iriday, November 30, 2001
THE BATTALION
Page 11
A true slugger
Mark
McGwire is
not only a
baseball
at y but
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ON
imes are tough for sports-loving kids in
search of heroes. Sports have become a
lot more about money than actual talent,
day and charged^id it shows in the actions of many players.
From arguing and picking
fights with other players dur
ing the games, to using foul
language that must be
bleeped out during post-game
interviews — the examples
being set are not the ones par
ents want their kids admiring.
But among the gloomy days
of sports heroes, there is one
lerson worthy of waiting in line for an auto-
]raph and buying jerseys with his name. Mark
flcGwire has been in the spotlight for many
pars, and there is no greater person for
imerica to shine on.
McGwire’s dedication and achievements in
le sport of baseball make him a truly honor-
ble person — but his dedication to being a great
lather and a loyal friend are what make him a
ue hero. Recently, as he has been faced with
me of life’s greatest decisions, his deeply root-
d heroism is guiding him to put his beloved
port above his personal interests and retire
vhile he is more than ahead.
The game-winning home runs and record-
reaking stats throughout McGwire’s career
make him impressive, but do not necessarily
make him above and beyond other baseball
;reats. It is not just the games that he has won,
tis the games that he missed in the past and the
;ames that he is giving up his chance for in the
uture. For McGwire, baseball is a job and a
lobby - but it is not his life. All along, he has
>een a player who loved the game just for the
'ame, not for the money he could make playing
His priorities throughout his career have
ihown the love for himself, his family and the
>ame, and really nothing else.
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In his announcement of his plans to retire,
McGwire said, “For years 1 have said my moti
vation for playing wasn’t for fame and fortune,
but rather the love of competing.”
It is easy for any sports player to say that,
but now he has become one of the few to actu
ally prove that to be his true desire.
Just like anyone, McGwire’s life was filled
with opportunities and he did not want to miss
out on any experience along his way to the top.
In 1984, McGwire was named The Sporting
News’ College Player of the Year and was a
first-round draft pick in Oakland, but he did not
McGwire's dedication and
achievements in baseball make
him a truly honorable
person — but his dedication to
being a great father
and a loyal friend are what
make him a true hero.
enter the pros at that point because of his desire
to play for Team USA in the Olympics. In
1987, McGwire hit 49 home runs, 11 more than
any other rookie and two more than the season
record of Oakland’s Reggie Jackson. He might
have hit 50, but he skipped the season’s final
game - that was the day his wife gave birth to
their son, Matthew. (And he was still named the
American League’s Rookie of the Year, so real
ly he did not miss out on much at all). The
world watched him cling to his son after he hit
the record-breaking 70th home run in 1998, but
Matthew was not the only person he wanted to
share his victory with. Anyone who pays atten
tion to baseball knows how important and truly
honorable it was that he took the time to hug
the family of Roger Maris after surpassing the
long-standing record of their father. This is not
a player that simply tries to depict himself as a
“good-guy”. This is someone truly worthy of
being considered an American icon.
So, every player’s time comes to an end and
the question of how they will handle that is
always an issue. For McGwire, there was no
issue. St. Louis offered him a $30 million con
tract and he handed it back to them. He has
been injured and has not been able to play the
game the way he would like to. It was plain
and simple — he did not feel right taking the
money if his performance was not earning it.
His retirement is noble in itself, but throughout
this decision, he has put the team absolutely
ahead of himself.
By announcing his retirement now (before
the period of free-agent signing begins), he is
allowing St. Louis to have the chance to pur
chase a replacement, and he has been very clear
in that being his intention.
McGwire said, “I believe I owe it to the
Cardinals and the fans of St. Louis to step aside
so a talented free agent can be brought in as the
final piece of what I expect can be a world
championship-caliber team.”
Many people are pointing fingers at Jason
Giambi, a former A’s teammate of McGwire, to
possibly be a pick for this position. While the
two have been described as being as “close as
brothers” it would just be the icing on the cake
for this hero to be paving the way for someone
else to have a chance to fill his void. All of
these actions make him more than worthy of
being viewed as a hero. Although he will not
be on the field for much longer, hopefully his
legacy and fame will still hang within the
posters on many little kids’ walls.
Melissa Bedsole is a senior
psychology major.
Reporter
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Public versus private is the
real issue
In response to Mariano Castillo's Nov. 29th
column:
While Castillo does much to discuss his feel
ings and the feelings of the two administrations
involved, the debate over Texas A&M’s affiliation
with South Texas College of Law should be
based on fact. Fact: Texas A&M is a public
school, while South Texas College of Law is a
private institution. What is not discussed in the
half-page article by Castillo is the fact that there
is much legal controversy surrounding the idea
that a state-funded institution such as A&M, can
endorse, work in conjunction with, or fiscally
support a private school that does not abide by
the federal laws concerned with admissions.
| Particularly important is the Hopwood decision
that ended race-based admissions in Texas pub
lic colleges and universities that receive federal
funding.
The dean of the UT School of Law, Michael
Sharlot, said the policy that the two schools are
trying for is steeped in potential problems. “It
seems very strange that you’d have a public uni
versity, which everyone agrees is subject to
Hopwood, affiliated with a law school which is
not," Sharlot said. “It seems problematic, dubious
as a matter of law." While this school’s president
■■R: mail call
and regents like to pretend that they are only try
ing to add a law school to A&M through this affili
ation, they are also trying to extort a potential
loophole in the ban on using quotas and double
standards on the issue of race in admissions.
This is similar to their proposal to set a lower, “25
percent automatic admission” standard at “target
ed” schools in Texas. That is the true reason why
the Texas Supreme court effectively upheld the
lower court’s decision not to allow the affiliation,
and had nothing to do with “bruised egos” as
Castillo suggests. If we want our own law school,
then the administration should not be acting on
ulterior motives and should not use our tuition
money to carry on a legal battle in the name of
race-based admissions. While they are wasting
time and money, dabbling in politics, we could be
on our way to building our own school of law.
While the author likens the present court battle to
the Fightin’ Texas Aggie tradition, he misses the
point that we may be fighting on the wrong side.
Matthew Maddox
Class of 2004
Media should stay out of it
In response to the Nov. 29 editorial:
I was deeply disappointed to read yet another edi
torial attacking the students and staff of the
pg|j|
Memorial Student Center. The students and staff
at the MSC work hard to produce outstanding pro
grams, services and leadership development
opportunities for our University, and they do not
get a lot of recognition for the work they do.
These are good and decent people who deserve
your appreciation and your respect. At the very
least, they deserve better than what you wrote on
Thursday. You may be angry at the MSC Council
for shutting the media out of this process, but
given the total lack of objectivity you have demon
strated in your coverage of this matter, I can
understand why they did.
You have made your disagreement with the
MSC Council’s actions perfectly clear, and that is
your right. Flowever, your disagreement does not
give you the right to question their integrity or
their commitment to the students of this
University. It certainly does not give you the right
to call them names. You have done all of these
things, and in doing so you have crossed the line
that separates responsible journalism from
tabloid trash. You are obviously upset that the
MSC Council has refused to cooperate with your
demands, and because of this your newspaper is
acting like a spoiled child. Grow up. If you can not
be objective and fair, even when you disagree, you
have no business publishing a newspaper. You
were right about one thing—Aggies do deserve
better than this.
Chris Williams
Class of 1996
Time for change
T his week, the Department of Journalism
met with a team of outside consultants to
discuss a plan to improve the department’s
quality. Journalism, though, will need more than
advice from consultants.
The Department of Journalism is facing some
tough decisions about enrollment
in coming months, and the Texas
A&M administration needs to
examine and revamp its role in the
solution-seeking process.
Journalism, one of the fastest-
growing majors at A&M, has
swelled above its capacity,
enrolling more than 1,000 students
this year. The department is
designed, equipped and staffed to handle 450 stu
dents, less than half the current enrollment.
But despite several years of rapid growth, the
department employs only 12 full-time faculty mem
bers and has been without a permanent department
head for almost three years. This is unfair to stu
dents, faculty and staff.
Journalism seniors are still trying to take their
200-level media writing class — the class that is
supposed to be taken within the first nine hours of
journalism. That is not possible because of over
crowded, understaffed classes.
More money for more faculty (the student-to-fac-
ulty ratio is 1:100) is obviously not an option if you
talk to the people in charge — the journalism
department has been forbidden to hire new faculty.
Advisers are overworked: in the journalism
department, rather than registering for mandatory
classes, one must apply and be selected by the
advising office. These attributes define the forth
coming downfall of the journalism department and
must be rectified immediately.
But rather than accommodating the influx of stu
dents, the College of Liberal Arts has told the depart
ment to develop a solution for proposal to the
provost: a method of curtailing and limiting enroll
ment, the quick fix. This is not the first time such a
policy has been adopted, and there are reasons why
the College of Liberal Arts should not be so hasty.
For years, the College of Business has been dis
enfranchising Aggies by shutting its door and not
admitting students — students who would have
been otherwise qualified and accepted had they
chosen business as freshmen.
The University cites the fundamental laws of
The department is designed,
equipped and staffed to handle
450 students, less than half
the current enrollment.
supply and demand as it denies students admission
to the College of Business. But supply should meet
demand, and the College of Business should not
make a habit of turning its back on Aggies. Nor
should the College of Liberal Arts or the
Department of Journalism.
The College of Business and much of the
University have developed a sense of stature that has
become a self-propagating beacon of arrogance.
Although the College of Business rests comfortably
in its lavish and soon-to-be-expanded Taj Mahal, the
Department of Journalism occupies a dilapidated
building with an odor like that of a nursing home. It
is probably the only building on campus without a
first floor (no, really — it does not have one).
These are the symptoms of a case of misplaced
and poorly distributed resources. Granted, the saga
of Texas A&M is not a prince-and-pauper tale, but
the University should consider journalism the liber
al arts departments as part of the academic commu
nity instead of treating them like a diesel-mechanic
trade school.
A Vision 2020 imperative claims to focus on
enhancing the “letters and the arts,” and anyone
running the show will tell you that the three new
majors in the College of Liberal Arts are a step
toward that goal.
But those people are the ringmasters of a circus
hidden behind a facade of academia. There seems to
be no genuine concern for the well being of liberal
arts departments because their grads are not writing
donation checks like engineers and businessmen.
Times must change, and tough decisions must be
made. A shift in enrollment seems to frighten admin
istrators. But student attitudes and tastes are dynam
ic, conforming to an ever-changing job market.
Rather than curtailing enrollment, administrators
should do what is logical: shift resources instead.
Brady Creel is a junior
journalism and management major.
CARTOON OF THE DAY
OBITUARIES
Dough Boy was described as a roll
model for millions, who never
knew how much he was kneaded.
Piltsbury Dough Boy
found dead yesterday
after suffering a severe
yeast infection along
with complications from
repetitive pokes to the
belly area. Dough Boy's
funeral will be held at
3:50 for twenty minutes,
followed by eulogies
from his wife Play Dough,
and two children - John
Dough, and Jane Dough.
Dough Boy will be buried
in a tightly greased coffin.
Expected guests include:
Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry
Jack, the California
Raisins, Betty Crocker,
and possibly Captain
Crunch.
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