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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 1996)
mary 26,19% ler tars e. e league with age while Hill nd has four season, n the All-Star onor in itself,” worried about I get or even getting to the Kidd, who 3 rookie of the [ill, was voted Conference i. 11 game at will be two of Eastern Con- d by Jordan's Scottie Pip- orward spot, le O’Neal at ee Hardaway ie East team he Bulls’Phil will be Kidd .tie’s Shawn lx's Charles 1, and Hous- iwon at cen- ;ler at shoot- arl of Seattle ah will coach ch is deter rence’s best lay’s games, leading vote- ,ern Confer- 1,195, 27,866 ets kets m eclipsed in career n lO-for-23 sn’t nearly he Rockets air fourth Olajuwon ice joining , ■ * IBS , a dismal / ■e 3-for-18 ie Bullets scoring a nts in the ton led by 93-62 en- )d. le only 21 i opening ishington, sank 10 of ts during points in de it 18-4, ilt its ad- ;ading 37- irter. ack to 49- six points it put the oach wonder if ice to be a d.” he Eagles hen owner i to replace playing ca des was a e backs 10 years Francisco rs won Su- 3 in 1982, 989 and 2, he left to become nsive coor- iy for two ned to the them win he follow- The Battalion Friday January 26, 1996 Opinion Does the Greek system belong on campus? Greeks bond through service System causes social division Erin Fitzgerald Columnist G reek life belongs on the Texas A&M campus as much as the Corps of Cadets. Anyone who has a sense of what being an Aggie means would agree that it shares many characteristics with being Greek. Just like Aggies, Greeks pride themselves in being a part of something that is rich in his tory and strives for nothing less than excellence. Aggies proudly display A&M stickers and license plates on the backs of their cars; Greeks paste on their crests. Aggies fre quently wear A&M/TAMU/ATM shirts; Greeks often wear their letters. Aggies participate in tra ditions; Greeks participate in rituals. “Fraternity” means brother hood; “sorority” means sister hood. There is the same intense feeling of camaraderie at A&M —just look at the Aggie Ring. Outside of Aggieland, strangers approach one another feeling a common bond simply because gold pieces of metal are wrapped around their fingers. Why? Because they’ve experi enced something which “from the outside looking in” can’t be understood and “from the in side looking out” can’t be ex plained. The same holds true for Greeks. Those who condemn Greek life know little about it and are influenced by stereotypes and falsehoods. For some reason, there is this myth that Greeks aren't Aggies, but merely mem bers of social organizations which party all the time. In the city that consumes the most beer per capita, it’s a little hyp- ocrfti'ca/ to condemn any group for partying. In fact, no bulk alcohol is al lowed at Greek parties, and members are subjected to strict requirements on drinking and behavior. The National head quarters of each fraternity and sorority restrict their number of social events. Let’s look at some other facts about these “wild” Aggie Greeks: • Academically, Greeks pos sess higher grade point ratios than non-Greeks on average. • Greeks do more community service than most non-Greeks. Every Greek participates in community service a minimum of once a year. Along with na tional fraternal philanthropies, most have a local philanthropy. Greeks also do local community service, such as Big Brother/Big Sister programs, visiting boys homes and nursing homes, Adopt a Highway, and A&M’s Big Event. • Greeks are involved in al most every campus organization. In fact, many of the campus leaders are Greek, such as the speaker of the Senate, the presi dent of the 12th Man Student Association and the Honors Stu dent Council president. True, anyone can do and be all of these things without joining a fraternal organi zation. Anyone can also be a fan of Texas A&M football, but it means more when you’re an Aggie. You’re a part of something special. Of course, there are always some bad apples that are easy targets. But these mistakes are pure products of society. Non-Greek Aggies have just as many (if not more) inci dents of hazing and can be culturally insensitive. Just as paying players doesn’t make college football a bad sport, the mis takes made by mem bers of one fraternal organization should n’t reflect on all Greeks. The pros outweigh the cons. Those who think "nlike the civiliza tion af ter which it takes its name, the Greek sys tem is not the celebration of individualism and accom plishment that it pretends to be. Despite the numerous claims of fraternities and sororities, their primary focus is social. Much lip service is given to com munity service, academic enhancement and moral standards. When it comes to recruitment, however, the social aspects of Greek life are flaunted the most. This fact is proven best by the Greeks themselves. When they choose to adver tise their own activi ties via T-shirts, what messages do they portray? Greeks are super ficial and worth less should get off their high horses and look at all the good they bring to this cam pus and community. Greeks devote a large per centage of their time to service and studies. And it takes a lot of character to live up to the standards of fra ternal life. Perhaps that is why all but two presidents of the United States since 1823 have been Greek. If the pride in being Greek is still incomprehensible, Aggies should ask themselves why be ing an Aggie is so great — it’s the same answer. As for “renting a friend,” it’s called tuition. Erin Fitzgerald is a senior political science and English major and a member of a sorority Most often, Greeks are seen donning the garments that cele brate their more Dionysian en terprises. As a civilian, I am con tinually bombarded by clothing such as the “grab-a-date” and “bastardize-this-culture” shirts. Rarely — in fact never — have I seen the “Upsilons fed the home less” shirt. Granted, many of the social events heralded by these articles of clothing actually serve a chari table purpose. Greeks are very good at holding golf tournaments, concerts and chili cook-offs that benefit charities. The unfortunate side effect of this is that it breeds two dangerous mentalities. One is that the idea of throwing money at a problem will solve it. The other being the concept that it’s acceptable to help a charity as long as they can get a round of golf or a drunken romp around a pot of stew out of it. Because Greek groups rarely claim to be primarily ser vice-oriented, it would hardly be fair to criticize them for their lack of efficacy. Their social basis, on the other hand, is fair game. The Greek system is based on a division of people that is as ridiculous and arbitrary as Dr. Seuss’ star-bellied Sneetches. After a selection process which breeds homogeneous, rather than diverse groups, Greeks learn to identify with an organization that celebrates itself for the sole pur pose of celebrating itself. This ide ology espouses the idea that every Upsilon (Mu, Eta, etc.) should like his or her fellow brother or sister not because of the individ ual characteristics of that person, but because they are an Upsilon. The intangible quality of Up- silonhood is apparently available at a price of around $600 per se mester. It varies depending on the selection of letters the individ ual Greek wants on his or her sweatshirt. The letters them selves don’t stand for anything, but why should that matter? Such capricious divisions of people exist outside the Greek system as well (especially at A&M), but that doesn’t make them any more valid. Of course, these faults lie with in the Greek system itself, rather than the individuals involved. But along with the faults inher ent in the system, the actions of many Greek groups have shown the human error involved. An in dividual would have to go back in time as far as Monday to find an example of hazing in one of A&M’s Greek organizations. Year after year, the Greek system has been a constant source of neg ative publicity for A&M, especial ly because of the fraternities. Were it not for such vigorous com petition from the College Republi cans, the Corps of Cadets and the Board of Regents, the Greek sys tem would hold the title for “Most Embarrassing University Group.” I am not suggesting that the Greek system has never done anything positive. Sororities and fraternities have raised thou sands of dollars for charities. So have student groups like United Way, Habitat for Humanity and countless others. Only, the latter have managed to do it without ever stealing church playground equipment or breaking into the apartment of a police officer. Have the “moral standards” and “community service” values preached by the Greek system had any effect on the actions of the numerous Greek members who have committed such trans gressions? Obviously not. Has the A&M Greek communi ty given any evidence to suggest that the next twenty years will be any different? Not one iota. Jeff Nolen is a senior psychology major The Battalion 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 Sterling Hayman Editor in Chief Stacy Stanton Managing Editor Michael Landauer Opinion Editor Jason Brown Assistant Opinion Editor Secondhand 'Smoking in the board room’ stinks of special privileges. Smoke ’em if you got ’em — even if it goes against campus policy. At least that seems to be the attitude of some mem bers of the Board of Regents. Some of the regents, includ ing Chairman Mary Nan West, have been smoking in their MSC offices despite the fact that doing so is in direct viola tion of campus policy. Former Texas A&M presi dent William H. Mobley inact- ed the policy in 1993, doing away with a smoking policy that allowed for designated areas of buildings to be used for smoking. In a memo explaining the new policy, Mobley wrote, “Sci entific findings, as summarized by the United States Attorney General and the Environmen tal Protection Agency, indicate that simple separation of build ings into “smoking” and “non smoking” sections does not eliminate the unequivocal health risks that result from environmental tobacco smoke.” These health risks still ex ist in offices in the MSC. Workers in offices near the regents’ should not be vic tims of a selectively-enforced policy when the health risks are so obvious. As the dangers of smoking have become more publicized, rhany smokers have dropped the habit. The dangers of side- stream smoke have caused restaurants, airlines and office buildings across the country to ban smoking. As Mobley stated, simply creating a “smoking” section is not good enough to protect non- smokers’ rights. Similarly, al lowing one group, no matter how powerful and respected, to break the rules undermines the health of others. Since the policy states that the ban exists for all buildings “under the administrative purview” of the president, the MSC is not an acceptable place for the regents to smoke. This kind of blatant disre gard of the rules reeks of the kind of behavior that led to the “ice and cups” scandal of 1994. Although law-enforce ment will probably never get involved, the infractions are just as serious. Aside from their clash with policy, the regents should abandon their indoor smoking habits simply out of consideration for others. The only enforcement in Mobley’s policy was a call for consideration and thoughtful ness on the part of smokers, so it is ultimately left to the re gents to alter their behavior. If other smokers can live with smoking outdoors, so can the regents. The regents may have never been reprimanded, but students, faculty and staff members would never get away with smoking in the MSC. The regents have been caught with a smoking gun. They should put it out. Mail Votes should have strong foundations I commend the editorial staff for presenting an unbiased ac count of the major philosophies of the two political parties while un derscoring the need for voters to be informed about candidates’ po sitions before they cast their bal lots (editorial, Jan. 24). Too many times I hear people say things without any reference to where they stand on the issues or values that truly define a presi dential candidate. Such state ments should be backed up by rea son and knowledge, not by unin formed prejudices. I have heard it said that people who do not vote have no reason to complain about government. I also believe people who vote ignorantly have no rea son to either. Political apathy in this nation is a huge problem, but there is ac tually a bigger concern to a repre sentative democracy than citizens not voting, and that is citizens voting for candidates without knowing what, or who, they really stand for. Zak Hall Class of ’99 Debating religion avoids ignorance I was highly offended by Kier- an Watson’s column concerning the supposed “pointlessness” of philosophical discussions. I have found discussions of religion and philosophy to be both possible and very useful. As a Christian with an agnos tic father, I learned the skill of en gaging in relaxed conversations about such topics rather than vio lent arguments. Several of my high school friends are also agnostic, Hindu, and Muslim. Additionally, since my arrival at A&M, I have had an atheist roommate and gave met many friends and acquaintances who are atheist, agnostic, and even pagan. With all of these peo ple, I have been able to debate constructively, and my own be liefs have clarified substantially because of this. One of the greatest sins plagu ing mankind is a profound igno rance of other philosophies and religions. Most wars throughout history have been caused by igno rance. The only way to solve the problem is through education, in cluding philosophical debates, not by cowering in our self-imposed ignorance. The only way in which a religious discussion becomes a fiery argument is when one or more of the participants is intoler ant and narrow-minded. Granted this is not uncommon, especially at Texas A&M, but it is by no means universal. It is also a well known fact that the more our opinions are challenged, the stronger they be come. Besides, an intellectually stimulating debate is one of the best ways to recharge after a day of boring lectures and labs. Aaron McCarty Class of ’99 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 Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: Batt@tamvm1.tamu.edu