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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 23, 1986)
! 1 4 Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, April 23, 1986 Opinion Free speech demands tolerance of others H ow many of you believe in free speech? I imagine probably every one. If you didn’t believe in free speech for every- o n e , then you would be forfeit ing your own free dom to speak. Un less, of course, you were some authoritarian of others. The American Medical Asso ciation wants to ban a77 cigarette and to bacco product advertising. The Parents Music Resource Center wants to control speech by rating rock albums. If they could have their way, they would proba bly start censoring material they deemed unsuitable. Glenn Murtha dictator who had the power to control the speech of others without affecting your own. I consider myself a hardliner on free speech. Free speech is free speech whether I agree with it or not. Yet this hard line can run into problems — like yelling “Fire!” in a crowded theater. Does one have the right to do this? Ob viously one does, though he or she may be prosecuted for any physical harm done. Some blacks want to remove the American classic Hucklebeviy Finn from the classroom, and the library, call ing it racist trash. Various fundamental ist religious groups want to remove Shakespeare’s Romeo und Juliet from schools claiming that it promotes a promiscuous lifestyle. Many feminists, along with many religious groups, want all forms of pornographic material banned. Believing in freedom of speech is one thing, recognizing it is quite another. Some individual is always trying to si lence the speech of others, speech that he doesn’t like. A close-to-home exam ple of this is the Gay Student Services case. By denying recognition, the Univer sity tried to prevent the group’s ability to speak on campus. Only recognized groups are permitted to use University forums such as the open microphone at Rudder Fountain, post flyers on campus or reserve tables to distribute literature in the main hallway of the Memorial Student Center. The GSS could only participate in these activities when spon sored by another recognized group. The same holds true for fraternities and sororities. The University refused to recognize them, thus hindering their ability to freely disseminate their views on campus. The difference between the GSS and fraternities and sororities is that the latter never challenged the Uni versity in court. The GSS did and won. So, in effect, if you didn’t favor recogni tion for the GSS or fraternities or soro rities, you didn’t favor freedom of speech, though you might not have real ized it. You wanted to silence the speech of groups you did not agree with. From a national perspective, many groups are trying to silence the speech Mail Call Why Wasson? EDITOR: Vice Chancellor William Wasson is personally being sued for by KLS Computers in College Station. million In trying to provide the best possible access to computing tools for faculty, staff and students, the University organized the Micro Center in the Memorial Student Center. KLS now contends that local computer retail merchants cannot compete with Micro Center prices, so they want $4 million out of Wasson’s hide. Why Wasson? Because in the world of legal tactics, it is faster and easier for KLS to get immediate attention in this matter by suing Wasson as a private citizen rather than suing a state agency like Texas A&M. This is disturbing for several reasons. Wasson, in his administrative role as vice chancellor, acted as any faculty/staff employee or student has acted to help the A&M community — to make their buying power go as far as possible. Many of us, as members of extracurricular clubs, classes, professional societies, etc., have obtained advantages of discounts for our groups. As a retail merchant, KLS doesn’t like that idea anymore. As a precedent, this could mean that T-shirts, food, Aggie memorabilia, books, entertainment programs, etc. that we might provide for our classes or clubs could cost a few million dollars more if some merchants thought it was their job to provide that particular service. There is simply no excuse or convoluted “logical explanation” that justifies the KLS action against Wasson. If the KLS action is condoned, which of us will be next — the mechanic at the transportation pool, the milkshake maker at the dairy, the butcher in our meats department, professors who distribute class notes, the director of a club’s plant sale, chairman of an MSC program The University will always offer services that can benefit its students and employees. We can stop patronizing local merchants who jepordize programs with that purpose or hinder the individuals who try to provide them for us. By expressing our concern, we can also show that we appreciate the University’s efforts to afford us these programs — in this case, its efforts to make personal computing power a more available tool for all of us. Charles P. Giammona Civil Engineering Dept. Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters for style and length but will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and must include the address and telephone number of the writer. The last litterino indcfcut in Carmel, Giifbniia. Who made these people Cod? What gives them the right to tell me or you what we can read, write, hear or see? Religious groups seems especially prone to favoring censorship. They played a key role in the Southland Cor poration’s recent decision to remove the adult magazines Playboy and Penthouse from their 7-Eleven stores. Well, I propose that we ban the Bible. The Bible is obviously a dangerous work of literature. About three weeks ago, the Houston Chronicle reported that a Bay- town woman “repeatedly stabbed her children with a butcher knife.” The woman wanted to “send them to Jesus.” If we banned the Bible, this would never happen. We’re all fooling ourselves if we be lieve that. So what makes the Bible dif ferent from any other work of litera ture? Nothing. Any unstable person can be inspired to hurt others from virtually any source of literature. Banning or censoring is not the answer. The freedom to speak is a fragile con cept. If we did not have constitutional protections for speech, we quickly would lose the ability to speak freely. Freedom of speech means tolerating the words of others, even if we may not agree with it. Think about this the next time you hear or read something you don’t like. You could be the next one si lenced. The lol jiispec It'd the Braze part men t: V SCORI • Lone F Shoppe at College Si |c pavid Pk point was I i for a cool' pairing- • Oran > ()ak Mall inspected X 9*. T point viol; proper ns other poit traded foi • Red Ave. S. in spected In jl98. The ■point viol hout then Said anotl was given ainers. • Marit |jniversit\ tation w U.S. sacrifices all for The missiol On his recent visit to Washing ton, Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres was a man with a mission. In his head he held a plan and in his briefcase he held some statistics. They showed that a combination of 1 V" ^ ■■ 11! vT States in a program to help Egypt — are juxtaposed here for a purpose: They il lustrate differing, almost contradictory, world views. And they raise questions of whether the Reagan administration is so enamored of force that it fails to con sider long-term implications. tens. 5 ioint vio were give scoop and IICORE questions were bruslw ti> 11sc Bme in ihe mBl „ Chip Coo Mall in C mate rush Reagan Dextrine _ . spected I)' rot example, is n w(irih;.:|| j iK , Richard Cohen sinking oil prices and military profligacy had (as they don’t say at the World Bank) busted some Arab countries. Contrary to what you might think, this did not make Peres’ day. Instead, it put the Israeli prime min ister in a somber mood. In a meeting with Secretary of State George Shultz, Peres outlines his worries. A bankrupt Arab world is an unstable Arab world, he said. In particular, Peres was worried about Egypt. It was in trouble. Revenues from oil and tourism were way down and the moderate regime of Hosni Mu barak might be in trouble. For instance, the Egypt that figured in U.S. invasion plans bears little resem blance to the same country that so wor ries Peres. Peres’ Egypt is a fragile so ciety — one whose last leader, Anwar Sadat, was assassinated by religious zeal ots. It’s a country in economic trouble. Its security police recently rampaged in Cairo because of low wages and miser able living conditions. Mubarak was able to handle the riots, but not the cause of them. None of that has changed. Glenn Murtha is a senior political sci ence major and a columnist for The Battalion. At about the same time that Shultz was hearing from Peres, others in the State Department were hearing from reporters. They were asking if it were true that the United States had on three occasions asked Egypt to consider joint military operations against Libya. The plans apparently varied, but they seemed to call for some combination of Egyptian troops and U.S. planes. The State Department confirmed the re ports after the news leaked from Cairo. The Egypt that worries Peres could be pitched into chaos by becoming an American ally in a joint operation against another Arab country. Moslem fundamentalists might revolt at fighting their co-religionists and, in particular, a leader such as Khadafy whose poverty, religious extremism and anti-American ism could produce a fifth column. Even if the Mubarak regime survived, it might find itself once again isolated in the Arab world. Would it then be forced to assert its pan-Arab bona tides by re pudiating the peace with Israel? selves with Jonas Saviobi i^Kt viol; since he himsell is alliedwitki^Ror. A; regime in South Africa?lsit»*p«)H Wl ing Savimbi stinger missiksI®P at a ns and the ( ubans respoaillM 1 ^^ their Angolan allies evenpw«. e ^. rated weapons? Is it wont a bioken the same stingers to the Afgi wall-floor las and risk them turning • Unci other Moslem zealots who* 2818 in ( not the Soviet Union —but'WF 1 ''* N,Is,.,el? 1 point viol; You could ask similarqiiWj 1 ^ Nicaragua: What happens® soa{ Contras are trained andtwi^BThe fight? How lengthy a warihMow-u port? What happens if theUp do the job? Will Americans^’ Nicaragua that importantaiS more important, cansuchawl won? Will the hills forever guerrillas? The two events — U.S. attempts to enlist Egypt in its anti-Khadafy crusade and Peres’ attempts to enlist the United The U.S. plan for a joint operation might have made military sense — but that’s about it. It was drawai up in a strategic vacuum as if short-term gains were everything and nothing mattered but what the Army likes to call “the mis sion.” The reason it is worth citing is that it is similar to other recent Reagan administration actions in which legiti- The answers to these gusp only are not forthcoming,in' they are even being asked problems are given to the: simplify, and courses ared will take years to change would be hard to disengadfi ragua. Already, theuseoffot Libya has begot even more tel A short-term “September tality has seized the admini foreign policy it’s no longetj again in America. IfsDeceiw Richard Cohen is a colunffl! Washington Post Writers^ Frequent examining of valu. u needed to prevent oppress) 1 ' As I’ve taken it ' upon myself to pub- licly defend gay rights for the last two years, I’ve learned a Marco A Roberts Guest Columnist few things about America, people and their beliefs. It has never ceased to amaze me how people who so firmly be lieve in America as a nation can have so little faith in its values. How can people talk about America as a great nation and yet refuse to abide by the values of free speech, religious tolerance and civil lib erties — the values which make it a great nation? I would not be f ighting if I did not be lieve there is a right and wrong, a truth and untruth. But more often than not, we don’t k/jowwhat it is. All we can do is what we beleive is right, not only for us, but for those around us. We must have moral values and beliefs. Without them we have no convictions and without con victions, little reason for living. I’d like to think that there is more to life than pursuing personal gain. But as we hold these values which we inevitably derive from the lessons of the past and our understanding of our sur roundings (including written words), we also must keep in mind that we are not infallible. There will come times when we may find we need to change. Values are worthless unless they are held with conviction, but they become oppressive if we are not willing to re-examine them from time to time. For this reason we must allow dissent, if only to keep us alert. To hold on to traditional values for the sake of the values themselves is stub born. To change them for the sake of changing them is meaningless. Tradi tions and values are here for a purpose: To remind us of our past and give us a better understanding of who we are. For these reasons we must honor them. But when a particular tradition or value no longer serves this purpose (or we find it never did), we must be wise enough to let it go. I’m equally amazed by those who so strongly exercise their rights to free speech and their civil liberties while showing total disrespect for the nation and institutions that guarantee them those rights. Our system may not be perfect — be lieve me, I know! But it is ours, and it is a lot better than of many other nations! Texas still discriminates against gay people, and the United States still will not let us serve. But I’m still an Ameri can with both rights and duties, and I’ll do what I think I have to make it better (at least in my view). I’d like to think that I’ll always be just as willing to fight for America as I have for gay rights. Those of you who think that gays are simply out to embarrass Texas A&M should remember this: There is no greater compliment you can pay an in stitution (or nation) than to fight to be come a part of it. No matter how great pain, pressure or fear may be, we should show respect for reason. And when we do change our,., so with respect for the'past,! the present, and hope forth' Marco A. Roberts is a sei science major and preside Student Services \\ The Battalion (USPS 045360) Member of Texas Press Associaii* Southwest JournalismConfo 1 The Battalion Editorial^ Michelle Powe.i Kay Mallett, Managing^ Loren Steffy, OpinionPaf‘ Jerry Oslin, Cit)’ Cathie Anderson, ,VeiT T ravis Tingle, Sports^ Editorial Policy / he Battalion is h non-profit, fcIhW per operated as a community senict 10 ^ Br\an-C'.allege Station. Opinions expressed in The BuMl 1011 Editorial Board or the author, indd 0 ^^ resent the opinions of Texas or the Board of Regents. m I he Battalion also serves as a I students in reporting, editing wd within the Department of Comtnunti$rm l 'nited Press International is use lor reproduction of all news disfl 11 * Rights of reproduction of all out# served. . u The Battalion is published during Texas A&M regular senicst^f and examination periods. Mail sl,bsc % per semester. $33.2$ per sd)°oi year. 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