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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 23, 1997)
; ■'MiH'-j; 1 '! ei e ednesday • July 23, 1997 The Battalion 1 beauty is in the eye of the bug holder nsects get bum rap; overlooked in helping further historical discovery [alp: I ^ They’re creepy and they’re a J kooky... mysterious and iani . spooky... they’re all to- I herooky... no,it’snot“The dams Family,” although the Imesong does match. I’m king about insects and Amer- ^’s perception of them as irri- |ing pond-feeders that only st to bother humans. Mos- e| does bite us, ticks give us Disease, bees make us run [cover and cockroaches and Opinion Editor James Francis Junior English major flies turn our stomachs. While some insects, such as the butterfly, enjoy being la beled as beautiful and a clear notation that spring is just around the corner, others must fight the stigma of being classi fied as bugs with no good uses. It’s time for people to realize the importance of insects and open their eyes to the notion that they outnumber us by more than we could ever imagine. We also must come to under stand that not all insects appear terrific in color, nor do they all have the intention to destroy this earth and the people with it. In a Houston Associated Press report, it was reported that two archaeologists from Rice University “are hoping termites — yes, termites — will aid them in their mis sion to preserve an ancient African city they unearthed in 1977.” The married couple, Rod and Susan McIntosh, hope that the mounds of dirt created by the termites will stop the erosion currently threatening Jenne- jeno, the ancient West African city in Mali that was aban doned in the 14th century. In the report, Rod said that al though most people view ter mites as harm ful, these ter mites in particular deserve to be left alone in order for them to continue aiding the city’s preservation. “After years of try ing to chase Hous ton termites out of our homes, we’re chasing their African brothers for benefi- cial purposes,” Rod said. “Those mounds may succeed where nothing else has, pre serving our dig sites from the effects of torrential rains.” Rod said he is almost certain that no other archaeologist has used termites in such a manner. “I called archaeologists I knew in other parts of the world to ask what they were doing about erosion and none had any answers,” he said. As of now, it is reported that Mali is in the middle of its rainy season, but Rod said the termite mounds are extremely durable. “These mounds are so hard that driving a car into one would be like driving into a brick wall,” he said. Although this situation with the ter mites is unique, people must learn to ap preciate the helpful things that certain in sects provide in our environment. Spiders, for example, capture all the “irritating” flies and mosquitoes that we complain about. On the other hand, fly larva in the form of maggots prove to be useful tools in fishing for our nation’s farmers and those individuals who simply want to catch a fish or two for dinner. Susan said the people of Africa have learned, due to experiences in their envi ronment, to accept and work with insects. “In Africa, people understand that their environment would be piled meters high with dead vegetation and wood without termites,” she said. In America, however, Susan said there seems to be the perception that humans are, and must be, in constant competition with insects and the environment. “We [Americans] view ourselves in some sort of battle with nature; that battle goes on everywhere,” she said. In her situation, Susan said she wishes that the termites turn out to be a good natural phenomenon. “We hope that the mounds will turn out to be a successful... solution to ero sion,” she said. With this occurrence in the field of ar chaeology, it can be assumed that insects are helping keep our environment more stable than most people think. As each year goes by, crops become damaged by locusts, people die from allergic reactions to wasp stings and gnats form organized crime swarms that invade and plague the entrance to homes. But with all this in mind, there are more beneficial aspects to insects than people realize. We must not forget that insects play a vital part in the food chain of all upper- level carnivores, such as ourselves, as it was once reported that the average Ameri can unknowingly consumed one-full pound of bugs in a year. Along with the food chain, insects have provided an equi librium in nature that has existed before written history. Just remember that if the tables of na ture ever became unbalanced, insects would easily overpower humans, and the world would be much different than we know it to be today. hell ad net Mail Call Kinesiology provides health to all Aggies In response to Carl Roth's July 21 Mail Call: Every day it amazes me that enlihereare people at Texas A&M asm diversity that have no clue of ivhatthey are talking about. [hen these individuals want to lave it their words published so hat everyone else can witness ictth heir stupidity. A&M has a totally self-suffi- apf ient athletic department, one of >nly 11 in the world, which takes bsolutely no money from the chool system to operate. This means that no matter owmany kinesiology classes iudents are required to take or ecide to take, the fees from lese classes are in no way, 0111 hape, form or fashion dis- ^ ersed among the coaches, herefore, I cannot see where oth gets his information. I am sick and tired of students egrading the kinesiology profes- ion. Just take a look at the shape lat Americans are in today: verweight, obese and suffering om heart disease. Maybe if more people like oth would take these classes as orichment to their lives, instead flocking at them as a “require- leili'ent,” then the American public 'ould not be dropping like flies (jbt o the fate of heart attacks and oli eart disease. I pray, as a fellow Aggie, that ot only Roth, but all Aggies take ride in their bodies and well-be- and involve themselves in otonly academic studies, but hysical aspects as well. Quit thrashing kinesiology lasses and coaches; they exist to lake you healthier and keep you round longer, so you can use our academic qualities for many ears to come. Jay Ratcliff Class of’97 ‘TTS controls lossible mayhem ^response to James Wallace’s July 1 Mail Call: Don’t take out your frustration 'OWallace. He is just doing his to, and the ones with the “holier- han-thou” attitudes aren’t PTTS 'fficers, but those individuals who hinkthat they shouldn’t be penal- z ed for not following the rules. It doesn’t matter if the Uni- yjorsity is here to serve the stu nts; rules are rules, and they should be followed. I am not employed by PTTS but I still will defend the people. PTTS will not ticket or tow a car if it is properly parked with a proper permit. You think parking is bad now. What if we didn’t have rules, and PTTS didn’t monitor the lots? We’d have mayhem. Anyone golfing on campus wouldn’t be able to park at the golf course, and campus traffic would permanently be at a stand still because selfish, inconsider ate students think that they can park anywhere just because they pay tuition. It is a privilege to attend any university, especially one such as Texas A&M. In order to keep it a world class institution, there has to be regulations to keep order, other wise, we’ll just be another school. Respect authority. Like the joke says, “What do you call an Aggie after gradua tion? Boss.” Well, when you get in that po sition of authority, you’ll want the respect from those beneath you. In other words, respect the au thority above you now. Carino Casas Class of '99 People should ride bicycles to school In response to Brian Bolstad’s July 22 Mail Call: I want to say thank you to Bol- stad for demonstrating the obnox ious, self-centered attitude that provokes rudeness from PTTS of ficers and disdain from many fel low students. Texas A&M and other universi ties across the country were creat ed to educate, but not necessarily coddle or provide a parking space for every single student. The fact that the University has 27,000 parking spaces, but is un able to accommodate 42,000 stu dents demonstrates to me that a majority of the students are too lazy to walk, ride the bus or ride a bicycle. They insist on driving their own car to school. It is exactly this attitude that has congested our highways and city streets, polluted our air and wasted too much of our tax dol lars on continually building and repairing superhighways. Until we can recognize this and quit whining about parking tickets and the lack of parking, there nev er will be enough parking. Buck up and ride the bus, or even better, ride a bicycle. I ride from Southwood Valley everyday and have never had to buy a parking permit. It only takes me 20 minutes, which is quicker than taking the bus or driving, and it makes me exercise everyday. I know I’m not alone because I see fellow cyclists everyday, and I’m sure that even Bolstad could do it. Cody Wheeler Graduate student Callaway’s column has one small flaw In response to Len Callaway’s July 22 column: Callaway’s opinion column on the establishment of a private high school in Dallas for gay and lesbian teens was a welcome in sight on a troubling problem. He makes one comment, howev er, indicating a basic lack of under standing on gay and lesbian issues. In his column, Callaway re ferred to “voluntary lifestyles such as drug abuse, dependen cies, behavior problems, teen pregnancy and homosexuality.” Regardless of what many het erosexuals insist on believing, homosexuality is no more volun tary than heterosexuality. Choos ing to engage in, or abstain from sex is voluntary. But human personality is such that no one in this world “voluntar ily” chooses to be something that would cause him or her to be hat ed, vilified or publicly humiliated. Eric Trekell Graduate student UT students ridicule Reveille controversy In response to a news story on July 21: Poor Aggies. We recently read about the problem you face con cerning the final resting place of Reveilles I through IV. Although we usually don’t con cern ourselves with the happen ings in less civilized societies, we took an immediate interest in your plight. We have devised a solution better than any other proposed by engineers or architects to date: Get over it, it’s just a damn dog! It’s backwoods thinking such as this that keeps Aggies from mak ing real progress. Likening the burial place of a war hero to that of a dog is com pletely ridiculous and an insult to anyone who has lost a family member in armed conflict. Maybe if Aggies had used the football field for practice time instead of funerals for your pets, your football team might have fared better last November 29th. By the way, at those funerals, do Aggies wear black overalls or the traditional blue? Hook ’em. Cris Angelini Rob Dunn University of Texas A hazy shade of A&M Corps, fraternity problems cast evil shadow on the University S ometimes, Texas A&M University has all the mak ings of a Greek tragedy. Two weeks ago, Travis Alton, a former student and member of the Fish Drill Team, initiated the most re cent chapter in A&M’s tragic drama. Alton filed a $25 million law suit against A&M, nine former Fish Drill Team advisers and three administrators alleging that they violated his civil rights by partic ipating in or knowing about haz ing incidents against him and other Drill Team members. The suit, however, com pounds a bad situation to make it worse. The Fish Drill Team hazing saga is a situation where everybody involved loses. The Drill Team’s drama has harmed the University, students and student organizations. First, if Alton and the other Drill Team members who said they endured hazing were ex posed to hazing, then they suf fered from actions which should never be part of the A&M experi ence. In his suit, Alton claims that on several different occasions, he was beaten, kicked and forced to cut himself with a knife. Once disclosed, the University ad dressed these disturbing allega tions. A&M suspended eight cadets accused of hazing, and a ninth cadet was expelled. Indeed, Alton does deserve some compensation for whatever bad experience he endured at A&M. He claims that he has suf fered severe personal injuries, emotional distress and has in curred medical bills from his time on the Drill Team. Alton has with drawn from the University, and it seems to me that his encounter with the Fish Drill Team con- Columnist Jack Harvey Junior economics major tributed to his leaving. Twenty-five million dol lars, however, is an ex cessive amount of mon ey for the abuse which Alton said occurred. While the Fish Drill Team hazing allegations are heinous, no deaths resulted from whatever actions took place. Apparently, Alton is attempting to do more than just recover damages from his time at A&M. His suit states “there is a long history of tolera tion and refusal to deal with the reality that hazing is a way of life in the Corps and specifically in the Fish Drill Team.” William Hommel, Alton’s lawyer, said the suit is aimed at stopping hazing. “He [Alton] doesn’t want this to happen to anybody else,” Hommel said. “He [Alton] wants this nonsense to stop. That is the ultimate goal — to stop hazing in the Corps.” Obviously, Alton is attempting to teach the University a $25 mil lion lesson. The job of stopping hazing, however, does not be long to Alton, but to A&M’s stu dent leaders and administration. A&M does not need to be taught a lesson; it needs to learn from its mistakes. Although a $25 million loss would be a significant hit to the University, a greater loss will come from the bad publicity that will be generated for years to come. The Fish Drill Team matter was one of two alleged hazing in cidents at A&M which received state and nationwide attention. A&M is already synonymous with football and Aggie jokes. It would be terrible to add hazing to that list. While this occurrence and the Kappa Apha hazing allegations from last fall were limited to those two groups, they damaged all stu dent organizations at A&M. These situations have contributed to the widely held belief on campus that both Corps and the Greek system are centers of rampant hazing. The Corps could not have bought itself worse publicity if it had printed up T-shirts reading, “The Corps — you can’t beat us with a stick.” Bad publicity for the Corps costs all of A&M, because the Corps of Cadets is a vital part of the University. When the Corps’ image suffers, the whole Universi ty’s image suffers. Kim Novak, coordinator of Student Judicial Services, said that the assumption that hazing is exclusively a Corps and Greek problem is a mistake. “Hazing is not Corps unique; hazing is not Greek unique,” said Novak. “People assume that all frats haze, but aren’t we [students] more inclined to look there than in other places?” This bad publicity focused on the Corps and the Greek system masks hazing that occurs in other student organizations. These or ganizations become scapegoats for a problem which encompass all student organizations. When hazing does occur, it is a traumatic event for all Aggies. There is a bond among A&M’s students that causes them to de scribe themselves as being Aggies before being athletes, cadets or fraternity members. Having one of their brethren abused is an af front to all Aggies. A&M’s hazing problem will not be solved by lawsuits, but by students who refuse to toler ate this abuse on campus. It is time for A&M to recover from the havoc wrought by this tur moil. Perhaps this time Aggies will learn from their past and avert a future tragedy. Miteuttewh ftELAStm dNSTmnw© The Battalion encourages letters to the ed itor. Letters must be 300 words or less and in clude 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 77843-11.11 Campus Mail: 1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: Batt@tamvml.tamu.edu Barnacle Bill