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EDITORIAL
Born, Not Made
It is well known in Texas and across the nation that Aggies
value their traditions. In fact, "tradition" is probably the word
most associated with Texas A&M. There has been much debate
in recent years about what this word means and if a given event
or object should enjoy the privilege of having this word
bestowed on it. Unfortunately, the word "tradition" seems to
have become a marketing tool for various campus interests, an
increasingly meaningless phrase used to attract attention and
make people feel good.
True traditions grow over time and evolve in unknown direc
tions. This is how Reveille and Aggie Bonfire came about. Almost
a century ago, these two well-known symbols of contemporary
Aggieland began without any formal planning. Over time they
became something meaningful because of student interest.
Today, such an evolution is difficult, if not impossible, to find. A
common slogan for new organizations or events is something like
"the newest Aggie tradition." As the word "tradition" gets thrown
around more and more, it must be remembered that many of
A&M's dearest and oldest traditions are still part of the campus.
There is much to be proud of at this University. The Corps of
Cadets is a visible part of A&M, Silver Taps commemorates fellow
students, and Muster is a reminder of the camaraderie that is
A&M's greatest, most enduring tradition. This event also began
| small and gained support over time based on its merits. This is
part of the reason why Muster is so meaningful each year in
College Station and around the world. Respecting our past and
1 those who came before us is proper and necessary. It also cannot
be forced. The seeds for the next great Aggie tradition do exist in
the student body. Like those before it, it will be an evolving
process, and student and other leaders should not burden them
selves to create a "new tradition." This will happen on its own.
Aggies need to take things one step at a time — focus on what
the right thing for the near future is, and time will mold the rest.
THE BATTALION
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor in Chief \ Mariano CASTILLO
Managing Editor
Opinion Editor
News Editor
News Editor
Brian Ruff
Cayla Carr
Sommer Bunce
Brandie Liffick
Member
Member
Member
Member
Melissa Bedsole
Jonathan Jones
Jennifer Lozano
Kelln Zimmer
The Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters must be 200 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 accuracy. Letters may be submitted in per
son at 014 Reed McDonald with a valid student ID. Letters also may be mailed to: 014
Reed McDonald, MS 1111, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-1111. Fax:
(979) 845-2647 Email: mailcall@thebatt.com
MAIL CALL
MP
(ices.
ts like
jiving
n
nee,
illas,
Academic integrity
has been wasted
In response to the April 16
editorial:
Recently while visiting the cam
pus, l walked by my old corp
dorm room and visited the MSC.
J was glad to see words like
honor" and "integrity" around
the campus. That's the way I
femember Texas A&M.
Then I read in The Battalion the
editorial "For Academic Integrity,"
an d learned about plagiarism
an d scientific misconduct by a
tenured professor.
Even though the president and
ehief academic officer agree with
the findings of an investigation
concerning the professor's guilt,
Resident Bowen has decided
that plagiarism and scientific
conduct do not merit dismissal.
What has become of the ideal
that we will neither cheat nor
tolerate among us those who
do? Would Bowen agree to be
0 Perated on by a surgeon who
Ptagiarized her way through
Medical school? Would he board
flight piloted by a captain who
P^giarized his flight examina
tions? Would you?
^Sgies, it's time to reverse this
outrage. Students caught plagia-
^ z ' n g face severe sanctions. Texas
must never acquiesce in pla-
§ la rism and scientific misconduct
V its professors. It's time for
Aggies to join The Battalion and
demand a return to integrity at
Texas A&M. Both the president
and the professor must go.
Forrest M. Mims III
Class of 1966
Women should
respect themselves
I would like to say a few
words to the women of Texas
A&M who support Playboy mag
azine coming to our campus.
You are each unique individuals
and an irreplaceable part of our
community.
By posing for anyone who will
view your unique body as a
mere object for sensual pleas
ure and not as a part of the
unique individual you are, you
allow others to dehumanize you
and turn you into a repro
ducible piece of matter.
I know that that each of you
are working very hard at Texas
A&M to better yourself and pre
vent your gender from becom
ing the inferior gender. If you
will think about it, you will real
ize that men will never respect
you for the truly unique and
invaluable individual that you
are as long as you allow them
to rip your individualism apart
for the sake of their personal
pleasure.
Ryan Huseman
Class of 2002
THE BATTALION
11
Wednesday, April 24, 2002
Crooked men of God
TV evangelical personalities are notorious for scamming
G
GEORGE DEUTSCH
od must be disappointed. In the past year, America has
witnessed pedophiles posing as priests, pastors behaving
like bigots and members of
the religious Rite looking anything
but right and religious. Gone are
the days of the moral majority.
Crooked “men of God” plague
this country, and since the advent
of television, certain televangelists
have exploited the weaknesses of others and cashed in on their
pain by putting a price on God’s blessings.
Though some, like Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart, have
fallen from grace, others continue to “preach” and thrive by
playing off of people’s fears. One such man, the “Reverend”
Benny Hinn, is currently under scrutiny from the media, and
rightfully so.
Hinn, it seems, is the new Bakker. With his bleached-white
suit and neatly coiffed hair, he stands behind an ornate, clear
glass pulpit and offers forgiveness for money. While this might
not be a bad deal, it conflicts with all things Christian.
Hinn is the same man who places his hand on people’s heads
during services, resulting in them falling lifelessly to the floor
under his power. This is not the work of God, but a crowd con
trol technique, akin to hypnotism, called mesmerism.
Critics note that “healings” like Hinn’s often have bad con
sequences. Some people, foolhardy as they may be,
have abandoned their treatments as a result of
these claims and succumbed to their illnesses.
Certainly, this is not God’s intention. If
there was any justice in this world, this
would be prosecuted as malpractice.
On one of his most recent Trinity
Broadcasting Network services, Hinn
stared into the camera and called out to
an overweight man who claimed God
told him to resist Hinn’s attempts at
solicitation. “If you will come back and
make that (monetary) pledge,” he said,
“God will heal your heart tonight.” So,
anyone who wants spiritual healing need
only send his or her money to Hinn, who
will see to it that it gets to God.
Not a pastor, Hinn is a “faith healer.”
He quaintly calls his broadcasts “healing
services.” Currently, he is not a member
of the Christian financial integrity
council called the
Evangelical
Council on
Financial
Accountability.
The Associated
Press calls this
group “a sort
of Christian
Better
Business
Bureau.”
Among his
other faults, Hinn
is like a second-rate
Nostradamus, repeatedly
making predictions that fall flat. He
spreads these inaccuracies on national
TV to people who swallow them whole.
He once said that women were
meant to have children out of their
sides, and years ago, he announced
that God told him the world would end
in 1999. Either God erred here, or
Hinn did.
All of this is bad, but it is Hinn’s shameless solicitation that
makes him a social predator. “The Lord spoke to me in a power
ful way,” he said during one healing service. “He told me to
raise Him up an army of prayer.” For a small gift of $25, $50 or
more, anyone can join this prayer army. To legitimize this
request, Hinn offers two books for any gift amount over $25, but
only if the correct box is checked.
Admittedly, people are responsible for their money and
whom they send it to. But when money is taken in the name of
religion and expectations are not met, someone should be held
lawfully accountable.
Consider Hinn’s $30 million theme park that he has been col
lecting funds for since 1999, the same year he said the world
would end. It is to be built in Irving, Texas, yet an Irving zoning
department spokesperson said no plans have been submitted. For
a mere $150,000, anyone can have their name put on a corner
stone of the People’s Cathedral of this never-to-be-built park
Hinn calls his Healing Gardens.
Hinn is not the only one to abuse the system, though. There
are others, like Jerry Falwell, who choose to exploit the tax-free
advantage the church affords. Project Fair Play reported Falwell
to the IRS after he endorsed Mark Farley for Virginia Attorney
General. A church cannot reasonably be non-profit while
endorsing political candidates.
Surely, Falwell has his hands full by furthering his own polit
ical agenda. Anyone unfortunate enough to tune him in has
heard his message of anti-Semitism. He claims the
Antichrist will be a Jewish man who is probably
alive right now. A bigot like this should not be
given a voice on any Christian TV network.
These evangelists love to attack abortion, homo
sexuality and frugality, which can all understand
ably be classified as sins. But greed and lying
are similarly sinful, and it is time televangelists
regained this country’s faith.
George Deutsch is a junior
journalism major.
ADRIAN CALCANEO* THE BATTALION
Affairs of politicians are private
MELISSA FRIED
S ince 1999, Swiss Ambassador
Thomas Borer-Fielding and his
former Miss Texas wife have not
only hit it big in the German political
scene, but have made themselves a card-
carrying member of the hip and swing
ing Berlin night life. The Swiss hated
the couple for tarnishing their country’s
refined image, and the Germans loved
them for leading them to believe that the
Swiss were indeed more than boring and
bureaucratic.
Unfortunately, it looks as though
Ambassador Borer-Fielding and his wife
will be doing more packing than party
ing as they prepare to move from Berlin,
the capital of Germany, back to
Switzerland this April.
Borer-Fielding, once Switzerland’s
golden boy of politics, has been under
heavy fire from the German and Swiss
media to spill details concerning an
alleged affair with a perfume sales
women who was photographed leaving
the Swiss Embassy during the early
hours of the morning, that is, while
Fielding’s wife was away. Swiss offi
cials are now using this scandal as lever
age to finally oust this perpetual thorn
from their side and replace Borer-
Fielding with a quieter and less ostenta
tious representative. So much for the
Swiss being more than boring and
bureaucratic.
Given that extramarital affairs are a
universal no-no, Borer-Fielding’s personal
life should not have played a role in his
dismissal from public office. Swiss
Foreign Minister Joseph Deiss assured the
public that his dismissal was not based
upon the reports of the alleged affair, but
solely on his inability “to represent
Switzerland with dignity and composure.”
Borer-Fielding’s political record is out
standing as he went from a nobody to
someone of international acclaim after
heading Switzerland’s World War II Truth
Borer-Fielding's personal
life should not have played
a role in his dismissal
from public office.
Campaign in 1996. He was named
ambassador in 1999 and has since ful
filled all of the duties and obligations
required of him. While his flamboyance
has irritated his Swiss colleagues, it has
gained him the respect and admiration of
some of Germany’s high-ranking politi
cians. In other words, it had everything
to do with the affair.
Compared to Sen. Gary Condit, Borer-
Fielding had a better chance of talking
his way out of the mess he created or did
not create, depending on what one
believes. After Chandra Levy, an intern,
was missing, Condit came forth and
admitted that he had had an affair with
the intern. He did not use flashy distrac
tion tactics, and if Chandra Levy had not
disappeared, perhaps he would not have
lost his political clout and might have
been forgiven by his constituents for
coming clean about the issue.
Funny thing is, Borer-Fielding had the
chance, the option even, to set things right
in Bern and Berlin and scorned the
chance to do both. In fact, Borer-Fielding
refused to hurry home from a vacation on
the French island of Mauritius to confer
with Deiss about how to resolve the prob
lem. That is sloppy politics. As a diplo
mat, Borer-Fielding should have realized
an urgent public relations problem when
he saw it and sought after the necessary
actions to correct the situation.
Politicians always complain that their per
sonal lives should not affect their public
lives, and Borer-Fielding could have used
this opportunity to criticize the Swiss
government for failing to separate public
and private life.
The world of politics is complicated
and has seen the rise and fall of many
great leaders. Borer-Fielding, as brash as
he is, was on his way to the political top.
His sex life aside, there was no reason for
this scandal to call into question his ability
to effectively carry out his responsibilities
as a Swiss ambassador. The future of poli
tics must not focus on what is taking place
in bed, but rather in the office. After all,
that is where the “real work” is done.
Melissa Fried is a freshman
international studies major.