lursday • June 18,1998
The Battalion
PINION
n
he ’908 femme fatale
omen misuse the word ‘bitch’ as a positive term to equate strength
seems t
'st. hU
■ ‘irou^l
‘eper v;:
Fhoupl
TinksiJ
no of tin—
to be (W as ^ r ' vin g ' n my car listen
angijjng to the radio one day.
0 f | lr L Then this song comes on,
ears ^ "d it has
Joe
Schumacher
columnist
een on the
ack he i ;B or a
cWyhile now.
sitisil by
|ralo:Jeredith
^■aks. The
horus is
I; oirething
M this,
ich,butT 01 a this,
[ipeect’ i rn a that,
'm a bitch,
* equ jar blah
lucks lah ..." 1 did not care to listen
ring oit in depth.
itccli-Rlalfway into the song I
h\ r joiild not take it any more and
unins jut in a tape of my own.
pernstjdowever, after the "intellec-
Ido ually stimulating" lyrics, two
hojughts then occurred to me.
isorB’his seems to be a song cele-
heapjrating the diversity of woman-
I lood (i.e., the many roles they
)la\ in life). But I would never
I :all my mother, or any other im-
like prtant woman in my life, a
. nigrptch" as a term of endearment.
[ecopuBt seems Brooks is not the
|e libBy one who seems to take joy
Eli IjBeferring to herself as a bitch.
niMyhat is worse is the chorus
I of women singing along with
pVini»)oks. Surely you have heard
[LabMier women say, "1 can be a
| real bitch," usually almost tak
ing pride in that fact.
Additionally, Brooks, a
stringy-haired, lily white girl,
performs a song with "bitch" in
it and it is a top-ten hit. People,
women in particular, seem to
like the song and like the idea
of being a bitch. Chances are
you will not see some guy
singing along.
This song, along with a host
of other radio-friendly tunes
performed by other women, has
become an anthem for pseudo
feminism.
However, when Ice Cube, a
gangsta rapper, writes a song
like "Life ain't nothin' but bitch
es and money, " the same word
is used, but Ice Cube is consid
ered a woman-hater.
Cube's usage of the word
seems to reduce women to a ma
terial status, so why doesn't
Brooks' use do the same?
The word bitch is not a
homonym. The dictionary still
defines it as a female dog and
that cannot be very appealing.
However, Brooks' song seems to
sing about being a bitch as
something to be proud of and
join hands in praise.
The word "bitch" has histori
cally been a derogatory word
when used toward women. Now
it seems that some people, some
pop singers in particular, are
trying to change the definition
of the word.
However, by associating all
these positive attributes with
this insulting word, all that is
being done is furthering the
stereotype that the only way for
a woman to get any respect is to
be a bitch.
Maybe the idea is that by giv
ing this word positive mean
ings, it will erase the intended
insult.
It is a shame that this word
often is associated with a
woman who is strong, ambi
tious and determined. "Bitch" is
still a horrible word to use in
reference to a woman, regard
less of what positive meanings
have been attached to it.
This usage of word seems to
suggest that the only way for a
woman to be successful is to
take on the qualities of a bitch.
The notion is that if a woman
wishes to avoid being a bitch,
she should not be assertive or
have any of her own ideas.
She should not strive for suc
cess; she should merely settle
for what she has.
The word "bitch," when used
toward another human being,
especially a woman, is deroga
tory, no matter how many posi
tive words people try to at
tribute to it. Women, be strong.
Be successful. Be independent.
Don't be a bitch.
Joe Schumacher is a senior
journalism major.
nM
YOUR MEW
ATIDRH0S, WEl?E TRYING
TO SET YOU YWAVjNnY.
onjt
IS TTIW; A FRENCH
M&Gp] I WANT THE
COVER of'CDsfyp",
I
vergrown community
hrubbery causes accidents
Chris
Huffines
columnist
/Tany Aggies drive around Bryan-College
\ /1 Station. They usually think nothing of the
■ ™ J-fact that they are directing more than a ton-
‘d'a-half of steel at speeds of up to 50 miles per
Ur ' And most, if not all, of
ese students have, at one time
another, gotten into or almost
3 fen into an auto accident,
oone is eager to experience
(other) auto accident.
However, there is a problem
ere in Bryan-College Station
la t is a series of accidents just
ai ting to happen. Itissosim-
e and so obvious, but no one
as recognized the problem to
)r rect it. That problem is that
| n scaping at the corners of ma-
pmtersections and driveways is so high many dri-
ei ? cann °t see the road behind these obstructions.
Many people probably do not think this is a prob-
rri - Quite frankly, they either a) drive trucks and are
S| aally sitting so high they can see over these shrubs
^ ) are total idiots who really do not understand that
a T-bone collision, the kind this landscaping is most
, e y to cause, their chances of survival are lower than
neir already-low IQ's.
rnagine for a minute the situation. Jane Doe, Class
, . w ^° is a mother of one and pregnant with her
H is driving along Harvey Road, past the College
. °n mall. She is taking her son, little Johnny, to see
uew Disney movie. Joe Aggie, who is a student at
n *, as is driving out of the mall. He gets to the
a ,° road and pulls out as far as he can. But Joe
haHv U ^ e See t ^ e wa y down the road, what with
bl g bush right by the mall sign.
Jane has the green light, and Joe is going to turn
right on red. He does not see her coming, and she as
sumes he sees her. Joe pulls out, just in time to be hit
by Jane. Joe gets broadsided and dies as the front of
Jane's car smashes him into something with approxi
mately the consistency of a beanie baby. Jane's child
hits the dashboard, with his head, opening a blood
vessel in his brain.
He'll probably survive, but if the doctors are not
very good very fast, he will suffer brain damage for the
rest of his life. Jane hits the airbag, she's okay, but her
stomach hits the steering wheel at the forty miles per
hour she was travelling and she miscarries the fetus.
This kind of situation is very likely if members of
the community do not simply take the time to think
and realize that the shrubs look nice but are a hazard
to their customers and the community at large. Admit
tedly, ignorance has caused more than its share of
deaths, but this is intolerable.
Unfortunately, Aggies cannot do much directly.
The Redpots are not going to lead a detour through
town one Saturday and start chopping shrubs. This
won't ever make The Big Event's "To-Do" list.
However, Aggies can do a little extra work (I know iTs
hard) and remember to avoid those comers that are dan
gerous, and maybe avoid that accident waiting to happen.
Driving any sort of automobile is driving a ton-
and-a-half death machine. Cruising around with a
spotless record, it is easy to forget that. It usually takes
some sort of disaster, minor or major, to shatter the il
lusion of total safety. Don't let that disaster be a death.
Chris Huffines is a sophomore speech
communications major.
Mr£W
\
^ 1 1 in a
SB \aJL\
' • IU'.
with A&M enrollment policy
s anyone who ever has
played a team sport
, knows, the worst dam-
JOHN
Lemons
columnist
age is
caused not
by the oppo
nent who
wants to
beat you,
but by the
well-inten
tioned team
member
who just is
n't any
good.
After all,
in baseball, it is not necessarily
the guy batting .400 from the
other team that kills you, it is
the outfielder who cannot catch
a fly ball.
Similarly, it is the well-inten
tioned Texas Legislature that
has opened a Pandora's box full
of problems for Texas A&M
University this coming fall.
The Legislature, in an at
tempt to counteract the effects
of the now infamous Hopwood
decision, has stymied Texas
with a law that has left A&M
scrambling to clean up the Leg
islature's mess.
The law in question is Senate
Bill 588. Senate Bill 588 requires
all Texas public universities to
offer admission to any student
in the state who graduated in
the top 10 percent of his or her
high-school graduating class.
The bill is a brute-force
means of encouraging diversity
within state universities.
It is sort of the equivalent to
cutting off one's finger to take
care of a hangnail — once the
finger is gone, that pesky hang
nail will never be a problem
again.
Since universities were
barred from using affirmative
action programs to attract mi
nority students, the Legislature
opened up the pool of guaran
teed admits in the hope this
would maintain diversity on
campus.
They say hindsight is 20/20,
but only the most myopic of
prognosticators could have
failed to predict the results of
Senate Bill 588 — this fall, A&M
will be riddled with its largest
freshman class since 1987.
Seven thousand two hun
dred freshman have accepted
membership into the Class of
2002. That is about 1,000 more
students than A&M had hoped
for.
The state Legislature had
A&M plug the leak in the dam
caused by Hopwood, only to be
buried under the flood created
by Senate Bill 588.
An increase in the number of
admissions A&M offered, how
ever, did not cause this flood of
students. A&M usually accepts
students in the top-10 percent
of their class.
Dr. Ronald Douglas, execu-
Similarly, it is the
well-intentioned
Texas Legislature
that has opened a
Pandora’s box full of
problems for Texas
A&M University this
coming fall.
tive vice president and provost,
said it is the date when
prospective students found out
about their admission to the
University that has caused the
flood.
"It has been shown that if
students are given acceptance
information earlier there is a
likelihood that acceptance
numbers go up," Douglas said.
Since a lot, and I do mean a
lot, of high-school seniors knew
for certain they would be get
ting into A&M, they decided to
come.
So, is the unusually large
Class of '02 too big a burden for
A&M to bear? Well, no, but this
enormous class has created its
fair share of winners and losers
on campus.
Among the losers is the
Class of '02 itself. Although the
University has opened extra
sections in primarily freshman
courses, with 1,000 extra bodies
competing for those seats,
freshman classes are bound to
be crowded.
High-school students who
are not in the top-10 percent of
their class lose, too. A&M is go
ing to have to adjust the num
ber of students it accepts each
year so that the surprising
Class of '02 becomes a one-time
occurrence.
This has to be especially bit
ter for students attending high
schools with rigorous academic
programs, where a student in
the eleventh percentile of his
class may have been in the top
one percent at another school.
Perhaps the biggest losers,
though, are students on the ad
missions waiting list.
These students will not be
offered admission to A&M. As
a consolation prize, they will be
offered spots at Texas A&M
University at Galveston or
guaranteed transfer into A&M
next year.
There are, however, a couple
of winners.
Proponents of cultural diver
sity will be pleased to know
that there will be more minority
students in the Class of '02 than
in A&M's previous two classes.
Also, the Corps of Cadets is
anticipating between 750 and
800 new freshmen for this up
coming year, an increase from
630 freshman in the Class of '01.
So, thanks to the state Legisla
ture, Aggies can expect to meet a
lot of freshman in the fall.
The Legislature also de
serves thanks for offering proof
that although quick fixes may
help with a problem, they also
make a mess.
Too bad the Legislature isn't
the one who has to clean it up.
John Lemons is an electrical
engineering graduate student.