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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 3, 1996)
The Battalion 96 94. er- pi. *e- ler- rts ay, iew me md d a ory the s a tt’s lail lad 35+ t of [Off :old “ore and ien- 10 th is a the irst late imn as a S run for lar- 1 in lit- his f to ilso Key ark per- but for- 'iod mta akie ts. FRIDAY May 3, 1996 Opinion I I . Page 17 Margraves crashes in indictment C ynics rejoice! Just when you thought the administration didn’t deserve your mistrust, your scorn is justified. In case you hadn’t heard, Ross Margraves Jr., former chairman of the Texas A&M Board of Regents, was in dicted Tuesday by a Brazos County grand jury for misapplying govern ment property. Margraves allegedly broke the law when he took an A&M aircraft to Baton Rouge, La., in 1993. It appears we have our own little John Sununu. Margraves, however, should be prepared to handle the image problems that accom pany his indictment. During his reign, the regents were inundated with scandals be fitting a world-class university. Margraves resigned in April 1994, but only after act ing as the media whipping boy for such glo rious scandals as: The Alchemy Experiment — Somebody with more money than sense donated a big wad of cash to support an A&M chemist’s attempt to turn mercury into gold. The Tenneco Power Plant — Somehow, a $120 million power plant was started with out the approval of the Regents. And, of course, who could forget the Jeff Nolen Columnist Barnes and Ignoble Book- s t° re Brouhaha — The execu- fasfcags^i tive vice president’s wife got a free trip to the Big Apple to see some shows, all paid for by the folks who were bidding to win the right to operate the campus bookstore and sell ethics texts. Well, I ask you, who among us wouldn’t retire after all of that? But it turns out that there were some re ally simple reasons for all the big misun derstandings. The donor who put up the money for the Hg to Au conversion thought he had given the check to Texas Alchemy & Mysticism University (a common mistake). Margraves thought that the Si20 mil lion tab for the power plant wouldn’t be too tough to cover once he got all his mercury turned into gold. That trip to New York was merely an at tempt to ensure that the copies of Les Mis- erables the bookstore was selling had the same ending as the famed Broadway show (they do!). I’m sure Margraves, with his history of excusing the inexcusable, will have a per fect excuse for his alleged infraction of the law. He was probably intending on stop ping by LSU to take care of some business but never got around to it. In any case, it’s important to remember that Margraves is innocent until proven guilty of the alleged crimes (Please excuse the constant use of the word alleged, but we journalists use it to keep from getting sued). I personally hope that Margraves is found not guilty. A diploma from a school with a former administrator in prison tends to be less impressive at job interviews. Even if Margraves is convicted of the charges, I don’t believe he will spend any of the two to 10 years in prison that nor mally punish those convicted of the third- degree felony with which he is charged. Rich white men don’t see the inside of a prison cell too often. If convicted, Mar graves will probably just receive probation and a fine. That shouldn’t be too hard for him to pay. I’m sure he’s got some mercury laying around somewhere. But don’t get too downhearted. Mar graves will land on his feet, as he always has, and we can rest assured that the scan dal-ridden days of the regents and former regents are dead and gone. Right? Jeff Nolen is a senior psychology major Memories of friends mark time at Batt [ was hung over when I wrote this. Forgive Tie if it goes astray. When trying to igure out what in the world to write about for my last lolumn, the usual 'farewell” schmaltz was an obvi- choice. But in an effort to not j lie self indulgent. I’ll try to have something of substance here. I have to write about what I * anow, and that is The Battalion. To the select group of A&M students with the talent of writ- ■lg, designing and photography, fhe Battalion is not just a stu dent job. For those of us who are graduating, The Battalion has seen our lives. First and foremost is the work, if; Batt staffers spend most of the tflie we should be studying (md *11 of the time we should be sleep- •ig) on our work. As the saying ’les, “the ink gets in your blood.” But not everyone shares this Section for the Batt. Everyone bm the A&M administration. the Corps of Cadets, the Athlet ic Department md College Republi cans has had a beef with the Batt. Here’s a hint: Don’t screw up and it won’t get published. And shocking as it may seem to those who label us as the liber al newsletter of the Democratic party (nearly all newspapers are labeled as such), The Battalion is an award-winning paper. In March, the staff received 19 awards from the Southwestern Journalism Congress and Texas Intercollegiate Press Association. And in April, The Battalion re ceived the Enhancing Diversity Award from the Department of Multicultural Services. Not bad for a bunch of com munists. But work and awards aside, for the staff, the newsroom is more of a home than our homes are. It is our comfort zone, our place of solace. It isn’t good news until you share it with your friends in the newsroom. It is our place to complain, scream, cry and giggle. It is where we learn more about journalism than any class could ever teach. And with the enormous amounts of time spent there, we see the gamut of emotions and learn about life. Bringing together 80-or-so peo ple every semester to produce a quality newspaper creates ex tremely unique situations. Anyone who hasn’t heard Nick Georgandis sing “Wake Me Up Before You Go- Go” or seen Jason Brown dance ... well you just haven’t lived yet. To spend 15 minutes around Battfolk, chances are you’d wit ness some of the sights and sounds of the weirdest organiza tion around: To hear David Taylor rave about Republicans and blame everything on Democrats, to watch Sterling Hayman try to smoke 20 cigarettes at once, to see Stew Milne dance ala Steve Martin in The Jerk or Dave Winder dance to The Theme from Shaft, to listen to Amy Collier as she morphs into a Disney charac ter, to see Tara Wilkinson play with her pet lizard, to hear about Amy Uptmor’s struggles with bowling, to watch Chris Stidvent go into the witness protection pro gram for his columns, to hear Michael Landauer give sarcastic “howdys” and “gig ’ems,” to watch Rachel Barry tap dance or hear a certain columnist spew ridiculous trivia about the artist formerly known as Prince. These, among many, are the images Ill recall when I look back. It’s impossible for me to think about A&M without think ing about The Battalion. And although the graduating seniors have built the Batt up to a remarkable level, the foundation for success is there, and it will continue. For those non-Batt staffers who have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, just read the Batt. You’ll love it; you’ll hate it, but it is an integral part of A&M. Life goes on, and for Texas A&M University, it can be found in the pages of The Battalion. Rob Clark is a senior journalism major ^ggie spirit spans Across generations “01’ Army is going to hell” is Common term used by Old as they discuss how things ; ?ve changed at Texas A&M diversity since they have fraduated and moved on to ex- lienee life beyond the bor ers of campus. Some feel that W changes will be the Vise of our University; oth- Sr s realize that as the world Mail evolves, the mindset and moti vation of currents students do, too. For example, back when my father was “fish” May, Class of ’61, no one ever dreamed that one day women would possess such a strong presence on cam pus. I strongly feel that re gardless of what generation Aggie you are, one thing will remain the same: the unbreak able bond that Aggies share for one another and the undying Aggie Spirit. You see, almost a year ago, I lost my Aggie Ring. I was bro kenhearted and had a difficult time convincing myself to re place the ring that I had worked so hard to earn. Pur chasing a replacement seemed too easy and meaningless for a symbol as moving as the Aggie Ring. Well, three weeks ago I was asked to go to the Chicken to support a fellow Ag as she christened her Aggie Ring. Much to my surprise, it was all a hoax. As I entered the Chick en, I was surrounded by friends who I hold as dear to me as my own family. And there waiting for me in a frosty pitcher of beer was a shiny new Aggie Ring. Without my knowledge, they had pooled to gether the funds to buy me a new ring. To this day, it is not clear to me who all was truly involved in the effort, but I want all my friends in Aggieland to know that each time I look at my ring, I will think of my “Aggie family.” This I feel is the true meaning of the Aggie Spirit: selflessness, camaraderie, loy alty and friendship. 1 intend for this letter to serve a dual purpose — first to let “The Group” know how much each of you means to me, and second for those of you who feel that OF Army has gone to hell, have faith. Although the current students at Texas A&M may be of a younger gen eration than you, the bridge that spans across every genera tion of Aggies is the Spirit of Aggieland, and it shall never perish. Ron May Jr. Class of ’94 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. Take a Stand The University should make positions clear on key issues. Editorials Board Sterling Hayman Editor in Chief Stacy Stanton Managing Editor Michael Landauer Opinion Editor Jason Brown Assistant Opinion Editor When dealing with an issue like affirmative action, Texas A&M University needs world- class leadership. Unfortunate ly, ever since the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals made a rul ing in Hopwood vs. the State of Texas, we have been denied that leadership. It is time for Texas A&M to take a stand. In March, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that race can no longer be used when deciding admissions into public universities, in cluding Texas A&M. And al though, race has never been a deciding criterion for admis sions, it has had a major im pact on the diversity of Texas A&M. Yet, the University has refused to take a bold stand on the issue. In a Battalion guest col umn on Tuesday, Dr. Ray Bowen, Texas A&M president, mentioned that the Hopwood decision would definitely have a negative impact on A&M’s diversity goals. Bowen also said that Texas A&M was striving to achieve the a stu dent population representa tive of the state of Texas. Bowen’s reaction was both too late and too watered down. Ironically, the University usu ally has a tendency make ma jor decisions at times when stu dents are gone or when the se mester is winding down. Bowen’s statement about the Hopwood decision mentioned many negative affects that the ruling will have on A&M’s di versity and made many refer ences to the goals A&M current ly has in place. However, his statement never defined whether the University agreed or disagreed with Hopwood. With sensitive issues like affirmative action, the stu dents have a right to know where their University stands. The A&M administra tion should stop skirting around the sensitive issues and take bold stances on is sues that affect us all. Parents understand the value of education our years, $20,000 in student loans and countless ul cers later, my jour ney is almost over. I’m leaving A&M next Saturday with mostly good memo ries of the friends I’ve made and the knowledge I’ve gained. The road I’ve traveled has been far from easy, though. I’m leaving Aggieland broke, unem ployed, jaded and completely de prived of sleep. I guess I’ll pretty much look like your typical Joe Aggie when I walk across the stage. But not to my family. I have a feeling the look on Mom and Dad’s face on Saturday, May 11, will make four years of hassle instantly disappear. You see, I’ll be the first person in my family to graduate from col lege. That doesn’t mean that my parents are a bunch of ignorant hicks, though. To the contrary, my parents are among the most brilliant people I know. And they know how important a good edu cation is, because it is something that never came easy to them. When my dad graduated from high school, he enlisted in the Army rather than pursue a col lege degree, given the country’s sad state of international affairs. Luckily, he never fought in Vietnam (he’s old, you know), but rather, ended up in Germany dur ing the construction of the Berlin Wall. After he returned from Eu rope, night school and a series of odd jobs filled his time. Then he met Mom. My mother is a different story entirely. She is the oldest of five siblings and had to work immedi ately out of high school to help support the family. She attended community college, but never fin ished her degree plan because of work. Plus, she couldn’t attend A&M like she wanted, because it was still an all-male school when she was college-age. Neither of my parents ever went back to finish college be cause they had good jobs and re ally didn’t need degrees. They grew up in a time when a mas ter’s degree wasn’t essential in getting a promotion. To tell you the truth, I’m envious. My father is an engineer, a promotion which came about be cause he’s the hardest working, most dedicated man I know. He worked his way up from the bot tom of his company to become one of the top executives because he had character and determina tion, not a col lege degree. He and Mom have considered going back to school to get that infamous college degree, but they have their reasons for not wanting to. As they’ve re minded me, my education is now taking up most of their money and time. Furthering my education af ter high school was something I never questioned. I’ve always known I wanted to go to col lege. I even hope to get my doc torate some day. My parents didn’t force me to go to college; they just raised me with the knowledge that it was what I needed to do to get ahead in my generation’s world. So when my acceptance letter came in the mail, they made it perfectly clear that they would do whatever it would take to make sure noth ing would stand in the way of my college degree. When Dad was almost laid off from his job my sophomore year, he called me and told me he’d do anything to keep me in school. Mom went back to work, and I worked as many as three jobs for a while to make ends meet. Luckily, he didn’t lose his job, but even with the threat of unem- ployment, my parents’ priority was my education. I’ve never met two people who have gone so far out of their way to make sure I gain the tools of knowledge I’ll need to compete in this world. To tell you the truth, it doesn’t make sense that my de gree means so much to them, con sidering how well they’ve done without college degrees. Maybe they’re so determined to help me get my degree because they know that it’s getting harder and harder every day to excel in any field with out a degree. Maybe they’ve encouraged and helped me for so long because they want to fulfill dreams they had through me. Maybe they were just hoping that if they shipped me off to college, I’d come back married and they’d never have to sup port me again. Say what you will, but my con clusion is this: They’re supporting me because they’re good parents, and they care. And it doesn’t take a college education for me to know that makes me one very lucky girl. Amy Uptmor is a senior journalism major