he Battalion
Opinion
Page 13 • Thursday, November 11, 1999
> 7,600 afti
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a look at some of Indie!f
rentheses:
oward Stern in crisis
Radio talk show host’s impending divorce reveals
his inability to live double life of playboy, husband
bi
o
New Delhi
INDIA
ne word usual-
china ■ J ly comes to
mind when the
BHUTAn4 lme Howard Stern
neI^KP mentioned: pig. A
SOOmite
500 km
70-1999
disgusting, vile, sex-
(lazed pig who has
no respect for anyone
or anything.
The self-proclaimed
(ing of All Media” has made a living
ik’ farting into microphones and fan-
Bayo/Bfi:, tasizing about porn stars and celebri
ties. He has managed to offend vari
ous minority and religious groups
j|ith his politically incorrect rantings.
Stern’s critics have found it amaz
ing his wife that Alison could put up
IHith his on-air antics for over two
decades. Rumors of unrest in the
Stern household have been reported
in the past but always disproved.
I But now it looks like the rumors
ate true. Howard and Alison Stern
formally announced their separation,
kibeled as “amicable” by family
LWORK fri en ds, three weeks ago. A settlement
Tas been reached, but no divorce pa
pers have been filed.
I A casual observer may say Howard
is finally getting what he has always
>7,',T /,;;r learned for on the air — his bachelor-
" • — hood, the independence to have sex
==========„===. with every willing female who shows
i in n\r TT\nrwnnw U P at rac ho Studio.
lAIR BYJlNluMlIwf But alas, Stern is not celebrating.
Quite the contrary. Stern is reacting like
Now located at an y n o rm al person would — with fear
Wes-Gate HairSak and apprehension.
846-445) '' This reaction embodies the double
persona that makes Stern’s radio show
so appealing. He is the premiere exam-
file of the working man’s anti-hero.
Awn Gin
< >i I*refer,
On the air, he is a foul-mouthed,
sexually-charged maniac who
laments about the fantasies the “av
erage Joe” relates to.
Off the air, he is a loving husband
who takes pride in never having cheat
ed on his wife during their 21-year
marriage. He is the ideal husband,
honorably sticking to his commit
ments, while reining in his wild fan
tasies. On a typical workday, he talks
about how badly he wants to have sex
with porn star Jenna Jameson. Then at
home, he is busy changing diapers and
dropping the kids off at school.
But without the stable home life to
balance his persona, Stern’s drive may
very well disappear. If Stern wants to
save his career and more importantly
the respect of working men every
where, begging for forgiveness from Al
ison starts now.
“The reason why Howard was able
to perform this high-wire act as a sexu
al bad boy of the media was that it was
counterbalanced by his image as an ex
tremely decent, loyal, dedicated father
and family man, and that the on-air
Howard is an act,” Michael Harrison,
editor of Talkers Magazine, said. “If
people start to believe he is a lecher
and that he really is going after these
women, he loses the counterbalance,
and jt could mean that his act sours.”
Tom Taylor, M Street Daily editor, la
belled Stern’s marriage as his show’s
“safety valve.”
“Howard as an available man takes
us to uncharted waters in the show’s
popularity,” he said.
Can anyone imagine Howard actu
ally going through with one of his
fantasies now that he is a free man?
Probably not. A person does not
stay committed to the same woman
for 21 years just to jump into the sack
with a porn star the moment he be
comes divorced.
Either way, Howard is in a no-win
situation. If he does go through with
his sexual fantasies, he will turn off the
half of his audience who finds his
monogamy appealing.
If he stays faithful to his wife
through this separation, he will turn off
the other half of his audience, who will
find him too weak.
This level of confusion and indeci
sion has been evident, as his show
has been scattered in the past week.
Between erratic reruns of his
show, Stern has held on-air therapy
sessions with friends and family con
cerning where to go from here.
At this point, he is the emotional
equivalent of a lost puppy.
Hopefully, Alison and Howard will
reconcile, and this will be a mere
footnote in their long marriage. It is
obvious he is madly in love with her.
After all, he dedicated his autobi
ography and motion-picture debut to
Alison. And she obviously loves him
— she bore three upstanding and re
spectable kids with the man.
Their relationship is a microcosm
of what every relationship should be:
interdependent, affectionate, long-
lasting and realistic.
The relationship’s role in
Howard’s on-air persona is para
mount. Without Alison, Stern might
as well kiss his career goodbye. Get
her back, Howard. Please.
David Lee is a junior
economics major.
MARK McPHERSON/Thk Battalion
Students need math education
MARC
GRETHER
Call ‘99
>er 14, 1999
er Theatre
idult
student w/ I.D.
loor
nergetic afternoon
es of dance:
chance to see it!
ie women
ion-conformists
i response to Beverly Mireles’
. ^ column.
' |*| Mireles’comparison of Ag-
I ies to teen-age girls, is ridicu-
I >us in itself. She is obviously
I earching hopelessly for arti-
I Ie ideas if she’s resorting to
^ job nonsense.
lijam offended by Mireles’
imarks about the conformity
f women on campus. I think
s true that overall, Texas
&M is a relatively homoge-
us student body in appear-
tce, but it’s unfair to single
omen out in that respect.
Ve never come across so
any people with such differ-
it backgrounds and ideas
tout culture, politics and life
general as I have on this
impus. Aggies may sport sim-
ered a book, go to the bas% clothing Styles, but each
mt id. if you did not order W ie is completely different,
lay purchase one for$35pi uS Teen-age girls may be
onday through Friday. CashAown for Conformity to
e p ted mds, but I don’t think Ag
es are any more than stu-
mts at any other university.
I also do not agree that
riinism is “a remnant of a
:iable history.” Although
ninism may not have the
ir^me definition that it did in
r mothers’ generation, it is
II prevalent.
Women have made a great
al or progress in the busi-
K-WEIGHS 10 LBS.
J.edu
MAIL CALL
ness world over the last thirty
years, but they are still at a
disadvantage to men.
Mireles needs to take a
step back to observe what
the women on this campus
are really like. I think she
would find us to be very differ
ent from the profile that was
projected in her article.
Mary Tanner
Class of ’03
Science, God
not in conflict
In response to Caleb Mc
Daniel’s Nov. 10 column.
As a microbiologist and a
believer in God, I have had to
struggle to reconcile my con
victions that evolution did and
continues to occur with my be
lief that there is a God who
created this Earth.
In a way, the separation of
Church and State set up in our
Constitution has hindered the
process. I am not advocating
that religion be taught in
schools. But having our
schools and our churches con
stantly battling for superiority
in the minds of our children
does no one any good.
The recent curriculum
change in Kansas is an exam
ple of creationists getting the
upper hand in this continual
war. The School Board of
Kansas voted to remove the
requirement for evolution,
cosmology and anything that
could be used to scientifically
date the age of the universe
from its standardized tests.
The larger problem here is
the continual fight between
Biblical literalists who believe
that God made the world in
exactly six days and those
who believe it was made
through evolutionary process
es. When did this become
what often seems like a fight
to the death? Must there be
only God or science?
I don’t believe so. The two
can peacefully coexist as they
do in my beliefs and in those
of my colleagues. I and many
other scientists do not see
creationism as a “perennial
thorn in [our] side.”
Elizabeth Baker
Class of ’97
The Battalion encourages letters to
the editor. Letters must be 300 words
or less and include the author's name,
class and phone number.
The opinion editor reserves the right
to edit letters for length, style, and ac
curacy. Letters may be submitted in per
son at 013 Reed McDonald with a valid
student ID. Letters may also be mailed
to:
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013 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
77843-1111
Campus Mail: 1111
Fax: (409) 845-2647
E-mail: battietters@hotmail.com
H ow much
would $25
invested
weekly for 40 years
at a 7-percent annu
al interest rate,
compounded annu
ally, total? $50,000?
$100,000?
$150,000? More?
Those guessing less than $150,000
are among the majority, according to
a recent survey commissioned by the
Consumer Federation of America
(CFA) and Primerica. The actual ac
cumulated total would be $286,640
— much higher than the median re
sponse to the survey of $122,500.
The survey demonstrates the lack
of ability of many Americans to accu
rately perform basic financial math.
Certainly, other qualities such as dis
cipline are necessary to be financially
successful. But without the knowl
edge needed to accurately assess
one’s financial situation, the other
qualities are insignificant. Moreover,
to be able to understand one’s finan
cial situation, one must have a under
standing of math.
College students, in particular,
need to understand the math under
lying their financial decisions. In
coming students are faced with new
fiscal freedom and the responsibility
that comes with that freedom. Cred
it card offers abound, and student
loans are there for the taking. To be
wise stewards of the freedom ac
companying these easy sources of
money, students should be aware of
the basic financial math underlying
the decisions they make.
This knowledge should be used
before any decision to accumulate
debt. One way or another, every debt
must be paid off. Yet, even after a bad
decision has been made, it is often
possible to make them better —
sometimes significantly so.
Credit cards often carry very high
interest rates, particularly for first
time, low-income-earning borrowers.
These high rates help lead to high
payments. Clearly, the easiest way to
save money on credit cards is to pay
off the balance every month. But once
debt accumulates, other means of sav
ing money can be implemented.
For example, transferring $5,000
from an account charging 19 percent
interest compounded monthly to an
account charging 14 percent interest
would save almost $300 over a year.
While a student may not qualify
for a credit card with a 14-percent in
terest rate, most cards offer lower in
troductory rates or transfer rates.
Through careful planning, balances
can be transferred to cards with lower
rates, possibly saving hundreds or
thousands of dollars a year. Ttansfer-
ring the $5,000 to an account charg
ing 5.9 percent — a typical introduc
tory rate — would save over $700.
Though discipline in spending is
preferable to stop gap measures lat
er, knowing how the system works
and the math involved can help
save money.
Student loans are another easy
source of money that can turn into a
financial nightmare.
Too often, students borrow more
than they need to live it up in the here
and now. But forgetting about the
then and there can make for a painful
existence later in life. According to the
Texas Guarantee Student Loan Corpo
ration, for every dollar borrowed by a
May 2000 graduate, much more will
be spent paying it off. Excessive debt
can ruin future plans for house own
ership or a nice retirement.
There is no
way around it: ei
ther plan now or
pay later.
Math skills
also help prevent
useless waste of
money on
schemes such as
the lottery and
gambling.
The CFA study
also found that 27 •
percent of Ameri
cans believe that
their best chance
at obtaining half
a million or more
dollars is by win
ning a lottery or
sweepstakes. The
odds against win- mg
ning a lottery or
sweepstakes are
astronomical.
However, the
CFA study notes
that virtually all Americans have the
resources to regularly save money
and accumulate wealth.
One easily overlooked financial
problem many students have is a
lack of savings or even a savings
plan. It is never to early to start sav
ing for retirement, a house or other
long-term goals. Without a good
savings plan and the willpower to
follow through with the necessary
choices that come with it, retire
ment may be a sad affair.
Current Social Security payments
are not enough to live on, and even
these may not be around when to
day’s younger generation retires. The
only way to obtain a secure retirement
is through a sound retirement plan.
The earlier saving starts, the better.
Saving early can help one take
advantage of the power of com
pound interest.
Amazing amounts of money can
accumulate by placing relatively
small regular payments into a bank
account over a long period of time.
In CFA’s example, the total $286,640
was obtained through a total contri
bution of only $52,000. This exam
ple illustrates the power of com
pound interest.
The solution to financial prob
lems involves two things: discipline
and knowledge. By its very nature,
discipline is an innately personal
thing. Knowledge, on the other
hand, requires cooperation between
students and teachers.
Students must work to have their
needs met in class. Teachers cannot
always be expected to teach what stu
dents need to know.
GABRIEL RUENES/The Battalion
Students must ask specific ques
tions and in other ways personalize
their learning needs.
Teachers must strive to make their
course material relevant to students’
lives. Even when the connections are
not obvious, useful knowledge must
be a goal of both teachers and stu
dents. That way, students truly can
benefit from their college education.
The solution to this problem’ is
simple — students must pay attention
in their classes and apply what they
learn. Teachers must strive to teach
how to apply the information they
present to students to their lives.
Marc Grether is a mathematics
graduate student.