The Battalion
'Ufiday ‘January 30, 1998
lltip {
ECH TALK
•seai
loorc
eke:
aution: speed bumps
raising the Information Superhighway not without obstacles
J ave you ever been greeted by this
“>” symbol? For those who are not
active e-mail users, allow me to
lain that character’s significance,
ly of the programs people use to ac-
> their e-mail accounts automatically
one of these “right carrot” marks to
beginning of each line of any message
;ived from someone and forwarded on
omeone else. If that person forwards
message again, another mark is added
le beginning of each line. This process
tinues as the message is sent from
son to person until there is an annoy-
string of them like this:
WM
Adam
Collett
columnist
TJ
Ind'
br
it the beginning of each and every line. If you receive a mes-
2 thus adorned, then you are the proud recipient of a piece
onununication that has passed through approximately
,324 people before arriving at your virtual door.
Vfair portion of these forwarded e-mails seem to be humorous
ature. They include, “Three NEW Diity Jokes,” “ The Top 47
gicfricks Involving a Brown Colored Pencil,” “ You might be an
bian Knight If..“ Aggie Jokes Volume XEX,” and all of their
ants.
/Vhile slightly annoying at times, the funny e-mails seem to be
eral I y tolerated, probably because they allow college students
l office workers to appear to be hard at work on their comput-
when in fact they are goofing off. The real scourges, then, are
:rnet chain letters and their seemingly more palatable
>ugl i actually more misleading) cousins, Internet hoaxes,
nternet chain letters appear to be descended from conven-
\al mail chain letters. A chain letter used to arrive in your
bside mailbox with a message to the effect of: “You have been
tthis letter/note/greetingforluck/love/friendship. Please
il it to 3/20/437 of your closest friends,
f you do, then you will be rewarded with good luck/true
2/a new truck. If you don’t, then great
m/imisfortune/hangnails will fall on you. If you are Bill Clin-
, then three more people will testify against you.”
(have my own theory that these letters originated in and were
litated by the United States Postal Service in an effort to get
re people to buy obscure stamps like the “Classic Toaster” se-
.. However, these messages more likely started with a few losers
o wanted to demonstrate their ultimate power over the
iible. The same power-hungry lunatics likely brought the prac-
• to the medium of computers.
[nternet hoaxes, while still sent via the chain format, have the
litional component of appearing to be have some kind of le-
mate puipose. First, there are the virus hoaxes, with such
rn warnings as, “If you open an e-mail message titled ‘Indul-
it Grandmother,’ a virus will erase your hard drive, turn your
board pink, and triple the number of dust bunnies under your
l.” While still believed by many, media coverage has increased
public awareness that most of these warnings are shams.
Ahat has not received as much attention is a second variety,
olving sad stories about terminally ill children and charitable
tations. In these e-mails, a small child who is dying of cancer,
kemia or lung disease has a wish that a message of hope and
value of life be sent to as many people as possible.
\ slight variation contains the same story but with the pro-
on that some charitable organization receives three cents
eveiy person who receives the message. Apparently, some
)ple have nothing better to do than to sit around making up
y sad stories just to see how far their chain letter will go.
fhe e-mail like this that I’ve seen most frequently over the
it few years has been about a child named Jessica Mydek,
h the funding going to the American Cancer Society (ACS). I
contacted the Brazos County ACS about this chain e-mail
“fund raiser” last February. The response: “That is a complete
hoax.” As of October 1997, neither the ACS nor the American
Lung Association did any fund raising via chain e-mails.
While Internet providers and other technology-related ser
vices and organizations try to help spread the word about what
and what not to believe, the ultimate responsibility remains
with the user. Users need to be wary of the e-mails sent to them;
if there’s a chance that a letter is legitimate, then by all means
they should verify that by tapping into that agency or organiza
tion’s web site, or calling their 1-800 number. Users can also get
information about various Internet hoaxes and urban legends
at the following websites:
• http://www.urbanlegends.com/
• http://www.snopes.com/
• http://www.cs.wisc.edu/-msteele/virushoax.html
• http://kumite.com/myths/
• http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html
But, if they don’t have time to verify that the effort is legiti
mate, then they should not forward it, because they may end
up harming the legitimate fund raising activities by the organi
zations they are trying to help.
Computer users everywhere, including A&M students, need
to be more responsible about their e-mail usage. While those
who unknowingly forward false good cause chain letters deserve
some (but not much) slack for attempting to do the right thing,
evil-doers who crowd our in boxes with curses and blessings de
serve nothing but scorn. Regardless, both perpetrators need to
be better informed.
So take heed and share this information with nine of your
closest friends.. .or else.
Adam Collett is an educational administration
graduate student.
M
HI
#
lure
AMPUS CONNECTION
,/exas A&M misses “world-class” status
Jesse
Czelusta
columnist
lexas
A&M is a
world-
hp ss University.”
[gtri! There is likely no
ascTe oft-repeated
jjletirase in existence
a (This campus, un-
> we consider as
pett 2 category the
to Hess permuta-
/Uafas of “I/we/they
lams'going to the
L jv icken/Hall/Dud-
Lsp s/general Northgate vicinity to meet
Lc s/boys/people and to drink as much
• s3 j[iner/The Beast/Miller as my/our/their
[ a l pneys/liver/pancreas/bladder can han-
,53 -” While there appears to be no com-
iS tailing reason to examine the validity of
pj(f latter, rather self-evident, statement,
Ltf} past time for someone to be called on
L || carpet regarding the accuracy of the
pjojtner, more normative claim implying
fj rs tpt this University ranks amongst the
ifi pipmier institutions of higher education
the planet.
a What, then, are the characteristics of
oW vorld-class university,” and does
, ef f :as A&M satisfy the criteria that war-
fit such status?
'^1 will offer the following as an admit-
l ttef ly incomplete, yet essential, list of
1 ndards by which to gauge the success
‘ailure of Texas A&M:
[( j • Does this University produce gradu-
k| who are prepared to be leaders in
t|V r ir careers, as well as productive and
rts
teemed citizens in general?
g • Does Texas A&M provide an intellectu-
11 r challenging environment to students,
g h inside and out of the classroom?
' • Is Texas A&M a place that facilitates the
ation of new ideas and original thought?
011 With regard to the first criterion, Texas
M undoubtedly lives up to its renown
T supplier of the crucial b.s. component
of education. Through various activities,
offered by diverse groups ranging from the
Unicycling Club to Student Government,
Texas A&M provides students with the
ability to communicate, the opportunity
to improve teamwork skills and a pro
found sense of belonging to a community
that is larger than themselves. The tools
students acquire through extra-curricular
involvement are certainly a necessary
facet of a balanced educational diet.
It is at this point where the discussion of
leadership ends and consideration of in
tellectual issues begins Texas A&M’s suc
cess becomes much less clear. An honest
dose of introspection reveals Texas A&M
falls short of the “world-class” mark, par
ticularly with respect to the second and
third criteria listed above. In terms of its
status as an intellectual community, Texas
A&M is an unrepentant failure.
Although this University does not pos
sess a faculty on par with the Ivy League,
the University of Chicago or Berkeley, or
arguably even the University of Texas, the
blame for intellectual underachievement
does not rest primarily upon the shoul
ders of professors. Texas A&M’s faculty is
more than decent and continues to im
prove in many respects.
Culpability can instead be assigned to
students. Speaking in general terms, and
recognizing that there are exceptions to
every generalization the relative premi
ums students place upon various aspects
of their educational experience need to
be readjusted. The most significant
things in the minds of many Aggies are
not consistent with the establishment of
an intellectual environment and the de
velopment of a community where ideas
are challenged and thought occurs in
progressive fashion.
Students seem to be so preoccupied
with parties, drinking, dating, extracurric
ular activities, traditions, sporting events,
popular television shows, adherence to re
ligious or political ideologies that remain
largely unquestioned, etc. that there is
very little room for an intellectual culture
to develop amongst the clutter of stu
dents’ shallow pursuits. Learning, it would
seem, is something that takes place almost
exclusively in the classroom and on the
night before the exam.
If you remain unconvinced of this,
then accept this challenge:
Carry a notebook with you for a full
week and record in it the subject of every
conversation that you engage in or happen
to overhear. Review this list at the end of
the week. Notice the topics are as repeti
tive as asking how a friend’s break was or if
people like their classes. Notice how shal
low most conversations tend to be, revolv
ing ar ound similar events and circum
stances, seldom probing any truly new
ground. Notice also the scarcity of idea ex
changes, the infrequency witli which sub
stantive assertions are questioned, the
dearth of intellectual discourse.
Having performed a similar exercise
myself, I found the results quite discon
certing. It may be I am uniquely sur
rounded by buffoons or I am somewhat
shallow and prone to buffoonery myself,
but I did discover the dominant culture
at this University is bent upon insignifi
cant subject matter and never-ending
repetition of ideologies and thoughts
covered with the dust of age and wrin
kled with use.
It would be best, after cataloging
these old ideas, to leave them upon the
shelves of memory. This unfortunately is
not a common practice at this school,
and thoughts of a more forward-looking
nature are thus stifled.
Texas A&M is not a world-class Uni
versity. It will never be, unless we take it
upon ourselves to make it so.
Jesse Czelusta is a public service and
administration graduate student.
PERSPECTIVES
Liberal government
trend brings America
closer to socialist system
T he liberals are
coming, the lib
erals are com
ing, and in many cas
es they are already
here.
As a matter of fact,
the political environ
ment in the world’s
most powerful na
tion is more liberal
now than at any
point in history.
The problem with liberal political
policy is that it catches on and spreads
like a plague until the political state is in
such an anxious state of near-socialism
that eventually conservative policy must
be readopted.
The term “socialism” has always been
scary to Americans, but if one takes the
time to realistically and rationally analyze
the recent and not-so-recent proposals
and policies adopted by Democrats un
der the flag of the Clinton Administration,
socialism certainly seems to apply.
Recently, the Texas Comptroller and no
torious Democrat John Shaip, announced
a plan under which eveiy student who can
maintain an 80 average in a Texas high
school could receive one year of college tu
ition from the state for each year success
fully completed in a Texas high school.
The plan sounds great for students, but
here are a few things to think about: First,
what will a degree from a socialized Texas
higher educational institute be worth if
every kid in the state has one? The degree
would become the norm and would be
like a high-school degree is now. In other
words, this program will actually devalue
college degrees. Second, under a 1992 tax
code change made by Clinton, all scholar
ship monies are considered income and
are subject to taxation.
So as it appears, students would get
the money for college then be forced to
pay a federal income tax on the money.
Sharp’s plan benefits the students and
the federal government, but the plan
takes money from the State of Texas
without any consideration to the state.
When Clinton traveled to Brownsville
recently to talk about the importance of
education, he was accompanied by the lo
cal U.S. Representative. On the surface,
this seems to be normal political protocol.
That is, except for the fact Clinton
came to speak about education and its
importance while the representative,
Solomon Ortiz, is a high school drop out.
Ortiz was forced to take over a family
leadership role after the death of his fa
ther and received a GED in the Army, but
never felt strongly enough about educa
tion to get a college degree.
During the trip, Clinton said he planned
to institute an educational Individual Re
tirement Account (IRA) under which funds
could be withdrawn for educational pur
poses without being subject to taxation,
yet, in keeping with his 1992 change schol
arships are taxable as income.
Clinton and his band of liberal
schemers, philanderers, damage control
experts and doctors of deception have ef
fectively managed to contradict them
selves in almost every category of U.S.
politics, and now, just when it all seems
to be unraveling around them, the Amer
ican people get to look forward to anoth
er brilliant plan of evasive action from
the man with the “pocket veto to go.”
The examples are endless; most of
Clinton’s partners in the Whitewater
scam are behind bars, he and Hillary
were caught with over one hundred FBI
files, Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones and
now the intern-turned-Pentagon-em-
ployee on tape.
Clinton should have appointed leg
endary porn stars John Holmes, Ron Jere
my, Shannon Tweed and Jenna Jameson
to his Cabinet. Shannon Tweed and Jenna
Jameson could have been Attorney and
Surgeon Generals respectively and Ron Je
remy would have made an excellent Sec
retary of the Interior.
Between that group and Dick Morris,
Clinton could have had his own little
Nevada-style brothel.
Only the most militant and radical lib
eral will tell the truth about the ultimate
end of liberal political policy. The object
is to remove any semblance of a class
system from the United States. That is the
key behind the logic of the scholarship
and IRA policy discrepancy. Monies are
deposited into IRAs by parents and
grandparents who deserve a break be
cause they work hard, but scholarships
are provided by companies and wealthy
people giving endowments to their fa
vorite institutions. Simply because the
companies and wealthy philanthropists
are deemed “rich” and are alleged to be
living the “easy life”, the students who
benefit must pay the tax.
That is also the reason wealthy
Americans are financially punished for
controlling their own destiny and carv
ing out a place for themselves and their
families in our modern society. By fi
nancially punished, I mean of course,
that wealthy Americans are forced to
pay a much higher rate of tax than
those that have not invested the time
and drive necessary to become extraor
dinarily successful.
The liberal tax system, in effect, re
wards people with tax breaks for not
being successful.
America was founded at least in part
on the notion that people could live here
and become what ever they wanted to be
come. They could become as big as they
wanted to be, have the largest life possi
ble, but the environment has changed so
that those that really live the American
dream are vilified and portrayed as lucky
do-nothings who have everything
dropped into their laps. They are pun
ished by Clinton’s government.
Have we forgotten about the free enter
prise system and the notion of capitalism?
It is not up to the state to pay for higher
education. It is up to those that want a
higher education to be an entrepreneur
and find another way to pay for their edu
cation, or it is up to parents to take the
time and interest to make certain that
they can help their children with college.
Americans have become comfortable
allowing the government to do as it
pleases and are shocked by nothing.
They are not shocked by politicians
that use fifteen different lies to cover the
same truth.
They are being led around like dogs on
a leash by their government and their
president while the majority of citizens do
not care.
How pathetic.
Len Callaway is a junior
journalism major.
Len
Callaway
columnist
MAIL CALL
Democratic flyer offends,
capitalizes on scandals
As an informed student of political sci
ence at Texas A&M University, I find it ap
palling that a respected student organiza
tion such as the Texas Aggie Democrats
can in good feeling post an advertisement
for a meeting capitalizing off the troubles
of a young woman, Monica Lewinsky, to
recruit for their organization.
Lewinsky, in my opinion, has been
caught up in one of the worst scandals
facing the American presidency, and to
use her face as a recruitment technique
on this University is beyond reproach.
Not only is this an unprecedented ac
tion taken by a University organization,
it concerns me that there may be legali
ties involved concerning a numerous
amount of postings of someone’s pic
ture all over campus.
If Lewinsky was consulted first, I
withdraw my complaint, but if not, I feel
an apology should be issued on behalf
of your organization to this campus and
Lewinsky and her family.
Robert C. Ferguson
Class of’01
Negative attention ignores
organization’s contributions
The Southwestern Black Leadership
Conference is developed and organized
by A&M students dedicated to the ad
vancement of all student leaders. It has
freely provided this campus with oppor
tunities to experience dynamic speakers
such as Dr. Nai’m Akbar and Julian Bond.
SBSLC has developed programming
over the years that includes workshops,
networking opportunities with other stu
dent leaders, as well as exposure to lead
ing corporations through its career fair.
Besides the executive staff of current A&M
students, who work for a year prior to the
actual conference, SBSLC recruits over
100 A&M students to volunteer as hosts.
Please see Mail on Page 8.