Pagel
• November 6,11
louse
Page 13
Wednesday • November 6, 1996
OUSE
SULTS
mocrats
1)9
33
)ublicans
( )3
35
hange
icrats gained
x seats.
tis of J1 :iiO p.m.
Character loses by a landslide in election
r
Michael Landauer
■en/or journalism major
I ew people ever quote the
first part of Richard
Nixon’s famous “I am not a
crook” line. “The people have a
ritht to know whether or not
|eir president is a crook.”
It’s fun
ny how we
remember
the lie and
forget the
truth he
spoke of
soon after
being
elected to a
second
term.
Decision
Siitfield, held ontcp ’96isover
tucky district, whtjij we have given Bill Clinton an-
o he became thef 3t h er term. But we still want to
ver sent to the Houm ow jf our president is a crook. And
e House page
■ent. And guilty of accepting illegal
. ■mpaign contributions. And ...
>> ■*« T ^ is co * umn does have a
ilVaUVr d ' out t * ie rea der
snould get the point.
erans of both pan s The re-election of Nixon and,
allenges. n(lW > Clinton are two watershed
in John Warner w: e F ents i n the electoral process of
g challenge from Mt4 e ^ 3St half of the century. Char-
rginia; Larry Pres‘ a | :ter W3S never really an issue
South Dakota Deny® 1 hi Nixon shamed the office of
an of Iowa alsokePf esident and resigned in 1974.
t won ® d now d a PP ears that character
ewerel4Senalm isi ' 0 '°n8 e , rani ? u u e ' , ,
inbent on thebalj ,™ N released the results of a
i * ... poll yesterday that confirms
uced by eight retrr' * r
rS . What analysts have been saying
ig the Democrats a.'w , . An
" () p throughout the campaign. Ot
hern state were crit;
c chances.
Hiose who said
■ley voted based
. on the issues, 81
an open seat in( percent voted for
ax Cleland trium:. Clinton. Of those
oomed for othe w i 10 sa j c j charac-
en seats in Arka:^ er was the most
a - Jmportant con
es held seats in hai jtieration, 68
-Sts in Illinois, wheircent voted for
Durbin defeated coi 0 b Dole.
A1 Salvi; and in Ne' when John F.
Rep. Bob Torricelli Uennedy defeat-
Rep. Dick Zimmer d Nixon in 1960,
hon’s costliest ane said the torch
lists. .tad been passed
o shame in losing.® to a new generation of Ameri-
it your best,” Ziffi
Making character
matter again is a
battle that has to
be fought from
the ground up,
not the president
down. Especially
I this president.
cans. That generation included
Dole and the countless oth
ers who served the
country in
World War
II.
Clin
ton bor
rowed
the line
in his in
augural
address
almost
four
years
ago,
but it
has new
meaning.
This is a
time in
American
history when
our values have
changed. We are
more pragmatic
than ever before. We
allow for character
flaws if we perceive that
the job will get done.
Our pragmatism will
define how future genera
tions view us. But it should
not affect our definition of our
selves.
We may not mind the charac
ter flaws of our leaders, but we
should not tolerate such flaws
in ourselves. Perhaps we have
to start there.
It is easy for those
who feel
like they
lost Tues
day to be
cynical
and dis
heartened. But it
would be more dif
ficult, and far more
honorable, to look
at our own lives if
character is that
important to us.
Making charac
ter matter again is
a battle that has to
be fought from the ground up,
not the president down. Espe
cially not this president.
The days are gone when we
look at our president for moral
leadership, but Clinton has
been elected for a reason. The
people believe he has done a
good job at dealing with the is
sues that face the nation.
Clinton is one of the greatest
politicians of our time, a true
spin doctor. No one has ever
been so talented at controlling
the agenda.
He has a record of cutting the
deficit. He has a record of creat
ing jobs and stabilizing the
economy. All this is true. But
when history judges him, will
such truths be remembered? Or
like in Nixon’s case, will history
only record the lies?
Prepare for a second Clinton
term — we’re about to find out.
Jenny Jones should not
be blamed for death
T he irresponsible
actions of a crap
py talk show
should not be justifica
tion for committing a
homicide. However,
Jonathan Schmitz’s
lawyers will try to con
vince a jury otherwise.
For those Aggies who
have been too busy
catching up with the lat
est rhetoric from the
campaign trail, some
crazy things have been happen
ing on the talk-show circuit. And,
no, it doesn’t involve lesbian nuns
infiltrating the Vatican to demand
recognition of their unconven
tional lifestyles. This case is much
zanier than any flock of nuns
could point a stick at.
Talk-show host Jenny Jones
testified last Thursday for
Jonathan Schmitz, a heterosexu
al accused of killing Scott Ame-
dure three days after taping a
Jenny Jones Show segment in
which Amedure revealed he had
a crush on Schmitz.
Here’s the kicker: Schmitz had no
idea his friend Amedure was gay.
Schmitz’s lawyers maintain
that the show led him to believe
the secret admirer was female.
Although the show never
aired, Jones denied misleading
the public or Schmitz when she
did not mention the admirer was
gay. Under questioning by the
defense, Jones said, “The
premise of the show was that it
was a surprise.”
Everyone enjoys a good sur
prise every now and then, but
Schmitz evidently didn’t appre
ciate the news.
Defense attorneys hope to
establish that Schmitz was
“misled and humiliated” and to
discredit his alleged intent to
kill Amedure. Therefore, the
charges of first-degree murder
will not be upheld.
This angle of defense is absurd.
Although it is true Jones acted
irresponsibly by not
revealing the true na
ture of the show to all
parties involved, her
actions do not excuse
Schmitz from a first-
degree murder.
Almost every
breathing American is
aware of the absolute
trash aired on these
talk shows. Everyday
people choose to ap
pear on these shows
to exploit their personal stories
of dysfunction.
Schmitz was undoubtedly
aware of the type of program on
which he was appearing. He
should have realized these shows
exist to embarrass guests, and
there was a possibility that he, too,
might not be entering the most
comfortable of situations.
But let’s pretend that Schmitz
had no idea talk shows do these
types of things.
Let’s pretend he had some
how lived in a vacuum, com
pletely oblivious to the deni
gration of television
programming. Even within this
fantasy-land framework, the
fact remains that Jonathan
Schmitz killed Amedure.
It should not matter how
Schmitz obtained the information
that his friend was gay. It should
not matter that Jones and her staff
acted irresponsibly in their deci
sion to surprise Schmitz.
Upon receiving this informa
tion, Schmitz made the decision
to kill another human being.
Imagine a country in which
its citizens could use humilia
tion or unexpected surprises as
reasons to avoid severe murder
charges. Pop quizzes would
then establish legitimate ratio
nale for students to murder
their professors.
So Jones is not the dastardly
culprit of this murder trial. She
may be a slimeball, but she
shouldn’t be the scapegoat.
Columnist
Chris Miller
Junior English major
g: 0
'ers: 10
publicans
g: 0
ers: 28
Change
nge.
mocrats University carefully
lects foreign profs
Regarding Sean McAlister's Oct.
column, "Unintelligible profes-
|rs shouldn’t lecture”:
McAlister wrote recently that
|e “problem with misunder-
nding our professors is an all
oo familiar scene at A&M.”
I I disagree. Surely, some prob-
ems of misunderstanding occa-
ii^nally confront students, but re-
:c|urse is available to students
laving difficulty with a class for
By reason—including professor-
itudent communication.
■ Simply stated, if the problem
:annot be resolved by the pro-
eksor, it can be referred to the
Jl§partment head.
If feasible and absolutely
tficessary, reassignment of the
dent to another class re
solves the problem. Experience
s shown these matters are
arly always resolved at the
partment head level. If that
Is, the student should go to
hie dean of the college.
Regarding McAlister’s doubt
t fluency in English is a factor
selecting faculty at A&M, let’s
lew the process.
First, the high public regard af-
ided a Texas A&M education to-
is a direct result of the quality
lour faculty.
|We compete for these excep-
al educators with other top
versities, and we recruit them
an international scale.
Consequently, some speak
h accents.
n the selection process, candi
es undergo a rigorous review
he departmental, college and
versity levels.
-Fheir credentials, including
iters of reference, are exam-
id. Personal interviews are
ii formed by faculty and ad-
iidstrators and a public pre-
Titation is given.
Only after all the evidence
clearly indicates that a candidate
can perform with excellence in
teaching and research is an offer
made, usually in competition
with the best universities.
In this detailed process, the abili
ty to communicate in English is as
sessed three ways: 1) in the public
research lecture presented during
the interviewing trip; 2) in conversa
tions with interviewers and the fac
ulty search committee; and 3) in the
documented success of the candi
date’s record of publishing and mak
ing presentations in English.
English is, after all, the pre
dominant language of arts, sci
ences and engineering scholar
ships throughout the world.
It is the policy of The Texas
A&M University System that every
faculty member be proficient in
the English language, both orally
and written.The exception is in
international programs where
some courses are taught in a for
eign language.
Today’s students will en
counter people with accents in
their after-college endeavors.
Sometimes, full understanding
requires nothing more than a
bit of extra attention.
I suggest it is far better to learn
this as a student than in the in
creasingly internationalized world
the graduate will be entering.
The ability to deal with peo
ple of varied nationalities—and
accentuated English—may well
make the difference between
success and failure.
In summary, we have a faculty
that cares deeply about educat
ing its students.
If problems arise, I am confi
dent you will find the faculty
members as anxious as the stu
dent to make a correction.
Ronald G. Douglas
Executive Vice President and
Provost
Church has perfect
place for women
Regarding Heather Pace’s Oct. 30
column, "Catholic Church's policy
evolves slowly to present day”:
Pace used a very common and
misinformed line of attack
against Catholicism — she tar
geted the “one-liners” of the faith,
which, on the surface, are diffi
cult to understand. The “rule” of
no women priests is one based on
2,000 years of interpretation of
the Bible and church tradition.
The Church is known for its ven
eration of the woman figure by its
particular respect for Mary as the
Mother of God. The Church’s re
fusal to endorse artificial means
of birth control is explained
throughout history in papal en
cyclicals and Church writing.
The Church is not opposed to,
and teaches courses in, natural
birth control. It does oppose, how
ever, artificial means to prevent
conception because such means
profane the sexual act and mock
half of God’s purpose in giving the
gift of life to us. From the Protes
tant Reformation until 1930, no
Christian faith endorsed artificial
birth control. Surely we aren’t so
naive as to think that the problems
and poverty in Third World coun
tries can be alleviated if only the
Catholic church would distribute
condoms there. Their problems
are deeply embedded in cyclical
processes of corrupt politics and
an uneducated populous.
Mary McDougall
Class of’97
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opinion editor.
Hazing serves definitive purpose
D uring my freshman year I acknowl
edged that I was not worthy of their
acceptance. I did not participate in
rush week, nor go to any Corp of Cadets in
formational meetings. I stayed away because
I knew I might not survive the hazing.
The University’s anti-hazing policy is
stupid. All those pencil-pushing, bleed
ing-heart bureaucrats who are working
hard to crack down on hazing in the fra
ternities and the Corps never stopped to
realize that hazing serves a useful pur
pose: It dissuades candy-asses like me
from joining and tainting their gene pool.
Hey, all of you self-appointed regulation
writers — haven’t you ever heard of Darwin? Saying
that good Ags don’t haze contradicts the evidence
gained from thousands of years of evolution. The
groups who paddle, push and poison their initiates are
working to ensure survival of the fittest.
Both the Greeks and Corps thrive on the concept of
legacy. The pledges who join will spawn many of the
hardy individuals who will comprise the next genera
tion of the elite. If it weren’t for the hazing, groups
would be overrun by the hordes of lesser Aggies who
can’t stand up to today’s challenges.
Fraternities challenge their members to drive
safely. If they can’t hack binge drinking at a barn in
the boondocks before they hit the road, they aren’t
good enough to be Greeks. Pledges who cause
messy traffic accidents shouldn’t be allowed to join
the fraternities that so graciously volunteer their
time to the Texas Adopt-A-Highway program.
University regulations also overlook the fact that
hazing can be a powerful motivational tool. If doing
push-ups until you puke while someone gives you a
wedgie doesn’t motivate you to get out there and steal a
Columnist
Jeremy Valdez
Senior chemical
engineering major
swing set from a church playground, noth
ing else will. Fraternities are full of future
business leaders who need to start learning
how to influence people.
Hazing is more than just a way to pre
pare for corporate America. In the life-and-
death struggle to procreate, hazing often
weeds out people with physical weakness
es. Every time cadets are strapped between
two mattresses and hurled out of a high
window, they know that if their spines can’t
take the impact of hitting the ground, they
aren’t fit to parent a future cadet.
Ultimately, hazing serves to scare away
the human refuse that just doesn’t deserve to
wear the group uniforms, do the special handshakes
and form the secret societies. It is horrible that rules are
trying to demolish the barriers that keep people from
forking over huge sums of money to gain admittance to
illustrious events like the Omega Kappa Beta “Dixieland
Love in the Lemon Orchard” formal.
If the University regulators had their way, hazing
would involve nothing more unpleasant than forcing
applicants to brush their teeth with Crest and then gar
gle with grapefruit juice. Geeks and outcasts of all
shapes and sizes would take advantage of the new
wimpy initiation rites, crowding into the groups and
undertaking any number of real community-service
projects. The first date party would have guys and girls
paired up by their favorite punctuation marks.
So as the University tries to rid the Corps and fra
ternities of the rituals that have worked so long to
keep them pure, the rest of the campus watches with
mixed emotions. We’re upset that the lack of hazing
may lead to lower standards for the organizations we
revere, yet we anxiously wait for the fence to drop low
enough for us to climb over.