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Heads up to hygiene
ampus cap wearers display unsanitary personal upkeep with hat apparel
hursday • September 18, 1997
O The Battalion
PINION
Donny
Ferguson
columnist
M old, mildew
and fungus
aren’t just
Taco Bell ingredients
anymore; they now
roam campus on the
filthy, unwashed
brims of ratty base
ball caps.
Dingy, dirty, crud-
dy hats may be the
only thing more
stomach-turning
than Victoria’s Se
cret’s “Janet Reno Collection.” In accor
dance with an unwritten, universally-un
derstood social contract, cap wearers have
a certain responsibility to their collegiate
counterparts to maintain a fresh and pleas
ant item of head wear.
Personal hygiene has never been a col
lege tradition. A secondary education often
becomes a four (or five, or six) year hiatus
from a daily appointment with Irish Spring,
and the use of Color-Safe Tide occurs with
the regularity of an Oakland A’s win.
Luckily lapses in hygienic ritual tend
not to seriously affect most items of colle
giate apparel, but baseball caps are a
unique item of clothing. Unlike shirts, they
are worn around the head, a part of the hu
man anatomy which tends to get as sweaty
and dirty as a Grateful Dead roadie.
But unlike their grime-attracting cousin,
underwear, caps are attention-getting
items worn on the outside of the body. Aud
given their around eye-level placement,
cap crud is more easily identifiable than
other laundry-related disorders, such as
sweat spots and week-old boxer funk.
Like high taxes and Kathie Lee Christ
mas Specials, cap crud hurts everyone.
From the owner of the afflicted apparel to
the disgusted classmate, down to the team,
fraternity or event embarrassed by the
grimy head wear, everyone suffers when
baseball caps turn an unsavory shade of
McNugget brown.
Given the widespread effects of dirty
baseball caps, it is only a matter of time be
fore Sally Struthers begins churning out a
tear-jerking series of “Fight Hat Grime” in
fomercials, urging viewers to send Clorox
and Cheer to needy students at the univer
sity of their choice. Owners of the soiled at
tire would then send their donor letters,
drawings and a picture of their freshly
washed “Gore 2000 - From the White
House to the Jail House” cap.
Whatever the remedy, something
must be done to stop the proliferation of
putrid caps.
The best course of action is to wash the
darn things. Toss them in with the darks
and let Maytag do all the work. Judging
from the condition of campus’ caps, most
seem to be permanently planted on indi
viduals’ heads, so their temporary removal
is understandably difficult.
However, the rights of students to at
tend classes free of moldy headgear is more
important than one’s ability to turn his or
her white “Texas A&M University Adminis
tration - As Seen on ‘60 Minutes’” hat a Kei
th Richards-like green.
With the ownership and display of a
baseball cap comes certain responsibili
ties, most importantly, to keep it clean
and presentable.
Donny Ferguson is a junior political
science major.
Block seating at football games isolates Corps from crowd
ash appeared simila
il 1996, when a plane
Commerce Secretary
wed into a mountain
>rm while travelinj
k, Croatia. Brown an
)ard were killed,
s I lalid Huskic said:
rokosko, a mountaii
hed above a lake,
y’s chopper crash. H
s, they clamberedd
four uniformed
ifth man from them
ion several explosioi
[her by fuel or amm
■vented anyonefron
; the helicopter, head
rs managed to sum
it 90 minutes after
Damir Jaganjacol
iwn of Fojnica saie
burned bodies —or
barred that only as
nnained.
urvivor’s clothes i
is doctors carried
stretcher, Jaganjacsi
S egregation is alive and
well at Texas A&M Uni
versity. This segrega
tion, however, isn’t being
enforced by Jim Crow laws,
but by the Athletic Depart
ment and the Corps of
Cadets.
With the start of the
1997 football season, the
members of the Corps of
Cadets are pulling tickets
together in block seating
during the first two Aggie
football games.
In an experiment that defies convention, the
entire Corps of Cadets is being grouped togeth
er on the first deck of Kyle Field next to the Ag
gie Band. Segregating the Corps at football
games is a mistake that alienates cadets from
other Aggies.
Absolutely, there is some merit to grouping
the Corps together at football games. The move
allows the Corps to present a unified front. By
standing, rooting and yelling together, the Corps
can stay secure in its homogeneity. The cost,
however, of building unity within the Corps out
weighs its benefits.
While grouping the Corps together may be a
John
Lemons
columnist
great spirit booster for members, it sends an
ominous message to the rest of the world. Lin
ing up all of the cadets together in one show of
force is reminiscent of the May Day parades
that used to occur in the former Soviet Union.
In these parades, the Soviets would parade
their troops, tanks and missiles to prove their
military might.
Although Aggies may occasionally yell
“Farmers Fight” at games, showing A&M’s mili
tary muscle is a bit too aggressive a signal for
Aggies to send at Kyle Field.
As if a militaristic demonstration isn’t
enough, placing the Corps on Kyle Field’s first
deck isolates the Corps from the rest of campus.
There is a friction that already exists between
the Corps and non-regs. The new seating
arrangement only exacerbates this situation.
There is a perception on campus that Corps
members consider themselves to be upper Ag
gies. That is, many believe the Corps thinks of
themselves as the truest Aggies of all.
This perception is only reinforced by com
monly-heard phrases that identify the Corps
as “keepers of the spirit” and “the heartbeat of
Aggieland.”
Football games were the only opportunity
during a semester that many non-regs had to
mingle with Corps members. During the game,
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nizable to 64,000
r a small planet”
towdy tradition
nakes A&M friendly
[i response to Mandy Cater’s Sept.
IS column, The Howdy Factor:
I Howdy! We, the founders of
Howdy Ags felt it was necessary
b clear up some misconcep-
ions Mandy Cater has about
>ur organization and what we
retrying to accomplish.
Cater states that “The Howdy
Council” is “an off-shoot of the
ver necessary Traditions
Council. First of all, the name of
lie organization is Howdy Ags,
lot Howdy Council.
Also, although we will team
ip with the Traditions Council
in some projects, Howdy Ags is
completely independent orga-
lization under the Department
»f Student Activities.
The goal of Howdy Ags is to
enew the Aggie spirit and ca-
naraderie of all Ags through
he reviving and maintaining
if the howdy tradition on our
ampus.
We plan to do this in fun
Mvays without making any Ag-
T ;ies feel uncomfortable or
Ti! hreatened by the word
“Howdy.”
We are not going to be shov
ing howdy down the throats of
anyone as the cartoon im
plied. We would love to see
everyone on campus take part
in the tradition, but we realize
each person has their own
choice.
Cater also stated that “some
traditions are in need of
change” and “howdy is dying for
a reason.”
Although we agree that some
traditions are in need of change,
we feel that the howdy tradition
is the one that makes A&M the
friendliest campus in the world.
Without howdy, A&M would be
just like any other campus, cold
and impersonal.
We could not leave this uni
versity without doing some
thing to save a tradition that we
feel is so important.
We want to thank the other
Aggies that have voiced their
support for the howdy tradi
tion. We encourage you to con
tinue to say howdy and help
“save the word.”
Let’s come together and
make sure that Texas A&M Uni
versity remains the friendliest
campus in the world for all fu
ture generations of Aggies.
Whoop!
Pat Moran
Class of ’98
Chris May
Class of’98
Joe Forman
Class of’98
Freshman opinion
absent from story
In response to the Sept. 12 news
story “Corps halls provide housing
for civilian women":
I am writing this in response to
the above mentioned article. I en
joyed the article, however, a few
things puzzled me. I realize that this
is a news article and not an editorial
opinion, but I believe this writer
could have been more inquisitive.
First of all, not one freshman girl
living in Kiest or Spence was inter
viewed, only upper classmen, one
being a resident advisor. The ma
jority of residents living in these
dorms are freshmen, correct?
Also, five guys were interviewed
and only two girls. I myself am
one of many freshmen girls living
in Kiest, and think that our opin
ion should have been asked.
Personally, I love living on the
Quad. The landscaping is beauti
ful, and I can see the sunset to
the west of Kyle Field every night.
Opinions and statements were
given in the article and I think
those people should know some
things. Karie Fehler wrote that
Kenny Jones “approves of women
living on the Quad” and Kyle Bet
ty was quoted as saying, “...I real
ly think the Quad should be the
Corps’. The whole Corps should
live together.”
Do Kenny and Kyle realize
that we had no choice in the mat
ter and that we were all put here
on overassignment? However, I
won’t get started on the unfair
ness myself and others have been
asp
a cadet could stand next to a non-reg and sing
“We are the Aggies, the Aggies are we.” Now,
though, unity among ail Aggies has been sacri
ficed for unity within in the Corps.
If unity among cadets is the paramount con
cern for the Corps, perhaps the entire Corps
should be transferred out to the Riverside Cam
pus. The Corps could live and take all of their
classes out there. Then, the Corps would never
have to interact with the rest of campus.
Jim Kotch, athletic ticket manager, said 1,972
first deck tickets were sold to Corps members
and their guests between Monday and Friday
before the Sam Houston game.
“We had second deck tickets on freshman day
[Thursday], which is very unusual,” Kotch said.
“Corps members were out of the second and
third decks.”
The Corps’ exodus off of the second and third
decks should be commended on one account -—
no shaded seats were allocated to the Corps. The
Corps generously left these seats open for other
students. This, however, does not change the
fact that the Corps is occupying the prime real
estate of the first deck.
Whether or not these are the best seats in
Kyle field is questionable. What is undeniable,
though, is that there is a demand for these
seats. Many Aggies will go their entire football
watching career without making it down to the
first deck.
Moreover, cadet freshmen who would have
been relegated to the third deck are sitting in
seats that previously only seniors could hope
for. Upperclassmen who were once guaranteed
a spot on the second deck will now find them
selves making the long haul up to the third deck.
Fortunately, the new seating arrangements
are not set in stone. The block seating will be
evaluated after this week’s game against the
University of Southwestern Louisiana to decide
if the move is permanent.
The solution to the seating situation is simple
—- if the Corps insists on sitting together, they
can sit in the less than desirable horseshoe or
third deck, rather than cheating loyal fans out of
the first deck seats they deserve.
However, if the Corps leadership is really in
terested in unifying the student body, they
won’t deign to sit among the other students.
Segregation in the name of Aggie spirit is still
segregation.
After all, anyone who has ever read the letters
in the end zones of Kyle field knows Aggies is
spelled A-G-G-I-E-S, not C-O-R-P-S.
John Lemons is an electrical engineering
graduate student.
given in the matter of student
housing. Also, Jonathan Dancy
was quoted as saying, “It’s nice to
see girls, but some of them have
signs in their windows saying,
‘Want a date?’ They put their
names and phone numbers on
these signs.
It seems kind of desperate to
me.” Jonathan forgot to mention
that the first floor of Kiest (the
Corps staff floor) had a dry erase
board with the exact same thing.
That seems kind of desperate to
me, not the mention all the run
ning around some cadets do on
campus to find dates 48 hours
before Midnight Yell.
My point is that please get
both sides of the issue printed,
unless of course, it is an editorial
opinion. It does seem that both
sides are printed in this article,
until a freshman living in Kiest
reads it.
Monique Marrou
Class of '01