Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 1988)
) Opinion The Battalion Tuesday, Nov. 15, 1988 Page Scenes we’ll never see*. IT’S AN ADVISORY OPINION FROM THE MASSACHUSETTS SUPREME COURT! IT SAYS REQUIRING HIM TO RECITE THE OATH OF OFFICE is UNCONSTITUTIONAL.' ©1988 k'ARL- Sr-euc/r a>?'/Ak ) . T7-—Y/4 'S NY’s needle exchanges are moronic way to combat AIDS Oxymoron — “A figure of speech in which antithetical incongruous terms are combined.” Headline: “New York Officials Pro vide Drug Addicts With Needles in Combatting AIDS.” What’s wrong with this headline? It’s oxyMORONIC, that’s what’s wrong with it. Sana Purser Columnist you “turn yourself in” to city health offi cials? When you’re hopped up on drugs, are you always in complete control of yourself? Do you act responsibly and think, “Hmmm, I may be spreading AIDS, better boil this syringe before I fire up and get out the condoms before I have wild sex. Oops. Almost forgot to read these neat brochures on needle hy giene and safe sex.” Mail Call ‘Moral absolutes’ don’t exist EDITOR: Laura Gilliland, in her letter about AIDS, had some good ideas about howtj prevent the spread of the disease by returning to “moral absolutes.” The only problem with it is that there are no moral absolutes. Morality is something that is created by a society to express itsvalues; itisnoi some hard, undeniable fact. Ms. Gilliland asks whatever “happened to teaching that sex outside of marriage is morally unacceptable?” The answer is simple-! a large number of Americans it has become acceptable (assuming the two peoplt involved are in love), and therefore sex with love, married or otherwise, stopped being a “wrong” thing to do. And at the same time many Americans haveseena severe split between love and marriage, one no longer requiring the other or perpetuating it. So saying it is a moral absolute that marriage precede sex just doesn’t apply for many Americans today — but they are at still at risk of contracting AIDS. And this is why people are so gung-ho about endorsing condoms. Condoms will protect someone no matter what they may believe, no matter why they have sex, no matter who they have sex with. It is a simple, universal form of protectiot from the disease. Trying to convince people that their morals are wrong, that they’ve been “running from moral absolutes,” and that they should change them in orderto protect themselves would be about as easy as changing someone’s mind about abortion or the death penalty. In other words, it’d be impossible. We should tpi convince people to be more selective about who whey have sex with, but for now will be much easier and more immediately effective to convince everyone to use condoms. I think is’t sad that somebody might try to use the tragedy of AIDS to try to push their values onto others, as opposed to just realizing that people’s valuesart extremely diverse and that none are absolutely “right” or “wrong.” We all must learn to respect others’ morals, even if we cna never agree with them and firmly believe thta our way is better. And for now we must advise everyone to use condoms for their own protection, and let them decide their own morals. Mike Freeman ’91 Article needed more homework EDITOR: This is in response to the Nov. 9 article entitled “Foreign Aggies' interest in U.S. elections varies,” written by staff writer Richard Tijerina. Your article was totally superficial. To begin with, you seem to imply that Latin-American students representa valid sample of the foreign student body at A&M, since your interviewed sample included a handful of Latin-American students with the exception of a French student. Last week this, and similar headlines, were splattered on the front pages of newspapers across the country. New York City health officials implemented a program Nov. 7 in which they will pro vide drug addicts with sterile syringes in exchange for their used ones. The pro gram is aimed at reducing needle-shar ing among drug abusers. Its ultimate goal, however, is to curb the spread of AIDS within this high-risk group. any disease-ridden subjects involved in this study). That’s all it takes: produce a birth cer tificate, sign the dotted line and roll up the sleeve. Mr. or Ms. Drug Abuser, you are now a proud participant in our pro gram. How successful is a program like this in reaching the people it’s intended to serve? By early afternoon of the pro gram’s first day in operation, not one single responsible drug addict had ap peared at Health Department head quarters. I ask you, is this not a glaring exam ple of being oxyMORONIC? With a $240,000 budget, the program will provide counseling for drug abus ers, will allow addicts to exchange used needles for sterile ones (the abuser will receive a sterile needle only after pre senting the used one. Failure to do so will result in expulsion from the pro gram), and finally, the program will of fer a freebie in the form of a safe sex- /drug abuser kit (including sterile water, a condom, safe sex pamphlets and a brochure discussing needle hygiene). I have never heard of such a thing and hope this program is the first and last of its kind. At this point, it certainly is the first, in this country anyway. I WONDER WHY? Do New York health officials really believe the people who are abusing drugs, themselves and probably others, will act responsibly and wisely by volunteering themselves? Just what every responsible drug ad dict needs. Don’t leave home without it! Except for the goods, everything is there for you to have a good time. But are you straight enough to read the pamphlets and make sense of them? Under the Reagan administration, the “Just Say No” program has urged our citizens — young and old, rich and poor — to refrain from using drugs. Abuse clinics and crisis hotlines have sprung up across the country. Commu nity service groups have sponsored sub stance abuse campaigns. A massive anti drug war has been waged, designed to overcome the drug crisis in practical and responsible ways . . . even though the methods have not always met with total success in achieving their goals. These people are law breakers in ev ery sense of the term and I hardly ex pect them to beat down the door so they can be first in line. I know I’ll be anxious to hear the results of this program at the end of its six month research period. I hope I’m proven wrong and the pro gram is successful. Our country must find effective and reasonable ways in combatting drug abuse and AIDS. To get in on the ground floor of this pioneering program, applicants must simply be over age 18 (people under 18 don’t abuse drugs or have sex), com plete an application (officials must en sure they are accepting quality appli cants), sign a consent form (NO SIR, no lawsuits arising out of this program) and take a blood test (city officials don’t want In addition to the anti-drug war, is the war against “Public Enemy Number One:” AIDS. The surgeon general re cently undertook a massive mailing, sending brochures about AIDS to each and every one of us. College administra tors and students, the media, commu nity service groups —just about every body — has mounted the safe sex bandwagon. However, I’m not sure this program is the answer. Despite its ultimate suc cess or failure however, is the fact mixed messages are being sent: it’s “OK” to do drugs as long as you’re using govern ment issue needles and reading a bunch of pamphlets. And it’s OK to have sex ual relations after you’re ripped out of your mind, just as long as you’re using a government issue condom. The only thing I can’t figure is this: what’s the sterile water for? Let me pose a few hypothetical ques tions: If you were abusing drugs, would Sana Purser is a journalism grad uate, a graduate student in English and columnist for The Battalion. This is far from the truth. If you had taken the time to look a little harder,you would have found out that there are also students from Europe, Africa, the Midi East and from many Asian, Central and South American countries. Polling a handful of foreign students was therefore hardly enough to derive a valid sam of opinions. Also, it was interesting to note that you reported the “expert opinion” of Leon Galindo (nothing personal Leon), a Bolivian student, on the Soviet people’s knowledge about the American political process. In conclusion, your artidetitle should have read “What a few Latin-American students think of the current U.S. elections.” Please do not generalize and next time do your homework more care fully. Christos Makrigeorgi Petro Yuanidis Graduate Students Students endangering personnel EDITOR: We would like to express our concern for the safety of the grounds maintenance personnel on campus. Recently, considerable amounts of garbage and other objects have been thrown at these workers from the windows of dorms Trash cans full of hot water, bricks and trash have all been thrown in attemptsto hit the workers or mess up their work. One student even attempted to urinateon an employee. The danger involved in stunts of this type are obvious. Someone could be seriously hurt by flying objects, not to mention the destruction of University property. So far, no one has been injured by these pranks, but the number and magnitude of these incidents continues to grow. These workers are making their living beautifying our campus. If we were to injure one of them, not only would it hurt them, but it might keep them from earning their livings. They are just working to make our living conditions better, and there is no reason to endanger these people. Besides, these people take pride in their work, just as we do. How would you feel if someone dumped garbages over your research paper right before you turned it in? Come on Ags, these maintenance people are simply trying to do their jobs. They don’t need some thoughtless prankster throwing things at them or their work. We realize that it’s a pain to have all the construction going on, but just thinl how much better our campus will look in a couple of years. An improved library, renovated and new residence halls and a new parking garage will only add to the quality of campus life. University Employee Awareness Committee Bravo! EDITOR: I think a loud “congratulations” and a hugh round of applause are in orderto the cast, crew members, directors and musicians involved with “The Pirates of Penzance.” The play truly reflected incredible, impressive talent by so many people, and the many hours put into it these past weeks resulted in a dynamic performance by everyone. I urge everyone to see the play Wednesday, Thursday or Friday night. Itiswi worth your time, money and support! Ricki Hasou ’88 Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit letters forty and length, but will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and must inclult classification, address and telephone number of the writer. The Battalion (USPS 045 360) Member of Texas Press Association Southwest Journalism Conference The Battalion Editorial Board Lydia Berzsenyi, Editor Becky Weisenfels, Managing Editor Anthony Wilson, Opinion Page Editor Richard Williams, City Editor D A Jensen, Denise Thompson, News Editors Hal Hammons, Sports Editor Jay Janner, Art Director Leslie Guy, Entertainment Editor Editorial Policy The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspa per operated as a community service to Texas A&M and Bryan-College Station. Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the editorial board or the author, and do not necessarily rep resent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, fac ulty or the Board of Regents. The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper for students in reporting, editing and photography classes within the Department of Journalism. The Battalion is published Monday through Friday during Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday and examination periods. Mail subscriptions are $17.44 per semester, $34.62 per school year and $36.44 per full year. Advertising rates furnished on request. Our address: The Battalion, 230 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-1 111. Second class postage paid at College Station, TX 77843. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battal ion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, Col lege Station TX 77843-4 111. BLOOM COUNTY by BerKe Breath# B b o Lot help f ceeds that p Bet sonal Texas bingo Liz direct Club, for pr “Yc use it here ; 100 p charit Wa tell he non their beret Th playir puts £ count Wa cess t mone ber. Th for th then, Wa many mone “W hope she sa “T1 Lake gymn Boys’ other Static Th theT holds day, I
