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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 17, 1998)
j’boB; fewtjrt igate incidents A troy Aggie spirit inion Page 13 - Thursday, September 17, 1998 the ball a I Budget shortage leaves Bus Ops in crisis Student apathy prevents campus mass transit improvements CORRIE CAULEY Something's; hing Ihe Test in “’.eirtreache: Some I 'Cl.A for ilit ‘-"/•v confide- the Kansas y ustin, ndi- a game eater Northern ; hole, e. Inch 1 in ecu j .i . where the individual reecrd ’3 ; something greater — Most • airit and a bond unlike uvvistheb: ' other — one would the Unde,:'' to find Aggies shun- en;> : s 'S. Unfortunately, it Ci though some have points vhat peing an Aggie is bonghomsarr lather; 1 ' A incidents of racial the KSl dc - nt against international mSatuAc ave been reported in nan Mfor--date area, as well as t the|Bryan-College Sta- <SU will win: "Ridtard ji he offense ar. ms only tltn.' lines, ’ Texa.' aid. “Thisisa onservative.' i unity. iblem at hand is not ational students’ prob- lot just a campus prob- r. The problem is a y problem. ts in the Northgate area rted incidents where rom tomatoes and or- ottles and cans were them. They have also ally assaulted and phys- nidated. fellow Ags not only dehumanized and dis- 'UllMUl, but.they have been eel like unwelcome vis- place where being an pCl lUJ uppose to be some- Defensive igh there are only a mpondm::; >f harassment reports me things a been brought to the at- > gotcnlme f prominent student By then tb md even fewer that 11 hod vie n reported to area an ise, the me. the reported incidents se history, ing new to these victims the coll,ip lice. Muse the i occurence of bigotry II in the ( stance too many, and , r Arizona, 'eports of harrassment ■| t was |ikeiational students only msive tacb le intensity of a much oblem. in four W international students h Bill Bates 3 t° report harrassment is in the 1 'iic 0 - Only some feel up Pame38-i ilble bringing the situa- > ]|hs coacli -hool officials. And hired becaos 5t i et it go. (|S SJ|( j j ie sudent expressed his be- ., iVrumno -d b V many others, that to ulev Police is to place one- the wavtfebg 1161 ' risk than falling ail irlv itn- the circumstances, stopping the' fear and intimidation dis- s running® 1 couraging students from coming forward, the problem remains buried beneath the doormats, left in the dark with no chance of be ing resolved. What complicates matters even more is that many interna tional students are not comfort able speaking English. The lan guage barrier only encourages separation of the international students and acts as another ob stacle standing in the way of voic ing the truth. Attempts have been made by police to cut down on the prob lem by placing additional security in the Northgate area. Although the intensity of problems de creased with extra officers in the area, the problems surfaced again as soon as the additional security was removed. Police efforts to cut back on student harassment are only a temporary answer to an ever-pre sent problem. It is up to the com munity to see that this problem comes to an end. And it is up to the victims to take that step of courage and come forward to give voice to this issue. The decision to correct the problem has to start somewhere. And if Aggies really are about helping Aggies, then they will not tolerate oppression of their own kind. An Aggie is an Aggie, regard less of race or culture. And an Aggie who participates in any ac tivity that demeans his or her own kind needs to reevaluate what exactly it is to be an Ag. And so does the Aggie who wit nesses an incident of racial ha rassment and chooses not to stand up for his or her fellow Ag or fails to report the incident to the appropriate authorities. Wit nesses who remain silent are just as guilty as the perpetrators. The change needed is not a change in security measures. It is not a change in counseling ser vices available to international students who become victims of racial harassment. It is a change in attitude. It means recognizing that as an Aggie, you are a part of a di verse, multicultural, unique community that should unite to gether in the common spirit and passion of being an Aggie. It means recognizing that the indi vidual is part of something big ger and greater, and every Aggie is entitled to that. my resp®;| htened out. t s srnity seating igates campus nification of the Greeks s of block seating at foot- es could lead to further don of the A&M campus, has become too segregat- rt because of the groups to.make themselves t and grow individually, s have become divided tions like “Corps” and and tragically, by race Carrie Cauley is a senior journalism major. MAIL CALL I would hate for this attempt to unify the Greeks to bring about re sentment and feelings of exclu sion by non-Greeks, some of whom already have a negative view of fraternities and sororities. So, all of the best to the Greeks who work hard to represent A&M, but we ask that the council find a different place to create Greek uni fication and leave the football games to unify Aggies. Natalie Dometrius Class of ’01 CALEB MCDANIEL K athie Mathis, associate director of Parking, Traffic and Transporta tion Services, says the Uni versity bus system is in a state of “crisis.” Those who frequently ride the bus to class from off-cam- pus locations will probably agree with her. This semester, bus sched ules have been erratic. Bus pickup times are unpredictable, and once the bus arrives, it is often too full of irritable Aggies to admit any more passengers. The passengers who do cram into the prehistoric vehicles swelter the whole way, and by the time they arrive at class — often late — they are generally an gry with the world. It is not the best way to start the day. But students ought to know, the good Ags at PTTS should not be blamed for the sad state of Bus Oper ations. In this in- Speaking of budgets, the amount of fund ing Bus Ops receives from the powers that be is laughable. Here is a lesser-known fact about the other school in Austin — its bus system has an annual operating budget totaling $7.3 million. The bus system in Aggieland, on the other hand, walks a tightrope budget of $2.7 million. Longhorn buses operate with three times as much money as Aggie buses. And re member that a million bucks of that budget is tied up in repairs. The situation is painfully clear. Bus Opera tions needs money. They do not get it from students or regents. Ergo, crowded bus bench es. Impatient passengers. Uncomfortable rid ing conditions. Inconsistent schedules. Crisis. Thd way out of the crisis is more complex. It is difficult for the bus system to generate more revenue from stance, as in general, a lit tle investiga tion will discover the root of all evil has something to do with the almighty buck. Bus Operations has a problem with money — they do not have enough of it. Since 1983, the price of a semester bus pass has risen only five dollars. But the same period has wit nessed “a constant erosion of bus pass sales,’’Gary Jackson, Bus Operations manager, said. The math is easy. Less sales plus stagnant prices equals trouble. Revenue is in a rut. Bus costs, on the other hand, continue to skyrocket. The majority of the bus fleet is made up of ancient, gas-guzzling buses from the Rea gan era. About $1 million a year are put into re pairing buses that are about as reliable as the Happiness Hotel shuttle in The Great Mappet Caper. Many of A&M’s current buses were pick ing up Ags when you were still wetting the bed. Most of them ought to be condemned or burned — or both. It is not hard to see why maintenance costs are so high. The buses were built be fore the Flood. Many of their parts are no longer even manufactured. Bad engines have to be completely rebuilt because they cannot be replaced. Several years ago, one bus was out of commission for months for nothing more than a broken axle. The necessary part was no longer produced, and it took five months to track down the materials. It does not take an accounting major to figure out that this kind of maintenance does not allow an effi cient budget. pleasure with the buses by not riding them at all. They choose to drive to school, and dri ving to campus means parking on campus. So students lobby for more and more parking lots. They wait in line for 40 minutes to find a parking space when they could have ridden the bus in a comparable amount of time. The excuses for driving are typical. “The buses are hot and sticky. They make my hair wilt,” some might say. But as long as this atti tude prevails, the buses cannot raise the mon ey needed to upgrade in the air-conditioned luxury vehicles we unreasonably expect. “The exhaust the bus belches out is so dis gusting,” says another student with a wrinkle of the nose. But the buses cannot be made more environmentally conscious until they make more money. And cars idling for 30 min utes in the Zachry parking lot do not exactly do wonders for the atmosphere either. The solution, Ags, is not to build more park ing spaces. “We’ve got the park ing problem fixed,” Mathis said. “Now it’s time to fix the bus problem.” She is right. l 1 " ’ v ^ Graphic by Tim Kang/The Battalion the students. Bus management has considered lobbying for a flat transportation student fee that would cover costs, but Aggies need an other student fee like they need another se quel to Free Willy. Nevertheless, the present program is not working. Bus passes are not selling well be cause better service is needed to attract more riders. To provide that better service, more revenue from more riders is needed. These two economic axioms put PTTS in a perpetual dilemma. But when students spend 40 minutes wait ing in the rain for a bus, they do not see these financial troubles below the surface. So Aggies voice a few complaints to their fellow bench- warmers, who nod their heads in sympathy. They fire broad curses at PTTS — the perenni al student scapegoat — and then go along their not-so-merry way. They might even cash in their bus passes, which only exacerbates the problem. Most students have shown an active dis- If Aggies want to eventually have workable buses, they have to work with the buses as they are now. Things must be worse before they can get better. The student body must make a concerted effort to get behind the bus system instead of whining for more parking. You would not have parking tickets if you had good buses to ride instead. Do not rue the day PTTS was cre ated unless you intend to do something to im prove it. And something definitely must be done. “The students have got to get behind this or else this tradition is going to bite the dust,” Mathis said. If students will rally around Bus-Ops in stead of lining up for parking, someday Bus Operations will have enough money. But giv en the current student apathy or outright hos tility towards PTTS, do not hold your breath. Unless, of course, you happen to be walk ing behind a 15-year-old diesel bus. Caleb McDaniel is a sophomore history major. 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 Me 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: 1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: batt@tamvml.tamu.edu Gov. Bush brings Hispanics to GOP BEVERLY MIRELES A bout five years ago, the Texas tourism commit tee ran a memo rable advertising campaign. “Texas,” the com mercial said. “It’s like a whole oth- er country. ” The tourism board was right. Texas has country fields, big cities, scenic parks, NASA’s John son Space Center and soon, it will hold claim to the next president, George W. Bush. Perhaps that is an audacious claim. But probably not as much of one as people might think. The odds are in his favor. People are lining up to support him, and even most Texas Democrats are generous With praise. The gover nor’s race, at the moment, is less like a competitive campaign and more like one really long debu tante ball for Bush. He probably even looks good in a white dress. George arid Barbara must be proud. Their eldest is a sure bet against Land Commissioner Gar ry Mauro. Bush is so far ahead in the race that Mauro’s cam paign motto might as well be “Mauro: He doesn’t know who you are, either.” So what is Bush’s big secret? Why is he so popular when politi cians everywhere are generally hated by the public? Is it charm? Wit? Name recognition? Strength of policy? Possibly. But the one thing George W. Bush has that many other Republican politicians do not is a chance at winning the Hispanic vote. This August, Bush presented what is largely thought to be the most aggressive campaign to reach out to Hispanic voters in the history of Texas. The Hispanic campaign con sists of Spanish and English radio advertisements, outdoor bill boards and television commer cials featuring the governor relay ing his campaign theme to the public, “Depende de nosotros,” which means, “It depends on us.” Smart move, George. Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau re ported that since 1990, Texas has had the nation’s second-largest increase in Hispanic residents. To put a numerical value on it, Texas now has a reported 5.7 million Hispanic residents. Needless to say, that is a large chunk of the voting population. Even if he does not have the majority of the Hispanic vote yet, he is well on his way. It is beneficial to Bush’s reelec tion campaign that he can speak Spanish well enough to conduct television interviews in it. He has become a very public fixture in the Hispanic communi ty. Just try and find a recent pic ture of the governor without someone of Latino or Hispanic descent in it. Another winning strategy is his extremely careful approach to his torically Hispanic causes, such as bilingual education, which he has stated he would support if stu dents keep passing state exams like the TAAS. Bush also has said he would allow the use of state funds to ed ucate the children of illegal immi grants and to pay for emergency medical care for them as well. This makes Bush a redeemer of the GOP’s damaged image after the disgusting display of anti-His- panic legislation headed up by California Governor Pete Wilson. Finally, a Republican who de serves the public’s vote. Texas De mocrats seem to agree. Across the state, they are lining up in sup port of Bush. Ann Richards and Hillary Clinton may have publicly backed Mauro, but Bush has the full-fledged support of Democratic Lt. Governor Bob Bullock, who is popular in his own right. Also, Bush has traveled to El Paso, a Democratic stronghold, many times this year, and has won the support of the city’s Latino mayor. If Bush can secure the His panic vote in Texas, he certainly has a chance of winning more Hispanic votes than any other Republican presidential nominee before him. Nationwide, Republicans have never won more than 37 percent. If Bush can pull it off in Texas, the Republicans may once again have a shot at the growing blue-collar ethnic Catholic vote. Of course, he does have to de cide to run for president first. Though he has expressed some tentativeness about running, having the chance to become the second son in history to follow his father into the White House is almost too much for anyone to pass up. With the political luck Bush has been having these days, and with the strength of the Hispanic vote, a place on the Republican ticket is not far out of his reach. Beverly Mireles is a sophomore microbiology major.