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Wednesday, August 30, 2000
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AGGIWL i {&
Page 3A
THE BATTALION
Aggie traditions bring uniqueness and unity
paintinf
/itch off on a single pain
l, president of the Rioft
Their paintings allowusati
ds that are rare to this are.'
are not their main focus,
•aits and still lifes.
ixatl Rio Brazos Audubon
e exhibit and anniversary*:
our of the exhibit aftermi
■mbers are expected to alter!;
run through Sept. 4dure
s, which are Monday to
until 5 p.m. and Sunday!
Museum admission is Ji
its, and $3.50 for seniorcte
Continued fromty\
ink Ashley, associated!
ge of Education,
is of students with whom!
he most academic probte
es and cadets. With the su]i
er AOC deans, Ashley asl«
; leadership to consideriti|
ng an academic prograi
> similar to the one athlete
low under NCAA regulate
We will look at
the ideas (the
OC deans) pn
osed, and ifw
see a feasible
way to imple
ment some
anges, w/em\
— Justin Bet?
Corps of CS
Scholastic Sergei
By Brady Creel
the Battalion
, i Howdy! We are the FightiiT Texas Aggies. As
such; we live in a dynamic place called Aggieland,
where “the spirit that can ne'er be told” is a staple of
life, and that puts us in a league of our own.
There are more out there just like
me. We call a red-ass attitude “diversi
ty,” and we live Texas A&M for all it
is worth because, after all, we are only
here for a small amount of time.
Some are here for longer than oth
ers, but eventually, we all come and
go. However, regardless of our time
^pent here, we are bound by the
thread that weaves the fabric of Aggie
Spirit.
j That spirit, which exists like a
mysterious apparition in the hearts of
Aggies, will slap the ass of every stu
dent who sets foot on this campus.
Some are smacked harder than oth
ers, so each turns a different shade of red — some
lighter, some darker — but invariably, it is impossible
to experience post-secondary education at A&M
without being at least mildly affected. It will strike
your heart whether you are willing to accept it,
.and it usually will shine through in both good
times and bad.
But, at Texas A&M, there are two different genres
of people — students and Aggies. They are distinc
tively different. I need not list or discuss the tradi
tions that set us apart because, as the old adage goes,
from the inside looking out, one cannot explain
•ft. From the outside looking in, one cannot un
derstand it.
1 pose this question to you; “What about those
who are on the inside looking around, blind to
what they have around them?”
Many cannot see it, but there exists on this
campus another realm, separate from the
outside world. It is a place surreal to those
who have not found it, but reality for
those who have. It is a world in which
students are leaders, leaders are
mentors and mentors are friends
— ^md everyone is family.
It is the realm of “Ag-
giedom” and the
/ pose this question
to you: 'What
about those who
are on the inside
looking around,
blind to what they
have around
them?'
its simplest fonn, the pro;
d require cadets to complii
nt of their degree plan by il
;ir freshmen year to beps
sophomore status in theO
Yips Scholastics Sergeant!
m said the forum was a!
oward improving cadets'?
ise it opened up communi
sen the Corps and the deaf
Ve will look at the idei
deans) proposed, and if" :
siblc'way to implement
ges, we will,” he said.
"BATTALIO:
——r —irnr-r-rrrrr-rrHn-rmmrrmnirrnrnrnniinnp‘rnooci I II I ^
i Miller, Editor in Chief
Kempf, Managing Editor
ium Mohiuddin, CityEditot
icn DeLuna, Graphics Editor
ne Dionne, Sports Editor
n Lincoln, Sports Editor
ri Sridhara, Sci/Tech Editor
n Bennyhoff, Aggielife
irt Hutson, Aggielife Editor
id Lee, Opinion Editor
iley Atchison, Photo Editor
ly Wages, Photo Editor
lifer Bales, Night News Edit®
i Ahlquist, Copy Chief
Dickens, Radio Producer
ndon Payton, Web Master
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“other education” at A&M. It is kept alive by a deep
passion for being a Texas Aggie-
Granted, A&M is a first-class academic institution.
But, for myself and many others I have met during
my time here; that is mere coincidence.
When selecting a college, the fact that A&M is an
academic powerhouse was just a
sideshow, while being a Texas Aggie
is the main event.
I am here, first and foremost, be
cause I have, for as long as I can re
member, wanted to live the legacy
that gives A&M the identity for
which it is known worldwide.
Students come to this campus in
droves with this same thought om
nipresent in their minds.
Some are met at Fish Camp by a
group of counselors who at first
seem overzealous in breeding a new
class of red-ass freshmen. Others
just venture, or rather stumble,
onto campus with the world of A&M unbe
knownst to them.
There are those who are Aggies first, as am I.
Qualities such as character, integrity and charisma be
come bred into our very existence.
These are virtues of the intangible asset we call
Aggie Spirit.
You can stand at Silver Taps next
week or at Muster and know exactly
^ what I am talking about. You can
even see it as you walk to class,
/IlL heartily greeting others with
§ '1|M “howdy.”
Then there is the overwhelm-
§| ing sense of pride that you get as
you see thousands of Aggies em
brace each other as they sing the
War Hymn.
Keep in mind that Aggie Spirit is
defined as red ass, not redneck nor
dumbass. .1 think it is important to
distinguish them, for they are no
tably different. Those like me, who
cherish the very maroon blood that
flows through their
veins, know who
they are and
what they
* 'zk re P resent -
• 1 And at the
I moment —
the very mo
ment — they
slide that
| Aggie ring
onto their fin
gers, they have
plugged them
selves into the
most allegiant,
incredible net
work with
tentacles that
cover the
breadth of our
world.
As long as there
are Texas Aggies in
this world, there will
always be a spirit that
can ne’er be told.
A
Traditions can be annoying and alienating
By Eric Dickens
The Battalion
Hi, my name is Eric and I am an Aggie.
I would have said “howdy,” but saying “howdy”
ticks me off. I am not a “two-percenter,” a “skim-milk
Ag” or a “T-sip wannabe.” I love A&M and College
Station and take pride in my
school and community. But there
is a very pronounced line between
useful traditions that invigorate
students and build unity and those
that are just plain idiotic.
“Howdy” is the poster child for
the second category.
Traditions, on the whole, are
good things. Silver Taps shows
reverence, and yells build fan en
thusiasm during games. But just as
traditions at A&M can be benefi
cial to the University and its students, they sometimes
can cause more harm than good!
The inability to break tradition, or to do something
just because it is a tradition can b^ disastrous.
More often, though, the problems with traditions are
smaller, more interpersonal. A pripfie example of this is
saying “howdy.” The student body seems divided on
the importance of “howdy” — some think the tradition
is a way to keep the A&M campus friendly, while the
other half thinks it is annoying and awkward. The truth
is, “howdy” does have its place in spe
cialized settings, but the way it is
repeatedly thrust into our
everyday lives, as well as
the attitude of many of the
people responsible for
the thrusting, is juve
nile and counter
productive.
There is
nothing inher
ently wrong with
saying “howdy.”
The official greet
ing of A&M is
like any other
group’s official
greeting —
perfectly fine in
some contexts.
“Howdy” plays
an integral part
of Midnight
Yell Practice
and many Corps
of Cadets func
tions, but the
word should be kept
in the stands and on the Quadrangle.
People who say “howdy” to strangers for
no reason other than to be friendly should
not be surprised or offended when some
body like me replies with a muffled
“hawdy” or simply says nothing. I re
serve the right to be anti-social and to
not have to be friendly to strangers, es
pecially when that friendliness involves
my sounding like I should be on a trac
tor with a toothpick in my mouth.
Saying “howdy” while walking
across campus is a crapshoot, just like
any other outgoing behavior. “Howdy”
should be saved for events like Mid
night Yell Practice, not for when I am
. trying to get to the other side of campus
...just as traditions can
be beneficial to the Uni
versity and its students,
the can sometimes cause
more harm than good.
and the sun is about 30 feet from my face.
At no other time is the annoying nature of “howdy”
on full display like it is during Howdy Week. Passing
out stickers is par for most events, but Howdy Week
seems to bring out the zealot in some students. Forget
being anti-social, 1 just want to get through the MSC or
Commons Lobby without having somebody jump in
front of me yelling “Howdy!” dr
a sneaky Howdy Ags! member;
slap a sticker on my backpack -
without asking.
And while giving me a sticker
I did not ask for is an effective I
way to make me change my ;
mind, the human chains of peo- -
pie spelling out “howdy” on their
shirts really makes me want to ;
embrace the word as they further
clog the walkways on campus. *
Then there is the Howdymobile — a sad group of
people driving around campus yelling “howdy” at
nobody in particular. In the degree of pointlessness,
the Howdymobile is right up there with the time, dur
ing my freshman year, my dorm crew chiefs dragged
me and my “new buddies” around campus yelling
foul-mouthed and idiotic dorm yells at the brick
walls of rival dorms.
The most juvenile part of “howdy” and Howdy
Week is the naive way their supporters believe the
tradition will truly help student relations on campus
and make
A&M “the friend
liest University.”
A&M has its strong
points, but it is also a univer
sity where thousands of students
daily feel alienated and shunned.
Ask around of people who are not the
typical white male, middle-class Ameri
can student, and chances are you will soon
hear stories of dirty looks, cold shoulders
and ignorant slurs. A popular shirt from Inspi
rations copies a Dodge Trucks ad, saying “tu
- too different.” But perhaps A&M is “too
much the same.” Our University suffers from a
decided lack of diversity and tolerance, which
makes a perfect environment.for ignorance.
You can sugarcoat ignorance at A&M by say
ing we have “a conservative school” or “a tradi
tional student body,” but we are a far cry from “the
friendliest university” when it comes to accepting
others. And that is something a 5-letter word yelled
from passing cars will never improve.
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