onday • October 20, 1997
O The Battalion
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in technology eme on of letter writing, rep lore pcrsonol sentiment with electronics
Dave
Johnston
columnist
he new
media
revolu
tion
has
made
com-
__ munication easier and
j—“7r>=»brought the whole world
closer together. Of course,
communication is also
more frivolous, less novel
and outright mundane.
No matter what new fea
tures are invented, nothing is as special as the
old-fashioned letter, and students should re
vive this ancient art form.
Technology^ has brought down long-distance
phone rates and made video-conferencing a real
ity for anyone with a connection to the internet
and the right batch of software. Yet when it is so
simple to send a message to the other side of the
world, people pay less attention to the content.
It is wonderful that anyone can pick up the
phone and “chat” with a friend for several
minutes, but once they hang up, the experi
ence is gone. There is no record of the conver
sation — just fading memories and an im
pending phone bill.
Letters, however, allow both the sender and
receiver greater expression. Phone calls do not
come on colorful stationery, carry handwritten
greetings or have doodles in the margin.
Someone who gets a letter can cherish it,
reread it, frame it or burn it. Options not avail
able with a phone call.
As the art of letter writing fades, writing
skills are degrading as well. Any writing in
structor will say the best way to improve writ
ing ability is to practice. Most Americans, how
ever, have no opportunity to write anything
longer than a yellow sticky note. Term papers
are becoming shorter and less common, and
high school students are balking at the new es
say portion of the PSAT.
E-mail — often called a replacement for tra
ditional mail — is usually sloppier than letters.
Even professional e-mail tends to be riddled
with typographical errors and poor grammar.
The simplicity of the medium has allowed
users to be less careful.
Few people quickly jot out a letter. Since it is
a permanent document, writers try to weed
out major mistakes and sometimes use ancient
tools like “rough drafts” and “rewrites.”
Phone calls carry the “sound of your voice”
miles away, but a well written letter carries a
much more personal message. Handwriting
quickly conveys the writer’s mood: harsh bold
strokes show anger, flowers dotting the i’s show
happiness. Letters can be sweetly scented,
smudged or sealed with a kiss.
With just a little more effort than a phone
call or e-mail, letters convey a much more sin
cere and unique message. Thousands of sub
tleties work to communicate the writer’s heart.
Everyone has experienced the anticipation
of watching the mailbox for an expected letter.
The cold fingers of technology can never pro
duce the same enthusiasm.
The electronic packets of ones and zeros
produced by e-mail are terribly sterile and im
personal. E-mail is more of a memo than per
sonal communication. Often the only “signa
ture” is a record of the computer that
originated the message. It hardly conveys the
same feel as a handwritten note.
College students have plenty of excuses to
write letters. Aggies should take a moment
while they are slouching in front of a television
and write someone a note. Family members
living in other counties, those favorite high
school teachers, friends back home or younger
siblings would love to get even a short letter. It
costs only an envelope and a thirty-two cent
stamp, but it will be around for a while.
Each generation has an assortment of let
ters from their college students. The themes
are always the same (“send money,” “we need
to talk about my English class” and “I met this
really great person”). Without letters, this gen
eration will have a hard time documenting
daily life for posterity.
Letters carry more of a person’s essence with
them. Crossed-out words, wrinkled pages or
tear stains all show a real connection with life.
For sentiment, sincerity, history and love, no
form of expression will ever compare with a
good ol’ letter.
Dave Johnston is a senior
mathematics major.
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^ — —-—
(shert stales
onfire coverage
irks responses
( "Aiul the King, so displeased
u th the news of the peasants’ un-
'tjexecuted the faithful messen-
uite f. 695: r‘ere the entire report had es-
p^d his lips.”
It is Friday, Oct. 17. As I arrive
Polo Fields, there already is
angible buzz, as the Bonfire
thful express their reactions to
3 publicity. A junior Red Pot ap-
oaches the group that just ar-
ed and chats for a few minutes,
he leaves, he shouts out, “Ex-
uck points for anyone who
, mes up with a good grode yell
)c?/6 Pgjode story about Mandy
$/.0Byh o > s ]y[ a ndy Cater?”
wsc: That bitch who wrote the
Jumn.”
•The trunk hasn’t arrived yet, so
iNTERMUn aroun d some more. Ner-
us |iots read, “F—k the Batt,” or
lick my dick, Batt.” One is even
>tered with clippings from the
’| edition: pictures of the con-
ktrsial pots, the “Bonfire of the
'ofanities” column heading and
,red ^ en a picture of Mandy Cater, po-
Stickbi
sitioned just above the phrase,
“Screw this bitch.”
One participant’s shirt reads,
“F—k Mandy Cater” on the front
and “She gives fellatio” on the
back. Some of the tamer ones use
sarcasm with phrases such as,
“Build the hell outta PC Bonfire.”
With its horn blaring the intro
to Hullaballoo, the truck arrives
and positions itself while the halls,
Corps units and other groups
crowd up alongside it. The same
Jerp who remarked about coming
up with a grode story runs along
the wall of people waiting for the
truck to be unloaded and screams,
“Alright! Who had their pots in The
Batt today?”
“Fie did!”
“Yeah, that was mine.”
“Great work. Good f—king s—t.”
As the truck is being unloaded,
a letter and petition form circu
late. After references to Martin
Luther King, Jr. and sociological
principles, the letter declares that
“foul language goes with Bonfire
like dirt, it just kinda happens.”
Within a few minutes, a rank odor
fills the air. I see a Red Pot de
lightfully using a chain to drag
through the grass the carcass of a
road-killed dog.
All of this retort from the same
group that was all smiles after The
Batt’s coverage of first cut, in
which record high numbers were
proudly boasted.
It seems then, that if The Battal
ion (or the University for that mat
ter) is not scratching Bonfire’s ’
back, then it must be sticking a
knife in it. In this particular in
stance, The Battalion’s articles and
the admonition from the Universi
ty simply have been the bearers of
bad news. They have held up a
mirror to the Bonfire crews; the
pictures and articles have forced
them to see themselves as others
do. And judging from their reac
tion, I don’t think they like what
they have seen.
Rather than accept the fact that
they may be responsible for their
own actions and the effects of
those actions, they have chosen
instead to slay the messenger.
Reacting like a spoiled child,
Bonfire has lashed out against
the authority figure for even sug
gesting that it may not be al
lowed to act without restraint. I
suggest that what restraint the
University places on Bonfire is
much less restrictive than that
placed on any other University
activity, and all too infrequent.
We would not tolerate this kind
of behavior from our other orga
nizations or offices, and we
should not tolerate it from Bon
fire. By its actions, Bonfire seems
to insist that it is somehow above
the expectations applied to the
rest of the University.
Bonfire’s status as one of the
University’s longest-standing tra
ditions does not grant it immunity
against poor judgment and crude
ness. If the Aggie Muster commit
tee ever attempted to display pro
fanity at any of its meetings or
functions, it would not be permit
ted for one day, let alone the years
that it has for Bonfire.
This community has been
scratching Bonfire’s back for too
long. Those who participate in
Bonfire are being given the privi
lege of being a part of something
larger than themselves.
Bonfire existed well before
they arrived, and with good stew
ardship, it will survive long after
they join the ranks of former stu
dents. So Bonfire can kill the
messenger, and the next and the
next. But there will always be an
other person to deliver the bad
news, another person to hold up
the mirror of truth.
How Bonfire chooses to deal
with this mirror will be the har
binger of its fate. It can either use
the opportunity for self analysis
to adapt to reality and survive, or
it can shatter the mirror and thus
face extinction in the vacuum of
decadent denial.
Adam Collett
graduate student
Cincinnati, OH
People who are offended by a
little profanity or sexual phrases
on Bonfire pots really need to get
thicker skin. The phrases claimed
to denote sexual harassment do
not seem to bother the women
who work to build Bonfire.
In fact, the only people it really
bothers are those who saw cover
age through The Batt and allowed
it to offend their Puritanical sensi
bilities. If you do not like it, do not
go out there. Those at Bonfire are
mature enough to handle a few
off-color phrases. They also have
the taste not to publish it and
make a big issue out of nothing.
There is no accounting for taste.
But it is also a helluva lot of fun. It
is a chance for the school-wearied
students to get out, put in some
hard work and build a giant monu
ment to their tremendous amount
of school spirit.
People are dirty, smelly and a
little politically incorrect. So what?
When has Bonfire ever been about
decorum? It is a big, muddy con
struction site, manned by 18 to 22-
year-olds dedicated to producing a
giant, burning phallus.
And last time I checked, sex
was common among college stu
dents. Putting creative phrases on
a pot is not doing any harm. Be
sides, it is insulting to our intelli
gence to imply that a little writing
on a pot is going to change the
way we view sexuality.
What harm do these words im
ply? “Will work for fellatio?” What
is wrong with that? He is willing
to work for it, after all. “Don’t
want no short dick man.” She
knows what she wants and it is
her right to have her opinion and
be able to vocalize it.
And saying that the University
sanctions this behavior is as
ridiculous as allowing Southerland
and Bowen to be sued for hazing. I
also have severe doubts that hav
ing the word “dick” on a helmet is
going to affect our status as a
“world-class” university.
And as far as offending the
alumni, Bonfire receives a great
deal of support from Old Ags,
many of who can tell you stories
that would dwarf anything that
goes on in the litigious, PC 90s.
Loosen up some. If you let this
bother you, then you do not have
enough to worry about in your
life. The only thing separating holy
words from complete bulls—t is
your perspective. There is nothing
wrong with a culture where every
one has a different opinion on
what is humorous. I do not ever
want to live in a banal, defanged
Quaker land where freedom of
speech is usurped in order to
avoid offending anyone.
And The Battalion is guilty of
making a sensational mountain
out of a molehill. Seriously, who
cares? I think the staff just wanted
an excuse to put the word “cunt”
not once, but twice in their pages.
I, like most Ags, will be out there
to watch it burn, and I do not care
that the hard hats the builders
wore had profanity on them.
Travis Stiba
Class of'97
accompanied by 12 signatures
In response to the Oct. 17 Bonfire
columns:
While I appreciate the sensibili
ties of the writers, it is obvious that
they never participated in Bonfire.
Cater is right in stating that
“people’s right to express them
selves should be preserved.”
Both the participants and the
observers of Bonfire are adults
with freedom of expression.
The pots that they wear are pri
vate, not university property, and
any sentiments put on them are
solely expressions of that individ
ual. Phrases like “68-1 owe you
one” are meant to be amusing, not
offensive, and certainly do not fall
under the legal definitions of ei
ther profanity or harassment.
Please see Mail Call on Page 10.
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stitution of teaching should be upheld by students, professors
ecently the
political en
vironment
h$re at Texas A&M
h$s become more
more heated.
// This tone has be
come one of conti
nence at other
schools as well
land the incident
e and uproar sur-
Len
Callaway
columnist
rounding Profes
sor Graglia’s remarks at UT’s Law school
Only go to prove the point,
In years past, tenure would have pro-
^ Vided blanket protection for professors
from the incensed mobs of students de-
panding a their jobs. Professors must
■ (have the same right to voice their opin
ion in the classroom that students have.
■ A professor cannot be expected to al
low a heated political debate to transpire
in their classroom without having the
ability to interject as everyone else in the
■ass does. Students are not excused from
Iheir position in class no matter how asi
nine their views might be and it seems a
little ridiculous that a professor might be.
No one had complained that he was a
poor professor, no one had claimed that
he did not do his job. He just made some
comments that upset a bunch of people
in our overly sensitive political world.
It seems that of late the heated politi
cal environment around universities has
shifted the classroom focus away from
education and onto the political correct
ness of a particular subject matter. The
Adventures of Tom Sawyer was just added
to the banned list because people lack
the maturity needed to broach a certain
subject matters in the classroom.
Students have demonstrated that they
will not tolerate a professor voicing per
sonal opinion on a global or national
matter, but will tolerate professors who
are more interested in tenure and re
search than they are in actually teaching.
As a pre-transfer student, I was
warned of professors such as this, profes
sors who made students’ lives more diffi
cult in order to be left alone to their re
search, etc. At the time, I was a little
reticent to believe that they existed to the
degree that I had been warned, but they
definitely do.
Professors owe it to themselves and
their students to remain loyal to their
profession, the subject that they teach
and the students whose lives they affect.
Professors who do not care about any of
the three are really a blight on the entire
educational system.
Recently, it came to this columnist’s
attention that a certain economics pro
fessor here at A&M announced to his
class in the early stages of the semester
that they should stop bothering him with
questions, that no one ever makes above
a C in his class and that this group of kids
was certainly not in a position to chal
lenge that precedent.
This professor is in good standing
with our university and will probably
receive tenure one day. Once that hap
pens, his job is secure and semester af
ter semester, classes of students will
have to face him.
This professor deserves to be dragged
out onto the grassy area beside Wehner
and beaten with a giant dry erase marker.
Professors such as this have no business
being in front of a class of students,
much less be in the position to have con
trol over their grades for the semester.
Why are some students so hell bent on
making everyone see the political world
as they see it, yet at the same time, place
such a low level of importance on them
selves that they will allow a professor to
speak to them with such indignation.
“Hey, talk to me any way that you want
but don’t you dare differ from me in the
political arena.”
No one had complained about
Graglia’s teaching methods, no one had
said that he was incapable of challenging
his students. No one even said that they
didn’t like the guy. Professors who behave
such as our beloved economics professor
are the ones who should be made to fear
for their jobs, not good professors voicing
their personal opinions — no matter how
asinine the opinion or theory might be.
A professor who demonstrates ani
mosity for his or her class and does not
exhibit a willingness to insure learning
during the class should be trounced out
of their position faster than a two-dollar
prostitute from church.
As students, we have come to this uni
versity to enhance our lives through edu
cation. But after all, education isn’t just
books and reading — it is also life and tri
al and error.
Good professors understand the trial
and error system and use it to their ad
vantage. They have the ability to present
material in such a way that the material
comes alive and suddenly it all becomes
more tangible. They will sponsor conver
sation and even debate about a particu
lar topic in an effort to encourage stu
dents to become self thinkers.
Excellent professors are few and far in
between, but they can truly be an invalu
able asset for students. The ramifications
that they can have on students can be
more far reaching than the immediate
future, and they should truly be appreci
ated for the job that they do.
Ten Callaway is a junior
journalism major.