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THE BATTALION
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Thursday, January 24, 2002
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EDITORIAL
Bonfire Funds
FFERED Too LATE
mwsuits already underway
Blexas A&M University officials recently created a 50-year trust
■nd to help cover the long-term health care expenses of stu-
d nts injured in the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse'. This fund will
b* established using close to $500,000 in private money and
BsO.OOO from the Association of Former Students' Bonfire
Belief Fund. Money left over at the end of the trust fund's life
Bill be transferred to an endowed scholarship fund in memory
B the 12 students killed.
■ But some family members of the deceased are crying foul.
Bid rightfully so. Such a fund should have been set up two
Kars ago. Since the collapse, several injured Aggies have strug-
Bed to pay medical expenses. The report into the tragedy
Bund the university partially responsible, and A&M should not
ftve delayed its effort to ensure none of the injured are forced
to struggle just to meet their basic needs.
■The reason for the delay is the advice of A&M attorneys in
response to a lawsuit, the first of several, alleging that
University administrators shared responsibility. A&M President
Some family members of
the deceased are crying foul y and
rightfully so. Such a fund should
have been set up two years ago.
Hr. Ray Bowen said, "Once the lawsuits were filed, (the
la vyers) became more active in the decisions because these
d< cisions can impact litigation."
HTie creation of the trust fund is a positive, and necessary.
Hove for the families of the injured. But it is also too little, too
l$te. Sean Breen, the brother of Christopher Breen, one of the
12 Aggies killed in the Bonfire collapse, told The Battalion the
trust fund "is a step in the right direction, but the University has
H^ny more steps to take because they took so many steps in
t|e wrong direction for the first two years."
■Texas A&M has taken too long to formally establish a means
to compensate for medical expenses, and all because of the
fiear of litigation. Now that partial responsibility has been estab
lished, the trust fund is a positive step. Unfortunately for the
families of the injured, especially those who have struggled to
ptiy expensive medical bills, it is also too little, too late.
THE BATTALION
wuaging Editor
Opinion Editor
News Editor
News Editor
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor in Chief MARIANO CASTILLO
Melissa Bedsole
Jonathan Jones
5ALEI
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- —reserves the right to edit letters for length, style and 'accuracy. Letters may be submit-
— FphniarvJ ted 1,1 P erson at 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
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Not a political issue
Enron investigation should focus on employees
THOMAS CAMPBELL
I n the
wake of
Enron’s
collapse
late last
year, there
has been much ado about nothing over
Enron’s political contributions.
For years Enron and its employees
were top political contributors to a large
number of campaigns. Enron’s money
was received by many candidates includ
ing both presidential candidates and
seven of the nine Texas Supreme Court
justices. Enron’s political influence seems
far reaching, but that influence did noth
ing to prevent it’s collapse.
The investigations of Enron’s possible
wrongdoing should concentrate on audit
ing firm Arthur Andersen LLP and
Enron’s top executives, not on political
contributions. The real victims are those
who lost their retirement funds and 401k
Their political influence
seems far reaching but that
influence did nothing to
prevent collapse.
plans because of the stock’s drop from
more than $80 a share in February to 67
cents on Jan. 10, the last day it was traded
on the New York Stock Exchange.
According to the Federal Election
Commission, Enron gave money to both
Democrats and Republicans, concentrat
ing on commerce and energy committees.
These politicians had no way of knowing
Enron’s business practices or hidden debt.
If the stockholders and the company
employees did not realize what was hap
pening within their own company, the
Senate and House of Representatives had
no way of knowing.
Because of the appearance of impro
priety, Enron could have been involved
with illegal campaign contributions. If
that is the case, then it will come out in
time. Right now, the committees looking
into Enron’s collapse need to concentrate
on the more than 4,000 people who are
jobless and may go bankrupt themselves,
because they were not allowed to pull
their money out of the company’s 401k
when the stock dropped. Houston already
had a job market flooded with
Continental’s and Compaq’s recent lay
offs, so these 4,000 men and women
looking for jobs to feed their families are
a heavy burden on the Houston economy.
These people need to be taken care of
before the investigative eye is turned
toward politicians.
Today’s media often looks toward the
sensational story rather than the one of
immediate importance, looking to break
the next public scandal. The story now is
if there were wrongdoings between Enron
Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lay and
the politicians who accepted money from
Enron. Instead, the people who have lost
their money should be the focus.
Enron’s collapse from the seventh
largest company in America into bank
ruptcy is a debacle on the grandest of
scales. It has affected thousands and will
continue to for some time. Those people
need to be taken care of before the inves
tigation continues to look for political
improprieties.
Thomas Campbell is a senior
agricultural journalism major.
FRANK CHANCE • THE BATTALION
Life, liberty and the pursuit of tattoo removal?
A fter petitioning the
Justice Department
for funds. Senator
Lois Capps (D-Cal) has
expanded the “Liberty Tattoo
rm##
MATTHEW MADDOX
Removal Program” of San
Luis Obispo County. The
program will operate in part
on $50,000 in federal monies
that every U.S. taxpayer
pays. This is a sad use for
the word “Liberty” and
shows just how out of control
the idea of entitlement has
gone.
The free service will be
aimed at the unemployed and
former gang members. The
procedure uses a laser to
break up the ink within the
skin until it is dissolvable by
the body. Eligible persons
must have tattoos that “inter
fere with their daily lives” and
must promise not to get any
other tattoos. In addition,
applicants must complete 16
hours of community service, a
punishment usually reserved
for convicted law breakers,
not people who have exercised
their right to free speech in
getting a tattoo. Senator
Capps justifies the federal
spending by stating that per
sons with tattoos are often dis
criminated against in job hir
ing and promoting situations.
She may be right.
Many employers will not
hire applicants to positions
that interact with their cus
tomers if the applicant has
visible tattoos. Even worse,
people are gawked at, even
ridiculed for their sometimes
offensive body art. Studies
have also shown who men
prefer to hire women with
larger breasts, and discrimi
nate against those that do not
possess them. Should women
with small breasts be entitled
to free breast enlargement to
better their chances of being
hired? Taxpayers should not
foot the bill when John Q. Ex
thug decides the flaming
swastika on his elbow was a
mistake.
Once he has taken on the
responsibility to pay for a tat
too, he has taken on the
responsibility to pay for the
consequences, whether they
are social or financial. Former
gang members should not
have the most visible
reminder of their violent past
erased by the government.
Recovering hardened crimi
nals need pennanent
reminders, not just memories
as to what their lives had been
like with crime.
The idea of tattoo removal
at taxpayer expense has been
exported beyond California to
numerous U.S. cities and even
to Canada. Last summer,
Manitoba’s (Canada) Attorney
General Gord Mackintosh
refused to introduce such a
program in his jurisdiction.
“We’re not going to prioritize
cosmetic surgery at taxpayer
expense,” Mackintosh said.
“Why should the public pay to
remove a tattoo the person
paid to put on? I have a real
problem with that, in general.”
Dressing up the name of
the program with the term
“Liberty” is one of the great
est misnomers of all time. It
is enough to make the
Founding Fathers and every
soldier that has died since
then spin in their graves.
These programs need to be
curtailed before any reason
that makes one person differ
ent from another that causes
social discomfort is changed
to the “norm” by the federal
government. It is logical to
say that if this trend contin
ues, there will be federal pro
grams for subsidizing plastic
surgery, hair styling, even
wardrobe changes.
Some wise advice to those
considering potentially offen
sive tattoos — stick with tem
poraries.
Matthew Maddox is a sophomore
business administration major.
ore Mideast courses should be offered at A&M to broaden students views
AVAILABLE WA.C.
5FUTONCO.COM
J 12-5 • CASH-VISA-''
ith a student enroll
ment of around
45,000 students,
xas A&M University
[enis to embody all the
mponents of a world-class
hversity, with students from
pross the United States and around the
rid. Ranked as the fifth largest uni-
sity in the United States according
the Office of University Relations, it
ironic that one of the areas in which
&M is greatly lacking is diversity, as
:en in the variety of classes, or rather.
RUBY LEE
the lack thereof.
With the classes
offered in history,
sociology, interna
tional studies and
religious studies, it is
hard to find a class
about the Middle East. While there are
some classes on eastern religions,
there are far more on Christianity and
the Bible. According to the Religious
Identity Survey of 2001, Islam is the
third largest organized religion in the
United States. This should spark ini
tiative by the administration to expand
mideastern religious courses.
As a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks, student interest in the Middle
East has increased dramatically, shown
by requests for classes covering those
areas. However, students must be con
tent with individual research if they
wish to learn more about these foreign
places — as those few courses cannot
accommodate all interested students.
Students are going to feel the
repercussions of world events in a
way that no previous generation has.
For students to be adequately pre
pared to enter such a world, it is
imperative for them to have a basic
knowledge of the history and culture
of different countries.
Texas A&M must make an effort
to expand the curriculum for a varied
course selection. To compete with
graduates from across the nation,
A&M students need to obtain more
from their college education than the
ability to recite the dates of the Civil
War. To reach Vision 2020, A&M
will have to expand, especially in the
area of liberal arts.
How can A&M be ranked in the top
10 public schools if the majority of the
history and sociology courses are
important only to Texans? A lot has
already been accomplished, but more
needs to come. Vision 2020 requires
the praise of the United States, and not
just Texas. To achieve this, it is neces
sary for A&M to start paying attention
to the rest of the world.
Ruby Lee is a sophomore
computer science major.