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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©
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