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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2004)
Forum The Battalion Page 4B • Thursday, April 8, Diversity through an MAIL CALL If you don't like it, do something about it inclusive plurality In response to an April 7 mail call: War for diversity being fought on campus U niversity President Robert M. Gates penned a New York Times edito rial last week to elucidate higher education con cerns related to home land security inefficien cies. As one example given, major barriers to enrollment have devel oped for international students at universities in the United States and, as a consequence, foreign universities are now systematical ly seizing the recruiting high ground. Embedded within Gates’ argument is the necessity for America to “win the war of ideas” through education. This senti ment was applied to the world stage, yet the concept can be adapted to describe diversity-relat ed inefficiencies present at our University. Moreover, if the war for diversity at Texas A&M is to be won, all members of its com munity must work to establish an inclusive plurality. When we speak of wars, there are usually well-defined partici pants. Like the war on terror, the war for diversity has many unseen enemies. To counteract this uncer tainty, we must often seek out and address less-perceived threats with an assumption that a connec tion to the unseen exists. Events such as affirmative action bake JOSH PESCHEL sales and local political campaigns represent quies cent surface phenomena, hiding a much darker undercurrent, but it is the inaction and silence of oth ers that speaks volumes. The so-called “silent majority,” who support only a diversity of ideas, will undoubtedly find fail ure in the same manner as poorly carried out affirmative action pro grams; however, that does not mean merit should be sacrificed. We have simply not reached the point in our evolution as a society where equity abounds to support such a philosophy. Ignoring the idea that racial, gender or socioe conomic inequities exist does nothing more than perpetuate them. Protests of this idea are certainly constitutional, but that does not mean they possess any validity. Furthermore, though these protesters may not pull the trigger on unspeakable events, their dissemination of specious propaganda certainly loads the gun for other individuals. Religion, another form of diver sity, is a personal and cherished method of expression. Unfortunately, it too is misused in our community. Countless politi cal campaigns, ranging from stu dent leaders to district judges, attempt to sell religious affiliation. In many cases, supporters claim that their candidate is a Christian and thus, the superior choice. What astonishes me is their lack of insight into the implications of such a statement. How is this not a modern-day version of saying, “My candidate is white, therefore he is superior?” Elected leaders, and especially members of the judiciary, should never seek an advantage because of membership in a particular religious category. Otherwise, any complete notion of equality and fairness in their deci sion-making is lost. Race, gender and religion are a few battles being fought in the war for diversity on our campus, but there are others. Until the informal gatherings behind closed doors and the feelings in our hearts are free from dark-sided hypocrisy, we will be unable to win the war for diversity and ulti mately, provide an inclusive edu cational environment for all stu dents. Perhaps one day we will finally eradicate the sentiment “Highway 6 runs both ways” and instead proclaim, “All roads lead to Aggieland.” First and foremost, Michael Seely has every right to be disappointed by the lack of coverage on an Aggie soldier's death. This was undoubtedly a regrettable over sight and a story that warranted legiti mate coverage. However, Seely's disappointment turned into an attack of the entire jour nalism department at A&M and The Battalion staff. This is unfortunate, as such blanket statements are a detriment to the valid point Seely intended to make. Many A&M students take their "award-winning" newspaper for granted, not recognizing the exorbitant amount of work required to produce the publication each day. Certainly, the story in question deserved more coverage, a mistake The Battalion should somehow work to cor rect. On the other hand, perhaps the stu dents who complain about The Battalion on a regular basis should fill out an appli cation to join its staff. Maybe then, they could be part of the solution to the prob lems they perceive instead of simply pointing them out. new program that evening withfreefooj and one of the resident adv announced an upcoming meeting, none of the hall staff seemed surp by the alarm, I can only assumetha! knew about and supported such u the fire alarms. Please, if I have to endure that screeeJ ing noise while coming down fourfli^l of stairs, make sure it is for safety^ poses only and not some shortcut to publicity for the latest program. 1st David Hoeka iolcl1 Class ol® : VIP candidates musthavi already been admitted ocke< ioler In response to an April 7 mail cat Re finis plan ithdi ollec aferp chie\ Sh; lantli jaza Michael Crow Class of 2003 The alarm is working, but where's the fire? Josh Peschel is the p rest eien t of the Graduate Student Council I'm glad that my dorm has a fire alarm. In case of a fire, I am certain it will come in handy. I also endorse the fire drills that happen twice a semester, as I appreciate that they check to make sure the system is working and that residents know how to respond. However, what I do not appreciate is the blatant misuse of the alarms. When the alarm sounded in my dorm (Hart Hall) on Tuesday evening, I found that there was no fire drill, much less a fire. Instead, someone was announcing a Ms. Roberson, I must now add p the list of people who don't underste the VIP program. You write that it is a spt cial program that assists applicarts being admitted to Texas A&M Univerx Did you read the story in The BattJ] ents about the VIP program? The sew paragraph said: “The Very Importi" Prospect program caters to stute who have been admitted to i never had the opportunity to campus ..." Pay close attention to the words: ti been admitted.” Your very premise. Mi Roberson, is flawed, making the resid your argument erroneous. There is in chance of “ ... rejecting more applicants just because of their skinccti ...” because students who benefit tar the VIP program have already be’ admitted to Texas A&M. You then have the audacity to writefe President Gates has put usonthepaf to race-based admissions. How rife lous is that? Dr. Gates wastheonei decided last fall that the admission process at Texas A&M would be ta solely upon merit. Rabeat) fli Class ol 2d Career Opportunities in Biotechnology Join us for Career Conversations with BRUCE LEANDER President of Ambion “The RNA Company” Wednesday, April 14 @ 12 noon Koldus 110 ^■f^AREER Center htt p ://careercen ter. tamu ,ed u L—J Texas A&M University 209 Kokins 845-5139 With you every step of the my NATIONAL STORAGE iree' :10ns, fan a rover 'alest srael. 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