Page
rnber 12,
eel
;quires
Opinion
Page 19
Thursday • September 12, 1996
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der Am
letroitTigi
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for the
IIS needs to wave its magic wand Playboy’s pom poses
serious quandries
WS
J:
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dw that I have
completed my
last semester of
i one would think
uld be able to un-
tand the advice giv-
tme in A&M’s
Opinion Editor
;mg injia
Icy Gutien
Berry’s ai
/e needed; . , !
left side. Kfe
nerai ma;
aid. “Aoii
^eslissom lation
hat is supposedly
the University
ted Computer In-
expeneii;
rt stop. 1
egan the
'ore being
rices(CIS) — to
hde students with
Heather Pace
Sophomore
English major
home run
iful, informative answers to
teircomputing needs,
owever, for the average non-
_ hanicaily inclined student,
provided by CIS simply leaves
entseven more confused. In
CIS needs to take a new ap-
.X||Mi di to serving student needs.
* LUll ike the Academic Computer
ler in Blocker, for example,
nentering, students are greet-
ith a plethora of rooms to en-
nd a lack of computers to use.
oingto a computer lab is sort
awaiting 30 minutesfor a
ing space only to have it taken
by some obnoxious, sneaky
Woodson
?en plating
3 came i
gn with
a big imp:
themiddli
se," StridCflunjst.
>ur make
; allow the
linebackei
hen the problems really begin.
Ithough CIS provides elaborate
rmational packets, they seem to
ad of stes bitten in an unknown English
ict. CIS obviously anticipated
the packets couldn’t answer
question, so they created the
pDesk.
to compare the Help
ktothe big desk at the en-
allowed
yards in
cago ant
of Fred
e our
n said. "Hi iceof the library, primarily
than last p
ause it isn’t clear what the
pose is behind the two.
he only explanation I can come
(ithisthat it provides a refuge
CIS employees when they are
raged by questions,
lowever, the Help Desk needs a
name because it certainly
sahpiovide much help.
For example, during
my last sojourn in the
ACC, I was trying to read
my e-mail which is, of
course, on VM.
VM is infamous for
being the most un
wieldy e-mail system
ever put on the face of
the earth.
For this reason, one
would think CIS would
take steps to alleviate
the many questionsof
confused students who
bombard the Help Desk by ei
ther simplifying VM or eliminat
ing it all together.
However, 1 was still using VM,
and my e-mail wouldn’t open. For
tunately, I found a helpful CIS em
ployee who admitted VM was a
really screwed up system so he tried
to stay away from it. But he offered
to find someone who knew a little
bit more than he did.
After about five minutes, some
one approached. My excitement
soon dimmed, though, after she
admitted it was her first day to
work at CIS, and she didn’t know
anything about VM either.
Finally, a third person came
over to inform me that the “wizard
ofVM” resided in the Teague Re
search Center Building. Unfortu
nately, the wizard was performing
his magic potions somewhere out
side of College Station for the next
few days.
Besides the employees who
simply have no clue, there are the
employees who are frustrated by
students’ inability to understand
their explanations.
Listening to them pontificate
may sound impressive, but I
feel like I am being sucked into
a giant abyss. If only I could be
like Dorothy — click my heels a
few times and suddenly know all
the answers.
Instead, I decided maybe read
ing my e-mail wasn’t that impor
tant after all.
It seems obvious employers
would look for knowledge and
enthusiasm in their prospective
employees. IfVM is one of the sys
tems provided by the university,
wouldn’t they provide employees
who know how to use it?
OK, so maybe it is a bad system
. . . then why doesn’t CIS replace it
or improve it?
CIS needs to take a comprehen
sive look at the services it offers
and the employees it hires because
VM is definitely not the only sys
tem in which employees lack
knowledge.
Students who have suffered
through computer classes have
surely experienced the perplexed
faces of employees when trying to
find solutions to their questions.
Maybe CIS should make evalua
tions based on quality, not quantity.
If students are required to
pay a $60 computer access fee
per semester, it would be nice
for CIS to provide some comput
ers — almost as good, though,
would be some answers.
raternities offer members more than meets the eye
f w
ithout a doubt, fraternities
are some of the most re
warding organizations at
isA&M.The sad part is that
lypeople think fraternities are
Mental to the University and to
ridual fraternity members,
radition makes A&M unique and
ten incorrectly used as a reason to
lissfraternities. Like A&M, tradi-
a big part in fraternities. So
'eto be a little disheartened when
estate tradition is anti-frat. Sure,
mities were not originally a part
xasA&M, but neither were non-
orwomen.
raternities were not formed to have all
tdrink-a-thons and all-out brawls. The
)tity of fraternities were founded in the
, when A&M was still pasture land,
unities began to focus primarily on
larship, athletics and brotherhood,
aternities continue to develop a person
[the best person he can be. That’s why fra-
Itiestake pride in everything they do and
inually produce leaders. Since 1920, all
me president of the United States haves
members of fraternities,
campus, Greeks are not only partic-
in many organizations, but leaders.
I Aggies have to give 212 percent, 112
Columnist
Sean McAllister
Senior finance and
accounting major
percent to A&M and 100 percent to
the fraternity.
Being an Aggie may open some
doors in the business world, but
combining that with membership
in a fraternity opens even more
doors. My fraternity has 212 chap
ters across the United States and
Canada with an average of 65 men
per chapter. Com
bine this with ap
proximately 100,000
thousand alumni
members, and it cre
ates two windows of
opportunity for me in the busi
ness world, first as an Aggie
and second as a Greek.
To those who think fraterni
ties are groups of guys formed
for two purposes, beer and
women: Think again.
One of the primary focuses of
every fraternity is philanthropy,
for which there are many benefits hosted by fra
ternities. They donate hundreds of hours, and
tens of thousands of dollars each semester to
various organizations. The Greek system also has
the largest turnout of any on-campus organiza
tion at The Big Event.
As for, “Rent a friend, join a frat,” there is
no renting of friends. Friendships are never
made by the mere collection of money. A fra
ternity is indeed run like a business, and all
businesses need money. Dues can be com
pared to tuition for A&M, used to develop a
member and support the foundation. Broth
erhood, a significantly deeper bond of friend
ship, is fostered by mutual respect, concern
for each other and belief in one common
thing — the fraternity itself.
In order to become a broth
er there is pledgeship, which is
not a time for personal humili
ation. The stereotypical image
is antiquated and, in most cas
es, fostered by glamorized im
ages portrayed on television.
Pledgeship is not a time for
humiliation and torture as
many may think. Rather, it is a
trial period for the pledges to
prove they do indeed posses the
qualities and desire to become a
good member. Pledge educa
tion curriculum ensures members will be schol
ars, leaders and gentleman.
There are 26 fraternities at Texas A&M pre
senting an option for nearly everyone who is
driven to excel. Fraternities are not for every
one, and I understand that. Fraternities are for
men who are a cut above the rest.
lat’s wrong
with Playboy?
Many Aggies
don’t subscribe to it.
They don’t even like it.
However, they still
can’t seem to pinpoint
the defect in Hugh Hefn
er’s girlie mag.
Playboy is mildly
pornographic. It may
have good articles, but
these are sandwiched
between seductive
photos of naked women.
This month’s Big 12 issue in
cludes two of Aggieland’s women,
Nikki Willis and Hillary Schatz,
naked as jaybirds.
Of course Venus de Milo is also
naked as a jaybird, but most peo
ple don’t consider the statue
pornographic. It is a nude — an
aesthetic mold that is fundamental
to great artists.
Playboy’s nudes may be actual
photographs of women, but they
are not unartistic. The color and
lighting of the magazine’s pictures
are sometimes quite nice.
Photography is an accepted
mode of art. Nudes are as accept
able in photographs as they are in
oil paintings and marble statues.
However, Playboy’s photos are
more than just nudes. Every
naked Playmate has an explicit
sexual undertone. They are not
posing to show the beauty of the
human form. They are posing so
men may admire their breasts,
gawk at them even.
So these photos are erotic. Big
deal — the Pre-Raphaelite Brother
hood produced many sensual
paintings in the 19th century. Each
work of art captures an emotion or
feeling. A photo expressing despair
is hardly superior to a photo ex
pressing desire.
Perhaps the Puritan heritage of
America and the Protestant lean
ings of the Bible Belt have caused
many of us to associate guilt and
revulsion with sexuality. Those
naked girls ought to put on fig
leaves and hide their faces. Nudity
is shame.
No photograph deserves such
sweeping condemnation. Some
where in photography there is a
line dividing pornography and art.
Columnist
Marcus Goodyear
Senior English major
No one has found the
line yet — though even
the Supreme Court has
tried. The line may not
even be the same for
each person.
Everyone has a re
sponsibility to himself
or herself to determine
what is acceptable.
The Big 12 Playboy
issue is a perfect excuse
for a student at A&M to
examine the assump
tions of his or her childhood and
determine why soft-core porn is or
is not objectionable.
A little research never hurt any
one either. A psychological study
in 1980 found that even mildly
erotic material (such as Playboy)
increased men’s aggressive be
havior toward women.
A more recent study in 1994
found that soft-core pornogra
phy increased men’s perception
of women as sexual objects.
The politically correct term is
“objectification.’’
Playboy reduces women to sex
objects, toys for boys who have
outgrown Star Wars figures.
In the explicit photos and car
toons, the women are completely
one-dimensional. All of them
want, need and think about only
one thing: sex.
Willis and Schatz knew this
when they posed. They could ac
cept being objectified in return for
their exposure to the modeling
world. Posing in Playboy was a
good career move.
These two Aggies and all the
playmates like them have done
nothing wrong, right? If a person
wants to be objectified, conserva
tive Bible-thumpers should leave
them alone, right?
Unfortunately, Willis and
Schatz’s decision will affect all
women in the United States.
Men will think less of women in
general after seeing these
women presented as purely sex
ual. The erotic pictures support
sexist gender stereotypes, too.
But let’s not be too hard on the
playmates and their porn peddler.
Hugh Hefner didn’t invent chau
vinism and the hierarchy gender;
he’s just capitalizing on it.
To those who
think fraternities
are groups of
guys formed for
two purposes,
beer and women:
Think again.
The Battalion
Established in 1893
Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the
views of the editorials board members. They do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of other Bat
talion 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.
Editorials Board
Michael Landauer
Editor in Chief
Amy Collier
Executive Editor
Gretchen Perrenot
Executive Editor
Heather Pace
Opinion Editor
Crime Ring
Aggie Ring dunking tradition should
continue despite legal challenges.
Mail
>utes.
idents deserve
impt services
lade it to my class 30 min-
ate. The problem wasn’t
woke up late or that I de-
the class wasn’t important
[hto attend.
'as late to class because I
auteto school and depend
UJniversity’s shuttle system,
lent to the bus stop 40 min-
lefore my class began,
ilyfive minutes passed
the first bus approached
. 6 0p '
l T (* f routine, I stepped where the
> 4 'Quid stop, and retrieved my
0 / Ms from my pocket.
my surprise, though, the
lid not halt and continued
Way toward campus. It was
lyfuii.
tee other people joined me
5-minute wait for the next
Wit also did not stop be-
.cofl
cause it was too full.
By the time the third bus did
the same thing, there were nine
of us just standing around, and I
was already late for class.
I decided to take my car to
school and within four minutes
was in the commuter parking lot.
It took 20 minutes to find a
parking spot in the parking lanes
furthest from any building as
other commuters patiently wait
ed behind the wheels of their
steeds, stalking their prey.
As someone pulls out of their
well-earned “space,” the attack
begins.
Two vehicles, from both sides
of the lane, race to the vacant
and valuable parking facility.
It is a daily battle for all off-
campus students to get to class
on time. We depend on the shut
tle buses to transport us.
Because it costs $110 for a bus
pass and $75 for a commuter
parking permit, it is not unrea
sonable to expect the full extent
of the services that we pay for.
Chandler W. Coy
Class of’99
Family thanks
friends for support
In the hour of our greatest
need, it was the understanding,
sympathy and the many kind
nesses of our relatives, friends
and neighbors that gave us
added strength to carry on.
We wish to express our nost
sincere gratitude and apprecia
tion to all of those who attended
the services and for the beautiful
floral tributes and cards which
we received during our recent
bereavement in the death of our
beloved son & brother Jose Maria
Ibanez, Jr.
A special thaks to Lt. Colonel
Ray E. Toler, Director of Bands,
Dorothy Hopkins, Aggie Band
Mom, Kristen Sayer, Associate
Director, Department of Student
Life, Texas A&M Cadets, A-Com-
pany, Band Members, Bus Oper
ations Shop Staff, Students and
Faculty Members of Texas A&M
University.
Your kindness and suport
showed us what our son and
brother had so lovingly boasted to
us about these past four years.
He always spoke so highly of
his friends and fellow students
at his beloved A&M and their ca
maraderie for each other.
Chema was so proud to be an
Aggie and a part of such a spe
cial group of people.
While our hearts are broken,
we know Chema is in Heaven,
proudly smiling down at all of us
right now. Thanks again and
may God Bless each and every
one of you.
Ibanez Family
Campus is buzzing with talk of
what one Battalion reader called a
“nasty” rumor. But it is not a ru
mor: Ring dunking, as A&M stu
dents know it, is illegal in Texas.
Selling a pitcher of beer for indi
vidual consumption has been ille
gal since 1990. The law is intended
to keep bars from encouraging ex
cessive drinking.
The law itself is a reasonable
one. If discussed in
the context of
drinking and dri
ving, few people
would argue
against the law or
the thinking be
hind it. However,
ring dunking has
become a tradition
at A&M, and tradi-
Aggies never
lose respect for
their past and
always adjust to
the future.
The Battalion encourages letters to the
editor. Letters must be 300 words or fewer
and include the author’s name, class, and
phone number.
The opinion editor reserves the right to
edit letters for length, style, and accuracy.
Letters may be submitted in person at 013
Reed McDonald with a valid student ID. Let
ters may also be mailed to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
77843-1111
Campus Mail: 1111
Fax: (409) 845-2647
E-mail: Batt@tamvml.tamu.edu
For more details on letter policy, please call
845-3313 and direct your question to the
opinion editor.
tions do not die easily. And stu
dents should protect the spirit of
this tradition even though, in past
practice, it has conflicted with the
letter of the law.
It is not the first such conflict
between Aggie tradition and law. E.
King Gill was not eligible to play in
the Dixie Classic, but he has served
as the inspirational image of the
Twelfth Man ever since he was
asked to suit up.
The first midnight yell practice
was the result of freshmen break
ing curfew.
To a lesser extent, Muster
emerged from a broken rule.
Cadets played the role of the Mexi
can army for years on April 21 to
recreate the Battle of San Jacinto.
One year they rewrote history —
broke the rules — and won the
battle. The next year, since they
were not invited back, they held a
celebration on campus that
evolved into Muster, the most
revered Aggie tradition.
Although it is not as noble as
many other Aggie traditions, ring
dunking has served
as a rite of passage
for over a decade.
Students who do not
drink have started
taking part in the tra
dition, altering it to
fit their lives.
And with the
crackdown on the
sale of pitchers for
individual consumption, Aggies
who drink will also have to make
an adjustment.
This does not and should not
signify the end of a tradition. It
should prove that Aggies never lose
respect for their past and always
adjust to the future. And if nothing
else, this crackdown should re
mind everyone to drink responsi
bly. Simple precautions can keep
ring dunidng safe.
Whether students drink less,
drink from two cups, drink in
spurts, or don’t drink at all, finally
receiving an Aggie ring will remain
one of the most unique rites of
passage offered by any university.