ittalion
O
pinion
Page 9 • Thursday, September 10, 1998
verdose of tradition, school spirit harms everyone
CHRIS
HUFFINES
i a,i, ? Aggii'S
. ave played
for tne: teir first
1 game,
fight has
?d its way
RIDIIN cam p US)
nHorv-r, nfire is be-
> more
st a glim-
the red
yes. And, the most impor-
$n of: a new school year, the
hindquarters of impres-
'Stooie <' le Aggie freshmen are turn-
ecided shade of red.
ortunately, in many quar-
■ iis red assness is being tak-
71,, n extreme that should not
rated.
those readers who just are
niliar with the red-ass phe-
ROOijon, a student’s red-assness
'ect result of how devoted
traditional atmosphere of
and the student is.
'I; 'redder a student’s posteri-
more he or she is en-
———d with tradition. Peach
; the student is a two-per-
. Rose: the student is some-
ievoted. Scarlet: the student
hould be a member of the
of Cadets.
However, many times stu
dents become so red-ass they
ignore important things in y p
favor of tradition. Cut,
Stack, student organizations
and the rest become much
more fun than class and
learning.
But this overem
phasis on tradition
is bad. An analo
gy will help
make the point.
The hor
mone testos
terone is natu
rally found in
every human
being in vary
ing levels.
Testosterone is
necessary for a
great many vi
tal bodily func
tions. It is nature
at work.
Similarly, every
student at A&M is
dedicated to tradition
to some degree. That
is also nature at work.
Accurate, precise in
fusions of testosterone
or testosterone-like sub
stances, in the form of steroid
shots, are used to achieve many
MAIL CALL
ristian students
July criticised
oonse to the Sept. 9 mail call:
ioommai<” opposition to the past two
;alls, t would like to say that I
SCRY' agree with Baley’s column,
tought it was very ignorant of
rday’s mail call to begin with
men” and then proceed to
Christianity. Not all Chris-
are Bible-beating fanatics,
ugh I can’t blame those who
hey know what a good thing
_ 0 ” /e found and only want to
? it with others,
never see pagans or atheists
'‘''Tig to share their word. It
: : not be all that great consid-
, the lack of desire to spread
religion/mentality.
igree that everyone knows
to have fun, but in the long
w .ithe fun we had in college will
ww natter. It is all about who you
anted all footed -ely on, trust in and fall back
pm now until eternity, and
WEIGH'God can meet that need,
ist because you do not be-
m ,n:j.monii's ■ in heaven and hell doesn’t
lioboMelisi 1 they do not exist or that you
i (409)690-3' _ :xempt from going to either
7.,bo.!,. 3M 3. It is definitely worth your
; to look into it; what is there
e?
yone who is a Christian has
e point been on the non-be-
ig side and can testify that
life is better walking with
t. Yet how can non-believers
an accurate or credible
ment about Christianity when
haven’t experienced it?
Mahah Melcher
Class of ’02
ollcge Ski &
ematic uniforms
not harm image
sponse to Steven Gyeszly’s
9 column:
iis is all we need in the
today ... more whiners.
coFple need to stop being overly
U.feSki fS?'tive.
p t r'W^rjave you ever visited Disney
9 a fVjjjd, or even Astroworld for
matter? Each showcase
'ww-upf j n their parks has different
^ural themes, and employees
“traditional” dress from
culture.
"ow, I do not know if you have
been to Disney World before,
it any given time up to 70 per-
i of the patronage can be com-
d of people from foreign lands
lot of which are from the same
ires being showcased,
have visited Disney quite a
times and everyone seemed
having fun. They did not
n to be feeling like exploited
vims of “cultural intolerance.”
fiSomijQgj he International Food Court is
l3e ' n S considered cultural
"CK“nrW!kery. Managers are just trying
il/Beavef^ life here on campus more
IflPePlOf SSS it" G0 ° d '
()md in response to that intelli-
"ir-Fp: comment about Beenie-Wee-
0
ary 3-18,1999*2,3
Jgg'', jogging pants and wife-beat-
: r« shirts, congratulations on
IOO*SUNf oh-so-smart wit. Since when
th* web at www g-
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
77843-1.311
Campus Mail: 1111
Fax: (409) 845-2647
E-mail: batt@tamvml.tamu.edu
Graphic by Brad Graeber/The Battalion
medical benefits in the treatment
of allergies, inflammation, itch
ing, hives and asthma.
However, prolonged steroid
use outside the care of a doc
tor can lead to many dis
turbing side effects such
as acne, hair loss, hy
pertension, nausea,
cataracts, seizures,
heart attacks, tes
ticular shrinkage
and/or impo
tence.
Similarly, in
accurate, pre
cise infusions
like Midnight
Yell, E-Walk,
and bone
crushing foot
ball victories,
tradition is a
great thing. It
leads to benefits
like A&M’s small
town atmosphere,
A&M’s status as the
friendliest campus
anywhere and the engi
neering marvel that is the
Fightin’ Texas Aggie Bonfire.
However, prolonged, unsuper
vised infusions of tradition have
led to such bad side effects as the
browbeating tactics of Howdy
Ags!, the useless “new tradition”
of Maroon Out and the feeling
one gets speaking to certain Corps
fish that they don’t actually know
why they are following the Corps’
party line.
And, just like using anabolic
steroids to increase muscle size
leads to very serious problems
later down the road, the short
sighted overuse of tradition will
lead to very serious problems
long after this year’s freshmen
have graduated.
Bonfire pot profanity was an
excellent example of this pro
gression. Only after the Universi
ty threatened to take over Bon
fire did Bonfire leadership
realize what was being done was
not tradition.
Being red-ass is a great thing.
Embracing and believing in the
traditions of Texas A&M make
for a University any student
should be proud to attend. It is
only when tradition takes on too
big of a status that the problems
begin to arise.
Chris Huffines is a junior
speech communication major.
has that been "traditional” dress
of Americans? Unfortunately, the
closest to “traditional” dress we
have here goes back to the Old
West, but we really do not have
one because we are a nation of
immigrants from everywhere.
If Disney, a world-class estab
lishment geared toward home-
spun family values, deems it ac
ceptable to have cultural themes
and require employees to dress
accordingly, then I do not see
why our University should feel
any different. I assure you they
are met by a much larger influx
of foreign peoples than Texas
A&M is.
Jennifer Driscoll
Class of ’00
Moral relativism
misrepresented
In response to Josh Maskow’s
Sept. 9 column:
Josh Maskow’s uninformed
characterization of moral rela
tivism requires response.
Moral relativism simply means
that moral principles cannot be
conceived as separate from the
surrounding cultural, social and
political contexts which give rise
to these principles. Maskow’s
characterization, which amounts
to "do whatever you feel like do
ing,” does not follow.
Therefore, a one-size-fits-all
blanket standard of morality is
not representative of the way so
cieties actually operate. Even
such seemingly basic behaviors
as how we perceive time itself is
highly contingent upon these cul
tural contexts.
Furthermore, the claim that
moral relativism and secular hu
manism lead to Nazism and fas
cism is irresponsible at best and
slanderous at worst.
First of all, secular humanism
affirms the worth of each human
individual. So, why would the
secular humanist or cultural rela
tivist tolerate any totalitarian
regime where human dignity is
trampled? The answer is quite
simple: he would not.
If one takes it upon them
selves to writing a scathing in
dictment of an opposing world
view such as Maskow did, it
would do that person well to re
search and present an informed
opinion.
Matt Rosin
Class of ’99
A1 Gore not ready for high office
String of embarrassments mar vice presidency
P
STEWART
PATTON
loot A1 Gore.
He has
spent the
last six years
grooming himself
for the presiden
cy only to see his
future campaign
besmirched by
Clinton’s admit
ted infidelity.
In the sound-bite culture that is
America, any campaign speech by
Gore will surely trigger a memory
of Clinton’s mea culpa in the
minds of voters.
Republican candidates in con
gressional races throughout the
country are already campaigning
against Clinton’s adultery and
public misleading.
Understandably, Democratic
candidates are trying to separate
themselves from the taint of adul
tery in the White House by oppos
ing the president’s actions more
vehemently than their Republican
counterparts.
For example, House Democrat
ic leader Richard Gephardt has
called the president’s behavior
“reprehensible” while Republican
Newt Gingrich has only referred
to it as “a human mistake.”
For Al Gore, however, here is
the rub: after winning two elec
tions as Clinton’s running mate.
Gore simply cannot follow suit by
railing against the administration
in which he has had a part. For
better or for worse. Gore must
stand by his man.
Since Gore is stuck between his
desire to win the presidency and
his duty to his friend, Americans
should take the high road and eval
uate Gore on his own merits.
Americans should not let Clin
ton’s mistakes stop them from
taking a good, hard look at Gore’s
politics and his plans for the fu
ture when analyzing the candi
dates for the presidency.
Therefore, despite the fact that
Gore is an environmental wacko
and a complete flake, he should
receive the same careful scrutiny
that a rational voter would give to
any other candidate.
On his personal Website, Gore
claims to be committed to
progress in such diverse eras as
business, technology, foreign poli
cy and crime. One look at his
book. Earth in the Balance, how
ever, shows that Gore’s commit
ment to these projects is little
more than a smoke screen for his
environmental fanaticism.
Instead of a desire to bring all of
these areas into balance (as the ti
tle of his book would indicate), a
better list of Gore’s interests would
be; forcing businesses to adhere to
unbearable environmental stan
dards, breaking the back of techno
logical innovators by imposing
stringent rules to protect the envi
ronment and convincing foreign
countries to abandon economic ad
vancement because of possible en
vironmental dangers.
He probably also believes bur
glary and drug dealing are linked
to higher levels of carbon- diox
ide emissions.
Do not let your anger over
Clinton’s lack of an apology cloud
your scrutiny of the coming cam
paign season. Look through the
pea soup of rhetoric about the
president’s private life and see Al
Gore for the flake he really is.
It is not hard to find examples
of Gore’s proclivity for saying the
wrong thing at the wrong time.
While passing a row of busts of
our founding fathers at Monticel-
lo. Gore asked the tour guide who
the men were.
He once called the executive
editor of The Washington Post to
inform him that he printed a pic
ture of Earth “upside down” on
the front page. Gore made many
victims of Down’s syndrome an
gry by accusing Oliver North of
taking political contributions
from “the extra-chromosome
right wing.”
Oh yes, fellow Americans, re
frain from allowing Clinton’s
hanky-panky to change your
mind about the right man for the
job of president.
Mr. and Mrs. Delgadillo of San
Antonio, Tx., got a first-hand look
at the raw innards of Gore. In a
letter to the vice president, they
implored him to save the Texas
Eagle, the Amtrak train they ride
to visit their children in St. Louis
and Chicago.
“Thank you for you letter re
garding the protection of the
Texas eagle,” Gore replied. “I
share your view that the urgent
problem of species extinction and
the conservation of biological di
versity should be addressed. . . I
look forward to working with you
for the future of our planet.”
Sounds like Gore should join
the Army of the Twelve Monkeys
instead of becoming commander-
in-chief of the U.S. Armed Forces.
When scrutinizing the candi
dates in the coming campaign
season, Americans must ignore
the fact Clinton engaged in lewd
acts in close proximity to Al
Gore’s office. You can now feel
fully justified in not voting for
Gore based solely on his own
faults and not because of his con
nection with Clinton’s ugly stain
on the American presidency.
Stewart Patton is a senior
sociology major.
ILL RBI6K IF VTLL Yji;
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MANISHA
PAREKH
Labels hurt
race relations
A sian-Amer-
ican.
African-
American. His-
panic-American.
Native American.
For $100,can
anyone define
what those titles
mean, exactly?
No, go on,
take a minute or two to think it
over. Sorry, time is up. The cor
rect question is: What are politi-
cally-correct ways to continue la
beling and stereotyping different
ethnic and racial groups?
Political correctness. It seems
to be a disease that is ravaging
the English language.
In the name of equality and
fairness, we have allowed our
language to become a garbled
mess of names and titles that
perpetuate stereotypes, instead
of erasing them.
Political correctness has al
lowed us to label people without
fear of being called racist. It has
kept us from focusing on the qual
ities that we, as a people, share,
and pushed the goal of equality
farther away from our reach.
After all, what do these titles
actually mean? According to the
Webster’s New World College Dic
tionary, African-American means
“having ancestors from sub-Saha
ran Africa; black American.”
According to that definition, we
should all be considered African-
Americans, since, due to anthro
pological evidence, our common
ancestors originated in Africa.
Okay, so perhaps calling every
one African-American is a bit
much, but surely Egyptians,
Libyans and other North Africans
should be called African-Ameri
cans. But, wait, they are called
Arab-Americans. How does that
work? And why are only black
Americans called African-Ameri
cans if Africa is made up of many
racial groups?
It seems that African-American
is simply the modern way to label
someone a black person, Negro or
Afro-American.
What is an Asian-American?
Someone who comes from Asia.
Which means that person could
hail from Korea, China, India,
Russia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Pak
istan, Mongolia, Japan or a vari
ety of other countries. Those are a
lot of different cultures and peo
ples to describe with one, vague
term like Asian-American.
It kind of renders the term
meaningless, doesn’t it? It ap
pears that Asian-American simply
means “someone who is not
white or black or Hispanic.”
These PC terms are simply new
ways to say the same old, Archie
Bunker-like thing.
But what is the harm in that?
They are only words, and words
are not supposed to hurt you.
However, because most white
people who live in America call
themselves American while mi
nority groups cling to their indi
vidual labels, the words can hurt.
Studies by cognitive psycholo
gists show labels can affect the
way people judge others, even if
they have never met. Those who
call themselves Americans all be
long to one, big in-group. The
African-, Asian- and Hispanic-
Americans, because of the em
phasis on African, Asian or His
panic, belong to the out-group.
And social psychologists have
come to realize what kind of ef
fect that identification has on in
dividual’s behavior.
It can lead to prejudice against
out-group members and fa
voritism for in-group members.
Political correctness can not get
beyond the fact the new, PC la
bels are simply that: labels, just
like they were decades ago.
So what should be done?
Should Americans all mush togeth
er and give up all their differences
in order to eliminate prejudice? No.
Differences are good. They make
people individuals and allow them
to create new ideas.
Heritages should not be forsak
en in order to reach equality. In
stead, we need to focus on includ
ing all people in understanding
our similarities and differences.
Only then will our similarities and
differences have any meaning.
But when it comes down to la
bels, which are meaningless, it is
time to let go.
Manisha Parekh is a junior
psychology & journalism major.