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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 1998)
The Battalion lesday • June 23,1998 PINION omefhing’s fishy W^eshman orientations fail to show incoming students Texas A&M’s true colors a \V\ 0 & u 0 C? e> '* i’ i-vfAW oc -WUr^h.L ^ * - ^ ^ I MU mi—■■I.WI—>1—HMJTH 0 o Internet exposes private moments [ h our fast-paced society, the line between progress fend values is slowly and surely being forgotten. With [he increasing technology and ■constant development of new Hs, inventions and theories to liter and perhaps better the ■id we live in, we tend to lose Bit of the fact that there are ■e constants in our lives that ■uld not be altered. Ilpne of these constants being ■pered with is the experience Ichildbirth. Richard Paddack columnist ■or the sake of progress, June 61998, will go down in the med- I history books as the day of ie first live Internet broadcast of child birth. This event will also be revered by many as leday one of the most sacred of experiences was shared ith anybody and everybody who has a fast enough Idem. BThe four-hour broadcast was brought to the world by Bierican's Health network, an Orlando-based cable net- Brk. The site suffered gridlock because of the more than users who tried to download the video. More than 0 World Wide Web surfers were able to view the h. Those who missed the live version still can see the ideo. iThe woman who participated in the live birthing told rters she might not have agreed to allow the live eo had she known what a media frenzy it would ise. Oops, too late now. The event was planned as an educational opportuni- fhe intent of the broadcast was to offer expectant par- s—or couples thinking about having a baby — an a of what goes on in the delivery room. Let's see: pny, tears, remorse, bliss, cursing, praying and blam- These are just a few of the emotions that almost every - is aware of because of stories from parents, relatives, fends and maybe the occasional "E.R." episode. It is e no one knows what to expect in the delivery room til they have experienced or shared it with a loved one firsthand. The beauty of such a sacred event is that each birth is unique and only should be shared by loved ones, and preferably a trained physician, not the watchful eyes of the undeserving public. Women have been having babies since the dawn of time. These births all had one thing in common — none of these expecting mothers knew what to expect. Each moment is sacred in its own new and individual way, unless the mother is expecting child number eight, then the whole birthing process might be a little predictable. New lives have been brought into this world in mangers, caves, barns, wagons, taxis ... and the list goes on. The location is irrelevant, but the point is each experi ence should be unique and private. A lot of couples today are filming their child's birth for posterity. There is nothing wrong with this unless you make copies of the tape and sell them to "America's Fun niest Home Videos" or Larry Flynt. Video taping in the delivery room also has been bene ficial in malpractice suits where the tapes can be later re viewed for any discrepancies or mistakes made in the de livery room. Some may think that a filmed birth and one broadcast via Internet are one and the same, but this is by no means true. A video tape of your child being bom is not consid ered a tool or a reference to millions on how the process properly is executed. It is not something that can be rent ed at your local video store, either. It is the scrapbook of all scrapbooks, a reminder to the mother and father of all the emotions and effort it took to bring their little one into the world and a reminder of how precious life is. So, if you are expecting soon or expecting to be ex pecting in the future, do not go and juice up your com puter or start creating a Web site for that magnificent mo ment. Do what couples have done for centuries — plan, anticipate and let Mother Nature take her course. There are some things that just should not be shared. vm m Chris Martin columnist // Y A Telcome, brave young citizens of Texas and yon lesser 49 states to the fightin' Texas Aggie ivorld-class campus of the nation ally recog nized fight in'Texas A&M Uni versity. No doubt your stay at our fine facili ties will en dear you forever to the wants and desires of the collective. Prepare for assimilation/' — Unabridged transcript of ac tual Fish Camp pep talk. Like the cartoon where all the colorful characters are shoveled into a factory on a treadmill and exit as canned hams, so too is the purpose of freshman orientation to homogenize new recruits. There is a certain type of unspoken engi neering that takes place each new semester at A&M, and it ain't quite civil — it's social engineering. . Fish Camp is A&M's finest application of social engineering, or as the Branch Davidians and Heaven's Caters would say, brain washing. For instance. Fish Camp coun selors love to tell the kids that Ag gies do not lie, cheat, steal or toler ate those who do. If this were the truth, then everyone would have to say goodbye to student govern ment, Parking, Traffic and Trans portation Services, campus vend ing machines, the fiscal department, the athletic program and significant others. Fish camp counselors also will say to forget hometown boyfriends or girlfriends, because everyone here will marry an Aggie. And while many students end up with an A&M Mr.S. degree, be warned that no one ever actually has Aggie children. First of all, everyone on campus is slowly sterilized by a special nerve gas many recognize as the pungent, horrid, creeping smell around and about the MSC. Sec ondly, Aggies are not born, but made. Specifically, they are made on the fourth floor of the building. That's why all those Corps dudes look the same. Another popular brain bath is converting freshmen over to the church of Aggie necrophilia. And you thought only Catholics were obsessed with dead people. This popular corpse worship started the whole "remove your hats in the MSC" and "don't walk on the MSC grass" inquisition. Another popular brain bath is converting freshmen over to the church of Aggie necrophilia. Rather than just saying this will obviously prevent pedestrian wear and tear, the spin is that not walking on grass honors those who died in past wars — and get this — those who will die in fu ture wars. Those who will die? What's so funny about peace, love and understanding? The University likes to brain wash everyone into believing that all departments are created equal, that they are all precious in the trustees' sight. That sounds all well and good, but the harsh reali ty is that while A&M engineering professors flip a coin to decide be tween taking the Lexus or Rolls to work that day, journalism and his tory professors must draw straws with their families to see who gets to wear the shoes that week. Parents are not immune to the brain washing, either. Orientation leaders herd them in like cattle into that movie theater-cum-Darth Vader's private chamber at the base of Rudder Tower to watch disorienting Aggie propaganda films. At the conclusion of "Tri umph of Red Ass" — and this can be seen in action — parents feel the irresistible urge to purchase marked-up maroon sweatshirts, stadium seats, unremovable car decals and set up embarrassing "Aggie Mom" booths hawking low-rent housewife crafts off on gullible brainwashed students. Be thee forewarned, young Aggie larvae. Those strong of will certainly shall survive and need not heed this warning. However, your baby tees and baggy jeans disprove any hope for that. Be sides, brain washing is not so bad. It's those world-famous oat meal enemas you should really be scared of. Chris Martin is a senior journalism major. WHfr MOUNTSIN? Richard Paddack is a junior journalism major. ew BusOps fee costs more money, but decreases hassles B y the fall of 2000, fee state ments might increase by $50 in order to accommodate a iiv transportation fee. This uld be the best idea that has me from the Department of irking, Traffic and Transporta- >nServices in some time. At face value, this may seem e another way for the Universi- to squeeze a few more dollars •t of already poor college stu nts. At a second glance, ‘Ough, it is a wise investment to a transportation system that c es the challenges of meeting the needs of 40,000 stu nts on a campus that sprawls out over 5,200 acres. Currently, all students pay approximately $18 a a r through the student services fee to fund the on- Meredith Hight columnist campus bus system. Off-campus students can pur chase a bus pass for $110 a year to ride to campus from various apartment complexes in the area. The cost of a bus pass has increased by only $10 in the last 16 years. This is not because PTTS is trying to offer discount prices on its services. It is because PTTS knows there is a limit to the amount students will shell out for the privilege of riding old army, non-aircondi- tioned buses that often arrive late or break down. If Bus Operations raises the funds necessary to upgrade the system solely through the bus pass op tion, a bus pass could cost up to $185. A $50 bus fee would eliminate the bus pass option. The cost for any on-or-off-campus student to ride the bus, would be the same. Not only would this make the line a little shorter at the PIT’S office at the beginning of every semester, it also would provide the means for a more efficient and convenient system. More importantly, these are not just temporary changes. With these funds, a complete overhaul of the system would be possible. First of all, the buses would be newer and better maintained. Right now, the buses are so old, parts to repair them are not available. On campus, more buses would be added to popular routes. Since Texas A&M's campus continues to grow, as does its population, this is an absolute necessity. Buses would run to more apartments, better serving off-campus students. Routes that include shopping centers would be added, making it more convenient for on-campus students, especially those without garage spots, to get to the grocery store or to other off-campus locations. Because the most obvious change with this system would be the elimination of the bus pass, it would be easy to surmise that students who live on campus or those who live off campus and do not utilize the bus system are getting the raw end of the deal. Who wants another $50 on a fee statement every semester? The fact is, at some point in a student's career at A&M, he or she most likely will have to ride a bus. It could be a class on West Campus, or a daily commute to campus from across the tracks. Fee statements already reflect an array of ser vices that students may or may not utilize. The Rec Center fee is $50 a semester. Some students are fit ness buffs, so this fee is no problem for them. Oth ers have never set foot in the Rec. All students pay for the service, though. The transportation fee will provide a much needed service. All students will benefit from it in some way. It makes sense because it directs funds toward a bus system badly in need of change. Meredith Hight is a junior journalism major.
