Page 2/The Battalion/Tuesday, May 31, 1983
Drunk drivers kill real people
You hear about drunk drivers killing
people in car accidents. Your reaction
may be, “Yeah, drunks should get stiffer
penalties.” Or, “Accidents like that are
tragic.”
But you always think that it only hap
pens to other people.
I always thought that way until the
phone rang at 3 a.m. one morning dur
ing finals.
rebeca
zimmermann
Safety also attribute public awareness for
a statewide rise in drunken driving
arrests in 1982.
This awareness was responsible for the
change in DWI laws. State legislators fol
lowed public awareness and sentiment
and changed some laws.
But laws and police officers can’t do it
all. Even more awareness is needed.
My roommate’s father had been killed
in a hit-and-run accident. Her father and
mother were walking across a street when
a driver decided to run a red light. The
driver was caught — and he was drunk.
T hat drunk driver not only killed her
£ father; two weeks later her mother died
• as the result of injuries from the same
" accident.
Another proposal that was discussed
in the state senate involved banning open
containers of alcohol in moving vehicles.
But state legislators killed this bill. Does
that mean drinking and driving are OK?
No family should have to go through
that kind of pain, but one drunk driver is
all it takes to shatter the lives of an entire
family.
Unless something is done about drunk
driving, more will die tragically, sense
lessly and needlessly.
Some things are being done. Many
proposals aimed at reducing fatalities
from drunk driving have been discussed.
One law has been passed to tighten
penalties for driving-while-intoxicated
violations.
Raising the drinking age is always a
la
prime target when drunken driving laws
are discussed. When the drinking age
was raised to 19 two years ago, the new
law supposedly was to keep liquor out of
the hands of high school seniors. But that
isn’t the answer. Ask any high school
senior. Booze still is available — you just
have to look a little harder.
As state Sen. Bill Sarpalius, D-Canyon,
said: “It doesn’t make sense to tell the
people that everybody in the state wants
to get serious about drunk driving and to
pass a strong DWI bill, but then turn
around and tell them it’s still legal to
drink and drive.”
The legislators also worked on and
passed a bill to stiffen DWI penalties.
This comprehensive DWI bill is a great
improvement over current laws. It closes
many loopholes in the existing laws. Too
many times guilty parties get suspended
sentences or deferred adjudication — the
conviction is wiped from an offender’s
record after successful completion of a
probation term.
Tightening laws will help, but maybe
awareness is the answer.
Already, efforts by Mothers Against
Drunk Driving and other groups to in
crease public awareness of drunken driv
ing and its hazards seem to have paid off.
College Station and Bryan police offi
cials credit an increase in local drunken
driving arrests to public awareness. Offi
cials at the Texas Department of Public
New York police who set up roadb
locks during Memorial Day weekend
may have the right idea. While checking
drivers to make sure no one was driving
while drunk, they passed out leaflets
warning of the dangers of drinking while
driving.
Maybe something more drastic is
needed. One Houston family provided a
possible solution Sunday. They erected a
cross marking the highway site where
their son was killed by a drunk driver.
Seeing dozens and dozens of crosses
marking sites where people were killed
by drunk drivers might raise a few goose-
bumps and make people think before
they drink and drive.
' If vivid reminders such as roadside
crosses are needed to make people aware
of the dangers, then put crosses along the
highways.
So, the next time you get into your car
after a party, stop. Think about adding
crosses to the roadside. If you even think
you may have had too much to drink, let
someone else drive.
With the start of summer school — and
the start of the requisite summer par
tying and drinking — it’s time for Aggies
to lead the way and avoid driving after
drinking.
Otherwise, the next late night phone
call may be for you.
LORP,„ THE COURT
Hf\S TAKEN AWAY
OUR ALL-WHITE ,
CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
TAX EXEMPT STATUS
WHAT SHOULD WE PO •?,
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© '983 by NEA. i n c
Letters: Heath chastised
Editor:
Enclosed is a copy of an article which
appeared in last Saturday’s edition of our
local newspaper. Several things about the
article stirred my interest, not the least of
which was the caliber of individuals who
are attracted to the University. The
names of Mr. Ford, Mr. Heath and Mr.
Schmidt confirm that Texas A&M has
achieved not only national recognition,
but international as well. It is my belief
that this prominence has been attained
not in spite of rules and traditions of the
past, but because of them.
The article implies that University
officials are somewhat embarrassed at
the retention of rules from days gone by.
I truly hope this is not the case. My chil
dren would like to have the opportunity
to attend a university which is exception
al rather than normal. Having inter
viewed college graduates from a number
of public and private colleges, I have
found today’s average university turns
out illiterate, incompetent, self-centered,
immature kids. The young man or lady
attending Texas A&M is there for one
main purpose, to achieve a level of educa
tion which can not be bettered. The aboli
tion of rules which make Texas A&M
different and have helped it to achieve
prominence cannot serve to make it bet
ter even though “times have changed.”
I submit that the only person who
should be embarrassed about the activi
ties described in the subject article is Mr.
Heath. It is his problem if he cannot
observe the rules of an institution he
visits and his problem if he cannot sur
vive a few hours without a shot.
Please spare no effort to keep Texas
A&M different from all the average uni
versities. There are still thousands of
young people in this country who will
choose to be Aggies because of our rules
and not in spite of them.
Michael L. Laird ’71
Raise own Nobels
Editor:
Congratulations Dr. F. Albert Cotton
for your receipt of the National Medal of
Science. This is an excellent recognition
for you, the Chemistry Department, and
Texas A&M University. I hope that this
proves to the administration that we have
good scientists already here at Texas
A&M who, with a little support, can
achieve national and international recog
nition and need not bring in those who
already have it.
Steven E. Newman
graduate student
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___ Rape
‘Computer State’ life
less than wonderful
Se
cr
by Maxwell Glen
and Cody Shearer
WASHINGTON — Nearly 20 years
ago, a college professor developed a
program to enable computers to chat
with human beings. Joseph Weizenbaum
of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech
nology dubbed the program “Eliza,” af
ter the heroine in Bernard Shaw’s play,
“Pygmalion.”
Computers that perform intel
chores do more than process data!
can, in fact, draw conclusions. Inf
terview, the authors suggested thi
“artificial intelligence” programs L
help computers to replace thehous|^ )I,lrr
handyman, the financial consuls
the teacher.
fashu
Like a latter-day Sigmund Freud, Eliza
rith
plied its partners with questions such as
“How are you feeling?” and “What about
your childhood?” That a machine could
be made to converse with humans was
startling enough, but Weizenbaum
noticed that many of Eliza’s “patients”
preferred “her” to the real thing.
Weizenbaum was chilled by such en
thusiasm. But he would later write: “The
real contest is between those who think
(the computer) can do anything and
those who think there should be limits on
what it ought to do.”
If anything, McCorduck andFfj
baum worry that U.S. computer]
like IBM trail their Japanese
parts in research and development]
fifth generation of computers. I
“The world is entering a new C3
they wrote. “The wealth of nationsi
depended upon land, labor andc
during its agricultural and indii
phases ... will come in the futurei
pend on information, knowledgear
telligence.”
Two decades later, the tug-of-war is
well underway. Americans now live
essentially computer-aided lives, with
machines to assist in working, cooking,
commuting and shopping. Within 10
years, according to Edward Feigenbaum
and Pamela McCorduck, authors of “The
Fifth Generation,” computers will
routinely aid Americans in thinking and
reasoning as well.
Yet, in David Burnham’s view,
computer-generated wealth come!
drawbacks. In his new book, “The!
the Computer State,” Burnhamoi
how the computers of large compai
well as governments already arei
mining personal liberty.
He explains how private data
stockpile information on the fin! Mests
he w;
O
Yanking from the opposite direction
is, among other people, David Burnham,
a New York Times reporter who believes
that Americans are losing both privacy
and autonomy to enormous machines
which collect data about nearly every
aspect of their lives.
The attention American citizens and
policy-makers pay to each of these views
may determine the quality of life for
years to come.
“Fifth Generation’s” Feigenbaum and
McCorduck, who monitored the de
velopment of “reasoning machines” for
the last 25 years, aren’t intimidated by the
prospect of machines that think for
themselves. The authors contend that
“expert” computers already tackle many
problems more efficiently than the hu
man brain. These machines are diagnos
ing health problems in hospitals, deter
mining drilling sites for oil exploration
firms and designing buildings for
architects.
;er z
durir
•den ]
medical histories, friends, travel
political opinions of most privatecii
So extensive is the computerized!
on Americans that politicians can
target direct mail appeals down tot!
Volvo owner. \
Meanwhile, telephone and ins® Hayt
industries not only can exchange
with alarming nonchalance, butan
pending their collection capacities! r m j s j
frightening, the proprietor of onet f orrn
world’s largest computers, the Nal
Security Agency, spies on everyone
Yuri Andropov to the first family- than
of congressional oversight.
Whether the supercomputer o ■;A , )g(
will be leashed is unclear. The comp
ization of American life is noil
slow down for 10 years, when son*
computer science will peak: In a |
the subtle evolution in technolojf
make life in 1975 seem primitives
parison. The obsession with
advancing systems could cloud the
for discretion.
Unfortunately, by the timewes®
the answer, the fifth generation ffi‘
upon us.
The Battalion
for students in reporting, editing an
ses within the Department of Communication!
Questions or comments concerning anf ^
matter should be directed to the editor.
o
rish
such
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