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The Battalion
Wednesday
january 31,1996
Opinion
Page 11
First Lady is responsible for her troubles
H illary Clinton is in a bit
of trouble.
Actually, saying
Hillary is in a “bit” of trouble is
kesaying Neil O'Donnell was
“bit” off when Larry Brown
made his first interception in
Sunday’s Super Bowl. Some
how, it doesn’t convey the
jpth of trouble.
Last Friday, the first lady testified before
federal grand jury, which will decide this
week whether any charges will be filed
against Mrs. Clinton for her role in the
Madison Guarantee Savings and Loan land
scandal, affectionately known as “Whitewa
ter.”
However, as Hillary dances off to the
strains of “Don’t Cry For Me, Peons of Amer
ica,"her supporters continually cry foul.
Her loyal fans keep pointing out that no
one has actually found a crime. In fact,
Whitewater has been called a cover-up with
out a crime. That, by the way, is exactly why
the scandal won’t die.
But the incredible disappearing-reappear
ingbilling records aside, it’s not the appar
ent cover-up that irks this analyst, but
rather a certain continuing refrain coming
[rom the HRC camp — the really cool, inner-
circle types all get to call her that.
The explanation goes something like this:
‘You are only going after Hillary Clinton be
cause she’s a strong woman, and that intimi
dates (bothers, grates, peeves ... insert fa
vorite catch phrase here) your male chauvin
ist ego.”
As recently as last week, I had this clever
cop-out thrown at me by a misguided friend.
However, as a sensitive ’90s kinda guy, I de
cided to consult my inner child and find out
if any truth could be found in the accusation.
I thought about the women in my family.
After all, they are the ones responsible for
my alleged fear of strong women.
All eight women in my parents’ generation,
including five aunts, my mother and my step
mother, have college degrees. Two hold mas
ter’s degrees and one holds a doctorate.
All have successful careers — not to men
tion that they are raising families. For ex
ample, my Aunt L^owery is with the State
Department, and my Aunt Debbie teaches
special-needs children in the Richardson
School District.
But my mother did the most amazing job
— she actually survived raising me. Oh,
and she finished her degree while working
outside the home.
But I still think Hillary
should be investigated.
Hmm, maybe my male
pigheadedness just over
shadows any respect for
strong women in my moth
er’s generation.
So, for the next stop on my
journey through my accused
gender-centric inner-child, I decided to see if
maybe I had a weak pair of grandmothers.
Well, on my mom’s side, there is my
Grandma Betty.
When she met my grandfather, she was
doing a power-plant analysis for the first
jet aircraft to be manufactured by the com
pany she worked for. You see, Grandma
Betty was two semesters short of a degree
in aeronautical engineering.
Did I mention that this was in 1942?
It took a lot of nerve for a woman to try to
earn an engineering degree in 1942.
Well, then, maybe on my dad’s side.
Back in 1954, L. Lowery Taylor received a
degree in French from the University of
Washington. As an afterthought, Grandma
Lebbie earned a master’s in English teach
ing from t.u. in the late 70s. This is in addi
tion to the seven languages she speaks flu
ently (English, Mandarin Chinese, French,
German, Swahili, Cantonese and Thai — she
learned that one in the Peace Corps).
I wonder what Hillary Clinton’s grand
mothers did.
Well, now that I have completed my little
journey through pop-psychology’s nether
world, I have reached a conclusion: I have no
idea what an inner child is.
Oh yeah, and this “strong woman” idea
falls apart as soon as I look at it.
I don’t question Hillary Clinton’s actions be
cause of some deep-seated fear of strong
women, but because of a deep respect for them.
You see, each one of these strong, success
ful women taught me the same lessons —
hard work and honesty.
Don’t think for one minute it was easy for
them. I know that each faced an extra obsta
cle as a woman.
But they aren’t in trouble.
No, Hillary Clinton is in trouble, but not
because of some deep male conspiracy
rather, because somewhere along the line,
she forgot what really makes a woman
strong — or a man, for that matter.
It’s called integrity.
David Taylor is a senior
management major
You JXHX1ED the defensive end,
SIDESTEPPED the trtdde,
And EVADED Uie defensive hack
J
i>oioii. Tirliero<i ;roi* iem»n
such nimble Footwork ?
Communism still alive and thriving in Aggieland
Chris
Stidvent
Columnist
T he late, great Dr. Seuss put it well when he cryp
tically noted, “There’s a wocket in my pocket, and
a Communist in my backyard.”
All right, he might have left out that bit about the
Communist. Yet, I’m almost certain he would have
added it if he were currently enrolled at Texas A&M.
“What’s that?” a proud Aggie advocate of democracy
might gasp. “Communism here at Texas A&M? The
man is clearly mad.
“What a dastardly and despicable implication.”
But wait, my young patriot.
Before we jump to our quick and admittedly comfortable conclu
sions, perhaps we ought to take a look around.
I have a feeling we just might encounter several seething beds
of potential communist activity hidden around this presumed safe
haven for democracy.
Why don’t we begin our search right here, with this student
newspaper?
Honestly now, most of our students already realize that The
Battalion is a filthy Bolshevik rag.
Many of its sections, especially the Opinion page, advocate so
cialist propaganda on a daily basis. Subversive points of view
slandering various student groups and
members of the administration are
prominently situated on almost any
given page.
As defenders of democracy, we
should be descending on The Battal
ion’s offices by the hundreds. We
should be demanding that it quit pub
lishing its socialist rot before we dyna
mite its printing presses and end its
threat to the American way.
And here, in fact, is a truly terrify
ing realization.
Many students feel that socialists
run the student newspaper, and yet
nobody has taken any direct action as
of this date. Has our University be
come so saturated with expressions of
communist thought that we have final
ly ceased to recognize the danger that
it poses?
Maybe we can gather some more ev
idence for this phenomenon of apathy
by taking a look at the administrative
head of this University.
Just as communist Russia was
largely governed by the Supreme Sovi
et, we have the Board of Regents.
Both groups are collections of pow
erful and mysterious individuals who
were appointed by other powerful and
mysterious individuals. This appoint
ment process grants each group nearly
total administrative freedom, since they have no elections to wor
ry about.
These groups rarely have to consider their decisions in the light
of their subjects' opinions. The governed, be they Aggie students
or Russian peasants, have little power over those who govern
them.
Both groups enjoy considerably more privileges than those
whose lives they control with such mind-numbing power. The
members of the Supreme Soviet were usually guaranteed nicer
apartments, abundant toilet paper and big refrigerators. The re
gents get good parking spots, the occasional free beer, and the
chance to light up every now and then in their luxurious offices.
The economy of communist Russia was planned, to a large extent.
This meant that the governing organization determined the prices of
many commodities.
These prices were not allowed to reach a more natural level under
such capitalist economy factors as competition among businesses
and the laws of supply and demand.
Therefore, under a planned economy I might
pay more or less for a loaf of bread than normal
free market considerations would actually dictate.
This analogy often holds true here at Texas A&M.
The last time I went to purchase textbooks for my
classes, I had to sell my car and take out a mortgage
on my parents’ house. My entire family was deport
ed to debtors’ prison and plunged into abject poverty
from which they have only partially recovered.
When I sold my books back at the end of the
school term, I received just enough pocket change to buy a “Happy
Day” snow cone from a ragged street vendor and play two games of
“Terminator 2” pinball.
I might be mistaken, but it appears that I neither bought nor
sold my textbooks their fair market prices. I was the victim of a
chilling economic conspiracy that involved both price-fixing and
the lack of any competition to drive prices down.
Who was responsible for this travesty? That’s right, those damn
Communists, once again.
1 realize that, taken individually, these instances of presumed
communist behavior don’t add up to much.
I also realize that the true lesson here might simply be that
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 Opitiion Editor
Fee Fumbling
Committee's decisions on
allocation should be questioned.
in the student service fee,
which stands at $93 per stu
dent per semester.
With all the questionable
recommendations the com
mittee has made, the Student
Senate Internal Affairs Com
mittee has refused to forward
it to the full Senate yet. This
committee should be com
mended for taking its time
evaluating the proposals.
Now, students have the
opportunity to lobby their
senators about the issue. All
students should become fa
miliar with the recommenda
tions, because those propos
als will affect all students to
some degree.
Although Vice President
for Student Affairs Malon
Southerland and Texas A&M
President Ray Bowen will
make the final decisions
about the allocation, stu
dents can send a strong mes
sage to him through the Stu
dent Senate.
With $8 million of stu
dents’ money at stake, the
student service fee allocation
is one of the largest issues
the Student Senate confronts
every year. Therefore, it is
crucial that students provide
input to their senators about
this issue.
The Student Service Fee
Allocation Committee is
proposing some radical
changes — changes that
would impact all students.
For example, it is recom
mending that The Battal
ion’s allocation be cut 94%,
which could have an impact
on advertising rates, espe
cially those of organizations
on campus.
The committee is also sug
gesting the Memorial Stu
dent Center, an organization
that provides many services
to students, be cut by
$100,000.
Finally, the committee is
recommending a $6 increase
large bureaucratic systems often tend to resemble each other. In
other words, the only thing that Texas A&M and communist Rus
sia might have in common is the fact that they are both controlled
by governing systems with similar organizational structures.
Rational individuals might add that any idiot ought to be able
to make the simple distinction between an entity’s official ideology
and the governing system that entity uses to support its ideology.
Aggies and Communists are as different as apples and oranges,
they might say.
No matter, I’m still frightened.
Until this personal “Red Scare” ends, I will be continually hum
ming the riational anthem, hoarding old copies of Captain America
comic books and reading a biography of Thomas Jefferson down in
my basement.
As a good American and a slightly paranoid individual, I figure
it’s the least I can do.
Chris Stidvent is a senior English and philosophy major
Criticism of column
misses the mark
I do not know what the big
deal is at Texas A&M. If we are
not taking sides on whether two
friends can discuss different reli
gious standpoints then we are
calling other groups racist.
In response to Aja Henderson’s
column about minority professors,
I agree that we need more of
them. However, statements like
“coming to teach at a school with a
slave owner chilling on the lawn,“
are not appropriate.
She seems to have done the re
search for her column, but it is
sometimes better to make a good
point than to make racial slurs.
Her argument is a valid one. If
the numbers she reported about
were correct, and if they increase,
maybe we will see more minority
professors. Also, in her defense, I
don’t think she was saying, “why
don’t we go out and hire any mi
nority that wants to work for
Texas A&M.” I think she was
saying we should make better of
fers to minority professors.
Sometimes as college students
and future leaders we can act so
childish. All Henderson wanted
to say was that she wanted more
minority professors. Sometimes
views do get distorted in print but
we have to all live with that and
try to make an effort to under
stand what another person is try
ing to say.
Randy R. Hampton
Class of ’98
Port Arthur station
justified in censorship
This is in response to Rob
Clark’s column about the Jan. 18
episode of Friends. Clark failed to
mention that a very unique guest
made a nationwide television ap
pearance on Jan. 18 episode.
The woman who was conduct
ing the lesbian wedding was
none other than Candace Gin
grich — yes, the half-sister of
our beloved Speaker of the
House, Newt Gingrich.
Clark’s attack of KJAC’s “cen
sorship” stopped short of reveal
ing this fact. •
Now 1 love Friends, and you
can say I’m pnrt of the “hip yup
pie cult" that plugs in and zones
out Thursday nights. But 1 sup-
Mail
(3 All
port the Port Arthur station and
any group that tries to hold back
the flood of gay and lesbian ac
ceptance in our society.
Any person who has picked up
a Bible could probably tell you
God is against gay and lesbian
perversity in every way. Clark
cites the pervert as the one in
Port Arthur who wants to
“watch” the lesbians. In God’s
eyes that person is probably the
third pervert on the scene.
Because I’m against gay and
lesbians am I “prejudiced” and
“ignorant?” Perhaps, but ac
cording to Clark, not according
to Christianity.
Jonathan Watson
Class of’99
Students should
register early to vote
Do you want your congress
man to listen to you? Do you
want your local elected officials to
represent your views? Do you
want a voice in government? If
so, then register and vote. The
students at Texas A&M can
make a difference.
Thomas Paine said, “The right
of voting is the right by which all
other rights are protected.” This
quote still rings true today. How
ever, to be able to vote you must
be registered at least 30 days be
fore the election, and considering
the fact that the 1996 primaries
are in the middle of Spring
Break, I know that all good Ags
are going to vote early in the
MSC from Feb. 21 to Mar.8,
which requires you to register
early. Protect your rights, and
make the student vote count; reg
ister and vote.
Richard Holt
Class of’97
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 he
submitted in person at 013 Reed Mc Don
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