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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 12, 1996)
The Battalion ' • April 12,191 'denU rom Page 1 e talking and )\v people." ounts Silver vatching his lember of the 3ts, march into for football Is most cher es of A&M. ited his cam- >s president as y- . experienced 3 that before,’ ) for next year, he aspires to iss of 1999 to- al of raising class gift. Is is not look- he immediate >ing an eye on m as well. He ave concrete he graduates but he has a go into bank- 1. “I could see a banker. to participate i« cision Making kpr. 15 and I S at 845-442?, ils. all: The lOthi- iaseball Throw j| Olympics will to 6 p.m,ii'| Battalion servitt ofit student and and activities, submitted nolal; ys in advance of late. Application notices are not I not be runio u have any q«- I the newsroom e Key to Your. | cess... * > Source >n Companies... Opportunities! is Names, Address^ loblines (if avail*! louston Companies Tax/Postage) -Tech x 77406-0764 >23-7151 ds Welcome nclude Resumes/O* 1 tling Labels J Station is Av. S#B 6677 tECORDS FRIDAY April 12, 1996 Opinion Page 11 University doesn’t have to look far to find the needy T here are a lot of easy ways to earn five bucks an hour. Doing custo dial work for the TAMU Physical Plant is not one of them. There are opportunities for advancement — but even experi enced workers still earn well un der six dollars an hour. Is it unjust of the University to pay essential and hardwork ing employees so little? Not in the grand scheme of things. Jan itorial work requires herculean patience, but no special skills or knowledge. Although the mini mum wage is ridiculously low, there’s no reason to pay custodi ans much more than the law re quires. But what the University should give all low-income work ers is the opportunity for ad vancement through education. Currently, all University em ployees who choose to enroll qualify for waivers for the stu dent services, student center complex, health center and gen eral use fees. This amounts to a significant reduction in the cost of attending classes. But the problem with the cur rent policy is that it doesn’t benefit many of the University’s poorest employees. Although all laborers qualify for fee waivers, many don’t qualify for admission because they lack high school diplomas. Also, the policy seems to be designed to help employees who already have college degrees, be cause University staff members are limited to four credit hours per semester. So an ambitious Ttime Food Services employee who enrolled this fall might be able to graduate with the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Class of 2016. The University could change this unrealistic situa tion by extending fee waivers to the families of the lowest-income employees. That way, people like Barbrannette,, a Physical Plant custodian, might be able to see their children be come full-time students. The current benefit package in cludes impressive medical, retire ment and life insurance consider ations for the families of employ ees. But adding educational op portunities to the program could help improve the outlook for de pendents of workers. “That’s mostly why we work, for the benefits,” Barbrannette said, “And I’ve got some girls who could use an education program like that.” Lon Hulsey, Manager of Administration and Services for Physical Plant, said educational benefits programs have met with success at oth er universities. Years ago it was pos sible for low-income workers to provide a col lege education for their children. My grandmoth er, who had an eighth grade education, worked long hours in a depart ment store to put my fa ther through four years of engineering school. Today, however, even public colleges and uni versities are priced above the capabilities of most families near the poverty line. So while politicians quibble over the welfare state where one- and two-parent families are dependent upon government handouts, the plight of the working poor goes largely unno ticed. Undereducated parents feed children who graduate from high school often to find that they are confined to the same job opportunities as their parents. In the aftermath of Hopwood vs. State of Texas, the challenge for colleges is to maintain diver sity while making admissions and financial aid colorblind. To accomplish this, schools should focus on helping the most quali fied underprivileged students. A program that offered assistance to the chil dren of the University’s poorest workers would be need- and not color-based. And it would likely promote that much sought after ethnic and racial diversity. The success of an educational benefits program on a small scale could illuminate a new path for gov ernment aid programs. By providing new ways for lower-class individuals to obtain an education, we might find a way to streamline assis tance programs so that they em power, rather than debilitate, the recipients. An educational benefits pro gram would offer the Universi ty’s low-income families the two Es — education and employ ment. These are the two greatest medicines against poverty and the best prescription for prevent ing dependence on public assis tance. Texas A&M could test a form of aid that breaks the poverty cycle, making people more independent and soci ety more productive. v k 3WWUi 1 Jeremy Valdez is a senior chemical en gineering major Hate exists on both sides of the debate On Wednesday at 12:30 p.m., I walked passed Rudder Foun tain and I was disgusted. I guess that means that my per sonal moral convictions are dif ferent than those that were cele brating homosexuality at Rud der Fountain. I also suppose that many will feel that I am the stereotypical “homophobic” who adds to problems of oppression and hate. However, after reading Thursday’s Battalion, I feel that the blame for these problems should not rest entirely on us “homophobics.” Obviously, with expressions like “Beat the hell outta homophobics,” it seems that the homosexual community is equally susceptible to being hateful. Also, according to Becky Petitt, if “It is important to em brace and honor their life choic es,” what is so wrong about ex pressing my life choices? I don’t think “homophobic” is a proper term for people like me. Phobia implies fear, and I am not afraid of homosexuality, I just don’t like it. That is my life choice. There is nothing wrong with not liking what other people believe, it is everyone’s right. Just as they are entitled to their beliefs, everyone who disagrees with them should be entitled to what they feel is ri^ht. Darrell S. Abramowitz Class of’97 Christians should help others first As Jeff Anderson’s letter in the Battalion on April 11 pointed out, it is unfortunately true that many Christians hatefully y judge homo sexuals. I believe that hate is a sin, but I also believe that homo sexuality is a sin. The Bible tells ts, as believers, that we are not to judge non-believers and that they cannot judge us because they do not understand the Holy Spirit who lives in us. As Christians, we are called to “correct, rebuke, and encourage” each other (2 Tim. 4:1- 5). Therefore, homosexual Chris tians have a duty to gently rebuke those who are hateful; just as I have a duty to gently rebuke those who are homosexual and boasting of the fact. Romans 14:23 says that if a person has doubts as to whether something is sinful and acts on it anyway, he is not acting in faith; and anything that does not come from faith is sin. There are many Christians who believe homosex uality is sinful but still struggle with it. Please consider the fact that by boasting of your homosex uality, you are causing others to stumble. God warned us that we would have to defend our faith and that nonbelievers would not under stand us. He never warned us that Christians would have to de fend their sexual preferences to each other. All of us, whether hateful or boastful, need to consider those who we may, by our actions, be causing to suffer or stumble. Jennifer Cox Class of’96 Batt doesn't act to fight voter apathy I cannot understand why the Batt has chosen to ignore the 8th District Congressional race. Yes, Texas A&M is in this district, and yes, Jack Fields is retiring. I have read numerous Batt ar ticles on voter apathy, political naivete and lower turnout. Yet, when the Batt has an opportunity to lower apathy and increase turnout by simply acknowledging the fact that there was a Congres sional race, or by reporting who the winner was, it chooses to amuse the campus with stories of vending machine profits, herbal X, and space shuttle apathy. Before The Battalion choos es to write another “political apathy” article, maybe it should consider its responsibil ity to inform its readers with pertinent information. Glenn Janik 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 Human nature depends on our action David Taylor T he Greeks argued about it ... then the Romans ... later the Philosophes discussed the is sue. Even Thomas Jefferson got into the act ... but no one has resolved it. The question: Is man, by nature, good or evil? Not being a philosophy major, I feel somewhat ill-equipped to ar gue the relative merits of Voltaire vs. Aris totle (where is Frank Stanford when you need him?). All I can do is look out into the world and throw in a few observations. The past week started poorly for one Canadian woman. As she walked the streets of Montreal, she was mugged. She didn’t suffer much battery, but basically everything she owned was in her purse. It wasn’t much: just a few Canadian dol lars and a one-way bus ticket. The money was meant to — hopefully — find a roof for the woman and her only son. The bus ticket? Well, the woman has terminal cancer and only a few months to live. The ticket was for the boy. She planned to send him to live with his grand parents after she died. When the citizens of Montreal heard the story, they acted. Not with any great fan fare, but with simple action. The people began to stop by the downtown police station and drop off money. In most cas es it was only a few dollars, but it added up. At week’s end, when — at the woman’s request — police Wfr if asked people to stop donations, about $90,000 (Canadian) had been collected. She had never even asked for help. No one knew her name. The police released no pictures or descriptions. We don’t know if she was white or black, Anglo or Asian. But it doesn’t matter ... Sunday night a tearful woman appeared on Montreal TV — with her face hidden. All she could say was, “Thank you.” It’s ironic: Man shows his worst side only to reveal his best. Tens of thousands are dead from the civ il war in the former Yugoslavia. We are al most numb to the pictures by now. Five years ago, a young couple decided to leave Sarajevo. The two met while at tending a university there. They planned to get married as soon as they graduated. Then came war. The Serbs attacked, the Muslims counter attacked. During a lull, the young man had a chance to leave. He wouldn’t unless she could come, too. The problem: He was a Muslim, she was a Serb. Finally, they spotted their chance. One night the two tried to run across a bridge out of the city and into freedom. Two snipers’ bullets ended their dream. On Tuesday, the two were laid to rest in a Sarajevo cemetery — side by side. Some how, only after tragedy and suffering can people remember what is truly important. I work for a newspaper, a radio station and a television station. I’ll confirm your fears: sometimes, this world really sucks. Those media-types are cynical for a reason. Every so often, however, some people re mind us that a sick world is a reason to work for a better one, not an excuse to make it worse. Why should the people of Montreal care about one more mugging? What do two more dead people mean to a city hardened by the deaths of thousands more? It means opportunity. No one will ever accuse me of being the intellectual equivalent of the ancients, but I think they all missed the point. It’s not a question of whether we are inherently good or evil, it’s a matter of choice. There will always be those who choose to cause misery — we will never be able to stop them. If there is some good to come from tragedy, however, it will be in how we choose to react to it. Sometimes it takes unspeakable cruelty, sometimes just a mugging, but in all cases we can choose to affect the outcome. Now before everyone runs to join the Peace Corps — which isn’t bad, I guess — hear my main point. It’s not how we are created that makes mankind good or bad, it’s what we do with life. So, for gosh sakes, do something with it. Dave Taylor is a senior management major Sometimes counselors need the counsel L ogic versus emotion. I’m an extreme ly stoical person. Because of my reasoning abili ties, I’m the one friends open up to when they have problems. The tables have turned. On April 22 my dad gets a bone marrow transplant. For nearly two years he has been sick. Over spring break, he told me the diagnosis. Myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, developed in his system without any known cause. As my secret support group awaited my emotional break down, I responded, “Well, at least they found out what’s wrong. And thank goodness it’s curable.” A couple of weeks later, my mom told my dad that she didn’t think I understood how serious this was. So, on March 24, an ear ly Sunday evening, my father ex plained to me exactly what hav ing MDS meant. MDS is called “smoldering” leukemia. It is a disease in which the bone marrow does not pro duce enough normal blood cells. In my dad’s case, he will undergo chemotherapy to destroy his sick bone marrow. Then he will have a bone marrow transplant. My optimistic father explained how everything is going in his favor. Luckily, he lives in Seattle where the best cancer treat ment center, The Fred Hutchison, is located. He has the top doctor. My aunt is a nearly perfect match as a bone marrow donor. And he’s young and “has his health.” Yes, everything’s great, he cheerfully said. “Don’t worry. Two out of three live through the whole operation.” This is when my confusion was clarified. I was under the impres sion if this didn’t work, they’d just try again. Not so. This is a one shot deal, in which 33 percent don’t make it. I had to get off the phone. I couldn’t talk to him any longer. I couldn’t talk to anyone. All alone, I realized there was no one I felt comfortable confiding in. I’ve seen everyone at their worst, so how could they make me feel better? Who can console the consoler? Advise the adviser? No one could tell me anything I didn’t already know. I turned to the one friend who knew my situation. She tried to remedy the problem by giving me a taste of my own medicine — by using optimistic logic. But, while there’s logic behind the cure, there’s nothing logical about the disease. Or why my wonderful fa ther should suffer so much. Then she pointed something out. All she said was: “Erin, we’re lucky. We have two of the most incredible daddies.” That didn’t make anything bet ter, but it made me realize why I was having uncontrollable emo tional outbursts. My dad and I are two peas in a pod. We haven’t always been, since I really only lived with him for a few consecutive years. But, as I began college, we both went through positive changes in our lives. As we did, we grew closer. Our friendship began around the time of my high school gradu ation. My father decided to begin a new life. His excuse was simply, “I’m not happy.” He left his posi tion as executive vice president of a huge advertising firm and be gan to make changes. Since then he’s begun his own advertising and strategic market ing company. He teaches gradu ate students at Seattle University and the University of Washing ton. He’s president of the local community center. He even finds time to volunteer twice a week at my brother’s elementary school and coach pee-wee league. My dad is my role model. His persistence pushes me. He’s the one who made me so strong and contin ues to do so. When ever things go wrong, he tells me to take control. When things go smoothly, he tells me to shake things up. Nothing slows us down, and there’s no such thing as spreading yourself too thin. A parent could not be more supportive. I’d be half the person I am without my father. Now he’s sick and I’m faced with losing my father, my close friend. Yet, he tells me to look on the bright side — to look at all the things in his favor. He’s strong. My dad is looking fear straight in the face, telling it he will beat MDS. He expects me to do the same. So, the only thing I can do is try ... try to be more like him. Erin Fitzgerald is a senior po litical science and English major Erin Fitzgerald Columnist I was under the impression if this didn't work, they'd just try again. Not so. This is a one shot deal, in which 33 percent don't make it.
