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OPINION
Tuesday. February 22.2000
THE BATTALIO
Page 13
caaop
itinue
thrive
i (i R( K C'olomhi;i \F-
i decade of U.S.-sponsora
n. planes have sprays
of thousands of gallonso
on illicit drug crops in va.'
of Colombia’s higl
Tests.
.iltivation in tire world’s Ns
ircxlucing nation isalmvi'd
imbing. Crop yields are aJst
as traffickers pint am po
of coca and opimpoppy.fc
cocaine and heroa.
ubbomne.v.s of the pto!
:lied only by the delays
. and Colombian officials
ic chemical counterattack
esident Andres Pastra
an in the U.S. Congress®
n aid package that w»
Stamp
University lowers standards with cheap merchandise
MATT ROY Thu: EUttmjov
S ome days, it seems
one could sell Old
Ags and new stu
dents anything, so long
as it is maroon and car
ries the University seal.
.As Mel Brooks said in
his movie SpacehaHs.
“Merchandising, where
the real money ... is
made.” Not limited to binders and legal pads,
the University’s trademarked logos cover an
overwhelming variety of humiliating products
and hav e doubtlessly already spawned mon
strosities such as a 1W4 NC AA Suspension
Memorial Chess set or the sex-ed book Aggie
Sutra, w ith over 2000 positions.
And while the University is certainly enti
tled to squeeze the gullible masses for every
penny they may be “persuadetT to fork out —
exploitation being in this case the fault of the
exploitees — the tragic glut of merchandise
reflects poorly on the Univ ersity, and its pro
duction should be slowed or stopped.
Walking down Northgale. it is possible to
see Texas A&M checkerboards (with football
helmets for pieces). Of Sarge toilet lids and
cheerleader outfits for little girls, not to men
tion boxers for men and lingerie for. well,
that’s really for men, too.
Elsewhere, there are maroon and logo-en
crusted tuxedos. There are also the Aggie
Bonfire groom's cakes and the Aggie Cin
derella story, and the ocher literary piracy, all
in the interest of the maroon and white.
This is not to say that the usual run of
shirts, shorts, hats, flags, wallpaper, paper,
folders, binders, pens, pencils, socks, shoes,
sheets, blankets, posters, belts, suspenders.
Aggieopoly games and bumper slickers prov e
anything except that the University has sold
its soul to Mr. Buck Dollar, but then again,
who hasn’t? There is a certain amount of class
in the "standard" merchandise. But. Texas
A&M toilet lids? Who wants to be sitting at
their most vulnerable in the bathroom know
ing the baleful glare of Of Saige is right be
hind them, ready to dispense gigs to any one
who does not wash their hands?
.And then there are the cheerleader outfits.
Aside from the issues of parents dressing
small children in the outfit of their college
and the whole sexism concern of there being
no yell leader outfits for little boys. A&M
does even not hav e cheerleaders. In fact. Ag
gies are overw helmingly proud that it does
not take a platoon of scantily -clad w omen to
get Aggies to come to the games and cheer for
the team, unlike ev ery other inferior school
on the planet.
While there are no cheerleaders at the
school, parents can still foist happy memories
of college — the ones that do not involve too
much beer, ex-significant others or bad music
— onto the unsuspecting w ardrobes of chil
dren too voune to tie their shoes.
And there is the problem. It is not that the
merchandise is so terrible in and of itself (al
though this has been a close call in some cas
es), but that this merchandise is being bought
by the wrong people for the wrong reasons.
The Univ ersity is happy to take their money
w ithout a thought to the fact that it is exploit
ing the pocket books of former students.
At least the University' taking advantage of
former students to gain revenue to be spent on
current students is a refreshing reversal of the
usual policy: exploiting current students for
the benefit of former students.
Fortunately, the tacky merchandise, like
bell bottoms and pet rocks, is about as long-
lived as a mosquito in a microwave. There are
enough Aggie jokes in the world. New prod
ucts do not need to be adding material. De
spite ev ery one's best efforts, some time soon,
this commercial could be heard cm the radio:
“Now av ailable at a bookstore near you:
the official, licensed. Fightin' Texas Aggie
Blood Colorer. For those students tired of
bleeding red, the FTABC is a series of pain
less injections that colors the blood of every
red-ass student a deep, spirit-filled maroon.
Non-toxic or non-carcinogenic, but not both,
the FTABC is available at Uoupot's, Rother’s,
the University Book Store, and the MSC.”
Chris Huffines is a senior
speech communication major.
McCain’s portrayal of himself as a rebel just another contradiction
Oi
momentum, some have wondered why anyone in the Repub
lican Pam would want to oppose him.
John McCain does not need any enemies. He sees one
derated spraying effort.isj when he looks in the mirror each morning,
how coca cultivation up' McCain’s own record in Congress does not show him as
xcent last year. Since W a maverick out to change the face of the Republican Party. In
than doubled, accorfe
rian and U.S. iieures.
feet, it shows him to be far closer to the breed of politician
currently inhabiting Washington — a hypocrite and political
a, who expressed sen# opportunist — not a breath of fresh air. Simply put. die real
s about fumigation se® McCain is evervthine that candidate McCain is against.
During his campaign to unseat Texas Gov. George W.
Bush as the Republican front runner. McCain has insinuated
me has been touo'hoTil 11,31 Bush vvas takin = advanta § e ° , his tamous last name - To
1 ® extent. McCain himself can be considered guilty of the
same sin.
Adm. John McCain Sr. was the Commander of the Navy’s
[U Pacific Fleet w hen his son returned from Vietnam, and he as
sisted his son in getting the plum assignment of becoming the
inng his first monthsim
ned down the criticismi#
mes the U.S. assistance.
it’s me,” he toldlhe^
s earlier this month
>ian and U.S. official)#
rite House drug czar
who arrives Tuesday
vpanding even more
wasn't any attempt to
xation.
isit, argue that drugtff ^aval liaison to Capitol Hill in the late ’70s. This allowed him
raj* to make political connections that were of great use during his
first run for the House of Representatives in 1980.
His voting personality since becoming senator four y ears
recent effort to show® later is hardly that of a rebel. While McCain attempts to court
ig effort ended up ^
many quest ions surrs
ding its distressingiif
Jean nation’s diversec
ystem.
/ith anti-narcotics pofcj
loppy field in the so
te of Huila, the view
! helicopter window
rs in the forests,
clear-cutting.
iety
fdety
’dical Student Assoc.
ne of the biggest surprises of •
Ithe presidential primary season
has been the performance of
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Adored
by the media for being a 'maverick.'
McCain rode his "straight talk express”
to a shocking \ ictory in the New
Hampshire pnman before being
trounced in South Carolina. W ith his
friendlv demeanor and new ly found
M VRK
PASSWATERS
independents and some Democrats by claiming to be more
liberal than other Republicans, his record screams otherwise.
Elected to replace the retiring Barry Goldwater. the dean
of conserv ative Republicanism, McCain vowed to follow in
his footsteps. McCain's performance, as judged by conserva
tive groups such as the Christian Coalition and the Heritage
Foundation, would suggest that he has done so. He has aver
aged an A- on their grading scales and has been endorsed by
the National Rifle Association for each of his campaigns.
In a speech given on
real claim to being the GOP’s moderate would be his support
of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill. His
stance on this issue, despised by most Republicans, has
separated him from other candidates.
While John McCain may talk until he is blue in the face
about campaign finance reform, he clearly does not practice
what he preaches. During the campaign in South Carolina.
McCain gave a speech condemning the “Iron Triangle” of
gov ernment and special interest groups. His speech was
Feb. 7. McCain said “No
president should be anti
union.” If he believes in
w hat he says, McCain has
just disqualified himself
from running for that office.
The AFL-CIO gives Mc
Cain a failing grade during
their annual grading of
members of Congress and
contends that he has voted
against organized labor on
e\ ery major vote.
On the campaign trail.
McCain has repeatedly stat
ed that he opposes the re
pealing of Roe v. Wade, in
sinuating that he is
pro-choice. In the meantime.
Sen. McCain has a spotless
pro-life v oting record for the
past seven y ears.
In truth, McCain's only
School board bends rules for player
T e
6
c
beamed back to Washington fund raiser. There, lobby ists
wearing buttons saying “McCain hates me” donated SI.2
million to his campaign.
The founder of Paxson Communications has also donated
well over SI million to McCain 2000. McCain, in tum. has
used his influence as chairman of the Senate Commerce
Committee to push the Federal Communications Commis
sion to sign off on the proposed purchase of sev eral TV sta
tions by Paxson.
In 1991, McCain was one of fiv e senators censured by
their colleagues for their involvement with Arizona savings
and loan swindler Charles Keating. The "Keating Five” were
condemned for soliciting and accepting millions of dollars in
soft money donations from Keating and providing political
assistance to him in return.
Today . McCain condemns other candidates for accepting
similar donations. McCain has said that those who support
the current campaign finance system are enemies of democra
cy. Enemy, see thyself.
McCain has placed himself before the American pxxipic
as a man who is a maverick and a Washington outsider. His
voting record, howev er, would strongly suggest otherwise.
McCain has attempted to make character an issue in this
campaign. If he is willing to run cm a platform that contra
dicts everything he has previously stood for, he is every bit
as bad as those that he has criticized.
If the nation is interested in seeing a rebel, they should put
Star Wars in the video. Luke Sky walker, who McCain has
compared himself to. is a rebel. Sen. McCain is simply another
politician trying to shape himself into the flavor of the day.
Mark Passn aters is a senior
electrical engineering major.
MAIL CALL
exas. like every oth
er state, has laws re
quiring students to
certain grades to be
0- able to continue playing
the ecological crimed sports and to be eligible
ional police spokes^' for scholarships. It seems
oino says, gesturing 111 * to be a clear regulation
idges around Rio W 1 and most people would
agree that if athletes can
not meet the requirements, they should no! be
allowed to play anyway . But these rules were
not so clear to Cody Sp>encer. who decided that
if he could not change his grades, his only op
tion would be to change the sy stem.
Recently, the Grapevine-Colleyville School
District voted to eliminate the letter grade “D "
from its grading sy stem. The reason for this
change is that the school district is trying to im
prove the chances for football play er
Spencer to receive a scholarship to a Divi
sion I School. In the past, a grade be
tween 70 and 74 would have been equiv
alent to a D, but last week’s change
makes all scores betw een 70 and 79
equal to a C. Spencer’s father asked
school officials to change the sy stem,
arguing that most schools consider a
score between 70 and 79 a C. putting
Spencer at a disadv antage.
Despite the elder Spencer's claims of in
equity, the previous system vvas not providing
any injustice compared to that which the
change will provide the younger.
Spencer is among Texas' top 100 recruits,
looking at schools such as Texas Christian Uni-
v ersity, Texas Tech University, the University
ofNorth Texas and Midwestern University.
These schools are going to prov ide great chal
lenges for a student struggling to pull C’s in
high school. Is Spencer being set up for failure,
or will the special treatment continue at the uni
versity he decides to attend? Somew here along
the line Spencer is going to lose in this situa
tion and prolonging this fate is not going to
make it go away.
Almost as bad as the idea of this special
treatment is the example being set by his fami
ly. Spencer’s parents are not exactly providing
the best guidance for their son by showing him
the easy way out in life. .And what kind of
lessons are the teachers in this district teaching
their students by setting
an example of bend
ing the rules and
stretching
the truth?
RUBEN DELUNA/Th> Botauon
No one is ly ing in this case, but the truth of it
all is that Spencer was not eligible for a schol
arship because his grades w ere too low 1 , but
now he is.
Schools w ill never be equal in their grading
or ranking systems, and an attempt to make that
possible is unfair to all students. The losers in
this situation are the students w ho worked hard
at earning a C. Their slacker classmates now
rise to their level w ithout putting forth extra ef
fort. It is unjust for the school district to make a
change for one student.
At some high schools, a 4.0 grade-point ra
tio will rank in the top 10 percent of the gradu
ating class (securing definite acceptance to any
Texas public school), while at others a 4.0 may
put a student deep in the second quarter. It is
time that students accept the fact that no system
is going to be completely fair to everyone.
All the more reason that each student's indi
vidual grades need to be of the greatest con
cern. Spencer’s grades have not been improved
one bit because of this change; they have mere
ly been manipulated. The Spencer family must
have spent hours discussing the reasons the
rules should be reevaluated for their son.
Maybe, just may be, if he had spent a little
bit of this time on his homework, those
grades would not be too low for a
scholarship.
Although the intentions of Spencer's
father, as well as those of the school dis
trict, were to prevent him from suffering
any disadvantages, they are setting him up
for hardship. His grades are low now and
the course load in college is only going to
be worse for him. Spencer is eligible for a
scholarship now because the standards have
been lowered for him. but maybe it is time he
raised the standards for himself. Spencer may
throw the bail w ith the strength of the best but
having the “brains" just might make his suitors
see him as an even greater catch.
Melissa Bedsole is. a sophomore
general studies major.
Austria’s new rule
worth the early concern
In response to Jill Riley's Feb. 21 column.
Apparently Riley forgot to read about
the topic on which she was writing. Let
me clear up some misinformation. Mr.
Haider’s party did not win a popular elec
tion. Only about 21 percent of the vote
went to his party, leaving about 79 per
cent that voted against him. However,
his party was able to win a few seats
in the Austrian congress. The ruling
party at the time decided to form a
merger with Haider’s party and allowed
some of those in his party to take over
key cabinet positions in the govern
ment. Now. for some reason,
200,000 people stand outside the
parliament in Vienna daily demanding
the end to the coalition government.
A few people might also like to know
that some of the ■‘misunderstood com
ments” made by Haider were that “the
men of the Nazi SS were generally men
of good moral character” and that “Hitler
should be praised for his orderly employ
ment policies.”
Being that my grandmother was in a
concentration camp, and had a great
time as one of those “orderly employ
ees," and my grandfather had to fight
“men of good character” who were invad
ing his country, 1 was a little remiss that
Riley left those comments out of her arti
cle. As for her final statement, “If Haider
starts dictating national policy and killing
innocent people in Austria, then will be
the time to criticize and subdue the new
Austrian government," 1 found it to be
boldly insipid.
Stemming from the fact that 1 have
many family members who emigrated
from Poland to Austria in search of a bet
ter life and are now the target of the
xenophobic government, I would rather
stop a power hungry man before he puts
them into an “orderly work program” or
has “men of good character” come
knock on their door and take them awary
never to be heard from again.
There are a few people who learned
from WW1I that they should stop this
problem from getting worse early on. be
fore anyone has to die. If the entire Eu
ropean Union’s, America's. Israel’s and
Argentina’s best political scientists
think it the best course to shun Austria
until it wises up. then 1 stand by them
because they actually know what they
are talking about.
Tom Nowak
Class of ’02
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