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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 1998)
:talion Op inion Page 15 •Wednesday, September 9, 1998 lays ctujking violations ‘ mini iOW immaturity Duma would k • CHRIS HUFFINES ould... tiissoK ing the . average !° n ' l1iu ^ ^ mission would , e at tluoughout Rus &M y n i n was typi s 18 la ! k j Ir011 ' Zva d . That |'j ^ ^ acconi I'l-tme tor Rus- ie laws ot sta’s crippiinc ted almost 1,11 ' u 'lt~!n Jn udent at lii^ governme iversity has achieved the and none or mature adult. Dunu |ever, by the actions of whit h has con Students in recent days, it ; maturity has disap- blocked ec Student cars are parked nomu reforms aut everywhere one looks strengthened ely between the little lines Among stjiiec fine a parking space. Stu- radical overhc. round here need to grow collection svs begin parking legally, tiononlandov littedly, parking at A&M is that would tor:- feet; A search through the declare bankrc: sations at Sbisa, the Com- The poss:f >r Duncan Dining Halls, or economic an : t scan of back issues of The < ould s['illover in will quickly reveal that on the mindsi ts are very unhappy with Alexy II,: 'king situation on campus. Russian On r pretty good reasons. Most proved for [hu { ^ ots are located across a icon, Our Lid\ 16 street and a very busy central \k - 1 of railroad tracks. “Taking ' Civil war, fe in your hands” is not too m the truth. ms could brim: -ourse, the dining hall blood a I wavs A ic that identifies these Presidential ■ms fails to mention the Se’ cei Yistrehr 3115 s y stem and other mea- " unlikciv the Department of Parking, ; and Iransportation Ser nas taken to ensure stu- afety. Nor does it mention ct that every major univer- aywhere near the size of , , , , has similar — and usually m the Iegi? bmr - } was date for prime Wednesday. Tht speculation inth idem was trying i a a r mfrontdti lature' — problems. The situa- ; not as bad as Aggies it out to be. is year, things seem far than they really are, with traduction of hundreds of reshmen. On-campus park- m is become something that A |y resembles po apt x — | Los Angeles freeway, w e parking lots nearest to Icampus are stuffed to the 1 l In response, cars are park- ’Cfc OUl^ the aisles and through- making their own es” and blocking traffic, / acres of empty parking 1 n lots farther out. is is the vehicular equiva- A /NI rfif / a tem P er t a ntrum. Aggie All lA /( s seem t0 he saying, “I’m ECMl, :ei a Kinjsim i«i>-ristian outreach mfessi,in,ii in-oic sn fanatical W spa udenl II) (o qualifj de loday! ru lor TO THE *T«** j°since 1984 VIM! ICC! system qi Marble + aonse to the Sept. 8 mail call: st want to say “amen” to ail call from Sept. 8. An- [Baley’s optimistic view of :ianity ignored all its nega- ects. iat about the psycho airport ^.ians and the pamphlets that ally appear on your wind going to park here, even if you say I can’t.” Tom Williams, Director of PTTS, said Parking Area 63, be hind Olsen Field, and the Reed Arena parking lots almost al ways have spaces. Also, buses leave from within 200 yards of each space in both of those lots. In other words, there is no good reason not to park where there are spaces available and conve nient access to campus. The most convenient solution for PTTS and students every where is for Aggies to begin parking only where they are sup posed to park, instead of wher ever they please. This would solve the problem. The forces of realism, however, say this is not to be. After all, this is the same cul ture where studies show soccer moms are more likely to run stop signs (and potentially hit another soccer mom’s child) and where Geraldo Rivera aspires to legiti macy. It is an imperfect world, and the most intelligent thing to do is almost never done. And so, since the carrot will not work, PTTS needs to turn to the stick. Students found parked in places they just should not be parked, like the ends of rows and aisles in the parking lots, should be towed out to an empty parking slot — preferably the farthest one — and a boot should be placed on the car until the offending student pays the usual fine. Minor infractions like acci dentally parking in the wrong color lot or staying in 30-minute parking for too long could be handled normally. This would do two things. First, this technique would drive home the lesson to students that the only places that one can legally park are between the white lines. It would also re move the offenders from every one else’s way. Students — who are supposed to be adults, remember — have created this situation through their own thoughtlessness and immaturity. It is a shame it may take Draconian measures on the part of the administration to make parking accommodating for all students. Chris Huffines is a junior speech communication major. MAIL CALL shield all the time? Did God bless the world with fanatics? I get enough harassment from Christian fanatics at the mall that I don’t need more of it at school. So, Hallelujah to you if you have seen the light, but I person ally like not belonging to a world wide cult and not being harassed for it. Ann C. Tsao Class of ’01 Culture, closed-mindedness and costumes New restaurant’s ‘thematic’ dress code exploits stereotypes A t the 12th Man Interna tional Food Court all of .your favorite interna tional foods are now being served with a special side or der of racial stereotyping. The Department of Food Services recently completed extensive upgrades of on- campus dining facilities. Most of these changes, such as updating Sbisa Dining Hall from the disco era, are positive revisions. Howev er, there is one area where the Department of Food Services needs to rethink their strategy. On the main floor of the MSC, where the 12th Man Burgers and Snacks facility used to be, is the newly-es tablished 12th Man Interna tional Food Court. Among the three restau rants in this food court is a restaurant called Elephant Wok, focusing on “Pan- Asian” cuisine. A food establishment serving Asian food repre sents an innovative on-cam- pus dining experience. The problem is, workers at this restaurant are required to wear Asian-themed uni forms consisting of black Oriental coats. Who came up with such an offensive idea? Appar ently, someone has seen one too many episodes of “Bonanza.” Hop-Singh, the stereotypical Chinese cook on that television program, was an insensitive carica ture even when the televi sion show originally aired, let alone nowadays. Granted, the Depart ment of Food Services may be trying to establish an authentic international eating experience, howev er, if the food court is go ing to be a recreation of racial cliches, why not be equally offensive to all cultures? Perhaps one of the restaurants could serve typ ical American food such as Beenie-Weenies and maca roni & cheese out of a repli ca of a mobile home, ser viced by employees wearing jogging pants and wife-beater T-shirts. STEVEN GYESZLY Not surprisingly, many current Food Ser vice employees working at the new food court are not very happy about the new uniforms. “I don’t like them at all,” one employee said. “The uni forms bother me be- 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: 1113, Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: batt@tamvml.tamu.edu j Elephant Wokfg TODAYS special^! Racial sterotypes and cultural intolerance cause it makes me wonder how I would feel if 1 had to wear something that made fun of my own culture.” The Asian-themed uniforms are not merely insulting for what they portray, but they also demean the employees. Agriculture professors are not required to teach class in overalls and a straw hat for the amusement of the students, so why should Food Service employees have to wear a cos tume for the same reason? If the idea of Asian-themed uniforms seems repugnant to those who have no direct ties to the culture, imag ine how it must feel for those whose racial heritage is be ing imitated. As one international student who is a mem ber of the China Club, stated, “It’s hard enough being stereotyped by other students. But it is even more painful when the stereotyping is done by my university.” It is not just the stu dents and faculty from various countries that could be offended by the- uniforms. Visitors come from around the world to see A&M. The University has pro gressed to the point where it can pride itself on its in ternational relations and cultural diversity. A&M has academic partnerships with univer sities in various Asian na tions, and there is an In stitute for Pacific Asia on campus. And yet Food Services, an official divi sion within the University, is apparently condoning — and even requiring — coolie-esque uniforms. Sadly, this last fact will taint any other image the University may try to es- ; tablish. A&M students should know as well as anyone what it is like to fight against a tired stereotype that should have been put to rest long ago. So why should students tolerate any kind of stereotyping on their campus? Asian-themed uni forms should only be seen at one place — old reruns of “Bonanza” on Nick-at-Nite. Steven Gyeszly is a senior finance major. Moral absolutes, not public opinion, should determine right and wrong T JOSH MASKOW there has been much clamor recently from the Clinton defenders citing opinion polls that show the president’s job approval rating remains high despite his recent scandals. Actions that once would have drawn outrage and condemnation from both secular and religious American leaders are now ig nored or defended simply be cause the economy is strong. Although it shames the coun try — once known for its Puritan ethics — that a president would publicly admit — and express no sorrow for — such immoral be havior, it is even more troubling to consider the manner in which the opinion on Clinton’s actions has been determined. The idea that pure popular consensus should be used to de cide public policy is highly ques tionable, and it is a notion that was abhorrent to the writers of the Constitution. It is frightening that public opinion alone should be used to determine public morality. It is an idea that can only wreak hav oc on the practice of democracy in America. The Constitution was never in tended to be a shroud for de bauchery and criminality. The founding fathers assumed that certain actions were, by defini tion, morally wrong and ought to be punished regardless of the criminal’s opinion on the matter. Since the turn of the 20th cen tury, radical individualism has made inroads in elite political cir cles (including the judiciary, orga nized religion and the media). The American culture as a whole has shifted away from standards of moral truth to a con sensus opinion of moral rela tivism as a tool to determine a conduct’s absolute ethical value. People who want to feel less guilty and more “normal” resent the moral codes and authorities that “make” them feel guilty about their behavior instead of changing their behavior in accor dance with the precepts they ap parently hold. Churches and other tradition al strongholds of morality have committed a sort of moral sur render, and the consequences are widespread. Problems that would have seemed unthinkable only a centu ry ago — rampant illegitimacy, unchecked crime and the culture of brutality and sexuality so char acteristic of our society today — are now common and nearly im possible to stop. The founding fathers assumed certain traditional moral institu tions would enforce penalties for irresponsible actions. They could never have foreseen the major Christian sects in America turning a blind eye to immorality as they have done today. Instead of upholding stan dards, many Christian denomi nations have changed their teachings regarding morality so as not to alienate their “enlight ened” members. America’s churches of today value popularity over morality. In an attempt to achieve harmo ny, the just condemnation of im morality has become passe to many church leaders. These leaders apparently neglected many of their own teachings. America’s moral sickness is not confined to religion. The are na of politics is alive with accusa^ tion of a vast right-wing conspira cy [of morality], in which a supposedly radical faction of the right wing intends to impose its worldview upon others. Any principled traditionalist is labeled extremist, while Ameri cans are led to believe the radical individualist is somehow repre sentative of the typical American Politics has been described as a “civil religion,” where those who hold no supernatural convic tions attempt to find fulfillment through a clash of ideology in tended to replace the fight be tween moral good and evil. Indeed, communism, fascism and Nazism are all faith systems of the moral relativist who seeks meaning in a fantasy Utopia of egalitarianism. The Constitution does not guarantee equality or ab solute safety. This shift from moral absolutes in the form of organized religion to the moral relativism of secular humanism and public consensus is the chief characteristic of 20th century thought. This trait will continue to erode traditional val ues until an Orwellian leader rec ognizes the true potential of such moral relativism. Josh Maskow is a sophomore computer science major.