The Battalion
OPINION
Monday, February 5,1990
Mail Call
Well’s definition ‘perverted’
EDITOR:
I could not believe what I was reading in the Monday, Jan. 29 Battalion.
Mr. Well’s definition of pornography is rather perverted. I wonder, Mr. Well,
did the violence in any of the Rambo movies upset you? Or what, about the
sexually explicit scenes, for example, in almost any PC-13 and up films pro
duced in America?
If only you had shown enough courage and intelligence to see the film you
would have truly been enlightened. For instead of glorifying sexuality, this
particular film showed how many times the male views sex as a tool of power
and thereby cheapens it and himself. But instead, you allowed your fear of the
unknown to keep you in the dark ages. I dare you to cross over “the line” of
ignorance and fear to enlightenment and understanding.
I pity you and your lack of true knowledge, for many of the greatest films
known to mankind have been produced in Europe. For example, one of this
year’s finest, “My Left Foot,” was written and produced in Europe. I would
recommend this movie to you but I suppose you would get more out of
“Tango and Cash.”
Jennifer Beegle ’91
Clearcutting is essential
EDITOR:
This letter is in response to the article written by Michael C. Worsham, in
the January 29 edition-of The Battalion. I agree with Mr. Worsham that the
opinions expressed by Texas State Forester Bruce Miles are those of a nar
row- minded and uninformed state official.
Miles advocates the destruction of the limited habitat of the northern
spotted owl, through clearcutting of old growth forests. T hese forests have
developed over hundreds of years and exist only in the humid Northwesten
United States. The great irony of this resource versus wildlife battle is that
many of the trees removed from these areas are of low timber quality or are
too large to be processed by most of the regional mills.
However, I must disagree with Worsham’s opinion expressed on clearcut
ting. It was stated that it’s, “ ... environmentally destructive, and when it is
done on our public lands, a significant loss to the U.S. taxpayer.”
Clearcutting is unsightly, I know. I’m from Oregon and am a past em
ployee of the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon State University Research For
ests. However, if you like to live in a house made with structural lumber and
plywood, you must accept it. Clearcutting is required because the predomi
nant timber tree is the Douglas fir. This tree is shade intolerant, and in order
for seedlings to grow, all trees must be completely removed and the site
burned in preparation for the planting operation.
Through clearcutting, second and third growth forests shall be able to sat
isfy the nation’s demand for forest products and, in addition, the revenues
from this activity have kept the U.S. Forest Service one of the few, if not only,
profitable governmental organizations.Hopefully this clearcutting will be
enough of a sacrifice to insure the protection of the region’s old growth and
unprotected wild and scenic areas.
Ed Fournier
MS Candidate* Land Development ,,
Non-minorities do have option
EDITOR:
For those Ags out there that are so upset at those of us on minority schol
arships here at A&M, you do have an option. I don’t think any of you are
going to feel you’ve received your just rewards until you consider this: There
are other institutions of higher learning such as Texas Southern University,
Prarie View A&M, Pan American University, etc., where I’m sure you could
qualify for a minority scholarship. 1 don’t think that grade point averages or
scholastic character matter much so long as you’re white.
Anja D. Boykin ’90
Have an opinion ? Express it!
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorud stuff 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 classification, address and telephone number of the writer. AH letters max be brought to 216
Reed McDonald, or sent to Campus Mail Stop 1111.
Opinion Page Editor Ellen Hobbs
THINGS TO DO If UlE PONT GET THE BUSH LIE^AET
2.
MAKE MICHAEL DUKAKIS' C^THPAT
A ^>ct|pQL holiday:
CHANGE ALL THE ^TY^EET
SIG»K1S> &ACK .
Tt^T TO SET THE DAN QUAYLE
MEMORIAL U&£AfcY
©1990
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Supporters of legal abortion!
aren’t as liberal as some thinl
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The question of whether abortion
should be outlawed is not a question
about whether or not it is bad. Of course
it’s bad. It’s a question of morality and a
question of politics.
We debate about “when life begins.”
The word “life” in this case, is misused.
We know when life begins: It begins at
conception. The fertilized egg
immediately begins to develop into a
child.
But the phrase “when life begins” is
merely a euphemism for “when the soul
enters the body.*’ Those of you with a
less religious bent may prefer to
substitute the word “personality” for the
word “soul.” I, though, believe we have
souls, and that “soul” is the better word.
Our society dictates that killing any
innocent human with a soul is wrong. So
if a baby is aborted after it has its soul,
we’ve committed murder.
How do we know when the soul
enters the body? We don’t. We never
will. We base our theories on the subject
on our background, our religion, the
beliefs of the people we hangout with,
etc. We base our beliefs mainly upon
our moral,views.
And, for the majority of the people in
the U.S., religion is intrinsic to morality.
Therefore, when we initiate
legislation on abortion, we facilitate the
marriage of church and state, a poor
political decision.
acting with the will of God behindii
day I)
Sund;
would c ertainh be able to forceusali | )(K
The separation of church and state is
not guaranteed in the Constitution, but
is an idea that belonged to T homas
Jef ferson, a political conservative who
believed that such a separation was
necessary to protect the church.
Jefferson realized that if the church
and state were intermingled, the state
could justify its actions by saying they
were acting with the will of God and use
that justification to limit our personal
f reedoms, especially our f reedom of
worship.
The theological pluralism in our
country is great. We’re allowed to
worship in the manner we choose. But if
the government is able to regulate our
morals, that pluralism could be
destroyed.
What if the government decided we
would be an easier country to deal with
if we were all Lutheran? Not everybody
wants to be Lutheran, but a government
worship as Lutherans.
Those who tout the philosophvofii
pro-choice movement are far from
being liberals. Pro-choice supporters
are, like Jefferson, politically
conservative.
Liberals prefer a strong central
govei nment; conservatives prefera
weak one. People who want tohavea
moral decision — like whether or noi
the\ will have an abortion —takenoui
of their hands and put into the hand!
the state are not people in favorofa
weak central government.
Allowing abortion to remain legali;
not encouraging the use of abortionas
birth control; it is simply protectingoi
t ight to privacy.
We should strive to reach the day
when abortion is not a problem by
educating young people about sexar
methods of birth control, by making
sure birth control is available and
af fordable, by encouraging adoption*
a feasible alternative to abortionandii
working to strengthen our family unit
We all want to see abortion
eliminated. But we can help protecttl«
rights of the individual if we make die
conservative choice and don’t legislate
its end.
Ellen Hobbs is a junior journalism
major.
sarc
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Animals need ‘mercy killings’ like a hole in the head
There is a lot of discussion
concerning animal rights these days.
OK, so what’s, the deal about the so-
called mercy killings of animals?
You know the story. After Of Paint
stumbles one day, his owner says, “Well,
Of Paint stumbled so I guess he’s gettin’
old. I’ll just take out my gun and put a
bullet through his head and put him out
of his misery.”
Unfortunately for OT Paint, he’s a
horse and can’t argue his own case by
saying, “Hey, put that gun away. I just
tripped over a beer bottle.”
I hear deer hunters say, “We’re doing
the deer a favor by killing them.”
Overpopulation and that sort of
thing. But if I’m a deer, I don’t want
anybody doing me a favor by blowing
my head off with a high-powered rifle.
I admit I am sensitive to this issue
because of a personal experience
Lewis Grizzard
Syndicated Columnist
involving the late Plato, a wonderful
basset hound I owned in college.
Basset hounds make marvelous pets
as long as you can put up with the fact
they howl, their ears fall into their food
while they eat, and it’s impossible to get
one out of your favorite chair once it has
decided that’s where it wants to sleep.
I had owned Plato about a year and
my young bride and I had become quite
attached to him.
We had to mop the food that fell off
his ears a lot, and when he took up
residence in my black Naugahyde
reclining chair, I gave in and sat on the
couch.He was that good a dog.
But one day Plato quit eating, a
startling occurrence when you consider
he once ate a pair of my wife’s
pantyhose.
Plato became listless and started
losing weight.
I took him to the vet, who diagnosed
a kidney problem. “He’s not going to get
any better,” said the vet. “You might as
well put him to sleep" — veterinarian
for, “Let me kill your dog.”
I told my wife what the vet had said.
“Give me 24 hours,” she said.
My wife fried three chicken breasts.
Plato loved fried chicken before he
stopped eating.
She sat up all night with him at the
vet’s office and tried to feed him small
pieces of white meat she pulled f rom the
chicken breast.
About four that morning, she said,
Plato finally took a bite and by eight had
eaten all the chicken.He lived to be 14.
Now, what inspired all this?
I read a story in the papers the other
day that absolutely shocked me.
A woman in Eugene, Ore., Mary Ann
Snoddy, noticed her son’s hamster was
curled up in the corner of his cage.
Because the hamster, Bud, was 4 and
most hamsters live only a couple of
years, she took it upon herself to decide
Bud was dying of old age.
She called her vet, w ho told her to put
Bud out of alleged misery by sticking
him in the f reezer compartmentofhti
refrigerator overnight.She wrapped
pool Bud in a paper sack and put him
t lie freezer to die.
The next morning, she opened tht
freezer door to find Bud had chewed
his way out of the sack and had dined
f rozen bread and hash browns andv*
very much alive.
“I le sat up on his hind legs,” said
Mary Ann Snoddy, “as if to say,‘Wh) I
did you do this to me?”’
Why, indeed. Putting a hamster ini
freezer to do it a favor may be the
Snoddyest thing I ever heard of.
If only defenseless animals could fil
suit.
Adventures In Cartooning
by Don Atkinson Ji
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