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or years, students have complained
about the steady decrease of the
Aggie Spirit. Campaigns have been
launched to keep alive even the simplest
traditions, such as saying “Howdy” and
staying off the MSC grass. The fact of the
matter is that students need some sort of
catalyst to stir what a psychologist might
refer to as strong school-oriented emotions
and a sense of belonging to something that
is bigger than themselves.
It’s easy to take pride in a university for
its football team, but ideally an Aggie should take pride in his
university for its heritage.
Bonfire was probably the greatest source of Aggie Spirit,
primarily because it was not the product of a single organiza
tion but of the entire student body. Almost every student had
some part in the construction of Bonfire but, since its col
lapse, there has been a severe loss of pride among Aggies.
Most schools feed off a different source of school spirit,
one that is typical of all universities: football. Naturally, after
A&M shut out the Cowboys and pounded the nationally-
ranked Tigers, it should come as no surprise when students
become friendlier and whooping becomes more rampant. One
might even expect the third deck to actually be filled at the
game against Kansas State this weekend.
In one of his weekly addresses to the University, Bill
Byrne mentioned that last year only 24,910 student sport
passes had been sold at the beginning of the fall semester.
This year only 20,810 had been sold, more than a 16 percent
drop. Not surprisingly, however, attendance at the past two
home football games increased from more than 69,000 to
more than 72,000.
As if their absence from games in the past were not enough,
some students have failed to pick up on some of the most im
portant Aggie traditions such as uncovering, yelling and mug
ging down. At least an increase in attendance will help spread
traditions that were once considered common knowledge.
“People up on third deck didn’t even seem to know all the
yells, and they weren’t freshmen,” said student Brette Hardi
son, a junior business major and dedicated football fan, “Ever
since we shut out Wyoming, everyone all of the sudden wants
to go to the games.”
The main problem with relying on vjj
the football team to settle A&M’s
pride issues is that eventually it will
lose and the student body will once
again begin to forget about the many
traditions that make this University
so different.
It should be no secret that a
team’s self-confidence can be eas
ily squelched by the pride of the
opposing team’s fans. According to
Aggieathletics.com, “A&M’s season
home attendance (set) consecutive
record-breaking seasons in 1999, 2000
and 2001,” but what makes (or made)
Kyle Field an intimidating football venue
is not so much the sheer size, but the
intense noise.
Students yelling at the top of their lungs 'I
make communication difficult for players,
but yelling takes more than a strong stom
ach, it requires heart.
One could probably refer to the increasing
trend in football attendance as a sort of pseudo
school spirit. Students who originally had no in
tention of wasting their Saturday at a football game
are jumping on the bandwagon now that they have a
team they can brag about. Unfortunately, there is no
substitute for the Twelfth Man spirit. That sort of spirit
requires total commitment, regardless of the football
team’s record.
Jim Foreman is a junior
mechanical engineering major.
Bush shouldn't bring up flip-flopping
JOHN DAVID
BLAKLEY
Columnist
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S o the Bush
campaign
wants to talk
about flip-flop
ping? Look at this
president’s record,
sprinkled with a va
riety of inconsistent
and contradictory
positions, statements
and policies. Presi
dent Bush calling
out John Kerry for
flip-flopping makes as much sense as
Fox News accusing CBS of having a
bias. It is a case of the pot calling the
kettle black.
While running for president. Bush
spoke frequently of his concern for the
protection of the environment, a topic
that polls well among voters across
the board. The Environmental Plan put
forth in his 2000 campaign declared
that if elected, “Gov. Bush will work to
establish mandatory reduction targets for
emissions of four main pollutants: sulfur
dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and
carbon dioxide.” Three years later, giv
ing in to the special interests of big busi
ness, Bush decided in a letter to Sen.
Chuck Hagel (R-NE), “I do not believe,
however, that the government should
impose on power plants mandatory emis
sions reductions for carbon dioxide.”
One of Bush’s more famous state
ments during the 2000 campaign came
when he stated, “If we don’t stop extend
ing our troops all around the world in
nation-building missions, then we’re
going to have a serious problem com
ing down the road.” If only President
Bush had taken the advice of Gov. Bush.
Three years later, on the eve of war.
Bush proclaimed, “We will be changing
the regime of Iraq, for the good of the
Iraqi people.”
Days later, former Gen. Barry Mc
Caffrey, who commanded U.S. troops in
the first Gulf War, told MSNBC that the
Army was being pushed to the break
ing point. “We’re running these people
ragged.” he said. Last month, Bush an
nounced his intentions of pulling troops
from South Korea while North Korea is
beginning to make nuclear weapons and
has shown a willingness to export them
to terrorists. Over-extension of troops
has the United States now pulling troops
from a nuclear threat to clean up a mess
made in a nation that never posed a dan
ger to the United States.
Gay marriage has become a hot topic
this election year, mostly due to Bush's
proposed federal amendment to ban gay
marriage. However, once again President
Bush and Gov. Bush have fundamental
differences of opinion. Gov. Bush be
lieved that gay marriage is a state issue,
telling Larry King in 2000 that when it
comes to marriage law, “The states can
do what they want to do.” But Presi
dent Bush, seeing a prime opportunity
to exploit another wedge issue to divide
Americans, called on Congress to pass
a constitutional amendment defining
marriage nationwide as a union between
If Bush wants to talk about
flip-flops from the past let the
discussion begin. However,
it may be more beneficial
to the American people,
and his reelection bid, if he
spends more time on the
campaign trail explaining
the two core issues of his
campaign...
a man and Woman. So much for Republi
cans championing states’ rights.
Just two months after he was elected,
Bush told the American people, “We’re
going to keep the promise of Social
Security and keep the government from
raiding the Social Security surplus.” The
Social Security surplus, like other budget
surpluses, had been achieved during
President Clinton’s eight years in office.
Less than one year later, the raiding on
Social Security began. Bush’s 2002
budget proposed using $1.4 trillion from
Social Security funds to pay for separate
programs through 2013, according to
The New York Times.
Most of the flip-flop rhetoric from
Bush aimed at Kerry has been related to
the invasion of Iraq. Ironically, he has
been flopping around on this issue like a
fish out of water since the day he misled
the United States into war. Perhaps his
memoirs will tell the American people
why he chose to invade Iraq, because his
statements do not paint a clear picture.
On Sept. 25, 2002, Bush asserted,
“You can't distinguish between al -Qaida
and Saddam when you talk about the war
on terror.” On Sept. 17, he changed his
mind, stating, “We’ve had no evidence
that Saddam Hussein was involved in
Sept. 11 (attacks).” As far as weapons
of mass destruction, the president’s main
selling point for the invasion of Iraq,
Bush could not have been any clearer
on their existence, telling the American
people two days before the invasion that
he had “no doubt that the Iraq regime
continues to possess and conceal some of
the most lethal weapons ever devised.”
In January, the administration finally
admitted what many suspected: There
_ were no weapons of mass destruction.
Bush’s weapons inspector David Kay
told the public, “It turns out we were
all wrong, probably, in my judgment.
And that is most disturbing.”
The instances stated above are just
the tip of the iceberg when it comes to
the president and flip-flops. In April,
Bush touted that the war on terror is
winnable. He changed his mind in
August, telling Matt Lauer that the
war cannot be won and, after receiv
ing flack for the switch, returned to his
original belief that the war is win
nable. After 9/11, Bush opposed the
idea of an independent 9/11 Commis
sion until September of the same year,
when the idea became popular among
the public. Widespread support for
the Department of Homeland Secu
rity swayed his opinion to support its
~ creation, as he openly denounced such
an institution in March 2002.
He pushed No Child Left Behind
through Congress and has failed to fully
fund the program.
Remember Bush stating he wanted
Osama bin Laden “dead or alive?” It
must have slipped his mind in a press
conference in early 2003, when he pro
fessed, “I don’t know where he is. You
know, I just don’t spend that much time
on him...I truly am not that concerned
about him.” All this without a 20-year
Senate record.
If Bush wants to talk about flip-flops
from the past, let the discussion begin.
However, it may be more beneficial to
the American people, and his reelec
tion bid, if he spends more time on the
campaign trail explaining the two core
issues of this campaign — dealing with
a floundering economy and rescuing Iraq
from ensuing chaos.
John David Blakley is a junior
political science major.
Page 9 • Monday, September 27, 2004
Pace Design • MATT RICNEY
s winning
Gracie Arenas • THE BATTALION
MAI CALL
Democracy takes time to establish
In response to Jonathan Smith's Sept. 24 column:
All people want today is instant results for everything. I remember
the feelings of anger and thirst to punish those responsible on 9/11,
and I still have those feelings. However, I am realistic to look at the
fact that the world is a big place with numerous places for Osama bin
Laden to hide. We will find him and the full might of American justice
will bear down upon him. We must give our forces time. The same is
true for a Iraq, it has taken a year to remove a dictator and set up an
independent government. Remember it took America three years to
win it’s independence and more than a decade for us to set up the
government we have now.
Democracy takes time, this country had deal with violent resistance
when it was first formed. New policies have gone into effect, new
agencies have been created, with the goals of protecting all Ameri
cans. They must be given time as well, granted they need to be quick
in order to intercept any other threats to our nation. It’s very easy to
criticize the guy in power because you don’t like his beliefs and go
looking for reasons to say he is a bad president. Give President Bush
a chance because he actually stood up and took a stand, unlike John
Kerry who jumps across the line every day.
Robby Mallory
Class of 2007
Having ‘plumbing’ doesn’t require use
In response to a Sept. 24 mail call:
Mr. Dwyer was correct in stating that premarital sex is “detrimental
to the physical, emotional, psychological health of individuals, espe
cially adolescents.” It is flat out a bad idea to engage in sexual activity
before marriage, especially as teens and young adults. Just because
the plumbing is in doesn’t mean the house is ready to occupy. Pre
marital sex rarely yields healthy, beneficial consequences for those
involved. And many people who have engaged in premarital sex often
wish that they hadn’t.
As to Ms. Kiser’s comment that premarital sex often takes place in
loving relationships, that’s sugary sweet, but how many loving relation
ships do people plan on having before marriage? And there are also
many people who don’t engage in sexual activity because they are
in loving relationships. However, Ms. Kiser does have a point in that
people do have the right to make the decision for themselves, and to
do that, they need to be informed about the consequences of each
option before them.
Elisa Janacek
Class of 2008
The Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters should be 200 words or
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reserves the right to edit letters for length, style and accuracy. Letters may be submit
ted in person at 014 Reed McDonald with a valid student ID. Letters also may be
mailed to: 015 Reed McDonald, 1111 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-1111. Fax:
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