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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 1997)
l The Battalion \^J Page 7 Monday • April 7, 1997 I t's my party... Political parties would clear up campus confusion Columnist Donny Ferguson Sophomore political science major tudent body elec- |tions have come —'and gone, leaving nopt students more :Bfused than they |e before. Jdost candidates ler stated a clear, co- iferent platform. In- itead, they embraced oft positions for more Being, better food id softer toilet paper. iThe time has cpme 'ojeandidates to adopt ■dn-stone platforms. Texas A&M to leeds student political parties — po- Ical parties that represent the com- paity of cliques that make up A&M. the current campaigning system \sn’t effectively promote the tgendas of these campus groups. By Rowing each campus clique to M together, endorse their h candidates and adopt Jirown platform, stu- ents would know exact- diat candidates itand for by looking at the lot. Possible parties [platforms best repre- epting the University population could include: Tthe REDNECK PARTY ■Committed to run ning the University 1 based on the teachings of Jeff Foxworthy, the Redneck Party would Assure MSC OPAS to Iture a Dukes of izzard stage show. Members would JgUood Services to serve butterbeans •and mustard greens I; at every meal. In addi tion, the Redneck ,0.Party would lobby the athletic depart- _ ’them to sponsor a ^SCAR team. Minnie Pearl would be subject to a fine and a "butt-whoopin’.” •THETOGA PARTY The Toga Party, led by SBP candidate A1K. Hall, would lobby the University to require a khaki shorts and ratty base ball cap dress code. Students would be expected to master the art of being shallow and plaster campus with posters advertising meaningless events. Admission into the University would hinge on knowledge of the Greek alpha bet and one’s ability to have it silk- screened on all items of clothing. • THE MEGABYTE PARTY Members of the computer-ob sessed Megabyte Party would have Sully’s statue replaced with a statue of Bill Gates. Upon graduation, Ag gies would be expected to have a ba sic understanding of old Monty Python gags and have memorized all Star Trek episodes. Once in power, Reveille dolls would be pulled off gift shop shelves and replaced with stuffed Dogberts. The annual Megabyte Party Convention would coincide with Carpal Tunnel Syn drome Awareness Week. •THE SLOB PARTY Slob-ocrats, identified by their sloppy dress and lack of manners, would ask Aggies to wear baseball caps in dining areas, chew with their mouths open and curse loudly in public. The belief that newspa pers are made for classroom floors, not for reading, would be central to the party philosophy. • THE FRUITCAKE PARTY it [tfl. ayone defaming the memory of Dedicated to banning Bonfire and "celebrating diversity,” Fruit cakes would pressure administra tion officials to recognize Joycelyn Elders' birthday as a school holiday (the administration would gladly oblige). Students would be re quired to communicate with squir rels, or as Fruitcakes put it, “har monize with your non-person co-habitant.” The Fruitcake Party also would seek to replace the nickname “Fightin’ Texas Aggies” with the less-violent, less-Eurocen- tric “Tolerant Texas Snail Darters.” In an effort to preserve self-es teem, grades would be abolished and all students would receive a 4.0. James Earl Rudder’s statue would be torn down and replaced with that of the new University president, head Fruitcake Garry Mauro. Political parties Eire the | i\ best way to promote an agenda. Free-market economists make up a sizable part of the Liber tarian Party, Christian patriots have founded the United States Taxpay ers Party, environmen talists have the Green Party and those who like high taxes and low morals have the De mocratic Party. Under the new party system, each quirky group of A&M’s student population would be guaranteed a voice. With candi dates running on the clearly-defined plat forms of their re spective campus party, students would no longer have to guess which candidate for Stu dent Government would do the best job at being useless. lazing law suffers from ambiguity; lack of focus Columnist Stephen Llano Senior history major s a senior at Texas A&M and a columnist for The Battalion, I k,* thereby demand, through the iwer of my position and class rank, fi- at everyone must take off their shoes SeiiJ L J fore reading any further. Those who mply with the preceding paragraph 2 victims of hazing according to the Jii zing law of A&M, which went into ef- :t August of 1987. . I A&M students have recently be- ame familiar with the law thanks to lan^Wntinual reminders from the De- rtment of Residence Life and tfousing, the Commandant’s office and other admin- 1 'tration departments. 1 This year, two Greek organizations were suspended jgrthis law, and the Fish Drill Team is currently under ■vestigation for hazing activities. It appears the law is I Being enforced and applied across the board, r ip B u t d U e to the generalized language of the law, also represents a threat to the individual liber- b of students. One of the overlying problems with the law is the fckof a definition of what “hazing” actually is. There must be some unique aspect to the hazing iw. The legislation spells it out through at least five dif- pent explanations, but none are solid. Anything that volves a “misuse of class rank or position” could be hazing. There is no particular act of “hazing” that couldn’t also be “assault and battery.” Logically, hazing should result in some sort of mental or physical harm. But the penal code al ready provides for cases of assault and battery, murder and other crimes. Punishments for mur der or assault and battery would be far more ef fective than an accusation of hazing. The hazing laws will effectively punish criminal behavior of one or multiple offenders. But the University and the state want to stop more than crime. They apparently want to stop personal liberty as well. There are a few unique aspects to the hazing law. It is the only law designed to punish the recipient of “hazing” acts, as well as the perpetrators - if knowledge of “hazing” activities are not reported, the punishment is a fine up to $1,000 and jail confinement up to 180 days. This means that if a student was willing to partici pant and weeks later the administration suspects that student of being in one of these undefined criminal acts, the student could be punished. The law is also designed to compromise students’ freedom to assemble and freedom of speech. Even if a hazing act is consented to by both parties, both will still be charged and tried. The most likely result if a guilty verdict is handed down will be the dissolution of the or ganization. The law will be enforced regardless of any personal injury or property damage. Much like George Orwell’s novel 1984, there are administrators on this campus whose jobs revolve around seeking out the “dark forces of hazing.” There is no point in enforcing a law and wasting time and money pursuing a case if neither party in volved suffer any damage. Just because the state and the University feel hazing is wrong, this doesn’t justify intrusion into students’ lives. Every rumor or mention of hazing will be fully investigated by the University, even if no one was hurt and there was consent. This means money is wasted on Administration salaries and time is wasted by students who have to sit and wait to be questioned by “all-knowing”members of the Administration. Apparently, the Administration feels justice is merely a trifle to be dealt with at a later date. Stu dents, in the case of the accused members of Fish Drill Team, began to be punished for hazing the in stant they were accused. Perhaps the Administra tion should take the time to read the Constitution they claim to support as Americans. The hazing law uses good intentions to try to protect students from harm or death, but as the old adage says, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” The hazing law is poorly defined, unspecific and results in a loss of liberty and choice by individuals. Administrators and legislators must allow students to live their own lives responsibly, and punish individuals without making decisions for them. Columnist Glenn Janik Sophomore political science major King's promised land remains beyond horizon F riday marked the 29th anniversary of the assassi nation of Martin Luther King Jr. Prior to his un timely death, King spoke of building a new Ameri ca, which would be empty of racial malice and injustice - the promised land. Nearly three decades later, the America King spoke of has become a distant memory. On campus and throughout the country, lack of communication among races, a lack of cultural in teraction and cultural myths have separated Americans from reach ing the promised land. The first step toward the promised land is conquering cul tural ignorance. However, both African-Americans and whites have difficulty talking about racial issues. Many whites feel remorse and fear when talking about race. The politically correct culture has taught white America that the mere use of certain words proves racial prejudice. This fear of saying the wrong word, or having certain state ments misunderstood, causes many whites to avoid dis cussion of race with African-Americans. From an African-American point of view, discussion of racial issues with whites often leads to either humor or anger. Some African-Americans find it humorous when whites talk about racism, because they’ve never experienced a day as an African-American and have no understanding what it means or feels like to be black. Other African-Americans become angered when whites "talk” about racial understanding and harmony. For many African-Americans, talking about racial problems have become a way for whites to proclaim compassion while avoiding real racial issues. Along with lack of communication, a general lack of cultural interaction has kept America from becoming a promised land. This self-imposed segregation can be seen at Texas A&M and throughout the Bryan-College Station com munity. At A&M, race separates lunch tables, sporting events and extracurricular organizations. In the com munity, race separates neighborhoods, business dis tricts and churches. A legacy of racial misunderstand ings have caused race to seek peace by simply avoiding one another. Further separating America from the dream of reach ing a promised land are cultural myths. Dr. Orlando Taylor, Dean of the Howard University Graduate school, recently spoke at A&M about the chal lenges of eliminating racial problems in America. “The legacy of racism in America has produced a cul tural myth of inferiority and superiority,” Taylor said. This myth is that the white male is a superior force in the American society. However, instead of criticizing white-male arrogance, Taylor chided the black commu nity to accept this fallacy. Accepting these beliefs breathes new life into them. Along with the societal outlook, A&M produces its own myths, such as: Every African-American student at the Uni versity is either an athlete or has been given a set-aside scholarship: all Corps members are racists, anxiously await ing to form an Aggie KKK chapter; Hopwood will eliminate African-Americans from A&M; the Confederate flag is just another way of saying “pro-slavery.” Aggies and other Americans will enter the next century in the midst of a cultural clash. Blacks and white refuse to talk to one another, live in the same neighborhoods or worship in the same churches. If America cannot settle its cultural clash in order to seek a promised land, the country will go the way ofYugoslavia, Ireland and the former Soviet Union. Each of these countries failed to solve cultural problems and erupted into divided lands plagued by civil wars. King’s assassination may have eliminated the chief mes senger of racial unity, but the event should not have elimi nated the hope of improving America. Creating an Ameri can promised land is as possible today as it was on April 4, 1968. It is time to put away the communication barriers sep arating whites from blacks. It is time to dismiss the mental myths infecting all Americans. It is time to join black and white together and renew the search for the promised land. Mail lon-regs fail to iontribute to A&M i response to Adam Greer’s April letter. I would like to caution non- tegs not to be too quick to rest °n their laurels. I While personal definitions of T good Ag” may vary, I think ■Host non-regs fall short in a reasonable evaluation of their induct, whether it be not kicking around until the end of Igame, or organizations (Greek °r otherwise) holding functions Ihring Silver Taps. I I think there is plenty of room i>r temperate criticism — even outright rebuke — without re sorting to the "Aggie Gestapo- ism” that Dave House complains of in his April 1 guest column. Most non-regs are not pulling our weight, or at least not enough. Some may disagree with me, but our Aggie traditions are fun and something to be proud of. That fun and pride is diminished every time I get a surprised look when I say “Howdy!”, or when the girl next to me in class wears a Colorado University sweatshirt. Sure, I re sent it. Diversity is great, but it doesn't have to be at the expense of unity. One more thing: Sure, 70,000 people show up to watch Bon fire burn, but, who would want to miss that party? How many of us though, are showing up to help build it. Out of approximately 30,000 off-campus students, Off-Cam pus Aggies is lucky to even pull in 15 people for a cut. That is one half of one tenth of one per cent. No matter how you add that up it still equals pathetic. Mike Spillers Class of’98 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 For more details on letter policy, please call 845-3313 and direct your question to the opinion editor. fAite Wxmb, jttUffiscwnTWie'P