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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 4, 1996)
uch 4, 1996 The Battalion Monday March 4, 1996 Opinion 07 it having a ecause this 1 the playoff irth seed as /ich said of 1 the season kers 3-1. ints, five as- aounds. He i his second rained right four games, ither of us 'ther in the said of the i a drag-out, hey are the champions that he was If out of the he final two ympic team, ) spend time summer, and it to create a ) was picked ime off the from 3-point joints as the three-game Lakers, nith came in boost,” Tom- ;e to play s best play- coached the said he is m’s progress of the way n preparing arnament,” tournament on the cake, irk that gets nd they did d to do.” di two home ns batted in 1-3 decision, ime run and up the win e year. 3 of the dou- ies exploded first two in- p eight more fifth innings iy 14-4 deci- of 2,452. , Matt Blank d win of the d by a home e the rest of 3 continuing the Aggie weekend at ne is Friday Unversity of es. "hursday lar-07-96 MATH 141 Part I 6pm-7pin iipisl For ticket nformation call 346-TUTOR rickets will go on sale at 3:30 pm Sun. Mar. 3 le rhursday i/lar-21-91 BANA3UJ IS® 1111 islll wii III Ma'am, yes ma'am Women continue to progress in Corps Heather Pace Staff Writer T he first 51 female cadets joined unit W-l of the Corps in 1974 only to be welcomed with stony faces. The first fe male commander of W-l, Ruth Ann Schumacher, described the Corps as maintaining an envi ronment “hostile” to women, a blatant understatement. Imagine being one of the first women to join an organi zation bound to upholding A&M’s traditions, including a tradition without women in the Corps. University archives state that male cadets refused to whip out to women, turned their backs on W-l during Final Review, and deposited pig ma nure in their rooms. A 1979 suit forced the Corps to encourage women to join or ganizations like the band and the Ross Volunteers; 1979 was also the same year women were finally allowed to order senior boots. It was these slow, subtle changes that showed the Corps’ growing acceptance of women, who were proving they belonged. It was not until 1985 that a woman — Amanda Schubert — became a Ross Volunteer. Schu bert, though, empha sized that she was proud to be a Ross Vol unteer, not a female Ross Volunteer. Chosen as deputy comman der in 1986, Schubert became a media darling after becoming the first female deputy com mander. She reacted by com plaining to pesky Battalion re porters that her buddies on the Corps staff weren’t getting the recognition they deserved. Both Schubert and Cynthia Bricson, who was chosen last Thursday as deputy comman der, were selected as deputy commander not because they were female, but because they were capable of doing the job and doing it well. On the national scene, Shan non Faulkner may have misrep resented women’s potential for success in the military, but at A&M, women have staved off the naysayers. After fighting for two years in court, Faulkner was able to enroll at the Citadel. When she got there, she wasn’t prepared to do what everyone else had to do. Female cadets at A&M must deal with the same challenges and difficulties their male coun terparts do. They will never be equal if they don’t. When it comes right down to it, it doesn’t matter whether the deputy commander is male or female, or if there is ever a fe male commander. It only mat ters that it is possible for women to attain such positions. Like many major changes, such as the Civil Rights Move ment, allowing women into the Corps was the result of a policy change; having them become an integral part of the Corps, how ever, was the result of a chang ing attitude and the acceptance by their peers. Although women deserve recognition for the hard work they have devoted to proving they can make it in the Corps, their fellow male cadets should also be praised for sup porting their female buddies and making women in the Corps a reality. The attitude the first 51 fe male cadets encountered was hardly friendly; today, although there is still room for improve ment, it is a different story. The first women of W-l who broke down the initial barrier would be proud to see how far the Corps has come in its accep tance of women. Heather Pace is a freshman English and philosophy major English-lrish conflict has multiple sides I’m writing to comment on Kieran Watson’s “Northern Ire land” column in Thursday’s Batt. I don’t want to say anything about Clinton’s actions, the val ues displayed by inviting Gerry Adams to the White House, or the despicable acts of terrorists anywhere in the world. I would like to point out an other side to Mr. Watson”s ar gument that Northern Ireland is really British territory these days. He tells us that Northern Ireland is economically depen dent on Britain and is home to many British subjects. He also states that Ireland is in a real mess as far as the economy goes. “The only reason Ireland is still economically viable is be cause Britain props it up,” he writes. Many Irish natives leave when they can. It’s almost a third world nation. All of these things are pretty much true. Hundreds of years ago, there was another British colony that decided to use military tactics to leave the British em pire. The American colonies were in a little better shape than Northern Ireland is today, but was still not the cradle of western civilization that Eu rope was at that time. Our forefathers fought long and hard to gain their indepen dence. I would have hoped that they would have fought just as hard regardless of the economic viability of the new nation they created. Their goal was free dom from British rule, not money. There were many British subjects living in Amer ican at the time of the conflict. Their lives were certainly in danger during the American Revolution. American soldiers used such tactics as destroying armories and factories, spying, guerrilla fighting, and dumping tea into harbors to win this war. It was an ugly conflict. Many people died. I’m not saying that Northern Ireland deserves freedom, or that Britain is in the right to day. I’m just pointing out that there are many sides to the con flict. The moral morass in volved is part of the reason why the conflict has dragged on for so long. Just as Clinton should n’t expect to resolve this prob lem in a few years (or less), Mr. Watson shouldn’t expect to know who’s right and who’s wrong in Northern Ireland from his safe, comfortable Battalion desk here in America. Jake Carr Class of ’96 To say that Britain has any “sovereign* right over Northern Ireland is to excuse the 700 years of oppression and slavery that Irishmen bore with their blood, sweat and tears. This sends the message that a coun try has a right to enslave and starve another country just be cause it has a stronger econo my. During the “Great Irish Famine” of the late 1840’s, the British profited from the mis fortunes of the starving Irish population. Under British law the landlords were liable for poor persons living on their property who were unable to provide for themselves, so the famine gave them an additional compelling reason to clear their estates of these poor tenants. It was more cost-effective to run the poor out of the country than to pay for their well-being. In addition, the English Parlia ment added the “Gregory Clause” to the poor law in 1848, which forbade any food or mon ey to the poor who would not give up their land ownership. This forced 1.5 million to emigrate to the US and anoth er 340,000 to emigrate to Cana da. Over 30 percent of these emigrants would die aboard the “coffin” ships en route to their exile. Over 1.5 million people died in Ireland of disease relat ed to the famine, so many that the British Government used “trap-coffins” with a hinge bot tom to dump the victims body into a mass grave to save bur ial costs. I find it troubling that Mr. Watson would endorse such a policy; I’m assuming he just did not do the necessary research for the subject of his column — a disturbing trend for both him and The Battalion as of late. Brent Jones Class of ’95 Michael Eden Chris Bughee Class of ’98 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 v! rtt *Vwt! $ Page 9 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 Racial Motive Those who racially harass people should face strong punishment. Hate crime does exist at A&M. Aggies have a history of tolerating racism, but when it comes to acting on that racism, there can be no tolerance. A recent incident in Aston Hall has brought attention to the racially motivated harass ment on campus. The penalty for harassment enhanced by racial threat is up to a $4,000 fine and one year in jail. It is difficult to classify a crime as a hate crime because it depends on perception. Although it may be difficult to prove, crimes prompted by prejudice, including harass ment, should not go unreport ed. Shawn Williams, president of the A&M chapter of the NAACP, said the University has a tendency to ignore racial ly motivated crimes. Although the University has made progress in race relations, there is still much more that can be done. The first step is understand ing why a problem exists. Most people carry around some prejudice. Many of these people let their prejudices known. But only the most prej udiced, the most insecure, ac tually act on their prejudice. And then it is hate. People who hate have no excuse. Their actions are the result of insecurity and igno rance that cannot be excused by society. Rather, these peo ple should be caught and punished. And their punish ments should be severe to il lustrate to others that hate will not be tolerated. Law enforcement agencies should do all they can to bring to justice anyone who acts on their hate in efforts to drive fear into others. Combatting hate crimes should be a high priority, not just for the message it sends, but also because hate will not go away without it. But law enforcement cannot be expected to act alone. The hardest battleground for the fight against hate is within friendships. People generally agree that those who commit hate crimes should be stopped. However, they fail to realize who these people are. Often they are friends who are openly racist. They might be someone who comes from a background where racism is acceptable. But that shouldn’t make their racism acceptable. Friendship is no excuse to let illegal actions go without punishment. If someone knows a friend who acts on his or her hate, that person should get in volved. Respect for others is far more important than letting friendship obstruct justice. Prejudices will never fully be wiped away from society, but as long as hate crime is vig orously attacked, those filled with hate may keep their igno rance to themselves. Maybe then they’ll forget their hate even exists. Dittoheads close their minds to harsh realities D itto, Rush. This was the bumper stick er that smacked me in my face as I wait ed at a red light a few days ago. Not surprising — Texas A&M is a conserva- tive university, and I have seen this sticker on lots of vehicles. So why does it make me cringe every time I see it? Could it be that I do not like Rush? Sometimes I tune in to his delightful show just to shake my head. It seems to me that nothing is too uncompassionate or too cruel for Rush Limbaugh. People are entitled to their opinions; that’s fine. Rush is free to be Rush, just like Aja is free to be Aja. I just think it is sad that Rush and people in his frame of mind (Pat Buchanan) seem to have such a strong effect on people, especially in Ag- gieland. This stifles people’s willingness to think for them selves and internalize an issue to come up with an informed opinion. Wby is that necessary when you can just slap a ditto sign on whatever Rush says? There is far too much regurgita tion of what Rush thinks, and far too little realism. In all the classes I have at tended in my three years here, certain issues like welfare, affir mative action and equal oppor tunity have always sparked heated debate. People start sput tering terms like liberal, republi can, democrat, conservative (whoop!) and relating stories about how their grandparents were immigrants who came over with nothing more than a turnip and made it in America. Then, what usually followed was a spiel on the folks who are mess ing up the country. Damn those illegal aliens! Damn those big fat welfare queens sitting on their lazy butts just waiting to spawn more kids! Other times the mess-ups were, well, ... insert anyone non-conservative, non-WASP. I know the soliloquy well because I have heard it so much. I am not knocking vot ing or being involved and concerned about political matters. This is good, for it is we who will have to stress about taxes and the deficit and all these other matters in the coming years. However, I think it is silly for a person to form such hard-nosed notions of the demise of America when he or she has not even seen anything first-hand. If you really want to know, turn off the television or radio, venture off Texas Avenue, for once, and head to the local Twin City Mission’s cafeteria for the homeless. Walk up to the dad, mom and four children eating hungrily and ask them what this system has done for them. Or, sit next to the veteran gulp ing his bread. You might just hear the dad and mom say, “Hey, we both work everyday, but we make minimum wage, and our kids would go to bed pretty hungry if we did not get a meal here.” Or, the veteran might explain that he is an Ag gie who did more than just pol ish Sul Ross; he went to war and knows he has hit hard times. All of a sudden, things don’t seem so cut and dry, do they? Rush’s convenient image of who the societal mess-ups are gets fuzzy. It is often said that the empti est wagons make the most noise. Be vocal about what you think, but don’t be so quick to condemn certain people or groups in this society on the basis of what some other person says. Get out there and see for yourself. Per haps then it will not be so tempting to just slap a bumper sticker on your car and close your eyes to the reality that sur rounds it. Aja Henderson is a junior political science major
