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.