The Battalion
OPINION
2
The Battalion
ST>
Wednesday, April 19,1989
Wednesday, j
MR. AMD MRS. AMERICA AT HOME
Community involvement must
replace federal intervention
When one thinks of New York City, many
images come to mind: Broadway, the Statue
of Liberty, Harlem, Coney Island, drugs,
poverty, Lou Reed’s new album. New York
has the good and the bad, but some see it as
the epitome of materialism.
Last week, a new social project was
opened in Queens. It is an apartment com
plex for low- and middle-income elderly
people. It houses medical services and meets
most of the needs of those who will live
there. And the people residing there will re
tain their independence.
The federal government was not involved
in this project. Private organizations and
businesses, as well as the city government,
provided the planning and funding for the
project.
This is the future of America and Ameri
cans, at least if we want the future to be pro
ductive.
Americans appear to' be gaining in their
consumeristic, materialistic tendencies. It is
what I want that matters, not what you want
or what is good for society.
This type of thinking is a massive inhibi
tion to the growth of the nation and the
world.
We need a new perception of unity. We
need a nation which cares, whkh shows re
sponsibility for its problems and which uses
knowledge, not stupidity, to deal with its
problems.
Is there something inherently wrong with
Todd
Honeycutt
Columnist
this dream? I realize that perhaps I am too
idealistic at times. But why are people so an
gry when someone tells them to care more,
to do more?
Our government is the problem. Sure, it’s
always easy to blame the government. If we
have a problem with drugs or with prayer in
schools or with abortion in the streets, blame
the government.
The problem the United States govern
ment has is that it takes on too many respon
sibilities which should belong to the people.
It is not up to the federal government to cre
ate and maintain a welfare nation. The re
sponsibility belongs to the communities of
America.
To me, that is what democracy is all about
— people solving the problems in their com
munity and the federal government being as
small and limited as possible, trying not to
interfere into the lives of its constituents.
But people don’t believe in that. We want
someone else to blame for our problems. We
don’t want to be responsible for helping oth
ers. What is in it for us? How many toys can I
collect before I die? I realize that I may be
overgeneralizing, but this seems to be the
predominant thought pattern in our society.
The government cannot handle societal
problems, which have become too cumber
some to deal with. Putting problems in the
government’s hands not only ensures waste
and corruption in what would be good and
useful systems, but it increases the amount
of money and time the government spends
meddling in our affairs.
If we removed some of the responsibilities
from the government’s back and let the com
munities come up with solutions for their
own problems, the government would be
able to be more efficient and responsible in
other areas that need reform.
Besides, who is better able to understand
the problems of the community than the
community itself? When I say community, I
mean the city and county governments, busi
nesses, and private volunteer organizations.
Community participation works, as seen on
the small scale in isolated cases.
If community aid were broadened into a
wide-scale program with no federal govern
ment intervention and state governments
dealing only with financing, we would see a
dramatic increase in the productivity of the
people involved in the welfare system.
Todd Honeycutt is a sophomore psychol
ogy major and a columnist for The Battal
ion.
Mail Call
A&M — love it or change it
EDITOR:
This letter is in response to Carol Landry’s warm and heartfelt April 17
letter to the editor.
Without radicals like J.Frank Hernandez at this school questioning
A&M’s policies and traditions, well, let’s not even speculate what it would
be like.
Mind you, I love A&M, its traditions and policies, but these things need
to be questioned if A&M is to be truly a world-class Univeristy.
Carol, you are the kind of person of whom we need more at A&M. It is
oh so refreshing to hear yet another stick-in-the-mud conservative foam at
the mouth about people questioning traditions and policies that may need
change.
“We didn’t need radicals at this school ...” were your exact words.
May I remind you and those like you that if Lawrence Sullivan Ross
had not been such a radical back in the 1880’s you would be at t.u. and the
mental patients of the state would be living at A&M. By the way, Carol, ifit
weren’t for radicals in the ’60s, you and all women wouldn’t even attend
A&M. Count your blessings.
Matt Michaels ’92
Helmets save lives and money
EDITOR:
James Cecil, in a column referring to the helmet law’s infringement on
personal rights, would have us believe the public’s money is being wasted
through legislative processing of the bill.
Here is the true waste: The Texas Department of the Health
conducted a study recently which found that the average hospital bill of a
helmeted motorcycle accident victim is $7,21 1. The average bill of an
unhelmeted victim is $ 17,155.
For all motorcycle accident victims, an average 63.4 percent of their
hospital stay is paid for with public funds. Therefore, the public pays an
average $6,304 more for the care of unhelmeted motorcycle accident
victims.
Mr. Cecil, would you and others like you please wear helmets so that
our money can be put to a better use (such as a revision of the state tax
codes).
C. Lance Davis ’89
Nobody’s judge
EDITOR:
I’m writing in response to a column Dean Sueltenfuss wrote in which
he judges whether or not the Power Team is in the will of God. Mr.
Sueltenfuss, thank God, is obviously in the will of God himself since God
has appointed him to cast judgment on other people.
I hate to disagree with ajudge, but it is wrong to say that the Power
Team flaunts their bodies in order to steal money from kids. It does not
cost money to attend a meeting and hear the fully dressed members of the
Power Team talk about the love of God. There is a difference between
getting rich off of people “for the sake of Christianity” and selling an $18
sweatshirt to support yourself and your ministry.
I’ll tell you right now — the Power Team is not perfect. No evangelist
is. Except for the blood of Jesus that washes away all sin, they are all sinful.
Every person who breathes is sinful. It is a fact of the human race. Why
criticize someone for being imperfect when Jesus said there are none good
but God.
Mr. Sueltenfuss, you didn’t say anything good about the Power Team.
You didn’t say that the majority, of their meetings consist of the Power
Team conveying the power and victory we have through Jesus, God’s gift
of love. You did say that you suspected that the Power Team was not
communicating with all the kids they could. How many kids are you
communicating God’s love to?
What you’re resorting to is called backbiting. When you get the facts
correct and have enough courage to confront them yourself, then write
them.
God is the judge of The Power Team. God is the judge of you and me.
You, Mr. Sueltenfuss, are nobody’s judge.
Bill Poindexter ’91
Accompanied by two signatures
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 bt
signed and must include the classification, address and telephone number of the writer.
Gra
By Sherri Roberl
STAFF WRITER
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Rep. Glenn Repp
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Courville told th
Herald Repp was
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have attempted ti
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get,” Courville sa
it or not, Sgt. R
wound him.”
Steve Crawfon
chief investigatoi
concurred.
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to disable Officer
him in the shout
said.
“He didn’t wai
was forced into
Crawford added.
Wise, 39, and a
of the force, died
a gunshot wound
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ter returning In
where he and h:
thia, had celebi
birthday.
The couple,
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Mrs. Wise went
See Shooting/Paj
Crime is doing just fine in Atlanta, thank you
In an effort to improve its suffer
ing image, Washington, D.C., offi
cials did a study which pointed out
that Atlanta, not Washington, was
the Number One-ranked crime city
in the nation. A large number of At
lantans were upset by the Washing
ton report. Atlanta’s city officials,
such as the police chief, refuted the
statistics and said, “Blah, blah, blah,”
which is what a city official says when
he really means, “I’m into it up to my
ears this time.”
As for me, however, I took some
measure of pride in finding out I live
in the top-ranked crime city.
Residents in other cities celebrate
Lewis
Grizzard
Columnist
winning Super Bowls and World Se
ries. But Atlantans gave up on such
things happening to them years ago.
We have the Falcons, the joke of
the National Football League. We
have the Braves, annually one of the
worst teams in major league baseball.
The Falcons are so bad that when
the owner threatened to move the
team to Jacksonville, there were
bumper stickers around that read,
“Goodbye, Falcons —and Take the
Braves with You.”
We have the Hawks, who again
look like an early casualty in the Na
tional Basketball Association play
offs.
They did show some im
provement last season, and this was
to be their year. At this writing they
are next to last in their division.
But crime?
Want to get murdered, raped or
held up? Atlanta, according to the
statistics, is the place to be.
What we must do with all this in
Atlanta is to look on the bright side.
What does it say when Atlanta is
called the crime capital of the coun
try?
It says we have a great climate. Do
you know why Chicago doesn’t have
Atlanta’s percentage of muggers?
Because it’s too cold in Chicago
about half the year to be out on the
streets.
It says we have a healthy economy.
If nobody had any money in Atlanta,
there wouldn’t be anybody out there
trying to steal it.
It says we’re not a sleepy little
Southern city anymore, which is
probably what people in places like
New York still think we are.
They are wrong. You can’t be
sleepy in a place where people are
murdering other people at such a
rate. Keep alert, pal, and be pre
pared to duck.
It says we can get away with doing
a lot of things people in other cities
can’t. We can jaywalk, litter the
streets and ignore “no parking”
signs. The cops are too-busy chasing
down murderers, rapists and thieves
to bother with such relatively minor
violations.
It says we have intelligent lead
ership. The City Council has mostly
ignored the crime thing while decid
ing how much of a raise it wants to
give itself. That’s plenty smart
Who’s got time for crime when
there’s a real issue that must be deal:
with?
It says we deserve a televisior
show. There’s “Miami Vice” aid
“L.A. Law.” Why not "AtlantaCd
me” or “Peachtree Pursesnatchen'
or “Dead Designing Women”?
It also says we need a new slogan
to replace the frayed “Atlanta: Tlif
City Too Busy to Hate.” How ate
“Atlanta: You Have the RighttoRe
main Silent ...”
I have seen my civic duty and no*
I have done it.
Copyright 1989, Cowles Syndicate
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Becky Weisenfels, Editor
Leslie Guy, Managing Editor
Dean Sueltenfuss, Opinion Page Editor
Anthony Wilson, City Editor
Scot Walker, Wire Editor
Drew Leder, News Editor
Doug Walker, Sports Editor
Jay Janner, Art Director
Mary-Lynne Rice, Entertainment Edi
tor
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resent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, fac
ulty or the Board of Regents.
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classes within the Department of Journalism.
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