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ARTS
U.S. needs a president,
not husband of the year
n1992,
Bill Clin
ton lost
aany votes
jecause he
vas an adul-
:erer, a
Iraft-dodger,
ind a “non-
’haler” of
marijuana.
Since
:hen, he has
jvercome
iome doubts in his abilities to
ead a nation, but recent con-
ictions in the Whitewater tri
lls have caused voters to focus
nee again on Clinton’s in
volvement in the scandal and
pstion his character.
The character of both major
:residential candidates is like-
lyto take the spotlight in the
ipcoming presidential elec-
ions, but why has it become so
mportant? Does character re
ally affect a president’s ability
n govern successfully?
It depends on what type of
iaracter is being examined,
loters have a right to base
heir decisions on issues they
ieelare important. However,
ione rationalizes that “if he
heats on his wife, then he
nay be unfaithful to his coun-
Ty,”then he should recall
hat George Washington,
tanklin Roosevelt and John
Kennedy all had mistresses
-but are still remembered
hr their dynamic leadership,
.'.doesn't seem their infidelity
aused too many problems for
lie country.
But then again, people
'aren’t aware of it. One thing
Washington, Roosevelt and
iennedy had in their favor
;a$the lack of media cover-
5e of every aspect of their
ersonal lives. Today, voters
a expect a daily visit from
ie president through televi-. .
ion, making his effect on
leir lives seem much more
arsonal.
Maybe the problem that
ersonal character flaws cause
)r presidents does not lie in
aeir ability to lead, but
ither in the public’s willing-
■ess to follow.
If a president is found
Jiilty of a flaw such as infi-
lelity or drug use, the voters’
?ustinhim is damaged. This
educes public approval of the
^resident and makes it harder
Irhim to introduce legisla
tion or gain public support for
. I dsproposals.
There is no question that
ie media coverage will con-
tue to intensify. So what
euses personal character
Wstobe such an issue for
Americans?
Some would respond that
what society needs is more
values and morals, and that a
vote for a man of honor is a
step toward this goal. Maybe
so — but is it the first step we
should take?
Ralph Reed, executive di
rector of the Christian Coali
tion and author of the upcom
ing book Active Faith said,
“Some of the opposition has
been personal (to Bill Clin
ton), attacking his character
rather than his policies, and
in so doing it risks permanent
damage to the office he occu
pies. If Clinton is a sinner, he
is no worse than you or me.”
If values and morals are
eroding in our society, neither
Clinton nor any other candi
date can restore them. It is a
national problem that can only
be cured by individual action.
Character on a personal
level is best left alone, but
Americans do deserve to know
what type of values a presi
dent holds when it comes to
governing. In the Whitewater
situation, there is a question
as to what role Clinton played
in the scandal, but no signifi
cant evidence has yet been
found to implicate him. If
there is any doubt of Clinton’s
integrity, this would be the is
sue to focus on.
It would be wonderful to
have a president who is moral
ly upright, but other issues
also need to be addressed. If
that individual lacks a solid
grasp of domestic and foreign
policy or a vision for our na
tion in the 21st century, then
his morals will have to work
overtime to compensate for
the potential problems. Fur
thermore, if he is a saint in
the home but favors abortion
and gay rights, he wouldn’t
have, my vote,.because those
aren’t stances 4> support.
A candidate whose personal
values are called into question
may not make a good hus
band, but this doesn’t neces
sarily imply that he can’t be a
good president. We should
also consider his ability to
govern our nation, and where
he stands on issues that are
important to us individually.
The question of a candi
date’s character should only
be considered when it over
laps the role he was intended
to fulfill as president. If his
character fails in this aspect,
then I’ll have reason to doubt
his ability.
Jenni Howard is a
Class of’96 economics and
international studies major
JENNI
HOWARD
Columnist
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dicappea
, 21 & 24
Mail
iving accidents
ippen all too often
Over my years in medicine, I
e repeatedly attended per-
^ with neck fractures. Most
Nteens or young adults; al-
all were from diving into
'How water.
One haunting six-week period
'Ught in three young men.
'“died in less than a week
Hhe third lived ... with com-
'te paralysis. What a sudden
•to promising lives.
Hie recent published injury to
ifier Student Body President)
jtyBoenig will have an unusu-
•Utcome — he will recover.
Hon’t do this to yourself. And
3 U could pass this on to a
fPleof your friends ... maybe
could save a life.
W. D. Bailey Jr., M.D.
Beutel Health Center
astefulness shows
^nsitivity to drought
Jhere is a drought occurring
‘exas, but you would not
'W it while on the Texas A&M
"Pus. Sprinklers water the
N, plants, trees, sidewalks
rstreets every night. If it
rains in the morning, the sprin
klers still come on at night. This
does not seem like an economical
use of my fees. The ground by
my dorm is saturated with
standing water. When I walk
home from work, the streets and
sidewalks are flooded.
Let us not forget the people
— members of our families,
friends, fellow Texans and fel
low Aggies — who are undergo
ing countless hardships because
of the scarcity of water. I would
encourage Texas A&M and
Physical Plant to end the waste
ful use of such a precious re
source that so many in Texas
have to do without.
Patrick Troy
Class of’98
The Battalion encourages letters to the
editor and will print as many as space al
lows. Letters mujt 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: BattOtamvml .tamu.edu
Drought emphasizes water problems
L ast
week’s
tiny
amount of rain
was not
enough.
We are still
in a drought,
and it still
sucks.
Edgewood,
Texas, needs to
build a 10-mile
pipeline in 30
days, or its 1,284 residents will be
out of water. Farmers everywhere
are struggling to save crops and
feed livestock. Gov. Bush is even
making speeches about water
conservation — complete with
bad puns and vague “Save the
Water” rallying cries.
Where does B-CS stand in the
middle of this dry mess? How
many days until Mayor Mcll-
haney begins constructing a
pipeline to Lake Somerville? And
where in the world do we get our
water from, anyway?
Actually, two confined aquifers
— the Sparta Sand, which is
about 150 feet thick, and the
Simmsboro and Wilcox Sands,
which are about 200 feet thick —
supply water to Bryan-College
Station. The rapid growth in re
cent years has placed a strain on
these aquifers, consistently reduc
ing their water levels.
And quantity is not the only
problem. The quality of water
here leaves something to be de
sired. Anyone who drinks B-CS
tap water can tell it isn’t Evian.
In fact, the local water supply has
an alarming amount of salt — so
much that it has been a factor in
deterring some businesses from
relocating to the community.
Brazos 2020 Vision, a group
dedicated to improving B-CS
over the next 25 years, is striv
ing to raise the quality of water
to meet business standards. It
proposes collecting surface water
to reduce the overall amount of
salt in the water supply. (Lake
Bryan is not a source of water; it
is used only to cool the electrical
plant.) A new source of surface
water would also help reduce the
strain on the aquifers.
Ironically, this is not a new
idea. In the early 1980s, appro
priations were set aside to build
a dam on the Navasota River.
The new lake would have pro
vided surface water for the B-
CS community, but environ
mentalists raised a cry against
the project. They didn’t want to
take any wildlife area away
from local deer.
So our water supply is threat
ened, businesses won’t come here
and the tap water tastes like
brine because some people didn’t
want to deny deer some land.
Dr. Karl Koenig, a former
A&M associate dept, head of ge
ology and advocate for a Nava
sota River Dam, explains,
“Anytime you build a lake, you
take away some wildlife area,
sure, but the question is are
you going to deny 100,000 peo
ple water so that a few deer can
have more land?”
According to Koenig, Bryan-
College Station uses approximate
ly 27 million gallons of water per
day. (It would take a person a lit
tle over 10 years to pump that
many gallons of gas.) That is 170
gallons of water per person per
day. Of course, the figure includes
water used by industries, but nev
ertheless it is a lot of water.
A new source of surface water
is the most obvious and complete
solution to the community’s grow
ing needs. Damming the Navaso
ta River has become a real need.
Unfortunately, the dam isn’t
going to spring up overnight and
solve our current drought prob
lem. All Bryan and College Sta
tion can do right now is try to con
serve what water we have left.
Until we get more rain, we need
to use less water.
Here are some simple things
everyone can do to help save
water:
1) Turn off the faucet while
brushing your teeth. This alone
can save gallons of water.
2) Take showers instead of
baths and use low-flow shower
heads. If you absolutely must
bathe, do it with a friend!
3) Keep your drinking water in
the refrigerator rather than wait
ing for the tap to run cold.
4) Wash only full loads of
clothes and dishes.
5) Use mulch when gardening
to retain moisture.
6) Only water lawns and gar
dens during the morning and
evening to avoid evaporation.
Plant as much local flora as possi
ble. It will require less water.
7) Just remember the pithy
slogan of Bush’s Water Devel
opment Board: “Every little
drop counts.”
Marcus Goodyear is a
Class of’97 English major
Diplomas do not always bring big bucks
S hortly after planning
my sure-to-be imma
ture and obnoxious
antics at my graduation, I
began to ponder life after
this wonderful bubble
called Aggieland. It
frightened me. And the
more I researched, the
more frightened I became.
College graduates
around the country are
finding that their degrees
don’t mean much when it
comes to finding a job related to their field of
study, and the degrees don’t go very far in
securing a livable salary. To make matters
worse, Aggies aren’t immune to the prob
lems recent college grads have been facing.
According to statistics gathered by our fine
U.S. government, more than 65 percent of all
college graduates in the nation do not obtain a
job related to their field of study.
But, as my father would argue, who cares
about the rest of the world? What about good
old Texas A&M graduates?
Well, according to a 1995 survey by the
Career Center, of 1,064 job offers to the
graduates of that year, 45 percent were of
fered a job “not related” to their major. Only
65 percent of graduates were offered jobs
“very related” to their major.
Upon receiving these hard-earned jobs,
the average recipient of an undergraduate
degree from Texas A&M of almost every col
lege except engineering can look forward to
earning about $28,000 per year, according to
the Career Center’s survey. Engineering
graduates averaged about $30,000, except
for chemical engineers, who rake in about
$40,000 on average.
As for us Ag boys, we can look forward to an
average salary of $24,000. Education busted
the seams at about $23,277, just above a bach
elor’s degree in veterinary medicine, which
was the lowest-paying degree at $20,031.
David Small, who runs the Career Center
at the University of Houston, said, “Hiring
has been on the flat side overall at the uni
versity. Salaries and recruiting are up mod
estly, but it’s nothing to celebrate over.”
Specifically, he added, “Finance majors
are having a tough time lately. Banks have
become so automated that they’re not hiring
finance majors like they used to. And some
graduates always have a tough time. There’s
probably never been a year that employers
have come knocking down the doors to hire
liberal arts graduates.”
On May 17, L. M. Sixel of the Houston
Chronicle wrote, “If you have big college bills
to pay off, don’t start a career as a journalist.
They receive the lowest starting offers of any
college-going professional.”
Well, it’s comforting to know that with my
agricultural development degree I can look
forward to a life just above poverty level, and
as a journalist I would be living below poverty
level. I guess the sentiment that it always
pays to get a higher education might not hold
as true today as it did for Mom and Dad.
Even A&M grads, whom we would like to
think an employer would sacrifice his first
born for, have trouble getting high-paying
jobs in their fields. I have started my own
business, because I am a big believer in self
endowment. I’ve given up on the idea that
four or five years at A&M will get me a
dream job, because the chances are not good
on some bum completely supporting me and
my future family.
It’s becoming increasingly apparent that a
college diploma isn’t worth much more than
the paper it’s written on.
Chris Leschber is a Class of ’97
agricultural development major
CHRIS
LESCHBER
Columnist
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