Page 5B
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jack Slocum does not deserve criticism and is a valuable asset to Texas A&M
m.
\
t n. r^'Jwork
' c "*L3ation
sonicear.»-
m’s way to
talf alre. }S>
edordroi long after
uly,40a v shorn, his
locking h^j^ved to
cquitted ;e y Texas.
liracyan nee of his work ethic can be
'ee were inlthe jobs he had: shining
and sent»selling newspapers and
service. n gP n refineries,
nt. Munifw ne< ^ nH’district football
m' Del :s ^ n school and contin-
y^^, 1 is football career at McNeese
. , University in Louisiana.
nMolony, a sports reporter,
>me 1 jlocum "has never lost the
-home, neighborly charm that
dwhen he was shining shoes
-year-old in East Texas. You
' Jen argue that he’s too nice
leSlalegend.’’
lis sounds like a man who be-
:e whelk" at Texas A&M —- he is coun-
motherte-^d'WOTlting and “too nice to
trios Ln# nd ”
ved in' owever ' Slocum has faced bit-
s . ittcism from fans who believe
, erformance as head football
^... .[I has been lackluster.
tie character he has demonstrat-
. i and off the football field dis-
‘ . esluch criticism.
' (ocum has finished his 28th
3n|s a college coach at A&M.
, . is 3a years of coaching, he
! Sl1 u ;i it only five years away from
own ; B jieliid.
mIIN [liis man is devoted to the spirit
,l iggieland — he remains faithful
IS T 10 yhat he believes is an excellent
keep obi.
ere. ‘There is something very special
>utTexas A&M,” Slocum said,
vehad opportunities throughout
^cacevr to move on to other col
es and the [National Football
League], but I chose to stay at
Texas A&M. I am honored to serve
as the head football coach at such
an outstanding university.”
Besides Slocum’s down-home
charm, dignified class and devoted
character, he has groomed A&M’s
football team into one of the top
teams in the nation — the Aggies
are consistently ranked in both the
Associated Press and ESPN/USA
Today Coaches polls .
Slocum began coaching in
1968 — in 1972, he made his
first appearance in Aggieland
as offensive assistant
coach.
From 1973 to 1980,
Slocum served as de
fensive assistant coach,
spending summers
coaching for a CEL team.
After a brief stint at the Univer
sity of Southern California as de
fensive coordinator in 1979,
Slocum returned to Ag
gieland and has been
here since.
Interestingly, A&M
is second in the country
for having the most
players in the NFL.
People argue that with
players of this caliber,
A&M should be a bet
ter team, and they
blame Slocum for not
utilizing this talent.
But A&M never has
recruiting classes in the
top five in the country.
Slocum’s ability to take
weaker talent and pro
duce professional play
ers says a great deal
about the man’s coach
ing skills.
In the years between
the time are recruited to
play at A&M and the
time they are drafted by the pros,
incredible coaching and leadership
take place.
When the question is asked,
“What is a great coach?” every
one has his or her own
opinion.
Some think a great
coach wins every
game or wins the national champi
onship every year.
But a great coach can be some
one who conducts himself or her
self in a dignified
manner and devotes
28 years of coach
ing to a single
university.
' Slocum’s longevity and
A&M’s winning record and rank
ings show he is a great coach, but
his devotion makes him a part of
A&M.
Slocum believes in the Aggie
spirit and the story behind the
Twelfth Man.
He was responsible for the birth
of the defensive Wrecking Crew ’
tradition and has helped it thrive
since 1985.
When Bonfire collapsed in 1999,
Slocum and the A&M football team
provided help and support to those
in pain. Slocum is a gentlemen on
and off the field.
Slocum is a part of A&M tradi
tion and has brought A&M football
to a new era as the winningest
coach in Aggieland.
Cay la Carr is a junior speech
communication major.
/\ needed time out
Executions should be halted until system is more accurate
I
r he most'severe
punishment for
a criminal is
jh. However, the le-
system that sen-
C6scriminals to death
howing less and less
Rfor fairness,
perefore. President
1 Clinton must call
a temporary national moratorium on the
ith penalty.
The entire system should be taken apart
ce by piece until there is no chance a
son who does not deserve the death
laity is killed.
According to the Amnesty Internation-
Vebsite, more than 350 people have
n executed in the United States since
>0, and more than 3,300 others are on
th row.
Death row inmates in Illinois will not
Jxecuted soon, though. Gov. George
in, a supporter of the death penalty,
:ed executions in May and appointed a
amission to study the fairness of the
th penalty.
Ryan said, “If this commission comes
k and says we can’t give you a 100 per-
t guarantee, if they can’t tell me the sys-
twill be flawless. I’ve got an obligation
•ay that I can’t go ahead.”
Dr. James Liebman of Columbia Univer
sity School of Law studied the death
penalty in the past 23 years at the re
quest of the, U.S. Senate Committee on
the Judiciary. .
The study found that two out of
three death sentences were
overturned on appeal —
mostly because of serious
errors by defense lawyers
or police officers and
prosecutors who with
held evidence.
The report said,
“The 60 percent and
70 percent rates of
serious error that
have existed na
tionally and in the
vast majority of
states have obliged
courts to provide,
and have obliged
taxpayers to foot the
bill for, a elaborate
and lengthy judicial
inspection process —
one that, even so, almost
inevitably must fail to catch
and correct some amount of
the error that has flooded the
system.”
In Texas, the death
penalty controversy is
JOE PEDEN/Thk Battai
growing with the planned execution of
John Paul Penry. Penry is a 44-year-old
mentally disabled man with an IQ of 56.
He was to be executed on Nov. 17, but a
last-minute stay by the Supreme Court will
grant him at least a 30-day reprieve.
Prosecutors of Penry, who has un
dergone two trials and was sen
tenced to death in both, say Penry
is well aware of the concepts of
right and wrong and can be ex
ecuted execution.
The defense hopes that,
because Penry still believes
in Santa Claus and does
not even understand the
concept of an execution,
he will receive a
permanent re
prieve of the
death sentence.
The U.S.
death penalty is
drawing harsh
criticism from other nations.
Last year in Arizona, two
German men were execut
ed for the murder of a bank
teller in a robbery. Arizona
officials failed to notify Germany, a vi
olation of an article in the Vienna Conven
tion guaranteeing consular access to for
eigners overseas.
Walter Legrand, one of the German men,
was executed oh March 4, 1999. The day
before, the World Court had issued an order
to postpone the execution until the case
could be heard — these events resulted in
Germany asking the World Court for repa
rations from the United States.
On Nov. 10, Texas violated the Vienna
Convention when it executed a Mexican
national for murder without notifying Mex
ican authorities \Vhen he was first arrested.
Numerous organizations have called for
a national halt of the death penalty. One of
the first organizations to make this plea was
the American Bar Association.
Its policy proposal encouraged stopping
the executions to ensure that states “provide
competent counsel in capital punishment
cases, eliminate race discrimination in capi
tal sentencing and prevent the execution of
mentally retarded persons and persons who
committed crimes as minors.”
The majority of the evidence shows
there are problems with the process of exe
cuting criminals. A process with such a per
manent and irreconcilable end must be car
ried out without errors.
The United States must stop executions
to spare those who do not deserve to be on
death row.
Reid Bader is a junior political
science major.
Student appalled
by Longhorn fans
In response to Susan Priest’s
Nov. 28 Mail Call.
Priest was right to question the
relationship between Texas A&M
and the University of Texas-Austin
after the football game last Friday.
I am incredibly disappointed,
and not because we did not win.
I thought our relationship with
UT was based on mutual respect,
with the whole idea being that we
are the best public universities in
the state.
There is definitely a lack of
respect.
Older UT men were calling
Aggie women “whores” while
making obscene and grotesque
gestures.
Children were flicking Aggies
off and cursing, while their elders
laughed.
A stuffed animal — depicting
Mail Call
Reveille — was hung from a
noose and beaten repeatedly with
a bat. '
Some Longhorns were cheer
ing about the fall of the Bonfire
and hoping it would happen again.
This is just to name a few inci
dents of sportsmanship so bad -
that it no longer has anything to .
do with sport — simply hate.
I trust that Aggies would never
be so disrespectful and cruel to
other human beings; no matter
what school they attended.
I would rather lose and be able
to hold my head up high and be
proud of who I am and what I do,
than win and still be the biggest
loser everywhere else.
I commend all the Aggies who
did not lose themselves in the
outrageous antics of some Long
horns and remained the respect
ful and proud people Aggies are
known to be.
My apologies to UT on the win,
especially if winning makes them
the people they have proven
themselves to be.
Leigh Elena Henderson
Class of ‘04
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