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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 1998)
iday • April 24, 1998 The Battalion \MPUS CONNECTION )irty dancing kheduling Kyle Field Concert to coincide with Ring Dance shows lack of consideration Mickey Saloma columnist Jmething stinks Aggieland. It ■ the lack of isideration of ers of the adminis- ition that stinks, fese members are iponsible for a ip in the face to jstlidents of the sssof'98. first ever ncert at Kyle Field Jen scheduled the same night as Se- Jing Dance with no consideration Ito either the concert-goers or those ;eBing the dance. ■mst be admitted that the proceeds the concert will benefit the Boys & Girls J of Brazos Valley, the Harvey Little e and the Still Creek Boys & Girls lies. The concert is supporting a no- ■use, and helping the area commu- fsless fortunate is important, however ,gan excellent Ring Dance is also Important, to disrespect to the charities, but this lilcert could have been scheduled at an- Itime. In order to maximize the pro- 1 for these organizations, it makes ■ to have this concert before summer I, but not on this weekend. is concert should have been sched- on the Friday of Parent’s Weekend. could have had the concert followed dnight Yell. It would have bolstered the attendance for Yell and made A&M look that much better to the parents. Maybe it should have been scheduled on the Saturday before the last three days of finals. There is no better way to blow off some stream than to listen to three obscure country stars play their lame, “I am not quite George, Garth or Reba” songs. Believe it or not, I am a fan of country music, but I am not a fan of anybody ruin ing an event that I have been looking for ward to for four years. One of the concerns of the two events scheduled at the same time is that the loud music coming from Kyle may inter fere with the Ring Dance. Athletic Director Wally Groff said that he “couldn’t imagine [the noise] being a problem.” However, those of us in touch with real ity know that concerts tend to be on the loud side. I have heard the sounds of concerts from Wolf Pen Creek on campus. Does Groff really think that music from across the street will not be heard? Will the these three so-called country superstars be playing an acoustic set? Ring Dance is a great Aggie tradition. Aggies take serious pride in earning their rings. It is an all-star day when an Aggie receives his or her ring and after receiving it, most people look forward to attending their Ring Dance. I am not all too enthused about Ring Dance itself, but I am never really enthused about spending 60 bucks in one day. All I want is the picture. I want a picture of me in my senior boots with a ring on my finger with a beautiful woman inside the giant Aggie ring. Again, that has been something that I have looked forward to four years. I do not want to spend all that time in line to get this picture taken listening to people complain about the loud music. Furthermore, I don’t want to listen to any unwanted noise from a miserable concert taking place across the street. This is no way to spend a Ring Dance, especially when you have paid an arm and a leg to get in. The biggest concern of the scheduling conflict is the parking. There is no place for everyone to park except West Campus. I can just picture hundreds of women in expensive dresses trotting half a mile over train tracks to get to the dance. This problem could have been avoided if people would have just been more consid erate. Why couldn’t this concert be held at the new Reed Arena? Let’s get our money’s worth on that big, over-priced gymnasium. The fact remains that at a university as large as ours, scheduling conflicts occur all the time; however events as large as those occurring the night of Ring Dance should be spread out. This University is for the students and the officials should be a little more considerate to us. Mickey Saloma is a senior journalism major. ERSPECTIVES 1 olor-blindness” stands as a euphemism for allowing racism rsthe quintessential gray :ea— race and its correla- ion to achievement. As a na- , we struggle with sweeping [eralizations and predeter- led judgments every day. Ide- | we should achieve a level of ir-blindness, where skin Ides and heavy accents lildn’t matter in the least. I. AmatfBvever, those utopian condi- Jr fortes do not exist, and it seems |gfasite®btful that they ever will. i\host of laws have been en- Iteamcoi frtd to resolve the differences people see when only Iciniei Bicing the color of skin. Affirmative action came aa, shf lout in this way; it was something that was sup- leeker L et i to bring forth the end of lily-white school envi- canuiii'Bments and boardrooms. psaid-Wutas the nation’s mentality changed, affirmative Itensin »on became the scapegoat of politicians and radio fgressis 5 ] Beverly Mireles columnist talk-show hosts. And although criticism abounds still, no solution has been reached. Affirmative action is being denounced in many states, rulings against it have already been handed down in Texas and California. A new case against it is taking place in Michigan, where two students have filed a federal dis crimination suit against the University of Michigan. Judicially speaking, it all comes down to this: what is worse — denying a student access to a school be cause of color, or denying a school’s community of color because of test scores? This question, in broad terms, is what Hopwood v. The State of Texas attempted to answer. There are no easy answers when it comes to race, but the final rul ing in 1996 declared that “The University of Texas... and its officers... are hereby enjoined from taking into consideration racial preferences in the selection of those individuals to be admitted as students at the University of Texas School of Law.” TWo years later, the ruling is still being protested. Only two weeks ago, students in Austin protested outside of Attorney General Dan Morales’s office, demanding an appeal of the anti-affirmative action ruling. This is because since Hopwood, the number of mi nority students accepted has dropped noticeably in only a short period of time. And though the state of Texas has enacted the “ 10 Percent” legislation, where the top ten percent of students at Texas public schools automatically gain entrance into state colleges and universities, minority figures are still dropping. It seems doubtful that the students will get their appeal. A judge threw out a bid by black and Hispanic groups to in tervene in the case just last week. And the injunction that the judge issued will probably not be pursued by AG Morales, although UT requested that he use the injunction to start a new appeal of the case. This is because Morales does not support the prefer ences that affirmative action sets forth, and neither does the Supreme Court. It’s an optimistic view he holds of the nation if he thinks that diversity will still prevail, even without af firmative action. He may say that he supports color blindness, but realistically, there is no such thing in this nation, no matter what laws are on the books. Terrible as it is, color has almost always been a fac tor. Saying that affirmative action isn’t right because it involves racial preferences is denying the fact that racial preferences for whites have flourished for years. And while Cheryl Hopwood and her fellow plaintiffs may celebrate the ruling, and pat each other on the backs for fighting for justice and equality, all they really did was start the regression of race relations in many facets of education and the nation. Racism isn’t only shown in lynchings and angry mobs. It is more practical, and effective, when it is shown in the absence of minorities. By supporting the end of affirmative action, many people are only allowing racism, in all its insidious ness, back into our lives, under the pleasing title of “color-blindness.” Beverly Mireles is a freshman microbiology major. AfWPUS CONNECTION |ey\vil] 1! j -3tocc kment. l&M offers students many religious choices John Lemons columnist ranee m. O inner, ^^sin- C/ner, f,” was the eard ss campus veekas the thatch of pus chersvisit- tmpus. group of men and women d in front of the Lawrence Sulli- Ross statue and attempted to uade students to repent from an idea many Aggies support. Jnfortunately, the manner in Ar the preaching was done not well received. Several anting matches erupted he rn students and the preachers, a fact, any time an Aggie dis ced with these evangelists, it tlted in the student being d adulterers, fornicators and i masturbators. Aggies do not need to be sed by ill-mannered campus iches. Moreover, Aggies should irepared to act effectively the time angry, abusive speakers ie to insult students. 'tudent response to these achers was not particularly ef- ive. While trading insults with preachers may have been little was accomplished. Part of being prepared for the next time these preachers come, is understanding what they were preaching. The ideas being preached out by the Academic building last week are not new. In fact, they are nearly 1,600 years old. They are known as Pelagian- ism, which is based on the teach ings of Pelagius, an early fifth cen tury priest. Pelagius claimed that there is no such thing as original sin and that man can live a com pletely sinless life by his own self- determination. The Catholic church declared this theology heresy. Further more, these are ideas that no mainline Christian denomina tion endorse. So, in reality, these preachers spoke a message that few have taken seriously over the last 16 centuries. It is interesting that these old and little-held ideas could rear their head on campus to upset so many people. Indeed, although the crowds around these speakers contained many vocal atheists and Chris tians, nobody seemed particularly pleased with the message. Regardless of the content of these preachers’ messages, their very appearance begs the question: Does A&M need reg ular visits from itinerate cam pus preachers? Probably not. A&M is one of the most over churched places on earth. If one wants to be religious, A&M is the place to be. Aggies have their choice of numerous Bible studies on any day of the week. There are nearly as many Christian organizations and min istries on this campus as there are students. Aggies can join Aggie Sisters for Christ, Brothers Under Christ, Campus Crusade for Christ or Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. If they want a group affiliated with a denomination, they can go to Baptist Student Ministries, the Catholic Students Association, the Wesley Foundation or United Campus Ministries. If a student wants to speak with somebody who really knows their religion, there is a campus pastor, priest or rabbi available at All Faiths Chapel every Mon day through Thursday between 1 and 4 p.m. Now, this column is not meant to criticize A&M’s numerous min istries but to point out how many there are. A&M needs another campus ministry like it needs an other fee increase. It is already blanketed by both. So, if A&M already has an active and effective campus ministry in existence, what do these vagabond campus preachers want? Most likely, what they want is at tention. In the case of last weeks preachers, this motivation ex plains a lot. It explains why these preach ers were so quick to resort to ugly name calling. Ugly scenes always draw a crowd. If attention is what these preachers want, it is the one thing students cannot afford to give them. Next time these ill-mannered preachers appear, students should just ignore them. From their last visit, it appar ent that these speakers have nothing to contribute but spite and strife. Aggies should not al low them the opportunity to ac complish even that much. Aggies do not need to pay at tention to angry and abusive campus preachers. There are plenty of legitimate ministries at Aggies disposal. Student should support these ministries who give to A&M year after year, rather than gratifying the rantings of come-and-go campus preachers. Now, if Aggies had as many choices in parking spaces as they do ministries, then perhaps A&M really would be heaven on earth. John Lemons is an electrical engineering graduate student. MAIL CALL Abiding laws of traffic is necessary for all Manisha Parekh might just want to travel to Los Angeles to see what life is like without pedestrians and bicyclists. As a transportation engi neering major, I have heard the stories about the California commute, two hours each way by car because the congestion is just that bad. In the case of Los Angeles, walking, cycling and transit were not priorities for the resi dents and thus they have built freeways up to a point such that they are unable to drive without sitting in lines of traffic. It is important to note that the pedestrians and cyclists that Manisha calls “unnecessary traf fic dangers” are important be cause they are not spewing pol lution or causing traffic congestion like people in their vehicles are. I do agree with her plea to pedestrians and bicyclists to use facilities where they are provid ed, i.e. the crosswalk for pedes trians and bike lanes (on the cor rect side of the street) for cyclists. But the statement that “paved streets were actually created for cars” is not only shortsighted but also incorrect as described by Texas laws. With or without bike lanes on the street, cyclists are allowed to use streets as vehicles and have their own set of rules to abide by. I will agree that many cyclists on campus do not obey the rules, but that does not mean that those who do obey the rules should be asked to get into our cars for our commute to school or work. With the Bike to Work Day on May 1st coming up, I would sug gest that all Aggies revisit the mode of transportation they use to get to work or school and should one choose to bike or walk, to obey the traffic rules as a bicyclist and pedestrian so we can all coexist equally. Peter J. V. Koonce Graduate Student Class of’98 The Battalion encourages letters to the ed itor. Letters must be 300 words or less and in clude the author’s name, class, and phone number. The opinion editor reserves the right to edit letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters may be submitted in person at 013 Reed Mc Donald with a valid student ID. Letters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111. Campus Mail: 1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: batt@unix.tamu.edu For more details on letter policy, p/ease call 845-3313 and direct your question to the opinion editor.