heSBaUalion
o PINION
Page 9 • Wednesday, January 27, 1999
—Putting the gentle back in gentleman
ir in ad).Thisk W
'ou get an;
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ROOMMATE
Women should show understanding, take proper steps to help chivalry make a comeback
‘W!
e are women hear us
roar” is the collec-
tive cry of many
1 ‘' sp'-r Duhle-X-chromosomed inhabi-
of this country. Women
ave made Rebecca Lobo-sized
.ns : ca«kk eir rides in many fields once domi-
.o-r-rateii by men, such as sports and
o +i 1 avei nment. The once held no
on hat women were the weaker
Demond
REID
lie nMdeiJ t
is. Cal Sara 0
s a.p 3Mn
o. -1 Suites
.ItxlfrTvlbalfi
—1—.. ?x Ivho were only good for cook-
: 7'^ 7 ig,(cleaning and birthing babies is long gone.
l| has been replaced by the idea women are
supei-diva. Wonder Woman, man eaters
nth the ability to jump over tall discrimination in
wamad k', ■ single bound.
L777iL_ With women taking a more aggressive role in
acfety, it is only natural that finding a gentleman
i tjiis country is harder than playing charades
nth Stevie Wonder for a partner. With the eradi-
atibn of gender roles in society, when it comes to
ay- o-day social contact with women, men find
aemselves confused.
^^^^Bhivalry is not quite dead, but feminism has beat
lawtamuM. up so badly that it is on an artificial respirator in
aelntensive care unit.
y- 5 Ij; According to The Backlash, an online magazine,
inly three percent of men in the United States fit the
. ~: _ r"sminist extremists’ notion of men in general. Nine-
,ose Aparawy y-seven out of every 100 men today stand mali-
iously and unjustly accused of chauvinism.
I'hat is why in this Texas two-step of gender inter-
•v p—cv ictlon, men are so afraid of stepping on toes they
lues Mane* >pt to stay clear of the dance floor and become so
intfeocial they make Norman Bates look like Kathie
d«»po««» *«*■ Gifford.
In the not too distant past, it was customary for a
nal ’> no matter how busy he was, to stop and hold
'7 t .d«ra7.!. ) P en door for a woman. He would do this be-
mes ciayTTs- ;ause he was guaranteed three things: (1) a genuine
aeded atr- mile, (2) a heart-felt thank you and (3) an unob-
Pe,sc * structed chance to stare at her butt.
——rABoday, the only reason it may be safe to open a
tamu $255rc looi' for a woman is if she has no arms. And even
that is only about 95 percent definite because there is
the slight chance Stubby will let the man know that
she is an independent woman and could have
Upscale fumi
ge. $315/mo.
pushed the gray handicap button that
opens the doors with her nose, which
leaves a guy feeling about as useless as the
Sears’ security guard during the L.A. riots.
To all women wondering if there is any
thing they can do to bring a bit of Rhett
Butler out of her man, well I do declare
Ms. Scarlett, there is a way. But the reme
dy to this problem will take a female gen
der group effort. Considering the fact that
at one time or another every man will be
involved in a relationship with a woman,
the best place to solve this problem is one-
on-one in an relationship.
While many relationships will not work
out, if each and every woman implements
the following steps with the man they are
currently seeing, chances are the next
man she meets will already have been em
bedded with the confidence and self-as
surance to be a gentleman. Only confi
dence and self-assurance can combat the
feelings of intimidation being around a
strong woman can cause.
The steps are real easy to follow. First,
be a tad bit more submissive. Hold on a
minute Sadie Hawkins before the rest of
the Estrogen brigade is rounded up to
riot with Susan B. Anthony silver dollars;
just listen. This does not mean having to
pull some brain-dead Stepford wife on
lithium routine, but at the same time it
does not mean having to run over a man
like a Sherman tank.
Let him hold the remote for a little 4
while longer. If women sit through an
hour of female midget mud wrestling,
men will choke down “The 90210 High
School Reunion Special.”
Second, next time a man points out a
mistake, just say “thank you” and move
on. Do not remind him of the thousands
of times he has been wrong. There is no need to
bring up the time he asked what the capitol of East
Dakota was.
Third, and most important, be patient. The rules
of the game are rapidly changing and men are still
RUBEN DELUNA/Tm: Battalion
trying to catch up.
If all women adhere to the previous three steps
they can be guaranteed a more chivalrous man with
whom they can spend the rest of their life. But if for
some reason their men do something a little bit too
ignorant, they can take comfort in the fact the next
man they come across will have already been
trained by another woman.
Demond Reid is a sophomore management major
Own room. $250/r
campus. Kim693-i'
vanlad (o share 3W
s. 777-1322.
oommale iw* 5 ’f"
■o. w/d $2'.: A.
banning alcohol from houses, functions
led. 2bdrm'
call Mike at 680
led. 2bdrm/l»
'mo +ulilities. Aoa'
Russell
PAGE
new semester is
upon Texas A&M
and it is time for
>osit. 4-months i ha! special tradition Ag-
nts Need 3rd '. ,j es f orwan j to at
'64-9059,1-888-4- ’ ... r
he beginning of every
SERVICES emester, fraternity rush.
, ,1 week of colorful shirts
IS-30% OffCaitso’ 1 , I .
(Die for you to do" Lowing every possible
yn at The pint Combination of Greek let-
>b com/invitations ‘ ,. . , BHBMnnnBEHsnHnnBrtHBi
ers and the slightly less
TRAVEL >ojpular, less thought out maroon and white
i,E«.»«i--n° frats" shin*; „ ,
. sleeps 16 $125$ lOnce again, the smell of testosterone
langs thick in the air, inspired by this magi-
Ith Padr'eisia^r :al season. Each fraternity seeks to draw in
s. Best oceaniic'potential rushees by promising they are the
ameedii ( 800 ) 9e ^B ai -test, most athletic or smoothest with
beak ‘99. Maza'j he ladies.
ato'aDahafand^ ft is the time of the semester during
463. visit our wed! w lie h young men pledge their loyalty, li-
pidos and livers to an organization that
paboutspringbreai s )r |mi ses their time and money will be well
•pint and they will reap the great rewards
:IGHT L0S")f brotherhood, babes and beer.
T^w'Thesc are the images most people think
Herbs"No Fade® 5 T when they hear the word fraternity. Two
gy level, •Deoreasf. la t j 0 nal fraternities are making new policies
formation;690-0786 OjChange this negative view of fraternities.
'Jigina Nu and Phi Delta Theta have made
'he commitment to go alcohol-free in their
loi ses by the year 2000.
j ^ Gone are the days of half-naked men
I Ilv vra PP e d in sheets drinking their fill of beer
ind chanting, “Toga, toga.”
Or are they? These two fraternities have
bassed an amendment forbidding alcohol
n fraternity premises or in their houses,
hus beginning the Greek prohibition. Other
raternities will most likely follow this initia
te and give into the popular pressure to
italic
ished
‘Ugh Frida)
ban alcohol at all fraternity houses.
Did anyone bother to consider if this
change was actually feasible? Fraternities
without alcohol, like A&M without the
Corps, sounds great in theory, but the prob
lem of enforcing new rules and changing
old traditions is difficult at best.
While the Interfraternity Council (IFC)
promotes a “dry rush in which alcohol is
not allowed before, during or after a rush
event,” it is common knowledge that after
wards there is ample opportunity for actives
and rushees to drink.
If fraternities are willing to break the
rules during rush, when they are moni
tored by IFC, then what will keep them
honest when there is no one watching?
Who is going to make sure there are no
spirits in the house? If a violation does oc
cur, who is going to report it? The national
headquarters of these fraternities are not
going to have a way to control the actions
of each chapter house.
With no logical answers to these ques
tions, it appears the reasons the Phi Delts
and Sigma Nu’s are doing this is for pub
lic relations. The Phi Delt General Head-
Quarters Website discusses the fact all fra
ternities have had lower memberships
over the past seven years. In order to
boost membership, these two fraternities
have decided to target a new audience:
the rushees’ parents.
It is the parents who most likely write
the dues check, so it is a good idea to keep
them happy. A lot of parents would be more
willing to write a check to those nice boys
at Sigma Nu who have rules against drink
ing as opposed to the evil We Tappa Keg-
ga’s. The strategy is sound. Unfortunately
the new policy focuses more on the check
book of the parents rather than the safety of
the member.
The second reason for these policies is
to cover the national organization in the
case of a lawsuit. If the chapter breaks the
rules and something bad happens, well the
national organization is not responsible. It
is a good idea and especially convenient to
have potentially dangerous situations in
volving drinking as far away from fraterni
ty property as possible.
Unfortunately, in this era of lawsuits
and passing the blame, it will only be a
matter of time before someone who lives at
one of these houses is injured or dies from
a drinking-and-driving-related accident and
sues the national organization for not al
lowing him to drink safely at his home. No
alcohol in a fraternity house is not meant
to encourage the safe and healthy fraternal
environment. It is meant to protect the na
tional organizations’ bank accounts from
dwindling membership, insurance premi
ums and litigation.
For local chapters, there are plenty of
ways to get around the rules. With A&M’s
proposed fraternity row, members could
move their official house to the campus ad
dress and keep the current house as the par
ty house. Alcohol may not be allowed “in”
the house, but kegs kept “out” in the yard
or in the back of trucks is acceptable.
Of course, there is the very real possibili
ty that the members of these fraternities
could disregard the rule all together and
bring alcohol inside the house.
As for the rushies, they have something
new to consider this year.
Russell Page is a senior
political science major.
circulatiofl
40,000 — —
Students debate
ed in psconference’s merits
nent, pie# j It seems that again the “great”
jm ersity we all call home has blun-
D dered in its own ignorant denial of
-^O^flpontinued anarchy sponsored by
the Southwestern Black Student
y , .^“LEADERSHIP” Conference. One
display ^°Vear ago, I wrote regarding an el-
or dei ly couple stranded for forty-five
.. nfiC™ 01 - 11 - 65 clue t0 the fact that; a PP r0X '
}“UOD* imate, y 40 °ffi cers were required to
subdue riots at our university,
assified M Apparently, the individuals in
charge of this event have again ne-
gfected their responsibilities to the
Hnn’t lj| st L lclent body- why does my school
UUII l "continuously sponsor riots that re-
lat" along toa'Tuire every available officer in the
Brazos Valley to subdue?
Last year, the Department of
Multiculturalism informed me that
this problem related to improper
entry by those who didn’t even at
tend the conference.
This year, Theressa Cooper in
forms us that “We encourage peo
ple not to have those parties, and
we encourage people not to at
tend.” Yeah. Somehow, there
seems to be a direct correlation be
tween the Southwestern Black
"LEADERSHIP” conference and
huge incidents such as these that
are conveniently pushed under
neath the bureaucratic rug of Texas
A&M University.
Has anyone in authority at this
institution ever pondered upon the
MAIL CALL
fact that a serious accident could Texas A&M claims to embrace
happen (God forbid) during such im
mature displays of “leadership de
velopment?” We “strive to promote
a wonderful learning environment”
at this university. This ignorant de
nial of sponsored anarchy must
stop. Someone with intellect needs
to draw a direct correlation between
the SBSLC and annual riots. Better
yet, we could start a new Aggie tra
dition; Fish Camp, T-Camp, Big
Event, Muster, Silver Taps and of
course “THE SBSLC RIOTS”.
Stop Stupidity. Stop Anarchy.
Stop the Southwestern Black
“LEADERSHIP” Conference.
Allen Gardner
Class of '99
diversity and support its minority
students. Unfortunately, every time
there is an opportunity to lend cred
ibility to this statement, the Univer
sity falls flat on its face.
Why is it that less than a week af
ter Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday,
and less than a month into the New
Year, The Battalion decided to make
a spectacle of African-American stu
dents? SBSLC is an exemplary ex
ample of the unification of minorities
to provide enrichment and support
for students on campus and around
the country. Instead of focusing on
this, more attention was placed on a
private party that wasn’t sanctioned
by SBSLC. It is a downright shame
that a larger article was written on
EDITORIAL
Editorials appearing in The Battalion reflect the
views of the editorials board members. They do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of other Battalion
staff members, the Texas A&M student body, re
gents, administration, faculty or staff. Columns,
guest columns, cartoons and letters express the
opinions of the authors.
Editorials Board
AARON MEIER
Editor in Chief
KASIE BYERS
Managing Editor
MANISHA PAREKH
Opinion Editor
BETH MILLER
City Editor
The Actions of a Few
SBSLC should continue at the University
This past weekend, the South
western Black Student Leadership
Conference came to the campus of
Texas A&M. Following two days of
intense learning and working for the
future, it is only natural for the atten
dees to want a chance to relax. Many
attendees chose to attend SBSLC-
sanctioned events. However, other
attendees chose to go to some of the
private parties held in the area.
After a series of events, a
crowd of 1,000 people gathered
outside the Rack Warehouse, try
ing to gain access to one such pri
vate party. Police agencies were
called to help control the crowd,
and following an altercation, ac
cording to the College Station Po
lice Department, an officer used
pepper spray on the fighters.
Because of this incident, some
have called for the removal of SB
SLC from campus. If this happens, it
would hurt the efforts of the Uni
versity to promote diversity and cul
tural understanding on campus.
If the University were to remove
the conference, it would be guilty of
merely paying lip sendee to the long-
debated issue of diversity.
the party than on the confer
ence. (A party, free of fights and
property damage ... a fact omit
ted in the article).
It never ceases to amaze me how
“minority parties” mysteriously
make front-page news. I have yet to
see an article about the drunkards
that stumble up and down University
and Northgate every Thursday night
and every weekend. Drunkards, who
cause commotion, fights and proper
ty damage ... and who also “draw
law enforcement agencies.”
Shame on The Battalion for such
poor judgment. In the future, send
reporters to photograph and report
on the actual conference, not unre
lated events! The Battalion’s past
and present coverage of minority
Perhaps more disturbing than the
incident, is the student body’s will
ingness to throw away the opportu
nity to take advantage of the learning
opportunity the conference offers.
The incident at this private party
could have happened to any group
holding a conference of such pro
portions, whether it be a fraternity
conference. Conference on Student
Government Affairs (COSGA) or
New Student Orientation.
When such a large group of peo
ple are barred from entering a bar,
tempers are bound to flare and the
inevitable scuffle will occur.
In the past, the SBSLC has spon
sored parties with unintended re
sults. This year’s party, while target
ed at conference participants, was
not advocated by, or held in con
junction with the conference. The
efforts of the conference organizers
to address past issues are apparent
in that this year all SBSLC-spon-
sored events went smoothly.
A successful event such as the
SBSLC should not be judged for the
actions of a few party-goers who
may or may not have been confer
ence participants.
events has been less than fair, and
can be compared to the hypocrisy
of those pointing fingers at Presi
dent Clinton, when they were doing
the same things themselves.
Maria Okafor
Class of ’00
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