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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 1997)
vv.v/.y.v:, v..;: / i::’.’id;*;::!' y. *; v *. :V L* 1 ' 1 v.' l 'v TIL! ■ * ■ /i ’ * TTT) : -T; Page Druary 3,19! Spoki Sum The Battalion INION Page 7 Monday • February 3, 1997 >h stro n Indoi VI Men’s id Field tei id third resp luston nd. ■ senior Rus row, sophoiri > OO-meter a provisionally ojtik also pir n ►oft. Sweet & Southern lospitality sometimes viewed as sugar-coated malice v; nen I went to work in Wash ington, D.C., I Columnist Page 5 future." Is, SMU 's high jumplc my speech style and engefeld in inerisms with me. )n my arrival, 1 found polite attitude was with looks of confu- land bewilderment, dy greetings of wdy” and “good :a Williams i ming” shocked most oirit, takings estrians. Their usual r freestyle! tonse was a strange r freestyle. followed by an increased pace, iman this ye During my stay, I was scolded an expect to answering a friend with “Yes, am.” I’m your friend, not your felter tookllther,” she said. -meter spr. ten, my roommate from New s. Janssen! ey, asked me talk to his mother Guameri ti 1 sister, so they could hear my ices, respecii xas twang.” er competiii ^ en I went back to New Jer- 'with him for Thanksgiving, I ame a point of interest for his re family. I was introduced to ious members of Ben’s family Ben’s roommate from Texas,” Steve. It was some time before my new- wore off, but even then I was ays asked for a Texan’s point of w on any topic of conversation, f course every stereotype was umed valid, and they attempted to treat me accord ingly. “You’re from Texas? Well, let’s have a drink of whiskey,” Ben’s uncle said. “I’m sorry this isn’t the Thanksgiving you’re used to, but I’m sure you will enjoy it,” Ben’s mom said, as I surveyed what I considered a normal holiday meal. In the cafeteria of my office building, I received such com ments as “Let me guess, you’re from Texas,” or “What part of the South are you Steve May Economics Graduate student ;r board ire Jem md place v i. o dive in m ractice,” Dili t Wright s; to her potem confidence. :s will havi lemselvesat reel. Until tl repare for tl when theyt i Houston. e Lady Agp leir upcoi done the:; ’ Wagners we need.'A omes]. from?” After a few weeks of persistent niceties, I was able to con vince the lunch ladies of my sincerity, and they began looking forward to my southern style each day. Such phrases as “Howdy” and “Yes, ma’am” seem normal to us, but some individuals, particularly northerners, find it annoying. Not everyone shares the south ern tradition of hospitality and friendliness. Northerners who vis it the South find themselves wary of such unexpected kindness. To Aggies, however, it is a way of life. Walk across campus and one will experience our traditional southern environment. Passers-by issue “Howdy’s.” Men on buses of fer their seats to ladies. Doors are held open for women. It is not un usual to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger. Where southern congeniality came from, no one is sure exactly. Eleena de Lisser, staff reporter of The Wall Street Journal, gives one possible hypothesis in her Oct. 29, 1996 article, “.. .the South’s man nerly behav ior may have had its ori gins in at tempts to smooth out everyday dealings in a highly strati fied society. Manners provided something of a safety valve between blacks and whites in a time of racial segrega tion,” she said. Sociologists say religion plays a part in southern manners. The South seems to be a mod ern-day Camelot, where true “I thought at first it was condescending, but I found that it was the way they actually felt.” Orlando Medina Senior management major chivalry and gentility are not yet dead. God and womanhood are still revered and defended by some. Our type of lifestyle is not free from false stereotypes, however, some regard southern manners as a means of manipulation or a way to sugar-coat malice. It is deemed annoying and insincere. Others see it as a sign of igno rance, because of our slow and laxadaisical speech patterns. Racism is yet another charge levied against southerners. In general these claims are incor rect, but unfortunately there are those who fit these descriptions. Bigoted individuals who hide be hind claims of southern pride and heritage have done a disser vice to all southerners. Orlando Medina, a senior management major from New York, described tlie feeling of hospitality he received from Southerners when he first ar rived. “I thought at first that it was condescending, but I found that it was the way they actually felt,” he said. “Now I feel more com fortable here than back home.” Southern manners and our general way of life may not be for everyone. This musters a simple response from true southerners: “If you don’t like it, go home.” Jniversity gets much needed tutoring in finance Page 5 FROM: Administrators, Higher-Ups, charge M Mother Powers that Be s were ablf ise and m| RE: Funding Proposal i/vn the strei /in. .’re able toll poise on! fasA&M’s recent funding dilemma. Among the not turn)!' )r e popular ideas were mandatory trips to a plasma 2 ad CoachU lte r, participating in studies about toenail fungus I thought ; ^ converting the Reed Arena construction site into ide when AS * a nt Jenga game. Even though all these suggestions brilliant, we have decided the best course for Mto take: independent funding. PITS and the Athletic Department have been in- pendently funded for a long time. Look how well iyfunction. Since they’re independently funded, can all sleep at night knowing our hard-earned dent fees are not being wasted. PTTS handles all of ight points I age shots as 1 us.” >wa State intage of ree or four iy that hurl a capitalize; “They are M their rankinj « tally impress ay.” i Page 5 de of the s"' 1 inside ies 20-4 in be points Cato. mgh — wtij ould hear ward we didn am the ha >ops. to find s 01 int during t f foul troi ;ada and e. ies rt attacking to foul trou* vantage. P s points in igh-perceni' Ihe following is a memorandum to all Texas A&M University students and faculty, addressing issues concerning hversity funding problems. TO: Texas A&iM Columnist We would like to thank everyone for ir suggestions about how we can solve Stephen Llano Senior History major its own funding through revenue from park ing tag and space sales and the ticketing of improperly parked vehicles. The Athletic De partment installed a beautiful grass field with money collected through contributions. Because of these successes, we’ve decid ed to make as many things as possible in dependently funded so we can get this uni versity back on track. First of all, academic departments de serve the privilege to fend for themselves. Imagine the joy of a new student confer ence organized like a career fair where every department recruits students based on their own standards. Glossy recruiting brochures will give all students a great feeling about their new location. Only money from those students in the department will be available for departmental endeavors. At the end of each semester, students with good grades could become free agents and transfer to the department that offered them the most for their academic dollar. The residence halls also deserve this opportunity. Our financial picture would be much better if we made every hall independently funded. Instead of hall councils, each dorm would have a board of direc tors to determine the best room rate to set and which features to advertise in their apartment-style brochure. If a hall wasn’t successful, it could be easily subject to a hostile takeover by one of its neighbors, or merge peacefully to create a “megadorm.” If these halls feel the need to provide for their own defense from such hostile moves, perhaps they could pool funds to create a strike force or small army. Just picture small, squabbling empires (like the Middle East), and you have our vision of on- campus housing. For those who may already be nervous about such drastic changes in policy, never fear. We realize things might go wrong, and our esti mates may not be as solid as we think. For example, the Reed Arena land sale may have a few people worried about our credibility in esti mating the success of fiscal projects. We didn’t know land valued in 1985 at $13 million would be worth only $1 million to buyers in 1996. But don’t worry — University President Ray Bowen has everything under control. According to a story in The Eagle, he said the University has enough money in student fees to cover the project costs. Nothing is a better example of the high integrity of our institution than our ability to cover our mistakes with money collected for other purposes. It will be a shame if the student body does not have a fancy arena in which to watch basketball. Of course, revenue generated from the arena will make everything just fine. Our current monetary loss is nothing compared to the sentiments of con gratulation future stu dents will bestow on you, the students, who made it financially possible. Maybe if you’re still alive by the time it’s completed you can come by and en joy a game or two. After all of these fund ing changes go into effect, we can finally ignore those silly educational institution rankings and see Texas A&M where it really belongs — listed in the pages of Fortune 500 magazine with one of the best profit mar gins in the country. We will be sending out a memo later explaining how you can get your very own Texas A&M, Inc. bumper sticker. Nothing is a better example of the high integrity of our institution than our ability to cover our mistakes with money collected for other purposes. exas schools need financial fix r oucher system leads to fairness and quality exas’ public schools are in a crisis. Currently, the state provides 47 per cent of public school funding. This ans 53 percent must be raised through iperty taxes. By the year 2000, most ool districts will tax at the highest rate r h X talk >Wec * by our state constitution. Even 1 n t | n, schools will be underfunded. Though ibinHood” addresses the unfair distrib- £ a l, an of funding, it does not ensure ade- ; Ue cash. Texas’ current system of finance ned a “C” rating for adequacy and a “D” fairness and equity from Education ek magazine. Clearly, Texas’ system of tool finance must be overhauled. Columnist Donny Ferguson Sophomore Political science major last Wednesday, Gov. George W. Bush proposed . 2 ting property taxes, raising the sales tax and creat- Jario Qu a business activity tax to pay for it. In reality, no mediurn-r 0unt 0 f tax-rate tinkering will solve the problem. If • Couple^ ^oqi < s finance troubles are to be resolved and ed ition in Texas saved, Bush, Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock d House Speaker Pete Fancy must add a new word Jtheir legislative lexicons: vouchers, mactf l(j n( f er the voucher system, the te’s share of education funding is Averted into checks, like college fi- Acial aid. The vouchers will be dis puted to parents, by need, to pay ~ * a public, private or parochial nded up i' 1 j l00 j tuition. Vouchers are immensely cost-effec- e, slashing education expenses. Texas nds over $5000 on public education student. Private school tuition aver- ie Aggies hat State big fl a : ito from gd# Irawn up ill i the pre-git is $2,000, one-half the cost of public education. . .-/ate school students consistently test well in read- ilk, the halt » anc j mat h skills, but their public school counter- S°’. * Fits lag far behind. Vouchers mean better results at we didn tc ?|fthe price. Texas could theoretically slash property other thantjgj ^ Qne Q f g us h’ s goals), cut the budget by double :nt from the f ie board.” digits and still provide better schools. Bal ancing the state budget grows more diffi cult because of rising education costs. Texas simply cannot afford not to adopt school vouchers. School vouchers give the 25 percent of Texas children who live in poverty the op portunity to attend the same schools as more privileged children. The adoption of vouchers would change quality education from a privilege enjoyed by the wealthy into a right for all. Minorities, traditionally the poorest Texans, would benefit the most. Given the ability to choose their children’s’ school, would put Texas’ poor on a level playing field with the rich. Professor Ben Chavis, a Native American teaching at San Fransisco State, said, “Choice (in education) empowers, and empowerment eliminates discrimination.” School vouchers erase racial, social and economic lines and equalize opportunity. They give the poor and minorities, who usually attend underfunded, in adequate public schools, the chance to attend traditionally white private schools of higher quality, conquering the inherent bias that the current school fi nance system fosters. Increasing scarcity of education funds and unfair distribution are growing problems in Texas. Our children’s futures under the current waste- ful, biased system is high unem ployment, inferior skills and a growing disparity be tween rich and poor. For Texas to compete with the world in the 21st century, we must abolish the current system of school finance, steeped in waste and bias, and adopt the so cially progressive, cost-effective voucher system. Mail School vouchers erase racial, social and economic lines and equalize opportunity. Lost antique ring cherished by owner People lose things all the time, sometimes it isn’t a big deal and sometimes it is. At the same time, people are al ways finding things. I think the phrase “finders keepers” was de vised to make it O.K. to keep what you find, especially when there is no way of knowing who to return it to, or how to figure it out. Many times it is impossible, but this time I hope it’s not. I lost a ring. I know what you’re thinking, I might as well say adios to the ring because it’s gone. But I can’t say adios because it has a lot of senti mental value to me. My grandmother, a beautiful and very special woman, died of cancer just two days after Christ mas this year. Some people live for years with cancer, but my grand mother got only a couple of months. I wasn’t ready for her to go yet, I never even thought of her as old...she was so full of life. After she died, my uncle gave me her jewelry boxes. One night I sifted through her jewelry, most of it was very old and not something a 21 year-old girl would wear, but I found this silver ring that had a circular de sign with little rhinestones in it. I put it on to see if it fit, and it did, like a glove. Last Friday night, Jan. 17th, I went to a party at apartment 33 in Sundance Apts, off Harvey Road. We weren’t there 20 minutes and I realized that the ring wasn’t on my finger. I was wearing gloves and I think when I took them off, it fell off without me noticing. I don’t know who might have found an antique looking silver ring at a par ty, please contact me. My name is Carrie and my phone number is 260-3116. If it was any ring, I would accept the loss, but this ring helped my to deal with my grand mother’s death. It comforted me somehow. Please call. Carrie Southard Class of'98 Meloeny's grief shared by student After reading Elizabeth Meloe- ny’s column about the death of her twin brother, I couldn’t help but feel compassion for her. I also couldn’t help comparing her feelings to the feelings that I had when my older brother, also an Aggie passed away 3 years ago. I just wanted to extend my sympa thy to her and her family while they are in their time of need. When I was in Elizabeth’s place, all I wanted was for someone to go through what I had gone through so they would know the pain that I felt. Now that it is 3 years later, I would never wish such a tragedy upon anyone. I wanted to let Eliza beth know that even though I don’t know her, I know her sorrow and hurt that she’s feeling right now. I even know how she will feel standing in front of Old Sullie at Silver Taps and how she will feel sitting on the gym floor at G. Rollie White for Muster, answering “Here” for Paul. Because I, too, have done those things for my only brother, Jake. It does get better and things will look up, I promise. Elizabeth, thou sands of people out here are pray ing for you and your family. Just hang in there and be strong, espe cially for your parents. For there’s nothing worse than seeing your own child die before you do. Keep Paul in your memories and he’ll never leave. Heather Adams Class of 99 The Battalion encourages letters to the ed itor. 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 Mc Donald with a valid student ID. Letters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Campus Mail: 11.1.1 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: Batt@tamvml.tamu.edu