The Battalion
OPINION !
Wednesday, November 22,1989 Opinion Page Editor Juliette Rizzo 845-331;, -
Protest groups should
focus on local issues
The past few years have witnessed the growth of several orga
nizations at A&M that are dedicated to protest. Although groups
such as Students Against Apartheid and the Medicine Tribe
should be commended for their attempts to raise social awareness
in an era when many students have little concern for such topics,
the organizations’ effectiveness would increase if they focused
more on local issues.
SAA’s choice to publicize the wrongs being committed in South
Africa is not necessarily a bad one. But by focusing their concerns
on A&M’s divestment from South African companies — the effec
tiveness of which is disputed —the members of SAA have chosen
to give less priority to problems in Bryan-College Station.
Instead of protesting the living conditions of a country that is
thousands of miles away, why not do something about the shanty
like houses in which some of our neighbors live? Instead of build
ing a shanty near the Academic Building, why not sponsor peri
odic food drives (as SAA — to its credit — has done in the past) to
benefit area residents who do not have enough money to buy their
own food?
Another example of misdirected effort is the Medicine Tribes’
protesting of the planned Memorial Student Center expansion.
Instead of spending time trying to save a few campus oak trees,
why not work to solve pollution problems through recycling? Why
not help local homeless people by donating time to the Salvation
Army, Brazos Food Bank or other groups?
The Medicine Tribe’s recent effort to help needy Bryan-Col-
lege Station residents by sponsoring a food drive exemplifies this
kind of community concern. The members of Medicine Tribe
should be commended for the work they are doing this week.
Hopefully, groups like SAA and the Medicine Tribe will continue
to focus on important local issues such as poverty, pollution and
inadequate housing and will dwell less on topics such as the MSC
expansion.
Except for aesthetics and sentimental value, the MSC oaks are
not important. The family living in a shack in South Africa proba
bly does not know or care that students thousands of miles away
are protesting apartheid.
The family down the street or the homeless person standing
on the corner, however, could use our help.
The Battalion Editorial Board
Getting the facts on
In the past
few months I
came across
quite a few arti
cles on the abor
tion issue. I am really surprised to read
the narrow-minded views of some of
the columnists, particularly Mr.
Stansfield. He was complaining about
not having facts in some of the pre
vious articles, but at the same time he
himself did not care to provide any
documented facts to support his
statements. I think he was just writing
his personal opinion, which is biased to
one side of the issue. In order to en
lighten people like Mr. Stanfield, I did
a library search and found the follow
ing information from the U.S. govern
ment publication “National Databook
and Guide to Sources Statistical Abs
tract of the U.S. 1989, 109 edition, U.S.
Department of Commerce, Bureau of
the Census,” and a book by J.E. Hodg
son (1981).
1. About three times more abortions
are performed on women in the 15-24
years age group than all other age
groups.
2. About 4.5 times more abortions
are done to unmarried women com
pared to married women.
3. The total number of first preg
nancy abortions outnumber others by
three times.
4. Among the western nations, the
United States has the largest percent
age of abortions among the 15-24 years
age group.
5. 88.1 prcent of the age group 15-
24 years don’t have a university degree,
and 57.6 percent have never been to a
university.
6. 79.3 percent of the total U.S. pop
ulation above 15 years don’t have a uni
versity degree, 61.5 percent have never
been to a university.
7. The number of orphans de
creased from 3,745,000 in 1970 to
2,228,000 in 1987.
8. The number of orphans adopted
decreased from
1,750,000 in 1970
to 141,861 in 1982.
Based on these
facts, one can see
the majority of abortions (4 out of 5)
are done to unmarried women and are
concentrated in the 15-24 years age
group. Also, the education level of the
15-24 years age group is alarmingly
low (88.1 percent below college de
gree.) This implies that, in general, this
specific age group is not well educated
on the subject of how to be restrained,
careful and safe. It shows the general
failure of the parents and society
(maybe educational institutions) to ed
ucate them on how not to get into this
situation. This fact is further re
inforced when compared with the
abortion age distribution in other west
ern countries. The first-time-preg
nancy abortion data infers that the
people were ignorant or not ready to
face the situation, that is why they
opted for abortion.
One of the major arguments among
anti-abortion groups is the babies can
be adopted. However, the facts show
the number of adoptions are far less
than the number of orphans present in
the country. As the number of abor
tions increaed between 1970 and 1987,
and the number of orphans decreased,
it can also be seen that women are opt
ing for abortion rather than leaving the
children as orphans.
If these unmarried, not-so-well-edu-
cated people are forced to have babies,
the future for most of these people will
be a nightmare. Due to their limited
education, they are likely to end up
with low-paying jobs. Therefore, they
won’t be able to support their children
and will end up asking for support
from the welfare department. In other
words, their living standards will be
drastically lowered. If this happens to a
large segment of people, it will affect
the country on the whole due to a lim
ited supply of educated, trained peo
ple.
Ram P.
Bhojanala
Guest Columnist
abortion
As the large segment of the t«
population lias only pre-university«
ucation, they as parents maynotbeii
position to explain and pass onthei;
formation to their children inthisi;
gard. Maybe their parents never
an education in this regard, so tit
may feel uncomfortable discussingtl
subject with their children. It shoii:
however, be passed on to the youj
people. They should be educated,!):
punished, for the ignorance of elde
and social system of the country.
Is it anymore unfair to requiretis
anti-abortionists be forced to adoptu
phaned children than it is to requii
other people to go through an n
wanted prregnancy? I believe not.h
me give an extreme case to allthea®
abortionists: If you are all soconcer®
about life, how come you all (at leas
most of you) eat beef, and other pm
ucts derived by killing animals. Ifvts |
care about life, treat all the lives I
same, not just human life. If you si
want to be anti-abortion, turn youne:
immediately into a vegetarian. Toi |
otherwise is actually inconsistent w
your moral stance.
Baed on the facts presented here:
can be concluded that education,in
restriction, is the solution to theak
tion issue. Unwanted pregnancies^
lx* controlled by rules and regulate
It may take almost 20 years (onegene;
ation) to begin to see the full effect?
education, as the people educatedns
will be able to guide the next genen
tion toward learning to be more it
sponsible. The education process*! ?
require financial support fromthegts
ernment and citizens to create anr
frastructure of education, andtopt
new teachers and counselors.!!!
sources may be derived from taxant
or cuts in existing programs.
If anyone wants to write an artid I
please support your statements nit j
proper evidence and facts, not jif
your own opinion.
Ram P. Bhojanala is a graduate?:;
dent in civil engineering and a gue
columnist forThe Battalion
No more speed traps, they’re financially dangerous
Most of us
have seen speed
traps. A speed
trap is defined as
a worthless small
town whose in
come is so mea
ger that it must
be supplemented
by speeding
ticket fines given
to Matt McBurnett.
I am a veteran of the speed trap
wars. Maybe some of you can relate to
my feelings. If so, you have my sympa
thy.
My first experience with a bonafide
speed trap happened last fall. My
home town, Wharton, lies along U.S.
highway 59, 55 miles south of Hous
ton. Between the two cities lies Kendle-
ton, one of the smallest, ugliest and
most effective speed traps to exist in
the brief history since Henry Ford
rolled out his first Tin Lizzy. It does
not take many more contextual clues to
realize that I have been victimized by
the Kendleton Kops.
The scene was ugly. I was traveling
slightly above the speed limit due to the
fact that my speedometer was one of
the nervous types that fluctuates 15
m.p.h. to either side of the actual
speed. At any rate, I observed through
the darkness a set of headlights in a
ditch which were not there an instant
before.I hit the brakes to no avail.
Chalk up another fine for the Kendle
ton police force — all two of them.
Kendleton cleverly hides its city limit
signs. One is behind a tree, the other is
behind a larger sign. The speed limit is
55 for no apparent reason. Highway 59
has numerous zones in which the speed
limit is 65 and the only traffic problem
in Kendleton is
caused by the poor
soul who is parked
on the shoulder
behind one of
Kendleton’s finest.
I paid my fine
and am still feeling
the effects on my
insurance.
Kendleton cer
tainly does not have a monopoly on the
speed trap business. I have found out
first hand about a few other ones but
the stories are all the same. Each time,
the victim is nailed for speeding, often
for only two or three m.p.h. above the
speed limit, and asks himself what the
purpose of these police officers is.
My grandmother, who drove like the
stereotypic grandmother, received one
ticket in her 40 years of driving. She
happened to be doing 56 in a 55 m.p.h.
zone. What a drag. I realize that 55 is
the limit, but periodically, humans acci
dentally speed. Shouldn’t the police,
even in these worthless towns concen
trate more on public safety? After all,
that is the main purpose of their jobs,
and I do not see much harm in an old
lady going 56 m.p.h. in a 55 zone.
My experiences with these speed
traps has led me to strongly support a
Texas bill aimed at slowing down small
town speed traps.House Bill 243, spon
sored by Rep. Keith Valigura (R—Con
roe) was passed in regular session this
year. It limited the amount of traffic
fines that small towns (less than 5000
people) can obtain to 30 percent of
their total annual revenues. The bill
was largely tailored to shut down an al
leged speed trap in Patton Village, an
other small town on U.S. 59. Patton
Village has no ad valorem taxes and
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The Battalion Editorial Board
Scot O.Walker, Editor
Wade See, Managing Editor
Juliette Rizzo, Opinion Page Editor
Fiona Soltes, City Editor
Ellen Hobbs, Chuck Squatriglia,
News Editors
Tom Kehoe, Sports Editor
Jay Janner, Art Director
Dean Sueltenfuss, Lifestyles Editor
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traditionally has funded up to 80 per
cent of its services via traffic fines.
Some clever lawyer found a loophole
in HB 243 that allows Patton Village
and other speed trap towns to retain
their fine money under the disguise of
“special expenses.” Valigura said he is
drafting legislation to close the loop
hole and may get it passed in the cur
rent special session, pending the ap
proval of Governor Bill Clements.
I wish this reformed bill godspeed
on its journey towards law. If a small
town police force is not needed for the
protection of the public, it is not
needed at all. Kendleton has already
had its police force disbanded andR
formed, but it has not been reform:
Leave the patrol of the highwaystotl)
highway patrol. After all, they do
damn good job of it.
Matt McBurnett is a junior electt
cal engineering major and a colunwe
forThe Battalion.
Mail Call
Racist cartoon
EDITOR:
In response to the Mon., Nov. 13 cartoon by Don
Atkinson and the Wed. Nov. 15 Battalion editorial board
statement asking for “racial tolerance” at Texas A&M, I say
please make up your minds.
The cartoon, four panels about a ficticious bigot
Olympics beginning with the destruction of the Students
Against Apartheid shanty, was condemning the destruction
of the shanty as ignorant. However, in the last frame of the
cartoon, there were four extremely derogatory words used.
These words are degrading words used for blacks, Hispanics
and Italians.
I understand the cartoon was denouncing the destruction
of the shanty, but the use of those horrible words was totally
unnecessary and uncalled for. Just seeing them in print (no
matter what the context) is enough for some people to say,
“Hey, look at that — it’s OK.” Well it’s not OK.
Some people have told me I’m overreacting — that it’s
just a joke and I ust don’t understand the cartoonist’s intent.
Some people have told me they thought the cartoon was
funny. And some others, like me, were very offended. Of
course, most of those upset were from one of the minority
groups that the words described. These people do not make
up a moajority on this campus, however, and as we all know,
in a democracy, majority rules.
Sure, it’s a joke. Butjokes can easily step over the line of
tastefulness and becomejust plain cruel.
Now, only two days after this, the Battalion editorial
board came out and said racial apathy on this campus must be
stopped. They said the University’s strides in minority
retention must be recognized, accepted and helped by the
student body. Well, with cartoons like the one two days
before, the student body will certainly be aware of the racial
problems on this campus. But will they stop using the words
appearing in the cartoon? Probably not, when the school’s
“liberal” newspaper can’t or won’t stop using them.
Beth Snyder ’89
Different shanty opinion
EDITOR:
In response to Chris Heckmann’s article about the
Students Against Apartheid shanty, I would like to share a
different opinion.
Mr. Heckmann, perhaps all the people you’ve talked to
disagree with the shanty, but allow me to pose this question.
How many of those people were black? I am inclined to
assume that there are very few black people at A&M who
would disagree to raising awareness and emotions against
South Africa and the situation there.
Secondly, you would be suprised to know that there are |
thousands of people not necessarily confined to this camptf;
that are ignorant to the ills of an unequal society.
Thirdly, if it be so that people don’t vandalize theshant'
to express racial tension, please write another letter to
explain why “KKK” and “niggers die” are examples of
phrases written by vandals upon the destruction. Also, pte
notice the bathroom walls — racial graffiti is all over campus \
I do agree with your declaration that racism is presenut I
A&M, but I believe your reasoning for the destruction [oW : ■
shanty] is most erroneous. It is aethetically offensive to
symbolize the human offenses presently perpetrated agains:
the people of South Africa. Just as the shanty, in your
opinion, is an eyesore, racism should be a “heartsore,”and
this is, in my opinion, the purpose of the SAA shanty.
Mr. Heckmann, I dare you to expand your coterie of
companions. If you have not already, do a personal surveyi
see how black Aggies feel about the shanty. SAA members
are not fooling themselves, as you say; the only ones fooling
themselves are the poor, deprived, ignorant people who
refuse to concede that black people are just as good asanyoU
else, and are unwilling to treat them as such.
God Bless you, Mr. Heckmann.
Chris Henderson ’91
Apartheid is ugly
EDITOR:
I am not a member of Students Against Apartheid. I
agree with those who say that the anti-apartheid shanty is
ugly, but so is apartheid. I see the shanty as a reminder oft! 1 '
ugliness that does exist in our world. The shanty serves to
make us aware of the existance of apartheid. In thatrespett
SAA is undoubtedly successful, for even those who destroy!
show awareness through their actions.
The campus is everyone’s property, and the membersit
SAA have as much right to it as anyone else.
We are adults and should act as such. Respect our
freedom of expression and stop destroying the shanty.
Heidi Sauer ’92
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff I
the right to edit letters for style and length, but will make every effort to minW[' ;
author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and must include the classification, I
and telephone number of the writer.