Page 9
Wednesday • April 23, 1997
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Columnist
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john Lemons
Electrical engineering
graduate student
the::
I' Army days
emain forever
lost to history
ver the past weekend, there was a suspicious
increase in the number of maroon Cadillacs
and men in maroon polyester blazers sighted
campus. This occurrence can mean only one thing
old Ags are back.
Parents’Weekend and Muster brought an influx of
former students to campus.
This mixing of 01’ Army with
new army exposes the gen
eration gap which exists be
tween current Aggies mid
former students. Texas A&M
University is not the school
as it once was known. Ol’
Army days are gone forever.
They have been replaced by
new army, the reality of
A&M today.
Listening to propaganda
pushed by numerous A&M
publications and rabid Fish
Camp counselors, one
aches the conclusion that A&M is firmly grounded
tradition. However, the concept of unchanging tra-
Ijtions, passed down from generation to generation,
a myth—much like the Loch Ness Monster or a
mpassionate Board of Regents.
Many of A&M’s most sacred traditions are recent
ations. For example, class wildcats did not exist in
-called 01’ Army days. Throughout the crowd at Fri-
ay night’s yell practice, former students tried to fig-
, Iure out why their sons and daughters were adding an
tating A-A-A or whoop to the end of yells. Other
w traditions like Replant and Big Event are less than
fO years old.
The irony of A&M’s traditions is that they change
riodically to meet the wants of students and admin-
tration. In die early ’90s, Elephant Walk degenerated
to a opportunity to grode die senior class. Then
ien public opinion swayed against the mayhem, it
oved closer to its somber origins. This year, yell prac-
:es were moved from Kyle Field’s horseshoe to the
first deck to keep the band off the grass on the field,
nfire has mutated from a trash heap to the behe-
10th, grade-point ratio-destroying activity it is today.
1 Reese Neumann, member of the Traditions Coun
cil and a sophomore accounting major, said tradi
tions change to meet the needs of students.
“1 think change is a good thing and it’s going to
happen,” Neumann said. “Our job on Traditions
founcil is to remind people how things were started
and why we do the things we do.”
However, changing traditions at students’ whims
iolates the very definition of tradition.
The campus of OT Army days is incompatible with
lay’s A&M. Many students would not like the A&M
fold. Moreover, half of A&M’s students would not be
lere if this were the A&M of old.
Jerry Harbert, a member of the Class of ’66, said
jj| the campus was divided when women were first ad-
fitted to A&M.
“We all (the Corps of Cadets) campaigned against
|oiL 3-education,” Harbert said. “Now, I have a daughter
ecb oinghere.”
The decision to admit women started a series of
vents, the repercussions of which, signaled the death
if Of Army days. Perhaps the most frightening result
fwomen at A&M is the existence of the Aggie Dance
earn, a concept so anti-OT Army, it probably makes
ul Ross roll over in his grave.
Hazing, the bane of student organizations to-
edii lay, was part of the Aggie experience in OF Army
lays. For example, consider the commonly used
erm, “redass,” which eloquently describes spirit-
id Aggies. The origin of this term in OF Army
lays has a lot more to do with axe handles and
lehinds than it does with Aggie Spirit.
Today, OF Army exists only in the memories
q of the alumni who periodically visit campus to
have buildings named after themselves. A&M
0 ([i las evolved; it is no longer dominated by the
nale, agricultural, military students of the past.
It’s time for students to accept their new
dentity. These are new army days where,
Jill lased on the foundation A&M’s past, students
UlKi lave modified A&M and its traditions to meet
Tff heir current needs. Any other action will
\lf doom us all to a future of maroon Cadillacs
tnd polyester blazers.
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Lady Liberty
Proud American image often spoiled by harsh realities
Asst. Opinion Editor
James Francis
Sophomore
English major
T he word
“America”
carries a
widespread load
of connotations.
Some feel it rep
resents “the free
dom of the
world,” a place
where people ex
ist to speak their
minds and live
their lives in the
manner they
choose. Others feel it is a haven for in
dividuals to escape dictatorships and
military-ruled governments, a place
where foreigners can go to break out
into a new environment filled with
hope of a new life and a rich soul. To
day, I feel the word “America” is much
more than the aforementioned defini
tions. America is more than apple pie,
The Statue of Liberty, Washington
Monument, or The Declaration of In
dependence. To me, America is a state
of mind, a frame of being, in a world
plagued by disorder and chaos,
some of which can be found ex
clusively in The United States.
When I think of Ameri
ca, I do not think of the
hundreds of battles
and wars it has
endured in the
past. I think of the
trials and tribulations it
faces today, such as a
national debt that will
never see a recession, a
country that will never
be governed by a fully-
capable president, a
place where children are murdered in
the streets for no reason, and a place
where the homeless struggle to sur
vive under cold bridges, starving for a
simple slice of “apple pie.” It is no
one’s fault that America has become
this microcosm of crime and punish
ment, but everyone is at fault for let
ting these situations and this envi
ronment continue to exist. I’m not
the type of person to place blame on
anyone, but with so many people
yelling “Take responsibility for your
country,” what else can I do but re
spond by asking, “What have you
done today to better America?”
While this topic may infuriate
some people, is it the most relevant
and prevalent issue facing American
citizens today. How can one call him
self an American when the country is
in such a state of dishevelment?
Sometimes I fight the battle of
whether to label myself as black,
African-American or American, but I
believe that first and foremost, I am
human. The placement of the phrase
American citizen is a heavy ti
tle to carry. As it once
meant someone of char
acter, a believer and
dreamer, someone who
wished to better the world
and the environment
around him, the term has
lost all of its significance.
Today, I no longer find it
acceptable to be labeled
as an American citizen.
Then I ask my
self, “What
have I done to
day to better
America?” This
answer, while
simple, is also
degrading —
nothing. I find
myself in the same
position as other
people who want to
make this a better place
to live and raise children. I do not
know the first place to start, the
first step to take onto the pathway
of improvement.
What I do know is that, while every
little step and every individual action
helps, it will take a collective effort to
bring America into the spotlight it de
serves. With the disasters and trou
bles this country has survived, it is a
wonder it has not been able to cure ' ■
its current societal ills. There is too '
much apathy in the atmosphere to
day, too many people wondering
what the country can do for them
and not enough personal re- ' v
flection and introspec- - *
tion as to what they can ‘«
do for America. While this * *•
may be easy to say, but
hard to accom-''
plish, every T'
worthwhile en- * I
deavor begins I;
out of nowhere.
Before there was a '
constitution, there
was only a piece of
parchment. Before ,
there were founding *,
fathers, there were ,
only kids who wanted
> to run and play in the
open fields of the day.
America is a great
place to live. Ask any
one — except the
homeless, prosti-
^ tutes, drug-ad-
j dieted junkies,
evicted home-
owners, students *
paying college expens-J A
es, welfare recipients, * 7
hospitalized individuals - **
or those families who lost a'
loved one to a drive-by
shooting or some other
random, murderous act.
It doesn’t have to be this
way, and if more people
begin to realize this,
America can become
that place of free-thinking
individuals, a place of new
hope and rich souls, a place
where a new idea is not
thwarted by government offi
cials and a place where people
are not defined by skin color or
age or sexual preference. America
can become “... one nation, under
God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.”
Age of invention ended with birth of Generation X
W hat does a world of
cutting edge inno
vation have in
common with every major
religion in the world?
Everything interesting
seems to have happened a
long time ago.
Why? In the case of reli
gion, it’s much more diffi
cult to disprove something
if it happened several thou
sand years ago, before the
invention of the camcorder,
after the invention of circu
lar logic.
And in the case of innovation, it
has declined because we no longer
know how to set goals.
Somewhere in between a small
step for man and a giant leap for
mankind, we seem to have gotten off
track. As a nation and as individuals
we continue to set lower
Columnist goals, place due dates fur
ther in the future and fail to
meet them. JFK said we’d
have a man on the moon by
1970 and we did.
But we never made it to
Mars. And nobody seems to
mind much. Now we’re
happy if we get five new ca-
Mason Jackson ble channels by 1998. Com-
Senior soon > The Underachiev-
joumalism major er Channel, brought to you
by the people responsible
for repairing Ross Street.
So what the hell happened on the
way to Valhalla? Admittedly, technoh
ogy has been increasing at a rapid
rate, but only in logical steps and
only in directions that fail to surprise
Juliette Lewis.
And technological achievements
shouldn’t be confused with cultural
achievements, which have been even less
impressive. Where are the innovators?
Take the current state of music, for
example. Bands are applauded for
creatively sampling the work of oth
ers. Some people say that techno is
original. They’re right. The rumblings
of my stomach also are original, but
you don’t see me trying to pass that
off as music. And that goes for you
too, U2.
The movie industry isn’t exactly
bursting at the seams with new ideas.
I mean, really, every porno movie for
the last 25 years has had virtually the
same plot and exactly the same back
ground music (boing-a-chinka-bo-
ing-boing), with the possible exclu
sion of Stanley Kubric’s upcoming
epic 2069 - A Sex Odyssey.
So, am I just going to complain, or
am I gonna do something about it? I
spend every day looking for new
things to cook with a toaster, but
that’s not enough, I’m going to sleep
more. That’s right. What this world
needs is more dreamers. Willy Won
ka knew how to dream — a seven-
course meal in a piece of gum, now
that’s innovation.
And I won’t lower my standards. If
I say I want to get out of here with a
3.0 GPR, then I won’t use the time-
tested method of rounding up.
Also, I’ll be a better consumer and
won’t reward the mediocre and
mundane — goodbye L.L. Cool J.,
hello Pink Floyd.
And if I ever have a substantial
amount of money, I won’t invest it
and live off the interest because too
often the size of someone’s cojones
is inversely proportional to the size
of their wallet.
And that just doesn’t work in a
world where it’s risky to dream.
exaSAStM Univers'
MMMM*
Mail
Shuttle bus system
frustrates student
Students who live off campus have
to rely on the bus system.
Unfortunately, the bus system is any
thing but reliable. If it is not late, it misses
the stop altogether. Even if the bus is on
time, students must contend with dri
vers who jump curves, slam brakes or
start driving before they sit down.
Many times drivers are late report
ing to work, causing a bus- load of
people to wait, sometimes 30 minutes
or more.
In the last two days, my bus has
missed a run three times.
First, it made me late for an exam
review, second it made me late for the
exam, and third, it didn’t arrive from
6:30 until 8:00 for my ride home from
the exam.
I waited for forty minutes to an hour
each time.
No matter what the excuse is, some
thing must be done.
As customers of this bus service, stu
dents deserve better than this.
Gary Felts
Class of’00
World-class status
alludes Aggieland
After reading Travis Chow’s column
regarding A&M’s pursuit of “world-
class” status, I came up with a few ideas
to help A&M rise to that level:
• Whoopstock should be embraced
with the same enthusiasm as Bonfire.
•The Singing Cadets should share
Parents’ Weekend with other vocal
groups so that all vocalists can be the
“voice of Aggieland,” and dads should
join the Aggie moms and form Aggie
parent clubs.
• Aggies should realize positive sup
port for our teams’ pure athletic excel
lence is more socially responsible than
“beating the hell outta” another team.
Carol Sullivan
Class of’82, ’86, ’92
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