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The Battalion
WEDNESDAY
August 7, 1 996
OPINION
Page 5
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Real heroes don’t
get media coverage
C
all me
un-
Ameri
can, but I
hate sports. I
learned this
after gradu
ating from
kindergarten
— as I spent
my summer
in the swel
tering heat
playing tee
ball.
But as the Olympics were
winding down, the world of ath
letic competition was redeemed
in my eyes, if only for a moment.
Not by Kerri Strug and her
“courageous” vault.
Nor by Michael Johnson
and his world record in the
200-meter dash.
No, it was the work of a little
mem who could not afford gold
running shoes from Nike.
A man who had no corpo
rate sponsors or lucrative com
mercial endorsements. A man
whom none of us knew — A
Baser Wasiqi.
He came with only one other
athlete from his distant country.
A country that has been referred
to as the “Soviet Union’s Viet
nam” — Afghanistan.
The Red Army invaded the
independent nation in 1979,
which resulted in an American
boycott of the 1980 Moscow
Games. But the Soviets stayed
for 10 years. After that, more
civil war in Afghanistan.
And while the only other
Afghan athlete was defecting
on Sunday morning, Wasiqi
began his grueling struggle to
complete the Olympic
marathon.
As the race claimed 13 other
men, this determined Afghan
refused to give in to exhaus
tion. Even a leg injury did not
deter him.,
But as health mordtors en
couraged him to drop out, Wasiqi
ignored them all. He continued
on. Sometimes jogging. Some
times walking.
He would win no medal,
though. His anthem would not
be played.
And no spectators would be at
Atlanta’s Olympic Stadium to
cheer him on to the finish line.
You see, as far as Olympic
officials were concerned, the
marathon was over. The track
had already been covered with
tarps.
But as the volunteers saw
Wasiqi limp into the stadium,
they pulled back the tarps to
let him finish and cheered him
on. They even stretched a
piece of tape across the track
for him to break.
Seeing this, Wasiqi mustered
his last ounce of energy to jog
down the straight-of-way.
Four hours, 24 minutes and
17 seconds after the starting
gun was fired, A Baser Wasiqi
of Afghanistan crossed the
makeshift finish line and al
most collapsed. Two men
caught his arms and helped
him off the track.
He had finished the marathon
in last place. It was the slowest
finish ever in Olympic history.
But nonetheless, Wasiqi
finished.
And the look on his face was
worth more than any gold
medal. He had beaten the
marathon that was so eager to
claim him as its 14th victim.
Wasiqi was victorious.
And I couldn’t help but re
alize that this man was the
real thing. He wasn’t out there
running for Nike or Reebok.
And he didn’t pose nude for
black and white photographs
in Life magazine.
While other spoiled ath
letes gloated over gold or were
pathetically disappointed with
a silver or bronze medal,
Wasiqi left Atlanta as humble
as he came.
He ran for himself, his family
and his country. Nothing more,
nothing less.
And while the arrogant Carl
Lewis returns to Houston an
gered by the 10th gold medal
that will never be his, A Baser
Wasiqi returns to Afghanistan
with quiet dignity.
Yes, on Sunday, the world
witnessed a true champion. It’s
just a shame that none of the
other athletes were there to see
such a triumph.
Michael Heinroth is a Class of
’96 political science major
Public feeds entertainers’ greed
i :
JAMES
FRANCIS
Staff Writer
E very day we hear how
money is being wast
ed in our society.
Too much is being spent
on military advancements
at the expense of educa
tion, and people in high
places are benefiting from
the downfall of the com
mon taxpayer.
But despite these com
plaints, inflated and unmer
ited salaries continue.
What’s worse is, most
Americans contribute to and accept these
overblown wages for entertainment’s sake.
In the summertime, most would agree a
venture to the movie theater is a good way to
have fun.
But the enjoyment comes at a higher price
than the ticket value.
Take Jim Carrey, please!
His reported $20 million salary for The
Cable Guy was a rude awakening to Holly
wood, but only after the movie was de
clared a summer flop.
Had the film done as well as hoped,
Carrey’s salary would be labeled appropri
ate because of his ability to draw audi
ences to theaters.
Although The Cable Guy will barely cov
er its production costs, the money is Car
rey’s to keep.
As for Arnold Schwarzenegger, the future
looks green with Gotham City. The green
stems from the envy of others who will learn
of his $25 million contract to portray Mr.
Freeze in the next Batman installment.
It may be OK for people to say
Schwarzenegger’s popularity is worth the
salary, but he only has to spend six weeks on
the set to earn it.
The paycheck wars are not restricted to
movies either, as television and hardback non
fiction have their own roles.
As of right now, each member of the oh-so-
talented Friends cast wants a raise — an in
crease from $22,500 to $100,000 per episode.
They feel they deserve it because of the
show’s huge success and because talents
such as Roseanne and Tim Allen receive
such rewards.
Roseanne and Allen are veterans; besides,
their ABC shows are actually funny.
And no one knows jokes better than co
median Whoopi Goldberg, but even she has
to be laughing about her upcoming under
taking in print.
She hasn’t had time to begin writing her
account of life observances, but the publisher
is advancing her $6 million.
Talk about priceless words.
But before the red, white and blue becomes
tainted with green paperbacks and America
begins to take these matters more seriously,
here’s a lighthearted poke at Hollywood.
Straight from The Battalion newsroom comes
“James’ Top 10 Indications That You Are Be
ing Overpaid”:
#10 - A new clothing line you introduced is
being picketed because of child labor usage.
Your production designer, K. Lee, blames her
son Cody for the mishap.
#9 - After waiting your table at the opening
of a new Planet Hollywood, a young waiter
collects his tip, buys a yacht, and sails the
world three times over.
#8 - Moneybags, your pet parrot, has a bird
cage lined with hundreds of one-dollar bills.
You claim they clutter your wallet and should
be recycled.
#7 - When the tire on your Porsche went
flat, you bought a new one — not just a tire,
but the Goodyear company.
#6 - Ed McMahon comes to your door with
a life-size check for $10 million and declares
you as Publisher’s Clearinghouse’s grand-
prize winner. You slam the door in his face,
crawl back into bed and say, “I can’t believe he
woke me up at 10 o’clock in the morning!”
#5 - All of your childhood friends begin
to affectionately call you by the nickname
Bank One.
#4 - Bill Clinton decides not to run for a
second term. Instead, he auditions as your
boss in a new sitcom titled The Prez.
#3 - Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous per
sona Robin Leach is unable to conduct his in
terview because you had him shot at the gate,
thinking he was a crazed stalker.
#2 - The newly divorced Princess Diana at
tends your new movie premiere, stating her
life can’t be as tragic as your recent breakup
with heartthrob Brad Pitt.
And the #1 indication that you are being
overpaid: That little, red button from the
White House now rests beneath your pillow,
so the next time People magazine puts you on
the year’s worst-dressed list, they’ll get theirs!
In the end, entertainers do what they are
paid to do — entertain.
Only when we stop to take a closer look,
a personal question arises: When the time
comes to make a decision whether to spend
a lifetime educating our children or nudg
ing them into pro-basketball, what will
you choose?
James Francis is a Class of ’99
accounting major
Aggie spirit blazes
at first, then wanes
je&Bj
com
Mail
CDC deserves AIDS
funding for research
As a Peer Educator and Street
Outreach Worker for AIDS Ser
vices of Brazos Valley (260-
AIDS) in Bryan, I have a few
comments to supplement David
Recht’s recent column regarding
Centers for Disease Control
(CDC) funding for AIDS re
search. Let me start by saying
that I am quite happy for Recht
— that he’s been so lucky and
has led such a sheltered life. It
becomes clear when reading his
column that he is not aware of
the realities of drug abuse, sex,
and the usage of barriers, i.e.
clean needles and condoms. I am
willing to bet that as a college
student he is acquainted with at
least one person — male, female,
gay or straight — who has gone
out looking specifically to get
laid. Maybe he has met one of
the many unreported rape vic
tims on this campus.
He is well-informed about the
facts of infection, but he neglects
the realities that surround these
events. Contraction of HIV does
not happen in a vacuum. Besides
that, not everyone is as informed
as he is. After stressing individ
ual responsibility, he asks, “Why,
then, should the CDC devote
such a disproportionate amount
of money to AIDS research?” Be
cause the spread of infection
from mother to baby occurs not
in utero, but during childbirth.
Through proper procedures, it
can be prevented. After all, ba
bies cannot ask for clean needles
or demand condoms.
Suzanne M. Buttery
Class of ’96
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
A fresh
man en
tering A&M, I
was a devout
follower of the
Aggie state
religion.
I gave a firm
“howdy” to all
passers-by.
I believed it
to be a sin to
miss a football
game or a yell practice.
I worshiped the pagan god of
Bonfire, sacrificing my weekends
and nights for the greater glory
of Aggieland.
Today, my attitude is a little
different.
A quick nod or a friendly “hi”
will suffice.
I plan to make it over to Kyle
Field for the big games against
Colorado and Oklahoma, but I’ll
probably be more interested in
my plant design project than
Louisiana Tech.
And Ill see you when it bums.
My outlook is not very differ
ent from that of most seniors.
Except for a handful of two-
percenters, freshmen generally
enter the University thinking
Aggie traditions define the
essence of human existence. The
chosen 98 percent demand that
the remaining fraction hit the
outbound lane of Highway 6.
By the time Fish Camp is a
four-year-old memory, the evil
two percent has grown to encom
pass most of the class. Unless
you’re a yell leader or on the
Traditions Council, you’ve prob
ably realized that being an Ag
gie is not the ultimate fulfill
ment of life.
This is not intended to be an
other “Aggies are a bunch of stu
pid, ignorant rednecks” column
that criticizes everything some
people hold dear.
It is simply an observation
that most people do in fact out
grow the myopic view that Ag
gieland is “the best place on
Earth.”
That does not change the fact
that Texas A&M is, to put it
tritely, a really neat place.
Working on Bonfire is a hell
of a lot of fun. Watching it bum
is a magnificent sight. Football
games and yell practices are
fun. They are quite unique and
denote a spirit that, in a way,
“can ne’er be told.”
People who can draw the
line between what is a neat
thing to do and what should be
a compulsory thought or action
are the people who truly un
derstand the meaning of the
Aggie spirit.
And I suspect this number in
cludes a vast majority of us.
There are extremists on both
sides of the traditions debate.
Those who think that A&M
is perfect and does not require
change or improvement com
prise one edge of the spectrum.
We might call them the “love it
or leave it” crowd.
Then there are those who
view every Aggie tradition as a
primitive. Neanderthal ritual
that perpetuates the school’s im
age as a backward society of
racist, sexist, homophobes.
When these factions clash
with a flurry of letters to the edi
tor during each fall semester,
these two mindsets seem to dom
inate the debate.
However, neither side repre
sents the opinion of most stu
dents, and neither side is correct.
As freshmen we were indoc
trinated to be Aggies. Today,
most of us recognize the great
fun that it was and appreciate
the experience, but we realize
life does not culminate with the
maroon and white.
Jim Pawlikowski is a Class of
’96 chemical engineering major