, ro J ied to ie Battalion
it, 64, In
o
PINION
Page 7 • Monday, March 1, 1999
etting airsick
merican Airlines pilot’s sickout caused more headaches, upset stomachs for passengers
fn
when ver the
3ower Lc.B ■ Presi-
t the Te>:HLy dent’s
'iter. D.y weekend,
(■ousands of
tenfcr
''ll fi;}Ports
,/U t u ®ound the na- Mark
, tit n because PASSWATERS
roved toM e pilots of
wp ^.Mnerioan Airlines decided that they
5( “ rfere too sick to fly.
ate Unni
aggies.
a raiiw
Studies of this highly contagious
■ness, now being referred to as
The stupids,” shows that it last ap-
ig^^noximately five days and does
S a , management ot the airline).
‘ al o seems to be somewhat im-
■une to the judgements of Federal
Courts.
The people who got stuck in
these airports suffered a lot more
Itan those pilots with this mysteri-
e q 0a . ,cais illness. The pilots and their
of s M" nion got a great deal of media at-
• e t p'. Ittntion during this event. In the in-
ee in - w rests ec l ua * time, this space is
h a\e : Ldonated to the people who were
jranded so they can have their say:
I “Dear American Airlines pilots,
I We are thrilled that you are all
wer your illnesses. We thought
fcout you often while we were
luck in exotic locales like Dallas-
Fort Worth, Boston, and Nashville. You
e, we could not do anything else.
We are very proud of your show of
nity with your brothers at Reno Air. It is
|orrible that these poor pilots, at a small
irline that American just bought, make a
piddling $75,000 a year. You noble pilots,
ho make between $120,000 and
200,000 a year, are so courageous in
aking a stand.
We will make donations to the “Feed
Reno Air” fund with money from our
aychecks, right after we get done doing
>erfom3: things like scraping gum off of park
ial-Pol',’ '
Satunlaj
a town
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inst bill
tig acow
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long
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Long’s:
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benches and teaching learning disabled
high school students.
It is usually very commendable to take
up the cause of people that are less fortu
nate. However, going on an illegal strike
to support people who make twice the
salary of the average American citizen
does not cultivate goodwill, especially
when the pay increases will be coming
anyway. When the pilots of Reno Air
have not even acted on their own behalf,
the “sick-out” looks flat out dumb.
There is no question that all pilots
must be very intelligent people, especial
ly when it comes to math and science.
However, it appears that these pilots ne
glected to take some courses in econom
ics, government and psychology. Had
you done so, they would have taught you
that a business cannot simply double the
salaries of hundreds of people at the snap
of a finger; there is not space in a budget
to do that.
The management of American Airlines
is implementing the pay increases in two
stages because it cannot afford to do oth
erwise. If the company goes broke, you
do not get paid either.
Pretending to be sick and not going to
work when you have a binding contract
MICHAEL WAGENER/The Battal
in effect normally does not make people
sympathize with your stance. Leaving
people stranded for days on end also
does not help. In fact, it usually increases
their vocabulary, as they learn new
words like Delta, Continental and United.
In case you did not know, these are very
naughty words. They can make you lose
your job if enough people use them.
Not only is the public upset with you,
but the other employees of American are,
too. When the pilots got “sick,” the bag
gage handlers, ticket agents and flight at
tendants could not work. That means
that they did not get paid. Usually, lack
of money makes people hostile.
If anyone in the union had taken a
government class, you also would
have recognized that when a Federal
Court orders someone to return to
work, they do so. The fact that the
heads of your union ignored this or
der makes all of you, even the ones
who did come to work, look arrogant.
It gives the appearance that the pilots
are out of touch — perhaps 35,000
feet out of touch — with reality.
Reality paints the picture that you,
the pilots of a major airline, do not
care about the people who keep you
in business. Your attempt to force
things out of your employer by hold
ing the customers for ransom was
counterproductive.
In fact, many people who have suf
fered through this will probably never
fly with American Airlines again. This
may hurt the company, but in the
end, the pain will trickle down to you,
the employee.
This stunt must have been pulled
without thinking about the conse
quences, much like a person who
burns down their own house during a
riot.
It might be a good idea to choose
your battles more wisely. Picking this
fight was a bad move; the pilots end
ed up looking like spoiled rich brats
with no respect for the law-or the
IWN people that you are supposed to
serve.
The damage has been done. The pub
lic opinion of American Airlines pilots
has dropped faster than Bill Clinton’s
pants in a bordello. But, do not stay up at
night worrying if you will ever see us
again. You certainly will — as we board
other airlines whose pilots honor their
commitments.
Sincerely Yours,
The Stranded Passengers of American
Airlines”
Mark Passwaters is an electrical
engineering graduate student.
ovie based on Clinton trial rntWafo FXLmxti GM&rrvvrvmmi
ould flop at theater box office
lU letoo(l (U-WIRE) NEW YORK, N.Y.
firstlulifr The situation in government
urn to « urren tly resembles the plot of
e r Are« mov i e thrown together to
in the osf| arner last-minute box office
lips 66 t« c ^ et sales. The following is a
TournaiBypothetical film review in-
nament'ijfnded to identify the absurdi-
latchedfty the present political situa-
j Kansas t on:
[ts, wltfR Scandal, is a film by Dream-
79’74, atf Works SKG, set for release on
July 22, 2002. The film is rated
R tor language, graphic sexual
descriptions and activity, and
violently reckless behavior.
I The first impression that af
fronts a viewer of Scandal is
the tremendous decline that
the studio has undergone since
sweeping the Academy Awards
ties at al fo! H ree years ago with Saving
e s un^wJVate Ryan.
-—"'T* The contrast could not be
5hOP A P TeJ ore Profound. Whereas Ryan
Misrepresented all that is best in
)leforTA®rierica, Scandal makes every
^Orders)! effort to exploit the flagrant
/Wrongs in the current political
” system.
§| It is the first major release
since former President Bill Clin-
|f°n joined DreamWorks’ board
°f directors after a lucrative of-
1^ % from his monetary and
poral allies within the studio.
I The move, of course, was
■ Prompted less by a devout in-
gll* ter est in the art of film than by
financial necessity that
arose after his bitter separation
,ere. from Sen. Hillary Rodham, D-
|y.
joonds i- The film, directed by Steven
||ielberg, tells a sordid and
■psted story of a governmen-
1} scandal that shakes Wash-
3k, go to f < P^ton to its very foundations.
far too complex for any
!7 pur°cti oi ® reasonable script, the basic
na id. C 0 * 1, |r°t can be summed up as Sex,
cepte Lies and Audiotape.
■ The film opens with a
Bung White House intern,
tjayed by Michelle Williams of
■“canceled “Dawson’s Creek”
Sa ga, confessing to kinky sexu-
pescapades with the President
Bfhe United States (John Tra-
BRa. in his second presiden
tial role) to a back-stabbing
Pentagon bureaucrat (Barbara
Streisand).
Before long, a special prose
cutor, played with particular
levity by Dan Ackroyd, be
comes involved and indicts the
president on numerous illegali
ties, leading to an impeach
ment in the House of Repre
sentatives.
The rest of the film is con
sumed with banter during a
Senate trial, until a quasi-dra-
matic climax arrives with each
member standing to announce
his vote.
The film ends with an inves
tigation into the investigator,
and the only survivor is the
President who began the drama.
He vows revenge on his “op
pressors,” but the only people
who are truly oppressed are the
viewers of this sad excuse for
summer entertainment.
By the time the credits roll,
one is left debating whether to
try to understand this sordid
mess or just relegate it to the
fictitiously impossible.
DreamWorks is not known
for such exploitative, merely
money-seeking summer pro
jects, but Scandal certainly fits
the bill.
A major suspension of dis
belief is required throughout
the film as a House Speaker
and Speaker-to-be resign, and
the public continues unswerv
ingly to support the President
in a one-dimensional farce.
The movie desperately lacks
a central theme. Focus remains
on all of the extraneous events,
including flagrant plagiarism
from Wag the Dog in a bomb
ing scene that pretends to pass
for legitimate military activity
on the eve of the impeachment
vote.
The heavy borrowing from
outside sources is only further
evidence of the impossibility
that such a twisted and com
plicated drama could have
been a natural development of
directorial genius. Overall, the
film seems to be the mere
product of some tabloidish fan
tasy that could hardly pass for
a column in a college newspa
per and never expands from its
sex-crazed base.
Beyond this lack of credibili
ty, however, one may take is
sue with its sensational nature.
The chief executive is seen as
an adolescent who partakes
behavior that cannot even be
printed in this review.
One soon finds that the vast
majority of Congressmen in
the film are indeed no better,
albeit without having broken
any laws in the process.
It would not at all be sur
prising if Jerry Springer had di
rected the film instead of Spiel
berg. Certainly the sexual
free-for-all on which the film
thrives is much more to
Springer’s tastes.
While merely a forgettable
summer flick. Scandal demon
strates how easily the founda
tions upon which America is
built can be undermined with
almost every branch of govern
ment being scarred by the un
folding events.
One sees a cheapening of
politics into a boyish play
ground; the plot is not cen
tered on the actual guilt of the
President, but on the ruckus
that emerges. It reads more
like a “How Not to Act in Poli
tics” manual than a plausible
motion picture.
In all. Scandal provides
mindless entertainment for the
type of people who thrive on
borderline news stories to oc
cupy the drab political scene
that has settled in since the
election of President Gore.
The single redeeming quali
ty one may strain to find in
Scandal is the gratifying appre
ciation that the plot ends with
the reel of film, and that such a
crisis is not one through which
our nation actually has to suf
fer. This film receives no stars.
Brian Graebe is a columnist
for the New York University’s
Washington Square News.
the Olympic torch
Rim festival photo in
Battalion tasteless
The picture promoting the Texas
Film Festival is particularly mali
cious and obnoxious. All students
and faculty of Texas A&M should
feel insulted and offended by such
trash. It is obvious that there is a
lack decency in today’s society and
The Battalion is an integral part of
such deviancy.
A picture of a young woman
smoking a cigarette while sitting
on the toilet (with her legs wide
open) is vulgar enough. Then, she
even has her middle finger extend
ed to the camera!
Lewd and lascivious gestures
are not funny or witty. They are sim
ply a sad attempt to attract atten
tion. Well, they have caught our at
tention and our congregation will
physically protest the illicit cover
age of the liberal Battalion and the
MAIL CALL
liberal film festival. God’s judge
ment will surely be upon you. The
Battalion is a stench in the nostrils
of God.
Dave McManus
Pastor, Faith Almighty Mission
Crusade Outreach Ministries
Accompanied by 3 signatures
The full page picture of the
young lady advertising the Texas
Film Festival in the Feb. 24 issue
of The Battalion has gone a long
way to totally denigrate what a ma
jor university newspaper should
represent, especially this honored
University publication. One might
expect such a photo in some red
neck beer joint, but certainly not in
this newspaper.
What is the point of showing a
young lady sitting on a commode,
smoking a cigarette and displaying
a sophomoric and vulgar sign with
her finger? There are more educat
ed ways for getting across the idea
of
a “flick.”
We would not have expected
this crudeness even the t.u. Daily
Texan.
Larry D. Claborn
Class of ’59
Accompanied by 4 signatures
The Battalion encourages letters to the edi
tor. 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
77843-1113.
Campus Mail: 3.11.1
Fax: (409) 845-2647
E-mail: batt@tamvml.tamu.edu