The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, April 28, 1999, Image 11

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Page 11 • Wednesday, April 28, 1999
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Silent No More is the theme for
119lh nationwide commemora-
National Crime Victim’s
teek—April 25 to may 1.
This theme emphasizes that
) historical silence and shame
rrounding victimization are a
ngof the past.
Drink driving is the nation’s
>st frequently committed violent
melSummary of Statistics:
e Impaired Driving Problem.
396). Irving, TX: Madd National
ice) and unfortunately, Texas
idslhe nation in drunk driving
alities once again.
MADL), Brazos Valley’s trained
:tim Advocates, honor durnk dri-
g victims this week and pledge
continue to provide grief sup-
rt, a listening ear, books and
rchures, support through the
me Victims Compensation pro-
im Ind court accompaniment
thos> persons who are victim-
d.
This is National Crime Victims’
Jhts Week. Here in the Brazos
lleyund across America, com-
inities are celebrating the voic-
of victims.
If you are a victim of a drunk
ving crash or know someone
o is. please call us at 823-
08 or via email at maddvs@tx-
rer.com. We want to help your
lie be heard.
K/ir/s Thurmond
Victim Assistance Coordinator
MADD, Brazos Valley
t have one ta orps vs. non-reg
ill"* abate grows tired
haven®*
In response to Steve Walkup’s
ril 27th mail call.
I’m truly amazed that for al-
>st half the semester I have
able to open up a Battalion
dfmd a mail call article ad-
issingthe corps/non-reg issue.
; rely I am not the only person
3d of this. It was not exactly an
rth shattering revelation the
5ttime that I read it.
As a former corps member for
f-y a* ven weeks, I can validate both
I les. Yes there are some corps
^ pbers that have arrogant atti-
ps towards non-regs. Like haz-
f, that is just a reality. Yes, there
non-regs with less than favor-
[ f 1 f i le attitucJes towards the corps.
Are these valid reasons to
A int fingers and accuse or mount
tal assaults? Must we let
lall factions of both sides divide
J campus? Why not use this col-
in to promote positive ideas to
ild our aggie community as op-
; sed to promoting reasons to di-
le it? Why not have a Corps-for-
ly program or a
pReg-for-a-day program?
It seems clear to me that we
^inization* Jst do something to alleviate
3 misconceptions on both sides
d foster a friendly relationship
ons fore the campus becomes so
^gregated that I end up applying
an officer position in the
5xas A&M White Male-Brown
lir-Mazda Car Driving-Non-Reg-
in-Frat-Non-Smoking-Off-Campus
29
My school ID does not read
axas A&M University (Non-Reg)”
>gg*d it did not change when I left
3 corps.
We are all Aggies and that is
5 only thing that makes a differ-
' I H(suggestions for change:
Cl p4unity@mailcity.com).
Gregory Gerik
Class of ‘01
tudent hurt by
ig/non-reg debate
In n
\ril 2
esponse to Eric Ferguson’s
6 mail call.
3
For the last three weeks I have
d up a Battalion and read
people bashing each other;
ing why one is better than the
ler and why one deserves a po-
more than the other. To be
fst I am truly hurt.
|iad the privilege to run in this
r’s election as one of the Ju-
'ell Leader Candidates from
orps of Cadets,
ay privileged because of the
bat it will be one of my most
orable times at Texas A&M.
1 Sully, the night final election re-
Jlts were announced, my name
as not called.
But by no means did I lose that
ight. Aggies never lose; I was
imply outvoted. If all the candi
dates gained the friendships and
memories that I did during cam
paigning, there is no way that any
one lost.
I am not hurt or upset that I
didn’t get elected, but what does
hurt is to read about Aggies bash
ing other Aggies that they don’t
even know because they are part
of a certain organization.
I wish people would start to re
alize that elections are not a non-
reg or Corps thing; they are an Ag
gie thing.
It is up to you to pick the best
candidates who are going to rep
resent OUR university next year.
Some of my best friends got
elected this year for Yell Leader,
and for that I congratulate them.
At the same time I want to wish
all you guys the best of luck next
year as you embark on one of the
greatest experiences of your life.
James Leiskau
Class of ‘01
Accompanied by 37 signatures
Parents say thanks
for pleasant weekend
My wife and I have just re
turned from our first Parents’
Weekend. It was awesome! The
singing Cadets were wonderful.
The memorial at the Vietnam Wall
was inspirational. The band con
cert was just plain fantastic.
Our son is a “fish” in the
award winning B Company of the
Aggie band. His freshman year
has been a lesson in courage,
commitment, and dedication for
him, his mom and dad. I thank
him, Texas A&M, Corps of Cadets,
and The Rightin’ Texas Aggie Band
from the bottom of my heart.
Mark Perkins
Parent
Corps vs. non-reg
debate grows tired
In response to Brendan Guy’s Apr.
26 opinion column.
Reading Brendan Guy in the
past, I had believed he was one of
the clearer-thinking columnists at
The Battalion, as well as one of the
better researched. But apparently,
Guy’s writing has joined the growing
tribe of ill-researched expression at
A&M’s newspaper.
in arguing that government
leave child-rearing completely in
the hands of parents, Guy etches
the name of my beloved, misun
derstood continent on his tablet
of scorn.
And I just won’t have it. Apart
from the poor logic of his argu
ment, which doesn’t consider that
not all children have good parents
and that some children have no
parents at all, Guy treads the line
of ignorance saying, “perhaps in
some tribal African society it really
does take a village to raise a
child, but here in the...States...it
is best for individual parents to
raise their own children...”
Now, the notion of a whole vil
lage raising a child is rooted in the
idea that family and close friends,
not necessarily neighbors, should
be on a collective watch (to en
sure that the child develop salubri
ously) of any child member of that
society.
If Guy does not understand the
meaning of
sayings/proverbs/adages, then
he should ask. I am sure that he
has not even spoken to any knowl
edgeable African on the issue be
fore. And finally, with all the trou
ble the United States is having
with child-rearing: children and
teenagers killing and abusing
each other and themselves, per
haps a bit of governmental inter
ference, such as ending wide
spread firearm possession and
severe CIA-led anti-drug initiatives,
is needed.
Ayokunle Ogunshola
Graduate student
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 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
77843-1111
Campus Mail: *1111
Fax: (409) 845-2647
E-mail: batt@unix.tamu.edu
too sexy
Recent boom in men’s beauty products
mirrors objectification of women in media
Aaron
MEIER
I magine sitting in on a
board of directors meet
ing at Microsoft. Bill
Gates walks in wearing a
finely tailored Armani suit,
hand-made leather shoes
and fingernail polish.
That’s right, fingernail pol
ish. Now imagine Billy boy
sits next to you and while
listening to his presenta
tion on how he plans to
make Janet Reno his personal bidet you notice
what women call, “a poorly blended base line.”
Let’s pause here as the male readership finds
a woman to explain what cosmetics have to do
with baseball.
So why is Bill wearing makeup in the first
place? Maybe, he’s insecure about his uneven
skin tones, maybe he has a few blemishes after
a late night love affair with a container of Thin
Mint ice cream, or maybe he’s just jumping on
the new trend of male beauty supplies.
After centuries of women powdering, diet
ing, teasing, spraying, binding, plucking, shav
ing and waxing their way to the ideal of beauty,
the gurus of fashion have to decided to let men
in on the fun.
Oh boy.
Over the past decade, every major cosmetics
manufacturing company has launched a men’s
line. Stores such as Bath and Body Works, that
were once exclusively the hunting ground of
women and men looking for a last minute
birthday present, have slowly introduced lines
of scents, lotions and masques for the
“stronger” sex.
There once was a day when the only men’s
magazines were Sports Illustrated and the Play
boy. Nowadays, GQ, Men’s Health and Details
are placed on the coffee tables of America’s
bachelors.
There once was a day when the lord of the
chrome dome, Telly Savalas, was the coolest
guy on television, now it is possible for the
thinning masses to purchase Rogaine with Mi-
noxodil over the counter, listen to the Hair
Club for Men on television and read about
how new drugs such as Propecia will stop and
possibly the reverse the effects of male pattern
baldness.
When did being a man become almost as
much work as being a woman? Why is it that
men are going to salons to have their body hair
electolyzed and their hair highlighted?
Since the early days of feminism, women
have pointed to the sado-masochists that work
along Madison Avenue. The men that made
Kate Moss, Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schif-
fer some of the richest women in the world are
starting to turn on their own kind and present
Antonio Sabato Jr, Mark Wahlberg or any one
of the Abercrombie and Fitch models as the
perfect male.
The idea that every man should have a six
pack is as absurd as the idea that every
woman’s measurement should be 36-24-36.
While the health benefits to exercise and fit
ness are undisputed, the obsession with perfec
tion has become a genderless dillemma. Men
are as obsessed with a low body fat percentage
as women are concerned with their cup size.
The real impact of this obsession with per
fection has not been the dangerously large
number of weight plates manufactured for the
country’s health clubs, nor is it the depletion of
our vital natural spandex resources, but the tax
this obsession takes on our nation’s collective
intelligence.
When children, both boys and girls, are
ROBERT HYNECEK/The Battalion
taught that looking a certain way is the most
important goal in life, they by default neglect
their minds.
While it doesn’t seem likely that Calvin
Klein will put Stephen Hawkins in his next un
derwear billboard in Times Square or Victoria’s
Secret has Madeleine Albright in their Angels
2000 commercial, maybe our obsession with
our bodies should at least be comparable to our
obsession with our minds.
Aaron Meier is a senior political
science major.
More flexible policies solution to avoiding
lawsuits concerning race-based admissions
T ucson, Ariz. (u-wire) —
Olde Providence Elemen
tary school in Charlotte,
N.C., is a shining example of
what a public school can be. It is
also under attack, and what hap
pens there could reverse the
hard-won victories of the civil
rights movement.
Olde Providence is a magnet
school, one of 45 operating in
the Charlotte area. It focuses on
teaching elementary-age chil
dren communication skills.
To this end, it has a function
ing television station, modern
computers and a well-trained,
well-paid staff.
Parents are so involved that
the PTA raised over $26,000 last
year. In every category, the Char
lotte Observer ranks it as one of
the top schools in the area.
For these reasons, lots of par
ents want their children to get
in.
But, as is the case with many
of the magnet schools in the
area, there is a waiting list.
Every year, a lottery is held to
determine which children on the
waiting list will be able to attend
the school.
The attack on the school
stems from how the lottery is
held.
Like all schools in the Char-
lotte-Macklenburg school dis
trict, Olde Providence is exactly
40 percent black students, and
60 percent non-black.
Prospective students are
grouped according to their race:
African-American or non-
African-American.
In 1996, Bill Capacchione,
having just relocated to Char
lotte, wanted his 6-year-old
daughter, who is half-
Guatemalan, to attend the
school. She did not get in.
What may have rankled him
even more was that while 112
students waited to fill seats in
the non-African-American cate
gory, seven vacancies remained
in the African-American seats.
This is not an unusual situa
tion. At West Charlotte High, lo
cated in a predominantly
African-American neighborhood,
81 African-Americans were out
on a waiting list, as 49 seats re
served for non-African-Ameri-
cans remained empty.
In fact, 25 of the magnet
schools in the Charlotte area
turned away students of one race
while reserving seats for stu
dents of another race.
Capacchione did what any
red-blooded American would.
He sued the Charlotte-Macklen-
burg Board of Education.
The case was joined by six
other white families and made
its way to a U.S. District Court.
The suit was then broadened by
Judge Robert Potter into a full
examination of Charlotte’s inte
gration plan.
It is ironic that this case at
tacks the integration plan of the
district whose previous segrega
tion opened the way for the bus
ing of students.
In 1971, the Supreme Court
decided in Swann v. Charlotte-
Macklenburg Board of Education
that federal courts could order
actions to enforce desegregation
laws.
The federal orders that fol
lowed were widely responsible
for the level of integration seen
today.
Unfortunately, Charlotte is
not the only example of these
sorts of attacks on racial quotas
at schools. San Francisco school
officials, faced with a federal
suit, agreed to end race-based
admission to charter schools.
In Boston, a magnet school
was given a federal order to end
racially conscious admission
procedures.
Capacchione and the other
plaintiffs in these cases are not
the villains of the piece.
They say that their children
were denied admission to a
school because of their race.
They are right. If there is a vil
lain, it is the overly rigid racial
quotas in these schools.
In Charlotte, when one of the
magnet schools does not have
sufficient students of one race,
they advertise in magazines, and
on the radio, to try and attract
more students of the desired
type.
They are also reported to have
bent the rules in many cases, let
ting in students of the correct
race, whether they had met the
application deadline or not.
It is practices like these that
so infuriate the Capacchiones of
the world. They wish to get their
children into a good public
school close to their home but
are turned away because there
are not enough seats.
They probably would be will
ing to accept this if they did not
then see and hear advertise
ments asking for applications to
fill empty seats.
If we want to avoid lawsuits
like the one in Charlotte and
keep public schools open to chil
dren of all races, admission poli
cies must be made more flexible.
If, one year, there are not
enough non-African-American
applicants to a school, the seats
should be distributed to those
students waiting for admission.
It is certain that teachers can
find another use for the money
now spent on advertising.
Now, the fight between the
schools and the parents is all or
nothing.
If we wish to preserve the
hard-won battles of the last gen
eration, we must take the middle
road.
Dan Cassino is a columnist for
the University of Arizona Daily.