hursday • July 16,1998
The Battalion
PINION
ur Bodies, Our Selves
American youth need to take responsibility for their sexual behavior
Michelle
Voss
assistant
l
opinion editor
iberty means responsibility. While American sex
ual culture often ignores this vital truism, the near
176 million 20-somethings of Generation X cannot
ford to disregard personal responsibility any longer,
jmerican youth cannot repeat the mistakes of others
id carelessly abuse their bodies through frivolous sex-
al behavior.
Perhaps the one concrete
lea Generation X can unite
found is the message of sexual
^Binsibility — an unswerving
‘Spe, t for their bodies.
^Rdeed, the self-destructive
;x|ai habits of Americans just
light be one of the most bizarre
Idal phenomena of the late
Oth century.
^■reedom without intelli-
enc e only leads to tragic end-
igs, even death.
"^glipros and Dionysus vs. Apollo
^^Bontemporary American so
la! mores are, for the most part,
nstnngent,unbinding and, in a word, lax. Americans
r ;vel in a life of privacy, liberty and self-expression, ideas
|Hiat any Cuban immigrant would cherish.
■Bet, Americans often make the lethal mistake of com
ining liberty and indiscretion. Or, in terms of sexuali-
jr, a number of American youth combine highly libidi-
gs activity with stupidity.
I| According to the National College Health Risk Be-
^■or Survey from the Centers for Disease Control and
'revention, 86 percent of students from America's pub-
icand private colleges have had a sexual encounter.
Among that 86 percent, 70 percent of the students su r-
'eyed did not use a condom at their last sexual encounter.
/hy is this stupidity? — because last year the New
ngland Medical Journal printed that one in every five
^jericans over the age of 12 has genital herpes.
J|hat means that of the some 44,000 students attend-
pg Texas A&M, over 8,000 students could possibly be
|fei ted with herpes — this should be sobering as well
ijs shocking.
l little history lesson seems in order.
Thousands of years ago, the Greeks worshiped and
loned a number of deities with opposing character-
ts. Specifically, the gods Eros and Dionysus who rep-
Int seemingly antithetical natures to that of Apollo.
Apollo represents rationality while Dionysus, the
1 of wine and sensuality, and Eros, representing sex-
[ eroticism, both symbolize irrationality.
\lthough these gods appear to be incompatible, the
i/al climate of the '90s requires a summoning of Apol
lo |he moment Eros appears.
[In other words, sex requires thinking; otherwise, sex
^equal death.
America will never thrive on death. Xers must be for
's
- §4?
V 4
imm.
life.
What is this violence?
Sex in America has became a lurid game of violent
politics, disease and mortality.
With their savvy political agendas, groups ranging
from the National Organization for Women to the
Christian Coalition to Hollywood all send out propa
ganda that blurs the reality of sexual activity in Amer
ica.
While ultra right-wing groups shout that AIDS is the
disease of homosexuals and drug-addicts, the facts
could not be farther from this stereotype.
In reality, the Journal of American Medical Association
reported last year that the fastest growing group of AIDS
victims is young females living in the south who ac
quired the disease from heterosexual males.
That means this is not happening to those damn yan-
kees, but rather, it's coming home.
Then, off in the distance is the faint whining of NOW,
■ " # ! .. , s :<t ®
rallying for abortion as the bourgeoisie solution to a
normal life. Continually, young women are told that
their lives can be simplified through this legally-sanc
tioned medical procedure.
Currently, over 1.5 million abortions occur in Amer
ica each year, and approximately 45 percent of these
women had at least one previous abortion, as printed
in Family Planning Perspectives.
Indeed, 76 percent of the respondents in a survey
from the same source noted that her reason for hav
ing an abortion is she is concerned how having a
baby could change her life — specifically, losing her
job, 67 percent, or interfering with her education, 49
percent.
This is not about those fringe abortions with rape, incest
and severe deformities, this is about selfish sexual living.
How sad and pathetic that NOW and other groups
continue to rally for sexual irresponsibility.
Rather than encourage the use of birth control and
intelligent decisions about sex, these pseudo-feminist
groups only encourage violence as a means of birth
control. Violence to the reproductive powers of fe
males.
All the while, Hollywood adds to the confusion with
the negligent message that sex has no consequences.
Dishing out trash like "Melrose Place" and L.L. Cool J.
videos, sex looks like Frutopia.
It's our turn.
X-ers need to begin behaving responsibly — maybe ex
ercising a little self-control, at times would not hurt, either.
While sex is not evil, the consequences of irresponsi
ble sex can be.
Generation X owes it to themselves to think before
sex — America's youth must reverse this cycle of death
and disease.
America needs freedom with intelligence.
Michelle Voss is a junior English major.
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MAIL CALL
Athletes receive
mdeserved hype
response to Len Callaway’s July 8, "Scor-
l gan Education’’ column:
I have to say for an opinion column,
en Callaway's is pretty weak. First, I
1 ' n k that Callaway might be missing
16 premise of his own argument. He
htes more than once in this column,
"Life does not offer any guarantees,
and it very seldom offers second
chances — make the most of it while
you can." This statement does not re
ally support his conclusion that athletes
should not leave school without a de
gree.
Apart from general logistical prob
lems of this argument, quite frankly.
I'm tired of this "holier than thou" atti
tude we impose on athletes. Society
likes to stereotype them all as jocks
looking for the easiest way out and just
"wanting to play some ball."
Most of the time, playing is the pas
sion of athletes much in the same way
writing is the passion of authors. Most
ly, athletes are just trying to take the best
opportunities to do what they want in
life like anyone else.
I don't see anyone saying they think
Michael Jordan should have finished
school before he went pro. And on the
level of non-athletes, who tells Bill
Gates he should have finished school
first? Really, if you asked Reggie Brown
today, do you think he'd say he wished
he had stayed? I bet he's just thankful
for his life and for the opportunity to do
something he loves — play football —
both in the pros and at A&M.
Roxanna L. Robertson
Senior English Major
The Battalion encourages letters to the
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The opinion editor reserves the right to
edit letters for length, style, and accuracy.
Letters may be submitted in person at 013
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ters may also be mailed to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
College Station. TX
77843-1111
Campus Mail: 1.1,11.
Fax: (409) 845-2647
Class Council strikes out
with maroon T-shirt idea
-t :
Chris
Huffines
columnist
T he Class Councils are not
useless. But, with the latest
new tradition from the col
lective Class Councils, they really
are making an effort. The new
tradition of
Maroon
Out is a bad
idea that
needs to be
nipped in
the bud.
The Class
Councils
want every
Aggie at the
upcoming
game with
Nebraska,
be they current or former student,
to wear a maroon T-shirt.
These shirts will be sold by the
Class Councils for just $5. They
will be identical. Maroon Out,
thankfully, has not yet gained the
approval of the administration,
but the Class Councils are mount
ing a serious campaign to get that
approval.
To gain this approval, the
Class Councils are toting the ben
efits of Maroon Out, which are
somewhat dubious.
The Class Councils say Ma
roon Out will be developing a
new tradition, as well as gaining
national publicity for the Univer
sity. The Class Councils are also
saying Maroon Out will develop
more unity of the Student Body
and the Former Students.
Finally, they believe Maroon
Out will increase attendance at
football games and provide pub
licity for various student organi
zations on campus.
All of these are benefits, and
good ones, if they were actually
going to occur and not some
pipe-dream of the Class Councils.
First, the last time anyone
checked, maroon is a dark color.
Dark colors absorb heat, espe
cially while a 50-plus year-old
former student is standing in the
sun watching a football game in
the middle of September in
south Texas.
Even 20-something current
students are going to start regret
ting the maroon shirt as the sec
ond quarter roasts along. The
darned things are just going to be
uncomfortable to wear.
Second, creating a tradition is
not only arrogant, but it's also al
most surely doomed to failure. Tra
ditions are not created, they occur.
Bonfire started as a trash heap.
It kept on through the years, and
developed into the tradition Ag-
gieland enjoys today. No one just
said to himself, "I think what
Texas A&M needs is a semi-reli
gious, burning fifty-some foot
pile of meticulously engineered
tree trunks." Bonfire happened,
it was not invented.
The same could be said of all
Old Army traditions, and most of
the New Army ones.
This "tradition" of Maroon
Out is doomed to failure, because
it will not have slowly evolved
into the greatness that all the oth
er traditions at A&M have
achieved.
Third, while national publicity
for A&M is good, getting it for
acting like the world's largest cult
is not exactly the best way to go
about getting it.
Maroon Out will take a large
group of people, unite them in
one purpose, start them speaking
and singing in unison and dress
them alike.
If students started castrating
each other, it could become Heav
en's Gate around Aggieland.
Next, exactly how is wearing
a T-shirt going to promote stu
dent unity? The Class Councils
may think sweating together in
the hot sun is fun, but few stu
dents share that idea. Also, ex
actly how many Old Ags are go
ing to be wearing these things?
Thirty- and 40-year-olds are very
much smarter than that. They
may be old, but they do under
stand basic thermodynamics.
Not to throw salt in the
wound, but also how is wearing a
T-shirt going to increase atten
dance at the football games.
Those who do not care enough to
attend a game now are not going
to buy the T-shirts.
If these T-shirts were a good
idea, how would prostituting
them out to various student or
ganizations help promote stu
dent unity?
Every student organization on
campus cannot be represented,
nor can any few be singled out
for the identical shirts.
The shirts will only be able to
include a few sponsoring groups,
which will not increase unity. If
anything, that kind of advertising
will help divide the student body.
Finally, does A&M really need
another group of identically-
dressed zealots at the football
games? The Corps block is bad
enough alone, but with Maroon
Out, the Keepers of the Spirit of
Tradition would be excluded
from a new tradition.
Competition would break out,
and that just wouldn't sit well
with the Corps. Or the Old Ags
who were in the Corps. Again,
Maroon Out will only divide the
student body.
Maroon Out is a well-meaning ■
idea, much like Pet Rocks or the
Macarena.
Unlike those, Maroon Out
should be buried quietly before it
does its damage on society.
Chris Huffines is a junior speech»
communications major. ‘