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2
TUESDAY
April 23, 1996
Opinion
Page 11
It’s time for
L ast
Mon
day,
some mem
bers of the
Corps of
Cadets did
what they do
best. They
fought.
Only this time the targets of aggression
were fellow Corps members. Apparently
some band members didn’t take too kindly to
the fact that some non-band-member cadets
were walking on their practice field. Like
most of the grass on this campus, the prac
tice field is sacred ground that should never
be touched by human feet (except for when
some 300+ musicians march all over it).
Now I know that some people have been
critical of the cadets’ decision to turn violent
over the disagreement, but I applaud them.
Not only was the massive fisticuff a good
thing, but I think that these cadets have
pointed out the true path for correcting all
problems on campus: physical violence.
Just think of the possibilities. Every time
somebody does something wrong, he or she
should be met with some sort of extreme
physical punishment. Not only would this re
duce the number of problems on campus, but
it would also be very entertaining.
We could begin with some milder repri
mands: hitting students on the knuckles
with rulers for missing class or paddling
them for turning in late papers.
More disturbing acts, however, would
need to be met with a stronger deterrent
force. Parking violators should be locked up
in a room with the hillbillies from Deliver
ance. People who have overdue library books
should be hit in the head with a metal bar
once for each day the book has been overdue.
The most extreme forms of violence
should be reserved for the most evil people of
all: those who ignore tradition.
The greatest thing about this category of
transgressor is that by punishing them, we
would actually strengthen the pillars that
built this University: the Corps and violence.
Deep within the definition of Aggiedom,
there lies an agrarian blood lust. It’s present
in our yells: Farmers fight! Beat the hell out-
ta everybody! Fight! Kill! Maim! Gore!
This pugnacity can also be seen in the ac
tions of our beloved Corps.
This shouldn’t be too surprising. After all,
what would a good military organization be
without violence?
So while the cadets are waiting for a war
to start, they can practice their fighting abil-
all good farmers to fight
ities on the two-percenters who endanger
A&M’s status as a world class university by
not standing at football games. All students
who don’t rabidly follow every tradition
should be killed. Corps members should
have the right to murder anyone who doesn’t
go to Silver Taps or Muster, those who say
“Hi” instead of “Howdy,” and anyone who
wears a hat, tiara or toupee in the MSC.
Not only would this practice enhance the
fighting abilities of our fine young cadets,
but it would provide A&M with a bunch of
new, dead Aggies to dedicate stuff to.
After a few years of this bloodbath, the
University should be rid of all its deviant el
ements: bad students, two-percenters and
anyone who doesn’t blindly bend to the will
of the masses.
Personally, I think that it will be a great
day, and I would like to thank the Corps
for leading the way to a bolder and
brighter Aggieland.
Until this brave new world does come
about, however, be careful. If you even so
much as think about stepping onto a square
yard of grass dedicated to Johnny Trench-
foot, Class of ’00, there will be a belligerent
Ag there ready to pummel your face into the
dirt.
Fight ’em, Aggies!
Jeff Nolen is a senior psychology major
Society makes up shallow expectations
I saw Gene
Simmons on
television
the other day
and he scared
the poop out of
me. For those of
you that missed
the genesis of
the glamour-
rock genre, Gene Simmons is the
lead singer of a band called Kiss.
Kiss was known for its gratu
itous use of makeup (as well as
its stingy use of talent). Well, it’s
back with full-dress, full-make
up, and full pot bellies poking
out of the chained leather hung
as tightly on their bodies as
Cher’s outfit on her video for “If
I Could Turn Back Time.”
Their makeup is what struck
me, however. I began to think
about what a ridiculous idea it
was to wear so much makeup.
Then I began to think about
what a ridiculous idea it was for
anyone to wear makeup.
Makeup is a convention of
our society that I will never
understand.
I know that both genders of
our great race wear
makeup for one
reason or another;
however, I don’t
think it would be a
generalization to
say that the female
gender wears it
with much more
consistency. In fact,
society almost demands it from
women. Why is that?
Some would argue that
women wear makeup more then
men because of the importance
society has placed on the physi
cal appearance of women. These
folks would say that women
wear makeup to look nicer and
to be all around more visually
appealing to men. Maybe so.
But men are ugly people.
And women like their men to
look nice as well. So why didn’t
society evolve so that men
would be the gender that wakes
up every morning to apply vari
ous colors of different liquids,
powders and sticks?
I suppose the question is moot
because that just isn’t the way it
is. But I think it is high time
someone recognized makeup for
what it really is.
Women spend countless hours
a week applying substances that
wear off in a couple of hours. Af
ter the substances wear off they
apply them again, wherever they
are, no matter what is going on
around them.
How many times have you
seen a woman putting on her
makeup while driving? How
many times have you seen a
women touch up her lipstick
during class? How many dates
have you been on when a woman
politely excuses herself to the re
stroom and comes back with
cheeks that are just a bit rosier,
lips that are just a bit brighter,
and eyelashes that are just a bit
longer? And in a couple of hours,
the cycle begins again.
Many men assert that they
prefer women who do not wear
makeup at all. They say that
women who wear too much
makeup Eire much worse than
women who wear none. This no
tion is a complete lie. Men like
women who don’t wear makeup
and still look really nice. But if a
guy sees a woman whom he does
not find visually appealing and
who is not wearing makeup, he
wants her to put some on.
So women are left with a
Catch-22. They can choose to en
ter a never-ending cycle of make
up application that serves to de
preciate their value as being nat-
urally beautiful people and be
criticized by men who say that
they don’t like too much make
up. Or they can choose not to
wear makeup and be criticized
by men who say that they Eire
not naturally beautiful enough
to go without it.
Just thinking about it all real
ly makes me depressed. I am re
ally questioning the quality of
our society right now, especially
the quality of my own life. Do I
really have worth as a human
being in this crazy world that
values appesirance so much?
Maybe not, but perhaps if I
applied a touch of makeup I’d
feel better. After all, millions of
women can’t be wrong.
Chris Miller is a sophomore
English major
Earth Week begs
for global attention
Ci T T ey Ags,
I "I your
JL JL mom’s
calling you.”
That’s right,
your mother
Earth is calling
you home. She
says to stop play
ing for a few min
utes and listen up.
The 26th annual celebra
tion of Earth Day is upon us.
Local groups have been plan
ning for months to bring the
University and the community
an informative week packed
with diverse events.
This week is not called “en
vironmentalist week” for a rea
son — because it is much more
than that. And it should be cel
ebrated by everyone, regardless
of his or her personal politics.
Whether someone supports
more government regulation or
less, believes the Earth is
somebody else’s responsibility
or their own, it does not mat
ter. Everyone can celebrate the
beauty and the fragility of the
Earth, and everyone can use
this week to get started doing
his or her part.
Earth Week is about the fact
that 70,000 chemicals are in
commercial use. Of those,
17,000 are present in pesti
cides, cosmetics, drugs, and
food. Less than 30 percent of
those 17,000 have been tested
for possible negative effects on
our health.
Earth Week is about the
fact that once all the trash we
throw away makes it to a
landfill, it has virtually no
chance of degrading, whether
it is biodegradable or not.
Each American generates .75
tons of trash each year. That’s
4.3 pounds of trash every day,
compared with only 2.7
pounds in 1960.
And Earth Week is about
admitting that, although nu
clear plants have been operat
ing in the United States for
over 30 years, we still have no
idea what to do with our nu
clear waste, and yet we keep on
mindlessly producing it.
The first permanent nu
clear waste site is scheduled
to open in 2010 when 70,000
tons of radioactive waste is
scheduled to be buried deep
beneath Yucca Mountain, Nev.
It is unlikely that the site will
be finished by then, and it is
even more unlikely that a
temporary storage facility will
be finished on
schedule in
1998. Currently
the waste waits
at the plants
where it was
produced, and it
looms over com
munities as a
potentially dev
astating accident.
As consumers, only we de
cide what products fall into our
shopping carts. And in the
blink of an eye or the signing of
a check, we can choose to keep
potentially hazardous chemi
cals out of our homes.
Only we, as the Earth’s in
habitants, can choose to pro
duce less and recycle more. Col
lege Station has curbside recy
cling that just takes a phone
call to set up. We can choose to
buy products for which we can
buy refills. We can avoid buy
ing products with unnecessary
packaging. We can leave our
yard waste alone. We can start
our own composting systems.
This week is not just about
landfills, chemicals and nu
clear waste. These are just
three examples. It is also
about the disappearing rain
forests, delicate marine ecosys
tems, air and water pollution,
and global overpopulation.
In overpopulated and
overindustrialized Mexico City,
school is canceled several days
out of the year because simply
breathing outside air on those
days is too dangerous for
schoolchildren. Birds drop dead
from the sky after being as
phyxiated from the air pollu
tion above the city. Mexico City
today, Houston and Dallas to
morrow, unless ...
The responsibility to protect
and save the Esirth is ours. The
organizers of EEirth Week have
been doing their part; now it is
time for the rest of us to do ours.
The first step is education, so
don’t let this week go by without
learning something new.
The bottom line for those of
us who believe our mother is in
danger is that we must do
something, anything. And for
those of us who remain uncon
vinced, we have everything to
gain and nothing to lose from
keeping an open mind.
Start by recycling this fine
newspaper you now hold in
your hands.
Elaine Mejia is a senior
political science major
Mah
Call
Baxter botches
bashing of Bible
As a student of history and
believer in Jesus Christ, I feel
compelled to reveal some of the
many falsehoods presented in
H.L. Baxter’s Bible-bashing
column of April 18. In it he dis
plays his ignorance of both his
tory and Christian theology,
the very subjects of his piece.
For example, he states that
“Without [the Bible], the world
probably wouldn’t have enjoyed
the Crusades, the Third Reich
or slavery.” Yes, Christianity
was the driving force behind
the Crusades, but how can any
one believe that the Bible was
used by the Nazis to justify the
slaughter of the very race that
authored it? Hitler hated the
“Jew Book” and burned most of
the copies in Germany long be
fore World War II began. It is
also known that the goal of the
Final Solution was ethnic puri
ty, not the settlement of some
religious grudge (that’s why
millions of Gypsies and other
Eastern European peoples were
slain alongside Jews in the
death camps).
Lastly, it is ridiculous to as
sert that slavery was a Christ
ian idea. Native Americans
practiced it long before the ar
rival of Columbus and his fel
low Europeans.
Baxter later writes that
“Christians have used one sec
tion of the Bible to pass the
other off as a sham, even
though the disregarded part is
just as important to Christiani
ty as the other” (here he is re
ferring to the Christian belief
of New Testament supremacy).
In no way do Christians believe
that the Old Testament is a
“sham” to be disregarded.
On the contrary, it provides
the very basis for Christianity
in the doctrine of original sin,
which establishes the need of
humanity for a Savior. Al
though Christians no longer
rely on the Mosaic law for sal
vation, it is not therefore sim
ply cast from theological con
sideration.
The child learning the Ten
Commandments in Sunday
school knows this — why
doesn’t Baxter?
Christopher Parker
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