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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 11, 1986)
Page 2/Wednesday, June 11, 1986/The Battalion Opinion 'Causal link' between commission and censors^ As a teen-ager afflicted by a rag ing and nearly life- threatening in terest in sex, I hap- p e n e d upon a book called “Por nography and the Law.” Ostensibly a serious treatise on the problem, it had Richard Cohen the virtue of including some examples of the very pornography under discussion. I bought it. Still, let us assume there is a link be tween pornography and violence. Let us make that assumption even though most social scientists do not and a previous presidential commission has found otherwise. Let us assume, in fact, that the social scientist of my memory, the one from “Pornography and the Law,” is once again testifying before Congress and concedes a “causal link.” What else might he say? United FiitmSi AAAft< pALLAS ©tt&MgJtation riting ar Never mind some of the things I learned. What matters now is a chapter in which a social scientist was asked if pornography sexually excited teen agers. This is a variation of the old Is- The-Pope-Catholic? question. The answer, of course, was yes. But the social scientist listed other things that do just as well: They included girls, riding on trains, getting up in the morning, walking and almost anything you can name. To a teen-age boy, all life is a sexual stimulant. Well, for starters, he might say that the same link exists between television and violence, movies and violence and music and violence. He might point out that there is as much sexually oriented violence toward women in afternoon soap operas as there is in pornographic movies. He might further point out that in much pornography there is no vio lence at all. Certainly, if violence is our concern, there ought to be a presidential commission to study Sylvester Stallone. m GETTING EXCITEP ABOUT TUE STATUE OF LIBERTY UNVEILING WHOS GIVING THE KEYNOTE SPEECH? Now an administrative commission has taken a strong look at pornography and is about to issue yet another report. This one, reportedly gamier than the one 1 bought as a kid, finds a “causal link” between pornography and vio lence. The conclusion, more a wish than a scientif ic f inding, was a foregone conclu sion. The panel was chosen by Attorney General Edwin Meese and includes per- s o n s whose preconceived a n t i - pornagraphy views have long been known. It’s a wonder they did not find a “causal link” between pornography and the farm crisis. But the social scientist should not stop there. He should say that the term “caus al link” is claptrap, an admission that hard evidence is lacking and the sort of opportunistic reasoning that govern ments have employed in the past to jus tify the urge to censor. After all, if a causal link to violence is what we are seeking, then it may exist in areas having nothing to do with sex at all. It might exist in the political sphere as well, begin ning with the Declaration of Independ ence. That statement is nothing less than a call to revolution and if that isn’t vio lence then nothing is. , a chtTS will a statewi etermine ' tbs- |;A total i jstrators wl a tion of Ci ■eachers fa a te' They ’ nat — cha 8- Fred I ai jniversity But why stop there? We could in clude, also^Tom Paine’s writings, which were radical even to radicals, as a causal link. How about the writings and speeches of American abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison which pre ceded that bit of violence called the Civil War? Let’s include the speeches and the pamplets of union organizers and, more recently, the utterence and writings of both civil-rights and anti-war activists — and (just for Meese) some of the speeches and writings of the anti abortion movement. All these move ments have been accompanied by vio lence. Indeed, it would be hard to draw the line. Fortunately, it already has been drawn. That bit of writing is called the | ALSU sippi Nat: put the G atop the Saturday, tricky for TheTi nook CH mount tht several att 1. Kb Texasi First Amendment and, according to it, it something. Censorship comesto - H j ()i is immaterial if anyone alleges a “causal Over the years, the American] ^ a link” between the written word or, by system has tried to distinguish lx asia “Sk\ extension, film and violence. You could speech or writing and their so® prove me argue that there’s a world of difference violent consequences. The Meat actingjot between the film “Debbie Does Dallas” mission has trampled right overt® The a and some political tract, and indeed tinction. Commission members Saiurday there is. The differences have to do with say that they are just stating facts a:® Texas substance, intent, purpose — a whole calling for censorship, buttheb ^Ejheiri range of things. What they now pur- dology and attitudes >a\ otheni* ( j ess ^ j portedly have in common is the fatuous know what they want from whi dome-tof reasoning that if violence is a result, then write. As they would say, thereis: died for the government has the obligation to do al link.” not puttl Multinationals abuse their privileges mem slat I n 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment for mally was recog nized by the Sec retary of State, William H. Clark Guest Columnist As such, a number of laws have since been passed to formalize the concept of the corporation as a citizen, gradually giving it greater freedom of operation, while simultaneously allowing the labor unions — the people which the corpora- thus becoming a law of the highest sta- tion is supposed to serve — less freedom ture and imperative. It stipulates that, and influence. “All persons born or naturalized in the This subtle shift in power began with United States are citizens of the United the passage of the Sherman Act in 1890, States and of the states wherein they re- a Congressional adjudication which ex side,” and forbids the states from depriv- panded the Supreme Court’s lenient in- ing any person of life, liberty or property terpretation of the Fourteenth Amend- without due process of law. ment as existing within the limited con- This amendment was intended to for- text of the states. That is, the Sherman malize the citizenship of the blacks who Act recognized the corporation as an in- had just been freed from the shackles of terstate enterprise and gave it full power slavery. It also states a powerful judge- to conduct interstate commerce, with ment which since has become an impor- certain restrictions. tant means for protecting the rights of all At the time the Sherman Antitrust Act Americans against such infringement as was passed, America essentially still was had been perpetuated by the Southern an expansionist, isolationist nation with a states before the Civil War. free, frontier attitude. A strange thing about the Fourteenth This vital and enthusiastic outlook was Amendment, though, is that it was inter- abruptly deprived of its drive and vitality preted by the Supreme Court in 1886 to by our participation in World War I — a apply not only to the rights of all citizens, brutal, bloody war which not only de but to those of corporations as well. In fined our limitations as a nation and res- the hundred-odd years since, the cor- tricted our scope as a people, but which poration gradually has come to be legis- established within the United States a fi- lated for all practical purposes as a full nite industrial structure. Only in tech- citizen — to the point where it almost has nological areas would continued growth more rights and privileges than rea/U.S. not result in illegal trusts or mergers, citizens. T hen, in 1935, another law — the Public Utility Act — was passed by Con gress, allowing corporations greater freedom concommitant to the changing status of America from a nation unto itself into an international power. It for malized the corporation as a multi-state enterprise and mandated it to simplify its structure and geographical distribution. This ruling, then, allowed the expan sion of technology to proceed uninhi bited into new and broadening fields of endeavor in the industrial boon years of World War II and the subsequent recon struction period. An explosion of the American productivity into the vacuum of destruction wrought by the two world wars soon reached its limit when the foreign industries spawned by the Mar shall Plan began to compete with their American forebearers. Consequently, U.S. corporations were limited in their expansionism to a few “feelers” or affiliates, many of which have since been nationalized. This complexity was recognized by the Celler Anti-Merger Act of 1950, which prevented a corporation from gaining control of another company which sub stantially would lessen competition or create a monopoly. The key word here is “substantially.” As such, the Celler Act recognized the necessity of some corporate conflicts, and overseas competitors increased their productivity and output. By 1946, one- tenth of 1 percent of all American com panies owned 49 percent of the corpo rate assets. This trend steadily escalated through the Vietnam era, when foreign companies began to practice assiduously their own expansionism upon American companies. T he latest stage of this progression — in which, for example, the Japanese auto makers have been recognized above and beyond American companies — repre sents a situation in which the multina tionals have abused their privileges as American citizens by f o 1 d i n g to foreign influence and needs of their foreign competitors. As such, the corporation has refused to recognize the rights and privileges of those Americans who depend on it for a livelihood. It has become a multi international competitor, no longer in terested in the needs and interests of the country which has allowed it such free doms and privileges in the past. William H. Clark is a College Station resident and frequent contributor to The Battalion. The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Confercnct | Maj.G taut gene Guard, s back on tl difficult. “Then her off," the need another > The Battalion Editorial Michelle Powe, Editor Loren Steffy, Opinion PageUiw Scott Sutherland, City Editor Kay Mallett, News Editor Ken Sury, Sports Editor I Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supportingM-i operated ns a community service to 7 exas A&Maixbj College Station. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are thoseoW tori.tl Hoard or the author, and do not ncces8rilf.l$. the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, hcibty Hoard of Regents. The Battalion also serves as a laboratoryncMpflfa students in reporting, editing and /j/wtognph}* within the Department of Journalism. 1 he Battalion is published Monday through Frityi J exas A KM regular semesters, except for holidi^M animation peiiods. Mail subscriutions meSI6.75pc<^ ter. $!id.25 pet school year and $35 per full yen ing rates furnished on request. f Out address: I he Battalion. 2Hi Reed A/cDon^q ing. Texas AKM I niversity. College Station. 1X*•‘JI ■Sec ond c lass postage paid at College Station, U- l*OS 1 MAS TER: Send address changes toUcfc 2W Reed McDonald, Texas AKM Univenilv. Co&fl tion I X 77843. Mail Call 3 Turned off by wasted energy EDITOR: In light of recent budget cuts for many departments at Texas A&Mno» a better time than ever to try to reduce some of the University’s costs I One such way is to reduce energy consumption on campus. Studentsrn to learn to turn off the lights in their dormitory rooms when not in, classrooms not in use and in restrooms and hallways at night. it* ■R Perhaps you think that turning a single light off does very little in scheme of things, but if everyone were to become a bit more aware ai concerned it could really make a difference. i Having lived overseas where the cost of living is higher for almost; necessities, I learned to conserve electricity at an early age. Consequentlyi 1 very annoying for me to find lights on without benefactors. An energy conservation ef fort could be made by the University on alatf scale. For example, reminder stickers could be put on all light switch saying, “Are you turning me off?” or by instructing the maintenance at* janitorial staff to turn off lights when finished with their work. T he potential to conserve is enormous and it is really a shame to sef; much waste going on. So everyone open their eyes a little and pleaseM out. 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