y 1 S,19|
)n
defensive
6 s taken
he s been
iders in
] ped dra-
injury,
in at a
en fabu-
■s do not
defense,
so called
it player
uting re-
Barone
do that.
- over to
been lin
iment to
■y little
urt, An-
consid-
himself
igative,”
3 almost
letimes,
him put
that he
the pri-
>n to at-
is. As a
erson’s
ssional
dly be-
erest in
on said,
t it in a
md it’s
arson’s
aid the
,n even
xt sea-
expect-
not the
eague,
we get
ir that
better
will be
ne
IE BATTAIION
’ Gibson
iose rah-
ives 10®
er?
The Battalion
Thursday
February 1 5, 1 996
For Gramm,
Opinion
it was never too soon
W e all know
how dogs
mark
their territory.
They piss on it
and then move on.
But a quick pause
and a lifted leg do
not make a fire
hydrant home.
In much the same way, Phil
Gramm should not consider Ag-
gieland his home. Nor should we
welcome him like a long-lost son,
although he has been long lost.
Gramm left his teaching post
at A&M to get involved in poli
tics. He met with some success
as a trickle-down economist in
Reagan’s congressional camp.
Since his election to a second
term in the Senate, Gramm has
been daydreaming of something
bigger. Unfortunately, his
dreams went too far.
For at least three years, he
has been raising money to sup
port his pipe dream. He proba
bly won over early supporters
with his, “Aw
shucks, look at
me” attitude.
“I’m just a good
conservative
fella from
Texas A&M
who gets all his
political advice
from a hard
working printer named Dickie
Flat who lives in Mexia. And
gosh darn it, doesn’t that ap
peal to you?”
His message changed as his
carefully crafted image rolled on
like a snowball. With every new
supporter, Gramm boasted that
he had reached a new part of so
ciety. He made potential sup
porters feel like they were the
only ones who were not head-
ovor-heels in love with him.
Not only did he encourage
people to jump on his bandwag
on, he crisscrossed the country
at the helm of it. Each new dis
ciple was told not to worry;
soon all Americans would hear
his message and join the ranks.
His style, which includes say
ing one thing and then doing
another, has become known as
Grammstanding — the one
thing all Americans do know
about the squealy voiced Tex
an.
All the while he kept shuf
fling his feet and telling us
what a sincere guy he was. But
don’t get him wrong, he had
convictions, too. No new ideas
or anything, but solid conserva
tive beliefs.
Well, reality showed up at
the polls in Iowa and showed
Gramm how popular he’s not.
Gramm and his Grammstand
ing spoils will stand by their
assertion that he just never got
his ideas presented to the
American people. It is more
likely that the American people
saw right through him. Many
Aggies sure did.
In OF Army days, Gramm
and his wife Wendy (definitely
the better half) could be seen
eating at Luby’s and soaking
up that College Station
lifestyle. But when Gramm
started campaigning for presi
dent in 1984 (officially for Rea
gan, unofficially for Gramm),
the country was sucked right
out of that country boy.
With the Corps of Cadets
creating the backdrop, Gramm
came “home” to announce his
candidacy for president. It was
one of six such photo opportu
nities, uh ... I mean announce
ments. But he’d still have us
believe that A&M is home.
He’d like to have us believe a
lot of things, but he’ll be creat
ing his image from the Senate
for a little while longer.
Perhaps now he will act like a
senator again. After all, that job
demands Gramm’s full attention
and hasn’t received it for the past
few years.
And hopefully he will learn a
few things.
First of all, he should realize
that popularity is determined
by others. It is not a self-pro
claimed state of existence.
Second, money alone does
not win elections. Other Repub
lican campaigns were worried
that Gramm would be in for
the long haul because he could
afford it. Fortunately, he was
beaten so badly so early that
the American people can give
themselves a big pat on the
back in the name of educated
voting.
Also, maybe Gramm will
learn to be sincere. It is unlikely,
but we can hope. If you call a
place home, visit for more than
infrequent photo opportunities.
And try to only have one home
town — that makes it more be
lievable.
Republicans have dodged a
bullet — a dud, but still a bul
let. Had Gramm’s money
bought him the nomination, it
would not have taken long for
the Democrats to expose the in
sincerity of Gramm’s quest for
power.
A&M may be his marked
territory, but that doesn’t
mean we want him to be our
president. Ultimately there’s
only one reaction we should
have to the end of Gramm’s
campaign: Sit boy. Stay. Good
dog!
Michael Landauer is a
junior journalism major
Michael
Landauer
Opinion
Editor
Page 11
Marriage ceremony
is losing significance
A typical
student
at A&M
will, at some
point during
his or her
tenure, have a
girlfriend or
boyfriend ap
pear on the
scene. If he or she passes the
many tests people put their
loved ones through, a more
permanent situation might be
attempted.
This may mean marriage,
or as is more frequently the
case, opting to live with each
other for a period of time be
fore tying the knot. This, how
ever, tends to anger parents,
who are horrified to learn
that their precious child is
“living in sin” with another
person.
But society should not put
so much value upon a ceremo
ny that lasts less than an
hour and can hardly be said
to truly intensify the love of a
couple. If two people love each
other, why should they have
vorce rate today
is over 50 per
cent. With half
of today’s mar
riages failing,
living together
is a good idea. It
gives people the
time to really
get to know
each other.
They can go through the
trials and tribulations that
might derail a hasty marriage
that was only arranged to
give the couple the freedom
they deserve.
As far as the dilemma of
sleeping together, celibacy be
fore marriage is no longer a
credible option. With birth
control and today’s motiva
tions, there is nothing wrong
with a couple getting together
before deciding whether or
not a permanent solution is
for them.
Marriage was invented
when the only law governing
a couple and their children
was religious law. What extra
protection does a ceremony
Society should not put so much value upon
a ceremony that lasts less than an hour and
can hardly be said to truly intensify the love
of a couple.
to get married to prove it?
Surely the fact that by living
with each other for an extend
ed period of time, and still
managing to be on speaking
terms, their love nnd commit
ment has been proven.
I recently attended a wed
ding of two people who had
been living together before
getting married. Why did they
have to go through a ceremo
ny when it was plain for
everyone to see that they
were happy together the way
things were? My ire was fur
ther intensified when the pas
tor led the congregation in a
prayer for anyone who was
not married. The idea was
that anyone who is single is
incomplete, and needs help.
According to a study con
ducted by Yale University
that followed the marriages of
over 50,000 couples, the di
give now? None. Children
parented by two people who
are married enjoy no special
rights. Delinquent mothers
or fathers are not chased
down by the church.
What keeps people from
living together and being hap
py with that is the stigma
that society places upon un
married couples. This is an
egregious insult to a couple.
Our society has determined
that an unmarried couple
with a family is not doing the
right thing for themselves,
their children or society. This
is completely bogus.
The only value a religious
ceremony such as marriage
has is to satisfy a longing for
a big ceremony and a white
wedding.
Kieran Watson is a
sophomore finance major
Peace in Bosnia can work
O n Saturday, Feb. 3, Donald
Dugan, a U.S. serviceman
manning a checkpoint near
Tuzla, became the first — and so
far, only — American to be killed
in Bosnia. Eight people had died
already in the U.N. peacekeeping
mission, and 40 had been wounded,
but the 38-year-old Belle Center,
Ohio, resident was the first from
America to die.
Before his death, he was just another Ameri
can soldier in Bosnia. Now he is a hot political
potato, a token symbol that can’t speak for itself.
We’re hypersensitive to American military
deaths in foreign countries, especially since the
debacle of Vietnam in the late ‘60s. Every mili
tary venture we’ve undertaken since then has
been seriously scrutinized. We’ve been wary of
sending soldiers anywhere we don’t have a tangi
ble and immediate interest.
When President Clinton was facing opposition
in trying to get troops sent to Bosnia, the echoes
of Vietnam were everywhere. Opponents warned
of guerrilla warfare in the streets and buildings,
of thousands of buried land mines that would
claim enormous casualties and throw the
American people once again into countercul
ture rebellion.
Of course, it’s wonderful that we’re so pro
tective of our servicemen — we obviously care
a lot about them. But sometimes, bringing the
possibility of peace to a historical hotspot is
worth the lives it may cost, and, according to
President Clinton, Bosnia was one of those oc
casions. Despite the fact that this was explicitly a
peacekeeping effort, rather than an anticommu
nist war, the comparisons to Vietnam abounded.
We were sending troops; they would die bloodily.
That was it. It was even predicted that failure in
Bosnia might cost Clinton the election.
But despite all the dire predictions, Operation
Joint Endeavour is going remarkably well.
Leighton Smith, the NATO commander in
Bosnia, was heartened so much by the success of
a recent transfer of territory that he speculated
some troops might be shipped out of Bosnia be
fore the end of the mission in December.
If no more troops are killed, Dugan’s death will
not be a liability to Clinton as a Bosnia casualty.
In fact, the smoothness of the Bosnia mission —
as indicated by the fact that only one serviceman
has been killed — stands to give Clinton a big
boost in popularity. Clinton’s opponents can use
Dugan’s death as an example of why we shouldn’t
have gotten involved in Bosnia, but one casualty
in such a potentially disastrous operation is a
staggeringly low price to pay for such positive
success. In this case, Dugan’s death represents
success rather than failure, and if
things continue to go well, Bosnia
could easily become the kind of
pre-election foreign policy victory
that Bush wished the Gulf War
had been.
Though it’s not known exactly
how Dugan died, he was probably
killed by a land mine or some other
explosive device — he was definite
ly not killed by gunfire. This is also
significant for Clinton. If Dugan had been killed
by something more active and immediate, such as
a sniper, the mission would instantly look more
dangerous. We could interpret a sniper shot
against an American soldier as a personal insult,
straining Clinton’s credibility. But Dugan was
killed by some kind of explosive — the most pas
sive of killers — planted a long time ago for
someone else. His death can be seen as a tragic
accident rather than murder.
In fact, it’s estimated there are over three million
mines strewn all over Bosnia. These, combined with
the broken bridges, collapsing buildings and con
fused snipers, show how incredible it actually is
that Dugan has been the only American killed.
Predictably, FYesident Clinton’s political oppo
nents made statements recondemning his policy
in Bosnia following Dugan’s death. Dole said,
“Had I been president they wouldn’t have been
there. I wouldn’t have sent American troops.”
Gramm said Dugan’s death was a “tragedy for
America ... sending troops to Bosnia was a mis
take.” And Dugan’s death also gave Steve Forbes
a chance to sound off on the Bosnia issue.
Forbes, displaying his strong commitment to fam
ily values, suggested that America should have
armed the Muslims and initiated air strikes
against the Serbs.
All these statements, though, are going to look
ridiculous when the Bosnia mission succeeds.
And even if civilian peace in Bosnia ends up
being more difficult to achieve, the world, the
U.N. and America will have done all they can.
And Clinton will be able to say — where Ameri
can soldiers were involved — the goals were
achieved with a bare minimum loss of life.
Shannon Halbrook is a
sophomore English major
Shannon
Halbrook
Columnist ^ ^
A < j;
Sometimes, bringing the possibility of
peace to a historical hotspot is worth the
lives it may cost, and Bosnia is one of
those occasions.
Research helps to
understand Bible
I am writing in response to
Kieran Watson’s column, “Reli
gion can’t fix modem problems.”
It saddens me that The Battalion
would run a column that was not
researched. The amount of falsi
ties and hearsay is ridiculous. An
example is where he wrote, “As
an alternative to the Bible,
‘American Psycho’ is brutally
honest and doesn’t mislead every
one into thinking that the world
will be fine if we can all just get
along.” I don’t know what Bible
he is reading; apparently he did
n’t read it; he just took a stereo
type. If he had actually studied
Mail
Call
before writing, he would see that
the Bible says, “If the world hates
you, keep in mind that it hated
me [Christ] first. If you belonged
to the world, it would love you as
its own. As it is, you do not be
long to the world, but I have cho
sen you out of the world. That is
why the world hates you” (John
15:18-19). The Bible speaks of
hate and violence and does not
paint a pretty picture of the world
that we live in. In response to the
line, “The Bible was written over
a thousand years ago. Quite sim
ply, it is out of date,” that was
written by a person who is very
comfortable in American life. I
wish he would go overseas and
see that Christians are being
treated just like they were “over a
thousand years ago.” In fact,
all of the disciples were put to
death except one. The Bible is
not all love and peace. If you
think so, you need to read it,
not just believe every stereo
type that comes along.
James N. Eacy
Class of’97
Amber Cowart
Angie Summers
Class of’98\
Chris New son'.,
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