected with the sensitive issues
the yearbook covered.
I realize this looks like split
ting hairs, but they’re vital hairs
we’re slicing.
The distinction between free
dom of speech concerning legal
actions and those concerning ille- .
gal actions is about the same as
shooting a gun with blanks and
shooting with live ammo.
Sure, the blanks may startle a
few people, but hell, the live
ammo could hurt somebody.
Let’s remember as well the
motivation behind the two causes.
College Republicans were a politi
cal organization interested in
fund raising. It would be more
prone to utilize shock value — a
tactic the group’s leadership has
admitted to using in this letter : —
to get the precious funds they
were searching for.
The Aggieland, however, is an
objective publication. It has no
reason to use shock value to get
what it wants because its goal is
only to provide a vivid memory of
the A&M campus
The First Almendment guaran
tees that people can say what we
want too, within reason. One of
the major tenets of that right is
that we are truthful in what we
say, print, send in smoke signals
or whatever.
The Aggieland was being ob
jective in what it printed. College
Republicans, on the other hand,
were not when they printed a
statement such as “President
Bowen got his job promising to
sign this multicultural ism bill
and the left-wing professors who
hired him are getting restless be
cause he is dragging his feet.”
Bowen was not hired by a radi
cal faction of the Texas A&M fac
ulty, but rather by the Board of
Regents. It’s hard, damn near im
possible, to believe that College
Republicans missed that little tid
bit of information.
Think of the whole situation
like the crowded theater. Some
one may object to you yelling
“Fire!” with a few expletives.
That’s their problem.
But if you yell “Fire!” when
there is no fire, then you have a
problem. A big problem.
Wes Swift is a junior
journalism major
A s college students, we of
ten find ourselves with
less time than we need.
Homework goes unfinished
due to lack of time. Perfor
mance on exams is not as
good as it could have been be
cause there was not enough
time to study.
We usually blame our pro
fessors for the predicament in which we find
ourselves week after week. "They obviously
don’t remember what it was like to be an un
dergraduate,” we say to ourselves. They act
like their class is the only one we are taking
and pile up enough work to keep us busy
throughout the week. Never mind the other
three classes and three labs.
There is no doubt that most of us arc ex
tremely busy. If we were limited to a 40-
hour work week, I would be finished by
Wednesday morning.
However, college is not supposed to be
easy. We must challenge our abilities if we
are going to improve them. This includes the
ability to manage time.
I have often thought that Ill have all kinds
of time after graduation. Eight-hour work
days sound pretty good. I wouldn’t even know
what to do with all that free time.
Well, I thought the same thing about col
lege. Only two or three classes a day every
other day sounded like a breeze compared to
the six or seven in high school. I soon
learned, however, that I was not less busy
but, in fact, much more so.
Based on this experience and my co-op
work experience, I feel safe to say that life
does not become a cake walk once we conquer
the obstacle of obtaining a college degree.
For people working in the real world,
those eight-hour days are
more like nine or ten. Plus,
employers don’t look too fa
vorably on employees taking
"two-hour naps in the middle
of the afternoon.
Still, professional life
sounds pretty good. No tests, : ® : '
homework or papers to con
sume our attention in the
evenings and cause stress.
Well, not so fast.
Schedules and deadlines must still be
adhered to. We’ll always have due dates.
We’ll always undergo evaluations.
Throughout life, we’ll have to prove that
we’re doing our job.
And unlike school where failing a test
means nothing more than a bad grade, fail
ing in the real world cari cost you money and
respect. The stakes only get higher.
As college students we must realize that
we are on a training ground for the real
world. The skills and habits that we develop
now will be the ones that we carry with us
beyond graduation.
Time management is the first step to suc
cess in both school and the professional world.
While I don’t mean to sound like a time
management seminar, planning your time
is the only way to avoid the inevitable
time crunch.
Chances are you know all of your test
dates and homework and paper due dates
well in advance. Chances are you have
enough time to adequately prepare with a
little thoughtful planning.
The real challenge is acquiring the moti
vation to study ahead of time. There is an
old saying that nothing would ever get done
if not for the last minute;
While the fear of impending failure is
probably the most effective motivational
technique around, it is not the most benefi
cial in terms of grades.
While I’m not an expert on time manage
ment and do not intend to sound like an ad
vertisement for Franklin, I can offer a few
tips concerning the best way to make enough
time to accomplish your academic and per
sonal goals.
Trqat a school day like a work day. Be
on campus by 8 a.m. and don’t go home un
til 5 p.m.
If you’ve ever worked a standard eight-
hour day in an office, you probably felt like it
dragged on and on.
Now apply this to a day of school. Treat
classes like meetings. Use the time in be
tween them as study time. It may be a long
day, but imagine how much studying you
can accomplish.
Use a planner. Find one detailed enough
to allow you to plan the day down to the
hour. Write down what you need to study
and plan a time for it.
Also write down meetings and extra-cur
ricular activities and plan around them.
This allows you to stay on top of things
academically while still making time to do
the other things that you want to be in
volved in.
We all have time. With the right plan
ning, even chemical engineers can manage a
couple of hours of sleep night.
•We need to learn to manage our time to be
effective students and productive individuals.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go start
P my homework that’s due Friday.
Jim Pawlikowski is a senior
chemical engineering major
Rec Center has
parking problems
On Monday, Oct. 23, I worked
out at the Rec Center. When I
walked outside I found a parking
ticket on my windshield.
The problem was that I have
a bus pass which comes with a
night permit, and I am only al
lowed to park in the Rec Center
parking lot between 4:30 p.m.
and 6:30 a.m.
When I inquired about my fu
ture Rec Center parking possi
bilities, I was given the follow
ing options: a) be finished at the
Rec Center by 6:30 a.m. b) pur
chase an off-campus parking
permit for S66, or c) purchase a
Park-N-Ride permit for S32.
This situation disgusts me.
As a student with a bus pass, I
am basically being told that I
don’t have the same rights to
the Rec Center during the day
as a student with an on-campus
parking permit.
I paid the same price for my
bus pass as those who pur
chased on-campus permits.
In addition, I paid the same
price for the Rec Center,
through increase in tuition.
Riding the bus to the Rec
Center is unrealistic. It would
take 40 minutes each way and
Mail
Oll
require riding three separate
.buses (Aggieland, Yell FYactice,
and Fish Camp).
I cannot afford to purchase an
other parking permit so I can use
the Flee Center during the day.
Nor do I feel that I have to.
The Rec Center is for all stu
dents at TAMU, and day park
ing should not be a special privi
lege given only to those with on-
campus parking permits.
Kelly Wood
Class of ’97
Take responsibility
for health care
One more time for all the
liberals — the Medicare budget
is going to increase 6 percent
per year until 2002.
Everyone who is currently re
ceiving Medicare or will become
eligible to receive Medicare in the
next seven years will have more
options than the current system
allows, and there will have to be
more money for this variety.
What do liberals think people
did before there was a federal
Medicare program?
People took responsibility for
their own health care and al
lowed others to do the same. If
they did not have the means to
care for themselves or pay some
one else to take care of them, then
their family, friends, relatives,
churches, neighbors and hospitals
would step in.
Gee, there were even charities
that would help them if no one
else was responsible enough.
How did we ever live without
Medicare — much better than
we live now.
I realize that liberal priorities
pre-empt the priorities. of every
one else because they had legisla
tive control for 40 years.
But conservatives realize they
can do a better job with that
money. The law may be in the
liberals’ favor now, but it won’t
last forever. Sooner or later we
will all have to be responsible for
our own health care.
I vote for sooner.
Scott Peterson
Class of ’93
Return Aggieland if
you don't like it
Listen up Ags. With all the re
cent controversy over this Ag
gieland issue, I started to look
into some viable options that con
cerned students could do to han
dle the situation.
I know some students are sat
isfied with this year's Aggieland,
but for those who are not, please
keep reading.
I serve as the Student Govern
ment University Committees
Chair which oversees the under
graduate representation on the
Student Ihiblications Board.
After this concern was brought
to my attention, I spoke with the
representatives on the Board.
They, in turn, spoke with the fac
ulty member in charge of the FAib-
lications Board. They reported
good news to me.
If you care to, you may request
a refund for your Aggieland by
merely taking it by Room 230 of
the Reed McDonald Building. I
went by and did this on Tuesday
with no problem.
I agree with the Battalion edi
torial that it's not our place to
censor the Aggieland, nor is it the
Student Publications Board's job
to approve its content.
As the students of Texas
A&M University, it it our re
sponsibility to show concern
when needed. I get tired of peo
ple talking about responsibility.
They should show concern
when needed.
I get tired of people just talking
about the issues we face, and I
have always been a firm believer
in the phrase “actions speak loud
er than words.”
This is our opportunity to let
actions speak.
So I challenge those students
who dislike the Aggieland for the
concerns that have been ex
pressed over the past week to
take their Aggieland by Room 230
and ask for a refund check.
Ryan Shopp
Class of’93
The Battalion encourages letters to the
editor and will print as many as space al
lows. 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. Letters may be
submitted in person at 013 Reed McDon
ald. A valid student ID is required. Letters
may also be mailed to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald Fax:
Texas A&M University (409) 845-2647
College Station, TX E-mail:
77843-1 111 Batt@tamvm1 .tamu.edu