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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 22, 1996)
The Battalion 1N Page 9 Tuesday • October 22, 1996 ux, Braves t Yankees,C )RK (AP) -Hit jux was lave been p nta Braves didr': re efties restricted by a right-ruled world n a world full of victims, I was a like a ship without a rudder. How was I, an up per-middle-class white male with good nother rampage,rel ^ being oppressed or discriminated Columnist ed Dave to step as And don’t think that it’s just a coincidence at the opposite of right is not only left, but ong. It smells like a conspiracy. What is the University’s policy on lefdes? 159 ;hner, one of the newest, largest and most traf- keddassrooms on campus has approximately 0 seats, yet only 18 of them (3.83 percent) are [nipped with left-handed writing surfaces. This spite the fact that nearly ten percent of the lo," general manag i told a news confi just didn't get ft s game, in this to ave to do that,’ on the field, rd is what y was not adequate.' IER I- JL Mason Jackson Senior marketing major ainst? I felt abnormal because I didn’t ve a government policy or court decision ntifying me as a victim of society. After some thought it occurred to me. I ac tually had to overcome something to write this very column. Hi, my name is Ma son. And I am left- handed. Yes, even something as ordinary as writing can be a struggle for my people (lefties). It’s impossible to find a spiral note book bound on the right side, resulting in re imprints deep in my wrist, dangerously ed bv Cosltf 1 seto a major ar ery. Because our culture J ' iistson having script go from left to right, ATI (AP) — Dave Shi e pen has to be specially chosen for its fast- ; fathers prominent: ^ non-smearing quality, knack for '' as the Cincinnati Bii roach. fe coordinator Bn roach the team fori season and have to stay longer if! Maddux’s eight ste oeat the New York!! londay night for at vVortd Series. 3riff drove in three', as won their fifth stri; ; postseason, a spa re outscored o| is night, though, M s right back on AS arters. moved the defent halfway toward anj rent the Series to e next three game ire necessary. il’s Shula ich. Thats a hardtlr .pulation is left-handed. Such a discrepancy may be responsible for /note-taking phobia. Clearly the test scores good people, wore ] e f(i es should be curved upwards to com- nsate for such hardships. Is there any doubt that this culture despis- lefties? We shake hands with the right, the first NFLcoacfi i left just hangs there, looking stupid, this season. 3ruce Coslet the luck in th who stood wi ters. “I thank Mike:« th nothing to do. | On what side of the road do we drive? The jht.Sure, the driver sits on the left side of ecar, but don’t be fooled. There are ulterior j otives at work. The right hand gets to shift, e he s shown ttirougn ]j ustt | ie ra( |j 0 an[ j c ii ma te controls and, as we ve struggled^ p, e so lucky, re st on the leg of a sig- ificant other. Meanwhile, the left hand gets isignal turns. Yippee. Few people know this, but it’s nearly im- ossible to find a guitar built for a lefty. Jimi bdrix was a lefty and he couldn’t find one. 7 I f ) ' let0 °k a standard guitar, turned it over I from Page 7 \ hdstnmg it upside-down. sh dropped hiss® ^ ^ en became the greatest guitarist the down to 73 22 ord has ever known. Yes Ags, even better ■ ball really well I® ner said. "Althougli! e as many puttsasl it was still theW| nished underparas T'r. My confidence but at the same tin ying to improve a ay focused.” he team goes <tremely happy d enjoys theca® he has experience i the team. H along great togei ys looking to help ei aimer said. "The® iprove as a team, duals. I see us gro 1 i team, and thatcoi a determining fad* ae. Hopefully we er than in the past, re going to take it than Robert Earl Keen. Wait a minute. If Hendrix could overcome it, why can’t I? Maybe instead of waiting around for a special policy that gives me a leg up, I should just compete with what I’ve got. Yeah, maybe instead of complaining about the hurdle in front of me, I should just jump it. Maybe if I weren’t so preoccupied with finding instances where I’ve been wronged, I could adapt to the circumstances or even find a way to use my uniqueness to my advantage. And maybe... well, that might require a little more risk and effort than just complaining. After all, if you spend your life complaining that you can’t win, you’ve got a built-in excuse to lose, right? No, that would be the left thing to do, be cause there is neither risk nor fun involved. Maybe as a society we should just get over it and get on with it. Moral of the story: If life gives you a right-handed guitar, string it upside-down. Or Army changes with the T I here have been a whole lot of changes around here lately, and not all for the better. We just stand here and take them, while back in ol’ army... wait a minute. Ol’ army... what the hell does that mean, any way? Is there any way to know? Would 30 years be a long enough time to be definitively “ol’ army?” This past weekend was my fa ther’s 30th reunion, the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Class of‘66. He still doesn’t think his time here was long enough ago to be known as truly “ol’ army.” Conversely, any time something at this University changes, people invariably refer to the time period in which it oc curred as “ol’ army.” Thus, the change made earlier this semester preventing fish from running on the Quadrangle qualifies last year as “ol’ army.” In addition, the disappearance of Hell Week and Fish Day has made my first year here imminent ly “ol’ army.” But how old is two years ago? Maybe we should start saying “previous army.” Of course, 30 years ago (back in ol’ army, if you will), fish didn’t run on the Quad, had no day designat ed just for them and thought that just about every week was hell. So we have a problem here. That’s right: an ol’ army gap. Which of the two “ol’ armies” is more legitimate? Believe it or not, there’s more. In an even ol’er army (chrono logically, at least), things were even more different. It used to be that upperclassmen could carry around a board and paddle underclass men who were in need of disci plining. Not just use it, which can’t be done today, nor in the ol’ armies of last year, my fish year, or my father’s time, but openly bran dish it. That’s even better than a concealed weapons law. With all of these ol’ armies to Columnist Bryan Goodwin Junior English major NlATL ’aimer’s main u isful career at A&M major contributotj t only now, butini 1 said. “I have a ! for the future oft re at Texas A&M. mer plans to pu far as possible- eive a berth ontoJfj •rofessional. trating on playitff am, improving Ticking to wh ;et where he is. is a lot of patient?; al game, along" 1 ;' lence,” Palmer saii 1 ce, improve my 1 )t more. 1 haveal"‘ pliments onmyi 1 calmness, but ing forward to get is Aggie j jccer ts 845-2311 qual rights gives yeryone a chance Regarding Aja Henderson’s 117column, "Lackofscholar- 'ips keeps minorities away": What happened to equal ts? Henderson says she Jits equal rights, but when we 2 equal access, that’s not od enough. She wants special treatment, hat terrible ruling” (Hopwood) led out race as a basis for ac- iptance. That is about as equal anyone can get. IfHenderson wants truly equal iportunities, why not leave race mpletely off the application? And iy should we offer scholarships to orities only? Let’s make it fair for all students d give equal access to these holarships, again leaving race off ® application. I have been working since I s 12 years old. My parents and te paying for my college out of ir pockets. Ifwe have to work for it, every- 'dy else should, too. Society owes me nothing. It my responsibility to make my ieall I can. I would like to encourage the dents of this University to take sesame initiative. Be able to ok back and say, “I, not some- dy else, did that.” Dean R. Hauser Class of ’98 Accompanied by six signatures bug legalization lutweighs morals Regarding Chris Cox's Oct. 16 ONFEREN^ |«i/ Call, "Drug legalization en- ngers morality": • o.Qfi n|PJ 1 must commend Jackson for mG! Jlov H' laving the insight to write an opinion on a subject many peo ple refuse to discuss. I am appalled at Cox’s nar row-minded, government- sponsored thinking. This is exactly how our politi cians want people to think — by sidestepping the issues. The question here is not morality, but decriminalization and crime. Compare the crime rate of “Le gal Drug” countries, such as the Netherlands, with the United States, and you will find that not only is the crime rate much lower, but there are statistically less drug users than here in America. This is what Jackson is talking about — not whether morals will permit people to use drugs. The chances of future off spring dying because of drug-re lated crime is much greater than the chances of dying because of legalized drugs. I quote Abraham Lincoln from December 1840: “Prohibition ... goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man’s ap petite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.” Cox might not want to live in a “cesspool,” but I just want to live. Brian Teitelbaum Class of’98 Hemp’s historical precedence hidden Regarding Chris Cox’s Oct. 16 Mail Call, "Drug legalization en dangers morality”: Cox stated in his letter on drug legalization that “This country has lost touch with morals and traditional values. It has moved from a president that could not tell a lie to a president who didn’t inhale.” I presume that he is referring to George Washington as the president who could not tell a lie. According to the Austin-American Statesman, Washington grew marijuana in his own back yard. Now, what possible motivation could someone have for growing it other than to have their own per sonal stash for smoking? If historians and Cox are both correct, then this country has never had any morals. Maybe smoking marijuana is one of this country’s deeply rooted tradi tions that has been written over by some person who decided we should forget that tradition. Or maybe it was banned be cause someone figured out that the very useful fiber of the mar ijuana plant could be used to make paper and would give the traditional paper and timber in dustry a good run for its money. The drug it produces could cer tainly scare an uninformed gov ernment into banning it. These pages of history have been conveniently deleted from the textbooks we read in high school to prevent rational deci sion making on our part. People should decide, or re search it for themselves, or smoke it... it’s their decision. Randall Smith Class of’96 consider, how can we compare them? Is it simply a question of chronology (retroac tively returning my fish year to “current army” status), or does the ve- hemency and earnest ness of the user’s utter ing of “oT army” somehow factor in? Perhaps the first time a tradition is experi enced qualifies as “oT army.” In that case, myself and other red-ass Ags (but what exactly quali fies as red-ass... wait, no time) took part in establishing some ol’ army of our very own last Monday evening at Midnight Mania. That’s pretty dam good bull! (but what IS good bull... wait, still no time) Ask a dozen Aggies what “ol’ army” is, and you’ll get a dozen an swers. The fact is, ol’ army is an ab stract concept, and an ambiguous one at that. The ol’est army people know about for absolute certain is their freshman year. Whatever they experienced at the time, they con sidered to be The Way Things Are, The Way They’ve Always Been, and The Way They Always Should Be. This leads to a heck of a discrepan cy in determining the oT army- ness of something. So let me suggest an answer: OF army is now. OT army is what you make of it. If you came here to be a two-percenter and go through A&M without partaking of the Spirit, or the “Other Education,” then you may disregard. On the other hand, some came to get inundated with the traditions, transitory though they may be. My advice is this: Enjoy them while they last. Have a good time here, live the experience and take advan tage of what makes this Univer sity great. Found some tradi tions, partake of some “oT army” ones, and keep the Spirit alive. Do it before your time and your versions of Aggie traditions are, alas, forever relegated to the ranks of “oT army.” MAftSUWES Criticism mistaken for mudslinging 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. r ice President Al Gore needs to get a life. According to Gore, the environ ment has gone to hell in a hand bas ket, a tax cut will blow a hole in the deficit, and the Republicans have taken the “low road” with their recent attacks on the Clin ton administration. The Democrats seem to have made mis interpretation of Dole and Kemp a hobby. Last week, vice-presidential nominee Jack Kemp said in a radio address that the Clinton administration had engaged in half-truths and was characterized by many words ending in “-gate.” Right now, we’re all nodding our heads in agree ment. The Democrats took these allegations and called them negative campaigning and a direct attack on the White House. What Jack Kemp said on the radio is the truth. FBI files were held by the Clinton administration for no ap parent reason. The employees of the White House travel office were terminated, and Hillary Clinton looks to have played a part. When asked in the last debate, Clin ton failed to dismiss claims that he will pardon his fel low Whitewater felons who are presently behind bars. Kemp in no way played a part in negative cam paigning during the vice-presidential debate. No comments about inhaling or skirt chasing were made. The words “draft” and “dodging” did not come out of Kemp’s mouth across the airwaves. Similarly, Newt Gingrich pointed out on NBC’s Face the Nation that one out of four White House staffers are admitted drug users. Again, Gingrich was not making a personal attack on Clinton: he was quoting an FBI report. Why are the Democrats so paranoid of personal attacks? Possibly because Clinton has so many Columnist §i Jon Apgar Sophomore journalism major “traits” to attack. Gore accused the Dole/Kemp campaign of “flip-flopping” on their promise to avoid personal attacks. Gore should take a closer look at the presi dent before he mentions the word “flip-flop.” I would rather see a flip-flop on campaign strategies than a flip-flop on campaign promises. True, Dole did say he didn’t want his campaign to sink to the level of personal attacks on the president in an effort to gamer votes. But the comments made by Kemp and Gingrich are not personal attacks, they are facts being presented to the public. When Kemp was asked straight out if he believed Clinton to be a liar, he resisted the urge to yell, “Liar, liar, pants on fire!” Instead, he said Clinton’s integrity was for the public to decide. Moreover, Dole showed in the final debate that he has the integrity to avoid personal attacks on Clinton, though he did attempt to bring up ethical considera tions considering drugs, campaign donations and promises not kept. Clinton opted to ignore Dole’s challenge, probably because it was the first time he didn’t have a clever spin tactic on hand. People must realize the difference between personal attacks and basic, fundamental criticism of one’s opponent. Clinton calls Dole’s tax cut a $550 billion tax scheme. Is this a personal attack on Dole? Of course not. It is simply criticism. Dole is under no obligation to refrain from attacking Clinton’s character. Dole probably doesn’t want to since it would result in a more negative image of himself. Dole and Kemp have kept their promise to avoid negative attacks, opting instead to present facts during the debate that just happen to cast a negative shadow on the ethics of Clinton. It’s not Dole’s fault Clinton has screwed up so much.