The Battalion
MONDAY
August 1 2, 1 996
OPINION
Page 7
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couple of
weeks ago, a
friend of mine
and I were talking on
the phone about the
upcoming presiden
tial election. Since
he’s a die-hard con
servative, the dilem
ma he expressed sur
prised me.
“I don’t like Clin
ton, but if I voted for
Dole, I’d feel like a
schmuck,” he said.
Perplexed, I related this story to my
roommate, who’s also conservative.
She told me she felt the same way.
Although I have no intentions of
voting for Dole, I have always re
spected him. He seemed like the logi
cal choice for the Republican nomina
tion — mainstream, accomplished,
well-known. When my conservative
friends speak about him, however,
they make him sound like a Republi
can Michael Dukakis.
But as I thought about it, I began to
understand why my friends were so
uninspired by Dole: He has not given
people much of a reason to vote for him.
A lot has been made of the events,
people and ideas surrounding Dole’s
campaign over the past week, especial
ly since the Republican National Con
vention in San Diego has drawn near.
But so far, these have only tangentially
impacted Dole’s quest for the presiden
cy. This week, he needs to take control
of the campaign and lay out a clear vi
sion for his presidency.
For example, there’s the abortion
issue. It has caused divisions within
the platform committee and has
prompted three Republican governors
to refuse speaking at the convention.
But the wording of the platform is
meaningless if President Dole doesn’t
abide by it. He says he’s pro-life, but
would he actively pursue a constitu
tional amendment to ban abortions?
He’s never shown much interest in it,
so does he even care about the abor
tion issue?
Jack Kemp, who was tapped as
Dole’^ running mate Saturday, has en
ergized delegates to the convention be
cause his across-the-spectrum appeal.
But Kemp’s long history of reaching
out to minorities won’t win Dole any
minority votes. Unlike Dole, Kemp
didn’t endorse California’s Proposition
187 in 1994. Unlike Dole, Kemp does
n't support another California ballot
initiative to repeal all affirmative ac
tion measures in the state. And unlike
Dole, Kemp didn’t refuse to speak at
the NAACP national convention with
the paranoid excuse of being set up for
public embarrassment by Chairman
Kweisi Mfume.
Even Republican National Com
mittee Chairman Haley Barbour ad
mitted that the “vast, vast, vast” ma
jority of voters won’t decide who to
vote for based on the candidates’ run
ning mates.
If Dole wants to expand his base,
he has to take on the responsibility
himself.
Dole has created more ambiguity
by calling for S500 billion in tax cuts
over six years. Long known as a
deficit hawk, he doesn’t explain
where he’s going to get all the money
to pay for it. Even in the sketchy de
tails he has provided, he expects one-
quarter of the revenues to be generat
ed from growth caused by the tax cut
— an awfully rosy estimate for some
one who has been skeptical of supply-
side economics until now.
As far as foreign policy is concerned,
Dole has been AWOL. He occasionally
carps about Clinton’s policies, but he
has not outlined any of his own over
seas objectives. Dole’s lack of any poli
cy was most apparent after the crash
of TWA Flight 800, which he has hard
ly uttered a peep about.
It’s not too late for Dole to rebound
from his doldrums. With the country
fixated on him this week, he has yet
another chance to persuade voters to
give him a look. But with 70 percent of
Americans believing Dole will lose the
election, time is running out.
If he doesn’t start making a case for
his presidency soon, disenchanted vot
ers won’t be the only ones feeling like
schmucks come November.
Jason Brown is a Class of ’96
econom ics major
Women’s movement faces
few hurdles in 21 st century
I t is a revolution
that began in the
frontier and con
tinues with Sheryl
Swoopes.
In this century,
women proved they
didn’t belong in the
kitchen, that they are
as intelligent as men,
and that they are able
professionals, soldiers
and athletes.
Susan B. Anthony
in the ’20s, Eleanor Roosevelt in the
’30s and ’40s and Rosie the Riveter dur
ing World War II are examples of
women who broke the conventional
stereotype to move this country for
ward. Anthony was a leader in the
women’s suffrage movement. Roosevelt
was an unconventional first lady who
inspired Americans during the Depres
sion and World War II. And Rosie the
Riveter was the poster girl who encour
aged American women to work in man
ufacturing during the war.
It was in the postwar world that this
image of the regal working woman be
gan to deteriorate, and was substituted
by the “cult of domesticity.” In the ’50s,
according to Life magazine, the ideal
middle-class woman was married at 16,
had four kids, was a member of the
PTA, drove the kids to school, was head
of a Scout troop, cleaned and laundered,
and had dinner ready in time for when
her husband arrived home from work.
Sound familiar?
Thank Betty Friedan for saving the
world. In 1963, she published “The
Feminine Mystique.” In the book, she
said suburban women living the dream
of the ideal housewife were extremely
unhappy. They needed an outlet for
their intelligence, talent and educa
tion. According to the book, the sub
urbs had become “a comfortable con
centration camp.” It is no wonder,
then, that in 1966 Friedan founded the
National Organization for Women
(NOW), whose aim was to end discrim
ination in the workplace. In 1964, the
Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimina
tion on the base of gender or race. The
Educational Amendment Act of 1972
included Title IX, which orders col
leges to have the same recreational fa
cilities for men and women.
Because of these measures, Ameri
can women have progressed in society,
and have almost achieved equal status
as men in a lot of areas — particularly
in the workplace. Sandra Day O’Con
nor became the first female Supreme
Court justice in 1981; Sally Ride be
came the first female astronaut in
1983. Billie Jean King began the fe
male athlete’s revolution by demanding
prize money equal to that awarded to
male tennis players. And thanks to
James Earl Rudder, women can attend
Texas A&M. They were later able to
enter the Corps of Cadets, and in the
early ’80s, they were allowed to become
part of the Aggie Band.
And looking at the Reebok and Nike
commercials of the ’90s, this trend does
not seem to be halting any time soon.
First, there was Florence Griffith-
Joyner, who, with her long, patriotical
ly adorned nails, advocated that
women runners should be permitted to
look feminine. Then came Sheryl
Swoopes, the first woman to have a
Nike shoe named after her, Air
Swoopes. With Swoopes followed the
“other” Dream Team, the U.S. women’s
basketball team, who won a gold medal
in Atlanta — along with the women’s
soccer team, the softball team and the
women’s gymnastics team.
These advances notwithstanding,
women still have not achieved full
equality in sports. Physically, they
might never be equal to men, but
they deserve to show off their best on
the same playing field. They proved
themselves these past Olympics, and
they have proven themselves many
times before.
Kudos to Nike for the Air Swoopes,
and for the “If you let me play” com
mercial (the one where all these little
girls say that if you let them play,
they’ll run less risk of breast cancer
and of early pregnancy). Soon there
will be a National Women’s Baseball
League, and there are plans for na
tional basketball and soccer leagues
also. It remains to be seen whether
they will receive the same salaries as
the men in these fields, of course.
The women’s movement is not over
yet. Women still have to achieve equali
ty of salary. Sportswise, they are doing
an excellent job. Who knows, maybe in
the next century 7 , we’ll have a National
Women's Football League. Maybe you’ll
come to Kyle Field to watch the Lady
Aggies pounce the Lady Longhorns,
while the first female president watches
from the press box.
Rosie Arcelay is a Class of ’98
history major
We ppsow?
OaHMorg gaol .<***
Utopian Aggie summer winds down
W ell kids, the summer semester is
almost over.
Wednesday’s final exams will
bring an end to the quiet this campus has
known for the past three months.
Not that I enjoy sitting in each class for
over an hour and a half Monday through
Friday, but I’m going to miss my one and
only summer semester here at A&M.
For one thing, the sidewalks aren’t
crowded. Nobody’s bumping into one anoth
er. And you don’t have to brave your way
through a frightful gauntlet of pesky roller
bladers and bicyclists.
And the buses aren’t all full. You not only don’t have to
stand in the aisle, but you get a whole seat to yourself. As a
matter of fact, you usually get 10 or 12 seats to yourself.
The lines are short at the Pavilion and the MSC post office.
And the parking. Oh, the parking. Have you ever seen so
many empty spaces? Sometimes I park across two or three
spaces just for the hell of it. Hey, why not?
And there have been enough Battalions for everyone to get
their own brand spankin’ new copy each and every day.
Yes, life has been good this summer.
No, wait. Life has been great this summer.
And now it’s almost over.
Pretty soon, though, our friends who spent the summer
with their folks will be back. And with them will be 6,000 ma
niacal little freshmen yelling “howdy!” at every man, woman
and tree they walk past. ,
Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I think “howdy”
is great.
But among those 6,000 fish will be my brother.
j j >«>!•»
IT TAKES A
TILLAGE TO
RAISE A
CHILD
HniAKTCLP
Not only will he be at A&M this fall, but he’ll also be liv
ing with me. He swears my two other roommates and I
can’t force him to cook dinner for us and clean the apart
ment. Silly fish.
But it will be fun to watch him swim through his first se
mester before I leave in December.
I’ll be there when he is formally initiated as an Aggie
when PTTS gives him his first parking ticket.
And I’ll be there when he makes his first “F” in calculus —
just like I did.
And when he changes his major — just like I did.
But I’m really eager to see his reaction to his first good
ol’ fashioned Fightin’ Texas Aggie Yell FYactice and Big 12
football game.
I’ll get to tell him about the OF Army days (or was it last
week?) when a big pink building used to cast a shadow over
the north end zone of Kyle Field. And how the field used to be
real artificial turf.
And when half the streets on campus weren’t blocked off.
And the grackles stayed in the fish lot where they belonged.
And no noisy construction.
Ah, the memories.
Cut, Bonfire, Sbisa, the Chicken and all-night cram ses
sions. My younger brother and every other freshman will go
through it just like we all have.
I just hope his GPA is a little higher than the ... uh ...1.9 ...
I pulled during my first semester.
Yeah, this past summer was a lot of fun. But I’m really
looking forward to having my brother here during my last
semester. '
Hey, nothing beats autumn in Aggieland.
Michael Heinroth is a Class of’96 political science major
IT TAKES AN
jECTION to
HARM A
CHIU)
i J 7 " 1. O.IKTON'
Mail
Call
Admissions changes will
drag University down
Scenario: A student sits down to
read the paper and comes across bad
news. That’s right. He read the front
page article. “Students react to crite
ria changes.” After reading the article,
he lets out grunt of frustration.
Maybe this scenario sounds a little
too unreal. Well, I can assure you it is
very real. As a student who was ac
cepted based on merit, I find the new,
all-inclusive nature of A&M’s admis
sions criteria very unpalatable.
Maybe, this more-the-merrier idea is
good for a party, but it doesn’t belong
in an institution of higher learning.
I would like the degree that I am
going to earn mean something. If this
school becomes a dumping ground for
people who cannot normally get into
college, it will only ruin the impor
tance and value of a degree from this
institution. The education of the
prospective students’ parents would be
evaluated for the new selection crite
ria. What’s next, letting the doors
swing open for those whose ancestors
immigrated from a foreign country? If
this is implemented, practically all.
Americans could be accepted even if
their SAT score is below zero.
I don’t just want to complain, so I
have a solution. Let’s make admission
standards vary directly with fees.
Every time our fees get raised, so do
admission standards. That way, by the
time we get out of here, it will really
seem impressive.
Scott Willock
Class of ’98