Page 2/The Battalion/Friday, April 11, 1986
Opinion
Buck passing
The Board of Regents refused to grant an audience with
Students Against Apartheid to discuss divestment of Texas
A&M’s holdings in South Africa. This shows a sickening lack of
regard for the effects of the University’s money on human life.
Board Chairman David Eller, in a Jan. 14 letter to Chan
cellor Arthur G. Hansen, said it’s not the board’s responsibilty to
make moral decisions. Eller’s statement is itself a moral decision
— money before morality, apathy over action.
A&M has about $3 million invested in companies that have
dealings with South Africa — a miniscule amount when com
pared to other schools such as the University of Texas, which
has $772.6 million invested. Board Executive Secretary Bill Pre-
snal says the board has a responsibility to maximize its invest
ments and that, although divestment of funds is within the
board’s jurisdiction, divesting strictly on a moral basis would go
against legislative policy.
But a moral statement is exactly what A&M needs.
We need to let South Africa know that we won’t allow our in
vestments, no matter how small, to help support government-
sponsored racism. We need to show the world that we don’t con
done a government’s disregard for human rights.
The board’s stance on divestment as moral statement sounds
legitimate. It’s much easier to push the responsibility onto the
back of the Texas Legislature than to deal with it here.
But the University has made moral statements in the past.
When the Gay Student Services sued for recognition, the Uni
versity defended itself by saying the group would not be “consis
tent with the philosophy and goals that have been developed for
the creation and existence of Texas A&M University.”
The same phrase could be tacked on to a statement about
University investments in South Africa. Instead, the regents
seem more concerned with how much money we can make on
our investments. They’d rather leave moral decisions such as di
vestment to the Legislature.
It’s time for those in charge to take some responsibility for
the University’s money. It’s time to stop passing the buck, be it to
the Legislature or to South Africa.
The Battalion Editorial Board
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Legalizing Compound 1080
poses threat to man, animals
acto
We are now begin
ning the celebration
of our state’s 150th
birthday. If a large
number of citizens
Chris P.
Carter
Guest Columnist
don’t act now, it may also be the begin
ning of the end of a clean, healthy envi
ronment in Texas.
this poison is its secondary poisoning ef
fects. Tissue of the victims is also poi
sonous to scavenger animals feeding on
the carcasses. People who have handled
these carcasses or their vomit also have
been poisoned. There is no known anti
dote.
Seat belt laws, like
cartoons, are a joke
It is Saturday
morning all across
America — car
toon time for a
trillion or so kids.
At the moment,
they are watching
the “Mr. T” show,
which is sort of a
cartoon of a car
toon, but never
mind. There’s the
Richard
Cohen
famous Mr. T in his equally famous van
and — hold it a second, kids — what’s
that across his chest? It’s a sash. It’s a
bandolier. No, it’s a seat belt!
The federal government has seen to
that. Under a compromise announced
by Department of Transportation Sec
retary Elizabeth Dole, auto manufactur
ers will not be required to install air bags
if, by 1990, two-thirds of the U.S. pop
ulation is covered by mandatory seat-
belt laws. One by one, the states have
compliantly fallen into line. Just this
month Maryland became the 23rd state
to sign up for the Liddy Dole Good Sh-
nook award, passing a mandatory seat-
belt law just as Dole and the auto indus
try want.
In 1972, President Nixon, by exec
utive order, banned the use of the
highly dangerous poison Compound
1080 (sodium monofluoroacetate) on
federal lands and in all predator-control
programs. However, bowing to political
pressure, the Reagan administration re
voked the executive order and re-regis
tered the deadly poison for use in indi
vidual states. The Texas Department of
Agriculture now wants to reinstate this
predator-control poison in the form of
toxic collars placed on goats and sheep.
This is nothing short of insanity. If
this is allowed to happen, it will soon be
legal to defile our Texas soil, our ani
mals and ourselves with one of the most
deadly and harmful of all poisons imag
inable — and all in the name of a few
sheep and goat raisers who have other
alternatives.
Prior to the 1972 ban, black bears,
bobcats, raccoons, golden eagles and do
mestic dogs and cats were found to be
poisoned by the compound. Agents of
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Ani
mal Damage Control Program were dis
couraged from reporting the deaths be
cause of the political controversy over
the issue.
children love to touch and putw
thing into their mouths. Is it so
fetched to see the potential for kids
ting hold of this lethal substance?
There are many alternatives to
tect our goats and sheep from pis
tors. The use of guard dogs, not
taste-deterrent baits such as litiflEastwood
chloride, livestock pens at nigli
grazing herds away from the
range have proven to be methods ^ SI j eioS |
are highly effective in controllingp
ators and do not cause a threattoi g r0 wth tl
target specie
included.
our pets andci
SAN A
ntonio
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and Cisnc
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In th<
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which wa
Yes, a seat belt. And right ahead of
Mr. T’s van (or maybe it’s behind; I’m
not really paying attention) is the bad
guys’ car. They are mean-looking with
appropriately mean, unshaven, faces.
They snarl. They growl. But lo! What is
that across their snarly and growly
chests. Yes! Once again, it’s a seat belt.
Oh, golly gee kids, do you get the les
son? Do you understand what, almost
subliminally and very cleverly, you are
being told? Buckle up. At least that’s
what it seems at first blush. And a good
lesson it is, too. It could save your life
and protect your face from going
through the mean windshield. But wait,
kids. Maybe you also are being told that,
perish the thought, if you go through
the windshield, it is, as we adults say,
your own damned fault. You should
have buckled up.
Dole’s compromise has put the states
in a real quandry. Seat belts sometimes
save lives; in a head-on collision, air bags
almost always do. By choosing the for
mer, the states all but rule out the latter.
But worse than that, the Dole rule re
vives the pernicious notion that we are
always the captain of our own ship. This
was the advertising dogma of the auto
industry in its irresponsible pre-Nader
era: Safe driving was YOUR responsibi
lity and any accident was either your —
or the other guy’s — fault.
As a veterinarian, my husband knows
what Compound 1080 can do to an ani
mal. It is odorless and tasteless and
looks like powdered sugar. So lethal is
this poison that a single teaspoon can
kill 100 adult tnen. Twenty-five percent
of 1/500 ounce is enough to kill a 35-
pound child. The time required to kill
an animal or person can run two to 12
hours, while the victim experiences vio
lent vomiting, convulsions and severe
internal pain.
One of the most dreaded features of
, Human beings have lost their lives to
Compound 1080 as well. If we allow this
horrendous poison in Texas, the deaths
will start all over again. Our beloved
pets, even our children — especially
those who live in the country — won’t be
safe from accidental exposure to this
deadly compound.
My husband and I live in the country.
We do not let our dogs run free, but we
do wander the countryside with them
running alongside us, enjoying their
romp. Like all dogs, they sniff around
and get into any and every type of gar
bage in the fields they can find.
Can you imagine the tragedy that
would ensue if they were to get hold of
any of this poison? Can you picture this
cataclysmic conclusion to a pleasant
walk in the country? Even though my
husband is a veterinarian, there would
be nothing he could do to save them.
This type of scene would be happening
all over Texas if we allow the reinstate
ment of Compound 1080.
And what about our children? Young
Why should we contaminat
Texa** land and treaten our
even putting our own lives injflj
for the sake of a few who don’t
bother looking into safer ata
methods?
It is imperative that state officii!
alize a large number of Texast
do not want this poison allowedisl
state. During the last 150 years,inlf
ants of Texas have had to endurel
of adversity, pain and suffering
enormous price has been paid I
high quality of life that weenjoytodl
Texas.
For this reason, we cannot
small minority to introduce a lethal
son into our precious environment
One hundred fifty years of pro|
has yielded viable alternatives to
control of predators of sheep andgt
Let's not turn back thehandsofti®
resorting to barbarian techniqueso
uncivilized past.
Chris P. Carter is a secretary I
Brazos County Courthouse.
No mention was made of poorly
made cars, bad tires, roads designed by
the mayor’s nephew or the fact, uncon
tested since time immemorial, that acci
dents will happen. People will be care
less or drunk or silly or, when it comes
to men, distracted by some young thing
walking on the side of the road.
What do you mean by that you ask?
What’s so bad about teaching kids to
buckle up? The answer, of course, is
nothing. It is the smart thing to do. But
we all know that no matter how clever
the message, there are many kids and
adults as well who will not buckle up.
They will go flying through the mean
windshield.
But if their cars had air bags, they
would not. Air bags would cushion them
from hitting the dashboard. It would
work in those accidents over 35 miles
per hour where seat belts sometimes do
not — where, in fact, they seem to cause
injuries of their own such as snapped
spinal cords. But the auto companies by
and large oppose installing air bags.
They could add $200 more to the price
of the car, although Ford charges $815
for them now. If, though, you are rich
enough to afford a Mercedes, you get
an air bag as standard equipment. One
of the reasons that the rich get richer is
that they survive.
Now we are creeping back to that era.
Of course people are responsible for
their own welfare, but so too, are the
auto manufacturers and a government
that (barely) regulates the industry. Seat
belts are now being touted as some sort
of panacea against injury. They are no
such thing. General Motors offers
$10,000 to the heirs of anyone killed
while wearing a seat belt in one of their
cars, suggesting that such a possibility is
remote. But by the first of the year, CM
had paid out $2.4 million to the heirs of
240 former CM owners or passengers.
Mail Call
Thanks to all
So now it’s Saturday morning again.
The kids are watching cartoon shows on
television and there’s tough Mr. T wear
ing his seat belt. Adults watching have to
smile. They know that in real life nei
ther Mr. T, nor the bad guys nor lots of
other people, would ever wear a belt.
The cartoon is like the Dole rule itself.
It’s ajoke.
Richard Cohen is a columnist for the
Washington Post Writers Group.
EDITOR:.
Sunday night a fire destroyed 13 Sausalito apartments. We were some of
the luckier ones. Our apartment was destroyed, but we managed to save
many of our belongings thanks to the help of some good Ags.
When we arrived, the apartment already was aflame. Several people
helped us pull our belongings out of the smoke-filled house. But it didn’t stop
here. The day after, several Ags from other apartments offered trucks and
helped haul our things to our new place.
We would like to thank the Red Cross, Jamespoint Properties and
especially our many friends who stood by our side and helped us throughout
the ordeal. Only in a community such as this could everyone pull together
like we did. Thanks to everyone involved.
Jeff Walton
Dave Cudlipp
Wade Welkener
Peyton Lumpkin
Original split
EDITOR:
I would like to address this letter to Craig Bain and all those who think
they can do a better job than the journalists and photojournalists working for
The Battalion. I don’t recall any of his stories or photos being published
recently. When the “Going Bananas” photo was taken it was for a class, but it
showed some human interest and got published. Again I ask, “Where’s his?” I
would like to commend The Battalion for very excellent and creative work.
The banana split is a one-of-a-kind original — sorry.
Michael “Going Bananas” Adams
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