Wednesday
November 29, 1995
^—-w The Battalion
Opinion
Working at The Battalion offers many opportunities
T—"V arely does a college
1—^ student get the op-
L wportunity to chat
with Bobby Seale, co
founder of the Black Pan
thers, shake hands with
President Bill Clinton or
snap photos 5 feet away
from a friendly confronta
tion between former Pres
ident George Bush and Reveille.
In fact, most people don’t get those
type of opportunities at any point in
their lives. Most people, however, don’t
work at The Battalion. ]
Well, that time of year has rolled
around again when The Battalion is look
ing for new faces to become part of our
team. And we would like you to apply.
For more than 100 years, The Bat
talion has provided Texas A&M and
the surrounding com
munity with coverage of
events and opinions of
the University and its
student body.
And throughout those
years, it has provided
thousands of students
the opportunity to not
only develop their skills,
but also to take an active part in shap
ing the University and its students.
We would like nothing more than to
see that tradition continue.
The Battalion provides its employees
with the opportunity to meet celebrities,
faculty members, student leaders and
members of the University administra
tion. Furthermore, working for The Batt
allows students to learn more about the
inner-workings of Texas A&M.
In addition, The Battalion provides
students with skill that are marketable.
Writing, style, design, interaction skills
and creativity are all improved through
out the semester, and future employers
will find each of these attractive.
However, the most unique part of
working for The Batt is the sense of
pride the staff feels knowing that it
made a contribution to Texas A&M.
Nothing can compare with having
40,000 students take notice of your
work on a daily basis.
Tonight at 8:00, The Battalion will
hold an informational meeting to meet
with and answer questions from stu
dents who wish to take part in The Bat
talion experience. During this time,
each of the section editors will explain
what they are looking for. All positions
are open.
The Battalion offers job opportunities
for radio broadcasting, photography,
sports writing, opinion writing, editorial
writing, page designing, copy editing,
clerical work, graphic creation, report
ing and feature writing.
Plus, all positions are paid.
No position on The Battalion staff re
quires any journalism experience. There
are no prerequisites except a willing
ness to learn.
An informational meeting
will be held tonight for stu
dents who wish to work for
The Battalion.
Also very important to The Battalion
staff is diversity.
In order to produce a newspaper
that represents everyone on campus.
The Batt desires employees from all
backgrounds, races, religions, sexual
orientations, political parties, majors
and ages.
The Battalion can only be as good as
the people who produce it.
So I encourage anyone who has the
slightest interest in working for The
Battalion and gaining an experience
like no other to drop by 003 Reed Mc
Donald tonight to find out more.
If you cannot attend the meeting, an
application is available on page 9 of to
day’s Batt. Applications can also be
picked up at The Battalion office at 013
Reed McDonald.
So stop by and find out how you can
have a great spring semester, learn
more about journalism and get paid all
at the same time.
Sterling Hayman is a senior
political science major
Sterling
Hayman
Managing
Editor
All students should respect E-walk
Underclassmen and juniors should stay away from seniors' tradition
tfrrv
1:
Courtney
Lyons
Guest
Columnist
|he worm crawls in
and the worm
crawls out..” This
was the song that began the
tradition of Elephant Walk in
1925. Two seniors from the
Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band
played this song as they left
their dorms and began to
march across campus.
Others joined them. Forming a single
line, they
wandered
about cam
pus, reliving
old memo
ries, just like
elephants
who know
they are
about to die.
This was
how the tra
dition of Elephant Walk got started.
Elephant Walk has become an important
tradition in Aggieland, and members of the
12th Man look forward to the day when they
can wallp with their class about campus,
looking back on their years at A&M. This is
one of the things that makes the Aggie expe
rience so unique.
But it has become an endangered one re
cently. Juniors and even underclassmen
(who should not have any idea what is going
on, if tradition is truly followed) have felt it
necessary to “grode out” the seniors as they
pass through campus.
Seniors in past Elephant Walks have
been subjected to raw eggs being thrown
at them. Some students chose to soil the
seniors with ketchup, mustard,
chocolate syrup and mud. Needless
to say this resulted in large unde
sirable messes.
This is not a part of the tradition.
It is just bad bull.
This day was begun for the seniors
by the seniors — not for any other
class. There is no reason to show
them disrespect by acting childish
and taunting them, or throwing rotten food.
shaving cream, or anything
else at them. Everyone will
someday walk with their class,
if they are truly Aggies. How
will you feel when some under
classman ruins your day by throw
ing things at you?
If you don’t think you should
leave the seniors alone for that reason, then
think about this: The upcoming weekend,
with Bonfire and the t.u. game, is one of the
most important weekends for the University
all year long. Everyone will be on campus:
Old Ags, Aggie Moms, your parents, out-of-
town friends and (of course) t-sippers.
Why would you want to trash the cam
pus and make it look trashed-out just in
time for all those longhorns to come over
from Austin and see what a mess we made
of campus? I hope Aggies have a little
more class than that.
In the past few years, Elephant Walk has
been cleaned up by the efforts of the junior
class councils. Last year’s walk was almost
like Old Army days. But this year we can’t
slack off. The faculty and administration are
watching the walk closely, and if we don’t
keep it clean, then they will take the tradi
tion
away
from us.
They
have
been on
the
verge of
doing so
before.
So
please,
think before you do anything stupid
this year.
When you mess with E-Walk,
you are doing more than just
groding out the seniors. You
are groding out our campus,
and you are destroying a
great tradition.
If you are a member of the
Class of ’97, come out to activities
aimed toward juniors, and if you are an
underclassman, just stay away as tradi
tion dictates.
Don’t trash the tradition.
Courtney Lyons is a junior English major
and Class of ’97 vice president
There isn't always
time for goodbyes
This week changed my life. On
Wednesday night I received a call
from home (Ecuador) to tell me
that a good friend of mine had
died in a car crash.
It deeply saddened me. I
could not believe that he was
gone, so soon, so young. The
worst thing was that I could not
be at his burial to say goodbye.
In the middle of all of my sad
ness and grief, I was struck by
the thought of how short life is.
I thought of how many times I
have closed my mouth and
haven’t told a lot of people who
are important to me the way I
feel about them: My parents, my
friends, my family members.
I usually assume they al
ready know or that they will al
ways be around.
I am wrong.
So the next time you see an
old friend, see your family or say
goodbye to someone, don’t forget
to say how you feel. It may be
your last chance.
As for my friend, I never told
him how much I appreciated
his friendship.
Rest in peace Felipe, I love
you man, and I will miss you.
Jorge Becerra
Class of’96
Smokers often use
world as an ashtray
This morning as I was riding
my bike to school, I came upon a
car at a stoplight.
Both people in the car were
having their morning smoke.
The passenger rolled down the
window and threw out his ciga
rette. I asked him to use his ash
tray. He ignored me and rolled up
his window.
The driver did not ignore
me: She responded to my re-
quest by throwing her cigarette
out the window.
They seemed to be saying,
“Hey, the world is my ashtray,
so kiss off.”
Where does this logic lead?
How about “The world is my
trash can.” This allows me to
throw my burger wrappers and
old term papers anywhere I like.
I hear a lot of talk about how
Bonfire is destructive. The
truth is the trees are doomed
anyway, the fuel is contaminat
ed and useful organizational
skills are developed.
Why do we spend so much
effort with this event and so
little effort trying to change
our own behavior?
Jim Lee
Graduate Student
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
submittea 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:
77843-1111 Batt@tamvm1.tamu.edu
The Battal ion
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.
Editorials Board
Rob Clark
Editor in Chief
Sterling Hayman
Managing Editor
Kyle Littlefield
Opinion Editor
Erin Hill
Elizabeth Preston
Assistant Opinion Editors
House Call
A&M students should attend the
Board of Regents open house.
Given the number of contro
versial issues the Board of Re
gents will be studying this
week, student input at the
board’s open house is vital.
Scheduled for this
Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the
Regent’s Annex in the MSG,
the open house gives stu
dents a chance to offer valu
able input to the Regents.
In Thursday and Friday’s
meetings, the board will be
dealing with several issues of
concern to the students, and
the board needs direction
from them.
For example, the board will
be looking at the multicultural-
ism course requirements. Be
cause the Student Senate and
the University president have
failed to provide a strong opin
ion on the subject, individual
students should tell the regents
how they feel.
The proposed day care cen
ter might also be an issue the
board studies this week, and
students’ opinions are especial
ly important on this matter.
Also, another general use
fee increase is a possible topic
for discussion. Since the last
increase passed during the
summer without a chance for
most of the student body to re
spond, now is a good opportu
nity for the board to hear the
students’ opinions.
Finally, the board might
look at the issue of expanding
Kyle Field, an issue of interest
to many students.
Of course, every issue the
board discusses has some im
pact on students, so any insight
a student can provide to the
board is useful.
The board is now beginning
to recognize the value of the
students’ viewpoints.
In order for the board to
continue thinking the open
houses are important, stu
dents themselves must show
they also think the forums
are important.
This will be evident only
through a good turnout from
students at the open house.
Students should realize if
the board is to serve them, they
must ask to be served.
Inappropriate flier
NAACP sinks low with advertisement
T he mud-
slinging on
this campus
is completely out
of control.
The College Re
publicans, the
most popular vil
lains on this cam
pus, stunned us
with their ability to insult the in
telligence of this entire campus
through their offensive posters,
fliers and letters.
However, up to this point the
people being attacked — mainly
minorities — have reacted as
well as can be expected.
There was public outcry, let
ters to The Battalion and meet
ings designed to stop the rising
tide of hatred on campus.
But, this week, the Texas
A&M chapter of the National As
sociation for the Advancement of
Colored People tragically sunk to
the level the College Republican’s
infamous 1994 flier sunk to.
There is a meeting the
NAACP is holding on campus
this Thursday evening titled
“Racism on Campus.” Ok, so
what’s the problem?
Racism is a huge problem at
Texas A&M, and one that de
serves many discussions and in
creased awareness. This meeting
will probably be an important and
interesting discussion that every
A&M student should attend.
But, the flier advertising this
meeting went way, way too far.
It reads: “Feeling the bite of
Affirmative Action? Do Sambo
and Aunt Jemima got yo job?
Reality or fallacy, come find
out.” It also features two graph
ics — an African-American man
with dread locks banging on a
drum and a roaring tiger.
The fliers grab attention, and
they offend.
The stereotypes on the flier Eire
laughable they are so ridiculous,
but repeating them only encour
ages stereotypes in general.
It has been a long time since
anyone thought of African-Ameri
cans as drum-beating. Aunt Jemi
ma types, but even discussing the
stereotypes gives them a respect
they don’t deserve.
Writing and drawing them on
fliers and slapping them up all
over campus is ridiculous.
Even the grammar on the flier
— “yo” for you and “got” for
“have” — is supposed to make fun
of yet another a reprehensible
stereotype of African Americans.
Instead, it actually gives life to a
stereotype many had dismissed
as stupid yeEirs ago.
FYoponents of these fliers ar
gue that they show how sarcas
tic they are by going too far.
This simply won’t cut it.
On this campus, there are
probably a bunch of people walk
ing around saying: “Yeah, I bet a
drum-playing Aunt Jemima does
have my job! It’s not that I can’t
find a job because I’m an idiot;
it’s because I’m white! I’m glad
someone finally noticed!”
Furthering
stereotypes is
never excusable
and certainly not
by the same
group that is tar
geted by the most
stereotypes.
Affirmative ac
tion is good.
Racism is had.
Texas A&M has racism, and
the majority of the students are
against affirmative action.
These Eire clear issues. They
need to be addressed and correct
ed — sooner rather than later.
However, the solution to prob
lems is not to join the lowest
common denominator in their
slimy world.
This flier may have been a de
layed “reaction” to the College
Republican fliers from a few se
mesters ago that insulted and
offended almost the entire A&M
campus. The fliers claimed un
qualified minorities were accept
ed into A&M and given jobs
when they graduated.
The NAACP fliers grab
attention by exploiting
racist stereotypes that
should remain buried.
The fliers were wrong. The
fliers were dumb. The fliers
were insulting.
But this flier is equally inap
propriate, if not worse.
The Texas A&M chapter of
the NAACP jumped into the
mud with no reason at all.
It is an immature flier and
takes the fight against racism
back a few steps — a difficult
thing to do on a CEimpus as racist
as this one.
We’ve seen this game of in
sults and hurt feelings recently
on a national level, as President
Clinton and Speaker Newt Gin
grich played a powerful version.
It could be appropriately titled
“How Low Can We Go?”
But the fact that this is a pop
ular game does not make it a
good one.
Everyone who slings mud is
dirtied; they all stand around
with dirt on their faces.
The NAACP is in the right by
standing up against racism on
campus. Clearly.
It isn’t even a debatable is
sue, unless one counts the re
peated blunders of the public re
lations arm of the College Re
publicans an issue.
But the NAACP was wrong to
bring itself down (and it was a
long way down) to the level of the
same racists it seeks to educate.
Attend the meeting, end
racism, but end insulting stereo
types as well.
Even if they are meant to be
sarcastic, the fliers simply
aren’t funny.
Elizabeth Preston is a senior
English major
Elizabeth
Preston
Asst. Opinion
Editor