y • February 191
The Battalion
NION
Page 9
Wednesday • February 19, 1997
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players this mom
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and a change wasj
any chance of sa,
italin Abuse
hreatens A&M
any Aggies
have used a
cup of coffee,
Pepper or Viviran for
juick energy boost
lile studying.
But, a new pill has
beared in Texas,
fomising higher grade-
lint ratios and faster
^ding: Ritalin. De-
;ned for people with
tendon Deficit Disor-
k, Ritalin is being
fused by college stu-
Columnist
In 1995, aVirgmia col-
?njoyed much su
eadership, comm
on," Gabriel said
tinue to looktowa
/ lents to ^^ette^^Ses!®
e the next ste PAlthough a “smart pill” may offer
>f bringing a world ™
ur fans andthisci!
Glenn Janik
sophomore
political science major
rab Oaklc
) QBk
ipe to many students, those who
emically cheat Uieir way to higher
des face deadly consequences.
■ The drug is attractive to stu-
Bnts because it blocks out dis-
Rctions and allows for greater fo-
PARK, N.Y. (APi-B 8 while studying. Although it is
; took advantaJ^d to cure hyperactivity in chil-
J ning of Jeff Gecm en anc * increase learning capa-
"e Raiders' backup| ilities - is popular in college for
/ Joe Hobert. B e same reasons. Ritalin has been
ers traded the “smart pill” and
londay for a thirikw erc ^ c °he” because of its intelli-
The Bills calledaf nce - boostin g qualities.
>day at Rich Stab.I In s P lte of the numerous dan-
, deal Rrs of the drug, it is being used by
s a great opportiH^ e 8 e students to cheat time.
;r,” Hobert said P os t students face the pressure of
eague (four) yeaiiMy^ ^ or several exams in the
jlme week, being hundreds of
ftges behind for tomorrow’s quiz,
or having to work too long to study
tfectively. Ritalin promises to
= wecrenu W w»I lve 111656 Problems the easy way.
o got a fiveyearccl An unnamed University of
rth $25 million t r xas student described the at-
ackup since re^f ctiv6n ess of the drug to CNN.
ound draft pickinli “ The most important thing I do
s progress we" 18 tlie g rades 1 g et .” she said. “If it’s 4
s senior admins!® 111 ’hardest thing to do is type
s iid We be f^other word or read another line,
good quart*'] Ritalin you don’t mind,"
ng of Jeff Ge, : Co " e ge students also praise the
r to Billy Joe,® 1 ?
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e weekend forte
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re to Aloi
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r Peter Angelos;|
oire John HirscM
to Roberto
at the second
ompting
npire.
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;ck
n’t
r e
is
drug because it allows anyone to
lead for hours without stopping
and aids in comprehension.
A Despite praises for the drug,
some of its other effects are
.eadly. The Drug Enforcement
jgency classifies Ritalin in the
me category as cocaine and
aphetamines. The drug, which
ids as a stimulant, is highly ad-
ctive and can cause heart and
rculatory problems.
free campus. Besides al
cohol, caffeine and to
bacco it seems hard to
find other drugs at A&M.
Dr. Dennis Reardon,
coordinator of the Alcohol and Drug
Education programs at Texas A&M,
discussed Ritalin abuse on campus.
“Ritalin is an amphetamine, so I
could understand why students
would use it. However, cases of Rital
in abuse on campus remain rare.
The study drug of choice is clearly
caffeine,” he said.
Despite Reardon’s assessment,
the threat of Ritalin at A&M exists
for several reasons. Ritalin has be
come one of the most popular
drugs in the Mexican towns of
Juarez and Nuevo Laredo. These
towns make Texas the distribution
point of Ritalin for the rest of the
country. Aggies who travel to South
Padre for spring break will no doubt
be surrounded by the drug. Also, Ri
talin abuse has been extensively
cataloged at the University of Texas.
It is naive to believe the drug has
not filtered its way to some of the
43,000 Aggies of College Station.
University and student organiza
tions on campus have been vocal
against alcohol abuse, but many re
main silent about the dangers of
other drugs. Ritalin is dangerous not
just for its side effects, but for the
people it attracts. Students who are
surrounded by stress and deadlines
cannot afford to escape at a local bar,
but they find it easy to pop a “smart
pill.” This is not just a drug for Austin
students or drug abusers; this drug
represents a threat to Aggies.
Stress and school work are no ex
cuse to gamble with life and Ritalin.
College places pressure on students.
Learning to handle this pressure is
part of the college experience.
Cheating this pressure with Ritalin
not only deprives students of a
learning process but also threatens
to deprive them of life.
Divide and conquer
Maxine Waters sends message ofblame / not hope
Iriday, the Student
Conference on Na-
tal heart attack induced
by the drug.
JL tional Affairs will
host California Congress-
However, the Ritalin
problem also effects stu-
woman Maxine Waters.
She will give a speech en-
£3. *3
>
dents at Texas A&M. The
titled “Social Fragmenta-
University has a reputa-
tion and Race, What is
v
tion for being a relatively
the Future?”
0
conservative and drug-
Although Waters has
the country’s social prob
lems and poor race rela
tions, she has not done
much to alleviate the sit
uation. Waters tends to attack prob
lems with money and excuses, and
many people accuse her of adding to
America’s racial disharmony. She has
even developed a reputation for
abrasive language.
SCONA and Texas A&M would
be better off bringing a speaker who
can offer the audience ideas and
solutions, rather than complaints
and accusations.
Referring to the Democrat
ic ticket at the 1992 Democra
tic Convention, Waters said,
“This is the last time I support
an all-white anything.” Fol
lowing the Rodney King riots,
Waters said the rioters were
acting under “black rage” and
could not be held responsible
for their actions. This sort of
comment does not comfort
the families of those who were
killed, nor does it alleviate so
cial fragmentation.
Jared Cordts, a representa
tive from SCONA, said Waters
has been a vocal figure on is
sues such as the O.J. Simpson
trial and allegations of the CIA
aiding the influx of drugs into
inner cities.
By focusing on allegations
of CIA drug ties, Waters again
demonstrates her tendency to
blame others. At issue are
charges that the CIA encour
aged the sale of drugs in cities
such as Los Angeles to help fi
nance overseas operations.
Since Waters is calling for a
congressional inquiry, she has
removed the focus from the
drug users who are destroying
lives and neighborhoods.
Waters even blamed her
own district’s violence on U.S.
involvement in Operation
Desert Storm. She said
Columnist urban gang members
could not be expected
to stop fighting if Amer
ica’s leaders were wag
ing battles. Her oppo
nents responded by
saying citizens could
not be expected to take
back their neighbor
hoods from the urban
David johnston gangs if the allies would
Junior not take Kuwait back
mathematics major from Hussein.
It is obvious that Wa
ters is proficient at identifying prob
lems and, in many cases, creating or
excusing them. But she has not been
successful solving them.
Waters’ favorite solution for any
problem seems to be government
funding. She has supported sending
huge amounts of federal money into
the Watts Corridor and other disad
vantaged neighborhoods.
Taxpayers have seen this money
literally go up in flames when rioters
torched homes and businesses. Her
constituents need real solutions, but
Waters has failed to provide them.
Race relations cannot be solved with
a blank check.
Waters supported more net-
spending increases than any other
member of last year’s Congress. Even
though the nation’s economy is suf
fering and its debt is climbing, Wa
ters voted for over $100 billion in
new spending last year.
She has prevented citizens from
regaining control of their situation by
making excuses for her constituents
and implying they can only be
helped by government intervention.
The only solution to our deterio
rating social structure is accountabil
ity. When people begin taking re
sponsibility for their own
neighborhoods and acknowledge
their own problems, then they can
work together to make things better.
This won’t happen as long as people
feel their neighborhoods belong to
the government and their problems
are caused by the CIA.
Waters’ own actions demon
strate a lack of accountability.
While her constituents suffer
from a poor economy, Waters
continues to support new spend
ing and higher taxes.
Aggies have already seen
enough of this attitude and have
nothing to learn from Waters. Stu
dents say Aggie spirit is dying be
cause of fraternities, two-per
centers and the freshman class.
Administrators blame problems
on off-campus tutors, low salaries
and the results of budget cuts.
California, Congress and this
campus need a good dose of re
sponsibility and action. Unless
Waters is going to bring specific
solutions and not just a laundry
list of grievances, she can never
hope to have a positive impact on
Friday’s audience.
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lude baseball fan
ilns spirit of game
went to my first A&M base-
game with a bunch of friends
Saturday.
We were all having a good time un-
a rude fan showed up. At first he
f as just yelling really stupid things
out the game on the previous day. I
see yelling at the other team, but
is guy was getting out of hand. He
as even yelling at the Aggie fans. He
was yelling sexist remarks like “I'd like
to see her in a baseball uniform” or
when people were hitting for the
Black-Eyed Pea gift certificates, he
yelled stuff like “She swings like a girl”.
Well, she was a girl and I am sure
she heard him. My friends who came
to the game with me say after I left
things got even worse. He started
yelling not only sexist remarks, and
just plain stupid remarks, but also
racist remarks. I am really sorry Ari
zona had to listen to his taunting. I
just hope that they do not think
everyone here is like that.
Helen Curbello
Class of '00
Replant jokesters
tarnish tradition
Replant is a time to put back into
the earth that we took away just a few
months ago.
This was my first venture to this
great tradition and I, along with the
other Johnny Appleseeder’s, did our
best to ensure the trees we planted
would flourish in the pots as well as
in the ground. I wish I could say this
about everyone. I was ashamed of
those who thought it would quite hi
larious to throw dirt and plant trees
upside down. You know who you
are. Next year, why don’t you just
stay at home?
Michael Gath
Class of’97
\97os
I &K So SUSY
SABeiN' ON THE
PHoNE WITH YOU, I
BURNED
TUP
1990s
I sars? busy
SAbWn'on the
PHONE WITH YOU I
CAUSED A FATALITY/.
Hecklers embarrass 10th man
U rji
I ouch his
butt, touch
his butt,”
yells the crowd at
Olsen Field, noting
baseball players’ ten
dency to pat each oth
er on the backside.
It’s baseball season
again, and Texas A&M’s
most vocal fans have
returned to Olsen Field.
There is no doubt heck
lers are funny. Their an
tics sometimes prove
more entertaining than anything
occurring on the field, but no one
is safe from the their wrath.
They gladly abuse umpires, the
other team and the announcer.
Between innings, they stand on
the deck railing to yell at players in
the opposing team’s dugout.
Hecklers illustrate how the
line between right and wrong is
often obscured in the name of
fun, and if encouraging the pitch
er to touch the catcher’s butt is
Aggie spirit, E. King Gill must be
rolling over in his grave.
Often, the comments are clever.
At Saturday’s game against Ari
zona State, one heckler elicited a
big laugh, shouting, “Hey, Kenny’s
back in the fetal position.” The
joke was a reference to Arizona
State player Kenny Corley’s
cramped batting stance.
Occasionally, the taunts are
questionable in taste. Overweight
players are an easy target. At Sat
urday’s game, Arizona State assis
tant coach Victor Solis became a
target of hecklers’ malice. Anytime
Solis stepped backward, he was
accompanied by a droning, “beep,
beep, beep,” from the crowd, mim
icking the sound of a wide-loaded
tractor-trailer as it backs up.
Jimmy Harrison, a former A&M
student, has been harassing oppos
ing teams at Olsen Field since 1989.
Harrison said hecklers try to preserve
Columnist
John Lemons
Engineering
graduate student
a family atmosphere at
the games.
“We try to keep it in
good taste,” Harrison
said. “We will not cross
the line of language,
[but] we will make an
innuendo every now
and then.”
Harrison said heck
lers add atmosphere to
the ballpark.
“I know people who
bring their parents to
the game just to see
us,” he said.
Tim Elwell, a senior journalism
major, said hecklers have limits to
taunting.
He said hecklers avoid “any
thing that you wouldn’t say in
front of a kid or your parents.”
Unquestionably, abusing op
posing teams is bad sportsman
ship. The taunts
heard at Olsen
Field would nev
er surface in po
lite conversation.
Aggie base
ball games-are a
favorite pastime
of many families
from the com
munity. The
question any
heckler needs to
ask himself is
“What does heckling teach the
children who attend these
games?”
Although hecklers like to enter
tain, they also intend to distract
opposing teams.
“If we can get into the other
team’s head here at Olsen Field, we
have a shot at winning the game,”
Harrison said.
Occasionally, the taunting
works. Some players take the com
ments personally.
Matt Matthews, a senior in
dustrial distribution major, noted
If encouraging the
pitcher to touch
the catcher's butt
i
is Aggie spirit, E.
King Gill must be
rolling over in his
grave
an incident at last week’s game
against the University of Texas-
Pan American.
“Last week, we had a guy flip
ping us off,” Matthews said.
The hecklers’ behavior cre
ates the moral dilemma of
whether inappropriate behavior
is acceptable because it is fun.
The repercussions of this ques
tion haunt A&M. Both a frater
nity and a Corps unit have been
disbanded this year for hazing
their members.
Many students on campus dec
orate their residence hall rooms
with stolen street signs.
During the freeze earlier this se
mester, some students “borrowed”
trays from dining halls to use as
sleds.
All of these actions are immoral
and illegal. Yet, they were justified
because they were fun. Rationaliz
ing immoral be
havior is danger
ous because
sometimes it is
hard to know when
it has gone too far.
The boundaries of
right and wrong
exist to keep us
from hurting our
selves and others.
As for the heck
lers, baseball coach
Mark Johnson best
addressed the necessary limits for
their behavior.
“I like our fans, as long as they
keep it clean and keep a family at
mosphere,” Jofmson said.
Keeping a family atmosphere
means keeping the commentary
tasteful and free of sexual innuen
do, which the hecklers need to
work toward.
But despite their shortcomings,
one has to like the hecklers. After
all, they are in the same business as
opinion columnists: They entertain
and provoke.