The Battalion
THURSDAY
April 4, 1996
Opinion
Page 11
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
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Contact the opinion editor for information on
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Editorials Board
Sterling Hayman
Editor in Chief
Stacy Stanton
Managing Editor
Michael Landauer
Opinion Editor
Jason Brown
Assistant Opinion Editor
Double Standard
If race is not a factor in admissions,
legacy should also be ignored.
One federal court has ruled
that race cannot be used as a
factor in admissions policy. Al
though the case is being ap
pealed, the University has de
cided to live by that ruling.
However, it is hypocritical for
A&M to take this stance while
still allowing legacy to be in
cluded in the process.
Texas A&M has nine criteria
in determining admission.
Among them are SAT scores,
work experience and leadership
skills. Until the recent court de
cision, race was also a factor.
However, eliminating that
one factor did not eliminate the
question of race in the admis
sions policy. The court decision’s
impact goes beyond creating a
color-blind admissions policy,
and it could seriously jeopardize
any hope for a diverse student
body in the future.
By allowing legacy to be a
factor, A&M is discriminating
against minorities. Few mi
norities can take advantage of
this factor because of A&M’s
exclusionary white-male, mili
tary past.
To keep African-Americans
from voting after the Civil War,
some states adopted “grandfa
ther clauses.” To vote, a citizen
must have voted in the last elec
tion (something African-Ameri
cans were not allowed to do).
The United States eventual
ly realized the ridiculous injus
tice in this policy and outlawed
such requirements.
It is time for A&M to learn
from history and deal with its
own “grandfather clause.”
Dr. Ray Bowen reluctantly
addressed legacy at last night’s
affirmative action forum, saying
it would not be removed from
the admissions criteria.
“It would hurt people that I
don’t think you want to hurt,”
he said.
That statement is false — it
would hurt the people the ad
ministration does not want to
hurt. Students want to see a fair
admissions policy, not one dictat
ed by good ol’ boy connections.
A&M was quick to react to
the court’s ruling against re
verse discrimination, but
Bowen has illustrated the Uni
versity’s hesitancy to deal with
indirect discrimination.
If the court’s decision to deny
the right to allow race as a fac
tor was based on the idea that
enough progress already has
been made, then it should listen
to Bowen’s words and realize
who A&M’s policy is protecting
and who it is hurting.
Run-Off
Ryan Shopp has the most to offer
The University and the students.
Although last week’s elec
tions determined who would
be many of next year’s stu
dent leaders, the most impor
tant one will be decided to
day: the student body presi
dent. In the runroff election
for student body president,
The Battalion editorial board
endorses Ryan Shopp.
Shopp’s campaign has em
phasized several qualities that
would make him an excellent
student body president.
By participating in leader
ship positions in the Corps of
Cadets, Student Government
and the Memorial Student
Center Council, Shopp has
proven the theory of trans
ferable leadership.
He has learned a lot from
being in each organization
and has spread this knowl
edge to every activity in
which he participates at
Texas A&M.
Shopp has also demon
strated a commitment to
represent the entire student
body. Several of his platform
goals relate to graduate stu
dents, such as waiving lab
fees and the Health Center
fees for graduate students
who do not take advantage
of them.
Another positive feature of
Ryan Shopp is his realism.
His well-grounded goals are
backed up with specific objec
tives for achieving each one
of them.
This has not, however,
prevented him from making
ambitious proposals, espe
cially in the realm of student
services. His thorough plat
form covers all the bases,
from Aggie Bucks expansion
to parking expansion.
Finally, Shopp has left a
legacy of integrity wherever
he goes. Winning major
awards in the Corps, the
MSC and Student Govern
ment serves as evidence that
he has commanded the re
spect from many of his peers.
Of the two candidates run
ning for student body presi
dent, The Battalion editorial
board believes that Ryan
Shopp stands out as the can
didate with the most experi
ence and vision.
Furthermore, the editorial
board believes that Ryan
Shopp is the candidate that
best represents the ideals
and values that make A&M a
world-class institution. It is
time to give him a chance to
take A&M to the next level.
Questionable Holiday
Tomorrow is no 'reading' day
T omorrow is
Good Friday.
Tomorrow is
also a reading day.
This is by no means
a coincidence.
In years past, the
administration has
continually tried to
proclaim Good Fri
day a recognized holiday so all the good
Christians could spend the sacred day in
appropriate reflection and solemnity.
Well, this would have been just fine and
dandy if we didn’t have a separation of
church and state. This meant that the
state couldn’t d are an official religious
holiday idvam e because it would give
a chan" 0 + eathens to contest the con-
stitutionahty of the action. So in a seedy,
under-the table way, the governor would
wait until the eleventh hour before de
claring Good Friday an official holiday.
This year things are different. The
administration figured out a way to do
its seedy machinations months in ad
vance. It has declared Good Friday a
reading day, when all the good students
can go about quietly studying for their
exams. Unfortunately, its actions are
about as transparent Madonna’s claims
to being like a virgin.
The great irony of the situation lies in
the fact that this Friday will not be used
for any of its intended purposes: reading,
writing, arithmetic or religion.
The very presence of a reading day ig
nores one simple, indisputable, academic
fact: students do not study on Friday.
Most likely, a large number of students
will use the bonus day to start their
weekend drinking binges a day early.
Others will probably use the time to
take a trip out of town to see family and
friends. There is nothing wrong with ei
ther activity, but it does not fulfill the
administration’s purpose of the day.
Christians face similar decisions for
what to do with their holy day. The odds
are that their activities on Friday won’t
differ too much from the other students
on campus, be they atheist, Hindu, Mus
lim, Jewish, etc.
I know that Resurrec
tion Week has planned its
annual mock crucifixion scene for
Thursday rather than on the day that
supposedly commemorates the event. So
it seems that even the Christians are tak
ing Good Friday off. Apparently, through
a combined effort, the administration and
students have taken a normal spring day
that would have been put to productive
use and turned it into a day that is dedi
cated to getting nothing done.
So will the devil find work for the
idle hands that are left lounging
around with a three-day weekend?
Knowing the habits and trends
of college students, I would
say,“Hell, yes!”
To the average heathen, this would
n’t appear to be an effective use of what
Christians claim as a holy day. Of
course, I suppose a Christian could de
fend the bastardization of Good Friday
with some sort of skewed logic. They
might argue that if Christ did die to pay
for our sins, it would be terribly rude of
us not to commit them?
I don’t believe in Jesus, so I don’t par
ticularly care what people do or don’t do
on Good Friday. I do find it interesting
that the people to whom the day should
be most sacred have convinced me most
that it is just another Friday.
Students have always done things to
detract from their own academic stand
ing; perhaps I shouldn’t be too surprised
when Christians do things to detract
from their own religion.
It just doesn’t make sense to me, but
then again, neither does Christianity. In
any case, I hope that everyone has a
good Friday.
Jeff Nolen is a senior
psychology major
FBI shows how to learn from mistakes
E veryone re
members
how the
Branch Davidian
standoff in Waco
ended — with
the deaths of two
agents and most
of the cult mem
bers. But nobody
remembers more vehemently
than the members of the coun
try’s many independent mili
tias. In fact, the fiery end to the
Branch Davidians was the most
probable cause of the Oklahoma
City bombing a year ago.
And now another standoff
threatens to set off a series of
violent reactions from people
who are convinced that the fed
eral government interferes too
much in our lives. In far-off
Montana, about 20 to 25 people
have sealed themselves off in a
ranch with an abundance of as
sault weapons. They’ve set up
their own community — called
Justus Township — and elected
their own mayor, sheriff and
justice of the peace. Three lead
ers of the group have been tak
en to jail on charges of writing
false checks and swindling local
businesses out of about $1.8
million. But all the other mem
bers are still inside and refuse
to come out.
The FBI has surrounded the
snow-covered compound, just as
they surrounded the Davidian
compound in Waco. It appears
to be a Wacoftype situation all
over again, with possible death
and an even
sharper rise in
tension between
the federal gov
ernment and ul
traconservative
militia groups.
But the FBI
has done some
thing that is pret
ty commendable and, for a gov
ernment agency, pretty rare —
it has actually learned from its
mistakes. Following the disas
ter in Waco three years ago, the
FBI revised its policy regarding
these kinds of standoffs, and
decided that a more low-key ap
proach might be successful. So
rather than sealing off the
ranch, blasting the radio at 3
a.m. and eventually storming in
with guns blazing, the FBI is
merely waiting patiently out
side, trying to negotiate a
peaceful settlement. Friends
and relatives of the people in
side the ranch are even allowed
to enter and exit.
This is definitely a better ap
proach. Though militia groups
should not be tolerated, the del
icacy of these kinds of situa
tions must always be appreciat
ed. When standoffs spring up,
anti-government groups all
around the country watch it,
and it only makes the govern
ment look more oppressive for
it to storm the compound and
kill the people inside. This in
turn makes deadly retaliation,
such as the Oklahoma City
bombing, more likely.
But militia groups from
around the country are planning
to test the FBI’s more lenient
policy. Norman Olson, the com
mander of the Northern Michi
gan Militia, announced plans on
Sunday for what he called “Op
eration Certain Venture,” a plan
to send a convoy with supplies
and support to the people holed
up in the ranch.
The Montana Militia has pub
licly asked the folks from Michi
gan to stay out of their state,
which is a good sign — as long
as these groups can’t unite, they
won’t be an overpowering threat
to our general safety. But, judg
ing by the name of the operation,
it will almost surely happen —
probably on April 19, the an
niversary of the Oklahoma City
bombing, the burning of the
Waco compound and the Battle
of Lexington and Concord.
Olson says he wants his group
to be present if this is “where the
second American Revolution cul
minates into war.”
Montana Democratic Senator
Max Baucus has said he hopes
this can be solved locally. But if
militias from other states come
to give support to the people of
Justus Township, the problem
will be severely escalated. The
FBI must be even more careful
if this happens, because more
people only increases the likeli
hood that an armed altercation
will break out between the gov
ernment and the militias. This
would, of course, be disastrous
and might even lead to Olson’s
“second American Revolution”
— which would undoubtedly be
a lot less beneficial to most U.S.
citizens than the first one.
The FBI, then, must seek to
end the standoff before the
symbolic, near-holy date of
April 19. Randy Weaver, the
major player in 1992’s similar
Ruby Ridge standoff, has volun
teered to negotiate the situa
tion. But Weaver is one of the
idols of the anti-government
movement. True, his appear
ance may lead the people inside
the Montana ranch to give
themselves up peacefully. But
it may also only increase their
defiance and make them less
likely to come out.
The federal government is
dealing with a very volatile sit
uation. It must bring the people
inside the ranch to justice. And
at the same time, it must act as
peacefully as possible to protect
itself and its image from would-
be revolutionaries. To do this, it
must keep the situation a local
one — Weaver shouldn’t be in
volved and the standoff must
end before the Michigan Militia
or other non-local militias have
a chance to interfere. If the gov
ernment can show the members
of the militias that it truly
wants to peacefully end the
confrontation, it might help
teach the militias that the fed
eral government isn’t all bad —
a truth they have yet to learn.
Shannon Halbrook is a
sophomore English major
Shannon
Halbrook
Columnist
Mail
Oil
Family questions
Muster Committee
I am writing this letter be
cause my mother passed away on
November 14, 1995. Since my fa
ther, my mother, my sister, one of
my brothers, my wife, my sister-
in-law, my two brother-in-laws
and I are all former students, I
called the Association of Former
Students and the Muster Com
mittee to let them know what
had happened. The Association
put a Silver Taps notice in the
April issue of The Texas Aggie
and even agreed to send extra
copies. This is how I expect Ag
gies to act.
The Muster Committee was
not helpful. They told me my
mother did not fit the criteria
(she did not die in the Brazos Val
ley) to be on the roll call, al
though they might make an ex
ception after they meet this
weekend. Well, she was a former
student who passed away this
past year. Someone should give
the Muster Committee a copy of
the Muster tradition. I do under
stand that not every Aggie who
past away the last year could be
called at this one Aggie Muster.
There just would not be enough
time. However, since I live in Col
lege Station, this is the Muster I
am supposed to attend. There
fore, I will be there to say “Here”
for my mother. I hope the Muster
Committee will look into this and
change its criteria to include fam
ily members in the Brazos Valley.
James A. Hodges
Class of’91
Christine H. Hodges
Class of’92
Columns miss the
point on smoking
Nicotine’s addictive properties
have long been known by every
body — not just since the Sur
geon General’s report in 1964,
but since the 1950s. In fact many
books reporting on the addictive
properties of nicotine were pro
duced for mass consumption
throughout the 1950s. In short
everybody who has chosen to
smoke in the last 45 years has
had access to literature reporting
on the addictive nature of smok
ing. They chose to take the risk
because smoking is fun. Dan
Morales may be goose stepping to
the tune of “freedom of choice is
not an issue,” but freedom of
choice is precisely the issue.
Morales says that kids recog
nize Joe Camel as much as Mick
ey Mouse. But the fact of the mat
ter is that kids recognize a variety
of corporate symbols. In fact in
the same study that Morales
refers to, kids also recognized the
Ford logo about as much as they
recognized Joe Camel and Mickey
Mouse. Does this mean we should
go after Ford for encouraging un
derage driving?
Elaine Mejia said high nicotine
levels are bad for smokers. It’s not
the nicotine in cigarettes that kills
you; it’s the smoke. In point of
fact, we want smokers to smoke
high nicotine cigarettes. They get
their desired nicotine fix with less
smoke ingestion, thereby lowering
smoking-related risk. In fact Con
sumers Report advised smokers in
1972 to buy high nicotine ciga
rettes for that reason.
Mejia also seems to think that
nicotine has nothing to do with
the taste of cigarettes, but it af
fects the taste of cigarettes, which
is why cigarette companies ma
nipulate it. They are simply stan
dardizing their product, so that
when a smoker buys a pack, they
know what their getting.
Mejia also says that the FDA is
opposing advertising aimed at
children. The FDA plan, in fact,
bans all merchandise with a ciga
rette company logo, and bans all
billboard advertising, unless it’s in
black and white. In other words, a
23-year-old is not legally allowed
to buy a Marlboro hat. Mejia has
fallen for a transparent political
trick. Politicians like Morales will
always use the “children” as an ex
cuse to grab more power and take
away freedom form adults.
Keith Brown
Graduate Student
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