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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1996)
Pagt iy • September 2S ( tunm ologicaM Page 13 Wednesday • September 25, 1996 loric tunnel lorosa ms believe Jesus walte way to his crucifixion. Domeol the Rock Third Wes site in Islar loney makes the world go wrong jmetimes it takes drinking a jeer in Scotland to realize hat capitalism isn’t for body. At least that’s what it took for me along olumnist ALEM pulchi hris Miller or English major Western The holiest shrine of | Judaism, also called the Wailing Wall. y wall onflic Prime Minister Beis n has not set a aying he wants tot? tents to improve sect! tiers first, i Saleh, Palestitt of agriculture, ians would with a litde dose of Marxist theory. This past summer I spent a month in the United Kingdom, and al though a free market tin these countries, the de- ofremoval from the United s enabled me to take a differ- hok at our country, bile in Scotland, I enjoyed a Iy drawn Guiness Stout a copy of Marx’s Commu- Manifesto in a small pub. To onest, I felt a little guilty and 2>je unerican purchasing the Being raised in today’s soci- neans having an innate fear distrust of communist and alist ideals. Just mentioning brmer Soviet Union stirs jes of huddled masses anx- lywaiting in line for one-ply (paper guaranteed to tear n first wipe. Compared to these horrific >, capitalistic America great. The range of eco- and individual freedom ears limitless. iui values in America have (rations llout is scheduled, icace process is' to be burned. dailvuntil wed. The biggest concern in erican society is no longer po- alor religious freedom. The in destroyed it," he sal Jethat Americans have placed tu is playingwidifew ^ else is the freedom to he first one whox# ke a dollar. One might argue that there is thingwrong with economic ledomand that government M^scorporate America ugfito prevent capitalism ncrushing small business. I able because of them 'ered by a garage, he sal 2 destruction of Law 'ration, Williams said lace.” aid. "So we selected a fetoan extent. lowever, there is a distinction Villiams said, but ol \ xas a&M’s own aristocracy will repair the lot only to is for the West Cam ompleted by spring. ie skates save 10% or urchase or on pads Df skates 17-96 HELMETS* MORE M-SAT. 12-5 SUN. between realizing economic free dom and valuing the pursuit of the dollar over anything else. The media is being adversely af fected by capitalism. Huge con glomerates own multifaceted me dia ventures so a good portion of the American media is being de fined by a few people. Those in control of the media (newspapers, television, radio and magazines) are not motivated primarily by truth or what might be considered good old American family values, but instead by what brings in the most cash. As a result, a large segment of American culture is defined en tirely by the possibility of produc-. ing more capital. The art world is also suffering from the effects of capitalism. Good art is not necessarily defined by its aesthetic or creative value (whether it be visual, literary or musical arts). Instead, the market that exists for the art decides. Some argue the market natu rally selects which art is good be cause the public will only buy what it likes, and whatever the public likes is good art. Although there is some truth to this pop ulist argument, it is a hard pill to swallow when shows like Beavis and Batthead and Melrose Place are so popular. And, at the same time, fund ing for the National Endowment for the Arts is being decreased. Something is wrong with Amer ica today. Some say race relations is the most difficult dilemma fac ing the countiy. Others say a lack of family values takes the cake. But another crisis exists as a fun damental aspect of being American — our capitalistic society. If Americans don’t start realizing that earning more money cannot be the highest value in any utopian society, this great democratic social experiment will not work. But that’s all right — the beer is good in Scotland, my passport hasn’t expired yet and the Atlantic Ocean flows both ways. ree food available for students who lobby make high-powered decisions this week in its lair. The festivities be rm Prozign Inc. hast* o n ight at 6 p.m. during the Board agent’s official Open House Forum )iscussion of Student Related Issues, ady for the March!*' sounds boring. It sounds drab. It ids like too many words for just one Ida item. But every student should ad the open house for three reasons: i, art and power. fho can resist free food? There will Columnist opious buckets of gourmet delights rmaybe just cookies and cokes, but, it’s free. be art isn’t free, but it is paid for. Vhen the MSC/Rudder complex was being tin 1973, 6 percent of the $24 million bud- (irnished an Olympic-worthy dormitory i&M’s upper crust. 'low, the Regent’s Quarters hides beauti- mtiques and interesting artwork in the (corner of the MSC like a decadent pri- museum. The regents don’t want to en- iheir luxury alone, though. Students are :ome to strut around the conference nwith “Miles and Miles of Bluebonnets,” 21 oil painting by Onderdonk. he Foyer offers two 18th century “Caesars lorseback” flanking an antique Cloisonne In the Corridor, a six-foot tall 450-year-old Marcus Goodyear Senior English major blind Chinese luck goddess stands amid some bizarre Indian glass paintings. Don’t miss the $600,000 bronze dog, Ludwig, on his stand in the reception room. This lavish lair is accessible to everyone at A&M. Students can easily arrange free tours, and student organiza tions can even use the dining room to host a club meeting. Thelma Eisenhart, assistant sec retary to the Board of Regent’s sec retary, has noticed the two dis parate worlds of A&M students and regents with some sadness. Only 30 students at tended the Pre-Board Meeting Open House last May. They ate all the free food and revealed a tru ly apathetic student body. No doubt the other 41,861 Aggies were too busy picking their noses to care. None of them wanted to visit with a bunch of old re gents. What would they talk about? The fu ture of A&M? New admission requirements? Building projects and curriculum changes? Maybe the A&M student body is too stupid to realize the inherent power of capturing the re gent’s ears. If the food and art won’t lure stu dents, perhaps this power will. The Open House is a chance to meet the big honchos, shake their hands and influence their decisions. Students can present the nobility with the peasant perspective. Chairman of the Board Mary Nan West will be there. Tell her how a student at A&M feels. Allow her and her fellow aristocrats to em pathize with their subjects. This Thursday the Board will be consider ing a proposed fine arts music degree. A&M needs more fine arts programs — the closest thing to a fine arts degree right now is theater. The regents should approve this new de gree program and open the door to other artistic disciplines. Tell them. Point out the uncanny resemblance be tween this semester’s consideration of an Er gonomics Center and the Humanities Center rejected in May. If more students had at tended last spring’s Open House, t,he center might not have been turned down. Rejecting the Humanities Center was wrong. The regents should be chastised for this foolish mistake and warned that stu dents will not accept a continued disregard for academic research. Tomorrow, students should address West and the other regents about the Center for Ergonom ics — go and tell them. The regents are busy people. They don’t normally hang out and chat with students on a Wednesday night. They have lives to live. They have a uni versity to lead. Tonight at 6 p.m. the students can tell them how to lead it. Mail liversity provides iportunity for all yarding Christina Weston’s ■ 10Mail Call, “Lower stan- phurl the University." Would like to respond to We i's Mail Call from the other ofthe spectrum. Weston its the University has a “prac- lyopen admission policy.” fith all due respect to West- ^ 1 think the University has ^ eafair job of enforcing the lissions policy. I am a testa- itto that as 1 know firsthand ATTALI0N CLASSIC * difficult it; is t0 g ain admit- [e into this University. p 1987,1 dropped out of high npus Resources' Student Leaders' dent Activities school and went to work for six years as a carpenter until I decided to get my GED and return to col lege. Ever since, I have worked hard to be admitted to Texas A&M. With hard work and persever ance, anyone from any back ground or any academic disadvan tage can get into this University as a qualified student. I think the provisional program, in contrast to Weston’s opinion, is significant in that it allows stu dents to exhibit their ability and demonstrate what they can do giv en the opportunity. Weston claims the provisional program is a “waste of money.” That offends me because I know how important it is to other stu dents to be given the opportunity and show what they are capable of academically. The University is not going to hand it to you. You have to earn it , and I am thankful and proud for the chance to be here. Personally, I feel Texas A&M is a university for opportunity, and I will argue that it already is a world class in stitution by proof of the top fifty ranking it recently received. Tim Martin Class of‘97 Admission policy provides equality Regarding Hank Ballinger's Sept. 23 Mail Call, “Government keeps real marriage intact." In response to Bullinger’s let ter, all I can say is, “What are you afraid of?” Statistics show that your “sacred institution of marriage” is much more likely to fail than same sex marriages because it eliminates many of the problems associated with heterosexual marriage. Take the age old argument of the toilet seat — not a problem any more. Likewise, “that time of the month” syndrome is either not there or it can be sympathized with. To say that homosexuals have a right to live normally in this country, and then say that the marriage of homosexuals should be denied because it is immoral, is contradictory. Bullingef should be a little more open-minded. The small minority isn’t so small anymore be cause many have begun to stand up for the rights of others. The pressure is on, so why don’t we all join the ’90s? Chandra R. McKee Class of’00 Smokers can take care of themselves In regards to Patrick Smiley’s Sept. 18 column, “Butting heads Infamous by death Double standard exists for artists A ny needless death should be viewed as tragic. Unfortunately, if it involves a star who has not been embraced in the bo som of mainstream America, the person is not shrouded in sympathy, but rather in harsh judgment. Tupac Shakur’s death has brought forth a disturbing double standard. Apparently, some stars can’t even rest in peace without criti cism, while others are mourned and worshiped for decades no matter how despicably they lived their lives. Take Elvis Presley, for example. Just recently, there were masses of people who wanted him to be portrayed on a postage stamp, not as the fat slob he be came, but rather as a svelte god that supposedly ex isted before the drugs and booze took their visual toll. None of these Elvis fans were accused of up lifting some evil lifestyle, but Tu pac's fans are. And don’t forget Miss “Hap py Birthday, Mr. President” her self, Marilyn Monroe. She bloated up and died over a glass ful of liquor and drugs, yet her image has not been tainted. Even though she constandy abused every drug known to mankind and was a sexual hotpot, she is still seen as the cute blond sym bol of womanhood. The difference between the death of someone like Tupac and others like Elvis and Mari lyn Monroe is that Tupac was portrayed as the angry black man with boxing gloves faced to the world. Never mind that some of his music was positive, such as his ode to black women that inspires them to “keep their heads up.” The bottom line is that he was a rapper, and many Ameri cans are scared of rap because the lyrics tell a story that is not a fairy tale. You cannot ignore the fact that everyone in America does not spring from the mid dle class when artists are lamenting through their music that this is not the truth. The fans who mourned (and still mourn) the deaths of those such as Marilyn Monroe and Kurt Cobain are seen in a sympathetic light. These high profile stars may not have been rap pers and led the so-called gangsta lifestyle, but they went in the worst way. Suicide is the greatest act of cowardice and selfishness. But ol’ Kurt was portrayed as a victim. What is especially troubling is the label that arises from the dou ble standard. It seems like a strong white man is a glamourous “tough guy” who oc casionally whips someone’s butt, while the black equivalent is automatically crowned an “evil gangster.” Something is wrong. So, why has the death of Tupac been viewed as only in evitable? And why in the world are the fans who enjoyed his music and movies seen as reacting stupidly because they feel a loss from his death? Maybe because a lot of peo ple in this country go to Block buster, check out Boyz in the Hood, and pronounce them selves “Experts on Hoodness” by the time the final credits roll. Or they look at the evening news — whose portrayal of black men exploits them — and think that every black man walk ing is lucky to have survived a drive-by shooting. From the Beatles to the Grateful Dead, there are many examples of rock celebrities who lived grotesque lives right out in the open and were perfectly comfortable to let their dirty laundry flap in the wind, but they got and still get respect. Tupac, on the other hand, had the audacity to be a rap per. It is sad that another black man is dead, but what is even sadder is that many feel that he had it coming. Columnist Aja Henderson Senior political science major The bottom line is that he was a rapper, and many Ameri cans are scared of rap ... with Marlboro man." I started smoking when I was about 15, and as ridiculous as it may seem, I was not lured into the habit by a camel, a cowboy or a chick. I approached smoking as something I might like to do. I tried it, and liked it. Since then, I have continued to smoke. Nothing was hidden from me about the dangers of smoking, no matter what documents were be ing concealed and shredded in some great, under the table deal. I knew people that had been smoking for twenty years. I knew that they hacked every morning. I knew that they couldn’t keep up a brisk walk for more that ten minutes so it wasn’t a shock to me when I noticed my self coughing and becoming short-winded — I expected it. People who have become ill due to smoking and states that have paid medical bills for those sick people have no rightful claim to anything from the to bacco industry. Smokers who become ill or die from smoking are nothing more than citizens who made a decision. They must live, or pos sibly die, with it. For those who feel they were duped into smoking by a fuzzy camel or concealed information... life is not always soft and cuddly. GabeWooton Class of’98 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.