97 iursday - June 5, 1997
The Battalion
>n
PINION
laying both sides of the field
\seball, military rules and regulations apply to both sexes for equality
five
scitizens of a nation born
out of revolution, it is not
urprising that Americans
ataste for rebellion. They
politicians, grumble about
rt ^ igtaxesand refuse to drive
speed limit.
luring the summer interim
ofMelissa Raglin and Kelly
made news headlines. These
and the public’s reaction to
expose the disrespect for au-
jwhich persists in this coun-
lisfailure to follow authority bodes ill
United States.
roweeksago, 12-year-old Raglin
Boca Raton, Florida received her 15
atesoffame. Raglin appeared on
[pages of newspapers across the
itryafter being benched from her
league baseball team for not wear-
protective cup. Indeed, the cup re-
idtoisthe strategically placed de-
whichhas saved many athletically
iaedmen the pain of traumatic pro-
kontact to the groin.
leBoca Youth Baseball League in
diRaglin participates, requires boys
Igirlsplaying in the infield to wear a
dkn league officials discovered
acatcher, had not been wearing
iifamous device, they gave her an ul-
— wear the cup, sit on the
orplayin the outfield. Raglin
and sat out for two games. She
peed to wear the cup, but attend-
inextgame with the offending ap-
draped around her ankle instead
traditional location,
the incident received growing me-
ittention, the National Organization
linen and radio talk show host
Limbaugh made statements criti-
thebaseball league. Eventually,
aughredeemed Raglin by ordering
stveralfemale protective cups,
tlisheused.
Columnist
<•.
JOHN LEMONS
Electrical engineering
graduate student
I
rer
It might seem absurd to
force a girl to wear a device
originally designed to protect
an area men consider a most
valuable asset, but the rule
was deliberately designed to
apply to boys and girls by the
national Babe Ruth Baseball
League which sanctions
Raglin’s league.
Jimmy Steward, commis
sioner for the Babe Ruth Base
ball League’s Southeast Re
gion, addressed the rule’s intent.
“The rules of Babe Ruth Baseball are
designed to protect all participants re
gardless of gender,” Steward said.
The real problem with this in
cident is not the application of
a silly rule, but the way in
which Raglin and her sympa
thizers trivialized the authority
of the Boca Youth Baseball
League to enforce its own rules.
The public complaints did not
result in a rule change — they
only created bad publicity for
the baseball league.
The recent controversy sur
rounding Air Force pilot Kelly
Flinn further exposes American’s
disrespect for authority. Flinn,
the media and even several no
table congressmen claimed the
Air Force treated Flinn unfairly.
This is ironic, considering Flinn
was the perpetrator in the case.
Flinn clearly violated Air Force
regulations. She was lucky to re
ceive a general discharge instead
of a court martial; perhaps she
also should have had a scarlet ‘A’
painted on the nose of her bomber.
When called to Capital Hill to testify
on the Air Force’s proceedings against
Flinn, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen.
Ronald Fogleman explained the Air
Force’s motivation in the case.
“The adultery thing ... that’s the thing
that has been spun up in the press.
That’s not what the Air Force is interest
ed in,” Fogleman said. “In the end, this
is not an issue of adul
tery. This is an issue
about an officer en
trusted to fly nu
clear weapons
who disobeyed an
order, who lied.”
Flinn rebelled
against the Air
Force’s authority
when she violated an order to discontin
ue her affair. She then worsened the
matter as she sought sympathy for her
position through interviews with the
press. The military’s authority was fur
ther undermined as outside sources
such as the media and Sen. Trent Lott
began to publicly criticize a process they
did not fully understand.
Neither the media nor the playing
field are appropriate places to change
policy. Rules which need to be changed
must be altered within the proper ad
ministrative channels. When individu
als use a sob story to sway public opin
ion in their favor, a dangerous
precedent begins to discredit institu
tion’s authority to enforce rules.
Without their authority, police offi
cers could not keep streets safe, Texas
A&M could not prosecute academic
dishonesty and parents could not
discipline their children.
+** The moral of these strange
stories is simple — if individu
als don’t like the rules, they must work
within them to bring about change, and
if they expect to play little league base
ball, they’ll have to wear a cup.
falue of students ignored by University
ed
lilents who co-op in industry
iam something about how
Aisinesses deal with their em-
iwesand customers. Businesses
iconcerned with their stockhold-
iffldcustomers first, employees
®nd.Theydo not treat employees
fstraydogs, but they understand
3 Kisno need for employees with-
customers.
in . fills principle should be applied
iieadministration of Texas A&M.
file "customers” of any university are
^students. The “stockholders” of a uni-
iityare the tax payers — many of
mare students. But it seems the last
iplethe University is concerned about
ihe students.
, the University does not treat stu-
itslike unwanted strays, but it does not
students in their proper place. This is
s |?lybecause universities, especially
'I,have somewhat captive audiences:
Jearenot as many universities as there
fast food restaurants, and it is not as
itochange universities as it is to
igeparking spaces.
Oneofthe most famous abuses this cap-
iij iyallows is the state of campus food
ce nldwide. In no restaurant which hopes
h £ survive will anyone find cold food being
eC ( S’ed.No restaurant manager is going to
for
Columnist
m
j x
Chris Brooks
Senior physics major
allow an employee to stand
around and talk to a friend
when customers are waiting to
be served.
Most importantly, if the food
is not good, then business will
not survive. Yet all of these in
stances are found in campus
dining facilities. They survive
because freshmen buy meal
plans when they register for
classes, not knowing what will
happen. In a few short months, they stop
eating in the cafeteria, and the money spent
for uneaten meals is kept by the University.
Parking is the bane of the business
world. No one has enough parking it
seems. When an event occurs which cuts
down on the availability of parking spaces,
businesses have employees park as far
away from the building as possible to al
low paying customers the convenience of
close parking. At A&M, any loss of parking
is felt by the students.
A closed staff parking lot means staff will
take over student spaces, but there is no al
lowance made for the displaced students.
In this instance, the customers are actually
being treated like employees.
Students also feel the sting of inflation.
There are limits, however, to what a cus
tomer will pay, therefore price increases
are relatively small unless a provider is
certain people cannot do without the
product being sold. This goes back to the
captive audience theory.
Tuition and fees are a blight on the life
of any student, but they are a necessary
evil. With the state cutting back on money
it gives to schools, fee increases are re
quired. However, too little attention is
paid to the cliche one can’t get blood from
a stone. The administration claims it looks
carefully to get money for projects from
anywhere else before they pass the bill
onto students.
But sometimes university officials must re
think the necessity of these projects. In busi
ness operations, proposals are sometimes met
with, “We just do not have the money right
now.” Considering most students are on a fixed
income, universities should consider giving
this answer more often.
Universities just do not treat their stu
dents as paying customers. Since students
at state universities are taxpayers, universi
ties need to show students more respect.
A&M should lead this movement.
By improving the quality of food ser
vices, giving students respect with the park
ing nightmares and saying “no” to the occa
sional fee increase, the administration of
A&M could improve the quality of life and
the University’s popular image.
Government protects
through compassion,
not of belligerence
Len Calloway
Columnist,
Junior journalism
major
T oo many times it seems
public officials and
public workers, elected
and employed by the taxpayers
are not primarily concerned
with the quality or the ramifica
tions of service they give to the
general public.
However, sometimes the role is
reversed and the general public fails
to recognize the difficult and precar
ious positions
WHtt 1
KNOW & HoW YOU
(SOT THE MBGrteoRS
TO OK THE NX>moN
Ifclacl
that government
officials are often
in when trying to
protect the rights
of the citizens.
Last Tues
day afternoon,
the National
Weather Ser
vice issued a
tornado watch
for Williamson
County. Barely one hour later, a
sizable portion of the town of
Jarrell, TX, had been destroyed.
Twenty seven people died,
countless others were injured
and an entire neighborhood was
wiped out.
The process of locating the
dead and injured individuals
began immediately.
Reports were issued indicat
ing the weather was better and
that people could return to their
homes to sort out belongings.
CNN showed news clips of
people screaming and crying
about DPS Troopers being rude
and hateful, not allowing them to
return to their homes.
One man was beaten for test
ing the limits of the troopers. The
man could not understand why
he could not return to his home.
There were no answers for him,
no explanations — just “no.”
From the surface, this seemed
to be a standard case of the gov
ernment taking over with no re
gard for the feelings or suffering of
the people involved.
The government and
its manifestations are
employed by people
... to ensure the safety
of the public.
The government and its mani
festations are employed by peo
ple to serve and protect in any
capacity necessary to ensure the
safety of the public.
After consulting with John
Sneed, the emergency manage
ment coordinator for Williamson
County, it became apparent that
no one really understood what
type of mayhem and destruction
had actually taken place.
Everyone saw the footage, the
houses, but no one saw the dead.
When asked why troopers
were not allowing people to re
turn to their homes, Sneed re
sponded, “Our primary concern
was that if the entire scene was
not searched thoroughly, a fami
ly member
might have
found the re
mains of a
loved one
causing all
sorts of addi
tional trauma.”
What a dif
ficult position
for everyone
to deal with.
Victims want
to know what has happened to
their homes and loved ones,
and the police cannot let them
in because the images are sim
ply too haunting to see.
Once an event like the torna
do in Jarrell occurs, the entire
scene must immediately fall
under the absolute control of
the government.
The dead must be located, iden
tified and removed before people
can be allowed to visit the area.
One can never judge the way
each individual would react to see
ing horrible scenes associated with
natural disasters. The proper role of
government is to serve as protector
of the people — in any capacity.
Some things will always be
classified and somethings are
simply not for the general pub
lic to see on open display.
The troopers involved with the
cleanup operation surrounding
this tragedy should be lauded and
appreciated for their efforts to
protect and exhibit human com
passion in the face of intense
public scrutiny.