Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 1999)
■^ic Battalion O PINION Page 13 • Tuesday, February 2, 1999 mra nan HGF, i/ed human HGi the gene had set uiscle cells lent? • rted making mi satawny Bill dfe mimics movies after Clinton’s presidency repeats itself for the past six years >rd pli ^e flay it cannot escape. d * ' morn * n g> President Clinton awakes to Inl^^Hnit crimes and moral indiscretions, each / W1 iy the President’s popularity rises and each gh| the country blames the Republicans for intpn’s troubles. Jgns of Clinton’s power to escape each day erlprevalent even before he took office. In hu .ugan riuary 1992, Gennifer Flowers revealed her 'rson hard L ;cac i e -]ong affair with Clinton, and the future ctingJive pat. -esident got a boost in the polls and a near vic- wood. torits: ^ | a jvj ew Hampshire, mse ot the!i:t^B ter j n t j ie spring, it was discovered the esident dodged the draft, smoked pot and ott the Vietnam War while visiting the So iled Gas Co. et Union. Still, the president swept California, n the complex■ York and won the presidential nomination, edure, andthc: \yi ia t could Republicans do? Many in the the explosioii'OP hoped Clinton’s magical powers would dis- patf once he reached the White House. They Michigan Depi e re sorely mistaken; the office of the presiden- r and Indusi increased Clinton’s ability to break the law two inspec: -[d escape responsibility, esperson Mar First, Whitewater washed ashore, but the roblem quickly evaporated. Vince Foster, the workers on linton’s attorney with all the answers, was were sent k iysteriously found dead. With his death, many nt workers w- iswers to the scandal went to the grave. Susan to work. Ah [cDougall chose to go to jail instead of standing s were there a! >it|ess against Clinton and Jim McDougall died spokesperson!'® 100-acre RoujT the world’s lain iry Ford built i ecu use he die car from start: ation. i its peakin': A sthe saying >ple worked; A « oes - Dlnm S rn, about s, ‘ Pt?" cam P us 15 llro j t in. It is a pity a stu- 10.000 peopk ;nt has to be in a ,l(actoies.'.f n " ro ° n ; ea , ln ?, lie Rouse ,.».WJ ocks for ,hat 10 . n ? a true statement. n plex has ace; T many hungry , , „ mniv: i-campus Aggies of cancer before he could face Clinton in court. Some may blame these events on coincidence, but Clinton’s ability to elude scandal was begin ning to show. In 1996, the scandal and escape scenario was repeated. It was discovered the president collect ed nearly a thousand FBI files on Republicans. The public was alerted of this criminal action, but could care less. The pattern of the Clinton “Groundhog Day” was emerging. Following his reelection in 1996, the president and his administration were exposed for raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal Asian campaign funds. However, like every scandal be fore, witnesses disappeared, the public lost inter est and the Republicans were left looking foolish. So when Monica Lewinsky entered the scene in 1998, it was not surprising to see the presi dent escape the scandal. Sure he has been the first-elected president to be impeached, but the latest CNN/USA Today/GaWup poll has Clinton with a 68-percent approval rating. Can anything destroy the president and bring about a new day? History has shown President Clinton’s ability to survive is unmatched. Not even a charge of serious criminal wrongdoing can bring down this president. To Republicans, the Clinton presidency has been a never-ending nightmare. The GOP has tried to win the hearts of the public by balancing the budget, ending the welfare state and cutting taxes. They have tried impeachment, investiga tion, special prosecutors and congressional com mittees. Nothing has been able to stop the presi dent from committing scandal, breaking the law and exercising poor moral judgment. For the past six years, the Republicans awake to the same day. Clinton is continuously thwarting the Republican effort to remove him at every turn. This never-ending “Groundhog Day” will haunt the GOP until Clinton leaves the White House. Glenn Janik is a senior political science major. RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion Meal plans not always the quickest, most cost-effective route David ?, but remain icentration LEE tve learned, pur- •tnriPS imlb lasin S 3 meal P lan with TeXaS A&M haS . , ‘ n e potential of becoming a frustrating id time-consuming experience. Since 1876, the Department of Food injices has proudly served the student buffet contest )dy of A&M, stimulating their tastebuds ipell as their colons. With three dining ing Devils fortll n | ers an d over a dozen restaurants and lack bars spread around campus, Food t free coffeeab-™' 065 h as attempted to make it as con join m saidfoFi n l ent; as possible for students to have high-quality food without compromising their busy schedules. After all, it is the most hassle-free means of getting food on campus; or is it? Consider the following: High prices: The Department of Food Services Website (food.tamu.edu) includes a listing of all the meal plans currently of fered for the Spring 1999 semester. An im pressive array of options are available, de signed to fit any schedule. However, what the Website fails to mention is the per meal price for each meal plan. After calculation, it is obvious these meal plans are somewhat pricey, with some averaging as high as $6.50 per meal after tax. For students who are looking to stretch their dollar as far as possible, this is not a cost-effective means of getting fed. Stocking groceries in a minifridge or eating out at some of the restaurants around cam pus every now and then can be a cheaper alternative. Time is precious: Without question, time is the most scarce resource of any college student. During peak hours, standing in long lines at the dining halls is unavoidable. For students who are in a hurry to get to class during these time periods, meals prove to be a harrowing experience as they find themselves in a demolition der by of sorts, wildly bumping in and out of crowds, side-stepping near collisions with slower students, darting from buffet cart to buffet cart and racing to the near est empty seat to wolf down their meals with just enough time to get to class. To its credit, Food Services had made a sincere attempt at preventing such chaos with the introduction of Outbound Din ing, a service where students can pick up take-out meals in order to save time. However, this service has gained tremen dous popularity among students on the go, and it is commonplace to see long lines forming there as well. Ironically, the wait at Outbound Dining during peak hours is comparable to that of eating in the dining halls. No carrying over of unused meals: A few days before final exams, Joe Aggie decides to eat at Sbisa one last time be fore the end of the semester. To his bewil derment, he is politely informed that he has 64 meals remaining on his account. This sends Joe into a mad dash as he sprints to the Underground Market and attempts to purchase 50 pints of Blue Bell ice cream in a desperate last ditch effort in redeeming his unused meal credits. This scenario, while silly, is a conse quence of a grossly inefficient and waste ful system. Any unused meals translate into wasted dollars that could have been better spent elsewhere. While the majori ty of the blame should be placed on Joe for not keeping track of his meal credits, it is unreasonable to expect a student who purchases any of the larger meal plans to be able to use all of their meal credits in one semester. Food Services should be willing to allow a certain per centage of leftover meals from one se mester to carry over to another. Do not be forced into thinking that buying a meal plan is a student’s only option for getting food on campus. Any student with a minifridge, a microwave and a little creativity can save themselves a great amount of time and money preparing a few meals in their room. Who knows, treating oneself to a meal at the dining halls every now and then might be a welcomed change of pace. Af ter all, that is what Aggie Bucks are for. Hopwood a step in the right direction for racial equality, needs time to prove benefits EDITORIAL VI: ar.18, 1996 the 5th ®/| U.S. Circuit Court ^ V Xof Appeals re- ersed a decision by a £ Jxas district court and ™ iled in favor of five plain- i ffs in what is now widely } knOW known as the Hopwood ase. That case ended ice-based criteria in ad- lissions to colleges in Rs, Louisiana and Mississippi. [-offs®! Zach HALL Though the rhetoric from many minority roups and school administrators may say therwise, Hopwood set in motion a move to ward real racial equality in education. ■Vhen the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals aled on the Hopwood case, it was specifically irgeting the University of Texas Law School’s dmission criteria, which set separate stan- ards for minority and white applicants. -The state legislature and attorney general ten applied it to all state universities by eeming all forms of race-based criteria for dmissions, scholarships and fellowships to e in line with the ruling from the Hopwood ase. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court justices had uled that U.T. Law School’s admission crite- ia violated the 14th Amendment’s equal ac- ess clause. Rowever, unlike the UT Law School, kihose criteria was that of a quota system, aany schools used race as a small “plus fac- ar” in the larger picture of admissions. t&M’s use of race as an admission criteria, n essence, amounted to less than 5 percent f the total criteria. ■Therefore, Hopwood should have had only light impact on the admissions process of nany state institutions, fthe decline in some schools minority ad- nissions apparently is a financial situation. Jim Ashlock, Executive Director of Univer sity Relations, said that the effects of Hopwood ended race-based scholarships such as the Presidents Achievement Scholarship. This lack of school or state-sponsored mi nority scholarships created a perception to some minorities that they were not welcome at state schools. When coupled with the ability of out-of- state schools to offer school-based minority scholarships, one begins to see why there ap pears to be a decline in minority admissions. While A&M has seen a drop in minority en rollment, Ashlock said that minority enroll ment has seen no state-wide decline. The attorney general and state legislature made the right decision in applying Hopwood to all state colleges and ending affirmative ac- legislators and minority groups opposed to the effects of Hopwood should give the system a chance to work itself out” tion within education. Recently though, they have made token ef forts to bolster minority enrollment with the passage of House Bill 588, which grants auto matic admission into state colleges for high school students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class. Thus far, H.B. 588 seems to have had no effect on increasing mi nority enrollment. However, legislators and minority groups opposed to the effects of Hopwood should give the system a chance to work itself out. It has only been two years since the Hop- wood ruling. Furthermore, the fact that state-wide mi nority admission numbers have not declined blows holes in the argument that minority stu dents are leaving the state. School administrators and minority-interest groups should focus on solutions to increasing minority enrollment and quit focusing on the supposed slight dealt minorities by ending af firmative action. For instance, local minority groups and alumni can set up their own private minority scholarships and fellowships. School officials, in turn, need to dispel the incorrect perception that minorities are not welcome. Nevertheless, if a student does not want to go to a particular school, despite its efforts to be equal and fair in admissions, then the school must accept this. There should not be, however, a collective whining that the system discriminates or discourages certain groups from admission. If a student has no interest in a school, he likely will not go there, despite all the school’s efforts. Schools and minority groups need to real ize this is a step in the direction of ending dis crimination against all races. With time and effort, the apparent side ef fects of the Hopwood case will work them selves out and colleges will again see increas es in minority enrollment. The easy answer to the declines in some school’s minority enrollment numbers is to blame it on Hopwood. The tougher answer is to realize discrimination does not end discrim ination and Hopwood will reap greater re wards in the struggle toward racial equality in education and society. Zach Hall is a senior philosophy major. 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, regents, administration, faculty or staff. Columns, guest columns, cartoons and letters ex press the opinions of the authors. David Lee is a sophomore general studies majot. Editorials Board AARON MEIER Editor in Chief KASIE BYERS Managing Editor MANISHA PAREKH Opinion Editor BETH MILLER City Editor Hazy Situation Recent allegations against Corps of Cadets exposes need for hazing law clarification Haze — it’s a collegiate four-let ter word that sends organization presidents and outfit commanding officers scurrying for their bylaws and guidelines. Beatings, cold hoses or being forced to eat rotten foods are all eas ily identifiable forms of hazing. When the hazing laws were enact ed in 1987, it was meant to stop the human degradation certain organi zations were using to initiate new members. In 1999, actions that were once thought of as being in good spirit or as jokes have been tainted with the hazing laws. The laws regarding hazing are so complex and vague that confusion is often the only re sult from trying to understand its definition. While the recent advertisements placed in The Battalion by the Stu dent Conflict Resolution Services are trying to educate students, the sheer number of ads over the past two weeks is proof of the complex ity of the hazing issue. What one individual says is a bonding experience for all mem bers, others call hazing. In order to simplify the hazing question, a definitive test needs to be developed that will allow all or ganization members, whether they be pledges, fish or upperclassmen to eliminate the potential for haz ing. While the recent accusations made by a former cadet against oth er members of the Corps are serious and do involve allegations of phys ical assault and emotional abuse and should be investigated, the unique military tradition of the Corps needs to be recognized in some fashion. While a special sta tus should not be designate to the Corps of Cadets, their commitment to the physical and mental stan dards of the military is unique to any other organization in the state.