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PINION
Page 5 • Monday, July 26, 1999
Back in the ring
r esse Ventura's return to wrestling no big surprise
s a wrestler
in the World
Wrestling
^ration
F), Jesse Ven-
this sflra always did
1 Hg 5 his own
Party’s mBue way.
in part from:;Hiver 15 years
mming peo' ltei as governor
and are disetBlinnesota, Ven-
want the dam
too much atst
e so much atst
to let
orm
Ryan
GARCIA
parties. That:jra is proving some things never
lerent hinds oftjiapge.
d to developatBientura, in a press conference this
lonth, announced his plans to return
e everyone, frorBie WWF as a special guest referee
i < esse Jacksctmie WWF’s SummerSlam, a pay-
to people wkHview event scheduled for Aug. 22
''' ls t0 ® ttipe Target Center in Minneapolis.
^ c Laughlin, Kypi-, a move Fox commentator
•i Nate chair dck Morris called “a ritual political
1 l!l uicide,” Ventura has generated more
’ m estlnialr bntroversy than the raunchy, over-
le-top antics of the WWF usually do
*“Bne Monday night.
By the time Ventura ended the
. i â–  i. Bs conference, his garb had
J^lwBnged from a conservative business
ion finanraB t0 f eat hor boas and sequin-cov-
should hC® sun 8 lasses - his trademark
;aid.
ibe
o one really knows what Gov.
fentura’s motivations are for his
MimerSlam appearance, leaving
lany to speculate about the off-the 7
/all governor.
]n a New York Post article, Min-
.dota GOP Chairman Ron Eiben-
steiner called Ventura’s actions an
outrage. -
“It’s so obvious, so transparent,
that he is using the office of governor
to promote his own personal enrich
ment,” Eibensteiner said.
In Ventura’s defense, he told the
press conference half of his $100,000
appearance fee will be donated to the
Jade Foundation, an abused chil
dren’s charity, and the remaining
$50,000 will be awarded as part of an
annual college endowment at Roo
sevelt High School in Minneapolis, his
alma mater.
However, critics estimate that Gov.
Ventura will earn $1 million in royal
ties and pay-per-view fees generated
from the high-publicity match, and
that has some politicians upset.
“He’s not earning a million dollars
because he’s a former wrestler, but
because he’s a former wrestler who’s
now governor,” Democratic state sen
ator John Marty said in the New York
Post.
Ventura was not the typicpl guber
natorial candidate last year, and he is
not the typical governor now. His un
orthodox actions should not surprise
anyone.
While aligning himself with an en
tertainment industry that spotlights
everything from transvestites to first-
blood matches may be detrimental to
his political career, it’s not against the
law.
Ventura maintains that the Sunday-
night event will not take any time
away from his public duties and de
fended his actions at the press confer
ence.
“There’s not a rule that says a gov
ernor can’t have fun. There’s no rule
that says a governor, on his own time,
can’t be human,” Ventura said.
It may be hard to imagine Bob Dole
or A1 Gore trash-talking the likes of
Stone Cold Steve Austin or the Under
taker, but for Ventura, it is just some
thing he wanted to do.
Why should his impulsive person
ality be chastised when it was this
very attitude that won him a gover
norship?
Ventura wanted to be governor, so
he campaigned without taking into
account all of the detractors that said
he could not possibly win.
By guest refereeing for the WWF,
Ventura is staying true to form.
Besides battling Ross Perot for con
trol of the Reform Party, the potential
for Ventura to serve in a greater ca
pacity than governor does not seem
likely.
By participating in a wrestling
event, Ventura, at worst, is only
harming his own limited political ca
reer.
But he is far from disgracing the of
fice he holds, and at best, he is just
doing things his way.
Ryan Garcia is a senior
journalism major.
Gabriel Ruenes/The Battalion
Ctt^roposed dress code at local high school not long-term solution
tollege
Sta
tion’s
iM Consol-
'omen of accois
own right.”
rimes Norton,
s nonvoting di
1 of Represe;
MO the massbi ei '8 1 ’
“in many t»§ h ° o1 ls CUI ;
( .. .'tenth consid-
ohn F. Kenning requir
hanged this t'flS stud on ts
“They came® acf here to a
vn - not E»ict dress
When the) 1 COl ie. Although a final decision
Mark
PASSWATERS
,rid-class city' the c °de has been postponed,
ding was theclje proposal would ban shorts
Anthony Will ant i tank tops on school
represents grounds.
Round Rock High School has
o implemented a dress code
nal service, as
;al level,”
an.
ennedy contn* the past year, forbidding the
Baring of anything red after
jftitbreaks of gang related vio-
leaice near the school.
a I The reason for this, school of-
'•ZJ CT^Btials insist, is to cut down on
. t''3l'^â„¢olence and crime during the
line that school is in session.
1 1 Most students are equally
« 1 ■#*/1pa<llamant that dress codes are
unfair and violate their personal
freedoms.
If only this situation were
simple enough to pick one side.
Students are right when they
complain that they will be too
hot in the summer if they are re
quired to wear long pants and
long-sleeved shirts. They are
also correct when they say very
few people are listening to their
cry that they are being discrimi
nated against by having these
new rules impressed upon them.
On the other hand, school ad
ministrators are correct when
they say that they are not imple
menting this out of spite but out
of concern-for the well being of
the student body.
The only people who have to
be thrilled about these new
changes are the local clothing
stores who get to sell new
wardrobes, and the ACLU, who
may have another civil liberties
case to jump into.
•But do dress codes work?
If yes, then all schools in the
country should consider them.
Those who support such a sys
tem say making all students look
generic minimizes the possibility
of violence
breaking out
between kids
In fact, enforcing a dress code
may infuriate some students
enough that they would add
school administrators to their
“bad” list.
of rival
gangs.
They also
say that it
helps show
kids that they
really are not
all that differ
ent, and that
there is no
need for
them to be
hostile to one
another.
But even if these beliefs are
true, school is not in session 24
hours a day. As a result, kids
can go home, change, and then
go out looking for trouble any
way.
Instead
of solving
the prob
lem of
teenage vi
olence, a
dress code
is simply a
way to try
to cover
up a suck
ing chest
wound
with a
band-aid.
School ad
ministra
tors are either unwilling or un
able to come up with real
solutions to youth problems.
Further, even if they were to
come up with something that
could truly work, they might not
get the required support from
city or state government to make
the required changes.
To really solve the problem,
kids need to be taught that what
they are doing is not only wrong
but fundamentally stupid. On
top of that, they need to under
stand that if they do something,
they are going to have to pay for
it in spades.
A job like that is not just for
school administrators or the
teachers who are on the front
lines of this battle. This is some
thing that needs also to be dis
cussed at home.
If parents are willing to wist
fully believe that their little an
gel is too perfect to shove a knife
into someone, then this problem
is going to continue unabated.
Every child has the capacity
to go wrong as well as an ability
to do the right thing.
Parents need to take the first
step to show their kids the fun
damental differences between
right and wrong. From there,
teachers can reinforce the
lessons, and the law can stand
by and nab those who choose to
ignore the message.
Until then, the police and the
school systems will be dealing
with students who not only ig
nore the message but simply
have not heard it.
All children, from two to 82,
crave attention. If they are given
it, and are properly pushed
down the right path, odds are
they will stay on it.
So are school dress codes the
solution? Certainly not a perma
nent one.
Maybe they can be used as a
stop-gap effort while more and
more adults are shaken out of
their blissful reverie so they can
do the right things for their chil
dren — and all of society as a re
sult.
Mark Passwaters is an electrical
engineering graduate student.
developed sp?
iking Stayner
nurders,” Ma
LETS G\LL
OURSELVES
COPApftSsiONME
CCNSERVATIVK.
MAIL CALL
Mourning for JFK Jr.
worthwhile, needed
/n response to Joshua Levar’s July 22
mail call.'
COLLEGIATE ROUNDUP
Why be saddened by a call for fur
ther reflection on the passing of JFK
Jr.? America is not just dealing with
the death of a stranger, it is in fact
dealing with the loss of a friend.
Sure, I never knew John Jr. personal
ly, but I always admired the way he
carried himself.
I think you also have to keep in
mind, in this case, the public’s reac
tion was not a “thirst” for informa
tion. We, the collective American
people, needed closure.
The Kennedy saga is the closest
we have to a royal legacy, and now a
chapter in that saga is complete.
Shame on Levar, for trivializing an
event and a person respected by the
majority of Americans. He should be
ashamed of himself.
from U-Wire editorial reports
o not forget
bout gun control
'om the Daily Collegian at
ennsylvania State University.
STATE COLLEGE, Penn. — As
te shock of John F. Kennedy
r .’s death echoes through the
ountry’s collective conscious-
ess, the pain of the Columbine
H'.gh School shootings seems to
lave faded and has almost
leen forgotten. ...
The U.S. House of Represen
tatives recently rejected mea
sures mandating background
checks for guns sold at gun
shows and making child safety
locks on all handguns mandato
ry, sending the measures to con
ference committees where they
will probably be forgotten. ...
This has, unfortunately, been
the fate of many small mea
sures to curb gun sales to un
derage buyers. ...
Maybe Congressmen were
applying what everyone knows
about the public in modern soci
ety: It has a short attention
span.
So now that the CNN cam
eras have left Columbine and
gone to Hyannisport, the Nation
al Rifle Association has won; the
gun dealers have won, and it is
still as easy for kids to attain
and wreak havoc with guns as it
was before. ...
And if no important policy
changes take place, how many
periods or classes or semesters
will it take before another ordi
nary kid becomes another vic
tim?
The public cannot let its gov
ernment forget about gun con
trol. ...
Clint Crampton
Class of ’99
Disney still makes
good, accurate films
Hunchback of Notre Dame do ad
dress the issue. The song asks a
question — “Who is the monster
and who is the mbn?” — referring to
Frolo and Quasimodo.
Secondly, having read the book
Tarzan, I can tell you the Disney
movie was one of the truest portray
als of the character. It captured his
curiosity and thrill-seeking, practical
joke tendencies, his desire to fit in
and his intelligence.
Third, Huffines claims older Dis
ney films (like Bambi and Cinderella)
never bothered with a formula and
implies they didn’t have silly side-
kicks. He has forgotten Gus and
Jack and the other mice making Cin
derella’s dress and Thumper and
Bambi on the frozen pond.
Finally, any movie should be
watched and discussed with chil
dren. What is most important is that
parents help their children put what
they see on a screen into perspec
tive. In fact, most Disney movies are
written so parents and their children
can enjoy them together.
Opinions are great but attacking
an institution just because it is large
and visible is simply being hurtful. I
have to question Huffines’ motives.
apathy of the pro-life movement.
There are far too many people who
claim to be pro-life, yet allow their ac
tions, or lack thereof, to prove other
wise.
But to truly believe in something â– 
is to take a firm stand for those be- ;
liefs. !
The pro-life movement needs revi-J
talizing. If you know the truth about
the horrors of abortion, turn your
words into actions. Stay informed
about abortion legislation and con- i!
tact your representatives when a bill;
is proposed.
Support and join active, pro-life ;
organizations such as Aggies for Life*
or the Brazos Valley Coalition for Life*
and peacefully protest abortion
providers. 1
Most importantly, pray for an end •
to abortion and educate yourself on \
the facts so that you can stand firm.
When we turn a blind eye to the i
murder of these innocent babies, we
are turning a blind eye to God.
Amber Matche,
Class of ’0
Cathryn Clement
Class of ’77
In response to Chris Huffines’ July 21
column.
Huffines’ recent column was as
mixed-up as he claims Disney is.
First, although no song in Beauty
and the Beast directly addresses
seeing Beast as he really is, the
opening song and final reprise in The
Pro-life movement
needs revitalization
In response to Tom Owens’July 20
column.
Owens hit some too close to
home with his column regarding the
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