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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 1997)
3tember 10,15 ^ ' /ednesday • September 10, 1997 O The Battalion PINION Eaj ain^t nuthm , but a hound doe st nine ol their las ieveille grave site controversy complicated by irrelevant debate, discussions s offense collapsei uilf against theCa; missed was wide ny Miller, who pi® awns before he i tight hamstring, as working om day at Valley Rai ( the Cowboys had g to be a day-to-; in,” Switzer said. l| pulled hamstrinj j when he mightj ig just tightensup[ o Bowl player; g in this league! cnows his hodybtj y.” o caught a touchtkJ l Pittsburgh inj is stretch thedefef heat off Michael Inf! n’t play, Billy Davis,) lie third receiver! it much practiced iwitzer said. "Hei \ h, the grand ol’ traditions of the na n’s finest univer- y: the 12th Man, practice and e Fightin’ Texas gie Bonfire. But, ’s not forget dear d Reveille, our loved American llie mascot, who is given frustrat- alumni nothing Jamie Burch sports writer etter to do than waste our valuable Jne over a few deceased canines and }e planned Kyle Field expansion. Lets face it. It doesn't take a rocket [ientist to realize the mutts are dead, in six-feet under. They have all bat- ;d the Grim Reaper and lost. How in you expect Reveilles I-IV to watch ke Aggies battle on Kyle Field when ^ey have ceased to breathe? Even if the dogs were living, their ■resight would not he good enough to se e the scoreboard. The field is 140 1 fcrds from the north endzone to the 1 1^ Usioreboard. Back the dogs up another , J.ClUl\>y ards to dle former grave sight, and ■ would be impossible for them to see i s cautious apprdt 6 length of the field, even with the injury. lew Sony Jumbotron in place. If you /e want todotherpn’t see the scoreboard, it is difficult ig extra precauti P keep up with the game. ■ Assuming the dogs could watch, lat repeated coaMiey would have rolled over in their nt brain damage ipves with the way the Aggies played nit startingrooki Mst season at home. A 3-3 record with nd straight wee; losses to the University of Colorado, :up. Reserve quaflansas State University and Texas Tech ;ken bone in hisjniversity would’ve had the bitches estionable thisw* rst rookie to stan cisco since Joe id unflappable ini hful mistakes. He 1 including a 25-y 'tokes. He was iml tossing and turning in their eternal resting place. So why does it truly matter if Wally Groff and the administration decided to give the old mascots a new home? They have been relocated adjacent to Cain Hall where they can give the ath letes support and encouragement on a daily basis. The athletes in return can now pay daily homage to their fallen friends. Prior to the move, the burial plots rested next to the Eternal Flame only to be visited on game day. And did the flustered alumni, who ought to move to a retirement village in Florida and leave the rest of the known world alone, actually think a few petition letters and phone calls would reverse the decision to move the burial plots? If there is one thing the alumni should have learned about Texas A&M during their college days is that the university is a business. The institution operates for the sole purpose of making money. Any uni versity that would build a toll booth on campus is in it for the profit. It is all about the bottom line. So why would the administration scrap the costly expansion plans for a couple of decayed canines? Before all the die hard Aggies call for an end to the ravings of a stark raving lunatic, I do realize the symbolic meaning behind allowing Rev to join the crusade of the 12th man in support of the Aggies battle on the gridiron, also known as Kyle Field. At the same time you must realize how insane it is for a bunch of spirited graduates to rant and rave over one negative aspect of a stadium expansion which will only add to the unequaled experience of watching a college football game in Aggieland, Home of the 12th Man. Just consider how much more memorable the experience will be with an added 8,000 Aggies packed into the confines of the newly remodeled facilities. In the spirit of compromise, I and a group of arbitrators have devised a so lution that takes into consideration both parties wishes. Move the dogs back to the original site and build the new deck with luxury boxes over the dogs. The mob used the same solution for former Teamsters Union President Jimmy Hoffa. FJoffa is now a season ticket holder of the New York Giants and a permanent resident at the Meadowlands. If it’s good enough for the Italian Mafia, it must be good enough for Aggieland. Jamie Burch is a senior speech communications major. Mariucci said, i ‘xperience. The nl ;ity to play, he shol retch Mascot problems resolved by introducing a mutt successor T lace Mariners. ie 15th different maj 50 home runs in a lat has been accoi ies overall. It has be rs in a row— McGv derson did it in 1! lie did it in 1995-i i histoiy. No. 50 on Sundi the fastest to real :e Maris and Mid in 1961. meanwhile, is again this season.! akland before bell .ouis on July 31,%, 14 more. At the tie the Cardinals bt james left than d ing McGwire a If at Maris. >1 or more will tali tches. Which Grf londay night, mut mt of the KansasCi Dered for him rath ds. ie circumstances, Griffey said. “Ever o see the homerui a big thing for basi , B ot a couple of grjC ampus organizations m thing thats In response to Dan Cone’s September lwhlIe - Icolumn: I Fraternities have the option to |/eed out the “different” folk, and ney exercise this option more of- than not. Instead of a bizarre tossed salad of buddies and co- JOHN Lemons columnist I here she was on Satur day, the First Lady of Aggieland, prancing around Kyle Field, barking at the Sam Houston State University football players, and making herself known. With the beginning of the fall semester and football season, Aggies are being reacquainted with their beloved mascot Reveille. The current incarnation, Reveille VI, has graced the University since November ’93. While Reveille VI is a recent addition to Texas A&M, it is never too early to start planning for the future. When the time comes to find a new Reveille, the dog chosen to be the next Universi ty mascot should be a mutt. Obviously many Aggies will balk at making the next Reveille a mutt. After all, the single- most dominant force at A&M is inertia, the re sistance to change. But a mixed-breed Reveille is an idea whose time has come. First, mixed-breed dogs are less prone to the genetic problems that plague pure-bred dogs. Although the limited gene pool available to breeders who breed full-blooded dogs preserves the desirable characteristics of a breed, it also preserves undesirable genes. Reveille VI, herself, suffers from epilepsy, which she inherited through her parents. Fortu nately, her disorder is kept under control through medication. According to Jeff King, the commander of company E-2, Reveille VI takes phenylbarbitol for her epilepsy and has not suffered a seizure since November ’96. If the dog chosen to be Reveille VII is a mutt, however, it is unlikely that she too will suffer from a genetic disorder. There is some precedent for making Reveille VII a mutt. While the last four Reveilles have been inbred ... er, pure-bred American Collies, the original Reveille was a mongrel. Legend has it that the original Reveille was hit by a group Aggies who were driving through Navasota. The cadets brought the little black and white colored dog back to campus where she soon became miss, Reveille, ma’am. A mixed-breed Reveille would provide A&M with a tangible tie back to OF Army days. As A&M is a place that is obsessed with its past, a mutt would be a friendly reminder of days past. Moreover, a mutt Reveille would be a market ing coup. Each year thousands of Reveille T-shirts and stuffed animals are sold to an adoring public. The publicity A&M would receive from changing Reveille’s breed would generate statewide, if not nationwide, attention. Children of former students across the nation would clamor for their very own stuffed Reveille. As A&M is an institution which embraces di versity, adopting a mixed-breed Reveille would communicate a positive message about A&M’s commitment to accepting differences. The current line of Reveilles only supports A&M’s stereotype as an inbred, homogeneous place. A mascot of mixed-heritage, however, would emphasize that A&M is willing to pursue diversity in every aspect of its existence. Perhaps the best reason to trade out Reveilles, however, is the example of communi ty service A&M would provide. By adopting a mutt from a local animal shelter to be the next Reveille, A&M will be saving the life of a dog. Besides, adopting a dog from an animal shelter is a bargain. Kathyrn Bice, the executive director of the Brazos Animal Shelter, said that the shelter’s adoption package is worth over $150. “It [adopting a dog] costs $65 and includes a neuter, the first vaccination, worming, a two- week health warranty, a leash and coupons for free grooming.” Surely, some alumni is willing to fork out $65 to buy the next Reveille. Sixty-five dollars is well worth the price of keeping a dog from be ing euthanized. The reign of the Lassie-dogs at A&M is com ing to an end. Making the next Reveille a mutt makes too much sense to ignore. While A&M hears little resemblance to the school it was 60 years ago, a mixed-breed Reveille is just the in fusion of‘Ol Army that this school needs. Besides, if Aggies are willing to paint their Fish Pond purple, changing Reveille should not be too traumatic. John Lemons is an electrical engineering graduate student. Mail Call Aggies first’ details horts, they find people who act, think, dress and look just like the rest of the fraternity members. Homogeneity may be good for unity and such, but it’s not the Ag gie way. People can spout off about how all Aggies are alike, but the fact is that those who are in volved with the different legiti mate facets of “Aggiedom” are an swering to only one standard: School Pride. Although the different sects of the on-campus cultures have their little disputes and rivalries, they are unanimous in their belief that all things aside, being Aggies is what matters — not just Aggies first (as A&M’s greatest living oxy moron, the Aggie Greeks put it), but Aggies, period. The rest is just something to keep us busy. I ask everyone; to consider his or her own response to this situation: An organization that makes a point to look down on everything you stand for has set up camp at a nearby location for recruiting pur poses. Would you let the group go about its business unhindered? You can rest assured that the Corps of Cadets wouldn’t look kindly upon non-regs setting up a tent in the Quad, encouraging its fish to quit and come live in a dorm. Fraternities wouldn’t allow an “informational display” in front of their respective houses detailing the evils of Greek life. I hope next time Cone will step around his arrogance and his narrow views before he starts an other column. Brent Ruple Class of'97 Accompanied by 22 signatures AtlJ^CMSTtTUTro^ Cynical students give A&M reputation of bad attitudes I Chris Huffines columnist "t’s the sec ond week .of class. By now, the effects of Fish Camp have worn off and reali ty has set in. The fresh men now understand that we’re all going to die; die or rot our lives away in a three by three box, squished in with other cubicles tighter than Amnesty International would al low in the most squalid third world death camp. Why is this? Why do we all basically mistrust human nature, looking for the knife in the back rather than the hand extended in friendship? It is because we are cynics. This wave of cynicism could be traced to a number of causes. No one says “howdy” anymore. No one uses turn signals. Beer no longer tastes great, it’s just less fill ing. Campus bicycle riders seem to get extra points for pedestrians. The Oilers moved to Tennessee. Or, maybe, it’s because we have become so wrapped up in our own lives, that what is happening to us is that we just don’t care enough about each other to do the little things that make life better. Admittedly, not using turn sig nals will not bring about the kind of post-apocalyptic freeway gun- battle we all wish John Wayne and Lee Marvin had starred in movies about. The AAA Gestapo will not come haul you away for not sig naling a lane change. Signaling lane changes and turns, however, reduces accidents, lowers the col lective blood pressure of drivers around you and is polite. But there is no real incentive to use them either, except for reduction of the anarchy we call driving in College Station. I have to admit that the world won’t end because students don’t say “howdy.” Some black and ma roon ArchAggie of Death will not come swooping down from Heaven to rain 50 million volts of penance on two-percenters everywhere. But, as the Mail Call whines with alarming regularity, saying “howdy” does make other people’s day that much better. It gives them a ray of sunshine to know that the student body has at least one per son who is not wrapped up in his or her own selfish world. Admit tedly, there is no real incentive to saying “howdy.” You would just have to do it because you are an all-around good person. And, bicycle riders aren’t all de ranged Hell’s Angels wannabes. There are kind, considerate people who ride bicycles. Actually, there are quite a few. The rest seem to think that the large distance be tween classes entitles them to per form hit and run atrocities with a fervor not seen since the IRA and PLO were in direct competition. Despite this, there will be no pedestrian-led revolution, where bicycle riders are guillotined and their vehicles of pain melted into a giant sculpture of our victory. Bicy cles will not be banned from cam pus. Again, only goodness of char acter and a desire to help your fellow man offer any incentive to act differently. This cynicism has to stop. The fact is no one on this campus seems to think that doing a good deed for its own sake is worth it. If students don’t do anything un less there is something benefi cial in it for them, why should others expect anyone else to act any differently? Aggies are said to hold to a higher standard, to be a cut above the rest, at least that used to be the description. “OF Army” doesn’t just mean earlier, it also represents a time when all students cared. It represents a time when things were better because students chose to make them better, not be cause there was some tangible benefit for themselves. Cynicism will not destroy Texas A&M, but it will turn the University into a cold er, darker place for us all. Chris Huffines is a sophomore speech communications major.