iiay • April 28, 1998
> The Battalion
Opinion
Joe
Schumacher
columnist
tSPECTIVES
orts do not stand
s effective symbol
[racial harmony
■ Clinton recently held a forum on race
plations and sports in Houston. Sports is
fct the first thing l think of as an example
(■itiye race relations. In fact, the idea that
a positive example is somewhat laugh-
s
■ts is an area still riddled with stereo-
|verybody has heard them: White people
tter three-point shooters, although
mot dunk. Black athletes are faster and
gressive, however they do not make
arterbacks, and so on. Given that alone,
ardly seems like a prime example of
race relations.
i today, sports is seen as one of the few ways that minorities can
j success.
fever, their success is limited to the playing field. In the NFL,
The 30 teams, there are only three black head coaches. There is a
te of minorities in management positions. This “glass ceiling” of
[again tends to belittle the notion that sports are an example of
; race relations.
litionally the make up of the panel was rather laughable. The
bfll consisted of only one Hispanic, Felipe Lopez, a college bas-
jplayer, and only one female, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, an Olympic
jedalist. Now if the panel were to accurately represent minori-
Iports, it would have to be huge. However, one or two more His-
the panel probably would not have upset the balance.
Jfact that only one woman sat in one the panel also indicates
Omen’s sports are still under the shadow of men’s athletics. Fe-
pjthletes make significantly less than their male counterparts,
iwomen’s college teams hardly get the money or time slots on tele-
'^ile sports has improved, it still has a long way to go. Not too
f thletes are thought of very highly outside of the field of sports,
ave displayed a less-than-sportsmanlike conduct off the field,
tes Barkley, who plays for the Houston Rockets is a prime exam-
, pir Charles,” dubbed this due to his “regal” personality, threw
pry through a window during the preseason. How charming.
Itpiher basketball player, Latrell Sprewell, who has since been sus-
Kd from the NBA, attacked his coach. Many even called this a
strittack due to the fact that the coach was white,
wens are not even a good metaphor for society. The aggressive be-
ivior exemplified in sports is hardly accepted in normal society. We
, -Baw 5 that have to be followed, not rules of the game, and the
> inalliesfor breaking these laws can be more severe than sitting out
lf ii or two -
instance, if a person attacks somebody, it’s called “assault” and
"Bon can go to jail. However, in sports it’s called a foul, the offender
Jbe forced to leave the field and pay a fine, at the most, be sus-
5 Md for a few games. However a player has probably never been
livedBlly charged with any sort of crime for their action,
jies Besides behavior that is hardly reflective of normal society, most
■es are given special treatment. It isn’t all to uncommon for ath-
O Bnd coaches to be given a break for doing something that would
■'l|omeone of less prestige in jail.
|t is also a safe argument that many college and professional ath-
Iprobably could not hold a job outside of playing sports. Although
■are a couple of athletes whose intellect seem to rise above their
f M they are few and far between.
the forum on race relations seemed only to deal with the holy trini-
Icollege and professional sports: Football, basketball and baseball.
F ir as other excluded minorities go, what about the lack of promi-
lAsian Americans in these professional sports, or the decline of
Ihite athlete in professional sports? Aren’t these significant issues
Till ling with race?
le race relations forum at best was another lackluster publicity
[j) M pulled by our president. While sports have made great strides, it
as a way to go. Many athletes that have benefited from the these
bare still in their athletic prime. Great players usually make great
pes, so minority coaches are inevitable. A prime example of this is
S t p Drexler being becoming the head coach for the University of
iston basketball program.
iven more time, sports will probably right any remaining wrongs,
sver, until it does, it is hardly a fine example of race relations.
lesm:
credit^
Joe Schumacher is a junior journalism major.
4
MAIL CALL
>lunteers deserve
ianks for dance
will remember last Saturday
tDf nt for the rest of my life. My
pitiful girlfriend and 1 went to
gDance with some good
nds and had a great time,
ling Dance was splendid. It
s obvious that much time and
prtwent into planning of Ring
ce ’98.
owever, I wanted to thank a
up of unselfish Aggies, the
|unteers.
nstead of going out on a Sat-
ay night, numerous students
Junteered their time to to
ph elevator buttons, serve
hch, check people in, and
,tii rk many other chores.
IU1 the smiles and energy
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A L
PERSPECTIVES
Public obsession with death invades privacy
L ast
week,
Linda
McCartney,
wife of ex-
Beatle Paul
McCartney,
died after a
long, diffi
cult battle
with breast
cancer. Me
Mandy
Cater
r, . i opinion editor
Cartney was [ 1
famous not
only because of her well-known
spouse, but also for her fervor for
vegetarianism and her back-up
singing on Paul’s albums.
Since McCartney’s death, news
coverage stories have appeared in
the media on a near-daily basis.
These stories, for the most part, do
not focus on McCartney’s achieve
ments, her life or the issues she ad
vocated. Instead, the media have
gone mad for the macabre, focus
ing their attention on the details of
her death.
McCartney was rumored to
have died in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Some investigative journalists dis
covered that her body was not, in
fact, among those who died that
day in Santa Barbara.
This juicy tidbit sent entertain
ment buffs into a frenzy, deter
mined that a scandal was behind
the lie.
In subsequent days, the rumors
began flying as reporters attempt
ed to discover the where, when
and how of McCartney’s death.
Her husband, Paul, was tight-
lipped about the whole affair, only
adding to the power of the rumor
mill — raising innuendos of an at
tempted suicide.
Eventually, it was reported that
McCartney actually died with her
family at their home in Arizona. It
was her favorite place in the world,
and the location was kept secret
because the family wanted privacy
in her last days.
The question here is why peo
ple need to know so much about
this woman’s death. In the end, it
is really nobody’s business.
The woman had cancer. She
and her family knew that the me
dia would be all over them if they
knew she was at the end of her life
and they wanted privacy. What is
so wrong with that?
Americans today have so
blurred the lines between public
and private lives, it seems unlike
ly they will ever be able to go
back. They are obsessed with
knowing every intimate detail of
other peoples’ lives — whether it
be their next-door neighbor or
Hollywood stars.
It seems we are driven by a
need to have a picture window
into other people’s private busi
ness. When one is famous, it seems
this interest is tripled.
People take bus tours of stars’
homes, they dig through the trash
of Hollywood bigwigs and they
tune in around the clock to pro
grams such as “Showbiz Tonight”
on CNN, “Extra” and “Entertain
ment Tonight” to get the latest
scoop on the stars.
This obsession with death,
however, is perhaps the most dis
turbing facet of this phenomenon.
The death of Princess Diana last
summer was the first glance of this
obsession. For weeks, stories of
her death pervaded the media at
all hours of the day and night.
There were interviews with po
lice officers, recreations of the
wreck and trips down the memory
lane of Diana’s relationship with
Dodi Fayed.
Viewers stared for hours at the
wrecked heap of the car Diana
travelled in. Cameras chased down
her sons and brother, as well as
Fayed’s father.
And, of course, there was the
grand pageant that was her funer
al. Watchers worldwide ogled as
her family and friends mourned
their loss.
The question here is where
does public end and private begin.
Do viewers really deserve to be in
volved with funerals and mourn
ing via satellite?
Yes, the world loved Princess
Diana, and Linda McCartney was a
household name for many. But
does this recognition entail allow
ing people into the most private
aspects of one’s life?
Perhaps the most important
consideration here is one of walk
ing a mile in someone else’s shoes.
If someone you loved died, would
you want cameras in your face, al
lowing the whole world to watch
as you dealt with the pain and loss
you were experiencing?
The point is this: yes, people
take on a certain loss of privacy by
entering the public light, however
everyone deserves some sem
blance of privacy.
Families deserve the right to
mourn in private and to die in
peaceAnd simply because some
one is famous does not mean their
family should suffer.
Some things should be sacred
events, off-limits to the disgusting
public appetite.
Mandy Cater is a senior
psychology major.
STUDENT LIFE
from the volunteers made Ring
Dance better than it could ever
have been.
I regret that I never volun
teered for Ring Dance when I
was an underclassman.
So I encourage those to help
out next year.
If you volunteer, you will be
touching the lives of many
graduating students and letting
them know one more time
what an incredible place Ag-
gieland is. Thanks for all the
great memories.
Chip Loomis
Class of’98
Enjoying bliss of summer blocked by finals
Stewart
Patton
columnist
W hen the
temperature
hovers
around 95 degrees
and it doesn’t get dark
until half past mid
night, you know it’s
almost time to head
home for the sum
mer. Only one minor
event stands in our
way—we have to
muddle through fi
nals before we’re fi
nally through with pencils, books and teach
ers’ dirty looks.
Many students were nagged by the folks
last Parents’Weekend about staying focused
at the end of the school year. If you weren’t
one of the lucky ones, however, I’ll be your
mom for the next few minutes and show you
how to stay motivated for finals — just don’t
ask me for any money.
The Administration has done its part by
hiring several thousand motivators who
have worked tirelessly all semester to keep
Aggies on the straight and narrow path to
good grades.
You can recognize these motivators by
their callused hands, hard hats and the eerie
way they all stop work to watch girls walk by
during class changes. From a simple touch-
up on the Academic Building to new con
struction next to the Pavilion, almost every
area of campus screams “Stay in school.”
If a student fails all his finals and ends up
not finishing his Astronomy degree, one of
these motivators might inform him, “You can
see them stars real good from the bottom of a
40-foot sewage ditch.”
Or another student flunks every final and
doesn't complete her B.A. in Philosophy:
“Why don’t you examine the epistemological
repercussions of moving this dirt from right
here to over there?”
If you flip, roll, deliver or have any other
relationship to food (or a food-type sub
stance) at a part-time job, the first thought of
doing that job for the rest of your life ought to
scare you straight to the library.
It’s a shame to see a 30-year-old man beg
ging a line of people to move all the way to
their left or asking whether you want fries
with that. Did somebody say get a real job?
Every order you take or slab of barbecue you
run to a table should be accompanied by a
solemn promise to yourself to study just a lit
tle bit longer tonight.
In today’s marketplace, the old “start-at-
the-bottom-and-work-your-way-up” dream
just doesn’t happen anymore.
Unless you happen to be a cute little chi
huahua, you’ve already reached the height of
your fast-food career.
Another reason to study for finals and
make good grades is that members of the op
posite sex dig it.
In my survey of over one coed, I found that
most women prefer a college graduate to a
“beer-swilling dropout pig who was too excit
ed about summer to study hard for finals.”
In a related survey, I found that men feel
the exact same - unless a woman demon
strates that she can cook really, really well.
Nothing on campus will sap your will to
study like a trip to the Student Rec Center, so
avoid this place at all costs.
While you are surrounded by thousands
of other sun-baked and half-naked Aggies at
the outdoor pool (you have to reserve a fold
ing chair three weeks in advance), the gentle
breezes will send you sailing into a chlorine-
induced trance where you will while away the
hours planning your summer trip to such ex
otic locales as Cancun or Tahiti.
In fact, you should do your best to avoid
the outdoors altogether.
Being near a window is probably a bad
idea, too. Old Mr. Sunshine can’t bother you
when you are sitting in a sunk-in chair sur
rounded by clocks with the wrong time and
ballet practice mirrors in one of the library’s
second-floor luxury lounges. Wear your un
tanned skin with pride, Aggies, for you
earned it through many hours of studying.
Your GPR will thank you for it.
To make good grades this finals season, I
will put away all thoughts of the summer
bliss that lies ahead and study like nobody’s
business. Summer is lovely, bright and deep,
but I have promises to keep, and finals to go
before I sleep, and finals to go before I sleep.
Stewart Patton is a junior
sociology major.